Mitch Kupchak on ESPN LA 710

^ Two points.

1. Kevin Love is every bit of a risk as Howard at this point.

2. Dwight is obviously no Shaq, but he's certainly the closest thing in today's NBA. Just like Kobe is the closest thing to Jordan, even though he's really not Jordan either.

Our future is Dwight and Clark imo. Add a star PG (ie Rose, Kyrie, Curry) down the road and we are golden, back in the mix.

All Dwight really needs is health and the right mindset. It's quite obvious that his effort and consistency skyrockets when given the proper attention on offense. Time will cure this, after Kobe retires.

BTW Dwight is a top 3 talent when healthy. Love is a top 10 at best. Yes, Love will fit better beside Pau, but Pau's athletism is deteoriating fast. I don't see the benefit of seeking that chemistry. I'd rather take our chances developing the Dwight/Clark combo.

K-Love comes to mind because he's on the block and we need a big either because Gasol or Howard doesn't fit. And I'm not sure...a hand injury is a lot less severe than a back injury. It could end up worse for Love though, I'll admit that.

At least Kobe's game seriously mimic's Jordan's. Dwight's offensive game is light years, hell eons, from what Shaq's was.

^ Well, Pau is gone come this offseason anyway, that is a given. Stupid to pay $40mil for two players that play the same position.

Chillbongo wrote:K-Love comes to mind because he's on the block and we need a big either because Gasol or Howard doesn't fit. And I'm not sure...a hand injury is a lot less severe than a back injury. It could end up worse for Love though, I'll admit that.

At least Kobe's game seriously mimic's Jordan's. Dwight's offensive game is light years, hell eons, from what Shaq's was.

Love isn't just an injury risk, we don't know if he'll compete in the bright lights either. (I think he would, just saying we don't know for sure).

Hand injuries are no joke in basketball either. You need your hands obviously. Kobe's ball handling and shooting took dives when he hurt his fingers, especially his ball handling. You need control to play this game.

Dwight's game is far from Shaq's offensively, but defensively he's better than Shaq; especially at shot blocking. Shaq was never a fantastic defender, he was just massive which made it hard to score. He wasn't an amazing shot blocker or help defender like Dwight is. Dwight is also surprisingly great at stealing the ball as well.

Shaq might have been a better post defender because he literally could not be moved.

Chillbongo wrote:K-Love comes to mind because he's on the block and we need a big either because Gasol or Howard doesn't fit. And I'm not sure...a hand injury is a lot less severe than a back injury. It could end up worse for Love though, I'll admit that.

At least Kobe's game seriously mimic's Jordan's. Dwight's offensive game is light years, hell eons, from what Shaq's was.

Love isn't on the block, you and countless others are making that assumptions based on the media twisting his words about the FO, same way the media is F'ing us with Howard. Love never said he wanted out, he said he would like more help and wasn't happy with how the FO went bout getting him help.

To be fair I'm pretty sure Love has said he'll leave if they don't get him help.

And he was never happy with the way he wasn't offered to be the face of the franchise over Rubio.

therealdeal wrote:To be fair I'm pretty sure Love has said he'll leave if they don't get him help.

And he was never happy with the way he wasn't offered to be the face of the franchise over Rubio.

that doesn't mean he's on the block, people are just "assuming." Love just had a face to face with Min FO, maybe they cleared up the issues. Besides that contract setup was actually a good thing for Love, he can get out of there sooner, its still max just not max years.

khmrP wrote:

therealdeal wrote:To be fair I'm pretty sure Love has said he'll leave if they don't get him help.

And he was never happy with the way he wasn't offered to be the face of the franchise over Rubio.

that doesn't mean he's on the block, people are just "assuming." Love just had a face to face with Min FO, maybe they cleared up the issues. Besides that contract setup was actually a good thing for Love, he can get out of there sooner, its still max just not max years.

Yeah, but they could have given him max years and just allowed him to have options on the last two.

There's a few things we know and this is where the speculation comes from:
1. Love isn't happy there. That's not really debatable, he's said it before and he's said he wants to win/get into the playoffs. As long as they aren't winning, he won't be happy according to his words.
2. Minnesota LOVES Gasol. We all know this and it's been acknowledged multiple times.
3. We have Gasol and they have Love.

My personal speculation would have to have Love demanding out and then I'd think Gasol on a massive expiring contract looks great for that kind of piece back. A guy who wants out on a contract that's not great for a small market team... They end up freeing up money just in time for Rubio...

therealdeal wrote:To be fair I'm pretty sure Love has said he'll leave if they don't get him help.

And he was never happy with the way he wasn't offered to be the face of the franchise over Rubio.

That is quite sad..... Rubio is so overrated. I'll go as far as saying he is one of the worst starting PG's in the league. I mean, a FG% of 34% and a 3p% of 13%? That is downright pathetic.

therealdeal wrote:

khmrP wrote:

therealdeal wrote:To be fair I'm pretty sure Love has said he'll leave if they don't get him help.

And he was never happy with the way he wasn't offered to be the face of the franchise over Rubio.

that doesn't mean he's on the block, people are just "assuming." Love just had a face to face with Min FO, maybe they cleared up the issues. Besides that contract setup was actually a good thing for Love, he can get out of there sooner, its still max just not max years.

Yeah, but they could have given him max years and just allowed him to have options on the last two.

There's a few things we know and this is where the speculation comes from:
1. Love isn't happy there. That's not really debatable, he's said it before and he's said he wants to win/get into the playoffs. As long as they aren't winning, he won't be happy according to his words.
2. Minnesota LOVES Gasol. We all know this and it's been acknowledged multiple times.
3. We have Gasol and they have Love.

My personal speculation would have to have Love demanding out and then I'd think Gasol on a massive expiring contract looks great for that kind of piece back. A guy who wants out on a contract that's not great for a small market team... They end up freeing up money just in time for Rubio...

I'll look forward to seeing your speculation come to frutition soon

I hope anyway.

I thought the biggest thing for me that I heard from Mitch in this interview was that he said that Dwight will get back to 100% from his back surgery.

Was really happy to hear our GM who has a lot more contact with Dwight and his doctors share these feelings/thoughts.

Chillbongo wrote:

dwighthowardsdad wrote:Now, check this out; he's averaging about 17 and 12 and 2 blocks. I just rounded it off; Now, if we sign him and this his is peak, we can always look to trade him. Even signed to a max contract, there will always be potential suitors for Dwight. So, if it doesn't work, and he's signed long-term, he can still be moved, IMO. We did it with Shaq. We'll do it with Dwight. There's always options.

You know, I do agree with your post for the most part. But here's my concern.

Let's say he doesn't become the player that he was in ORL, or even get most of it back. Or continues to have injury issues (all plausible, btw)...we signed him for a max contract based on his potential. If he doesn't live up to that potential or even 75% of it, his value declines greatly....and at that hypothetical point, we could look to trade him as you said, but would get much less in return.

How many teams are going to want to take on that Dwight's 3-4 years @ $60-80M? If we could trade him RIGHT now for a guy like K-Love (after medical clearance from our doctors), pieces and picks...pair him with Gasol for next year and then retool in 2014 with really only Nash on our books...that helps us compete now and later.

I understand your point with Shaq, but you don't really believe they were on the same level right? Shaq dominated. Absolutely dominated...even after toe injury and all. He still was a BEAST...still had more post-game than Dwight, was an anchor, and a great passer. He came motivated to win, and wasn't as mentally fragile. That's why we could do it with Shaq. And even STILL we got LO/Caron/Grant and some other pieces. Grant was a bust...Caron was underdeveloped....and LO was really the only solid return. But for Shaq? The MDE?

You make great points. I understand your concern. He can have setbacks and his value can decline rapidly. We might not get as much for him in the future as we can presently & that might be true. We took a calculated risk with Dwight; the Lakers did all their due diligence before we acquired Dwight. Now, grant it injuries do occur when you play in the NBA such as his torn labrum.

Nevertheless, the doctor who performed the surgery knows much more then all of us combined. Looking at Dwight's back objectively, the physician who performed the surgery such as his credentials, experience, etc; I would say, IMO, this is the worst Dwight we're going to see. I do believe his averages his points & rebounds will go up; We're not in a league where centers are that strong of a position anymore, so the competition Dwight faces isn't radically going to effect his numbers & effectiveness, IMO. If anything, I think he'll be ready to go next season and his value will increase, IMO. So, if we have to trade him for any reason, I believe we'll be okay.

I love being Lakers fan, and you know why? Because I like to think big and so do the Lakers and the late greatest owner Dr. Jerry Buss. I say that to say this; why can't we both have K. Love and Dwight Howard? K. Love doesn't want to be in Minnesota. He wants to be on a winning organization. We can snatch him up in free agency. Why? Because we epitomize a winning culture. That's what Kevin Love desires; that's why he's so frustrated in Minnesota, IMO. Even with the CBA, the Lakers will pay out the nose if they're winning championships.

They're paying an extra $30 million this year alone. The Time Warner deal is reportedly worth 3 billion dollars. We're one of the only two organizations in the league that operate in the black with estimated profits of 37 million dollars a year. We'll have Love & Dwight playing together, IMO.

No, Shaq isn't Dwight. We'll still get something, though if it comes to that. Mitch is a genius...

lakersin4 wrote:Love & Dwight with Hill & Clark off the bench wouldn't even be fair..

Try getting rebounds, I dare you!

Or you put Clark at the 3 with a capable PG who can shoot the long ball and a defensive specialist at the 2 who only has to hustle and play dirty. Instant win.

dwighthowardsdad wrote:I would say, IMO, this is the worst Dwight we're going to see. I do believe his averages his points & rebounds will go up; We're not in a league where centers are that strong of a position anymore, so the competition Dwight faces isn't radically going to effect his numbers & effectiveness, IMO. If anything, I think he'll be ready to go next season and his value will increase, IMO. So, if we have to trade him for any reason, I believe we'll be okay.

They're paying an extra $30 million this year alone. The Time Warner deal is reportedly worth 3 billion dollars. We're one of the only two organizations in the league that operate in the black with estimated profits of 37 million dollars a year. We'll have Love & Dwight playing together, IMO.

No, Shaq isn't Dwight. We'll still get something, though if it comes to that. Mitch is a genius...

I like the optimism. Let's make it happen. I think Dwight can do it. I don't know that, but I think it. And you're right, we can get Love too. Especially with Pau. If we have Love & Dwight, I'll be happy...that will be a dynamic front court. One with no "post game" but it seems that is mattering less in today's NBA.

I pray.....oh, I pray.

Dwight Love Clark Lee(Courtney) Irving.

Future.

the future is murky. i'm not sold on dwight or d'antoni...we'll just have to see.

lakersyunowin wrote:the future is murky. i'm not sold on dwight or d'antoni...we'll just have to see.

Yeah... Me too.