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[Nike Still Sux]

Good game Laker fans!!! We will see you on Christmas. I hope yall sign Delonte aka Mr. Donuts

 

[licensed to ball]

Man, F this team.

 

[MVP]

This game was 3 stops from being won by the Lakers. Stop blaming the coach for everything WE NEEDED to win this game the losses are adding up. Y'all crying about minutes like we 5 games over .500 we in a deep hole and need to do whatever to get out of it

Lakers hadn't got back to back stops all night. The game was never really ours for the taking. When Bean runs out of gas in the 4th tomorrow if it's a close game to the Wiz I'm sure you'll be singing a different tune. This is the same reckless management that lead in big part to our demise last season, Kobe is human and should not be playing 44 minutes in a game that's been a blowout for 3 and 1/2 quarters. Don't compound this loss with another one by burning your guys out. Mike Brown did that a lot last season.

 

[la kb24]

i know this is late but was anyone else mad when howard was shooting jumpers at first? idk why he was doing that?? that is where pau should be shooting where howard was shooting those 3 jumpers

 

[JCMojica24]

God, they better not lose to the Wiz tomorrow.

 

[mrdieselfuel09]

Ain't nobody got time for that. These games count.

Exactly. I've already ran out of patience with this team. Frustrating to watch.

Just sign Delonte and keep this moving.

 

[VinMillerHearn58]

I guess I kind of agree when Kerr said this will go down as a "moral victory." Even though Melo wasn't there at the end, we did a better job in the 2nd half.

 

[essential1]

Good game Laker fans!!! We will see you on Christmas. I hope yall sign Delonte aka Mr. Donuts

It's a Christmas game.. It's tradition that if we lose by less than 15 we count it as a win

 

[rockstar]

Lakers won't lose to the Wizards, and for once breathe a SMALL sigh of relief when we DO win.

 

[essential1]

Lakers won't lose to the Wizards, and for once breathe a SMALL sigh of relief when we DO win.

You said that against the Cavs.. Please let's not predict wins for a bit.. No knock on you, just let's act like every game will be tough until we get it together.

 

[MVP]

The funk this squad is in, they'd struggle to beat the LA Sparks right now. No game is a given, especially on a back to back on the road.

 

[la kb24]

It's a Christmas game.. It's tradition that if we lose by less than 15 we count it as a win

we always lose on christmas...only game we won was against the suns like 5 years ago i think....yea i remember cause its not every year we win on christmas

 

[fearless]

i kinda hope they lose the wizards tmmr so the management can do some ****

 

[pmatic]

Lakers last won on Christmas day in 2008 vs the Celtics.

 

[CP1708]

Everyone stay cool. Nash workin out, lite runnin, he's close.

What are the updates on Pau tho? How long he out?

 

[la kb24]

^^oh yea we beat boston...we lose alot on xmas i forget most games

 

[goldmember]

Sigh.


Watch them lose to freakin Wizards

 

[la kb24]

Everyone stay cool. Nash workin out, lite runnin, he's close.
What are the updates on Pau tho? How long he out?

can nash really help us solve our problem...yes i really think he will make a difference but Lakers need to work together and have team work...we need like a JR smith type player for our bench...

come on the bulls have a better record than us and they are playing with almost no one

 

[essential1]

Everyone stay cool. Nash workin out, lite runnin, he's close.

What are the updates on Pau tho? How long he out?

He's missing the rest of this road trip..

He's either going to be against the Bobcats... Or against the Warriors... So 2-3 more games.

 

[essential1]

I think everything in the offense will get better with Nash... The % will go up.. The TOs should decrease.. The ball movement should be better.. And P&R will always be deadly...

BUT D'Antoni has to realize that that offense needs to be slowed down.. It can't be 7SOL or even 12SOL.. It has to be well planned, well thought out like a chess match.. It's the only way to save our energy, and limit bad transition Defense..

We have a lot of who we need on this team...

We don't have the defensive stalwarts that you would want... But except for PG & SF.. I do like our roster.

And I don't care how Ebanks did.. He will not do it consistently.. And that's our problem... Same with Morris, same with Duhon.. It's also time to go back to Morris as starter for the time being.

Cut Clark, he is not necessary.. He won't give anything that Ebanks can't and doesn't have any more trade value than Ebanks..

And then sign Delonte. We get a decent offensive player, who play Defense..

Then we hold #9-#15 man in our rotation and wait for a trade for a SF to present itself.

There's been a lot of speed bumps that left this team vulnerable to a lot of teams... We're 9-14.... 3 of our 4 best players have health problems... I don't think MDA is the right coach, but if we started this year with MDA, without injuries, I think we'd have at least 14 wins at this point.. But things are not perfect in basketball or life.. Adjustments need to be made.

 

[pmatic]

I didn't see this posted. With Hollinger leaving, Haberstroh may be my go-to read on ESPN:

Why a Millsap-Gasol trade works

If Paul Millsap isn't trying to audition for a Hollywood role, he sure does look the part.

We've heard all sorts of names connected to the Lakers in possible trade talks for Pau Gasol, including Toronto Raptors 7-footer Andrea Bargnani, Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams and Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova.

But one name that should pop up more is Millsap, the Utah Jazz big man. There are a few reasons Millsap probably doesn't garner the attention of a player his caliber: 1) He plays in a small market; 2) he's stuck in a logjam of big men in Utah with varying degrees of upside and productivity; and 3) he doesn't have a flashy game (he dunks about once every three games).

However, Millsap makes a lot of sense as a trade target for the madly inconsistent Lakers. For one, he's healthy, which is no small thing considering the Lakers' bench looks increasingly like a hospital waiting room (and Bargnani just went down with an elbow injury). Secondly, Millsap's an efficient player who plays both ends of the floor. Here's a short list of players who have shot more than 50 percent from the floor while tallying at least 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 steals over the past three seasons: LeBron James, Dwight Howard and, yep, Millsap.

Here's a look at the positive and negative aspects of Millsap's potential move to the Lakers -- as well as a blockbuster three-team deal that would likely work for all clubs involved.

Millsap's candidacy

What's more, Millsap's contract couldn't be more attractive in trade talks with the Lakers. Millsap makes only $8 million this season and his contract expires at season's end, which is hugely important for a Lakers franchise that has made it known they want to stay flexible for a loaded free-agent class in the summer of 2014 when Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other stars can become free agents.

In Millsap, the Lakers could get a trial period on an All-Star-caliber player and decide if they want to keep him long term. The same can't be said for Gallinari, Bargnani or Ilyasova, all of whom are currently locked in multiyear deals that extend past 2014. If Millsap doesn't work out, the Lakers can cut bait and look elsewhere. (And good luck trying to trade Ilyasova and the $24 million remaining on his contract through 2016-17 if Mike D'Antoni can't fix his jumper.)

Defensively, Millsap can cure many of the Lakers' ills. As Antawn Jamison continues to play possum on that end of the floor, the Lakers desperately need a help defender who doesn't leave Howard out to dry every time down the court. Millsap isn't an all-world defender, but with mobility at 6-foot-8, he can hold his own as a small forward defender and has the girth to play in the paint. What separates Millsap from most power forwards is his nose for the ball; he ranked fourth in the NBA last season in steals per game, thanks in part to his freakishly long arms.

But the real reason Millsap provides an intriguing option for the Lakers is his blossoming 3-point game. If a big man wants to make bank in this league, there's no better way than to become a reliable 3-point shooter. And in a contract season, Millsap is trying to do just that. After essentially ignoring the 3-point shot for most of his career, the Louisiana Tech product is now taking about one 3-pointer per game and nailing them at a 47.8 percent clip. Not a bad start.

It's too early to tell whether Millsap's 3-point shot is legitimate, but he's always been a strong candidate to stretch beyond the arc simply because he's already armed with a good midrange jumper. The Lakers aren't going to be able to lure a Kevin Love-type stretch 4 with Gasol's trade value in free fall, so finding a 3-point shooter who's waiting to break out may be their best option. Millsap fits the mold.

The hitch

But here's the problem with a potential deal with the Lakers: The last thing the Jazz need is another center. Millsap could be expendable for the Jazz because they already have a blooming power forward in Derrick Favors waiting in the wings, but the Jazz are overweight at the 5 as is with Enes Kanter and Al Jefferson fighting for big-time minutes. At Gasol's price of $38 million over the next two seasons, the Jazz would likely scoff at any phone call from Mitch Kupchak about a trade scenario.

But what if Kupchak brings a third team into the mix? The Jazz are ripe for a blockbuster deal because they are absolutely stacked with talent in their frontcourt. They boast a near-All-Star player in Millsap, one of the best post scorers in Jefferson, one of the best young defenders in Favors and an utterly tantalizing prospect in Kanter. Ever since the Jazz picked Kanter in 2011, folks around the league have been wondering when they'll pull the trigger to get some backcourt help.

One possible trade partner to watch? The Charlotte Bobcats. After a fun start to the season, the Bobcats have a painfully lopsided roster with an intriguing, if overachieving, backcourt, and an absolutely anemic frontcourt. In this sense, the Bobcats are the anti-Jazz. Sounds like a match made in Trade Machine heaven.

The deal

Here's the framework of a deal (Note: Players are paired with the years left on their contracts and 2012-13 salary):

Lakers receive: Millsap (1, $8M) Mo Williams (1, $8.5M), DeSagana Diop (1, $7.4M), Raja Bell (1, $3.5M)

Jazz receive: Gasol (2, $19M), Kemba Walker (3, $2.5M), Ben Gordon (2, $12.4M), Earl Clark (1, $1.2M)

Bobcats receive: Jefferson (1, $15M), Kanter (3, $4.5M), Chris Duhon (2, $3.5M), Darius Johnson-Odom (1, $0.5M)

You can see why the Bobcats might be interested. Charlotte would land two paint scorers, one for now and one for later. Jefferson fits perfectly as a scorer next to defensive-inclined Bismack Biyombo, and the Bobcats would receive a fascinating big-man prospect in Kanter, a 20-year-old who's averaging 15 points and nine rebounds every 36 minutes on 53 percent shooting. Even better, they finally get to unload Diop's contract.

If the Bobcats end up having to dangle the sizzling but undersized Walker to find frontcourt help, they could do much worse than Ramon Sessions. Sessions may be struggling with his shot, but as a 26-year-old with an 18 player efficiency rating, he can be a healthy stopgap at the 1 while Kanter and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist develop. And hey, Duhon could at least put a few more Duke fans in the seats.

The Lakers would get what they need: a borderline All-Star power forward who can stretch the floor and a point guard (Mo Williams) to steer the offense until Steve Nash takes the wheel. The most appetizing part of this deal is the lack of long-term commitment. All four of the players in this deal have contracts that expire at the end of the season.

And the Jazz? They would finally land a young stud point guard to fill the void left long ago by Deron Williams. Not only that, they finally clear room for Favors to blossom into a franchise centerpiece. In the short term, it works as well. Though a Walker, Gordon, Marvin Williams, Favors and Gasol lineup isn't a lock for the playoffs, neither is the status quo.

Whether this deal would work out for Utah all depends on Gasol's health, though it's worth remembering that cap space is somewhat overrated in a small market like Utah. If Millsap, Jefferson and Williams leave this summer and take their talents to bigger markets, no one's itching to sign on the dotted line to play in Salt Lake. Instead, they could leverage their expiring deals to reel in All-Star talent for the foreseeable future. Gasol and Walker (potentially) give them that.

This is just one of a gazillion potential deals that could go down between now and the trade deadline. But if you're unfamiliar with Millsap's talents now, you won't be if he's soon starring in Los Angeles.

 

[licensed to ball]

Everyone stay cool. Nash workin out, lite runnin, he's close.

What are the updates on Pau tho? How long he out?

Stay cool bro? Really?

For years you and I have been on the same side and have agreed that Laker fans panic too much, that they overreact, and whine and complain about everything.
But earlier in the year you were writing essays of complaints about every single aspect of our team, especially Mike Brown.
We were 1-4, and everyone was panicking and calling for him to be fired.

Well he was, and now our team is worse. WORSE. We look like straight trash man.

What happened to being a Laker fan and demanding perfection? What happened to expecting greatness out of this team every single night? What happened to no excuses?

We look horrible man. Im not panicking, im not changing teams, im not overreacting...but c'mon.
How can anyone stay cool? This is horrible. Even a 10 year old can tell this team is headed in a horrible direction. There is nothing positive to look forward too.
Nash isn't going to solve our defensive problems, our free throw shooting, our transition D, our lack of good shooters.

*sigh*

Not trying to attack you CP, i'm just pissed. Sorry man. Its just that I keep defending them to my friends, they all laugh and talk smack day after day...and I keep saying "just wait, it'll be fine..."

Well i'm starting to realize that It may not be fine, and it may not get better, and for the first time in years im embarrassed of our team.

Sorry man...it's just overwhelming. We look SOOOOO bad. |I

 

[essential1]

Should they start making corrections to our roster? Yes.

First would be to take the backup spot from Duhon, Morris & Blake.. And give it to Delonte.


Then we wait for what deals are available by the trade deadline... Remember teams are trying to break money down and save money... So a Duhon & Blake deal that is $7.4 mil of expiring next year is better than 1 player making $7.7 next year.. We have to use other team's fear of the CBA to get good deals..

If a team can break up a bad expiring contract into 2 or 3 smaller expirings, and take a talent hit, they will still accept that trade because multiple player expirings are better to building a team long term because you can use it as a building block for 1 bigger contract.. Or multiple smaller contract role players on different teams..

But should there be full out panic? Nope.

 

[duba169]

GG guys. U are the freaking lakers u wil be fine!

 

[licensed to ball]

I've cooled down CP. Sorry bro.

Upset at the team, not you.