Roster Improvement: Free Agents Now and Later?

just play ebanks and we wont have to worry about backup SF's. i really think he can help our bench and probably would have given us something tonight when no one else did.

How about to seek a trade with the New Orleans Hornets, Pau Gasol for Ryan Anderson & combo guard Greivis Vasquez

Unlike Pau Gasol, Ryan Anderson is a true stretch 4 which could knock down 3 pointers in a consistent basic, Dwight needs to play with a stretch 4 to be successful and Ryan Anderson would be a perfect fit next to Dwight, this duo already proven in Orlando the pair worked & compensate each other very well, not to mention Anderson is also fit in perfectly and would polish under D'Antoni system.

Why would New Orleans Hornets do this, Pau Gasol is still a very solid big men in the league just being misused currently, you swap their starting center Robin Lopez with Pau Gasol and this would be an instant upgrade to the Hornets. Pau would automatically become their team best player and would be able to work inside the paint to maximize his skill-set, and unlike with Dwight, Gasol would be a good fit with rookie Anthony Davis, he can also bring leadership and help Davis to develop his game long term.

they aren't giving up vasquez. guy is their only legit pg and is having a career year so far.

ugh. trade pau already. this guy was running on empty since 2011.

Sources: Derek Fisher nears return


Updated: November 28, 2012, 7:49 PM ET
By Brian Windhorst | ESPN.com
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Veteran point guard Derek Fisher is close to signing with an NBA team, sources told ESPN.com.





Fisher

Fisher has decided to make his return to the league after not finding a suitable situation over the summer.

He's narrowed his choices to three teams and is expected to make a decision by Thursday. He's been searching for a role with a contender.

Fisher averaged 5.6 points and 2.7 assists in 63 games with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder last season. He averaged 6.3 points for the Thunder in the playoffs.

Derek Fisher is expected to sign with an NBA team in the next 2-3 days, according to ESPN.com.
Fisher was used a lot more than almost anyone expected last year by Scott Brooks and we'd doubt he'd be able to play 20 minutes per game again. The 38-year-old guard can be left on the waiver wire in all leagues.

Lakers???? jk.

No.

We have a roster full of AARP players. We need more youth.

Please don't let it be us. Love Fisher, but we don't need to revisit that time, we don't need to get older at that position, our starter is also 38. I'm pretty sure it's not us though, as he's looking to sign with a contender

Just please don't sign with a contender that we'll see in the Western Conference come playoff time. I just get scared he can and will take the big shots if need be.

Please, please, pleeeeeeeease let it not be us. Our rotation is already embarrassing enough as is.

It's going to be us, after we trade Pau + the plethora of PG's we have.

It's the Mavericks

The Mavs? Come on Fish you gotta go out better than that.

Where could Fish play 12-15 mins? Honestly, if we didn't have Nash & Morris, & were still in a motion offense, he would be a good signing for us. Under Pringles, Nash with a speedy scorer off the bench seems like the way to go. Fisher is neither speedy or a scorer. But I'd take him over Blake or Duhon. Sadly we already have both of them, so there's no room.

lakersin4 wrote:Where could Fish play 12-15 mins? Honestly, if we didn't have Nash & Morris, & were still in a motion offense, he would be a good signing for us. Under Pringles, Nash with a speedy scorer off the bench seems like the way to go. Fisher is neither speedy or a scorer. But I'd take him over Blake or Duhon. Sadly we already have both of them, so there's no room.

When Fisher was still here last season he made Blake look like Nash, which is truly saying something. Fisher is done, he can't defend and his shooting is now overrated. As a veteran presence I still believe he has value, but as a player I think his days are numbered.

I'm currently watching the Twolves/Clippers game and I came up with this Pau trade idea between the Lakers and Wolves that could actually benefit both teams.


T'Wolves get Pau Gasol (19 Mil Salary)
Lakers get Kirilenko (9.7 Mil), Derrick Williams (4.8mil), Chase Budinger (0.9mil)

Mitch could try and get cute by also trying to broker Blake for Ridnour... but whatever, that would be the basis of the trade. I wasn't able to run that through ESPN Trade Machine because Kirilenko can't be traded until Dec. 15.... but the salaries match close enough that it would work. Here's the rationale.

The T'Wolves for the past few seasons have always been intrigued at the thought of pairing spaniards Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio together. Pau could also start at Center while Love plays the PF. This makes Pau more effective as he wants to play in the post, and Love actually is a decent stretch 4 because he is a pretty good 3 point shooter.... this allowing Pau to have room to operate in the post as a center.

The Lakers do this because they are committed to D'antoni's offensive uptempo philosophy. D'antoni has already made comments how Pau is not the ideal PF in his system. He referred to Shawn Marion as his ideal PF back in their Phoenix Suns glory days. What was Marion during those times? An athletic tweener, undersized PF that could outrun traditional sized PFs and hit open perimeter shots. Both Kirilenko and Derrick Williams can fit that description. Kirilenko is a very similar player to Josh Smith, two way defensive tweener PFs... and Kirilenko has been having a very solid season so far for the Wolves, averaging 13ppg, 8rpg, 3apg, 1.8bpg, 1.5spg.... while shooting .508 fg%, and 37.5 3pt%. Williams has shown flashes but the expectation would be that he'd be fairly inconsistent.... but he'd be a huge boost for Lakers bench production. Also don't underrate Chase Budinger who would be fantastic in a D'antoni offense playing the SF role where he could hit the open 3s.

I think Mitch would be able to swing this and have the Wolves agree because the Wolves don't value Williams very much, as they barely play him, they'll essentially sell low on him because I don't see them extending him in the future...they also consider Budinger a player off their bench as well. The only player the Wolves value fairly high is AK... but if they could get Pau for AK and 2 "bench prospects"... I see them doing it.

The Lakers would then be required to fill the PF position by committee with a rotation of AK47, Williams, and Jamison. Since all three are versatile tweeners, they could have spot time at the SF position as well. Include the solid play of Darius Morris lately, this would create overall bench depth that can help keep minutes low for the starters.

Rotation would be something like...

Nash (30mpg)/Blake(10mpg)/Morris(8mpg)/Duhon
Kobe (33mpg)/Meeks (15mpg)
MWP(30mpg)/Budinger (12mpg)/Williams(6mpg)
AK47(26mpg)/Jamison(16mpg)/Williams(6mpg)
Howard(33mpg)/Hill(15mpg)

...You get the idea with the versatility between the SF and PF spot. We would be so deep and it would be interchangable based on whatever player is "hot" on any given night... and that could be a realistic expectation because AK, Jamison, and Williams all have inconsistent tendencies.

D'Antoni would also have the option of having a young, athletic run and gun bench squad lineup if he wants to... I mean, can you imagine...

Morris
Meeks
Budinger (who's surprisingly athletic, was in the dunk contest a few years ago lol)
Williams
Hill

That would be a decent trade and could work out well for us. However, we need to include more players in the trade because we are already at the maximum with a roster of 15. Or we could always just cut players, but I'm sure management would much rather pair Gasol with Blake in order to get rid of his contract.

^Agreed that taking in 3 players for Pau would cause the Lakers to be over the max... another option besides cutting players would be to find a team that is willing to take on either Earl Clark, Ebanks, or DJO (even in a package) for a future 2nd round pick or something... We'd only have to make 2 roster spots.

Another advantage of the Pau for AK47, Williams, Budinger trade is it would save the Lakers approximately 3.5million in salary, or 7 million after luxury taxes (The Wolves package combine to make approximately 15.5 mil vs Pau's 19 Mil; both AK47 and Williams contracts are up the same time Pau's is up, while Budinger is currently an expiring K). Because of the instant financial savings, it may make it not as much of a deal breaker to force another team to take on Blake's contract.... but then again, Mitch has done a good job knowing how hard to push in negotations to get a good deal... maybe he could fleece Minnesota to swallow Blake's contract.

Minny passes for sure. No way in hell do they want to absorb Pau Gasol's contract(especially the trade kicker). AK47 has put that team on his back while Rubio and Love have been out, and is by far the best wing they've had in quite some time. Not too mention that Nikola Pekovic is a terrific young center, a guy who's certainly proved he has what it takes to be a quality center in this league. Trading for Gasol just forces a log jam at the center position and rids them of their only quality wing player.

SmoothOperator wrote:^Agreed that taking in 3 players for Pau would cause the Lakers to be over the max... another option besides cutting players would be to find a team that is willing to take on either Earl Clark, Ebanks, or DJO (even in a package) for a future 2nd round pick or something... We'd only have to make 2 roster spots.

Another advantage of the Pau for AK47, Williams, Budinger trade is it would save the Lakers approximately 3.5million in salary, or 7 million after luxury taxes (The Wolves package combine to make approximately 15.5 mil vs Pau's 19 Mil; both AK47 and Williams contracts are up the same time Pau's is up, while Budinger is currently an expiring K). Because of the instant financial savings, it may make it not as much of a deal breaker to force another team to take on Blake's contract.... but then again, Mitch has done a good job knowing how hard to push in negotations to get a good deal... maybe he could fleece Minnesota to swallow Blake's contract.

I understand that those 3 (Clark, DJO and Ebanks) players you mentioned aren't getting any playing time at the moment, but they are players who could potentially fit very well into this system once it's implemented. Young, fast and athletic, I'm sure Nash would find a way to make them very useful, also I'd say I like the players mentioned in the trade, defensively, Andrei Kirilenko would be a good fit and Buddinger could knock down open 3's all day long.

AK would fit really well in the Marion role.. I'd rather get a younger guy but with Pau's value, we can't be picky.. Always been a fan of Budinger, was really hoping we got him with Dragic & Scola.. I think Dwill2 is a career bench warmer but young depth with potential. I'd have to take that deal. They'd need to send us some bigger contracts so that we could package more players with Pau to avoid cutting players.

Cuban must still be trying to steal laker secrets since he didn't get much out of Odom

Cuban should just try to buy the Buss family out. He obviously is infatuated with the Lakers -- their players, their history, Phil, etc.

He always makes comments about the Lakers.

He tried to get Kobe. Then the LO thing blew up in his face -- we got Nash. Now he wants Fish. In the summer he will try for Howard.

I hope we cut DJO and sign Delonte now that Blake and Nash will be out for more weeks. And Delonte gets his head on straight and looks like an all-star with Kobe and Dwight.

I like that Minny trade a lot...

Other deal would be with Boston:

Pau, Blake to Boston
Bass, Lee, Bradley to LA

Center Court wrote:I like that Minny trade a lot...

Other deal would be with Boston:

Pau, Blake to Boston
Bass, Lee, Bradley to LA

Boston ain't trading Bradley. They are really high on his and rightfully so as he's a terrific defender for a guard