Alright, if I did my math correct me that trade would put the Lakers at $75,758,048 with a roster of: Jameer Nelson/Blake/Fisher Kobe Artest Walton Howard Even if they amnesty Artrst, they would have a cap of $68,499,088. Under that scenario the Lakers have 6 players, they need 12. Assuming they sign 5 guys for the minimuim, their new total is 70,419,088. That cannot get them Deron. However, there is a loophole. The Lakers would have Dwight's bird rights, if they wait to sign him that clears his salary from them, putting them at $51,157,888. Meaning the most they could offer Deron is under 10 million dollars, and that's being generous with the cap. If we play along and assume Deron takes the Lakers small offer anyway, the Lakers are left with the following team: Deron/Nelson/Fisher Kobe/Blake Walton/Scrub 1st round pick/Scrub Howard/ Scrub/ Scrub And there you have it folks, a Laker team with a rookie and Luke Walton starting. No depth either. These team could probably make the playoffs, but I doubt they could get past the 2nd round. As we're seeing, these all-star tandems still need a supporting cast. I used hoopshype for the salaries if someone wants to double check that.
It'll be interesting to see all this happen. Gasol makes $18 million. Obviously a third team needs to step in, and a bunch of players (including end-of-the-bench "N/A's" for PER on the ESPN Trade Machine) for it to have a chance. Love, Gasol, and Rubio? Ugh. Talk about the Rox falling further back in the pack. Don't think it'll happen, but still.
There have been several rumors that the Rockets are offering Scola and Martin for Gasol and my guess would be that the Lakers are talking to the Wolves about what they would be willing to give up for Martin in a 3 way trade.
I like Derrick Williams a whole lot, but I don't think the Lakers will go for that. Dragic/Martin/Scola for Pau Gasol makes more sense, If they really want to win. As for Derrick Williams, I think he could become available for our Adelman guards, eventually. I could cheer for a young team that has Marcus Morris/Patrick Patterson/Derrick Williams/Donatas Motiejunas as the promising forwards.
Rockets: Goran Dragic Kevin Martin Luis Scola Chase Budinger for Pau Gasol Michael Beasley -------------------------- 1. Kyle Lowry 2. Courtney Lee 3. Michael Beasley 4. Pau Gasol 5. Samuel Dalembert Wolves: Michael Beasley Derrick Williams Darko Milicic for Kevin Martin Ron Artest Chase Budinger (All studly Adelman players...) ---------------------------------------- 1. Ricky Rubio/Jose Juan Barea 2. Kevin Martin/Luke Ridnour 3. Ron Artest/Chase Budinger 4. Kevin Love/Anthony Tolliver 5. Nikola Pekovic/Anthony Randolph Lakers Pau Gasol Ron Artest for Derrick Williams Luis Scola Goran Dragic Darko Milicic ------------------------------- 1. Goran Dragic 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Derrick Williams 4. Luis Scola 5. Andrew Bynum/Darko Milicic Sorry guys, I just wanted to write this down somewhere...
