Good post BK, thanks for the updates.

Ron strikes me as the yin to Kobe's yang. Kobe is calculated and ever conscious of maintaining his image. Ron is enigmatic, unpredictable and shockingly forthcoming. Kobe is about precision and out-thinking the opponent. Ron plays off the cuff and overpowers opponents. But together they're fiery competitors who work hard and want desperately to win.

I'm starting to like Ron "The Billdog" Artest more and more.

Welcome T (thriller) - Dawg Ron!!

"The Billdog."

Now that's funny...

BK

it is interesting that Lakers always took risks compared to other teams. no pain, no risks, no game, no gain.

i just picked up a book "the politics of subversion". i feel that the lakers players r a little bland in interviews. fish represents the union, kobe is PC as the nba and nike person, gasol is too analytical and pedantic, TA was like dead, and odom shy. finally we have a very good player who will be interviewed almost daily, and even if he cares sometimes, has the freedom to throw ironical or sarcastic jabs and make people laugh. " if you can't live on 33 mil, you can't live".

i like this subversive touch that iRon brings especially that is backed up by work ethic and professionalism.

it's fanny that Californians who live in an earthquake region r worried about a Ron Artest outburst or technical. also a little comedy and drama is welcomed by Hooywood. a basketball movie with a more intricate subject is long overdue. and life will transcend reality in his case.

do players get any percentage from jersey and other items sold with their name?! iRon will become a great seller. and Dr. Buss knew that.

IN ARTEST WE TRUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LGL 2010 CHAMPS

Marion signed for 39/5 years @ 7.8 each

this year he was payed 17.9 MIL. it is correct. i consider Marion a bigger choker than LO. he totally disappears in the playoffs.

interestingly, he was also a Shaq-value exchange for Miami.

he took a loss of 10.1 mil just to play and 4 teams messed around to make it possible. Cuban made it possible.

proportionally to Marion and based on economy, the NBA market and the NEED for LO, LO will have to take a loss that will bring him down to 6.1 from 14. maybe the Marion trade with a huge loss in salary, compared to artest from only 7.4 to 6, will signal LO that this is an unlucky period in the NBA and his personal career to cash in.

at this moment, LO looks like the older ugly sister/bride who is refusing any prospective groom that is showing up. and when she decides that it is time to take anyone, there r no more visitors left.

Call me a rat because I'm about to be the first one off the Lamar ship.

I hope the Lakers haven't offered him over 6 million a year, because though he's talented, he's muy inconsistante. If we offered him 8 million a year and he's still holding out for more, he's dumb and reckless.

If he signs a one year deal to get more next year, I say we combine his expiring deal with Morrison's and bring in a player we can count on. How much money does the guy want, and how much smarter does Artest seem than Lamar right now. Maybe it's the lack of 10 pounds of peach gummy rings a day.

No, Artest has his head in the right place, Lamar needs to take his head out of his—ahem—and sign with LA.

Or leave for the same money we offered, just like his buddy Ariza. Don’t let the door and my foot hit you on the way out Lafarce Odom.

Wes

K Team,

Does the NBA allow teams like the Lakers to be creative in structuring contracts? Is it possible to back load a contract paying more towards the end of a contract to meet the requirements of a strong contributor like LO? Certainly, the Lakers will have more money available when contracts for players making less contribution expire.

Jim Mulry

You mean Yang to Kobe's Yin? Since Yang means hot, it tends fit better with Arest and Yin means more cold and calculated which fits Kobe more :-)

I apologize for being so relatively off-topic , but my access to the blog has been pretty spotty lately, and as a student and teacher of Shakespeare, I just couldn't let this one go.

Kobefan in Cupertino, where do you get off blasting Jon K for not including Cardenio and Love's Labor's Won in his 37 plays of Shakespeare?? Neither play exists today, and people can only guess at their contents, or if they ever existed in a performable state at all. There could have been many, many other plays of Shakespeare that have been lost, but you don't count those as part of the canon.

Two Noble Kinsmen has only very recently been widely accepted as being co-authored by Shakespeare, so the real, official number of extant Shakespeare plays in the canon is 38, but for most of history, 37 has been the correct number.

Just because you found a list somewhere on the internet doesn't mean you have to take it as an opportunity to assert your supposed intellectual dominance over someone else. I found your responses to Jon K.'s posting incredibly rude and pseudo-intellectual. You obviously have an imperfect understanding of the subject yourself, so where do you get off assailing Jon K.?

My access to the blog has been restricted somewhat because I am discovering that caring for two babies at once is much more than twice as hard as caring for one baby. The boys are a month old now and doing well... they will be just old enough to take to the parade next June.

In response to an earlier inquiry, I like Thriller for the Artest nickname. It would be tight to hear the first few chords over the sound system. Also, they could play Vincent Price's laugh at the end of introductions - that would be tight.

Peace to the whole Laker nation. Can we take some advice from the late Mr. Jackson and...

...start with the man in the mirror?
...be careful what you do?
...heal the world, make it a better place for you and me?

Five years could be an issue, I certainly hope not. My sense watching Artest this last few days and learning more about his history is that as long as things are going well (Lakers are winning , he is getting attention for playing his role, life in LA is all he expects), this will work. If times get tough, I think that is when Ron gets discontented about his pay, his role, Gasol's shoes, whatever.

Five years also ensures he will play multiple years with his next coach (I see Phil wanting to coach two more years if all goes well), and this makes selecting Phil's successor more difficult.

This also means we have bought the aging Ron Artest. This will change what Ron will have to learn from Phil and Kobe. As you age, you need different skills. Let's call them Luke Walton skills. Ron will have to become a smarter player, a better passer, better at positioning himself on the floor. These kind of skills helped Harper and Shaw and Fox stay productive as their athletic ability waned.

He certainly has the tools to do all these things, it just a matter of him buying into them. If he does, this will be a great deal.

Re the notion expressed in the one prior thread that Powell can replace Odom, well, when Powell comes close to being the player in the videos below, then kindly wake me for the end of our world, as that's what it'll be, apocalypse.

First video up, the early years, and kindly note the slam on Kobe starting around 1:12:

http://tinyurl.com/ma47wm

And see Lamar going end to end there, and so as Pat Riley understood, Lamar is the only soul who came into the league who could be Magic Johnson. And I don't know whether Lakers fans appreciate the matter or not, but the in-house match up would be:

Kareem - Bynum
Rambis - Gasol
Worthy - Artest
Magic - Odom
Scott - Kobe

Who would you put your money on, straight up? I can't say, but I'd dearly love to see Worthy versus Artest and Magic versus Lamar [the other three matchups have the potental for a gross abuse, so not so intriguing].

For the second and last highlight reel to demonstrate once and forever that Josh Powell will never be Lamar [and kindly note the move that Lamar puts on Yao starting at :38, and what was it Chick once said, something about the popcorn machine?]:

http://tinyurl.com/lmc28x.

As I said, when Powell does that, wake me for the end of our world. And sorry that some of you clearly don't remember the Lamar pre-Lakers era [see video 1 again]. And if you're looking for consistency, and at a high level, try Feb. 08. Or for the microcosm of the month, try Feb. 8, 08 at Cleveland. Now back to sleep for me, since Powell is never going to have a Feb. with 15, 6, 6, 17, 18, 19, 20, 7, 17, 14, 8, 9, 19 rebounds.

Re Plaschke’s article on Ron and Kobe clashing like Shaq and Kobe. I get his point – that both Shaq and Ron have some of the same qualities. However the biggest point Plaschke is missing – and probably the most important quality Kobe looks for – is the difference in their work ethic. Like the K Bros. have pointed out – there are legit concerns over Artest being able to co-exist, but Kobe seems a lot more likely to get along with those that work hard and do what it takes to win. I am not aware of anyone that has questioned Thriller 37s work ethic or indicated that he was a locker room “cancer”. So what he barked at the young PG’s in Houston…so what, I have seen Kobe bark at players on his team – even Pau – my choice for second best player on the team.

If this pairing of Ron with the core squad (including Odom) works well – watch out. Artest can take a load off of Kobe, defensively and offensively. Ron being surrounded by such a strong cast of players will mean teams cannot afford to focus on him like the Lakers did in this years playoffs – especially once Yao went down. The Lakers forced him to do things he was not capable of. Does anyone honestly see Kobe and Pau becoming the second or third option to Ron?

Can a team afford to double team Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Bynum and Artest? With Pau, Bynum and Odom behind him – he can be more aggressive on the perimeter. On the other end he can shoot the 3 well enough or take his man down on the block at times. I like the comparison with Rick Fox. I was never that big of a Fox fan, but he provided good tough defense and could knock down the three well enough to keep teams honest. I would say Artest is a better player than Fox overall and certainly more capable of handling guys like Melo or LBJ.

None of us know how this move will play out, but I like the gamble. I think Ron will fit in, the Lakers will win – win a lot – and Ron will be happy. Guys like Ron don’t like to lose and I would say some of his issues have been a result of being on teams that weren’t winning, with guys that don’t give it their all night in and night out. Reminds me of Kobe – Smush, Cook, Kwame – all guys that didn’t put it all on the line. Kobe seems to respect that Sasha works hard – he sucks – but he works hard. It seems to me that the Lakers have surrounded Kobe with dedicated workers – not always the best talent but guys that work hard. By all accounts Ron works hard so I say (as Mitch does too) give the guy a chance to work in with the group before passing judgment. And as for Plashke mentioning Kobe’s reference to this squad being different not better – it is as honest an assessment as you can get. It is different – the Kobe, Shaq, Malone, Payton team was great on paper but how did that work out for them? He has been there before and knows that what looks great on paper doesn’t always work out in reality. Kobe is looking for a challenge and this will be a new challenge – making adjustments to a system that worked this year for the championship. I, like some others on the blog like the “freshness” of this challenge – it pushes everyone outside the comfort zone of what worked and trying to find a new way to accomplish the same goal.

As John K always says “What do we play for? We play for rings!” Amen Brother. Amen.

Eagle Boy

i am ecstatic that we landed artest. his toughness and ability to create his own shot will be assets next season. not to mention, we finally have a legit tough guy we have been lacking since shaq and big shot rob left years ago...

yet i still feel pretty down about ariza heading to houston. poor kid looked like a lost soul in his houston press conference yesterday. as if he's asking himself, "how did it get to this point?"

i actually hope ariza improves his game (creating his own shot, dribbling), and has a great career...maybe he eventually fires lee and returns to staples...who knows?

check out the ariza press conference:
http://www.chron.com/common/special/07/templates/listpop.html?mcVideo=28890968001

props to ronron37 aka thrilla (please quit using thriller).

and best of luck to trevor.

it's all about tha show, c'mon lake show! get odom signed...

Props to Ron's agent Bauman.

"When we realized the Lakers spot was open and may not be open for much longer, we quickly came to a conclusion. My job as his agent is not just to get him the most money but the right fit. In this case, the right fit wasn't for the most money. I could have spent several weeks exploring sign and trade options with Houston. Once the Hedo (Turkoglu) situation went south with Portland it kind of re-invigorated those talks, but at the end of the day this was the right fit."

Mitch: "Maybe it's helpful for (Lamar) to see other players sign, and sign for whatever they signed for and maybe it's easier to see where you fit in with that group"

TODAY's Signings -
Marion 7.8 mil per year
Varejao: 7.1 mil per year (plus incentives)

Sorry Lamar - yes emotionally and for what you've meant to us you deserve 10 mil a year. But everything is worth only what the market will bear - just try and sell your house and you'll see what I mean. So I think in that light an offer of 7.5 mil a year is more than fair. Maybe 7.5 mil going to 8 mil if we win another Ring.

Pony up Jerry, accept it Lamar, and let's GET ER DONE!

While I think the big question with Artest will be the chemistry issues, there's one BIG incentive for him to be on his best behavior:

The Lakers just won a championship with Ariza. They'll be under a microscope all next season. If Artest messes things up, he'll forever have the reputation of the player who messed up a championship-caliber team and ruined Kobe's chance for a repeat (in the process PO'ing a billion Chinese fans).

Artest knows this--he may be crazy but he's crazy like a (Rick?) Fox. That doesn't mean he won't rack up Ts or get tossed out of the occasional game, but I doubt he'll do anything that will actually hurt the Lakers in the long run.

In a way, he'll be like Starbury for the Cs last year, who came in with the reputation as a cancer (some people here almost literally cackled when he joined) but played good soldier for them. Of course, Artest will be far more effective than Starbury, but the attitude will be the same. Maybe another example is 'Sheed joining the 03-04 Pistons, which spurned similar predictions of a meltdown. We all know how that turned out.

That being said, chemistry is more than a player just not melting down on the court. Last year's team had a team mentality (even if sometimes it was "As a team, we're not showing up today"). The biggest question is how Artest affects this.

We'll see.

Wes,

"Call me a rat because I'm about to be the first one off the Lamar ship. "

so be it ... effing rat ... now walk the plank or our swords strike u on the way out

The Odom watch continues ... we remain hopeful

First Griffin wears Lakers purple on draft night, now Ariza as a rocket and wearing Laker purple. I guess that is his way of saying his agent messed up and he would rather still be a Laker.

Eagle Boy.

Good Morning Charles....Good Morning Everybody....

well I am still wondering what Mitch's plan B is if indeed we can't get Lamar signed...

Millsap? Brandon Bass? Mitch has a challange ahead of him, the first part of course is signing Lamar, and if that doesn't happen, he needs to come up with a viable alternative with options that are rapidly shrinking daily...

I would think he is working on some trade senerios as well in the meantime...

Mitch has really stepped up and improved, becoming one of the leagues best GM's, hopefully he will continue that welcome trend...

I can't take much more of this waiting around--at least summer league is starting soon...

"floating down the stream of time, from life to life with me, makes no difference where you are, or where you'd like to be..."

"actually I'm a gynaecologist..but this is my lunchhour"

AS ALWAYS, AS EVER, YET ANOTHER GREAT DAY (AND CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON) TO BE A LAKER FAN !!!

GO LAKERS !!!

Ron Artest is not hoodalized but glamorized by his new home. He is the equivalent of loquacious and comedian Shaq. I'm not worried with Kobe and LO, it is the other Lakers like Bynum, Walton, Farmar and Vujacic and most probably Pau who have to accept RonRon. They are the finesse players who are not used to rough and tumble defense or aggressive offense. Here is another strong character teammate who could affect the dynamics of their games. With Kobe and Ron, there is no room for softness or lackadaisical type of games, it either kill or be killed their objective is to win, hobnob with celebrities. It is the maestro, PJ who will orchestrate the vacuum of the unknowns. We need LO to act as the shock absorber of Artest in his new team and new turf of personalities. Is this an improvement? Absolutely. This has been the dream of long time Laker fans who have been interned with scrubs and inconsistency over the years. We can't let PG's or good forwards to dominate the post, you have to pass Artest first, before you are fouled by Bynum. LOL!

Laker fan,

If you think your in salary-cap hell now ... just wait till you give Kobe his raise. The greatest playa in the history of the NBA is gonna want his. Something along the lines of 5 yrs @ 30mill. You now 24 isnt gonna give you a hometown discount. And to make things worse Pau who is making 17mill now will need a new contract. Its safe to say he is gonna want about the same or walk.

Kobe 30
Pau 15
Bynum 15
Dribble Dribble 7
LOL 7
Luke 6

Thats roughly 80mill and you still need 8 more players! 8 x 3(avg)= 24mill more for a total of 104. Which means your bench is gonna be just that ... a bench. If the estimate is correct that the luxury tax is gonna be at 65mill then ... that makes you 40mill over and dollar for dollar another 40mill. All that for a bunch of old ... what is it you call the Celtics?

I know what your thinking Laker fan ... what about the Celtics? Well after next year we have 30 mill in expiring contracts between House,T. Allen, Scal and Ray Ray. Safe to say if Ray Ray stays at around the MLE since he asked Rasheed to come and sign for that it would make sense he would do the same. So we save 20+ there. Which give us sending money for the big free agent class.

The following year Paula, as Laker fan affectionally calls him, has an expiring contract of 21mill, which if he accepts the around MLE should give us another 15mill of cap space to spend.

Finally the year after that KGs contract of 21mill is due to expire and if he accepts the MLE that an additional 15 mill to spend.

All this at a time when Rondo, Perk and Baby (looks like the most anybody is gonna be able to offer him is around 3-4 mill and I think we match it at that level)are getting into the prime of their careers. I know the Big 3 will be really really old but Im guessing they can come off the bench and gives us 20 solid minutes to go with our core and any free agents Danny picks up along the way with our 50million extra spending money and flexability.

So good luck to your dynesty in salary cap hell and enjoy Dribble Dribble. What can be more enjoyable than an aging Dribble Dribble thinking he can still hit that 3 ball as he dribbles the clock down.

Red's Love Child -

Don't worry, Artest learned his lesson. Next season, when Garnett starts yapping at someone on the Lakers, Artest will make sure Kevin eats his words.

Kupchak has now all but admitted that he chose not to bring Ariza back, not the other way around. Ariza is a fine young player but will never be the player Artest is now.

Edwin,

I'd say that LO is exactly the opposite of "ambidextrous"

Just to illustrate how the economy and landscape of the leauge has altered the free agent market, just look at Allen Iverson - he's still a very good SG. The guy works hard out there, and even just two years ago was still considered a franchise level player...

And he's going to sign for $5 million. A former MVP, a hall of famer, playing for $5 million on a team going no where. This guy put up 51 pts against the Lakers not that long ago.

LO's resume looks nothing like this, and yet he wants twice as much money??

I'll tell you what LO - let's do this, your market value is 5.8 million, Buss will give you 1.2 extra as a token of our appreciation plus I will personally throw in a twix candy bar to top off the deal.

Now get it done.

It is true that we are a good team and can repeat if LO returns, I just feel that we have to reinforce the 2nd unit. It is also true and possible that Sasha, Farmar and A-Morr will improve this summer and could bring back the fangs of the bench mob. Undoubtedly, it is just an inconvenient truth that there is uneasiness among Laker fans when these players are on the floor. You would never know what to expect. Luke is a known player, he is defined as a good passer and knows the triangle, any other intangibles he could offer are purely icing in the cake. We need solid back ups: who will not give back scores, who will not be intimidated, who will not disappear in games, who will make good decisions instead of fanciful plays, in other words tough players who could sustain the force created by starters. Well, we will have Shannon, Josh and turtle Mbenga and probably our D' League players Chinemalu and Sun Yue, still not enough. This could be our Achilles heel, everytime they slipped we have to rely on Kobe, Artest & Pau to spell the difference. Oh I forgot the beast Bynum, will he offer a foul prone player good only for few minutes or a frequent injured player, good only for half season? I think that is the mojo of the owners and the Coach this season, they are aware that defending the title would be a harder task. Lakers should not just be satisfied that we won, we won but how can we win again?

Artest is crazy, but I like anyone who really wants to play for the Lakers. Artest is that guy. Ariza is not. Ariza really wants to get paid. I also don't think Kobe is that guy either. You don't demand a trade from the Lakers, the greatest franchise in all of sports. You don't throw a series clinching playoff game because your feelings are hurt from being labelled "selfish". You don't rag on your teammate to any fan in a mall parking lot and you don't berate your teammates on the court (and then make a fictitious movie with Spike Lee trying to paint a different picture). If it weren't for LeBron's last couple of months, censoring that video yesterday, I'd say Kobe is still the league's king primma donna and most difficult person to root for.

Call me crazy, but I am counting on Artest to instill a little Laker pride in Kobe. Ok, that is crazy. At least I don't see Kobe putting down this teammate in the middle of a game on national television. That's a start

johnny v,

caustic tone? if you're looking for G rated material go join a disney fan club. this is a blog dude so you aint gonna hear everything you like

jon k,

lay off luke? the man makes the midlevel? this is highway robbery. this IS easily kupcakes BIGGEST BLUNDER as our GM and its costing us huge now and it even cost us ariza and may cost us lamar...so no we should not lay off in fact there should be an outrage and i'm miffed as to why he gets a complete free pass around here.

lakertruth,

thx for setting the record straight. everyother laker blog or 9 out of 10 laker fans i talk to agree... its unanimous anywhere else so why is this even an argument?? this is really the only place in the world where luke gets any love. it baffles me but of course i'm not surprised i'm up against darth vader and the evil empire

"The Laker's greatest luxury tax would be not to win 2 to 3 additional Championships with Kobe's career at peak. LO is worth an additional $7 million in luxury tax. Without him the Laker bench would be clobbered by the Celtics, Spurs, Cavs, Blazer, Magic, & Portland benches. LO is unselfish, plays the 4,3 & even 2 positions, is one of the best rebounders on the team, good passer, great speed for a big man and decent defender. Hope Mitch & Dr. Bus realize that 2 to 3 championships could be financially more rewarding than an additional $7 million in luxury tax. While Kobe sacrifices a lot, giving up a couple of million a year to keep LO may buy him twice that amount in endorsements with 3 additional championships!"

Posted by: Ross | July 09, 2009 at 03:02 AM
***
Ross - great perspective. Kobe's probably got 2-3 more years at his current level of production, perhaps more now with Ron guarding the best 2/3/4 on the opposing team. I've read many times that each playoff game at home brought in approximately another $4,000,000 for the Lakers, so just making it to the 2nd round more than covers their luxury tax. I've never seen what the organization makes on their licensing percentage, but that's got to be an incredible amount. With Lamar coming back for another 5 years (assuming those are the years he'll get) all of these numbers are reasonable expectations for the Lakers (if the information I've read is correct.)

Missing the critical LO component could certainly be the more expensive luxury tax over the next few years.

SBPimp,

Thanks.

What do we play for? RINGS!!!!

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

GO LAKERS!!!!

It looks like Portland is out of the Odom picture. Word here in UT is Portland is going as hard as they can after Ronnie Millsap.

Posted by: Marty

Marty,
What about Paul Brewer? Smiley Face.

BREAKING NEWS ... Professional ballplayers have a little strange on the side!!!

Even Phil got him some!

Regarding Luke - the guy is good at what he does, and subpar the rest of the way.

My hope is that with Kobe AND Thriller around (sorry tha show, that's his name)... Luke will actually work on a few of those weaknesses.

Let's face it, the Lakers can't dump his contract for a VERY long time.

Our 2nd unit is going to look pretty darned good if these guys work their game this summer -
PG - Farmar/Fisher/UPS (TBD)
SG - Vujacic/UPS
SF - Ammo, Luke
PF - Lamar, Powell
C - Mbenga

I'm trying to think of how this field would do if they play up to their potential. Alone I doubt there's any starting five out there they could beat, but take any one of our starters for one of these guys and maybe they could hang... not too shabby at all.

82-101,

>>> What can be more enjoyable than an aging Dribble
>>> Dribble thinking he can still hit that 3 ball as he
>>> dribbles the clock down.

Last year's stats:

Ron Artest:
3-point field goal % - 40%

Paula Pierce:
3-point field goal % - 39%

So I guess an aging "Dribble Dribble" is better than an
aging "Paula" in terms of being able to still shoot the 3-pointer.

Can we please sign Lamar Odom now please?

What do we play? RINGS!!!

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

GO LAKERS!!!

"lay off luke? the man makes the midlevel? this is highway robbery. this IS easily kupcakes BIGGEST BLUNDER as our GM and its costing us huge now and it even cost us ariza and may cost us lamar...so no we should not lay off in fact there should be an outrage and i'm miffed as to why he gets a complete free pass around here."

Hey Vlad Rad made the mid-level and Brian Cardinal and Marko Jaric and with the exception of Vlad since anti-luke dudes would definately only focus on his overrated shooting, ALL are worst than Luke. No one treats Luke as a superstar here only as a good rotational player and you're crying over spilled milk.

Do I think he's overpaid? Yes but more in the sense of number of years. If it was a 3 year contract from when he signed nobody would be crying except YOU!
this is really the only place in the world where luke gets any love. it baffles me but of course i'm not surprised i'm up against darth vader and the evil empire

Posted by: yellofever | July 09, 2009 at 10:05 AM

Oh now you are crying? Get over it. You don't control the Lakers and neither are the coach and that makes almost everyone here damn glad.

Keep crying and I bet we'll see you with Clipper Darrell one of these days.

yellofever & lakertruth,

>>>lay off luke? the man makes the midlevel? this is highway robbery.

Well, at least you could get your facts straight. Luke does NOT
make the midlevel. Luke's contract started at 4 million, almost
2 million per year BELOW the midlevel.

Luke is a slightly below average NBA player who is making
slightly less than the average NBA salary. He is appropriately
compensated and is a good role player.

The contract Trevor was offered (or not offered if you want
to believe David Lee's semantics) was almost 2 million more
per year than what Luke makes. Trevor was offered more
for 5 years than Luke will make in 6 years.

Trevor is just a hair above average NBA player and he was
offered a contract a hair above the league average (if you take
into account the 10% raises).

Go ahead and hate on Luke if you want, but at least be aware
that he is paid less than you are claming (about 1/3 less) and
he produces more than you care to admit.

Oh, and I'll throw in that Luke is loyal to the Lakers.

Trevor, despite his claims of loyalty, let his agent blind him with
promises of more money and steer him away from the Lakers.

David Lee claims this wasn't about money, that it was all about
respect. That's a flat out blatant lie. It was all about money. Lee
wanted more than the Lakers were willing to pay, so he disregarded
the Lakers financial situation, the reality of the financial situation
in the rest of the league, and whatever loyalty Trevor had to the
Lakers.

The Lakers did not lose Trevor because of Luke's contract.
The Lakers lost Trevor because Trevor (or his agent) decided
that money was more important than loyalty.

People have no idea what you're talking about.

Before the season ended, everyone (including Lamar) knew he was going to get less. I don't see where people are getting that he's asking for 10 million per. If anything, I would assume that he's willing to take 7 or 8, but MItch is trying to get him for less.

Lamar has been nothing but a good soldier while he was here. He was stoic during the worst Laker team of recent memory, he came off the bench when we asked him to, he played hurt and came up big when we needed him against the Suns in the playoffs.. Lamar has shown himself time and time again to be a warrior and a true Laker, and all you fools want to do is hate on him, spin little stories about how he's looking for more money and should be gone. I guarantee you, if Mitch offered Lamar 8 million a year he would have signed the second after they introduced Artest.

These things take time. Have some perspective and respect the players who brought us this glorious championship.

Mr. 82-101:

"I know what your thinking Laker fan ... what about the Celtics?"

I'm thinking Orlando will take y'all out in 5 games in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semis...if the Bulls don't take you out first. Lest we forgot how the NBA Rookie of the Year made y'all his personal female dog. :)

Perhaps you should be concerned about your own backyard instead of being all up in our grill. I still struggle to understand yours and Red's obsession with Laker Nation. Could you, in light of Phil blowing Red's record in the dust, feel your 2 championship lead slipping through your slimy, fish-smelly Lepercon fingers?

We may be Hollywood...but you don't see us speding time at Celtics Blogs. You're not worthy.

LTLF,

KG has sinced dumped the cheerleader.

Fortunately, she didn`t go all "Kazemi" on him!

Let's compare....now vs. then....

Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Bynum and Artest (all at peak except Bynum who needs to breakthrough)

vs.

Kobe, Shaq, old Karl Malone, old Gary Payton.........(Shaq was peaking, and Kobe was young, and was not as good or wise as he is now)

Red;

A nothing post - disgrace.

LO: He's not going anywhere because 1)no one else is even interested, 2) because he fits what we do, and we'll pay him. The wait is simply negotiating tactics by Mitch. Did you notice how he talked about LO taking time to realize what the market is like out there, and that he would like to know what LO has decided? Sounds like the final offer is out there, and it's up to LO to accept. The longer the wait, the more likely he'll be back.

Thriller: I love how excited he is about being a Laker. It'll be great having another Rick Fox, only better.

Ariza: At his Houston press conference he really did look lost, he tried to smile but it didn't last. Also, notice what color tie he's wearing - PURPLE (as opposed to the executive's tie - RED). If things aren't going well in Houston, couldn't we trade him for Sasha or Morrison?

Scottie

Laker fans (and eavesdropping Celtic trolls)

As Broussard said yesterday, "Lamar Odom will return to the Lakers." Mitch correctly stated that this is an emotional time for Lamar. He is an emotional person, and that means he needs more time to process losses than others do.

His contract expired at at a lousy time, and he's lost his chance of making around $10 million a year. He'll work his way through this and resign with us.

Considering the crap he's had to deal with and get through in his life (which he has succesfully done), I don't see him coming back as embittered or pouting.

You know he was watching Thrilla's press conference yesterday, and I think the words, "If you can't live on 33 million, you can't live." won't be lost on LO.

I have NO DOUBT that Lamar will be signed.

But if anybody should be given an incentive laden contract, it's Lamar. Here is my suggested breakdown for Lamar's contract (please don't attack this proposal LTLF, I know it's not realistic).

- $6 million per year base salary for three years
- $2 million per year for coming into camp in shape
- $2 million per year anytime Bynum misses more than a third of the season
- $500K for kicking the candy addiction
- $500K for being our Jack Haley for his long time pal, Ron Artest

Potential yearly salary is between $6 million to $11 million. Everyone wins.

If the Lakers resign Odom, can they realistically run this line-up at all?

- PG: Odom
- SG: Bryant
- SF: Artest
- PF: Gasol
- C: Bynum

If Fisher takes season lightly, why not play these guys together for 10-15 minutes a game during the season?

How pathetic this Red's Love Child to show up here, on Lakers Blog again? He’s also probably pretty insane, ignoring the fact that current Boston roster perfect picture for “geriatric ward”? Why they did not sign Grant Over the Hill, I have no clue. And after next season all those vets will be signing for no more than MLE or even BAE. How about for veteran’s minimum? Talking about living in “fantasy camp”. I guess he had pretty long summer to smoke something.

unfortunately for lamar's wallet...his market value looks to be in the 7-8 million per season range.

then again...

fortunately for lamar's wallet...he was being overpaid 7 million above his true market value the past couple of seasons.

to me, it all evens out. lakers should make a fair offer, 7-8 million per, and get the deal done.

fortunately for the lakers...the free agent market might allow them to have a big FIVE of kobe, thrilla37, lo, pau and socks. amazing.

fortunately for me, my father raised me to be a laker fan.

c'mon lake show

131-92

I have one stat for you

Kobe - 4 rings

BIG 3 combined - 3

How about this stat?

The Greenie Weenie trolls don't deserve any attention from the blog faithful. Those guys are obvious chumps who still haven't woken up from their foggy green dreams. The Celtics were a one-and-done championship team. They won't make it back to the Finals for another 22 years.

SBPimp: Damn, it's good to see you back on the blog. I'm sure the twins are keeping you REALLY busy. Little Baby Outlaw (not so little) is tons of fun... and I can't imagine having two. Congratulations. All my best to you and your family.

Lamar will sign soon, maybe by the end of the day. Next year's Lakers team is going to be a MONSTER.

Go Lake Show!