I mean you can say, hey lets rid LO for Artest, but working a new player into the offense always takes time. LO's worth to us might be more than his worth to another team. Plus if he plays full strength we might appreciate his calm and cool more than an Artest or an Anderson. Question is how much longer can we expect Odom to last? As for Ariza we gotta keep him.

BK,

>>> Personally, I'd keep last year's team intact. I'm not a fan of how Kidd fits in,
>>> didn't want Artest last year either, and think Gordon's high volume shooting
>>> doesn't work with LA. (Plus, and this is a fairly significant point, my
>>> understanding is the Lakers have a decent two guard already.) Marion is an
>>> intriguing name, but only if he came with a time machine. Last year's version
>>> in Miami/Toronto didn't play all that well but did manage to continue to cement
>>> his reputation as a malcontent. Why bring that into a well-functioning locker room?

I second the above. Nothing more to say. When you consider chemistry and potential, Lamar and Trevor are the answer. We don’t need any ring-grubbing over-the-hill players from other teams looking for a free ride on our championship bandwagon. JMO.

Tom

I think marion proved a lot of people right in that Nash made him look better than what he actually was.

The lakers are a perfect example of "Dance with the one that brought you to the ball" the team won 65 games with and injured bynum, farmar, plus kobes crooked figures. Not to mention a non existant Sasha. I expect all of those guys to be better next year including kobe. No one on the list is worth losing Ariza and/or LO

I don't want those other stinkin' free agents just give me my Trevor & Lamar (& Shannon too please).

Seriously, we need them back to repeat. Plus if Trevor goes there goes our defense.

I expect some LOSER team to overbid, for Trevor especially, giving the Lakers a tough choice to match it or let him go. But I do have faith that Mitch will do the right thing.

Go World Champion Lakers!!!
(Man, that has such a great sound to it!)

LakersNYCRep -

You'd think by now, after this Finals run and after the Rockets series, how valuable LO is to this Lakers team and how wrong it'd be to put Ron Artest on this Lakers team.

Ron is a good player, but the guy chucks too much and thinks that by taking over offensively, he'll save the day, when instead, he ends up usually dooming his team.

No thanks, but I'd take LO over Artest any day.

You'd think by now these Artest for LO talks would be over by now.

ARTEST WILL NEVER PLAY FOR THE LAKERS.

Ron Artest for Odom. More consistent game to game and during the course of the game. Better outside shot as well.

TA and LO. Of that list, I would take Shawn Marion if we failed to get either one of those guys. He's versatile player.

But TA and LO are the priority.

Nah...

My vote is to keep the same group of guys together, barring something crazy being offered like a Chris Bosh in a sign and trade for a package involving LO and other lesser players, DP, cash, etc. or some other.

The thing is, even though they won the championship, we still haven't seen how good this Laker team can be since both times in the last two seasons just as Andrew Bynum gets rolling a freak injury happens to stifle it. Sasha couldn't of had a worse past season that I don't expect to happen again, and Shannon Brown shows great promise.

So if Farmar is truly repentant there's really no reason not to try and simply keep the same team together IMHO.

Here's my ranking for what i'd wanna see

i. Odom + Ariza
ii. Odom + Artest
iii. Ariza + Artest
iv. just Artest
v. just Odom
vi. just Hedo Turkoglu
vii. just Ariza

Or to summarize in a few words ... bring everybody back but if that ain't possible then go after artest

And oh if kwame Brown is willing to take the minimum, I say we dump mbenga and bring him back ... then again there's that little thing called team chemisty

*
WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING FREE AGENTS
KEEP L.O. AND ARIZA - BANDWAGON
*
(01) TONY RALI - OWNER - We Don't need no mercenary signings
(02) LAKERS NYC REP - DRIVER
(03) MAMBA24 - RIDING SHOTGN - Resign Our Own.
(04) JON K-If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(05) Tiffany - We *won* a championship with LO and TA

can I have that Kobe Bryant guy, it seems he has a player option..

And, Mamba, put me on that Bandwagon, too.

Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown. Those are the guys I want. We have every reason to believe with this same group of guys this team will be even better next year.

LG

*
WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING FREE AGENTS
KEEP L.O. AND ARIZA - BANDWAGON
*
(01) BK – OWNER - Personally, I'd keep last year's team intact
(02) TONY RALI – CO/OWNER - We Don't need no mercenary signings
(03) LAKERS NYC REP – DRIVER
(04) #4 -TA and LO are the priority it is of utmost importance to resign LO and Ariza
(05) MAMBA24 - RIDING SHOTGN - Resign Our Own.
(06) KBBLITZ - Fisher-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Gasol. Bynum will start no doubt but Odom will get tons minutes.
(07) LEONARD BAST - it's essential that we retain Trevor and Lamar
(08) RICHTOWN - No one on the list is worth losing Ariza and/or LO.
(09) FATSAM - LO and TA. When they were mentally right they destroyed the rest of the league last year, and they'll be mentally stronger next year after having seen what it takes to get it done.
(10) LAZNirv - don't want those other stinkin' free agents just give me my Trevor & Lamar (& Shannon too please).
(11) TEAMN - would not replace either for anyone on the list.
(12) JON K-If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(13) PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD - You'd think by now, after this Finals run and after the Rockets series, how valuable LO is to this Lakers team and how wrong it'd be to put Ron Artest on this Lakers team.
(14) Love The LAKE SHOW - My vote is to keep the same group of guys together, barring something crazy being offered like a Chris Bosh
(15) TALIQ - bring everybody back but if that ain't possible then go after artest
(16) MOLAKER - I'm all for bringing back LO and Trevor but I would like to see the backup point guard situation addressed
(17) LAKOFAN - can I have that Kobe Bryant guy, it seems he has a player option..
(18) LG - Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Shannon Brown. Those are the guys I want.
(19) utzworld THE BANNER HOLDER - Keep em both... ...but should we have to choose: Trevor. He's the future. We COULD bring Bill Bill in here, but that would be just...so...wrong.
(20) TIFFANY - We *won* a championship with LO and TA

STAY PUT!
Are we kidding? do we need new chemistry? It took us most of the season to learn to play defense together; that's why we won the Ring.

LO / TA irreplaceable

Shanon, Sasha, Farmar backing up DFish.

Mamba24 Sign me in

Ming Yao is rumored to miss all of next season and possibly more.

BK,

OK. Enough of this topic. It would have been smarter to run a poll to find that 99% of the blog would prefer to get Lamar and Trevor back and just say no to other team’s free agents. They would only reduce the funds we have to keep our existing players.

Might as well change this thread and talk about other people’s money to keep the hits coming. LOL. So here goes:

WHAT IS THE 1ST YEAR OVER/UNDER FOR SIGNING LAMAR AND TREVOR?

My guess is $10M for Lamar and $7M for Trevor, meaning that is the maximum I see the Lakers willing to pay as the starting salary for their new contracts. If a team offers more than that amount, the Lakers will NOT match. Unless Kobe then decides to opt out and reduce his salary. JK, you can ignore Kobe for this exercise. This should carry us over until Wednesday morning, when the free agency signing period commences.

So, what do you say is the over/under for the maximum 1st year salary that the Lakers would be willing to pay to Lamar and Trevor? Here are the options that would be great put into a poll so we could calculate what the blog-sync-think considers the over/under:

Lamar: $7M, $8M, $9M, $10M, $11M, or $12M?
Trevor: $5M, $6M, $7M, $8M, $9M, or $10M?

Tom

Keeping LO and Trevor is our priority. Shannon too.

Worst case scenario,if we were to lose both. Ben Gordon and Birdman could be interesting

Honestly I think jkidd can make andrew better, for evidence look @ dampier's stats this year and bynum is by far a better talent when healthy, even if they keep the team together they have a extra roster spot and kidd has always said he'd sign to la for the minimum, and even though it makes the team better it would hurt the other pgs

I have an idea. Lets pay Phil Jackson like a normal NBA head coach, say 7 million a year instead of the utterly ridiculous and unheard of 12 million a year. We do that and we have enough money right there to sign Ariza and Brown.

Wes

Keep TA at all costs and if needed replace LO with David Lee or Drew Gooden. I'm sorry but I could not exclude money from the equation, how could you?

exheldovr,

"The only reason for a team to consider Artest is if they are desperate, and willing to gamble for a relatively cheap contract. The Lakers do not fall into that category. Did any of you who are interested in him actually watch the series with Houston?"

Exactly.

I just don't get the obsession with Artest. He's a great player, but he's never going to win a Championship. I think that part should be clear to any person who follows the game.

What do we play for? RINGS!!!!

Lakers Today... Lakers Tomorrow... Lakers Forever.

GO LAKERS!!!!

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING FREE AGENTS
KEEP L.O. AND ARIZA - BANDWAGON
*
(01) BK – OWNER - Personally, I'd keep last year's team intact
(02) TONY RALI – CO/OWNER - We Don't need no mercenary signings
(03) LAKERS NYC REP - DRIVER
(04) MAMBA24 - RIDING SHOTGN - Resign Our Own.
(05) KBBLITZ - Fisher-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Gasol. Bynum will start no doubt but Odom will eat tons more minutes.
(06) LEONARD BAST - it's essential that we retain Trevor and Lamar
(07) RICHTOWN - No one on the list is worth losing Ariza and/or LO
(08) FATSAM - LO and TA. When they were mentally right they destroyed the rest of the league last year, and they'll be mentally stronger next year after having seen what it takes to get it done.
(09) LAZNirv - don't want those other stinkin' free agents just give me my Trevor & Lamar (& Shannon too please).
(10) TEAMN - would not replace either for anyone on the list. I wonder, however, who the Lakers go after if they cannot sign both. Would Boozer be affordable?
(11) JON K-If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(12) PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD - You'd think by now, after this Finals run and after the Rockets series, how valuable LO is to this Lakers team and how wrong it'd be to put Ron Artest on this Lakers team.
(13) Jamie Sweet - The only thing I'd replace TA and LO with is an incredible basket ball cyborg and a jedi knight

From Foxsports' Ben Mauler (sp):

Knicks Nate Robinson to Lakers, Kings?
According to one league source, the Lakers inquired about Nate Robinson's availability after his 33-point performance at the Staples Center on Dec. 16. Kobe Bryant has expressed adoration for Robinson and owner Jerry Buss was said to be smitten after that game. The Sacramento Kings also were close to a deal for Robinson and Jeffries before the trade deadline and there are indications that the deal could still take place this summer. -- Newsday .....Ben's Take: The Lakers haven't had a point guard since Derek Fisher was much younger. Robinson doesn't play any defense but he can score with any guard in the west.

This is old news, but a man starving for Lakers' related junk will take what he can get.

I woould love to get Nate. Problem is, Nicks want expiring contracts or future cheap building blocks. We can give them Morrison's 5 million deal, but we don't have that other piece they need, because the don't want Farmar. Or do they? He seems like a nice fit for D'Antoni's system.

I say we get that 6-10 Chin guy playing and averaging a double double then we package him with Morrison for Nate.

Or, maybe not.

Wes

I wouldn't take any of them scrubs for LO and TA. We've got our team, let the others scramble.