**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

Lakers already have 12 guys on their roster, without any decision on DLo, Hayes & Reddish options, and no free agent signings.

Max Lewis, JHS are going to be gone regardless of what happens, you kind of have to. And you would have to think they want to unload Gabe too (what a terrible signing).
 
I'm gonna have to log off social media....

Everyone is a draft expert and a GM today...yeesh.

Had we taken any other player at 55 there would be no issue.
I think the issue here is that Bronny was probably drafted because of who his dad is and if it weren’t for that, he would have most likely gone undrafted.
 

Los Angeles Lakers: B+​

Round 1: Dalton Knecht (No. 17)
Round 2: Bronny James (No. 55)

It's no secret that my projections were low on Knecht, who rated outside my top 30 because of his age (23), limited productivity early in his college career and low rates of assists, steals and blocks. As a result, I couldn't buy lottery hype for Knecht. By the middle of the first round, drafting him primarily on the strength of his shooting made far more sense.

Knecht will still have to prove he can hang defensively on a team that hasn't had the perimeter depth to hide players, but his shooting is an ideal fit with Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

Given the track record for picks in the 50s, bringing in Bronny James as a development project is completely reasonable for the Lakers. It's a win for the Lakers that they could draft Bronny without needing to sacrifice anything to move up.
 
All this Bronny fodder and I just want to know what D.lo is gonna do...
Well I know what he SHOULD be doing right now…





















IMG_1335.jpeg
 
DLo
Reaves
Knecht
Bron
AD

Best shooting lineup we've ever had?

(Fish, Kobe, Rice, Horry only hurt by Shaq instead of AD/Pau level 5)
 

At the end of the video when they were doing when they were doing the between the leg dunks, for as good as athlete Bron is he rarely goes of two feet when he dunks. Since we started seeing him in high school, he's pretty much has been a one foot jumper.
 
At the end of the video when they were doing when they were doing the between the leg dunks, for as good as athlete Bron is he rarely goes of two feet when he dunks. Since we started seeing him in high school, he's pretty much has been a one foot jumper.
word I think being able to switch off in game situations between the one foot vs two foot in bang bang action is extremely tough even for elite athletes....like dudes that can absolutely jump out the gym in zach lavine and james white have always been one foot jumpers. I think it's just one of those things that is way easier said than done.
 
Hot Take:

Bronny will be a starter within 2 years

Just for historic purposes, marketing, publicity, that’s an easy one to agree on. It will happen for sure. One night we’ll have some injuries or something and Bronny will make history starting next to pops. Sounds pretty cool actually
 
Just for historic purposes, marketing, publicity, that’s an easy one to agree on. It will happen for sure. One night we’ll have some injuries or something and Bronny will make history starting next to pops. Sounds pretty cool actually
Yup it's inevitable
 
Hollinger's position rankings for free agency. Rankings are relative to position.
Tier I: Max and near-max guys
1 PF. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers (player option): $56,411,512

In yet another small testament to his greatness, LeBron James turns 40 later this year and still projects as the most valuable free agent in the league by BORD$. He also still rates as valuable enough that a max contract would underpay him in the first season of the deal.

For James to return to the Lakers, he essentially has two options. The first is to opt out in late June and sign a new three-year deal as a free agent in July, which could be for a maximum of three years and $160 million based on current cap guidance. The other option is to opt in to his deal for $51.4 million next season then sign an extension once he is eligible in late August; that could add two additional years for a total of three and make him $162 million over the three seasons.

Why would he take less money with the former option? Because that one can come with a no-trade clause, which would either guarantee he stays a Laker (and presumably retires as one) or controls his next destination. James could also sign with another team for a maximum of three years and an estimated $155 million, but that seems highly unlikely.

Tier II: More than midlevel exception, less than max
4 PG. D’Angelo Russell, Lakers (player option): $28,897,673

While most would consider this on the high side for Russell, consider that he’s still only 28, has had eight straight seasons with a PER above the league average and was especially good in the second half of last season. Offsetting that is his rough playoff history and shortcomings as a defender.

Nonetheless, Russell has a player option for $18.7 million and seems to be in good position to exceed that if he opts out. Perhaps more importantly, Russell can control his destination for next season, given that his opting in would likely lead to his being an expiring contract included as matching salary in a trade package for a more prominent player.

Tier IV: More than minimum
15 PF. Taurean Prince, Los Angeles Lakers: $4,751,177

The Lakers went to the Prince well far too often last season, but that also serves to show the leaguewide need for floor-spacing forwards with size. L.A. had little alternative.

This offseason, it seems L.A. can retain him without dipping into exception money, which might be important since tax issues could prevent the Lakers from using their midlevel. Prince is eligible for a 20 percent raise from the Lakers as a non-Bird free agent that would take him up to $5.4 million for the coming season, slightly more than his BORD$ value.

4 C. Christian Wood, L.A. Lakers (player option): $9,166,256

BORD$ continues to have a Christian Wood attraction that has not spread to the rest of the league. Last season it valued him even higher than this, and he ended up getting a one-plus-one minimum from the Lakers and falling out of their rotation as the year went on.

While I’d argue Wood’s offensive tools are still undervalued, coaches have been consistently leery of relying on him because of his soft defense. The takeaway, if you haven’t caught on, is that he should probably pick up his $3 million player option rather than chance the market this summer.

19 SF. Cam Reddish, L.A. Lakers (player option): $3,591,439

Reddish has a player option for $2.5 million and a valuation that’s only slightly higher. Given the paucity of 6-8 wing players on the market, he might opt out to at least parlay that into another “one-plus-one” minimum deal with a player option. If he does so with the Lakers and can play himself into a higher pay grade, he’d have Early Bird rights next summer as a means to cash in.

Tier V: Minimums
17 SG. Max Christie, Lakers (restricted)

Christie may be the last of his kind: an Early Bird restricted free agent after only signing a two-year deal as a second-round pick. The new second-round pick exception in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement makes a situation like this extremely unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Christie has shown enough promise to be worth bringing back on a low-dollar deal, especially since the Lakers need inexpensive back-end roster guys.

18 C. Jaxson Hayes, L.A. Lakers (player option)

Hayes has a player option for $2.5 million after spending last season on the fringes of the Lakers’ rotation. He likely doesn’t have a stronger market than the minimum but might be able to squeeze out another “one-plus-one” deal like the one he got from L.A. last summer.
 

Said this a while ago but KCP would be at the top of my list if I’m Orlando…who are the other potential teams interested in DLo?

Btw, pretty crappy move from Den ownership to let your starting SG walk for nothing because they’re too cheap to pay him.
 
Saw a real gm article about something Windy said.
Guess where I laughed in the headline and said not a chance.

 
Talked about it on the latest Hoop Collective podcast. I think the amount was like $36 million or something like that…not that it’s a realistic possibility regardless.
 
Talked about it on the latest Hoop Collective podcast. I think the amount was like $36 million or something like that…not that it’s a realistic possibility regardless.

But it’s also the argument.

It’s not like hey Bron if you take $36mil….. We can sign Paul George.

It’s hey Bron. If you take $36mil. We can let DLo walk and sign Royce O’Neale.
 
DLo stays or goes that’s not actually the hard work.
Because whether he stays or goes, they have a roster crunch, with significant blind spots in the roster.
They have to get Gabe, JHS, Max Lewis…. Hayes and Reddish if they opt in, off the roster.


If they could do that. While taking minimal salaries back.

You could potentially get DLo below the salary of comparable guards and still have the MLE available and retain Max

Out of all those names, Gabe would be the only one that would be hard to get out of.
 
Wish the Wizards didn't have new management. That was Pelinka's reliable team to salary dump contracts.
 
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