Swimming in cash

Dude, if I had $111 million dollars, I'd totally get a bunch of fish tanks.

One of which would be filled with pirana whom I'd feed a "troll only" diet.

GO LAKERS!

You could film a low budget Dr. Dre video there.

DEREK,

Probably more expensive than feeding would be cleaning those tanks. Have you ever had a nice salt water tank before? They're great, but they're a pain in the ass to keep clean.

GO LAKERS!

ok returned from camping at disclosed private area. i rested from stressors of former ceo spokesperson los angeles lakers times blogs. since i resign last week from position several have contact me to return to leadership position. i am still thinking my move and will get back shortly. in mean time i see kwame signature with pistons artest trade to houston. does that mean we will resignature didier benga. i think we can resignature for cheap. i could also offer free buffet to him when plays in atlanta hawks game. one free buffet for him rest of lakers half discuount. ok let me know.
i also notice this blog page has become too slow. if i return to spokesperson position i will fix.

ding how in prattville

"Houston...You've got a problem"

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/1119412.html

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/1119339.html

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/1119420.html

Sonnybelfast

troy,

I don't think your post was cool at all. From what I've heard Gilbert Arenas (unlike LeBron James) is actually a pretty decent human being.

GO LAKERS!

After his new contract, I would estimate that Arenas has a net worth of about $35M (his new contract plus what he may be worth now). He does not seem to be a compulsive gambler like Barkley so that's good.

However spending 1.5 M on fish tanks would be the equivalent of a guy with a net worth of $350,000 spending $15,000 on fish tanks. I don't think any financial advisor would consider that a smart move.

Hey Charles.

His or mine?

Charles.

No sweat.

Pig,

There's a reason why Troy gets a nod of respect from Let's Go C's!

GO LAKERS!

I don't know if I'm going to post here anymore. Just coming to the LAT Lakers Blog site freezes up my browser for a good 30 - 45 seconds and I can't change to another window because THE WHOLE COMPUTER goes into lockdown so I have a blank screen during this time. God forbid I have to trade a stock or do something else during that time... see ya...

It seems like everyone is preoccupied with how we should make the Lakers into a team designed to beat the Celtics. That's the wrong idea. You create a team to play the strategy you put forth, and make other teams beat you.

The Lakers went to the freaking Finals.

No need to trade, or sign, anyone of significance. Just sit back and enjoy the ride boys and girls.

Jon K.

My point is that it's difficult for young men, especially black men, to flaunt alot of money, have parties given to you by P. Diddy, by arrogant and really "out there", and not eventually attract an opportunistic woman with an agenda.

I use Kobe as an example. Perfect gentlemen, but he got stuck in his own limelight and it cost him (still is).

Don't you agree?

Pig Man,

You Fakers better design a team to beat the C's. I'd luv to beat you all down AGAIN next season.

"To of the world!" KG

I have no problems with 3-C's or anybody on this blog.

He balances out the cheerleaders who only want to see things one way.

On this blog, you have your cheerleaders, who will never criticize anything about the Lakers; you have your anti-Lakers bloggers, who hate the Lakers and seek to criticize their short comings at every turn; and you have your analyst bloggers (like me and a few others) who see the good and the bad of the Lakers and offer insightful comments on their progress/regression.

A nice balance is what makes this blog so dynamic and entertaining.

>>>No need to trade, or sign, anyone of significance. Just sit
>>> back and enjoy the ride boys and girls.

I'll reiterate. That's fine for one year. Consider next summer.
Looking at salaries for 2009-10, you have:

Kobe - 23 million
Pau - 16.5 million

Bynum - ?
Odom - ?

Rad - 6.5 million
Sasha - 5 million
Fish - 5 million
Luke - 4.9 million
Farmar - 2 million

If you're keeping score, that's about 62 million for the 7
players we know about. Assume the luxury tax will be
in the neighborhood of 70 million.

So either one of Odom or Bynum's extensions will put the
Lakers into luxury tax. If each of them extends for contracts
starting around12 million, that makes it 86 million for 9
players. And that doesn't count money paid to re-sign
Ariza, Mihm, Sun Yue, or to sign anyone else.

And note that Bynum's agent is currently running his
mouth off insisting that Bynum should get a max contract.
Not to mention that Odom may not be as easy-going as I
assume in that 12 million dollar offer.

Even if you get 4 other players at minimum contracts,
you're talking about 90 million in salaries and around 20
million in luxury tax. With that much salary and luxury
tax, the Lakers would lose money even if they won the
championship every year (and thus got revenues from the
extra playoff games).

So which of the following do you choose to believe:

1. Jerry Buss will let the team lose money for several years
in a row in order to keep the current core of players together.

2. Lamar Odom will accept less than 10 million per year
for his extension

3. Andrew Bynum will accept less than 10 million per year
for his extension

4. Kobe will opt out of his contract and re-sign for a contract
that starts at 8 to 10 million less (i.e. 15 to 17 million).

5. The Lakers get rid of either Odom, Bynum, or Gasol before
the 2009-10 season.

Which is it?

I know it's nice to go the garden path and say that doesn't
matter and we should just pay attention to this season,
but the truth of the matter is that it is much easier to
fix the salary problems for 2009-10 if they start now, unless
the solution is just to not even try to re-sign Lamar Odom
and let him leave for the cap space to afford Bynum.

1.5 million dollars is still cheaper than SHAQ's whore.

And who’s to say you can’t move a mountain??? For 500K we’ll even put it in your backyard!

The Lakers still have that one roster spot to fill.That spot is for a big body...I would like to see Mitch wait for the games to get under way before signing a player like Traylor...The last Olympics uncovered some good talent so why not wait and see how the games go ...

My 2 cents

You should take off some of the new stuff you added, blog takes forever to load now.

Thanks for the info LTLF.

There's going to have to be some compromise from Jerry Buss, Kobe, and Bynum to get it done.

It looks like Lamar going to have to go. Sad but true. We need to get someone for him if this experiment doesn't work. But if the triple tower deal does work, we have to keep him and get nothing back for him.

Or, maybe we keep him and he has a terrible year statistically. But the team is dominant. Then maybe we could convince him to sign for less. That would be the best case scenario in my opinion. haha

I read today that the Lakers are giving a try out to tractor Traylor. Hey if we sign him he can give some really good tax advise to our young guys.

MH

I don't like this DIGG shite. Or this google ad dreck. K's, I know it's not your bailiwick, but I figure that I should speak up here and now before this damn blog turns into some kind of nascar vehicle equivalent site like yahoo!

troy, that one went in the greatest hits file. as in, I can't believe this blog attracts d-bags this big file.

there. That's me being cheerful today.

oh, wait.

There twas once bloghead named C's
who had some strange new disease
what came out of his mouth
oft originated farther south
So he spent all his time on his knees.

that's terrible, but it took all of 22 seconds, so I could feel worse.

Kbros,

I have the exact same problem. Waiting for LA Times Lakers Blog while nothing happens and I time out. Better talk to the tech guys because the media guys have loaded so much crap on the page it is choking and freezing. I’ve just quit several times because of it. And trying to keep separate tabs for each thread really screws you. The Times needs to put some money into the blog rather than just loading it up with click opportunities. Totally crass.

Tom

Long Time,

>>>>>1. Jerry Buss will let the team lose money for several years
>>>>>in a row in order to keep the current core of players together.

1. Jerry Buss will let the team earn less money for a few years in a row
in order to keep the current core of players together.

>>>>>2. Lamar Odom will accept less than 10 million per year
>>>>>for his extension.

2. Lamar Odom will accept less than 12 million per year for his new contract.

>>>>>3. Andrew Bynum will accept less than 10 million per year
>>>>>for his extension.

3. Andrew Bynum will accept less than 12 million per year for his extension.

>>>>>4. Kobe will opt out of his contract and re-sign for a contract
>>>>>that starts at 8 to 10 million less (i.e. 15 to 17 million).

4. Kobe will opt out of his contract and re-sign a new contract
for $140M for 7 years that starts at $18M.

>>>>>5. The Lakers get rid of either Odom, Bynum, or Gasol before
>>>>>the 2009-10 season.

5. The Lakers trade Lamar Odom for two lesser paid players, one of whom
has an expiring contract to reduce salary.

>>>>>Which is it?

1 thru 4, naturally. :-)

Tom

Benjamin,

>>>>>I don't think I'll ever understand the blind devotion to a super talented,
>>>>>incredibly built player that is such an incredible underachiever and
>>>>>represents the worst of laziness and lifestyle-pursuers that is far too
>>>>>much of the NBA – About Lamar Odom.

I would have thought you were talking about Kwame Brown and not Lamar Odom had this been an isolated quote not one taken out of your Odom post. The “worst of laziness and lifestyle-pursuers?” While I sure am not one to criticize anybody for hyperbole and exaggeration, I respectfully think you’ve gone way over the top on this one. You’ve take the perfect description of Kwame Brown, who is a wimp, and applied it undeservedly to Lamar Odom, who was nothing less than a true warrior for the Lakers this year.

Lamar Odom may not have a top scorers’ mentality. Pau Gasol may not be the toughest guy on the block. Jordan Farmar may be too small and light. Vlade Radmanovic may not do anything but bury 3’s. Sasha may not have the best shot selection. But to keep painting these same guys who almost won us a championship as losers to be traded is a severe overreaction to the Celtics beating the Lakers without their starting center and 2nd best player. Give the Lakers front office a little trust for the great job they have done.

Now it’s the news that Ron Artest is going to Houston that has the Chicken Little Gang all in uproar because we “could” have traded Lamar to get Artest, who people forgot was apparently not wanted that badly by anybody but the Rockets – including the Lakers, who felt that for now Lamar Odom was a more valuable piece of the team’s puzzle. Why? Because he is a better all around player than Artest in every way but 1-on-1 defense, at which Lamar is no slouch, or did you not remember him shutting down Boozer.

I can understand why bloggers might be concerned about whether Lamar could play small forward or whether the triple towers would work. Or prefer to have Ron Artest, Shane Battier, or Josh Smith instead of him. But to paint Lamar Odom with the same brush as Kwame Brown is patently unfair and an insult to Lamar, one of the elite rebounders in the league and a player without whom the Lakers would never have reached the NBA Finals.

You know how much I respect your opinion so please don’t feel I am singling you out. I am really addressing this to all of those fans who keep painting good players in simplistic black and white when the reality of all these players and what they contribute is really complex gray – and far more good than bad. What happened to patience, common sense, appreciation, and loyalty. You would think all of you were Clipper fans rather than Laker fans.

And you complain about me talking about how great Andrew Bynum is going to be next year – when none of you will remember wanting to trade Lamar at this time next year. Instead, you’ll be celebrating a championship and the new cap-friendly contract that Lamar Odom just signed to be a Laker for Life.

Stop the Chicken Little stuff and appreciate how damn lucky we are. Please.

Tom