Comments on: Your Lakers trade rumors and speculation of the day

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:00:58 +0000

eh…i don’t share into your “doomsday” scenario. maybe a “drought” where they are mediocre a couple/few seasons but don’t think for a minute an organization like the Lakers are pinning their franchise/legacy on a player (howard, etc…) and if that fails, they crash and burn for years???…no way.
there are certain things in life that are inevitable…the Lakers being a basketball presence is one of them.
…and yeah, its not Jerry anymore but to have this idea that Jim is “poisoning the well” on purpose is silly. like it or not, he has more experience doing what he does than any of us know-it-alls. i’m sure “reason” will triumph.
goodness guys…get out of your bombshelters…the sky is not falling…..OR unless you guys are haters…if thats the case…please hate away.

By: AlohaMrHand

AlohaMrHand — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:15:14 +0000

This isn’t your,pops Lakers.Dr Buss isn’t running them,the spoiled rich kid is and he has no clue what he’s doing and will drive them into the ground.

By: jjordannba

jjordannba — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:12:54 +0000

Gasol doesn’t fit in a Celtic playing style he plays soft, Celtic culture is grity go hard style

By: genericcommenter

genericcommenter — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:03:28 +0000

Could someone explain Gasol and the “Celtics culture”? I don’t understand.

By: faithfulfriar

faithfulfriar — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:45:56 +0000

Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison were not a part of the Memphis/LA trade. They were acquired from Charlotte for Vladimir Radmanovich

By: shockexchange

shockexchange — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:05:28 +0000

Has the AA farm team for the L.A. Lakers been contracted yet?

By: ihavecomplaints

ihavecomplaints — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:14:13 +0000

But those 30 years were the Jerry Buss era. Now it’s Jim

Both Howard and Deron Williams will sign with Dallas in the off-season.

By: ihavecomplaints

ihavecomplaints — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:10:58 +0000

Teams will rarely trade with rivals in their divisions. Non-conference rivalries are much less of a roadblock.

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:36:54 +0000

yeah…the Lakers are done being a competitive team…same with Duke, the Yankees, Red Wings, Manchester United, Ohio State…etc.
You’re giving “Fast Times” a bad name.
If Howard goes to Brooklyn, good for him…but dont think the Lakers are not capable of reloading somehow. How many times have the Lakers missed the playoffs the past 30 years?

By: oside760

oside760 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:11:42 +0000

LOB CITY CLIPS!!!!!!!!!

By: jedifriedchicken

jedifriedchicken — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:44:46 +0000

Yes, because superstars would love to play for a starless Orlando…

By: mytthor

mytthor — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:26:19 +0000

If the Lakers trade for either of those players they can go over the cap to re-sign them, so that’s not an issue. And unless you think a 9 million dollar trade exception, 2 1st round picks, the second best center and a top 5 power forward in the league, the Lakers do have assets.

By: borderline1988

borderline1988 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:29:43 +0000

But it’s not just about shots or points. If you’re talking about “who has the better offensive skills”, then they’re probably about equal, with Bynum getting the edge b/c he’s younger and has more upside.
But Howard is a slightly better rebounder. He’s not injury prone. And Bynum has some temper and work ethic issues. That alone makes Howard the better player.

But we haven’t even mentioned defense. Bynum is a good defender, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Howard. Howard may be the most dominating defensive prescence the league has ever seen.
Put him on the worst defensive team in the league, and his prescence alone would make them a top-10 defense, no matter what. His impact on that side of the floor is really tremendous.

The NBA championship teams of the last decade prove that a major defensive presence in the frontcourt is a must. Howard is the best of all in that regard.

Bynum is the 2nd best centre in the league, but he’s no Howard. He can’t take a team on his own to the playoffs, let alone the Finals. He doesn’t change the nature of every game.

By: charlutes

charlutes — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:12:39 +0000

wow. I hate ur writing.

By: gmsalpha

gmsalpha — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:54:56 +0000

Dwight will end up leaving like Shaq. But he will not land with the Lakers. He’s got too much pride to follow in O’Neal’s footsteps. Howard wants to blaze his own trail (uh…in no way should you construe that to mean Portland’s team), and therefore I can see him waiting until he’s an unrestricted FA so he can choose his destination. He’ll get the bright lights and be the face of a historically bad franchise with the Nets where he can make the team relevant. By going to Dallas, he’ll be third fiddle behind Dirk and Mark Cuban, and the team just won a ring so he’s not bringing them anything new. With that said, I prefer to see him to go Chicago. But I digress. Not happenin.

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:46:19 +0000

You’re both wrong. Bosh and Lebron turned down absolutely 0 in terms of dollars and years. Miami arranged Sign and Trades for both when it all came down to it so both got their 6th year. Each of Miami’s big 3 willingly took a couple of million less over the life of their contracts to give the team a little bit of cap flexibility, but certainly not very much. That money was basically offset by the tax savings in Florida.

And most players, and especially their agents, aren’t looking to leave anything to chance. Howard takes one wrong turn during the next 4 years and have a career ending injury should he walk away from Orlando and that 30 million is money he’ll never sniff again. Knowing about Howard’s Baby Momma drama, he’ll need every dime. If Howard decides to bolt, he and his agent will move heaven and earth to get a Sign and Trade. Hope Orlando tells him thanks but no thanks. But if he manages to stay healthy, the total loss will still be around 5-7 million overall.

By: cmbailey7384

cmbailey7384 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:46:49 +0000

If Danny Ainge trades Rajon Rondo instead of Pierce, Allen, or Garnett he should be fired promptly there after. Why would he trade his youngest piece instead of his older serviceable players? I’m a Celtics fan, and as much as I love the big three, its just time to rebuild and they (the players) understand better than anyone else that this is a business. Trade Allen and Garnett this year, and then Pierce next year, remove the expiring contracts and rebuild through the draft and free agency.

By: smoothaswilkes

smoothaswilkes — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:44:25 +0000

that’s it…memphis was such a lopsided trade…because of that trade memphis has the following players:

Memphis:
Marc Gasol a top 5 center (arguably top 3)
Darrell Arthur through 2008 Lakers 1st round pick
Greivis Vásquez who they traded for Quincy Pondexter (should have kept Vasquez)
Cap room to acquire Zach Randolph – cap room courtesy of Kwame Brown coming off books

Lakers:
Pau Gasol, second banana for two championships and three finals
Shannon Brown, decent, but decidedly unexpected, bench player that never had enough consistency for long term burn.
Adam Morrison, he plays in Europe. Enough said.
Devin Ebanks, who is in the d-league from 2nd round Memphis pick

Simple? Wooden nickels? The outcome is much better than anyone thought for Memphis. It only built the core of their playoff resurgence. Last time that happen was when Gasol anchored first round exits. Seems it worked out well for both teams.

next time do some research before you comment. or haters gonna hate, right?

By: chadinkc30

chadinkc30 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:25:00 +0000

Bynum for Howard is by far the best trade offer Ive heard of so far! Any of u clowns who think that the Magic would be better off with nothing or Lopez lol are out of your minds

By: lakerdownunder

lakerdownunder — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:16:19 +0000

Don’t forget that Howard will earn that extra $30m in his next contract, so the argument that he misses out is not accurate…he simply gets it in his next round of contracts rather than with the Magic

By: thetruth113

thetruth113 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:14:48 +0000

Athlete in prime earning years turning down more money? Bosh and Lebron both turned down almost $30 million to sign with the Heat. Obviously not on the same level as them but Bibby walked away from $6 million guaranteed last season to sign with the Heat for the minimum.

By: metalhead65

metalhead65 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:06:58 +0000

if I am Orlando I call his bluff if I do not get what I want in a trade. if he walks at the end of the season and costs himself 30 million by not resigning with the magic then fine he was serious about it not being about the money. but do you really think any athlete in his prime earning years is going to turn down more money? the magic get nothing which is better than taking on salary of players who could never match up to howard or make the team better in the long haul.

By: addict2sport

addict2sport — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:56:56 +0000

Bynum straight up for Howard is a helluva lot better for Orlando than Brooke Lopez and some scrubs or unproven picks for Howard. The Lakers would be out of their minds to give up Gasol and Bynum for Howard. Then again, the Lakers would be out of their minds to give up Odom for nothing and they’d be out of their minds for signing Rasheed Wallace. Things might get interesting. Kobe is liable to blow his top in the very near future.

By: lakerdownunder

lakerdownunder — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:34:11 +0000

@Justin…you’re absolutely right. My point is that it is not possible to undertake a direct comparison based purely on numbers. With that said, when he gets to shoot more he is bar far the second best center in the league

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:30:06 +0000

On the other hand being the 3rd option really changes how teams approach you defensively. Would his turnovers and FG percentage suffer because of this of more double teams? Sometimes double teaming Kobe can result in more open shots for Bynum and Gasol. It has its arguments both ways.

By: chargerdillon

chargerdillon — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:29:16 +0000

As a Laker fan I agree with you 100%. It really seems to be the front office of the Lakers is turning over a new leaf, and that leaf may be a really bad leaf for the unforseeable future.

All of the things I need to hear Kobe say to make sense for Dwight to come to LA, havent been said and wont be said. If Kobe were serious about surpassing Jordan or even getting another ring, this would be the time in his career he starts to defer to other stars to lead the way.

Any real Laker fan will tell you the most important player on the roster is Pau Gasol and not Kobe Bryant at this point. Thing is you just cant trade Kobe, you can’t….you just can’t.

So until Kobe lays down his sword, we’re just going to get older and slower with a guy who shoots too much. If that’s what we got. I’m a Kobe diehard, and ill celebrate his last days and ride with my franchise that I love and still love the NBA all the same.

By: chetboyle

chetboyle — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:25:29 +0000

Is the whole point of getting Howard to have a superstar? What will Howard bring to an old Kobe team with no bench and no PG? Give away Gasol and Bynum and they have nothing but Howard and Kobe to fill seats. Big deal, we want championships in LA not entertainment. If Howard is all that he would have won a ring by now. No deal! I don’t mind some down years if we can clear cap space a trade for some draft picks.

By: losangelasbasketball

losangelasbasketball — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:59:32 +0000

The clippers got cp3, wouldnt be suprised if the nets got howard… This lockout has completely distorted the player market…

By: lakerdownunder

lakerdownunder — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:54:58 +0000

What is also forgotten is that this is not intended to be a direct comparison between Howard and Bynum. No one in their right mind would negotiate with Orlando and not take into account the weak bargaining position they are in with Howard. The Lakers or any team are not going to offer a massive package for Howard (or they would be stupid to do so) when they can leverage off the Magic’s weak position.

This is all about giving the Magic the minimum they will take to avoid the risk of them being stranded at the end of the season with nothing.

By: therealhtj

therealhtj — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:46:18 +0000

Nothing in return but cap space may have a lot more value than a Bynum who has another injury.