Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[CP1708]

I think we might sign Blake as our backup to KLove as well. Just to remind the Clippers and their fans who they are.

Maybe get Rondo to back up Rose as well, for our Celtic brethren.


Ya'll calm down, it's not going to be that bad in a couple years. A guy here, a guy there. It's not going to be just any and everybody. But we obviously aren't going to sit around and be a regular team like the Hawks or some ****. This been goin on for 6 decades, it's not stopping any time soon. But we ain't addin 6+ guys a year or anything.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

 This been goin on for 6 decades, it's not stopping any time soon. But we ain't addin 6+ guys a year or anything.

Understood, but its the doom and gloom us Lakers haters face every offseason 

 

[CP1708]

You all made the choice to be anti Lakers. That's not our fault.

I made a choice to be a Cubs fan, but I don't go pissin and whinin about the Yankees every year.

Teams got to do their own jobs. Some teams are smarter/better (and luckier) than everyone else. Pretty clear which side of the fence the Lakers are on in that regard.

Root against stupid teams, rooting against smart teams seems futile to me.

 

[mjshoefanatic]

Clipper guy already shakin in his boots.

JD, I wasn't sayin he would decline early, just sayin that his minutes/games numbers are going to be staggering as he hits 32-33 etc. Something that should be at least monitored.

I've said for years (and others too I am sure) MJ got his last 3 because of the 18 months off. If he plays those 2 years, he's not winning in 97 or 98. That squad would have died. Especially Pip who was on fumes in 98.

Not really since Paul and Lebron are good good friends.

 

[mjshoefanatic]

I think we might sign Blake as our backup to KLove as well. Just to remind the Clippers and their fans who they are.

"July 10, 2012 via LA Times

Blake Griffin signed a five-year contract extension with the Clippers on Tuesday night that could be worth up to $95 million.

The deal could keep Griffin, who has an opt-out clause after the fourth year of the extension, in a Clippers uniform until 2018."

good luck with that jack!

 

[big j 33]

I don't think the contract quote was needed, there's not a chance anyone would seriously suggest Blake Griffin as a backup.

 

[Master Zik]

LeBron got a comic book with Marvel. @ the title though, shouldn't be plural. Preview pics:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

[pmatic]

I believe it's a comic based on his seven rings comment from 2010...

 

[Peep Game]

The idea of Rondo backing up Rose

 

[mjshoefanatic]

I don't think the contract quote was needed, there's not a chance anyone would seriously suggest Blake Griffin as a backup.

 

[lawdog1]

I don't think the contract quote was needed, there's not a chance anyone would seriously suggest Blake Griffin as a backup.

I don't know, man. Its getting harder and harder to give Lakers fans the benefit of the doubt on these kind of things.

 

[Trillmatic90]

Gonna buy that comic and keep it deadstock. It's gonna be worth hundreds 30 years from now.

 

[Maximus Meridius]

This thing has legs...

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lakers-374987-buss-free.html

EL SEGUNDO – I sat down with Lakers executive vice president Jim Buss on Wednesday for nearly an hour, and one of the clear revelations was just how excited Buss is about the Lakers contending for the NBA championship in 2014, not just this season and next.

"We purposely ended all contracts that year," Buss said. "I can't talk about Kobe (Bryant), but this is what he signed till. So basically we put everything to that, and we want to make a big splash in the free-agent market if we get to that spot. So we designed the contracts and the players and our future all around that."

That makes for a completely viable scenario wherein Bryant retires in 2014 – and LeBron James signs a free-agent contract to replace him on the Lakers' marquee.

One day after I spoke with Buss (longer profile piece coming in the Sunday paper), Miami-based writer and longtime LeBron tracker Brian Windhorst coincidentally was also looking ahead and reporting: "Several teams' executives have told ESPN.com they believe the Lakers are positioning themselves to make a run at LeBron James in 2014, when the Miami Heat star can choose to become a free agent."

No doubt.

Buss specifically did not mention anyone by name and wouldn't be allowed to because of NBA tampering rules. Yet if Bryant steps aside, the Lakers envision having a re-signed Dwight Howard with Steve Nash in the final year of his new contract and some new, incredibly potent blood.

"Yeah, depending on the free agents that year," Buss said. "We would basically, money-wise, be able to sign the top free agent – maybe even two. I don't know the numbers exactly, because we're not privy to what the cap is and how much room we have, but it's going to be close to two of the top free agents that year."

It's not just all eggs in James' basket, as other stars such as James' Miami teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and New York's Carmelo Anthony could be free agents in 2014. Other big-name players who could be unsigned then (besides Bryant and Pau Gasol) are Dirk Nowitzki, Amar'e Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, John Wall, Danny Granger, Luol Deng, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Monta Ellis and Andrea Bargnani.

The Lakers' scenario could be put on a hold a year also if James doesn't opt out of his Heat contract in 2014. He, Wade and Bosh all have opportunities to opt out in 2015 again before their contracts expire in 2016. Some potential 2015 free agents are Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker and Anthony.

If Bryant, then 36, is amenable to returning in 2014, the Lakers' changes could be put on hold a year for that reason, too. Or Bryant could return at a heavily discounted rate that might allow the Lakers still to sign James or another new star to team with Bryant, Howard and Nash.

The possibilities are enough to make a Lakers fan dizzy – even before possible champagne bottles are opened with Bryant, Gasol, Howard and Nash these upcoming two seasons.

Buss said it had been "a little scary" to contemplate beyond two seasons ... until the acquisition of Howard.

"Because if we don't win championships (in 2013 and '14), we basically failed," Buss said. "But with Dwight hopefully wanting to stay with the Lakers, we feel our horizon is bright."

Buss had his eye on James as far back in 2005, when the Lakers were structuring the payroll for the possibility that James, Yao Ming and Stoudemire would not re-sign with their teams before 2007 free agency. Those scenarios didn't come to pass, but the Lakers are the masters when it comes to figuring out ways to cycle and recycle toward titles.

The post-Kobe incarnation of the Lakers might be the slickest turn of them all.

The new collective bargaining agreement is largely meant to shut off the Lakers' flowing spigot. Off-the-charts luxury-tax penalties kick in come 2014 for clubs who've been taxpayers for three of the previous four years. The Lakers basically have no choice but to duck under the tax threshold in '14 and '15, theoretically meaning they shouldn't continue to contend with suddenly light payrolls.

But Buss and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak are still ready and able to be the best. They should have a then-28-year-old Howard anchoring a suddenly low-payroll yet again high-expectation team in 2014.

"With Dwight Howard now, the future's so bright," Buss said. "If he re-signs with us, the future is so bright that now we can start looking into the three, four or five years from now and say, 'OK, we're again going toward championships.' "

Had the Lakers not traded Andrew Bynum for Howard, Buss said the same approach would've been in place by re-signing Bynum: "The plan was Andrew would carry us." Buss acknowledged, though, that the sun rising again in '14 isn't as cloudy with Bynum's clunky knee brace out of the picture.

Asked whether Howard's acquisition – pending him re-signing this summer – could be described as a "relief" for the future, Buss paused. He views it more as the Lakers doing what they do, preparing their chess moves well before their turns come up.

"It was a game plan, and to me, it came to fruition," Buss said. "So 'relief' might be a word, but more 'excitement.' I'm excited about the future – not only these two years, but moving forward. Very excited."

 

[senorroboto2k5]

Aside from the joking/gloating and idiotic ESPN articles,

it's pretty amazing that the Lakers will be in a position to build a new team immediately when the Kobe era is over. They had a championship team for a few years, retooled it into a powerhouse, and might not even suck when the powerhouse calls it quits.

If they actually get good FAs is something we can't predict, but they will be in a position to.

 

[big j 33]

I don't think the contract quote was needed, there's not a chance anyone would seriously suggest Blake Griffin as a backup.

But you're the one who replied to the obvious joke... So.. Yeah..

 

[mjshoefanatic]

^no prob sherlock.

keep it movin son.

 

[big j 33]

Sherlock Holmes was a genius detective, that's a compliment.

 

[mjshoefanatic]

Sherlock Holmes was a genius detective, that's a compliment.

 

[westcoastsfinest]

Hey anything can happen. Bron can say whatever he wants, obviously he'll dismiss it cause he's playing for Miami but c'mon he said the same thing in Cleveland. We'll see though. I doubt it happens.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

I honestly don't think the Lakers really want/expect to get Bron but by saying they do it makes everyone else try to get him while they scoop up other players. this is basically how they got Nash. Toronto signed laundry fields to that ridiculous contract to prevent Nash from going to New york and they cock blocked themselves in the process.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Sherlock Holmes was a genius detective, that's a compliment.

 

[xbiker47]

Guys...he's coming to New York this time

 

[buc em]

This Sixers team

When Bynum comes back

No more KobeDala or LeBronDala

 

[pmatic]

Nick Young sure loves contested long 2s.

 

[big j 33]

I'm surprised to read this, but at the same time... I'm not?

After 12 NBA seasons and with a firm reputation as a pure shooter, Clippers guard Jamal Crawford tried something during the off-season he had never done before. He practiced shooting.

It's astonishing to think that Crawford, who is the NBA's career leader with 34 four-point plays and ranks 21st all-time with 1,387 three-pointers, didn't routinely spend his summers in stuffy gyms trying to perfect his shot. [...]

"This summer was actually the first summer I worked on my game. I usually just play off of raw talent," he said Thursday after the Clippers' practice. "But I just wanted to work on something and be in great shape coming into camp. I came here right after Labor Day, which is the earliest I've ever gone to any team in the summer, and all the guys were here, committed to getting better.

"Now it's part of my lifestyle, working out and being here, shooting and getting shots up. It gives you more confidence that if you miss one or two, you know you've been working on it every single day and your teammates have confidence because they see it as well."