agreed team will be exciting and fun but there's gonna be some bumps in the road i said 28 wins and i'm sticking with that if they exceed that i'll be pleasantly surprised
I wonder if they do get to 30 (+?) wins if a big F/A will finally make the jump? Despite the last few nightmarish seasons while Kobe bled out and now that he's gone, being the star of The Lakers is still a helluva place to be in the sports world.
There was an ESPN article recently that quoted Matt Barnes of all people saying he is aware of at least one big FA who has become interested in the Lakers now that they have a strong young core and no more Kobe.
42 and a possible 8th spot would be a miracle. Some teams would have to have bad luck or an unexpectedly terrible season. I want to place my bets on Houston having a mini implosion this year.
He actually had good things to say about Kobe and the Lakers. He just said that the team mishandled the D'Antoni/Phil Jackson issue and the Dwight issue. I agree with the former but not with the latter. Dwight was just being Dwight.
Between that and fuckhead David Stern it's been a rough patch, although the contract was self-inflicted.
Not as bad as the end of Magic deal. And the team recovered. Lakeshow was fun and birthed the Kobe era. Kobe contract dropped us low enough to get randle dlo and ingram. The system works. Yall just too shortsighted and dont connect the dots. It pays to be a classy organization and pay your aging superstars max deals. It allows you to not chase low end playoff spots that keep u out the lottery. While saving face by letting your vet hold court for a year or two while his skills diminish and you stock up on young talent. And it tells FA that you will take care of them too when the time comes. Which makes folks want to come to your team after the old superstar is gone and the new era begun.
This. I think this has been a smart move in the long run for the Lakers. Lots of other franchises treat their players like commodities to be bought and sold, like it's a video game making trades and moving guys for almost no reason. For the most part, the Lakers still treat their guys like family. As they start to get competitive again, this will set them apart from some other FA bidders.
Barnes is pretty close with Griffin and Griffin is a part of this next free agent class, so I could see Griffin being interested, but I don't know if LAL would feel the same about him.
Well that is what this year is about, and as a FA, other than money, you dont have to give anything to get him.
I'm just not sure he's a guy that makes your team better. I mean, yes, he's better than Randle and maybe they could move Randle for a better piece (stretch 4).
same a lot would depend on how they would plan to utilize him and the surrounding cast no doubting his game just not sure it's the direction we want/need to go