[:: LAKERS 2014 THREAD | POLL: Who Should Coach Next Year? ::]

WHO SHOULD COACH THE LAKERS NEXT SEASON?

  • Mike _'Antoni

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Stan Van Gundy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Byron Scott

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • George Karl

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Jerry Sloan

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kurt Rambis

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nate McMillan

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Doug Collins

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • College Coach (Mention Name and School)...

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
LOL. Kobe didn't even have a chance to counter offer or negotiate. He didn't even need his agent to actually do any work.

They literally printed the paper and put it in front of him like "Here you go Kobe! Please sign it! We want you a Laker for life!"

SMFH.

Mitch and Jim, I am dissapoint. Very dissapoint.

Where the hell was the business acumen? I know you love Kobe and he's worth millions and millions to your business revenue, but why not even ATTEMPT to lower that offer at least as a starting point for a negotiation?

What was the ******g rush?

Kobe wasn't walking. He wasn't going to leave at the age of 37 to the Milwaukee Bucks for an extra few million.

Why would anyone think he would really leave at this stage of his career?

I just don't get it.

How could any front office be so oblivious to how obvious it is that Kobe wants to stay. You have so much leverage for a negotiation and you just completely skip negotiations and basically just say "shut up and take our money!"

Stupidity.

That's all I have to say for today. :smh:
 
Wrong !

The Pau trade was built around the Grizzles getting salary cap relief.Which is what they got at the time.Hell Mitch even threw in Aaron Mckie who wasn't even on the active roster at the time but he had an expiring contract.Kwame Brown's contract at the time was a $9 million expiring contact also when that trade went down.

Javaris Crittenton was a late 1st round pick in the mid to early 20's the year he came out.Marc Gasol was a unproven guy they got in the 2nd round who took 3 years to even become an allstar talent in the NBA.

The D12 trade they gave up Bynum who was a lottery pick at #10 the year he came out.But everyone knew he was damaged goods and once again Orlando got what they wanted in expiring contracts and some young talent who weren't even lottery draft picks.And once again Bynum had an expiring contract worth $14 million.

Wrong? :lol:

Salary cap relief was a part of it. The Grizzlies were free falling. But despite what Sportscenter was saying at the time this was not some Pau-for-Kwame heist. The Griz did their research on the prospects and it paid off for one of them. They also used the draft picks from the trade on Grevis Vasquez and Donte Greene. And the Magic weren't convinced in giving up D12 for Bynum, the Sixers took Bynum believing he was a franchise center... in exchange for several assets that went to Orlando.

And even if the Grizz really valued that $9 million expiring contract, the young prospects at least sweetened the pot to the point they'd make the trade.

Mitch Kupchak/the Lakers are not mysteriously better at making trades than every other team in the NBA. Every trade he's made required valuable pieces. He's brought in stars via trade in the past, but that alone is not reason to believe he can just do it at any time :lol:

Some team is looking to trade their star, Mitch can offer Pau Gasol's expiring like he did Kwame's... sure... you really think anyone is going to take that? They could turn to OKC and get Perkins' plus Jeremy Lamb. Or Steven Adams. And either one would be instantly more valuable. They can call 28 other teams and probably get something more than just cap relief.

People wondered why the Grizz didn't trade Pau to the Bulls back then rather than "gift him to the Lakers for Kwame Brown." It's because the Lakers had those youngsters to add in and convince them, instead of Andres Nocioni and Aaron Gray (they were not trading Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah at this point). That's why they got beat out, not because Jerry West wanted to help the Lakers. But now we're the 2008 Bulls; we don't have anything to add in and convince them.
 
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Not that it matters, but I absolutely think he would have left.

We offer him say $13mil (which is, according to what I heard, still a little high for what he could have expected his market value to be), and the Bucks offer him $15, maybe $16, even $20mil? Yeah, gone.
 
I respectfully disagree.
But i wanna be more productive today than I was yesterday so I'll leave it at that.

For now at least :lol:
 
Kobe da gawd cashing out :pimp:

In Mitch we trust...

I hope he knows what he's doing.
 
Not that it matters, but I absolutely think he would have left.

We offer him say $13mil (which is, according to what I heard, still a little high for what he could have expected his market value to be), and the Bucks offer him $15, maybe $16, even $20mil? Yeah, gone.

i cant agree with this. now ay he would have left to a team like milwaukee over 5-7 million IMO.
 
Kobe isn't blind, he sees Jim and Jeanie Buss publicly feuding over who should be in charge of running the team. Kobe knows at this point in his career, that stars aren't coming to L.A. to play with him. He knows that even if he offered to play for free, the likelihood of management assembling a championship team through free agency within the next 2 years is slim.

You really can't blame Kobe for signing this deal. If someone throws a guaranteed $48 million in front of you without seeing you play a single minute after recovering from a career threatening injury, you sign that contract and run.
 
In all of the articles and videos that I have read and watched, I have noticed that former players and reporters that seem to be in the know (Mike Wilbon & Steven A. Smith) are in full agreement with this contract. Fans and reporters who don't seem to be in the know (Bill Simmons & Colin Cowherd) disagree with the contract and it shows how selfish Kobe is. I am on both sides of the fence with this really. I understand the business side of it : 3 billion dollar T.W. contract (not even happening without # 24), sold out arenas around the league, merchandise sales, everybody benefits with Kobe in a Laker uniform for the next few years, parking, concession stands, and things similar that make money just with the name Kobe Bryant on it. Never mind what he puts his body through (legal or not) for him to be at an elite level at this stage of this career. So, with all the money that is made off of him and exposure (which you really can't put a $ figure on) etc., the Lakers actually got off really cheap. Kobe said there was no negotiation (but i'm pretty sure both sides had a # in mind, and anything less that he got would have been a slap in the face) and I believe it went like -- after all the money we have made off him, no matter how it hurts the franchise we have GOT to pay him, we know he's not going any where but he is not going to take a substantial paycut.

On the other hand you are really gambling on players taking a paycut to come play with Kobe ala what players are doing in Miami to come play with Bron. But, Nelly put that out on front street on First Take about people not wanting to play with Kobe, much less for a discounted rate. I really was hoping he took a little less to get somebody in that would help getting him #6, but at this point who knows. But if you get a Love or a Westbrook in L.A., they are not doing to generate the revenue like Kobe does, and that may be want Jimmy is looking at, a competitive team (barely getting the playoffs or at .500) with Kobe, that makes him money, or a championship contender with perhaps Love and Westbrook, that will win but it wont make quite the money on his bottom line like Kobe would.

It's literally being caught between a rock and a hard place. Pay this dude that has made us all this money or ask him to take a paycut and have a P.R. nightmare if it got public that he was threating to leave.
 
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Kobe isn't blind, he sees Jim and Jeanie Buss publicly feuding over who should be in charge of running the team. Kobe knows at this point in his career, that stars aren't coming to L.A. to play with him. He knows that even if he offered to play for free, the likelihood of management assembling a championship team through free agency within the next 2 years is slim.

You really can't blame Kobe for signing this deal. If someone throws a guaranteed $48 million in front of you without seeing you play a single minute after recovering from a career threatening injury, you sign that contract and run.

YBD with the objective view on the matter. :pimp:
Repped.
 
Okay, this **** is a done deal, get over it fallas. We can at least speculate on who we have a chance of getting now.
 
To speak on what Lynchpin touched on, LA is also gambling in the way they are treating their star.

It's an approach angle.

Look at Boston, Paul Pierce won us a title, played forever, and we traded him when he got old.

LA after trading Shaq, now is going to try and say look at Kobe, he worked hard, we won titles, we will treat him right. That could be you Superstar X.

It's a sales pitch.


Maybe not for this team, this group, but in the upcoming future, that's something they can sell. Kill yourself workin for us, makes us butt loads of money, and we will treat you right later.

It's a gamble. It slows down our window for rebuilding. Rather than a whole new team next year, they may try to slowly bleed it out a year or two, grab any cheap asset they can, maybe a trade here or there, and then by 2016, then they will unveil a completely brand new squad.

2015-16 will be the whole Mariano Rivera, final appearance at this stadium, that stadium, etc etc nationwide tour for Kobe, Lakers will be in the news all year off that, just like the Yankees were this year. Then in 2016, they open the doors and ask, who wants to be next?


Like I said, a gamble. If a star sees that, and likes it, they come on board. If a star don't care about that, and just wants to get paid, women, less taxes, play with his buddies, etc, then maybe they won't come on board.

We'll see how it plays out. I for one, wanted to begin rebuilding the team this off season, with an eye towards a completed team ready to go by 2016. Now the 2016 team will likely be the start of the new era. :smh:
 
Good point on the Mariano Rivera tour. The last time a Lakers' star had a planned retirement was Kareem. A lot of stadiums aren't going to be pouring out love for Kobe Bryant and gifting him motorcycles at center court but the headlines will play up the Lakers mystique a bit.

The rhetoric coming from reporters right now seems to be players don't care as much about the legacy; they'll be changing their tune if Kobe's retirement goes down like that.
 
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Basically.

And how do you put a price on what that brings?

Every other game that season will be Kobe's final game at ____. Kobe's final game vs _____

The Lakers franchise will be on nationwide watch even more than they already are. And Mitch will be there with the "Oh hey, everybody, we have all this money to spend, but no one to spend it on........"

Followed by that Mitch look, half evil smirk, have stoneface.


Then it just becomes, does anyone bite?
 
I like this bit:

Mitch Kupchak on re-signing Bryant: “It’s been our intent all along. You started your career as a Laker … and end as a Laker.”

Batman%20Riding%20Batpod%201.gif
 
I like this bit:

Mitch Kupchak on re-signing Bryant: “It’s been our intent all along. You started your career as a Laker … and end as a Laker.”

Batman%20Riding%20Batpod%201.gif

That's the dope thing about the Lakers as a franchise.

They did it with Jerry West, Magic, and now it continues with Kobe.

The Lakers love, take care and make their legendary Shooting Guards the faces of the franchise & it's rich history.

But at the same time have little love for their greatest centers (Kareem, Shaq, and Wilt)
 
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Shaq decided to stick a fork to the franchise by bad mouthing Dr. Buss and the franchise.

Yet, look how quickly Shaq got his number retired.

Kareem got what he wanted...a statue at the end of the day.


Wilt...I'm not too sure, he probably slept with one of the girls that Dr. buss was messing with.
 
Kobe isn't blind, he sees Jim and Jeanie Buss publicly feuding over who should be in charge of running the team. Kobe knows at this point in his career, that stars aren't coming to L.A. to play with him. He knows that even if he offered to play for free, the likelihood of management assembling a championship team through free agency within the next 2 years is slim.

You really can't blame Kobe for signing this deal. If someone throws a guaranteed $48 million in front of you without seeing you play a single minute after recovering from a career threatening injury, you sign that contract and run.

YBD with the objective view on the matter. :pimp:
Repped.
 
Kobe isn't blind, he sees Jim and Jeanie Buss publicly feuding over who should be in charge of running the team. Kobe knows at this point in his career, that stars aren't coming to L.A. to play with him. He knows that even if he offered to play for free, the likelihood of management assembling a championship team through free agency within the next 2 years is slim.

You really can't blame Kobe for signing this deal. If someone throws a guaranteed $48 million in front of you without seeing you play a single minute after recovering from a career threatening injury, you sign that contract and run.

After thinking about it the past 24 hours I think this post right here makes total sense. Not to mention that Kobe as a financial asset to the organization (not the basketball team) is a cash cow so this is the right move.

It's over now and we're going to live with it for two more years. After looking at all the blunders of this organization in the last few years this contract for Kobe might looks to be a solid business move even though we're not happy about it as basketball fans.
 
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Based on Mitch's comments, its apparent that this was a star power contract deal. Veterans like KG & TD are still perennial players but they don't draw the crowd and more specifically, money like Kobe does. Like the above posts regarding Mariano Rivera, the Lakers are going to milk the heck out of Kobe's "final" season and it's going to be vibrant throughout. Also Akin to Rivera' spending his entire career with one team (most popular too), Kobe will likely be following those footsteps as well and in my opinion, epic.
 
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