Gasol will want to play for a contending team. Adding an aging big man on a team rebuilding just isn't a good fit for both parties. That's why the Lakers are so big on Whiteside...he's a young big that can grow with the current group. I could see Gasol signing with the Spurs since they are losing David West.
Everybody gets old, man, and the Olympics only wear on an aging player The fact that Lakers were in the bottom of the league in FG efficiency should keep them far away from a Gasol who at the bottom of the league at his position in FG efficiency from the post/3 feet and in And Pau should want to play for a contender anyway
He's been a NBA and World Champion I think he'll relish helping the big men on this team. You HAVE to have some veterans. I trust in Luke if he wants to sign him. Good talk.
Add Whiteside and Conley to our young core and the team could go deep into the playoffs with a very team oriented west coast version of the Billups/Wallace Pistons. Conley and Whiteside provide toughness and defense with the opposing teams best small and best big and you have Ingram to cover the best wing player with his length and talent. Ingram is our Tayshaun Prince, Conley our Billups, Whiteside our Ben Wallace etc... I would say our versions are better skilled on offense as well. That still leaves guys like Dangelo who would be our Rip Hamilton in terms of importance but Clarkson probably resembles his role better. Randle and Nance are nice but Sheed was something special. That guy is hard to really compare with. Dude was far ahead of his time as well as being a throwback. One of a kind dude. It was a perfectly constructed team. Some great defenders everywhere with some great shooters from the front court in Sheed and Okur. Luke will be provided a deep team with a mix of talents like what the Warriors have. Similar to those Pistons squads. With the exception that they went after castoffs who were better defenders than on offense. We have a few mediocre defenders already but if they add Conley and Whiteside the team defense will improve dramatically. And if a guy like Randle who is nicely talented is moved in a trade for a star they can add another good defender at PF like Al Horford. Conley, Russell, Ingram, Horford, and Whiteside would be a very 2002/3/4 pistons like team. But Ingram and Russell would need to provide a lot of firepower and Clarkson be an excellent sixth man. Ingram could see a lot of time at PF in a small lineup with Horford at C when Whiteside sits to go small without compromising defense and even that much of height. In fact the team could very well be a defensive beast that keeps pace down when it needs to and then explodes with the likes of Ingram Russell and Clarkson. And we could probably get a nice load of young role players from a team like Boston for Randle.
In the west at least next year even with those two the second round is our ceiling. And that is just because of how good the Warriors, Spurs, and potentially thunder are
Shit...I'd be happy with 35-40 wins. That shows progress in the right direction. 2017 with time for the young core to develop and one more max free agent...then they can start thinking about competing in the playoffs.
Whiteside/Horford/Batum/Parsons/Bazemore/Marvin Williams/Conley/Noah/Biyombo/Mahinmi, any 2 or possibly 3 of those guys would get a thumbs up from me. It's time to win some games, Minnesota is building steam and will be a real problem for LAL in the future, LAL needs to develop winning traits/experience ASAP and be ready to meet Minnesota at the top of the mountain in 2018-19. I wouldn't be terribly upset if they signed Derozan either, so long as he agrees to be more like Iguodala, as in putting forth consistent effort defensively and continuing to improve his shot/off-ball game. He absolutely showed more heart than Harrison Barnes, fuck Barnes.
If ingram shows up as a good shooter like hes billed and we have an inside threat on both ends like whiteside and a dedicated floor leader like conley then you have our 3 young scorers light it up and you have a tough team to beat. Conley. Clarkson. Huertas Russel. Clarkson. Lou Ingram. Clarkson. Brown Randle. Nance. Auguste Whiteside. Tarik. Zubac Clarkson takes on a manu/harden type of role winning sixth man awards. Lots of big bodies for when we need them to backup the bigs. And there still cap money to max out kevin durant next year if he signs a one year deal this year as is rumored.
Whiteside talking about signing the 1st day of free agency. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...iteside-hopes-decide-free-agent-future-july-1
Stoked on Whiteside trying to sign real quick. If Whiteside signs with us, that's going to be a pretty huge for courting other FA's. Maybe Durant rethinks coming to LA?
SportsnetVerified account @Sportsnet 14m14 minutes ago DeMar DeRozan reportedly only plans to meet with #Raptors in free agency: http://sprtsnt.ca/28Xe8mR
Think they have as good a shot as any at Whiteside The fact that Miami can only offer Whiteside a 4yr deal is huge, a rare opportunity the system has created in favor of LAL and he's talked up the experience of playing @ Staples Who they could truly add beyond that is unclear ATM, maybe Bazemore had a decent time with the org for that little amount of time If Orlando hard-charged at Parsons I think they'd be the only real comp for us there, his hometown and he has interest in going back, but Parsons has a lot of off-the-court interests and LA plays to some of them Perhaps Arron Afflalo falls into that group Should re-sign Bass IMO
