[::WORLD CHAMPION LAKERS OFF-SEASON THREAD: 2 Weeks Away From Pre-Season::]

[physicx]

whats brad miller up too? i havent heard too much of him since free agency started

good size, can hit midrange jumpers, GREAT passer for a big man

prolly would cost too much though

 

[frenchblue23]

Boston was looking at Brad Miller, I thought they would have signed him.

I mean he wouldn't be a bad pickup, but again, the money issue. A lot of these guys want something close to or the MLE.

Worse comes to worse, could Powell and Mbenga share the vet minimum?

 

[i nasmatic i]

You can't "share" the veteran's minimum. Veteran's minimums are based on how many years you've been in the league. They would be cost about a million or so a season.

 

[lamarownsem]

I believe teams can use an unlimited amount of vet minimums.

 

[bigmike23]

ebanks and Charcter should be locks to make yall teams. strawberry trying to get a spot also

 

[ZKO_24_7]

Bell went for the money. 3 yrs/10 mil. TMZ.com has a pic of Bell wearing a laker necklace before he decided to sign with the jazz.

Shaq is trying to get paid too.. read that he is looking for a sign and trade to ATL.. Shaq is looking for more then the MLE.

Shannon is our best option. still intrigued by tmac but we need a quicker/defensive minded guard.

 

[hunter2k4]

What's going on with Barnes? haven't heard about him concerning any other teams in the L... wasn't he making close to 1.8 mil? isn't that close to what we can offer him? C'mon Matt!!! think about it...

 

[noblekane]

Originally Posted by hunter2k4

What's going on with Barnes? haven't heard about him concerning any other teams in the L... wasn't he making close to 1.8 mil? isn't that close to what we can offer him? C'mon Matt!!! think about it...

^hes signing with miami. imo opinion if we sign shannon back we lose this offseason

that guy is all kinds of awful...farmar plays better d and shoots better than him. thats how bad he is.....

 

[s dubl]

Eh...I think we should just chill for now. See what happens for the first 1/2 of the season....if need be make some moves in february and we'll have $$ to do something if needed.

 

[leroythegreat38]

Originally Posted by hunter2k4

What's going on with Barnes? haven't heard about him concerning any other teams in the L... wasn't he making close to 1.8 mil? isn't that close to what we can offer him? C'mon Matt!!! think about it...

Over in the Heat offseason thread people are saying that he is joining the Heat but I don't see anything to back it up.

 

[s dubl]

Damn...eveyone and their momma (no Gloria) is signing with the heat....hell let me see if I can get signed too.

 

[mrdieselfuel09]

How does the Heat have so much cap space still?

 

[hunter2k4]

Originally Posted by mrdieselfuel09

How does the Heat have so much cap space still?

My thoughts exactly

 I really wanted this guy and if the Heat get him it makes it all the worst considering they taking him away from Orlando which is one of two realistic competitors in the east....  although my boy just told me he read somewhere the Celtics are looking into him... so we'll see

 

[dyyhard]

http://sports.espn.go.com...plan_jeff&id=5387547

LAS VEGAS -- That nice little story about Ivy Leaguer Jeremy Lin getting a shot with the Dallas Mavericks' summer league team is about to get serious.

Lin is on the verge of signing an NBA contract, and it could be with the Mavericks, who view him as an intriguing developmental point guard and a strong candidate to run the club's new D-League affiliate that begins play this fall in Frisco.

"We're in discussions as we speak," Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said Friday afternoon. "We are extremely interested in him as a young player."

[h4]More on the Mavs[/h4]

News, notes and analysis of the Mavericks from ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan, Tim MacMahon and the rest of our team. Blog.

Suddenly, the player deemed too flawed in most major areas to survive in the NBA is in contract discussions with three teams, according to league sources. The Los Angeles Lakers are believed to be one, with an Eastern Conference team the other.

"We know we could lose him just as easily," Nelson said.

Lin's agent, Roger Montgomery, said additional teams inquired about the Harvard graduate Friday after Lin's exceptional effort Thursday night when he battled toe-to-toe with John Wall, the Washington Wizards' No. 1 overall draft pick. While those other teams could be considered, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Lin is studying the roster fit of the three frontrunners. Montgomery and Nelson are expected to talk in the next 48 hours, with Lin's decision expected soon afterward.

"I haven't slept much in a while. It's been really exciting," Lin said. "Obviously, it's a dream come true and it's great to be able to get that offer now in the summer league than have to go through training camp. I can't remember the last time I've had problems sleeping. It's been a crazy day or two."

If financial offers and plans for Lin's development are relatively equal, he seems to have an affinity for the Mavs and Nelson, who was the first NBA executive to latch onto him in April at the Portsmouth Invitational, and the only one to offer Lin a summer league roster spot.

"He said he loved my game and the way I played and my basketball IQ, but then he said, 'I think you're about one year away from the NBA, so I want you to come play for my D-League team,' " Lin said. "That's how it started. He didn't draft me because he still thought I needed a year to develop, but he wanted me to come play for them, get comfortable with the city, get comfortable with the organization."

Lin arrived in Las Vegas with NBA executives labeling him as a 'tweener, unsure if he's a point guard or a shooting guard or good enough to play either. But Lin's aggressive drives, combative defense, court savvy and leadership have knocked the socks off those executives -- who now deem him a combo guard -- and turned Lin into a crowd favorite. And now, the skinny point guard out of Palo Alto (Calif.) High School, who could only garner walk-on invites from Pac-10 schools, is about to make his and his family's dreams come true.

Lin

Throughout the summer league, Lin's father, Gie-Ming, his mother, Shirley, and his two brothers, Josh and Joseph, have watched every minute. Peter Diepenbrock, Lin's high school coach and an enthusiastic promoter, arrived for Thursday's game and will remain through the weekend as the Mavs' squad closes out the five-game summer league Sunday.

"When you talk about what he's done this week here, he's turned the thinking about him from a negative to a positive," said Diepenbrock, who won a California state championship with Lin in 2006. "The other thing is Jeremy is a point guard. He played off-guard in college, but in my opinion Jeremy is a point guard. He is the ultimate leader. We talk about his basketball ability and all that, but he is a guy who speaks his mind.

"When he was a freshman in high school, he's telling seniors, 'You're supposed to go here, you're supposed to do this,' because he has just an innate feel for the game and a confidence in that feeling that he knows exactly what people should be doing, when they should be doing it and he's not afraid to speak his mind. The point guard, first and foremost, is a leader on the floor."

Lin could become the first Harvard player in the NBA since Ed Smith in 1953. As a senior, Lin nearly guided the non-scholarship Crimson to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1946. He averaged 16.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. He went undrafted and was widely considered a nice story but not an NBA player.

Much like his 8.0 scoring average with 2.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 15.7 minutes in four summer league games, Lin's stat line doesn't tell the whole story of his production and value. The Mavs came to Las Vegas seeking to train the electrifying guard Rodrigue Beaubois to run the point but will leave knowing that Lin -- while not the complete athlete or pure shooter as Beaubois -- is the superior point guard.

[h4]Galloway & Co.: 7/15[/h4]
/c.espnradio.com/audio/375522/galloway_2010-07-16-181305.96.mp3">http://c.espnradio.com/au...2010-07-16-181305.96.mp3" name="flashVars">

Mavs summer league guard Jeremy Lin joins GAC to discuss making it in the NBA.

More Podcasts »

Lin took over the team for much of the second half against the Wizards as Beaubois sat on a poor outing and a slight ankle injury. Lin gave Wall all he could handle at both ends while leading a comeback and drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd with several fearless drives to the rim.

If Lin signs with the Mavs, he could give them potential long-term insurance in case Beaubois does not develop as hoped as a floor leader.

"He makes everybody else around him better. That's a sign of a real player," Nelson said. "A lot of times, and we've been through this before with a guy like Steve Nash, people have a hard time projecting certain players. I just know every team those guys were on won. Jeremy's got some of the same characteristics."

Lin's father saw it almost immediately when he put a basketball in the hands of his three sons at an early age. All three grew up playing all the time. Lin's older brother, Josh, stoked the competitive juices in Jeremy and younger brother, Joseph, who will be a freshman member of the basketball team at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., this fall.

"It's been all of our dreams to go to the NBA," Joseph said, "and he's actually going."

Gie-Ming came to America from Taiwan in 1977. He met his wife, Shirley, who also emigrated from Taiwan, at Old Dominion University in Virginia. That's where Gie-Ming started watching games on TV and instantly fell in love with basketball. He studied players such as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Lin boys' favorite player, Michael Jordan.

He played pick-up games with his sons three times a week and taught them the moves of the pros he saw on TV. As they got older, Gie-Ming took them to Golden State Warriors games and watched games on TV every chance they could.

"One time, in high school, he went to the AAU national tournament," Gie-Ming said. "And when we got home, I told him that I hope one day I can see him on national TV."

That day could be rapidly approaching.

Jeff Caplan covers the Mavericks for ESPNDallas.com. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his weekly mailbag.

 

[eeibaby]

Damn big ups to Lin if he makes it, funny thing is some NTer made a post about him a few months ago. Who would've thought he would have a chance to play in the NBA

 

[i nasmatic i]

Lakers working on details of roster

LOS ANGELES -- We know the Los Angeles Lakers will be raising another banner to the Staples Center rafters on opening night in October. We just don't know quite yet who will be on the court rounding out the roster for the 2010-11 season.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has filled in most of the remaining canvas with three paint roller-sized strokes -- agreeing to terms with head coach Phil Jackson; re-signing starting point guard Derek Fisher to a three-year, $10.5 million deal; and luring backup guard Steve Blake from the free-agent market with a four-year offer worth $16 million.

Now it's time for Kupchak to switch to the fine-bristled brush to color in the remaining details.

With a coach secured and nine players under contract, the Lakers have four roster spots to reach the league's minimum of 13 players.

Two of those spots are believed to be earmarked for the Lakers' two second-round draft picks, Devin Ebanks of West Virginia and Derrick Caracter of Texas El Paso. Both players would warrant rookie league-minimum salaries of $473,604 next season, taking two of the four vacant spots created by the Lakers' departing free agents, Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, D.J. Mbenga and Adam Morrison.

Ebanks averaged 15.0 points on 45.5 percent 3-point shooting during summer league, drawing favorable comparisons to former Laker Trevor Ariza because of his length and floor game. Caracter led the Lakers in scoring, averaging 15.4 points on 59.3 percent shooting from the field, to go with 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game. ESPN.com analyst David Thorpe likened Caracter to San Antonio's DeJuan Blair, a second-round steal from last season.

Farmar signed with the New Jersey Nets for $16 million over four years, with a player option after the second season.

"It's going to be a new experience," Farmar said in a phone interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com on Friday. "It's going to be different, exciting and I'm looking forward to it. A lot of good things are going to come from it."

Farmar, who became a first-time father last week of a baby girl named Phoenix, said playing for Nets head coach Avery Johnson, a former NBA point guard, was the deciding factor that led him to choose New Jersey over Indiana and Portland. The Nets increased their pursuit of Farmar once LeBron James chose to play for Miami.

"[Johnson] was probably the biggest part," Farmar said. "Him explaining how he played Devin Harris and Jason Terry together in Dallas, he helped Devin Harris get to this point in his career where he's an All-Star and looked at as a starter and a legitimate player in this league and he was going to help me do the same."

It remains to be seen what good will come from the Lakers' parting ways with four players who knew the system and pushed the starters in practice and having four new faces at the end of the bench.

Powell has received interest from several teams, including Chicago, Denver, Miami and Atlanta, according to league sources.

Morrison has worked out for several teams in Las Vegas this week, including Washington, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers.

"It went really well," Morrison's agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPNLosAngeles.com of the workout. "A lot of teams are interested. I think we'll have something done shortly."

Bartelstein has another client, Shannon Brown, who is currently in negotiations with the Lakers about returning with a multi-year deal. Brown opted out of the final year remaining on his contract that would have paid him $2.15 million next season.

Brown averaged a career-high 8.1 points and 20.7 minutes last season, and his production spiked to 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in seven games filling in as a starter for the injured Kobe Bryant.

He has received some interest from his hometown Chicago Bulls  as well as the Utah Jazz, but the Jazz have fallen somewhat out of the picture after signing Raja Bell to a three-year, $10 million deal Wednesday. Bell had been recruited by Kobe Bryant to join the Lakers.

"We're having extensive talks," Bartelstein said in a phone interview Thursday. "We're working at it. Mitch [Kupchak] and I are working very hard. Nothing is done as of yet, but we're working really hard at it. That's literally the whole story."

Because the Lakers have Brown's "Bird Rights," they can offer him up to a five-year extension worth a maximum of $5.8 million per year, which is what the mid-level exception is set at for teams above the salary cap.

If they can't reach a common ground with Brown, the next option available to the team is to take a hard look at guards Ibrahim Jaaber and D.J. Strawberry, who showed hopeful signs during summer league. Strawberry averaged 13.0 points and 2.2 assists, Jaaber averaged 5.0 and 4.3 to go along with 1.0 steals per game. There is also a chance the Lakers could extend former first-round pick Javaris Crittenton a training camp invitation. Crittenton was considered for the Lakers' summer league team, but a foot injury prevented him from participating.

The team also has approximately $1.8 million remaining from its mid-level exception after signing Blake. With Bell out of the picture, the team could focus on free agent Matt Barnes, who was with Orlando last season. Another Bryant nemesis like Bell, Barnes shares a similar skill set of being a tough on-ball defender and being able to knock down 3-pointers. Barnes wrote on Twitter on July 9, "B4 LBJ situation went down we've ben n contact w/ the magic, lakers, mia, dallas, knicks & det. Have to see wat happens."

Kupchak says he has permission from Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss to spend the full mid-level exception if he is convinced he can get players to help the team capture a three-peat championship next season. But Kupchak won't just spend it because he can. If there aren't any attractive veterans who will play for $1.8 million or if the Lakers spend more than they would like to in retaining Brown, then the chances of one of the other summer league players such as Jaaber or Strawberry making the team increases.

There could be some movement remaining on the Lakers' staff as well.

Lakers assistant general manager Ronnie Lester met with the Phoenix Suns this week about their vacant general manager position that opened up when Steve Kerr decided to return to TNT as a broadcaster. Should Lester leave, the Lakers would likely go outside the organization to fill his position.

Lakers special assistant Chuck Person decided to stay with the team and was promoted to a full-time assistant coach for next season. There was some interest from Portland's Nate McMillan to have Person join his staff, but that hire could not be made until the Trail Blazers replaced Kevin Pritchard with a new GM. According to a source close to the situation, Person did not want to wait out Portland's hiring process and leave a secure offer from the Lakers on the table.
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5387516

 

[noblekane]

man i dislike matt barnes alot but if its between him and shannon and strawberry and jaabar, sign barns....good lord thats like selecting something to eat out a garbage bag...

 

[goldmember]

What's the latest news with Kurt Thomas?..if there ever is one anyway..i mean we have to sign some back up bigs since Powell and Dj are most likely gone..

 

[acbboyz84]

Matt Barnes is beyond trash and have bad attitude. I don't think he would be a good fit to the team chemistry. Jeremy Lin would be Sun Yue v2 in LA. Could use him to sell ticket to the asian market but i doubt he can make the roster

 

[Los Angeles]

Like the Lakers need help selling tickets to the "Asian Market"

You make no god damn sense.

 

[lamarownsem]

Originally Posted by bright nikes

Like the Lakers need help selling tickets to the "Asian Market"

You make no god damn sense.

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[acbboyz84]

Originally Posted by bright nikes

Like the Lakers need help selling tickets to the "Asian Market"

You make no god damn sense.

When did i say they need help ? I said Jeremi Lin going to be Sun Yue #2 and he will attract a lot of asian viewers to come out and support him

 

[acidicality]

Jeremy won't necessarily grab that "Asian" market. It's slightly different than Yao or Sun Yue since those guys are from China.
He'll definitely be THE Asian-American sports icon for basketball, and I think he'll be the first of more Asian-Americans to make it in the league. I just hope it's not on the Lakers.

So he'll be much bigger in places like LA and NorCal in comparison to China.

 

[goukiteg]

Originally Posted by dyyhard

Lin's agent, Roger Montgomery, said additional teams inquired about the Harvard graduate Friday after Lin's exceptional effort Thursday night when he battled toe-to-toe with John Wall, the Washington Wizards' No. 1 overall draft pick. 
Lin took over the team for much of the second half against the Wizards as Beaubois sat on a poor outing and a slight ankle injury. Lin gave Wall all he could handle at both ends while leading a comeback and drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd with several fearless drives to the rim.

 

[jcbacall]