Lakers in the off season

[Andrew]

Did you know that Buss's daugter is Phil's girlfriend??? If he was not gonna come back, why did he come to watch Lakers game against rockets last month?

You answered your own question. His girlfriend is Jeanie Buss, it's not unusual that he would attend a game with her no matter what his intentions about a future coaching position. Michael Jordan attended a Lakers game back in the 1999 season when the Rockets (and Scottie Pippen) were in town and the Lakers had just signed Dennis Rodman. Players and coaches have been known to attend NBA games when they have no other obligations, it doesn't necessarily mean they want to become involved with either of the teams they're watching.

[beau_boy04]

shit i would have taken that Sacramento proposal and would of ship out Odom for Peja ASAP.

[furious1]

shit i would have taken that Sacramento proposal and would of ship out Odom for Peja ASAP.

Not when your team is already overstocked with small fowards and you desperatly need a point guard and a power foward.

[Fresh8]

I want Yao on the team!

[J@3]

I want Yao on the team!

[Dogg]

I want Yao on the team!

AND ?

[Goldberg]

Everybody wants Yao. Yao want to be left alone. Leave Yao out of this! Yao just learned how to drive around Houston! No Yao for you - go home!

[beau_boy04]

shit i would have taken that Sacramento proposal and would of ship out Odom for Peja ASAP.

Not when your team is already overstocked with small fowards and you desperatly need a point guard and a power foward.

That's why but we could've gotten Brad Miller to be included in the same package too but I guess the Lakers are just too scared of failure.

[TheFranchiseKing]

topballa90 wrote:

You have to be out of your mind not to take Elton Brand over Lamor Odom,if you really wanna talk about a guy who's a all-star and doesn't get respect....

As a Clippers fan, we never get the respect we deserve. Shoot me!

[J@3]

What I'd like LA to do this off season...

Trade Odom and trade Atkins. Deal them as a package, don't let them be separated because Odom is the bait needed to get rid of Atkins. Atkins showed some good scoring while Kobe was out, so some teams somewhere would be able to use it.
In return for the above trade, get a defender and a rebounder. Preferably a good one of each, but one player who does both would be good too. It'd be nice to free up some cap space but they already missed the boat on this one. Tyson Chandler, Samuel Dalambert are the exact kind of thing the Lakers need.
Draft a playmaking PG. This draft is awesome for point guards, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, Jarrett Jack, Roko Leni Ukic etc the list goes on. Don't draft a small forward. Don't draft a shooting guard. Don't draft a big man. Draft a friggin PG in this draft full of good PG's.
Get rid of Devean George. Either give Walton more minutes or pick up a decent backup SF who isn't called Devean George. Caron Butler must start. He's the only one who showed any sort of ability to play with Kobe and this must be nurtured/appreciated.
Tell Phil Jackson to go fuck himself. Well, maybe be a bit more diplomatic then that but I think we've established clearly that A) he doesn't like coaching Kobe, B) Kobe doesn't like being coached by him and C) his celebrity is worth more than his current coaching impact IMO. Get an unknown or something, pull someone out of the woodwork and see how they go. It's not as if it hasn't happened before.

[air gordon]

Were those in the New York papers? Their was 0 news of the Clippers even wanting to trade Brand, especially for Odom who they chose to let go .

i guess its matter of interpretation... but i saw it as miami masterfully prying away odom from lac. iirc, several teams were vying for both brand and odom (atlanta being one of them and able to throw big money at both)& sterling was very hesitant giving out huge contracts to both players. once brand signed the offer sheet by i forget which team, miami jumped in and offered a big contract to odom... forcing sterling's hand

[furious1]

Were those in the New York papers? Their was 0 news of the Clippers even wanting to trade Brand, especially for Odom who they chose to let go .

i guess its matter of interpretation... but i saw it as miami masterfully prying away odom from lac. iirc, several teams were vying for both brand and odom (atlanta being one of them and able to throw big money at both)& sterling was very hesitant giving out huge contracts to both players. once brand signed the offer sheet by i forget which team, miami jumped in and offered a big contract to odom... forcing sterling's hand

Yeah that's about what happened. in fact the reason the bulls traded brand in the first place was because he was undersized for a power foward (6'7) and they felt that his numbers (20 ppg 10 rpg) were about as good as they were going to get. Turns out they were right.

Odom is popular because he has solid numbers and when you watch him play you see he still has yet to breakout. The question is will he ever breakout. With the right coach and team who knows?

[TheFranchiseKing]

At don't think it will happen but Phil is meeting with Kobe later this week.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2046257

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Phil is meeting with Kobe later this week.

I'm predicting a Kobe knock-out in the sixth round...

[topballa90]

Phil meeting with Kobe wish I could be in that meeting.
Do you guys think that Phil coming to LA will really turn the team around

[Andrew]

Even if he does return, I can't see the Lakers suddenly becoming championship contenders. They're still going to have the same roster. Phil Jackson's a great coach, but he's always had teams better than the current Lakers squad. Great coaching and motivation can only take a team so far, a championship team needs a roster that can win games in several ways and compete with the other top teams in the league.

[beau_boy04]

You're right Phil has never coached a mediocre team. Maybe he wants to take on the challenge and prove that is better than Red A. It would be interesting to see how everything evolves. Depending upon how the interview goes I think Kobe is a mayor factor wheather or not Phil is hired or not.

[Carlo.29]

I'm s Laker fan, they must be a champoinship contender next season if they do these...

1st: New Coach
2nd: Change the Roster
3rd: Trade Lamar to a Big Man(like Boozer)
4th: Change the Plays
5th: Get a better PG(Like Steve Nash)
6th: these are my choices: Micheal Redd, LeBron(He badly needs a better team), KG, (impossible is nothing)

???

[Fresh8]

... And its not gonna happen! (Abotu Yao)

Sign Jax
Draft a PG like Raymond Felton
Trade Lamar Odom for Carlos Boozer
Sign Kwame Brown to the mid level exception
Re-sign Vlade Divac to the low level exception
Trade Devean Geroge and Chucky Atkins for another backup PG
Focus of the off-season training camp: DEFENCE!
Get Kobe to some 'ego-management sessions

Thats wats gonna happen!

[Boyk]

Sit, that should be every real Lakers fan dream in what you said for the off-season.

i cant agree anymore!

Kwame,Boozer,Butler,Kobe,Felton dont look to bad, with phil as coach............sounds sweet!
the bench could be solid with Divac,Mihm,Jones,Walton,Brown??? or the trade of devean and atkins for that pg posse, i dun know who tho, interesting......possibley a guy like Mike James??

[TheFranchiseKing]

A Few things.....

Sit Wrote:

Sign Kwame Brown to the mid level exception

That not going to happen, Kwame Brown for as much of a bust as he is has the perfect basketball body and can clog the lane. Some team is going to offer him alot more.

Trade Lamar Odom for Carlos Boozer

Do all you guys think that Utah will give up on Booz this early? I don't think they should but it would be good for LA.

I am pretty sure the answer is no, but the a coaches salary does not go against the cap right? Phil is set to make 10 to 13 mill a season.

[Goldberg]

I read this morning that the Lakers won't sign Phil Jackson before a new bargaining agreement to save on his potential salary of $10m (if they sign at all)... I know about the family ties between Phil's girlfriend and Jerry Buss but it can't be a very close family if Jerry and Mitch chose Kobe over Phil and Shaq, and if he is worried about giving extra money to his son-in-law in case of a working stopage...

I just don't see Phil going with LA because of this family tie. If he can go coach Lebron James in Cleveland or Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, I think he will go for it.

And from my perspective on Jerry Buss - I think he's pretty mellow guy and is more interested in having fun, playing poker, and watching basketball, then creating some family tension by pushing his son-in-law into a situation he might not be confortable or happy to be in (with Kobe again).

All-in-all Jerry probably ask Phil to meet Kobe - and then do whatever he want.

[maes]

PJ is only entertaining this because of Jeanie Buss. Having watched Phil in Chi since he was an assistant, that damage the Chi management did by booting him & Michael out was irreparable. And Buss did the exact same thing in LA when they booted Phil & Shaq.

Buss = Krause v2

PJ won't work for a Krause, end of story.

LA is in a tough situation because they don't have anybody tradeable. Kobe is franchise, everyone else is unwanted. They're best bet is to go extreme, trade their existing players for expiring contracts, go after a major free agent. Because it is LA, they have a much better chance of signing a big name free agent (just ask Orlando).

Kobe's performance this year was the worst possible thing he could do to the Lakers. By hogging the ball and making it the Kobe Show, the rest of the Lakers have no trade value. If he had swallowed his pride and let the rest of the team play more, GMs would see some potential in the other Lakers and possibly trade. But there's little chance of that now, thanks to Kobe.

[J@3]

I don't want Boozer straight up for Odom. Questionable character who wasn't as impressive this season as he should've been. Unless they're going to give a bit more I reckon the Lakers should shop Odom better than that.

[furious1]

PJ is only entertaining this because of Jeanie Buss. Having watched Phil in Chi since he was an assistant, that damage the Chi management did by booting him & Michael out was irreparable. And Buss did the exact same thing in LA when they booted Phil & Shaq.

Buss = Krause v2

PJ won't work for a Krause, end of story.

LA is in a tough situation because they don't have anybody tradeable. Kobe is franchise, everyone else is unwanted. They're best bet is to go extreme, trade their existing players for expiring contracts, go after a major free agent. Because it is LA, they have a much better chance of signing a big name free agent (just ask Orlando).

Kobe's performance this year was the worst possible thing he could do to the Lakers. By hogging the ball and making it the Kobe Show, the rest of the Lakers have no trade value. If he had swallowed his pride and let the rest of the team play more, GMs would see some potential in the other Lakers and possibly trade. But there's little chance of that now, thanks to Kobe.

Well you obviously don't watch any basketball games do you? I guess Kobe was passing to himself when he got 6 assist (that's more than Billups, T-Mac, KG, J-williams to name a few) per game?

And your knowledge of NBA history laughable. Did you just compare Jerry Buss to Jerry Krause?