It figures ... How long before either has to sign a contract? In other words when do their restricted free agency expire?

Once Turiaf and Sasha are resolved - what does a scenario look like for the Lakers to add another player? If Sasha is offered a mid level and the Lakers match it, does that mean they can not shop at all. Naturally interested in Posey - also Pietrus from Golden State.

Any thoughts from any of you that understand the financial scenarios? I'd love to see the Lakers resolve the 3 spot with a defensive presence that can shoot.

Here's hoping

This post is too deep. I'm....speechless.

Everyone heard that Bynum is cleared to practice, right?

oh, beans! i was wishing for something new cause baseball makes me wanna nap.

Vman,

"...although everyone's motives were suspect, when the smoke cleared, it probably worked out for the best"

True, and the bigger the bomb, the more lasting the peace. Remember though, this matador sentiment is easy to hold when it is not your team being moved, not this time anyway. (Not to be confused with the Los Angeles "Traitors" who were, are, and always will be the mighty Oakland Raiders)

I'm simply saying that not to voice unrelenting dissent or concern every time an owner is moved to piss in the pool we all must share suggests indifference at best, and tacit approval at worst. As fans, we do have the power to cause pause. At least we better have, or we are all fools. By the way, if news came down that the good doctor was considering a Laker move to, say, Las Vegas, we wouldn't hear the end of it from NBA fans, including the great fans in Seattle and Sacramento, and I think you already know this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"We are talking in circles, as is usually the case"

Which begs the question: Why do you do that? And why, of all people, are you talking to trolls? Bad piggy.

Sonnybelfast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_
Collective_Bargaining_Agreement#
Early_Bird_exception

If I've read that correctly, resigning Sasha and Ronny have absolutely nothing to do with the mid-level or the salary cap.

Xodus,
"Ariza would be very good if he develops a consistent perimeter j."

Me, too. (If I were six inches taller, faster, and a better ball handler.)

Xodus,

Whatever! Winning against Jazz and Spurs does not make the Lakers untouchables. It is winning by dominance in the playoffs and the NBA FINALS that makes me relax, not just a WCF. Get it?

The fact still remains we have so many soft players in our team and that should be addressed.

However you want to define SOFT is up to you. But to me SOFT is not getting it done and not dominating all thru out (Nov - June) and putting fears in everyone's mind.

That's the kind of toughness, I want in my Lakers.

I want my Lakers to be the best of all time, not just maybe the best or one of the best.

These Lakers has that type of opportunity when they got blessed with Bynum, got this Gasol gift and still able to keep Bryant at his prime. But Lakers Mitch K's job is not done yet.

You DO NOT waste this type of opprtunity to mix it with Mihm, Vlad, Walton, Sasha and Karl. This is a golden oppurtunity to make it happen and it is highly important that the Lakers get stronger, coz we found out last month, the BEAST in the EAST is no softie!!!

No more 5 MIL a year for soft players. Use it wisely. Use it strongly.

AK,

Best setup ever to a new thread. On a weekend that's all about chilling, that''s about all the news I can handle.

Faith,
Calves, I've got. And decent hands. It's the hops, quickness, speed, height, and ball-handling that I'm lacking in. So my glass is only 80% empty.

Ronny and Sasha's salaries will have no effect on a mid-level exception signing.

The mid-level exception allows any team in the league to sign a free agent for a moderate contract. This year the contract will be worth around 5.8M. The whole idea is that even teams with horrendous payrolls (see the Knicks) and that are over the salary cap will still be able to sign one new player.

Ronny and Sasha's salaries will be added to the salaries of other Laker players to determine the payroll this season. If that payroll is over what the league sets as the salary cap (prob something like 55-60M), the Lakers will have to pay a dollar for dollar tax on the additional salary. Because the Lakers are already over the salary cap even without Ronny/Sasha, Ronny and Sasha's salaries will cost the Lakers double what Ronny and Sasha make because of our salary cap situation

Their salaries do matter in the context of the salary cap.

Salary cap is less important for teams that are worth more (make more money) like the Lakers and the Knicks. It also helps when you have an owner that isn't frugal (perfect example is Mark Cuban) and is willing to spend a lot to win. Teams in larger markets tend to be willing to spend more (and also tend to be worth more money).

Jerry Buss looks at a final bottom line and seems willing to spend a lot for a team that goes deep in the Finals and possibly can win a championship. We're lucky in that respect. It's a very different situation with the Phoenix Suns that let go of Joe Johnson, Kurt Thomas and a large number of 1st round draft picks just to save money.

We're lucky not to be Phoenix fans.

Hope that helps.

Happy,

Good post and recap of the roster:

C: Bynum Mihm Mbenga
PF: Gasol Odom Turiaf
SF: Ariza Radmanovic Walton
SG: Bryant Vujacic Karl
PG: Fisher Farmar Sun

I would add that Karl is probably the guy who will not be on the roster if the Lakers sign James Posey or if Joe Crawford turns out to be a better prospect, which is unlikely. So right now, Coby Karl is probably praying for Posey to re-sign with the Celtics.

Tom

P & G R,

***********

“I hate the Boston Celtics. I hate the Red Sox. I hate the Patriots. I hate the Boston Bruins.

I hate EVERYTHING to do with sports in that part of the country -- especially that region's sports "fans" -- the WORST band-wagon jumping, front-running, fair-weather "fans" in the country!

Considering it's baseball season, in the words of KB24, "go Yankees!!!"

***********

I’m with you on Boston and its sports teams. The worst development of the 21st century was the lifting of the Curse of the Bambino, 21 years of sweet nothingness for the Celtics, and the cheating Pats lucking out with Tom Brady. I’m first and foremost a Lakers fan following by my lifetime loyalty for pinstripes and love for my hometown Niners.

Damn, the ump just blew a check strike 3-2 call that cost the Yankees two runs when Joba let another Indian single in two runs to give the Sox a 3-1 lead in the 5th inning. You know I as much as love the Yankees and baseball and the Niners and pro football, hoops is the game I played most and loved best and the Lakers the true sweetheart of my sports hopes and dreams. Baseball and football are just diversions until next season.

Personally, I’ll take Posey because we will add toughness, veteran savvy, and solid defense against Pierce to the Lakers side of the equation and subtract the same from the Celtics side. In the end, it will taste sweet regardless of what Celtic fans said because Posey chose us over them, just like Rick Fox did, and just like every key free agent in the future is going to do. They will all want to join the Lakers and Kobe and the Beast.

Tom

lol.

What Sasha and I have is something called undefined.

lol.

Staples 24,

So is every team that didn't win the title soft then? If this is the case that makes the Lakers the best of the soft teams, which puts us into a great position when we have fully healthy Bynum and Ariza

And you're just contradicting yourself. The Lakers with supposedly soft players won 57 games and made it to the finals, while the Memphis Grizzlies with what you call "dark black" players couldn't win 20 games.

Xodus wrote:

“Staples 24,”

“Were we soft when we beat the Jazz and Spurs? There's a difference between soft and not having a ton of bulk. I do think we need an infusion of toughness, but a lot of that will be remedied by adding Bynum back into the mix. And we'll fix even more of it if we can sign Posey to the midlevel.”

“I'd like to see this as our starting lineup next year:”

“C: Bynum
PF: Pau
SF: Posey
SG: Kobe
PG: Fish/Farmar”

“I think Lamar could be a great super-sub off the bench. A big man version of Ginobili. Ariza would be very good if he develops a consistent perimeter j.”

These are my sentiments exactly. I feel with Bynum coming back (assuming there are no futher knee complications of course), and then adding a true defensive-minded SF like Posey who can shoot from distance as well at the 3. While bringing Lamar off the bench primarily as a back-up PF. This would be a truly outstanding roster and a NBA championship favorite for sure.

However I am also mindful of the pressing salary/luxury tax issues. The Lakers currently have 10 players under contract for a total team payroll of approx. $75 million with a luxury tax threshold estimated to be close to $70 million this year. Which of course will place the Lakers $5 million in the red already, to which they must payout a dollar for dollar penalty for an additional $5 million.

Add to this if Sasha and Turiaf are resigned. The Laker payroll may grow to around $80 million. Then considering Posey is looking for the maximum MLE of $5.8 million for 4-5 years. And factoring in Bynum’s desire (according to his agent anyhow) for the max. extension of $80 million for five years before Oct. 31. Could push the Lakers payroll to over $100 million with over $30 million in luxury taxes on top of it!

But, God bless Jerry Buss if he still nevertheless chooses to pay such a sum which looks like a mini version of the national debt.

Thanks for the info on the mid level exception. Appreciate that.

As for Celtics fans -

I'm a life long Laker fan, but grew up in New England. Many of my friends are so called Celtics fans. For the last 20 years all I've been hearing is UConn Huskies! and pro hoops sucks. Then the night of game six with five minutes to go my phone starts ringing. I'm thinking - how many titles have the Lakers won since the last Celtic title. I never even thought to call these guys and rub it in during all those years. Most the old Celtic fans I know are fair weather and the new Celtic fans are front runners. Maybe someone should remind them that this pathetic franchise has tanked two seasons in recent history to try and get Duncan and Ogden in the draft.

Last thought - I like Turiaf a great deal. I also like the idea of moving Odom to the bench as a sixth man - with or without the addition of a new player. That is in part because the experiment a year or so ago with him at 3 didn't go so well and I'm also worried crowding in the paint on the offensive end with him Odom, Bynum and Gasol on the floor simultaneously.

However, if Odom goes to the bench and backs up the 4 it moves Turiaf to 3rd string at that spot. I'd like to see him get the role as the backup 5 man. I believe he is a much better player - even at the 5 - than Mbenga or Mihm.

All this talk about contracts, and security for families, etc. - read this column by Rick Reilly on what A LOT of athletes spend their money on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3469271

BTW, just wanted to point out that I was wrong about the luxury tax threshold.

It is indeed lower 70M almost certainly this season.

Ex,

No one's going to tell me I don't need my private jet.

BTW, do you mind spotting me some change for gas?

Coby Karl is a crowd favorite, but I don't think he's that good. He's slow, his shooting percentage is pretty low, and my impression is that he's a "poor-man's" Luke Walton. Although I don't think Sasha is really worth $6 million a year in this type of market, there aren't that many players in the league that can shoot > 40% from 3 point line, so I think the Lakers have little choice but to try and re-sign him.

Laker Kev,

“The line-up you present to Happy does look good, with SF being the weakest, er, least strong link. Mitch has earned my trust and I look forward to seeing how things turn out.”

C: Bynum Mihm Mbenga
PF: Gasol Odom Turiaf
SF: Ariza Radmanovic Walton
SG: Bryant Vujacic Karl
PG: Fisher Farmar Sun

Thanks but the props go to Happy. When I saw his updated roster with Trevor starting, Mbenga and Karl being added, and Lamar moving backing up 4 and moving to 6th man, I was impressed by how balanced the overall roster was when you examine it by position, by depth chart, or by quality of player, or by ability to play multiple positions.

Making Trevor a starter moving Lamar to 6th man make good sense, as does re-signing Mbenga, who is a more than capable third back up at center. Both the starting lineup and the mob crew are deep and talented, with great potential at the end of the roster with Sun Yue and Coby Karl as a long shot starting backcourt duo in the far distant future.

In the end, like you, I trust Mitch to make the best decision, whether it includes signing James Posey or not. He has my trust, too.

Tom

p ang,

At least he didn't call him out for being "soft." LOL.

Tom

Oscar - I agree about Najera. I think he'll wind up resigning with Denver though. We could use somebody with that mentaility though.