Lakers

[Moliere]

Anthony Davis for Lonzo, Ingram, Hart and 3 first rounders. I’m not upset about losing Hart. Lonzo needs a new start away from LA but it’s not a huge loss. Ingram kind of hurts as he’s been decent. Losing three first rounders kinda sucks. Hopefully AD stays healthy. Very happy they kept Kuzma.

Do they have the money/space to add Kwahi or Kemba.

[clackamascoug]

Anthony Davis for Lonzo, Ingram, Hart and 3 first rounders. I’m not upset about losing Hart. Lonzo needs a new start away from LA but it’s not a huge loss. Ingram kind of hurts as he’s been decent. Losing three first rounders kinda sucks. Hopefully AD stays healthy. Very happy they kept Kuzma.

Do they have the money/space to add Kwahi or Kemba.

Yes - they still have 30 million to spend before the cap penalty. Leonard has a hard decision to make.

Lakers can suck trout.

[jay santos]

Yes - they still have 30 million to spend before the cap penalty. Leonard has a hard decision to make.

Lakers can suck trout.

I think I might be interested in this Lakers team. But if they add Kwahi, they can suck it. Super teams are fun. Super super super teams just take the joy out of the sport. The only way for any drama is root for an ACL.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

LeBron is turning 35 this year. If you look at Kobe and KG, things start going downhill pretty quickly for them at that point. LeBron may have Karl Malone's body, but Malone didn't have LeBron's mileage until the 2001-2002 season. In fact, with all the extra post-season mileage, I'd say Malone didn't reach LeBron's mileage until another year or two. The main advantage to having LeBron could be setting themselves up as a likely Anthony Davis trade location. They'll be very competitive this year with or without Kawhi. But the real coup would be the Anthony Davis trade intriguing Kawhi enough to sign with the Lakers. Kawhi + AD is a multi-championship team. Kawhi has played well in his career with well-rounded big men -- Duncan and Gasol (x 2), and all three of those guys were well past their primes.

[clackamascoug]

Yes - they still have 30 million to spend before the cap penalty. Leonard has a hard decision to make.

Lakers can suck trout.

My quoted info was wrong. The Lakers cap space would have been 30 million - but news came out today saying that the Pelican's pushed for a July 8 date on the trade - and this will cause the Lakers to lose the 30 million cap space. If the deal would have had a July 30th date - the Lakers would have retained the 30 million cap space. Looks like the Pelican's played a little hard ball at the 11:45 hour - and the Lakers had to agree or nothing. Good job Pelicans!

[SoCalCoug]

My quoted info was wrong. The Lakers cap space would have been 30 million - but news came out today saying that the Pelican's pushed for a July 8 date on the trade - and this will cause the Lakers to lose the 30 million cap space. If the deal would have had a July 30th date - the Lakers would have retained the 30 million cap space. Looks like the Pelican's played a little hard ball at the 11:45 hour - and the Lakers had to agree or nothing. Good job Pelicans!

There's a lot of information, misinformation and speculation out there. The scenario I'm piecing together is that the Pelicans are fine with delaying the trade, but it all depends on what they do with the #4 pick. If they trade it to another team, then that team has to agree to delay the trade 30 days. Nobody knows who that third team is, and so nobody knows if they would agree to do that, and if so, what additional compensation from the Lakers that might require.

I think they're comfortable with their chances of signing Kawhi, and that if that happens, AD would waive his trade kicker. But because of the uncertainty with the #4 pick, they're planning for both contingencies - with $32 million available and without it.

I don't think Pelinka's quite the rube some of the media members are making him out to be.

[SoCalCoug]

Based on some scuttle on Lakers twitter, there may be other scenarios, involving adding Bonga, Wagner and Jemerrio Jones to the trade, where they could sign a max player (Kawhi) and still complete the trade for AD on July 6. It has been noted that Pelinka signed Jones to a contract two weeks before the end of the season, and that his contract may end up being an important part of the deal.

***I am not claiming inside sources, and I do not have actual knowledge. I am inferring, based on what I'm seeing and hearing. But I've seen more than one potential path to the Lakers still being able to sign Kawhi.

[Flystripper]

I heard today that Leonard has indicated that he probably won’t take a meeting with the Lakers and that if he goes to LA his interest lies with the Clippers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[smokymountainrain]

lakers will be dumb and go after Kemba. they don't need more scoring in the form of a rich man's Isaiah Thomas who needs the ball in his hands. they need defensive versatility and dudes who don't need the ball, but can make threes when it comes to them.

[Flystripper]

lakers will be dumb and go after Kemba. they don't need more scoring in the form of a rich man's Isaiah Thomas who needs the ball in his hands. they need defensive versatility and dudes who don't need the ball, but can make threes when it comes to them.

I agree that is what they need. I hope you are wrong in what you expect they will do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SoCalCoug]

I heard today that Leonard has indicated that he probably won’t take a meeting with the Lakers and that if he goes to LA his interest lies with the Clippers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kawhi doesn't seem to really talk to a lot of people about his intentions. Particularly with the draft coming up, there are lots of different agendas out there, and lots of people talking to the media in order to further their agenda.

You may be right. But there's also a lot of chatter among L.A. social media that indicates the opposite.

The good thing is, even without Kawhi, the Lakers still have LeBron and AD. Kawhi would be a luxury, not a necessity to compete for a title.

[Donuthole]

lakers will be dumb and go after Kemba. they don't need more scoring in the form of a rich man's Isaiah Thomas who needs the ball in his hands. they need defensive versatility and dudes who don't need the ball, but can make threes when it comes to them.

Yep. Conley would have been an amazing fit with them, cap issues aside.

[SoCalCoug]

Came across some really interesting information in Lakerland that strikes many as quite credible. AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) is a minority owner of the Lakers. Someone who "closely associates" with both the Lakers and AEG has posted some things. He has shared details of some recent events (such as the AD trade) well before the details hit the mainstream news. So for whatever it's worth (this is my summary, not a cut and paste):

The whole July 6 date for the trade depends on what happens with the 4th pick. NO is fine with waiting, though - it depends on if they trade the pick to someone else whether the trade will happen July 6 or wait longer for cap purposes.

Lakers FO is kind of a mess. Jeannie knows publicity, doesn't know basketball. Pelinka knows contracts, but doesn't know coaching. There were issues with Magic, who was described as a shady businessman, and this is what led to his leaving. That left Jeannie lost, because she relied heavily on Magic for the basketball stuff. She's friends with Linda Rambis, and Linda suggested that Jeannie bring Kurt in to help advise on basketball stuff. Unfortunately, he's not very experienced in front office stuff.

Luke and Pelinka, at the beginning of the season Randle was traded, wanted him gone, because they knew LeBron was coming, who filled the same spot as Randle, though much better. But they didn't want to be seen as not showing loyalty by not re-signing him, so Luke was convinced to mess with his minutes and usage to the point that Randle asked to be renounced in the offseason.

To replace Luke, Kurt really wanted Lionel Hollins, who is a friend of his. So he convinced Pelinka to lowball Lue. Others didn't want Hollins as HC, so Kurt settled for Frank Vogel. Hollins being hired as assistant coach is due to Kurt. I have no info about Jason Kidd. Kurt has lots of influence, but not total say.

The league lost a lot of money not having the Lakers in the playoffs. They have "provided" (i.e., forced) consultants to the Lakers to help them navigate through the AD trade and free agency. They need the Lakers to make it to at least the second round of the playoffs. They have done this sort of thing before to help smaller market teams, but it's unusual to do so with one of the premier teams like the Lakers.

Steve Ballmer (Clippers owner) has paid a lot of money to get favorable media coverage of the Clippers; this has naturally resulted in negative coverage of the Lakers. It seems that if Kawhi puts basketball issues ahead of marketing issues, the Clippers are in a pretty good spot for him. However, AEG and the Lakers are putting together a pitch to Kawhi to show that with AEG and the Lakers, Kawhi and his Uncle Dennis get lots more money from the New Balance contract than if he's with Toronto or even the Clippers. The Clippers don't have the endorsement power of the Lakers. Kawhi is likely examining all of these angles and nobody really knows where he's leaning (at least as far as the Lakers are concerned), though he is still interested in the Lakers. He has demonstrated some concern about the state of the Lakers' front office after the ESPN piece about Magic (I actually haven't seen it, myself).


The different voices in the Lakers front office do seem to be in agreement about chasing one of the max free agents as their primary FA goal. AEG really wanted Durant, but that's up in the air now with the injury, and KD isn't clear with his intentions. The Knicks noise could be a leverage play by him and his people. The front office really wants Kawhi, and AEG is / will be instrumental in making the business/endorsement type pitch to him. LeBron and Kobe really want Kyrie; LeBron has been in touch with him, and Kobe has been convinced to contact him to pitch the Lakers (he will deny it publicly, because his business associates are afraid he'll leave the business ventures to get involved in the front office - Jeannie really wants him to fill Magic's position, but it doesn't sound like that's where Kobe wants to be). Kyrie recently talked with Frank Vogel about how Kyrie might fit into his offense. Jimmy Butler is purely a potential backup plan. They clearly are confident that they can work out a deal with a max salary player.

The Beasley/Zubac trade to the Clippers is fascinating. Apparently, Beasley and Luke got into it during the season. So Pelinka wanted Beasley gone. Before a trade could happen, JaVale McGee and his agent met with Pelinka, upset about a broken promise of a starting spot and losing time to Zubac. They threatened to spread word about how poorly he was treated by the Lakers, and he apparently has a lot of strong connections with players (including potential free agents). Magic was big on giving the impression that the Lakers treat their players right, so Magic called Jerry West (who he knows very well), and said take Beasley and Zubac, and give us some shooting in return.

So, it seems it's pretty messy, but they still might end up getting a third superstar.

All this stuff doesn't give me warm fuzzy feelings about Laker managment.

[smokymountainrain]

i think it's clear laker management is a mess. sounds like they effed up the timing of the AD trade too.

[SoCalCoug]

i think it's clear laker management is a mess. sounds like they effed up the timing of the AD trade too.

I'm not convinced that they screwed up the timing. I think there are multiple ways for them to sign Kawhi and complete the AD trade. It almost seems like whenever someone in the media learns a new detail about the CBA and salary cap rules, they assume that the Lakers didn't know either, until they found out, themselves.

Pelinka may not know coaching and coaches very well, but I'm pretty sure he knows the salary cap rules far better than the media do. I think it's very possible they've worked out a deal in principle that allows additional contingencies on both the part of the Pelicans and on the part of the Lakers, depending on what happens with the #4 pick. So if the Pelicans deal the #4 pick to a team not willing to wait to complete the trade, the fact that the Lakers are then potentially shopping their remaining bench players doesn't necessarily mean that they're scrambling to make the deal fit (as has been conjectured in reports) - it could be nothing more than an anticipated contingency they're ready to address.

I guess we'll see what happens. This is a make or break offseason for Pelinka. We don't really know much about his effectiveness yet (even though he's brought LeBron and AD to the Lakers).