I've been thinking ... I know Pip's contract is up this year. And I believe Kukoc's contract is up as well. They've both been playing well this year and I wouldn't put it past both of them to pass up some $$ for a chance to play with phil for some more rings. With Horry's contract expiring I wouldn't see any prob with the Lakers' gm splitting up the mce to sign em both. granted the team would still be centered around the big 2, but it would still be a very dangerous team for a year or 2 with such an upgrade in their roleplayers.
i don't know that you can call Kukoc and upgrade. He's pretty washed up. He just can't play like he used to. As far as Pippen goes, I honestly don't think he's any better than Horry, at least, not come playoff time.
Considering how much Pippen loves to follow winners and ride coat tails and can never carry his own team I would NOT be surprised at all if he jumps ship to the Lakers.
Their agents would probably want 4 million a year with a 3 yr minimum deal. After Quitten's sudden wave of "leadership" (will be gone by playoffs) he isn't going to grovel for another ring....
I was sitting around thinking about how I could hate the Lakers any more than I already do, and I came up with this frightening thought: What if Stockton and Malone, who are unrestricted FAs this summer, decide to split the Laker's mid-level exception for a one-year contract to win their rings?
They'd never do that. Utah hates the Lakers as much as we hate them. Somehow I think their off-court character would think winning that way isn't really winning the championship at all...
The Lakers are well over the cap and would only have the MCE to offfer Pippen or Kukoc or whomever. So you're thinking Pippen would go from his $19.4m contract this year to the MCE of about $4.5m for a shot at a ring? I think the answer is embeded in how Shaq's health holds up and how well the Lakers do in the playoffs (assuming they make them).
