Lakers Thread

[kAmilli LakeShow]

might as well go for more wins.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ct5cg2a

Dwight/Bynum/Lebron/Wade/Westbrook

Bandwagons will be changed, i'll tell ya that XD

[[Q]]

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[kAmilli LakeShow]

phpBB [video]

just wanted to share that... sad song for LA fans XD

[_Steve_]

Sessions to explore free agency.
Despite he wants to stay with the Lakers and Lakers would like to keep him, Sessions opts to become a free agent.

Most likely he's in fear to lose his job to Brandon Roy.

[rise]

might as well go for more wins.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ct5cg2a

Dwight/Bynum/Lebron/Wade/Westbrook

Kobe would retire before he played a game for the Miami Heat.

[Andrew]

So much for Sauru's fear that the Lakers are the team to join and they'll be ridiculously stacked next season.

Wouldn't surprise me if they try to re-sign him but I expect there'll be someone else out there who will be willing to throw more money at him, which will likely be the deciding factor. Can't turn down increased financial security, no matter what the profession.

[Patr1ck]

Kobe don't need no Lakers.

[_Steve_]

Kobe don't need no Lakers.

Nice one!

Back to Sessions. Even if the Lakers could somehow get him to re-sign, they'd still have a very awefull bench. Add to their problems that they're high above the luxury tax and ask yourself how to solve this problems.
Moneywise a Pau Gasol trade is something definitly worth to consider...

[Andrew]

With Bynum taking on a bigger role, it does seem like a strong possibility.

[SkyLine03LT]

I guess they could do a sign-and-trade with Williams.

[Jackal]

Go away.

[_Steve_]

I guess they could do a sign-and-trade with Williams.

Nope. D-Will want's to stay with the Nets or join the Mavs... nothing else...

[SkyLine03LT]

I guess they could do a sign-and-trade with Williams.

Nope. D-Will want's to stay with the Nets or join the Mavs... nothing else...

Well what can I say... It's his loss

[_Steve_]

I guess they could do a sign-and-trade with Williams.

Nope. D-Will want's to stay with the Nets or join the Mavs... nothing else...

Well what can I say... It's his loss

Maybe he's allergic to success.

[Andrew]

Or maybe he doesn't feel he'd be a good fit.

[Jackal]

Source close to situation says if Dwight Howard isn’t dealt to Rockets today or tomorrow, Lakers fans may have reason to get excited. “Rockets are exhausting resources. If it’s not enough, (Lakers) will likely move in within the next few weeks.”

Source.

I'm not going to get excited about this, I'm just sharing the news. After the CP3 thing, I am not getting my hopes up till he's holding up a Lakers jersey at a press conference, even then I'll be wondering if a call from Stern will come. Howard wants out of Orlando bad, real bad.

[Andrew]

Well, it seems that the Rockets aren't making that move, so the Lakers will presumably be in the mix.

[Jackal]

From Orlando GM's description, I don't think they're too hot on landing Bynum.

"We want guys who are about the team, guys who are committed to something that’s bigger than themselves and guys who love the game and are hungry to represent this organization in a unified fashion. We want guys who are about the right things."

Frankly I'm not too torn if Howard doesn't play for LA, sure he's a supreme talent...but the guy is a little bitch the way he's handling his business. Grown ass babies need to grow the fuck up. (Yes, this coming from a Shaq fan.)

[Andrew]

I'd cop his attitude for what he brings on the court, it's probably going to improve once he's out of Orlando anyway. The real concern is his claim that there's only one team he'll re-sign with. Unless you're that one team - presumably Brooklyn - you're very likely going to be giving up important players just to rent him for a season, then going back to square one.

[Jackal]

Indeed, that's what I meant by not too torn either, not only the whole handling of him wanting out of Orlando, but him narrowing it down to ONE team, that sounds more like blackmail more than anything else.

I don't think I'll ever get the whole "let's team up in groups of 3-4 and be dominant" way of thinking. I'm no NBA star but I'd wanna play against the best, not along side them. Oh well, interesting off season so far in any case.

Maybe I'm just getting old, Jordan & Pippen, Duncan & Robinson, Shaq & Kobe were star duo's too...so maybe I'm just being unfair to the brat pack.

[Andrew]

It's going to make him difficult to trade, no question. Fine for him I guess, worst case scenario he can walk at the end of the season. He's definitely not handling it well though.

Mind you, should he land in a situation where it turns out he can contend and perhaps even win the championship next season, maybe he'll change his mind about only re-signing with one team and the risk will be worth it. With him on board, perhaps the Lakers could be that team.

[Jackal]

I'm not too sure of him landing up with the Lakers, he's much too concerned about his image & how he's perceived by others it seems. If he'd play for LA he'd be compared to previous Laker greats (big men in particuliar) and I'm not sure he's up for that. Which is...odd to me.

But hey, whatever makes the man happy. Sucks to see him leave Orlando, my best friend & aunts live there...I know they aren't too happy about the whole thing either.

The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of Howard playing for LA. I wanted Chris Paul more. Lakers need a distributor, Bynum at the C is just fine in my books. Sessions is a good fit, but if they can upgrade (somehow) would be even better. I won't go all Mitch Kupchak and say this team can win it all, they can't. The younger teams just outwork/outrun them. The flair is gone & I hope management does something to get them back in to serious contention, not early exits.

They tried with the Paul deal though, gotta give em that much.

[shadowgrin]

I don't think I'll ever get the whole "let's team up in groups of 3-4 and be dominant" way of thinking. I'm no NBA star but I'd wanna play against the best, not along side them. Oh well, interesting off season so far in any case.

Maybe I'm just getting old, Jordan & Pippen, Duncan & Robinson, Shaq & Kobe were star duo's too...so maybe I'm just being unfair to the brat pack.

Pippen drafted and won with their original team. Duncan and Kobe same.

Two of those clowns in Miami, well....

[_Steve_]

Trading for Dwight would mean giving up more than the Lakers could afford now.
But maybe it's the plan for next season to play without a bench. Mike Brown seems to have practiced that from time to time last season...

[Andrew]

Magic eye Lakers center Andrew Bynum as target in potential Dwight Howard trade

That's definitely one of the best deals for the Magic and certainly not too shabby for the Lakers either. Again, the main concern here is that he'd bolt after a season, but if Brooklyn is his preferred destination he's not going to be able to sign there for anything more the minimum or MLE, with any sign-and-trade deals next year having to involve players the Lakers are unlikely to want to take on.

If the Lakers have a great season though, win the championship next season or come close enough, that might be enough to convince him to stick around. I imagine they could make him a pretty good pitch.