In my opinion, if the Lakers lose Dwight to Houston they WILL amnesty Kobe. It just makes too much sense for them. They are NOT going to be competitive next season. They need to lose big and get a great shot at a high lottery pick. Kobe isn't going anywhere. And if they lose Dwight (most likely because they stuck with D'Antoni) then it would appear that Jim Buss is going to firmly put his imprint on the team. That means D'Antoni and and uptempo youthful new age Showtime Laker bunch. That means they spend 13/14 sucking but getting very young, getting into the high lottery, and making moves to set themselves to have a massive improvement in 14/15. Amnestying Kobe doesn't mean Kobe is gone. He's a Laker for life. If they amnesty him it will be with the understanding that he isn't going anywhere and that they are going to re-sign him in 14 to play alongside whoever else they acquire....including their super young lottery pick/next franchise cornerstone. If they amnesty Kobe and trade Pau for the most youth/rookies they can possibly get, they'll have massive cap space to go after whatever free agents are left in 2013. No, they won't be getting CP3 but they could give Josh Smith a front-loaded contract. Smith would fit great in D'Antoni's pick and roll run and gun offense and if they could give him a signing bonus and get on an appropriate non-max contract he could be a valuable piece to build with Kobe, their lottery pick and whomever else they can get to sign in 14/15. Not only that but Kevin Love is still out there. After next season, his status will be much clearer. He may become available in trade. Lakers could put themselves in a position to put in a substantial trade bid for him if they did all the above. So, in my opinion, if the Lakers lose Dwight...they have no incentive to really try to compete in 2013/14. I think they amnesty Kobe, get out of the tax, trade Pau for the most possible assets, either young guys and cap space or possibly a young All-Star like Eric Gordon, etc. ........... ........... Also.....if they retain Dwight: they could very well amnesty Kobe if they can get CP3 to sign on and they can move Pau and 2 of Blake/Hill/Artest to Atlanta for nothing but cap space. If you are Danny Ferry and you strike out in free agency with Dwight and CP3 and you are still striking out with Josh Smith and he is going to walk, what better value for your cap than to add Pau and a couple expiring contracts? I think there would be a great chance that Atlanta would jump at such a deal. Lakers just package up Pau with Blake and Hill and send them to Atlanta....then sign CP3. That's how the Lakers can get CP3 and retain Dwight. Amnesty Kobe, send Pau, along with 2 of Blake/Hill/Artest to Atlanta for nothing and sign CP3 outright. At the very least, the Lakers will investigate it. And it's a much better use of cap space for Atlanta than re-signing Smith (when he really doesn't want them) or committing to some other less than the max free agent simply because they have cap space. I'm not saying it will absolutely will happen. But to not recognize the possibilities that Kobe could be amnestied for real means you're really not thinking through the possibilities. DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF THE LAKERS AMNESTY KOBE IF THEY LOSE HOWARD TO THE ROCKETS! DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF THE LAKERS AMNESTY KOBE IF THEY RE-SIGN HOWARD AND PAUL WANTS TO COME OVER AND THEY GET ATLANTA TO TAKE PAU ALONG WITH 2 EXPIRING CONTRACTS FOR NOTHING BACK!
Someone will take Kobe with a dirt low bid, so they can milk it. And the worst thing imagineable would be it being a team like Chicago who he might actually play for. And Kobe is way too much of a competitor to let himself be amnestied. And lol @ anyone taking Artest, especially Atlanta who have decided if they don't win the free agent sweepstakes, which they doubt anyway, that they're going to go super young and give Horford something worth a damn before he turns 30.
Wonder if the Celtics would/could lol. It actually would make sense too. Keep that old team old and add Kobe to it.
Lol, making Kobe turn up to for his introduction/jersey assignment for the Celtics would be one of the truly great moments in sports history, even if he never plays.
Kobe doesn't want to tank. IF tanking is the game plan for next season....they will amnesty him and he will allow himself to be amnestied. He's already said he's not leaving the Lakers, that if he was amnestied and somebody claimed him they would be wasting their time because he's not going to go there and play. Look, if the Hawks lose out on Dwight and Paul, then there is no better asset on the table that they could attain than Pau Gasol. If it requires them eating Blake and Hill, they'd be better off doing that than doing nothing. Gotta give the money to somebody. Pau is an asset. They can wait for an opportune time and trade him for much more value, perhaps a couple first rounders or a couple young up and coming players...or they could just keep him and play him in the middle while moving Horford to PF, then re-sign the guy for a Tim Duncan style 3-yrs/$35 million or so. That would be good value for them. Much better than signing mediocre players to long-term deals.
I don't think Pau will be amnestied. Howard may stay with him and Nash with a better coach,or he may go to Dallas with Dirk.More likely Dallas than LA. Houston has a decent chance too,but I am no Doc Rocket.
What makes Pau a great asset, was it the lowest scoring average of his career? the lowest fg%, maybe it was the lowest played games? Maybe it's him spending his whole offseason trying to rehab after experimental treatment? Anyone that takes him is taking a huge risk that that he can actually be any good again, they sure as hell aren't taking anything else, and Atlanta especially who are looking at superstars or youth, their gm comes from the San Antonio production line, he's not going to waste salary space on a 33 yo rental. Your logic also doesn't make sense If they need to be tanking to amnesty Kobe, that means they're not getting Paul and Dwight If they're not tanking, they don't amnesty Kobe, which means they can't afford Paul and Dwight. The only way your scenario is they decide to discard Kobe, then teams line up to make them better, Danny Ferry loses his sanity, all the planets of the solar system perfectly align and Jesus descends from the heavens. The lakers success comes from 2 things, their attractiveness to free agents (there are none realistically for another 2 years after this year, and even then they need to hope beyond hope that Love doesn't get traded to someone who he'd extend with like Chicago), and their willingness to take on large amounts of salary (the only teams carrying bloated luxury tax contracts atm are them and Mikhail "Luxury tax paid during one bowel movement" Prokhorov).
You're not reading clearly. I made a case for amnestying Kobe if they were going to Dwight and compete somewhat this year. And I made a separate case for amnestying Kobe and trading Pau if they don't keep Dwight. Once again, Jim Buss is not Jerry Buss. The nut did fall a long way from the tree this time. He's not Jerry Buss. If Jim Buss sees the opportunity to team up Howard with Paul for the next 4 years, believe me, he's gonna do it. Even if that means amnestying Kobe. And once again, if Dwight flies the coop to Houston, then amnestying Kobe starts to make a whole lotta sense. Kobe is not going to be able to make it back until 3/4's of the way through 13/14 at best. By then the Lakers will be long gone out of the playoff race with Pau/Nash and a bunch of old role players. Kobe is not interested in playing for a lottery pick. Makes no sense not to do what I just said if Kobe agrees to it. They can sign him back in 14/15 and go to war with their lottery pick, possibly Pau re-signed to a $10 mill per season deal, plus someone else like Love or one of the Miami Big 3. They have no chance to win anything if Dwight leaves them. Once again, Jim Buss is not Jerry Buss. This is a different Laker bunch if Jim Buss remains in control of the basketball operations.
Pau is a better player than any player in the 2013 free agent class not named Howard or Paul. He is a tremendous asset to a team trying to win a championship that is built to play to his strengths and uses him properly in the low block. If you don't understand that, study the game.
Old, Chronic injuries, worst season The makings of a great choice. There isn't a single team in the league that could use their cap space as a risk to absorb Pau that would be willing to do so prior to Paul and Howard actually signing. He might be worth the risk to a contender on the verge, but such teams don't have $20m to spare, something would have to go back.
But that's not saying much given how big the gap is between CP3/Howard vs. everyone else. Can I see a situation in which Gasol helps his team more than Josh Smith or Millsap or Jefferson or any other FA? Yes. Can I see any situation in which spending our entire cap on Gasol will help the Rockets win a championship? No. If the Rockets don't want to pay any FA this offseason after striking out on CP3/Howard, basically maintain a holding pattern for 2014 FA, I would be willing to trade White and one of our actually talented PFs for Gasol. But that's about it.
I know Lakers are in luxury tax and can't receive a S&T player in a trade. I also heard they are interested in Garcia. Can we exercise our team option on Garcia and include him in a package for Gasol or is exercising your team option considered a S&T?
no, it would be fine (not that i know why we'd want to do it, esp since he's indicated he could be amicable to coming back at a discount), options etc are just considered the same contract.
Thanks again aleron, you're a pro at this. Just curious, do you have a link to where Garcia said he's willing to come back for cheaper? or do you know how much? $3m?
he never gave a number (obviously, that would be kinda silly, lol) http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocke...ia-wants-to-return-if-he-fits-in-rockets-cap/
Thanks for that. Actually they are just speculating. The quotes are from the exit interview. I got the impression from the interview he'll go where the money is... LA tried to get him when he was at Sacramento.
I suspect that Garcia rumor is a floating turd. Yes, we could exercise our option and include him in a package for Gasol but we aren't going to take that risk. That option allegedly has to be exercised by June 30th. Although when he signed that extension in 08 it was reported that his team option had a different later date than June 30th. (It appears this was someone misinterpreting Coon's FAQ.) It was reported at the time that his contract had a team option date of October 31. Sam Amick however reported that the last season has a partial guarantee here http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sports/kings/archives/015655.html. If this was actually true and that partial guarantee was a small, minimum salary, then Garcia's contract option should be picked up and it would make a great matching trade piece of essentially non-guaranteed salary that could be cut. However, I have asked both Bima and Deeks and both guys claim that if the Rockets exercise their option that Garcia's entire $6.4 million becomes guaranteed for next season and that the team option date is the standard June 30th. I did reach out to Amick but he didn't respond on this. IF....Bima and Deeks are right (I have a tendency to think they are over Amick), then it's too much risk to pick up that option. There's probably no team in the league willing to pay Garcia $6.4 million for next season. IF...by some miracle...Amick was right and the last year has a partial guarantee that is real low, like $1 million, then picking up that option would make his contract a great trade chip. And if perchance there is actually a later team option date on Garcia's deal than what has been reported, then he is already a great trade chip. There are a couple options with guys like Garcia and Brooks that I have been watching to see if they materialize. Both players(and Ohlbrecht) could be traded for other contracts that are reportedly non-guaranteed for next season, guys like C.J. Miles and DeShawn Stevenson. Those contracts would be great trade filler since they are totally non-guaranteed and could be cut. Also Greg Steimsma has a contract with a team option date that is somewhere around July 17th. His contract would be a nice trade chip filler. However, if none of these trades happen soon (as in this week) it is doubtful that they will happen at all since we would have to wait 2 months to trade them again and that would push back too many decisions into late July and beyond.
