[::2009 Champion LAKERS OFF-SEASON THREAD Vol. Boring Non-News Days Causing In-Thread Tension::]

[tupac003]

http://

 

[long beach vincey]

I heard that CLE wanted Ariza as well from other Cavs fans on other message boards..

However where would Ariza play? The 2? Or would LBJ play the 2? I don't get it.

 

[i nasmatic i]

Originally Posted by goukiteg

The only thing that bothers me about Ariza is sometimes he thinks he's Kobe out there with his crazy %%! rim attacks and AWKWARD layups.

Man, every time Trevor drives I expect him to tear up his knee with how awkward he jumps

.

 

[travman24]

I stongly believe that we keep the squad togeather. We all just mesh so well. Anybody think we attract any FAs like Kidd, Sheed, Artest? Kidd loves playin withKobe. Artest was at like almost every home game after the series VS Rockets. I would just love to see Sheed in #30 Purp/gold and his PE AF1s would be dope lol.

 

[dontsteponmyshoes]

ill personally track you down and kill you(please dont arrest me fbi its a joke) if rasheed EVER suits up for the lakers

 

[licensed to ball]

damn guys my dads been calling my relatives that lives in Tehran and they havent been picking up or calling back. My family is super worried, all thatprotesting and killing going on in Iran, i hope my relatives are okay.

 

[tupac003]

Originally Posted by LiCeNseD To BaLL

damn guys my dads been calling my relatives that lives in Tehran and they havent been picking up or calling back. My family is super worried, all that protesting and killing going on in Iran, i hope my relatives are okay.

Keep you and fam in my prayers...

 

[long beach vincey]

I could see Kidd way before Artest, but neither of them are probably coming here.

Artest likes HOU, and he also wants a payday.

Kidd I could see taking the GP/Mailman route but something about that just doesn't sit right with me.

Lakers have no need for Sheed unless he's interested in being a backup

 

[three6mafia2007]

Just now seeing the jimmy kimmel youtube clip

Originally Posted by CP1708

Odom can also run the offense as a 4, and can just do more things. Ariza can't even dribble yet without lookin at the ground.

I love trevor, but this made me

I agree with a lot of the points made by MJsaver and LBV about the resigning of trevor and LO. Yes LO is the more versatile player and has more talent, but inthis system, they are both of equal value to the team. Like I said before, LOs talent and versatility merit him receiving more money, but only slightly overwhatever they offer trevor.

And Herman, I like what you said about luke. I know he's one of those players that frustrates the fans of the team he plays for, but there is a reason whyphil and the upper management like him so much and have decided to keep him around. When you have a team this talented, it's wise to also have playersaround that help keep the team balanced and running smoothly. I believe he's one of those players. Luke is like a buffer so to speak.Yes we overpaid forhim, but I'd rather have him on the squad than not.

 

[long beach vincey]

Three6mafia, you're right. That's exactly why I said the debate is extremely close.. in this system both guys fit in extremely well. I hate to make itseem like I'm hating on Trev but I'm just being honest.. maybe he'll develop a more complete offensive game but right now I'll roll with LO.

On to the draft. Assuming LA keeps their 29 pick, I'd like to see this:

1. Wayne Ellington, the anti Sasha. Guy is deadly off the ball, can hit the mid range J with ease and will probably develop the 3 ball in due time. He seemsextremely cerebral as well. Good steady option off the bench unlike The Machine.
2. Darren Collison, cat quick PG with a decent jumper, steady handle. He may be able to develop into a thief as well, has quick hands.
3. Austin Daye, is a softer Lamar. He is a poor man's Lamar, but I like him for a late first round pick.
4. Omri Casspi, he reminds me of an offensive minded AK47. He has the American swag [I apologize for using that term] seems like a perfect 4th or 5th wheel.Take a risk on a foreign guy why not..
5. Jonas Jerebko see above

 

[rekoescabar]

Congrads to the Los Angeles Lakers and all there fans. I missed the game. I missed the parade.......btw I heard there was alot of good looking ladies outthere....any pic?? Well atleast any more pic?? Big ups to those that did post pic from there experience from the past Wednesday. The whole thing was/is big forLA and Cali as well. The clip of the Lakers on Jimmy K. was nice too. Kobe's Jordan I's looked great. I wonder is that the earily 2000's retro or apair that will be released in the further??.........and on that note.......Trevor Ariza is the MAN!!!!!!

 

[bigmike23]

funny thing is ariza was a point foward in HS and at UCLA. ***@* lost his handles once he got into the NBA

 

[three6mafia2007]

Originally Posted by Long Beach Vincey

On to the draft. Assuming LA keeps their 29 pick, I'd like to see this:

2. Darren Collison, cat quick PG with a decent jumper, steady handle. He may be able to develop into a thief as well, has quick hands.

I thought I was the only one

Only thing is we already have three pointguards who all deserve minutes already. If we can't resign shannon(and I'm praying we do

), then this would be a very good look

i would also be very satisfied with either Ellington or Daye. but it looks like it would take a while to develop Daye into a player that can play a decentamount of minutes off the bench, especially considering how deep of a team we are

 

[CP1708]

LTB, best wishes for your fam man.

Tupac made a great point, everybody got their eyes out there for 2010, but we got one in the bag and hopefully can go out and keep this team intact and getanother one next season, let the rest of them fools worry about a bunch of free agents while we stack chips.

Then watch them free agents want to come play here for some more titles.

Cleveland playin with fire if they try to sign Ariza to good money and that gives them less room to play with for Lebron. I think they'll go with cheapershorter term alternatives then Ariza will command.

 

[goukiteg]

^Anyone CLE signs will be a rent-a-contract or a major re-up player. I doubt they spend money on role players.

 

[CP1708]

^
Exactly, so we should be ok not having to worry about them.

We really should try to pounce now while everyone is looking to 2010 and try to get at least one more title.

I can taste it already.

 

[westcoastsfinest]

f the cavs if they try to get ariza from us...he belongs here

 

[ben roethlisberger]

Not sure if he said he would for sure do this yet but Kobe needs to restructure his contract to keep Odom and Ariza. I strongly believe if we keep this sameteam we can Re-peat as well as 3-peat.

 

[dyyhard]

 

[Los Angeles]

I'm with you LBV.

I like Ellington and Collison.

The only way we get Collison is if we move Ears, Darren's jumper has been suspect throughout his college career - but I love the way he can get to the rim.

He plays hard on the other side of the court too.

 

[tupac003]

[h2]Jackson Would Like ToCoach One More Year[/h2]
Jun 22, 2009 5:07 PM EST

Lakers coach Phil Jackson still isn't sure if he'll return next season, but made it known that he would like to give it one morego.

"The organization is obviously behind what I want to do and they've extended that offer for continuing here, so that is allpositive," Jackson told ESPN Chicago.

"It's just covering that hurdle. And, some of that's just getting old, and the wear and tear of the game, and the amountof flying that you do. You know, this 82 game pilgrimage that you go through before the playoffs even begin and the wear and tear and if that's a necessarypart or if this is the time now to step back, and regard that as accomplishments done and sit back in the rocker and enjoy watching guys do this. But I'dstill like to push on through another year if possible."

Via Sports Radio Interviews

Los Angeles Lakers

Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets

---

Make it happen!

 

[81ackmamba]

I just read on the NBAtv ticker that Kobe isn't going to opt out of the remainder of his contract.

 

[tupac003]

[h2]Could Kobe Bryant opt-out and take less to help Lakers re-sign Odom and Ariza?[/h2]
Posted by Tim Kawakami on June 14th, 2009 at 10:05 pm | Categorized as NBA

* Side note: I don't know what Phil Jackson is going to do. I'm sure retiring is a big and tantalizing option. But I don't think it's more than 50/50 for him and if I had to guess, I'd say he comes back next year. He's going to miss Tex Winter, but Phil still loves the job and the money and, of course, hanging around with Jeanie Buss. He might want to do one more year with Derek Fisher, just to keep playing him when everybody says Phil shouldn't.

First: Lakers got their championship (in five over Orlando, gee, would've never guessed!), Phil Jackson got his record 10th coaching title, and Kobe Bryant got his fourth ring and first without Shaquille O'Neal.

Congratulations to them all. Orlando played them tougher than I expected, but the Lakers still dominated Games 1 and 5 and came through in every moment of Games 2 and 4 when they had to, and Orlando did not.

But onward. Always gotta move forward.

And I'm wondering: Could Bryant seal his reputation as a franchise leader by opting-out this summer… and taking a LOWER average salary in order to give the Lakers more flexibility to re-sign both Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza?

Because nobody really sees a cogent way for Lakers owner Jerry Buss, even flush with cash and willing to blow some extra money because of the title, to go sailing $20M into the luxury tax.

And that's almost certainly what he'd have to do to pay Odom and Ariza close to fair free-agent market price this summer.

Without either of them, the Lakers are already committed to $74.1M for 8 signed players next season, led by Kobe's $23M (if he doesn't opt-out), Pau Gasol's $16.4M and Andrew Bynum's $12.5M.

The luxury-tax line was $71.15M this season… and projects to be lower than that next season, thanks to the recession.

So the Lakers are already about $4M or $5M over the luxury tax line for next season, without spending a penny for either Ariza or Odom. You saw the playoffs: The Lakers needed both Odom and Ariza to win the title, absolutely.

Now, presuming that Bynum keeps developing, you can possibly see that, if they had to pick one or the other to pay, the Lakers could probably imagine letting Odom go and keeping Ariza (at the mid-level exception).

In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say that's the tentative Lakers plan: Get Ariza long-term for the mid-level, at about $5.8M to start, which would jump the Lakers to almost $80M in salary commitments and put them about $12M into luxury tax.

For nine players (the signed 8 plus Ariza).

I don't think there'd be room for Odom (at a similar MLE deal or for more) in that scenario. I just don't see Buss going $19M or $20M into luxury tax-that'd be an additional $38M to $40M cost, since teams over the lux-tax line must pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty.

Without other salary adjustments, I think the Lakers would re-sign Ariza, let Odom hit the market, then take their chances with Kobe, Gasol, Bynum and Ariza. Wouldn't be the worst team. But wouldn't be for sure the best one, either.

But…

What if Kobe did what Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan magnanimously/wisely did before him?

Garnett accepted an extension from Boston a year ago that kicks in this summer, which drops his salary from $24.8M to $16.4M and helps out the Celtics long-term.

Duncan has a two-year extension starting in 2010-'11 for $18.7M and $21.3M, far less than he could've gotten.

So… as a gesture of leadership and win-first mentality and I'm-not-a-bad-teammate-big-mindedness…

What if Bryant acknowledged that he needs Odom and Ariza if he wants to maximize his chances to go back-to-back (which Shaq did not accomplish with Miami)?

What if Bryant exercises his right to opt-out of the remaining two years of his original 7-year deal, at $23M for next year and $24.8M for 2010-'11…

Expressly to take something like $20M next year from the Lakers and $21.5M the year after that and $23M and so on?

If Bryant did that, he'd still be one of the highest-paid players in the league (which he must be), and he'd give the Lakers $3M extra wiggle room to sign Odom, presuming Ariza gets the MLE.

The Lakers could pull that one off, I think. Odom could take a starting salary of about $8M (he made $11.4M this year) and extend it out four more years, with the Derek Fisher deal coming off the books after next season to help things out.

I think Odom would want to stay in this situation, if the money is fair.

If Kobe drops to $20M next year, and Odom comes in at $8M and Ariza at $5.8M… that would put the Lakers at about $85M in payroll next season… about $16M over the projected lux-tax line, and I think Jerry Buss could and should accept that one.

I wouldn't imagine Kobe would go much lower than $20M, since he has never given a dollar back in his entire career and in fact was one of the few players to vote against the implementation of a maximum salary back in 1998.

And Bryant logically could look over at multi-millionaire Buss and realize that Buss will be raking in the dough, however deeply the Lakers go into luxury tax, thanks to the glamor that Bryant brings to Staples Center (and the home playoff dates and the local TV revenue).

And Bryant would want to stay near $20M, even if he's cutting his rate, because LeBron James is due to get near the $20M mark in any extension in the summer of 2010, and I don't think Bryant wants or should volunteer to take less than LeBron or Carmelo Anthony.

Hey, Bryant is a stubborn guy. He might not want to take a dollar less than he is earning. Heck, he might opt-out and see if another team can open space for him or force a sign-and-trade or whatever.

But I doubt Kobe sees the wisdom in doing any of those controversial things, and a few days ago said that he does not foresee leaving the Lakers this summer.

It's in his best interests to remain a Laker and see how many titles he can accumulate as a Laker.

It's in his best interests to have Odom and Ariza remain his teammates.

It's in Bryant's best interests to be perceived as sacrificing a bit for the larger cause.

All the puzzle pieces fit. I'm sure the Lakers would love for him to make the gesture. To see if this could work.

It's up to Kobe.


And now we are hearing he may not opt out of the contract....

The gift and curse that is kobe bean bryant...

 

[goukiteg]

i hope Kobe surprises me and takes a pay cut.

 

[dontsteponmyshoes]

I feel what yall are sayin and all that but its on the Lakers to figure out how to get this done..not Kobe...yes yes yes I know it can all be easier if he justopts out and does what everybody wants him to do, but why shouldnt most of the burden be put on Buss. Id rather Buss give up the extra 4-5 mil than Kobe.