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

[FlipSide]

Ron Artest is apparently working on a buyout with the Knicks. His brother has since bashed the Knicks organization on twitter and gives props to the Lakers:

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 56m

Am I allowed to cut ties with knick fans too or nah?

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 55m

I'm just happy Ron can breathe again. Hopefully he lands on a team that'll appreciate what he brings.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 52m

Mike Woodson is trash as a coach. That's my opinion. The Knicks are a trash organization. That's my opinion too. Melo deserves better. Fact!

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 52m

Knick fans deserve better than this.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 49m

Ron wanted to be a knick his entire career and his dream became a nightmare. Knicks need an overhaul. Top to bottom

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 47m

How u an owner but ppl control you? He had to be kissing another of the same sex and it's on tape. #KnicksTape

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 45m

Ron didn't even care about playing really. He just wanted to be a knick.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 39m

I'm not threatening Dolan on twitter tho. Lol. Some fan is locked up for that. Lol. However. I can say he's the worst owner in sports.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 39m

One thing about Dolan. He hates knick slander but he loves the attention it gets. Trust me. I know.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 35m

I knew Knicks was ******** when @NY_KnicksPR had me in office like. "Daniel. Ur tweets are a distraction." Please.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 33m

Out of respect.... I didn't listen to @NY_KnicksPR however. "$15k would hush me"

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 29m

I'm more disappointed that Ron didn't get a chance. No knock but some players didn't play the mins deserved. I know Ron could've helped.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 27m

And I know my tweets on nyk was partly the reason too. Ron always be like chill. They watching.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 26m

@NY_KnicksPR and the @nyknicks org should worry about winning and ur on floor product instead of what I'm tweeting next.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 24m

Lakers org was never this way. Class personified. It was a family atmosphere.

Daniel Artest ‏@DMArtestQB 20m

Mike Woodson isn't the man for NYC. Puppets will never prosper. Well actually. He made millions coaching. Still a yes man tho.

Even though Jim has made some obvious mistakes the past year or so for the Lakers, this reminds me of how grateful I am that our organization isn't as dysfunctional as the Knicks being a large market team.

 

[thadangerousmind]

^ DO NOT WANT!

 

[noblekane]

Daniel just needs to shut up

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

And the puzzle pieces are beginning to stack together

Artest
Clark
Big baby
Shawn Livingston
Shawn Marion
Hawes
Pau
Melo
Odom
Edit- deng

The expensive nature of this new cba will lead to a lot of teams cutting bait on guys with talent but that aren't a good mesh for their teams. This is going to lead to a lot of player movement, buyouts and all of that jazz.

The above list is just a handful of guys that may be or already are out there. Laugh at some of the names if you want, i encourage it. Not all of them are a good fit for us but they should fit in somewhere. When you are selecting from a group of guys like that, melo included, if they want to win rings they should all be open to taking paycuts or short term deals at the expense of a guy whose got five of em.

But that's if he is able to come back this season and prove he is a championship caliber player.....

And that's why the Los Angeles Lakers remain competitive and refuse to put themselves in a situation that all but guarantees to lower team morale and put them in a position to be blown out game after game, never having a chance.

They've already bet the house on Kobe, like it or not but that is the reality I am referring to. His ability to win games and be competitive is going to be a major selling point to any free agent. They can't afford to have him trying to make his return surrounded by a bunch of losers with long faces that can't dribble as well as they can nibble. This aint the 81 point kobe anymore but he can still be effective. And he needs to be surrounded by either a mega player like lebron or a guy like melo and a slew of young, athletic playmakers who play a rugged style but they are such an abundance and with such a free flowing offense that when one goes down the next one almost makes you forget he was ever in the team.

I gotta give it up to @Essential1. I totally blew off the notion of either lebron or melo signing here but I can easily see how we could build a competitive team of low budget players if either one of lebron/melo would also take a 1/3 paycut like Kobe did when he signed his latest contract. Essential mentioned this before preseason even started. We are either following the spurs formula or miami's, time will tell but I think it definitely is realistic but it all depends on how competitive this team can be with it's highest paid player

Laker fans have clamored to have at least one player besides Kobe that could create his own shot. Now our entire rotation of wings is basically kobe and the kobettes.

As long as we are able to clear cap space and are willing to pay the repeater tax we can sign whoever we please. Maybe this will also lead to a trend of players being more willing to accept lucrative but short term deals, even max one year deals. And If course front loaded contracts. Comparatively it is less money long term but it's also more money in a shorter amount of time. There are pros and cons to accepting a deal like that but they are similar in severity to the traditionally less annual but more in total revenue of something like a 2 year 5$ mil deal versus a 1 year 10$ million. That may be a way to combat the allure of a team playing in a state with lesser or no tax. More money sooner. That kind if deal will also make the game more competitive because there is less security for a player.

 

[sea manup]

so picking up more trash that no other teams want?

 

[la kb24]

Daniel just needs to shut up

I thought you were talking to me I was like what did I do and how you know my name? Haha

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

so picking up more trash that no other teams want?

another "solid" lakers role player out of a job after leaving our team


would happen to 80% of these guys if they got traded/leave

Exactly.

 

[sea manup]

we could sign all those guys listed and not make it past the 1st round, regardless of the stats they put up playing for dantoni scrubs will be scrubs

kendall marshall is the only player currently on our team that seems to actually be a decent role player, everyone else is a replaceable scrub

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

That's your opinion and we can disagree. I personally think they can field a very competitive team given the paycut scenario. Mostly because I can't get over how awful the spurs roster is on paper and yet they took one of the most stacked teams ever to a 3 pointer in game 7. If you want to see a parade of replaceable scrubs look no further than the San Antonio basketball almanac. Say what you may about them but they play well under pop and Dantoni

 

[sea manup]

the spurs also had a HOF PF averaging 19-12 in the finals leading the way

someone who they got by tanking

so if you want to copy the spurs......

 

[sea manup]

and of course signing all these scrubs means we are keeping dantoni 

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

so if you want to copy the spurs......

Aint about what I want pleighboi...Kobe is taking up all the cap and needs to prove he can still compete. They can't exactly tank but they can still get a franchise changing guy in a deep (1-10 I believe Mitch said they are confident drafting anywhere in that range) draft and may even luck up in a high pick. They owe the lakers some reparations after all

Edit- oh and you mentioned Duncan's stats in the finals. His defense is lesser and his fg% is down but check out Pau's stats this season. And he has kobe to bouy him

 

[sea manup]

your the one typing out dumb "rebuilding" ideas though...

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

It's not my idea it's an analysis of what is actually happening. No need to down talk or call it dumb

It's not about what I think they should do. It's about based on what they've done, these are their options

 

[sea manup]

i call it like i see it, none of those options will get us past the first round in the near future

not tanking and relying on unwanted scrubs is the best way to be the 8th seed every year for the next 10 years

so yes, its a dumb thing to do. if thats our plan mitch should be fired yesterday and the buss family should be forced to sell

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

You're saying they should tank...

Isn't that what the uproar over them not trading pau, hill, and kaman is about? Because it leads to meaningless wins and hurts draft position. Cleveland, Boston, Philly...those are games you need to lose if you call yourself tanking for the best draft position. It's like saying they should sign kobe for 2 years $20 million. Of course I can see that's a great idea. But that ship has sailed so let's move on and figure out what the hell's going on.

The lakers don't give a damn about the repeater tax. It won't affect roster moves. They will pay top dollar if they must. It is totally irrelevant.

Isn't that why everyone's so upset about beating Boston? About beating anybody?

So the issue is meaningless wins and sliding down the lottery. It hasn't been avoided multiple times thus far. It will continue to happen when it could have easily been avoided. They have made their bed. It's no longer an option. We have passed the point of no return

 

[sea manup]

which shows that mitch has no real plan to make this team a contender again

he's probably like most lakers fans thinking nick young is the key player to build around and pau gasol is worth resigning 

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

If you would like to make a case for how the lakers can take back wins against Cleveland, Boston, Philly etc and turn them into wins thus improving our odds in the draft, please do.

Otherwise I think it's time we should all move on

 

[kal-el-8]

I wanna see parker in an nba offense.

This duke offense is god awful

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Call me crazy but a

Exum, Kobe, Melo, PF, Pau

or

Lowry, Kobe, Melo, Pau, Embiid

or

Lowry, Kobe, Parker, PF, Pau


is making me all kinds of good feels.


I hate to say it but Melo could work :x :x :x

 

[sea manup]

Call me crazy but a

Exum, Kobe, Melo, PF, Pau

or

Lowry, Kobe, Melo, Pau, Embiid

or

Lowry, Kobe, Parker, PF, Pau


is making me all kinds of good feels.


I hate to say it but Melo could work

a lot of things could work with a top 5 pick

 

[kal-el-8]

 

[CHAOSE57]

View media item 820230
:x

 

[kal-el-8]

Parker

 

[grandtheftbike]

parker aint built like that

thats ramons body isnt it? isnt it???