HoopsWorld: Josh Smith to L.A.? (DET update p9)

so emplay with ron gone what do you hear on the josh smith front

also where do you think houston is in the west

i still think they are a 4 seed but you may think different

Crispy wrote:I just don't see Mitch pulling the trigger. We can't afford to pay Kobe, Smith, Gasol, AND Bynum. We're also paying Fish, Sasha, Rad, and Luke a good amount of money just to be role players, all for 3+ more years I believe. THEN if you wanted to resign Farmar and Ariza later on. I don't see Mitch taking on another big long term deal. Kobe and Pau would have to take major paycuts, and Bynum would have to settle for not getting a max deal. I mean, we still have Bynum, Farmar, Ariza, Sasha improving. Maybe they become better than what we think.

I think the best move for us is to keep Odom. Let's try and move him either at the deadline or next offseason. There's so much more options.

When you factor in ticket prices, merch, and other related things I'm sure the Lakers pay for themselves so I don't see money as a real obstacle. I'd guess the luxury tax is more of a nuisance since it impedes how much money Buss himself collects. If the Lakers are putting up banners I see Buss paying what it takes. If the Lakers fall short then money could become an issue. Time will tell though. After today's events I'm a lot more anxious to acquire a Prince or Smith. I feel defense is priority one for this team and both of the players I mentioned fit the bill. On the other hand does Artest equal Battier being up for grabs now?

we must try to do this trade now with Artest going to HOU.

lakers don't panic - they feel they're at the head of the pack and the others are the ones scrambling to catch up

emplay wrote:lakers don't panic - they feel they're at the head of the pack and the others are the ones scrambling to catch up

as they should, only problem is the others seem to be doing a good job of scrambling/catching up

who has gotten better? arguably now the rockets - but anyone else?

emplay wrote:who has gotten better? arguably now the rockets - but anyone else?

Hornets(adding Posey) got better , Clippers(though they are nowhere close they have gotten better) , thats three teams, and I dont disagree with you at all, Lakers are still #1 and they should be fine .

emplay wrote:who has gotten better? arguably now the rockets - but anyone else?

exactly taking our time guaging lamars fit searching for the right move is the best way to go

unless smith or prince is available keep lamar

I understand what you're talking about Emplay, but the Rockets, Hornets (with Posey), and Portland (with Bayless and Oden) are all teams the Lakers weren't exactly successful with in the past couple of seasons.

And I might be a bit crazy, but I don't know what to think of the Mavs and Suns with a full year of their acquisitions from last season.

And I'll never say the Spurs are not right there.

Questionmark wrote:I understand what you're talking about Emplay, but the Rockets, Hornets (with Posey), and Portland (with Bayless and Oden) are all teams the Lakers weren't exactly successful with in the past couple of seasons.

And I might be a bit crazy, but I don't know what to think of the Mavs and Suns with a full year of their acquisitions from last season.

And I'll never say the Spurs are not right there.

if healthy none of those teams are better than us period

acquisitions

Hornets - Posey
Rockets - Artest
Lakers - Bynum

yeah - Lakers there

emplay wrote:acquisitions

Hornets - Posey
Rockets - Artest
Lakers - Bynum

yeah - Lakers there

not to mention replacing our starting SF vlad with lamar odom who no matter how awkward a fit is still way better than vlad

emplay is there any concrete news on recent laker interest in josh

i've said the same thing over and over again on that - nothing has changed - the Lakers inquired about him a couple of weeks ago but were turned away. Other than that we have Sekou and speculation - and anyone I talk to in and around the org - says they want to see Odom first.

But some do say if they can get appreciably better - they'll move Odom. Does Smith + Claxton = appreciably better?

I don't know if the Lakers feel that way - they may - I just don't know if they do or dont.

I suspect they don't - not at the price

Crimony thats frustrating. I understand the intrigue of that huge front line. Id like to see that too. But no way I hold onto that and turn down the chance at Josh freaking Smith. (let alone Artest )

I'm thinking now we only got J.Smith now that Artest situation is officially done.

gosh i wanted Artest, remember Odom cant shoot that well and cant defend Paul Pierce, etc.

I'm tired of Lamar "Party animal e-tard" Odom

He is NOT a winner. PERIOD.. He has great rebounding and slashing skills but with Bynum AND Gasol down low rebounding is not our need.

Slashing is good but not super necessary, shooting and defense are VITAL.

We need trade him for a starting small forward that can.

Josh Smith can't really shoot that great, but he can defend and blocks shots and energize us with dunks!! Plus his shooting can improve i think. His potential is huge. His defense is already top notch.

Prince would be a good fit

Marion would be a good fit

These are the 3 guys... We really need to trade Odom for one of them!!

Then we can sign a backup big from anywhere and we r set.

Fish / Farmar
Kobe / Sasha
NEW SF / Ariza / Vlad / Walton
Gasol / Vlad /Backup Big
Bynum / Backup Big / Mihm


Emplay PLEASE tell everyone you know that Odom is not a good idea for us at the SF position. PLEASE understand that we don't need a big small foward with rebounding and slashing skills, we need defense and shooting.

If we keep Odom, the Celtics still scare me because they will pack the lane and not honor our SF on the perimeter. This will make things very very tough on Kobe, Bynum, and Pau.

Even with Odom I still think we will win tho :)

I just want to see that 73-9 season!!!!!!!!

Agreed on top. Plus he's pretty young, 23 years old right?

I don't mind LO at the 3 this season but if theres a LO for Smith deal that could be worked out we have to look into it. Once Kobe and Pau start to wear down we'd still have a great core with Farmar, Sasha, Ariza, Smith, and Bynum

Yeah, this is like the only deal we only have if we are gonna deal Odom for 3.

so if they win with Odom - why would you want to change that? Makes no sense at all. Damn - what did odom do to you?

What can I say, Im an optimist, and i think we could still win with Odom, but it would be a lot tougher on Kobe and everyone. I would like to see us win without having to fight incredibly tough battles. This will help to keep Kobe and Co. in better condition for years to come. (Lock up the number 1 seed early, sweep through the playoffs etc. ) Im thinking Dynasty here Emplay my friend.

Keeping Odom would be alright but if we can trade for Smith, Prince, or Marion
we really really really should. It will make all of our lives easier, especially Kobe!! I feel we can break records with one of these small forwards!!

As for my Odom beef...

Me and my dad have been to every game for 9 years now. My pops is very knowledgeable of the game and he despises LO. He hates his jumper, his softness, his inconsistency. We were happy when he played well this year, but he really disappointed us in the finals. I blame coaching also though not just him.

I think we should have won this year if Phil had commanded Odom and Co. to be more aggressive with slashing. Another reason we lost was Phil's substitution patterns, but that a different story LOL. Odom is a good player but now with our current roster he just isn't the ideal guy for the SF.

Oh yea here is another reason I hate LO.

I go to some pretty trendy clubs in Hollyweird. I have seen LO many times at these places. I've seen him go clubbing on a friday night after a good game and play absolutely terrible the following Sunday day game. I've seen him conversing with and actually making transactions with known x dealers too, lets just say after going to some of these places often u get to know who is who.

We pay wayyy too much money to see these guys play ball. Since we are paying them, I want the Lakers to employ professionals who are constantly focused on basketball. Kobe is a good example of this. I'm not saying a player can't go out and party once in a while, but not MID SEASON!!!!!! LO does not set a good example for our young players and I want him gone. Vlad Rad also is a bit of a partier and inconsistent, disappointing player., I've seen him in the club chain smoking and freakin fat chicks LOL.

LO seems like a decent guy and I know he has had many hardships.. I wish him nothing but the best but I don't want him on our team anymore.

For now, we can probably just see how it goes with Odom,Pau and Bynum together, if it won't work, then we all discuss again.

LakersFan1211 wrote:For now, we can probably just see how it goes with Odom,Pau and Bynum together, if it won't work, then we all discuss again.

thats what we are looking at right now

and hell lamar is an upgrade over vlad its a start

Lakers are gonna stand pat. Don't expect anything to happen til the Feb trade deadline when Mitch finally gets it that LO is a bad fit for our team.

Even then, nothing is gonna happen. LO will play out the year. Not accept a big pay cut and leave with us and the Lakers getting nothing in return.

Pau trade aside.....my confidence in Mitch is still pretty low. BTW I do think West had a hand in the Pau trade.

Mitch himself said that he wouldn't of pursued Pau had Bynum not gotten injured. Had Bynum not gotten injured we probably would have wasted Kwame's expiring just like we did with Grant's expiring.

History tells me we'll let LO's K expire without any real benefit from it.