Odds and ends
First, some good news contained in the reports Monday from the Sasha Vujacic Resigning Ceremony on Andrew Bynum, whom the Lakers believe will be at 100% come Training Camp. Also at 100%? Hatred between Kobe and Shaq, at least in the eyes of Chuck Klosterman.
The best news, perhaps, is that the signing means more Machine vids, including this new one.
After the press conference Monday, I (and others) had a chance to ask a few questions of Sasha's agent, Rob Pelinka, and received some interesting responses. For those of you who are thinking about the biggest of Q's- Kobe's opt out- it's not on the radar yet. Pelinka said Kobe is "laser" focused on the Olympics right now, and the decision is still a ways away. Personally, I think he'll opt out, if only to get into a new deal a year earlier, but he won't go anywhere. Just my thoughts.
Also, if you get a chance, go back and listen to the audio from the press conference. Sasha talks about why he switched agents. "My (first choice) was always to stay in L.A., and (my former agent) didn't have the same vision, so I had to switch," he said. "We just had different ways. We didn't have the same language." It's always encouraging when players take control of their situation, and fans should be encouraged by how much Vujacic wanted to to stay with the Lakers. Everyone's a winner, here.
Anyway...
Q: Sasha had an offer to go, Josh Childress took a big one- How viable an option do you see Europe as being right now for players? Especially frontline guys?
Pelinka: It'll be interesting to monitor, but the game is becoming more and more of a global game. I think that's opening up doors that three or four years ago weren't there. As the game advances and continues to advance in Europe and Asia, we're going to see more and more opportunities like that.
Q: Was Sasha offered more to play over there?
Pelinka: He was. You have to look at the taxes, which are entirely different, but the opportunity over there was a lucrative deal. His heart, though, was to play for the Lakers and try to win titles here.
Q: It seems like the system makes it hard for teams to move on
restricted free agents, and therefore hard on the player. Is this
something the NBA needs to fix?
Pelinka: It would be great if when guys were done with their
contracts they were true free agents, and then you could just see what
the market will pay them, but the system is one where true free agency
is very rare, and often doesn't exist. There is a built in system, and
I think that's why all of us are looking for ways to explore what true
fair market value is.
Q: Would it help to take that time a team can match on an RFA's offer sheet down from a week to three or four days?
Pelinka: There's many things you could do to try to change the
system. One would be to adjust the salary cap so that more teams have
cap room. Right now, the only team that has cap room right now is
Memphis. So there aren't a lot of options.
Q: Does everyone feel happy about this deal at the end of the day?
Pelinka: Extremely. Sasha's ecstatic. He felt like he
accomplished his two priorities, one which was staying here and two was
arriving at something that was fair for everyone. We feel like it was
a fair deal economically, and it's a three year deal so he has the
chance in three years to do this again, and he'll still be a young
player. For the Lakers, just having the flexibility to see how things
goes over the next three years, and revisiting their cap and tax
situations instead of being locked into something longer term (is
beneficial).
BK
Can we get back to Pau Vs. Brown again?
Posted by: Charles | July 29, 2008 at 11:00 AM
B to tha K,
Any news on the Lakers looking into signing anyone else to fill out the roster? FAs or in the farm system?
Many thanks.
-bozz-
Posted by: bozz | July 29, 2008 at 11:10 AM
I like all these Kwame arguments because... you guys are arguing about nothing because you aren't even talking about the same things... LOL!
Nobody NO----BOOOODY wants to trade Gasol and bring Kwame back, I mean... sheeesh...
However... Gasol did get pushed around in the finals and the only "bulk" we have coming in or back is Bynum. Judging from the reports, he should come in, in good condition, however... do we really want him and Gasol to play 35 minutes/game? I'd rather Bynum came back, put in 25 minutes/game until the allstar break and see how his legs are doing at that point and Gasol, I'd like to limit his minutes too.
All this makes Odom untradeable. If Bynum goes out for an extended period, we go back to last years lineup, if Gasol goes out, Odom plays more PF. If Odom goes out, we have the MIGHTY Radmanovic and possibly Luke to fill in for some PF minutes.
See? Kwame signing somewhere else made Odom untradeable. If we had Kwame he could have filled some minutes IF he wasn't injured which was always a problem with him too... now we have Mihm and possibly Mbenga? Yeeeouch! Mihm's missed over 2 years now, even if he is healthy, will he have the stamina to play say 15 minutes/game EVERY GAME this season? This is literally our achilles heel...
Kwame wasn't worth $4m/year though... he MIGHT be to Detroit but not us... I simply can't believe there isn't ONE guy who's 7 ft tall, athletic, young, who screwed up, had bad grades or whatever who ended up playing for some junior college somewhere that we or any other team in the league couldn't bring in and groom to be a solid backup. I just don't understand this. Surely there's 5 or 10 of these guys across the nation... SOMEWHERE... I mean... Mark Eaton was discovered at a gas station for crying out loud... these guys are SEVEN FEET TALL how could anybody NOT notice them? Surely some enterprising person would send an email to SOMEBODY saying hey, the dude is SEVEN FEET TALL why don't you check him out? Ever heard of the internet? Geez!
Posted by: Chrissy My Calves are thin and long Mihmmus | July 29, 2008 at 11:20 AM
5.8 Chino Hills
Posted by: giantsquid | July 29, 2008 at 11:49 AM
I think that somebody in the lakers organization favors average or below average white players,the only player that was white and good was Pau Gasol ,but they passe up shawn Marion and a host of others until he was available as we speak we have 5 players that cannot get an contract anywhere in the NBA Luke Walton ,Sasha, Rad,Chris Mims and Coby Carl ,need I say more......but I will ,when Fisher asked for 5 million dollars after he helped them win three championships they said no and sent him packing,and as we speak he only gets around three million and we all know that he had a lot to do with us getting to the finals,I bet you that we wont see a trade of Lamar until they find a white player to take his place.Thers something afoul in the lakers Org.
Posted by: joanne | July 29, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Mother nature visited upon us today! Y'all alright?
Posted by: utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER | July 29, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Joanne
Seek medical attention immediately
Posted by: giantsquid | July 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Cool here at Sherman Oaks... Everybody?
Posted by: Charles | July 29, 2008 at 12:01 PM
BK,
>>>>>Personally, I think he'll opt out, if only to get into a new deal a year earlier,
>>>>>but he won't go anywhere. Just my thoughts.
I agree with you, Brian. I actually think Kobe will opt out and re-sign with the Lakers in a more cap-friendly deal, maybe 7 years at $20M each to insure Kobe will retire as a Laker for Life. This seems like where we’re heading what with everything that is going on in the association such as Agent Zero giving back $15M, etc.
I also think that the Lakers definitely do not want to finish next year with their best two players – Kobe and Drew – unsigned. Drew, by the rules, must be signed before October 31, which I expect to happen, and Kobe can sign a new deal any time during next season, which I also expect to happen. What do you think?
Thanks.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 29, 2008 at 12:07 PM
It really endears me to a player when he'll take less money to keep him where his heart's at for the benefit of the team.
Good job, Sasha. Thanks.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 12:09 PM
I hope everyone is ok after that one. Here in Northridge, it was relatively strong and we're 60 miles away.
Posted by: puddle | July 29, 2008 at 12:10 PM
It's got to be over 6.0 for it to be newsworthy. I find it kind of hilarious that MSNBC and CNN are making such a huge deal about this.
It doesn't get interesting until its 6.2 or greater.
Welcome to L.A., Sasha!
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Joanne -
I second Giantsquid's advice.
Posted by: puddle | July 29, 2008 at 12:14 PM
puddle,
That wasn’t an earthquake. It was just Mike T. leaving the Lakers Blog. LOL. Seriously, hope everybody is OK down there. Remember our last big one up here. Pretty scary when it happens. At least we don’t get hurricanes.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 29, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Everyone living in the LA area... Are u ok??
Sorry to hear...
Posted by: cdub0512 | July 29, 2008 at 12:18 PM
OK here in North Hollywood. Got to agree 5.8 is just moderate and reminds me of the cow commercial as a foot massage. LOL
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | July 29, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Joanne,
Interesting comments.
Posted by: troy | July 29, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Earthquake? What earthquake? Didn't even feel it in LA.
Posted by: Very Nearly the Absolute Truth | July 29, 2008 at 12:32 PM
joanne,
" think that somebody in the lakers organization favors average or below average white players,"
That's why they gave Kwame a 9M extension, and Brian Cook a 3M extension, and didn't try to keep Slava Medvedenko.
Oops, those first two are black, aren't they!! Darn it, I hate it when facts get in the way of made-up controversies!!
Posted by: exhelodrvr | July 29, 2008 at 12:35 PM
everything is okay here in Ontario...........shook pretty good tho'
Posted by: toad | July 29, 2008 at 12:40 PM
I seem to see a few people worrying about lacking a surefire big-man backup. Maybe it's just me, but I think the worries a little unfounded. I'd like to get another big - what team wouldn't? - but here's my thinking...
If you play Bynum 30 MPG at the C, Gasol 15 and Mihm/Mbenga 3, there's 48 minutes of Center play.
Play Gasol 25 MPG at the PF and Odom 23, there's 48 minutes of PF play. (Vlad can sub in here if necessary, although not preferable)
Play Odom 18 MPG as a SF, Ariza 20 and Luke/Vlad 10, there's 48 minutes of SF play. (Kobe and Sasha can also sub in here)
Play Kobe 36 MPG at the SG, Sasha 12, there's 48 minutes of SG play.
And Fisher and Farmar split at the PG spot. (Even Lamar, Sasha or Kobe could run it for short bursts if necessary)
Even if you've got 1, 2, or even 3 guys injured (supposing it's not all at the same position), we have the depth to make it all work. This team is versatile and can play multiple positions. I think we're ok even if we don't get another big, as nice as it would be.
Posted by: puddle | July 29, 2008 at 12:44 PM
arghh pretty strong in Burbank but everything seems to be A-okay
Posted by: bobie | July 29, 2008 at 12:44 PM
That thing gave me some semi-serious motion sickness for a minute! Note to self: KEEP TUMS/PEPTO AT MY DESK AT ALL TIMES!!!
Posted by: utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER | July 29, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Had to resign Sasha.
Every combination with our second two best players in the frontcourt (but who can't shoot from distance) involves Kobe going to small forward when Bynum or Gasol rest and that will bring in two deadly shooters in with Odom and one of the big guys at center. That will let us rest our front court line-up for 3/5 of the starters by bringing in Sasha, and then of coarse we need Sasha for when Kobe goes out. That’s 4/5 of the resting of the starting rotation that Sasha can cover without showing any weakness. That and with Fisher and Farmar switching off at point, and you can see how we have an extremely strong team (much more than just last year) with seven of our most solid players rotating. That was our biggest problem last year, our bench mob, got wrecked against the elite teams of the league. Of course over the season we’ll need Carl, Mihm, Luke, etc. to cover the grind of the season and garbage time. If you look at it this way, you don't have to whine about Luke's and Vlad's contracts at all because they are completely immaterial to the playoffs and pretty good filler players.
If everyone stays healthy, we will no longer have to watch the bench mob get spanked against the top teams, but rotate the front court starters one at a time in the playoffs. That means Sasha is critical. Then if we can get Ariza as a lock down defender, we have a great team without any more additions. Of coarse, that’s if everyone stays healthy, so we can use an additional front court addition who has a jump shot, defense, and that can play both power or strong forward. That can be Artest next year (“trade” Vlad to Siberia if he doesn’t shape up to make the money work next year with all of those rubles from oil money). This year we get the oldest forward who still has any game let we can get. Until we get a solid small forward, Sasha will be the huge sixth man. If we get a solid small forward, we have an awesome Lamar, Sasha combination as the 6th and 7th options. That's what that rumbling from Chino was!
Posted by: Laker Justice | July 29, 2008 at 12:50 PM
I can't believe I couldn't even feel the earthquake here in Cleveland.
Sign Quinton Ross!
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Horry a possible Lakers?
http://www.herald-zeitung.com/
story.lasso?ewcd=
98e268472e1893a0&-session=
HeraldZeitung:4593569811a74395B4xnp1199EE2
Lakers better not even consider it.......
Posted by: richtown | July 29, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Chuck's conclusion at the end that neither player will let the feud end is completely unsupported. All he needs to do is reread his own article. Between these two punchers, only one big fella is still punching. If it were both he might have some ammo post 2003.
Posted by: jandro | July 29, 2008 at 12:58 PM
oK, well that was fun, it felt pretty big in the Woodland Hills area.
I'm glad Sasha is back, now I can make a "Got Sasha" t-shirt and wear it to a game.
Posted by: Elle | July 29, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Hey fam - all ok here in Lake(r) Forest - lol!
Posted by: justanothermambafan | July 29, 2008 at 01:00 PM
I sincerely hope that everyone is OK down there.
Now comes the ensuing Nobama statement:
"I believe, and I do believe that we believe, that, uh, earthquakes, particularly those occuring in Southern California, and, uh, more to the point, those occuring in San Francisco or the East Bay, and let me be clear about this, without a shred of doubt, uh, are, uh, the direct, if not, uh, the indirect result of misguided, uh, anti terrorism and environmental policies, uh, of the McCain/Bush administration which are changing the climate. Can we stop these earthquakes? Yes, we can! I love L.A.. Do ya feel me?"
Sonnybelfast
Posted by: Sonnybelfast | July 29, 2008 at 01:03 PM
Puddle,
So, in the scenario above, you have Gasol playing 40 minutes each night? Not out of the question, of course, but it'd be nice to see him logging more time at PF than an C next year.
Let's not forget that Mbenga (assuming he gets signed) will have an entire summer of working with the Captain. I'm betting that in one focused off-season Mbenga can become more effective than Kwame has ever been (or will be). Bear in mind, I'm not a Kwame hater. But when you watch highlights of a player that are four minutes long, and those highlights include the same several sequences repeated throughout multiple times, what can you say?
By the way, I'm waiting for Mike T. to post that he saw that earthquake coming... in fact, he was JUST about to post about it.
Go Lake Show!
Posted by: The Outlaw | July 29, 2008 at 01:03 PM
nobama??
you're an idiot.
Posted by: jandro | July 29, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Another passive aggressive politicized interjection: Brought to you by your favorite northern California troll, Sonnybelfast.
Hope all are well in the homeland. Didn't feel it in Phoenix.
Fatty, How about you? Flag still OK?
Phoenix, AZ: We might not have the water or the movie stars, but you can count on never worrying about a natural disaster.
Posted by: "Pig" Miller | July 29, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Outlaw -
Those are just rough estimate numbers. It could be closer to 38, but in any case, I think Phil is going to end up playing Kobe, Odom and Gasol around 40 MPG and Bynum around 30. If they get a little less, then that's ok. I don't mind seeing Sasha, Ariza or even Vlad and Luke playing a more minutes than I gave them here.
I know I'm in the minority here, and I'm ok with it, but I like Pau actually more at the Center position. Most people think we have 2 PF (Gasol and Odom). I happen to think we have two C (Gasol and Bynum).
In any case, my goal wasn't to predict how many minutes they'd be playing, only to show that we have the versatility to do well even without signing another big man, especially in today's smaller, quicker NBA.
Posted by: puddle | July 29, 2008 at 01:14 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=
ford_chad&page=FreeAgents-080629
Sign Quinton Ross and Shaun Livingston!
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 01:24 PM
Signing Alonzo Mourning would also solve the problems of the "Kwame in a Pistons Uniform" vacuum that has been created.
He'd also offer tremendous veteran leadership and serve as another valuable mentor to Andrew Bynum.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 01:26 PM
Cook and Kwame Brown were traded because they weren't performing well,when are they going to trade Luke,Rad,Chris,Coby or Sasha if they don't perform and why don't they extend Bynum or are they trying to wait and see if he is 100% even though they took Chris at 10% . And even thoug Kwame or Cook did'nt live up to expectations ,they were tradeable I said tradeable white players ,why is it everytime someone hints that something seems racisit they need to seek medical attention,maybe everybody who thought they saw game 6 of the finals and watched our team disgraced in front of the world needs to seek medical help also,thanks to Luke ,Rad, Chris,Coby ,sometimes Sasha but he was in a contract year and had to show up,and Lamar Odom who is still on the team awaiting a white player.Prove me wrong.
Posted by: joanne | July 29, 2008 at 01:41 PM
SoCal fans, hope all's well in light of the 5.4 moment magnitude. Here in the Southbay it was a nice swaying sensation for about 40 seconds or so.
Posted by: Rollo | July 29, 2008 at 01:43 PM
Meanwhile, McCain will refute the notion that this was an earthquake and instead, put the blame on some super-secretive weapon launched from a bunker in Iraq designed to simulate the appearance of a quake. He then will go on to recommend that Bush should release another surge in US troops in Iraq to weed out the insurgents from their bunkers.
I Heart You, Sonny! :o)
Posted by: utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER | July 29, 2008 at 01:45 PM
You're lucky Jon K. you are too far from the epicenter there in Cleveland. No damages here that much except rattled nerves for new residents of SoCal and another drill for longtimed residents in preparation for the big one, I hope it doesn't come in my lifetime.
Sasha BLINKED when he heard that the ante was increased to 5M a year and three million from previous offer. He already got the Lakers cornered with only two pawns protecting the King, Sasha could have mounted a Hollywood act of bidding goodbye like Biedrins for another week, he could have increased it to one more year or 4 years which is still halfway from what he was asking. Mr. Pelinka is not a LA lawyer engaged in Auto Accidents, he yielded too quickly to the offer made by a nervous Cupcake being attacked by media, blog and the Lazenby's short story. The results were OK, they don't have to deny or tell who among the euro team approach them, it could be the HS team of Sasha in Slovenia asking for more donation. LOL!
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 29, 2008 at 01:58 PM
I wouldn't mind picking up Robert Horry. It's a good situation because we don't need him to actually play much but I bet he would be a good coach, showing some of the guys some dirty tricks and a good championship presence to have on the team. If we're lucky, we wouldn't have to pick him up until midseason anyway...
I have no friggin clue what you guys see in Mbenga. Honesty... I just... don't... get it... he can work with Kareem 24/7 until training camp and what'll that get you? Not even Kwame Brown level effectiveness... though, I must admit, I hope Mbenga plays against Yao Ming just for the sheer entertainment value. I wonder if Ming will just grab the ball out of the air with one hand instead of merely blocking Mbenga's shot...
Posted by: Chrissy My Calves are thin and long Mihmmus | July 29, 2008 at 02:00 PM
Don't get me wrong; the short rotation should only be used in the playoffs for the elite teams packed with good players where they will be doing the same. But our team is all <=30 (with exception of Fish who can do a 50/50 with Farmar) and can still be run hard.
When we are playing Denver in the first round, we can counter their garbage with our garbage and still beat them (Luke looked like a hero). But against the leprocons (and would've had the same problem with Detroit) they just switched out their best players, and we had Ronny and Luke, etc. with one starter in there getting pounded against Garnett and Allen, and then we got behind, and the youth showed and we just lost focus.
I think actually the short rotation is MK idea and PJ seems to favor more having two squads (which I agree with for the regular season). Problem is, against the elite teams, we can't be putting out our second stringers against superstars. Last year we really didn’t have that option. With the addition of Bynum and resigning of Sasha, we now have the option of sliding Kobe to forward and having last years A squad as our new B squad. The C squad is now the bench mob (last years B squad) and will be used against the B and C teams. And to the delight of most on this board, the biggest advantage is that Vlad goes from the A squad to the C squad and Luke from the B squad to the C squad . . .which is the next best thing to Siberia.
Posted by: Laker Justice | July 29, 2008 at 02:03 PM
Sasha said about his agent: "We just had different ways. We didn't have the same language."
Faith, you better learn how to speak Slovenian.
Posted by: Edwin Gueco | July 29, 2008 at 02:03 PM
LOL Laker Tom
Posted by: drew | July 29, 2008 at 02:12 PM
I hope everyone is ok.
Posted by: Faith | July 29, 2008 at 02:14 PM
As far as I can tell, there is a belief out there that most lower tier NBA players are white (either because owners are racists, which is crazy, or because owners think it's important to their bottom line to have white players on their teams).
I decided to use PER (an imperfect metric but useful in this case) to determine whether there is any truth to this that can be easily discerned.
Results:
Of the top 100 players (as determined by PER), 18 were white and one was Asian.
Of the bottom 100 players, 18 were white.
There were a total of 324 players assessed (I only looked at qualified players - over 6.09 min per game - once I saw that Jerome James had by far the best PER in the league if unqualified players were included. Something is just not right with that).
Where is the bias?
Posted by: giantsquid | July 29, 2008 at 02:18 PM
The Outlaw,
Is Mbenga spending the entire summer working with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar?
Andrew and Brian Kamenetsky, please confirm this if it is true.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | July 29, 2008 at 02:20 PM
Looks like the fam in Southern Cali is good. Nice to hear...
Posted by: Charles | July 29, 2008 at 02:20 PM
Puddle and the Outlaw,
The math regarding the playing time at the 4 and 5 is really pretty simple. 2 positions times 48 minutes per position means we have 96 minutes to cover. Divide that between 3 players – Drew, Pau, and Lamar – and you have maybe a better way to utilize the 3 players than the Triple Towers. This way, we always have 2 starter quality players at center and power forward and Drew or Lamar on the floor to control the boards. Mihm and Mbenga get the mop up times.
On another note you guys raised, I would specifically have Kareem and Drew work with and explain to Chris and DJ how to block shots and avoid fouls. The fact that Drew “got” what Kareem was trying to teach would enable him to help his other teammates playing center to do the same. We are not talking about a Hall of Famer trying to explain something to a younger player that is some esoteric theory. In fact, Lamar, Trevor, and everybody on the team could benefit from learning how not to foul guys going to the rim and instead block their shot. Great point.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | July 29, 2008 at 02:26 PM
Utz,
N'Obama or McStrain,
That about sizes it up. Pretty pathetic isn't it?
Piggy for Pres!
Sonnybelfast
Posted by: Sonnybelfast | July 29, 2008 at 02:44 PM