You're forgetting my comment about the system. Gasol is anathema to D'antoni's system. Either Gasol or Lin will be under/mis-utilized. And I even stated in my post about Nash that the point was about coaching styles and players not being the only factors to that player's success, esp. if that same system may not necessarily even be in place. LAL w/ Lin and Asik would be an aight team, but I think LAL would rather be a bad team one yr w/ greater flexibility to being AMAZING the yr after than a mediocre team one yr to be better but w/ less flexibility the following BIG year. You're also ignoring the deep draft this upcoming yr. If I were LAL and Dwight walked for free, I would trade or amnesty Gasol, save TONS of money and tank for a yr. Shoot, tank hard enough and might even have a shot at Wiggins. Wow. And having enough to offer TWO max superstars in 2014 > offer ONE because now Lebron (who they are targeting) can choose the other star, know what I mean? If it is Blake, LBJ has to decide if he wants LAL and Griffin (maybe yes, maybe no). If it is Lin and Asik, same thing (even less attractive). But w/ $20M more space, LAL can say hey LBJ come to LAL AND tell me ANYONE else you want, we can get. That's attractive. Oh yeah, and the obscene money saving. If they lose Dwight and dedicate to tanking next season, no incoming $20M or so from Houston or LAC, then amnestying Gasol or trading him for cheap would get them WELL below the CAP. No luxury tax at all. Or heck, keep Gasol and still be below the luxury tax line. Adding $20M means they have to pay not $20M more, but almost $80M more. Are Lin/Asik really worth $80M?
Odd assumption with a loaded draft. I think it is 50/50. It isn't like LAL hasn't tried tanking before. Oh and it isn't just $16.6M each. Adding that $16.6M puts them well over the luxury tax line...that $16.6M (maybe $20M if they take TRob too) will cost them tens and tens of million more...closer to costing them $80M. Just for Lin and Asik? You honestly think Lin/Asik/off from injury 34 yr old Gasol + maybe out for half a yr, coming from major injury at 34 Kobe 'competes' for a title? While being a $90M payroll, BEFORE taxes? uhhh
Even decided to go do the math on this. If Dwight walks and LAL amnesties Metta, that leaves them at $68M w/ 5 players, picking up only the guaranteed contracts. 7 x $490k = $3.4M, taking them to $71.4M, pretty much at next yr's projected luxury tax line of $71.6M. If they add Lin and Asik, that is $16.6M (assuming they don't take TRob as well). Under the luxury tax penalties, that is almost $35M in TAXES. So that means adding Lin and Asik is not just $16.6M they pay, but a total of $51.6M. For Lin and Asik...and a team headlined by an aging, post-surgery Gasol and aging, post-major injury Kobe (who may miss a few months). Really? As the owner/GM of LAL, you would choose to do this? This is assuming the rest of the team are ALL min. roster slots. Oh yeah, and being in tax territory means next yr they would be subject to the repeater tax penalty (very severe), if they stray into luxury tax land again.
I dont think they are chasing LeBron like you're saying. Do they hope he will sign there? Yes. But they will not be factoring in his upcoming free agency into their basketball operations and roster changes. They could still sign Kevin Love, but I dont think he is looked at as a game changer by teams as he is by fans. He is the PF version of Lin who recovers from his many injuries. Winning games in the regular season because teams let you roam free around the perimeter isn't going to get you anywhere in the playoffs when teams make adjustments during every timeout. The same thing with the pick. You are talking about a winning organization tanking after getting swept in the first round for an unproven college player. That hardly ever pans out.
You are way off the wagon. Kobe does not expect to make $30MM in 2014/15. He is aware nobody (including the Lakers) would pay him that much and doing so would prevent the Lakers from signing anyone else. For Kobe, the only thing that matters is competing for championships. Salary during the final season of his career isn't the important. He wants #6 and #7 more than anything in the world.
? Drafting transcendental players is almost what ALWAYS works out. It worked out for the Lakers decades ago, Cavs now and before, ORL at least twice, Spurs, etc. Not sure what you're saying here at all. Is it guaranteed? No. Will teams in a position to chase that option go for it? Yes, if they reasonably can, and LAL reasonably can (depending on this summer). And it is sort of accepted knowledge that LAL will be chasing Lebron next summer. Everyone will. Of course they will try to be the most attractive destination they can be. Will they maybe forego something if a BETTER option is available now? Sure! But only for STAR TALENT. Not sure why almost everyone agrees Morey would only do such things as Plan A and B, but Kupchak wouldn't lol. If you were offering them some star players, I would think they might take the $50M+ salary hit or whatever and lose some 2014 cap space (as long as they can still chase one max FA, i.e., LBJ), but for Lin and Asik? Really? Finally, KLove isn't a free agent next summer. So not sure how they plan on signing him in 2014...
The rumor mill lately has been they will trade for Love because he is unhappy and sign LeBron. Those Lakers fans. You're new here so you think tank, draft star, and become good. Not only do you have to get a top pick, but you have to draft the star player. You think wiggins is the next Durant or LeBron, but he could be the next adam morrison, wesley johnson, or derick williams. There is no guarantee. If it were that easy the why havent all of these teams picking in the top 5 perennially (the cavs since Lebon departed, the wiz, or the bobcats) become playoff teams? Even with Davis and gordon the pelicans suck ass. They signed a star and they drafted one. It is not easy as you are making it out to be. Lebron leaving is a pipe dream at this point. Just the idea of another backlash, this time leaving his friends behind, already a contender....be serious man.
It's a new contract, there's no "pay-cut". Yes, no one knows if Kobe will want the most money or the most winning chance a year from now. What matters he cannot force any team (including LA) to give him $30M/year, which is far beyond his fair value. I would guess a 36-year-old Kobe coming back from major injury (after 18 years of wear and tear) is worth no more than $10M/year in the best-case scenario. LA has already paid him his "lifetime achievement reward" three years ago by shockingly giving him such a ridiculous contract extension that cripples the franchise until today. There's absolutely no way they will do it again. Instead there's a decent chance that Kobe may take an actual pay-cut from his fair-value (say $5-10M/year) as a token of gratuity to his team and in order to win. Either way, $30M/year should be out of question.
I'm new here? Sure, that makes your claims automatically more credible, even if you dismiss all my other points. I'm not saying LAL is doing ALL of this JUST to tank and get a shot in at Wiggins, who may not be a star. I'm saying that is just ANOTHER consideration. It is yet another factor. Remember my very first point? I said to assume LAL would RATHER have Lin/Asik than letting Dwight walk for free (and this is setting aside the much more attractive package of Bledsoe + Griffin) is a BAD assumption. Hey, it could still be true, but I think it is certainly not more probable than not. Then I laid out a TON of reasons why. 1) Could tank and get a shot at a high pick; Wiggins is great, but next yr's WHOLE draft is deep, unlike this yr's. Any high pick is good either to use OR as a trade asset. Don't forget that. 2) Lin and Asik, w/o TRob, would not cost LAL $16.6M but rather almost $52M due to the luxury tax and their commitments next yr. Do you honestly think Lin and Asik are worth $52M in costs to LAL ownership next yr? Esp. in conjunction with #3... 3) A team that only has 34 yr old Kobe coming off a major injury and possibly missing a few months + 34 yr old Pau coming off a major surgery + Lin + Asik as essentially their WHOLE team salary-wise (rest are essentially min players they can sign) is WORTH that nearly $90M payroll before taxes? Pay all of that for a first round exit? 4) Eat up $16.6M in cap space that they could otherwise offer to a star free agent in the 2014 draft, to make LBJ more willing to come here as he could choose another star and LAL could accommodate, while maintaining LAL's flexibility in a great offseason? Lin/Asik by themselves are just not that attractive to LBJ. Sure, LBJ might not leave Miami; sure, LBJ might not care if LAL can afford him PLUS another star PLUS some decent role players, but having that option is worth SOMETHING in trying to chase LBJ. And saying LBJ is worried about getting the scorn of fans by leaving Miami? Uh, he did that to the Cavs and it worked out. Not many care when you win -- LBJ certainly doesn't. I personally don't think he'd do it, but don't over-emphasize this point imo. Any of the above factors BY THEMSELVES are not that convincing, but when LAL could get all the above benefits, consider all the above factors together, are you telling me you still PRESUME they'd prefer Lin + Asik over the 2014 cap space? If so, there's obviously no convincing you, so I will just save my energy. Since I'm 'new' and all, maybe I just haven't learned how stubborn you are yet.
And sure, lots of teams, ours included, would like in on this action. Whether Minny is willing to move him or not a yr from now, who knows. Maybe. Not sure how our current discussion is impacted by this much at all. Having Lin + Asik be the asset in a trade for Love is probably worse than having the cap space to outright SnT a FA next summer for Love.
I never said that makes you less credible. It is easy to think one draft and free agency can turn a team around, but that is harldy ever the case. Has a team ever went from bottom 5 top to top 5 in one season? We read the same article and what stuck to you is the lakers would rather have the cap space (which is the smartest thing to say given their situation), but they also said they expect to get a sign and trade pitch from the rockets and that they are keeping all options open.
Sure...I was only saying it is too presumptive to think they'd somehow prefer a Lin + Asik deal when there are better ones on the table, and imo, taking nothing in a SnT is better than Lin + Asik (for the plethora of reasons I stated in my earlier post). And you certainly implied it makes me less credible. Stating "You're new here so you think tank, draft star, and become good." is exactly the sort of presumptuousness that I am arguing against. It isn't even stated as a question but a conclusion. Again, the whole tanking thing was just one factor that LAL gets to consider; one extra benefit. They aren't putting all their eggs in one basket. And uh, one draft CAN turn a team around. I never said it'd turn a team around in one season. It happens all the time though. Cavs w/ Lebron? ORL w/ Shaq? ORL again w/ Dwight? etc. It isn't about whether a team goes from bottom 5 to top 5 in one season (arbitrary distinction); it could be in two seasons, or even three => happens often enough. And coupling that w/ the ability to have a major FA offseason? IF LAL drafted Wiggins or some other top draft prospect, while maintaining all that cap room, that'd just make LAL even MORE attractive to FAs on the market, Lebron included. Transcendental #1 draft picks are rare/uncommon, but many are projecting Wiggins to be one. Could be wrong, but what is LA really losing out on? Besides the other benefits, they're losing out on being a mediocre team in the West and paying $52M to do so lol.
I agree this is true, it doesnt matter how good a GM your team has if superstars dictate what happens in the office.
When i heard this yesterday i was like, uh oh. But then i found they were offering Griffin and Bledsoe.. The Asik /Lin deal is better. The Rockets are still in front.
I'd like to take this opportunity to chime in and let you all know that I have no clue how this situation will be resolved. Thanks.
Besides me already disagreeing, not sure what else you thought LAC could offer that would have been a better deal...when you first heard about a possible SnT of Dwight going to LAC lol. Deal centered around DJordan? hahaha
