Roster Improvement: Free Agents Now and Later?

phoenixrisingla wrote:

Ariza3 wrote:Play Meeks.

You had me until this. Dude is hot garbage.

His minutes have been erratic all season. His role has yet to be set. And he probably hasnt had consistent minutes with a single rotation to get used to them and get in a rhythm. I honestly think he struggled but given consistent minutes and role then he can contribute way more than Morris and Duhon. Rather Meeks play then them. 1 3 and hes already outdone them and defense is about the same. Duhon or Morris at the 1 and Meeks at the 2 backcourt would be more solid than a 2 PG lineup who suck on both ends. I want him to get one more chance....a real chance not just 3 mins

Ariza3 wrote:

phoenixrisingla wrote:

Ariza3 wrote:Play Meeks.

You had me until this. Dude is hot garbage.

His minutes have been erratic all season. His role has yet to be set. And he probably hasnt had consistent minutes with a single rotation to get used to them and get in a rhythm. I honestly think he struggled but given consistent minutes and role then he can contribute way more than Morris and Duhon. Rather Meeks play then them. 1 3 and hes already outdone them and defense is about the same. Duhon or Morris at the 1 and Meeks at the 2 backcourt would be more solid than a 2 PG lineup who suck on both ends. I want him to get one more chance....a real chance not just 3 mins

You make some good points, but here's my thoughts.

Step 1. He was brought in to stretch the floor from 3pt land... and he cant make 3pters.
Step 2. He's a competitive dude and really wants to win/contribute so he started putting the ball on the floor and going to the hoop in lieu of his shot not falling.
Step 3. Disaster ensues.

He was getting better minutes earlier in the season, but they have really fallen off of late due to his performance, not the other way around IMHO.

sina wrote:Howard / Gasol
Clark / Jamson
MWP
Bryant / Meeks / Morris
Nash / Duhon

Howard n Bryant are expected to play extended minutes at C n SG. With Gasol n MWP can play PF, Clark, Byrant n Morris can play SF, I think Lakers are set at these spots. What they need is a capable back up PG, better a combo guard can set play n score. Obviously Duhon isn't this kind of player they need.

There are only abt 40 games left. At this time of a season, I don't expect major trade hapened as they would have no time to build up chemistry.

Gasol may not be a good fit to this time. However, with his expiring contract, his trade value would be much higher in coming off season or next season. Besides, he is also a capable C if Howard decided to walk away from Lakers this summer.

Because the chemistry the existing players have built up so far is so great... I think they know this season is history and they need to trade Pau to see if there is a better fit that makes sense to plan around for next season. It's no longer about putting a playoff team on the court this season, it's about getting some new blood that might work better for next season, using this season as an extended preseason and evaluation period for different line ups with the remaining players that stick around.

With that said, I could easily see them keeping Gasol around in case Howard leaves this summer, unless of course they could land Smith, Pekovic or another serviceable big man in return for Pau.

Here's an interesting thought... Are the Lakers most likely going to avoid using the amnesty provision that was provided? It was given to allow teams to cut one bad salary and now it seems improbable that the Lakers will use it on the already limited number of players allowed.

charvin wrote:Here's an interesting thought... Are the Lakers most likely going to avoid using the amnesty provision that was provided? It was given to allow teams to cut one bad salary and now it seems improbable that the Lakers will use it on the already limited number of players allowed.

If anyone, we might use it on Steve Blake (FINALLY) since he's been injured a lot, and we can at least get something in return for Gasol.

Or we could...

Amnesty Kobe.

Trade Pau and Dwight for expirings and lotto picks.

And be $30M under the salary cap with a bright future ahead.

There's no reason to even do that. We can just wait and get rid of every single contract in 2014 -- except Nash, who we can trade since his contract will be a 9M expiring.

this trade works in the ESPN CHECKER
Mega deal

3 Team trade ATL, SAC, LA
Kings Outgoing: Cousins Center, PG Aaron Brooks, SF John Salmons, SG Francisco Garcia, Tyler Honeycutt SF
Hawks Outgoing: Al Hortford C, Josh Smith PF, Anthony Tolliver, Jannero Pargo PG, Mike Scott SG,
Lakers: Dwight Howard C, Steve Blake PG, Devin Ebanks SF

Kings Incoming: Al Hortford PF, Hawks 1st round pick, Mike Scott SG, Pargo PG, Devin Ebanks SF
Lakers Incoming: Aaron Brooks, Demarcus Cousins C, Tyler Honeycutt SF, Josh Smith PF
Hawks Incoming: Dwight Howard C, SF John Salmons, SG Garcia, Steve Blake PG, Chuck Hayes

Kings Lineup
Hortford
Thompson TRob
Johnson Ebanks
Tyreke Thornton
Thomas Jimmer
Shed money, helps tanks, swap out Cousins who is talented but immature, add another 1st pick. Tank so they get a new face of their Supersonic franchise. A star swingman

Lakers
Cousins Sacre
Gasol Josh Smith
MWP Clark
Kobe Meeks
Nash Brooks
Roll the dice with added talent at a quick pg, a big man who has a post game and can shoot, and Josh Smith. Could still ship out Gasol for more wing help. I like Cousins he needs to grow up like Dwight but he isnt happy with his team. Honeycutt has potential too.

Atlanta
Dwight Landry
Zaza Tolliver
Korver Morrow
Salmons Lou Williams
Teague Devin Harris
Would need to add a 4, maybe sign Kenyon Martin? But Dwight back hoom with Teague and Lou WIlliams would be enticing for the Hawks in the future, but he would also have two great shooters in Morrow and Korver
Atlanta and Supersonics need a shake up, and have disgruntled stars. Dwight would land home, surrounded by shooters.

there has been a 13 man trade before, there is a precedent

I like the idea of Cousins if Dwight has to be traded. If he get's his ish together, he can be the best center.

Horford, Harris to Sacramento
Dwight, Meeks, Duhon to ATL
Cousins, Korver Brooks, Thorton to LA

Cousins.Sacre.Hill
Gasol.Clark.Jamison
MWP.Korver.Ebanks
Kobe.Thorton.Morris
Nash.Brooks.Blake

How about this trade? I actually believe if Mitch called the Spurs, they would take this deal in a heartbeat....

Pau to San Antonio for...
Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw, and Stephen Jackson (expiring contract).

If management is committing to D'Antoni over any other player, it sounds like we don't really need either Dwight or Pau. We just need big men that can shoot threes....... enter Matt Bonner and Boris Diaw (a D'Antoni favorite). Jackson acts as a expiring contract to make the salaries match.

Having said that, and and again, since we aren't going to use either Pau or Dwight to their strengths, we might as well trade Dwight to Dallas. Cuban would be all over this...

Dwight for Marion (A D'Antoni favorite), Darren Collison (your backup pg), and Chris Kaman (expiring K).

Cut Ebanks, Sacre, and Morris to make roster space.

The Lakers roster would look something like...

Nash/Collison/Duhon/
Kobe/Meeks/
Artest/Jackson/Clark
Marion/Bonner/Jamison
Kaman/Diaw/Hill (injured)

PERFECT PIECES FOR 7 SECONDS OR LESS D'ANTONI BALL. No more excuses.

^ I know it's disgusting. I'm being extremely passive aggressive at my anger towards D'Antoni and his inability to utilize our current talent to the best of their abilities.

therealdeal wrote:^ That's awful.

As for the Cousins idea: we already have enough problems with Howard and Gasol's maturity and professionalism right now. Let's get maybe the one kid out there who's worse.

I agree that we want to get people in here serious about playing and winning bball, not whining, but Cousins is easily the best big man "prospect" in the game. I think a franchise like the Lakers with Kobe and Nash would do wonders.

Cousins is immature. Dwight feels entitled.

^ agree. Cousins is younger too, and I like his post game. Unlike Dwight he has a jumper to let Gasol work in the post. Our shot blocking would be bad but Cousins is a good defender. Heck,

Cousins
Hill Clark
MWP
Kobe
Nash Brooks

heck just trade Gasol for a decent wing and I would take it. Heck, if in my proposal if We landed Josh Smith and Cousins I would like that frontline alot better with Kobe still here.

Part of effort stems from whether you respect the coach or not. If you don't give a flying f about the coach, his system, or what he says, some times you get results like these - half [Swearing is not permitted at Clublakers. You must edit this post prior to submitting.] effort on the court.

It's been a long time, been beaten to death, etc. but I don't ever remember seeing these types of efforts under PJ.

therealdeal wrote:

SmoothOperator wrote:^ I know it's disgusting. I'm being extremely passive aggressive at my anger towards D'Antoni and his inability to utilize our current talent to the best of their abilities.

Yeah well I'm disgusted that our team isn't playing to the best of their abilities... bad coach or not you can't give the God awful "efforts" they've been giving.

I'd like to argue against that point, but too many unknown variables can be in play. Did Pau not give a crap about a 4th consecutive trip to the finals, burn out from the team, Mavs shooting lights out (I watched almost every game from that series and it just seemed like they could not miss their 3 point shots), etc.

To be fair, for players like Clark and Hill, I am inclined (just my theory) to believe that they give it their all because they are the ones who don't get paid anywhere close to an 8 figure sum of money. Both were sitting on the bench doing nothing, until both get called upon (one from out of the blue - Hill, the other out of injuries to the bigs - Clark) to play. They still need to make a living, and what better to show the coach that you're worth deserving playing time (which may or may not lead to a good contract down the road) than effort?

A similar example of effort vs making money is just in every day life. A fair amount of people go to work and put in the least amount of effort in their jobs. Why? Because they don't have a better alternative or because they just want to come in and collect their pay and have no interest in their current job for whatever reason. Example: If I don't like my employer (say he's the coach), I'm not going to give my best effort (giving no effort) and bust my balls working for someone who I don't give a crap about; I'm going to try the least hardest until I can find a better situation (change of situation/CEO, etc).

By no means are any of the above facts, I'm just stating what I've learned, see, and/or believe.

therealdeal wrote:

charvin wrote:Part of effort stems from whether you respect the coach or not. If you don't give a flying f about the coach, his system, or what he says, some times you get results like these - half [Swearing is not permitted at Clublakers. You must edit this post prior to submitting.] effort on the court.

It's been a long time, been beaten to death, etc. but I don't ever remember seeing these types of efforts under PJ.

Did you miss the 2011 playoffs with Pau?

And I don't care who you're being coached by, if you're a professional getting paid multi millions of dollars then you give SOME effort. Pau and Dwight are giving nothing.

If a guy like Clark or a guy like Hill or a guy like Meeks can come in and pull their boot straps tight, then stars like Dwight and Pau can too. Regardless of their coach.

Because ESPN says Dwight might be traded by the Lakers was it the idiot Stein?

escobar8 wrote:why are most of trade suggestions proposing dwight...it should be gasol...
i would kill somebody if next year dwight is gone and pau is still here...
we need to trade him for few solid players who could realy contribute,or if there is some fool to trade us borderline allstar young athletic SF or PF like gay or j.smith...

Obviously.

But other teams are FAR more interested in Dwight than Pau. Need to try to be realistic.