But Dolan is a baller.

"..James Posey, Brent Barry, Kurt Thomas "

I would go for Brent Barry. You're not gonna get Posey no way. Experienced three point shooter, thats your veteran guy that you need on the bench for the Lakers.

I'm thinking...

Barry was insurance for Sasha leaving.
Thomas was insurance for Turiaf leaving.
Posey we just wanted because we need 3 point shooting and suck at defending the 3.

We've got Fish, Vlad, and Sasha. Why do we need a beat up old veteran (played in only 31/82 games last year) in Barry that still doesn't know how to draw a foul at the end of a WCF playoff game?

I'm not sure Barry is a good defender. I'm not sure that he can play the 3. I'm not sure that Barry is in any way an upgrade over Sasha or even, dare I say, Vlad, partly because at least Vlad can play the 3.

I'm open-minded here, but I've been confused about our pursuit of Barry the whole time.

Am I missing something?

Laker Legacy - JSNV

WTF? What took you guys so long to post? I know, J*Davey was that bad live this time.

This team needs a tweak or two - not a fricken' overhaul.
Posted by: justanothermambafan | July 09, 2008 at 03:37 PM

That's the nature of sports forums. Everyone talks about trades because what else is anyone going to talk about?
The only things a group of guys who don't know each other that well, talk about are: sex, cars and sports.
Are we going to start discussing breast sizes of favorite movie stars? I think that new BMW 135i is pretty hot.

Our luxury tax situation actually isn't as bad as I thought it was. 5 mil ain't even close to putting a dent in Dr. Buss' bank account and considering the extra scratch we made by going as far as we did, we're in great shape. Especially when you compare our 5 mil. to the mere 27 that the Knicks are dishing out every year for naught.

They pretty much make any sports fan feel good about their team. haha.

GO LAKERS!!!

Laker in BC -

Well, we can always talk about meta-ontology. That's pretty exciting, and I'm quite up for it.

RONY to the WARRIORS - A NorCal Perspective

As most of you regulars know I live up here in NorCal now, which means I get to see the Lakers live twice a year.

After more than two years up here and meeting and talking to a lot of Golden State fans I have learned that the basketball culture is exactly the opposite of the one in LA . We expect championships and view a year or three of failure as a bridge between championship runs. They expect failure up here and are resigned to any short term success (like when they upset the Mavs year before last) as being a temporary blip on the way to new failure. Which is what is happening again as they let Baron get away and overpay Maggete as a poor substitute.

That being said, overpaying Rony is par for the course. But I gotta give them one thing - he's the kind of fluid big man that will fit well into Nellie's system and get playing time. After all they played Harrington at the 5 behind Beidrins last year and he’s about 6-8. Now all Rony has to do is decide if 4 mil a year for a sure loser is better than 1 mil for a potential champion. I won’t blame him if , like D-Fish years ago, he chooses what’s best for him and his family. And I WILL cheer for him when he comes off the bench – even against the Lakers!

As for his future here, with Drew, Pau, and Lamar at the big spots he wasn’t gonna get much playing time anyhow barring an injury. I think Mbenga and Mihm will do fine as 5 backups, and both Luke and Rad can slide to the 4 against smaller opponents if necessary. So farewell Rony. I hope you invest your money wisely, and I hope some day you find your way back to us like Fish did….

Bogut's deal is good for the Lakers. He was picked 9 spots in front of the BEAST, and hasn't endured any significant injuries (I think). That provides a good baseline for the kind of deal Andrew will be getting. Despite what LakerTom and some others say, his market value isn't at the franchise player level yet. I would love to see what the kid might command on the open market this year. My guess is about 10 mil per at the most. My gut feeling is that he'll receive an extension at somewhere around that.

Well, we can always talk about meta-ontology. That's pretty exciting, and I'm quite up for it.

Posted by: Caliphilosopher

Dude - I don't even know what that is! I guess I'll stick to debating why we don't need an overhaul.....LOL!

Turiaf, Sasha, and Farmar are a good part of the heart of the Lakers. You can talk yourself blue about their skills, but you won't begin to describe the chemistry, court sense, enthusiasm, comraderie, selflessness, commitment, etc. that these guys bring to the table. This is the reason the Lakers were so successful this season. I say Turiaf is worth every penny of his match, and it shouldn't be looked at that he is causing the luxury tax...it's not his salary that taking it over the top.

I can just see someone like Ron Artest coming in and screwing up the entire team.

Lakers current salary obligation 75,000,000

Add Sasha, Ronny, and others 11, 000,000

Total if all signed 86,000,000 +15 mil (lux tax) =

Say it the way Dr. Evil would say it........

THAT'S OVER ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

Dr Buss needs our help. The season ticket holders will do their part. Please watch all the in-game commercials and buy the advertised products.

First Smush, now Kwame, the Heat just seem to not get enough of crappy former Lakers. Oh, and didn't Pargo play for the Lakers too? At least he's decent.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/
Kwame-Brown-could-be-free-agent-target-for-Heat;
_ylt=Ao1t14x7Rc48JtoEIN9QftOLvLYF?urn=nba,92885

so im looking at the summer leauge schedule
www.nba.com/summerleague2008/teams.html
hoping to see some names. Coby Karl is there and crawford is there, but one person i wanted to see was sun yue. is there any info on him that anybody has other than youtube? im curious about his abilities and what type of person he is and what he brings to the table. its about a month til the olympics, lakers should be able to pry sun yue for nine days of playing!

hope to hear from you guys

How about this?

The Warriors offered a 4 year contract at 17 million just so the Lakers will match it. That way the Warriors see the Lakers go into salary cap hell. LOL!

The Lakers are like the Unites States of America. All around the world no one likes the USA. Just like all around the NBA no one likes the Lakers.

That contract the Warriors offered isn't bad on any other team but with the Lakers it just clogs up a roster spot for a long 4 years.

mike t.

Mike T,

"How about this? The Warriors offered a 4 year contract at 17 million just so the Lakers will match it. That way the Warriors see the Lakers go into salary cap hell. LOL!
The Lakers are like the Unites States of America. All around the world no one likes the USA. Just like all around the NBA no one likes the Lakers. That contract the Warriors offered isn't bad on any other team but with the Lakers it just clogs up a roster spot for a long 4 years."

What's also interesting is the flip side of what you're talking about, which is the Lakers having 7 days to make up their minds. Even if the Lakers know for certain they won't match the offer, they can use up the entire week before turning it down, just so the Warriors can't use that four mil elsewhere (since it's tied into their offer to Ronny). Granted, it may not hurt Golden State as much as some other teams, since they gained a fair amount of cap room after Davis left. But still, it can all become one big game of chess.

AK

If the Lakers don't match, he will be missed. He'll definitely be the most popular player that isn't a Laker among Laker fans.

>>>Mbenga and Karl also for $1.0M

Karl is already under (team option) contract for 0.7M.

They could sign MBenga for the minimum.

andand,

>>>but one person i wanted to see was sun yue. is there
>>>any info on him that anybody has other than youtube?

If you want to watch Sun Yue play basketball this summer,
watch the Olympics. He'll be playing for the Chinese team.
Last I heard, he's the backup PG. He's a better pure point
than the starter, but the starter is a better scorer than Sun.

Hello everybody. It has taken me quite awhile to get over the NBA Finals. I was pretty upset about it. But after finally looking through the different exit interivews and all of that, the Lakers seemed to be a team that was defeated before Game 1 of the Finals. Even Phil Jackson thought that the Lakers sort of overacheived, and so did Kobe. Perhaps they overacheived, but maybe Boston was that good. I mean, they do have three perrenial All-Stars as opposed to the Lakers one. Gasol is solid but if you guys paid attention to me at all, I believe Gasol was played out of position by the end of the playoffs due to need. Gasol was worn down by the bigger stronger Celtics.

I mean just looking at the PHYSICAL difference between Boston and Los Angeles, and the Celtics were just bulkier. The Lakers had size, but the Celtics had more strength. You cant make Pau into Dwight Howard. Thats not his game. PJ tried, but it didn't work. That being said, don't be suprised if Pau Gasol drops 24 a game for Spain and leads them to Gold. Its not that he cant play, just not the way PJ needed him to play.

That being said, Andrew Bynum remains the key to the Lakers' future. If he becomes a physical presence, the Lakers will be fine. Bynum, Gasol and Odom will be solid. They are all great passers and the offense will still work.

That being said, the Lakers bench needs improvement. Farmar, Sasha and Ariza are all keepers, and after that there really isnt anybody that has to be kept. What the Lakers do need tho is some more veteran players who are willing to take a back seat for the season but then come in right away in the playoffs for key moments. Usually old guys looking for a ring and quite frankly, and easier season (see PJ Brown, Sam Cassell) are perfect.

Some players for this can be Kurt Thomas, Dikembe Mutombo, etc. James Posey is a solid player, but I dont know if he wants to be the backup SF to Odom.

The Lakers, though, if they want to be creative, can look to undrafted free agents with size and strength to play the interior. They could use a couple guys who just move bodies around. Bynum, Gasol and Odom are genreally good at not fouling if they dont have to be enforces. So the Lakers need guys who can make good hard fouls and just physically wear down their opponents.

Remember though, the Lakers came within 2 games of the title. And while the West got better, all the Lakers including Farmar, Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, Sasha, Odom will all get better. Remember Odom played like crap at the beginning of the season because of a shoulder injury. Kobe had a knee and hand that wore his shooting out in the finals. Fisher had a torn tendon in his foot.

Guys like Sasha and Farmar are on the brink of being veterans. Often times in the Finals, those two were not just sparks, but played big minutes in the waning moments of the games. Kobe will perfect his facilitator role

The Lakers are in good shape. The only reason it hurts so much was because it was the Celtics.

As for Turiaf, while Im sad to see him leave, good luck to him. He has to take his money especially because of a previous health ailment. Anybody would take that deal. Plus he knows in LA he wont get a chance to play. Although eventually Brandon Right or Anthony Randolph will take his place. But good luck Ronny!

The Posey situation.

It occurs to me that if James Posey doesn't sign with the Celtics,
I don't really care who he signs with.

The other teams reported to be talking to his agent are Cleveland,
the Lakers, New Orleans, Washington, and Houston. Of those,
New Orleans would be the only one that likely impact the Lakers
future by adding Posey, but just getting him OFF of the Celtics
increases the Lakers odds against them if they play them again
in next years' finals.

Go Posey! Go for the cash! Take that full MLE offer from
Cleveland and have a ball.

Kwaminus,

>>>>>Lacrosse Team...
>>>>>Carlos Boozer...
>>>>>Elton Brand...
>>>>>this is... DUKE...

Interesting observation. I hope that doesn’t bode well for Coach K and Team USA. I always thought that ACC players from Duke and North Carolina were overrated and overhyped by the east coast media anyway. MJ was the one big exception. And the school’s rep has definitely taken some justified hits. Bruin fans “have” to hate Duke and North Carolina. After the east restructure the Final 4 to assure ACC participation and stop the UCLA dynasty, Duke and Carolina stole countless recruits from the streets of LA and from the Bruins. LOL.

Tom

Agent David Falk seems to be a persona non grata in the Laker organization. If he's the player's agent (Brand) the team won't even look his way.

No concrete base, just my conspiracy theory. Since the fiasco with Glen Rice.

LakerTom,

One day without any Bynum salary post, PLEASE!

AK,

yeah, that seems like a little chess game. In my opinion, it's the Lakers who come out of it a little on the bad end of the situation. Turiaf just isn't a physical enough player to help this Lakers squad.

His energy would be perfect in Golden State and, as someone mentioned, Don Nelson fast paced version of basketball would suit Turiaf well because he would play a little center. But anyway you cut it...it doesn't add up to a championship for the Warriors but it's a decent pay day for Turiaf.

The Lakers need roster spots. I have a feeling the Lakers are going to do something but they're waiting for some dominos to fall. Namely the James Posey deal. Once a couple of more players sign with teams I think the Lakers will make some kind of move. What that move is....I don't know.

mike t.

The Original Ken - yeah, but they had World B. Free.