I never thought that Kobe and Chris Paul could coexist
Dunno why. Kobe never had a true point guard next to him and always wanted one. Remember he advocated for Jason Kidd. He wanted CP3 as a teammate for years because it made his life easier and gave him less roles to have to play.
He was happy we got Steve Nash because of that reason, but due to Steve Nash's injuries, and only having one leg after the injury caused by Thomas and then Lillard, Nash had to take an off-ball role and off-ball threat.
When Nash came back the ball was in his hands to run the offense and Kobe was off-ball, if Nash was able to be healthy that's how it would have remained.
So please, spare me the "Kobe was too selfish to play next to a scoring point guard" ESPN stuff. Every owner in the NBA was terrified because they knew he would and it was a near guaranteed Championship.
I think a big issue is if Kobe could really become an elite catch and shoot player. By the time Paul would have come to the Lakers, I too have my doubts. Kobe's shooting fundamentally changed from 2002/2003 to end of 2008/2009 compared to starting from 2009/2010 to 2012/2013. By changed I mean the bounce in his step as he goes up for a three point jumper. During his prime of 2002/2003 to 2008/2009, the bounce and the way he went up was a lot quicker than in his later years where the shot became more deliberate, slower, and less accurate. I never believed for one second that the drop in his 3 point percentage starting from the 2009/2010 season was a fluke. The shot looked noticeably slower to me and looked like Kobe could no longer utilize as much the fast twitch muscles in his legs as he went up for his two motion shot in his 3 ball. His 2007/2008 season, where he wore the sleeve and he shot 36.1% from three: That season Kobe I have no doubt could have become an elite catch and shoot player with a player like Chris Paul limiting his bad shots and focusing only on good quality in rhythm threes because that season Kobe and the next season Kobe rarely seemed to miss the rare open threes they got off the catch and shoot.
Also Ive said this in other forums but even with Chris Paul, we are NOT beating Miami. The fundamental problem in the matchup with Miami was always athleticism and team speed to the point it would always feel like we would have to play perfectly to beat them and any mistake on our part and they would get transition buckets. When the games get tight, we would be more prone to making mistakes as they hound us on defense, just like 2012 vs OKC in Games 2 and 4. Those mistakes against that specific team was no fluke and we would run into a better version of that team vs Miami. Paul does not fix this fundamental deficit by himself.
I never thought that Kobe and Chris Paul could coexist
Dunno why. Kobe never had a true point guard next to him and always wanted one. Remember he advocated for Jason Kidd. He wanted CP3 as a teammate for years because it made his life easier and gave him less roles to have to play.
He was happy we got Steve Nash because of that reason, but due to Steve Nash's injuries, and only having one leg after the injury caused by Thomas and then Lillard, Nash had to take an off-ball role and off-ball threat.
When Nash came back the ball was in his hands to run the offense and Kobe was off-ball, if Nash was able to be healthy that's how it would have remained.
So please, spare me the "Kobe was too selfish to play next to a scoring point guard" ESPN stuff. Every owner in the NBA was terrified because they knew he would and it was a near guaranteed Championship.
I think a big issue is if Kobe could really become an elite catch and shoot player. By the time Paul would have come to the Lakers, I too have my doubts. Kobe's shooting fundamentally changed from 2002/2003 to end of 2008/2009 compared to starting from 2009/2010 to 2012/2013. By changed I mean the bounce in his step as he goes up for a three point jumper. During his prime of 2002/2003 to 2008/2009, the bounce and the way he went up was a lot quicker than in his later years where the shot became more deliberate, slower, and less accurate. I never believed for one second that the drop in his 3 point percentage starting from the 2009/2010 season was a fluke. The shot looked noticeably slower to me and looked like Kobe could no longer utilize as much the fast twitch muscles in his legs as he went up for his two motion shot in his 3 ball. His 2007/2008 season, where he wore the sleeve and he shot 36.1% from three: That season Kobe I have no doubt could have become an elite catch and shoot player with a player like Chris Paul limiting his bad shots and focusing only on good quality in rhythm threes because that season Kobe and the next season Kobe rarely seemed to miss the rare open threes they got off the catch and shoot.
Here's the thing, Kobe wouldn't need to resort to solely being a catch and shoot player. Kobe would essentially be able to look for another scorer on his team(not a problem from before as Phil had him do that for Shaq), but also take advantage of the one on one situations that having a CP3 on his team would open up for him. Which would be the option.
It would be him being available for the iso when the offense needs it, but also available off ball when Cp3 finds the opening.
Kobe also wouldn't just be waiting in a corner spotting up at the three point line, he'[quote="1995Lakers"] cutting to the basket, he'd be expoiting openings in the defense that CP3 would be finding him on.
It'd be stuff like that as opposed to what LeBron has people do when he plays "point".
1995Lakers wrote:
Also Ive said this in other forums but even with Chris Paul, we are NOT beating Miami. The fundamental problem in the matchup with Miami was always athleticism and team speed to the point it would always feel like we would have to play perfectly to beat them and any mistake on our part and they would get transition buckets.
Miami wasn't some unstoppable juggernaut. They got beat by Dallas whom had just one star on their team. They beat the young Thunder, got bailed out at the last second vs an old Spurs team and then got destroyed by an older version of that Spurs team the next season. Heckl they narrowly escaped Indiana with a young Paul George, Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert... LeBron is very lucky he got out of Miami with 2 rings instead of 1. I'd pick the Lakers with CP3 and Kobe against them at that point. The NBA knew that too. Because the Lakers didn't just open themselves up for Kobe and Cp3, they had opened themselves up to get Dwight and STILL have room to add more depth around that team. Miami would have matched up against a team just as stacked as them, and you didn't need a team as stacked as Miami to beat them.
Miami wasn't unbeatable, and the Lakers with CP3 and Kobe I'd bet on them. Kobe had more left in the tank than Wade did, and I'd bet on Dwight against Bosh, and us having an actual point guard on the team helps us loads in the halfcourt and puts Kobe open on the iso.
What if Jerry West had his way and drafted Sidney Moncrief? There'd be no:
- No Showtime lore.
- No launching of Riley's career.
- No big stage for Big Game James.
- Kareem sits at 1 title.
- Jerry West loses shine.
- Without Showtime, does Shaq still want LA?
- Does Kobe still force his way to LA?
That's why despite his front office hiccup, and the Magic Johnson Hour talk show... Magic, IMO, is Laker's GOAT.
Jerry West didn’t draft anyone that year, he wasn’t the GM until 1982. And he wanted to draft Magic, he scouted him.
West was the lead scout, he was suggesting Super Sid. The head coach and Buss wanted Magic.
What if Pelinka included Kuzma in the AD trade, and retained the Lakers 1st round pick. They could have then drafted D. Garland as their PG.
The 1st what if scenario for me is:
What if Mitch/Jim signed Moz/Deng to overpays, ($25m/yr?), but made it 3 years with a team option for the 3rd?
The FO had the right idea to develop the drafted talent then add 2 max FA with Moz/Deng as cap space placeholders. They drafted well, however, they just executed it poorly with lack of consideration for fan tolerance after 3+ lottery seasons drafting Randle/Dlo/Ingram. Perhaps they overestimated the progress of the young core or the value of Moz/Deng, but there was no way we’d tolerate 4 more lottery years if it didn’t work. Their contracts…Moz/Deng…should have had a team option for just 2 years.
I think Mitch/Jim would have drafted Fox over Ball after Lonzo flubbed the 1st workout. They could have still ended up with LBJ since Moz/Deng were movable as expiring, or stretch/waive.
Fox
Dlo.Clarkson
LBJ/Ingram
Randle/NanceJR
Zubac/TBryant
Plus all the draft picks from the AD trade.
Sigh 😔 What’s the point? Therapeutic posting I guess. _________________ “When it looks as if it is a realistic possibility, I want to focus on winning a ship like it’s a goal that can’t be denied. I didn’t see that this off season.”
^^ Every time we play the Kings I think about the most recent what if. D'AAron Fox over Lonzo Ball. Maybe it's the MD Monarch in me, but I wasn't sold on Lonzo until he put on the PnG (and I was just rooting for my team). I felt the hype train was so big that they glossed over him getting bodied against Kentucky and Fox that year. I felt terrible for Zo and his injuries, and I really believe he is a great floor general excelling at the hockey assist. He had good defensive instincts, and essentially a pair of non-NBA knees. Fox would not only have won us more games, but we don't lose 10 in a row to Sac, or whatever it was.
If CP3 was a Laker, I would have to root for one of my least favorite players. If Kobe got 1 more out of it, it would have been cool. If Kobe would have gotten 2...well that's why the trade was vetoed. David Stern is not missed by me!!! _________________ Magic*Kobe*LBJ*AD*Cap
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36530 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 11:57 am Post subject:
Hanging from Rafters wrote:
The 1st what if scenario for me is:
What if Mitch/Jim signed Moz/Deng to overpays, ($25m/yr?), but made it 3 years with a team option for the 3rd?
The FO had the right idea to develop the drafted talent then add 2 max FA with Moz/Deng as cap space placeholders. They drafted well, however, they just executed it poorly with lack of consideration for fan tolerance after 3+ lottery seasons drafting Randle/Dlo/Ingram. Perhaps they overestimated the progress of the young core or the value of Moz/Deng, but there was no way we’d tolerate 4 more lottery years if it didn’t work. Their contracts…Moz/Deng…should have had a team option for just 2 years.
I think Mitch/Jim would have drafted Fox over Ball after Lonzo flubbed the 1st workout. They could have still ended up with LBJ since Moz/Deng were movable as expiring, or stretch/waive.
Fox
Dlo.Clarkson
LBJ/Ingram
Randle/NanceJR
Zubac/TBryant
Plus all the draft picks from the AD trade.
Sigh 😔 What’s the point? Therapeutic posting I guess.
Why did we need Mozdeng as cap space placeholders? Nothing punitive happens if you don’t hit the floor. The remaining space you need to hit the floor is just distributed as salary to the players on your roster.
I still don’t understand the rationale of that move. The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that? _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36530 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 3:13 pm Post subject:
Outspoken wrote:
What if Kobe never tore his achilles when he was going on that historical run in 2013?
We would have lost to the Spurs in six games instead of four even if the entire team had been healthy. Remember it wasn't even just Kobe that was injured, but also Nash, Jodie Meeks, etc. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
What if Kobe never tore his achilles when he was going on that historical run in 2013?
We would have lost to the Spurs in six games instead of four even if the entire team had been healthy. Remember it wasn't even just Kobe that was injured, but also Nash, Jodie Meeks, etc.
Well if the entire team had been healthy, which includes Nash we probably aren't playing the Spurs in the first round, and even then I'd have bet on the Lakers beating the Spurs with the run Kobe was on and Dwight starting to come back into his health around that time. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Here are some very interesting proposals that were discussed and seriously considered:
1986: Coming off losing to Houston in WCF, Lakers have a chance to trade James Worthy to Dallas for Mark Aguirre and Roy Tarpley. Great deal in principle - Aguirre was just as gifted as Worthy and on the same tier while Tarpley was an absolute monster on the boards and a decent offensive threat: Thank goodness West blocked this one because on principle, this deal looks really good for the Lakers and is why Buss personally negotiated this one with Donald Carter.
1992: Lakers nearly complete the acquisition of Charles Barkley for James Worthy and Elden Campbell so that Barkley would become the new face of the Lakers. Barkley and Shaq teaming up in 1996 could have happened and would be possible....especially if the Lakers dumped Corie Blount like they did Lynch and Peeler and not signed Sean Rooks. Elden Campbell's rights are also renounced in this scenario.
1997: Lakers contemplate trading Nick Van Exel for an inferior point guard at the time (Van Exel destroyed this dude as often as he did Seattle - dude love to trash Oakland PGs) who couldn't shoot a lick but had a lot of flash and excellent defense and PG skills: Jason Kidd. Shaq nixes this deal as Kidd could not shoot and space the floor.
1997: Eddie Jones rumors are flying with deals nearly complete twice: The first is with Seattle for Shawn Kemp and Hersey Hawkins. Elden Campbell would also go in this deal. Kemp and Shaq during the 1998 season would have been devastation for the Western Conference and Kobe would move into the starting lineup. I doubt we beat Utah though: Kemp ALWAYS got outplayed by Malone: even when Seattle beat Utah in 1996 to make the finals. Lakers want to do this deal, Seattle nixes last minute. The second deal is one that West agreed to and changed his own mind right before the 1997/1998 season: Eddie Jones and Sean Rooks to Sacramento for Mitch Richmond. Would have loved to see the Lakers somehow make the finals because Richmond always gave Jordan hell.
1998 Draft: Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Elden Campbell to Washington for Chris Webber. This is the deal the Lakers wanted but Washington could not agree to.
1998: Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell in a sign and trade for Tom Gugliotta. McHale does not want to do business with us but we dodged a bullet here because Gugliotta's contract and injury history would start to rear its ugly head.
1999: Sign and trade with Orlando to reunite Penny Hardaway and Shaq. Three headed monster with Kobe. Would have required rerouting Glen Rice because Orlando and John Gabriel by this point was all in on the free agent class of 2000 and was not looking to add long term salary or players looking for long term deals. Dodged a bullet here as well with Penny's injury history because Penny really wanted to be here and West/Shaq wanted him here as well
2000: Glen Rice 4 team trade that would have brought Christian Laettner to the Lakers: Nice in theory for the triangle, but glad this one fell through. Laettner wasnt better than Horace Grant who we later got at this point.
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36530 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 11:08 am Post subject:
ThePageDude wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng? _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng?
In my opinion it was still crazy due to the # years, if they'd given fewer years then I would consider it less crazy. You can't run the world on assumptions you have to build in safeguards.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36530 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 12:50 pm Post subject:
ThePageDude wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
ThePageDude wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng?
In my opinion it was still crazy due to the # years, if they'd given fewer years then I would consider it less crazy. You can't run the world on assumptions you have to build in safeguards.
Why were Mitch and Jim so desperate to get Mozdeng instead of just leaving the cap space empty or signing someone to a one or two year deal? Were Mozdeng highly respected free agents who they really thought would help us get back to the WCF? And who was competing with us to the point where we needed to offer four years? _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng?
In my opinion it was still crazy due to the # years, if they'd given fewer years then I would consider it less crazy. You can't run the world on assumptions you have to build in safeguards.
Why were Mitch and Jim so desperate to get Mozdeng instead of just leaving the cap space empty or signing someone to a one or two year deal? Were Mozdeng highly respected free agents who they really thought would help us get back to the WCF? And who was competing with us to the point where we needed to offer four years?
I think it's a reality that a lot of Lakers fans didn't want to acknowledge but they had by then.
No big time free agents were coming to the Lakers. So in their situation they tied up that cap and were intending to tank the rest of the years.
Their best case scenario? Two amnesties.
Their worst case scenario? We tank and get a lot of draft picks and by the time they became trade assets/start their potential, MozDeng will be off the books and we'll be targeting a Max again.
Had we kept Randle and DLo we'd have kept more of the young talent we got rid of when we traded for AD. But then again we'd also likely still have had Zubac and other pieces we had no business getting rid of and losing once Magic took over. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36530 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 2:25 pm Post subject:
MJST wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
ThePageDude wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
ThePageDude wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng?
In my opinion it was still crazy due to the # years, if they'd given fewer years then I would consider it less crazy. You can't run the world on assumptions you have to build in safeguards.
Why were Mitch and Jim so desperate to get Mozdeng instead of just leaving the cap space empty or signing someone to a one or two year deal? Were Mozdeng highly respected free agents who they really thought would help us get back to the WCF? And who was competing with us to the point where we needed to offer four years?
I think it's a reality that a lot of Lakers fans didn't want to acknowledge but they had by then.
No big time free agents were coming to the Lakers. So in their situation they tied up that cap and were intending to tank the rest of the years.
Their best case scenario? Two amnesties.
Their worst case scenario? We tank and get a lot of draft picks and by the time they became trade assets/start their potential, MozDeng will be off the books and we'll be targeting a Max again.
Had we kept Randle and DLo we'd have kept more of the young talent we got rid of when we traded for AD. But then again we'd also likely still have had Zubac and other pieces we had no business getting rid of and losing once Magic took over.
But why did we need four year deals with Mozdeng in order to tank? We could have tanked even harder by leaving the space open, and there would have been no penalty for doing so. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
<snip>
The way some have explained it to me here is that Jeannie thought there would be two amnesty clauses, to get rid of both Mozgov and Deng, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to have both. But why just assume that?
It wasn't Jeanie that assumed this, it was the FO (Mitch/Jim).
This stuff gets discussed at the NBA ownership level and the owners then need to pass onto the FO's so the FO's can make sound decisions. Dr. Buss was ill, Jeanie was handling this stuff at that time.
Why did the FO assume this? I don't know, but I do know that most in the press (and this forum's history will support this) were sure there would be 1 amnesty with a good likelihood of a second. So perhaps the FO bought into the press-narrative, or perhaps they went by old info from Dr Buss/Jeanie, or perhaps they heard this from their other FO contacts ..
Oh, so it wasn’t *that* crazy that they signed Mozdeng?
In my opinion it was still crazy due to the # years, if they'd given fewer years then I would consider it less crazy. You can't run the world on assumptions you have to build in safeguards.
Why were Mitch and Jim so desperate to get Mozdeng instead of just leaving the cap space empty or signing someone to a one or two year deal? Were Mozdeng highly respected free agents who they really thought would help us get back to the WCF? And who was competing with us to the point where we needed to offer four years?
I think it's a reality that a lot of Lakers fans didn't want to acknowledge but they had by then.
No big time free agents were coming to the Lakers. So in their situation they tied up that cap and were intending to tank the rest of the years.
Their best case scenario? Two amnesties.
Their worst case scenario? We tank and get a lot of draft picks and by the time they became trade assets/start their potential, MozDeng will be off the books and we'll be targeting a Max again.
Had we kept Randle and DLo we'd have kept more of the young talent we got rid of when we traded for AD. But then again we'd also likely still have had Zubac and other pieces we had no business getting rid of and losing once Magic took over.
But why did we need four year deals with Mozdeng in order to tank? We could have tanked even harder by leaving the space open, and there would have been no penalty for doing so.
To ensure the tank, by tying up cap space. Which is essentially what happened. It became all about the draft picks at that point. We weren't going to make a serious bid for anyone, and every off-season we had 'cap space' it was an expectation, so tying up all that money rid that notion.
They however weren't ever going to admit that they were tanking. But we most definitely were. Tying up our cap in Mosgov and Deng was the FO effectively saying "We're rebuilding". It also meant that all that cap would come off the books at the next free agency period they were targeting, which was 3-4 years from then. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Let’s say the Lakers had gotten CP3… They really only have that lockout shortened 11-12 season to make a run with the Kobe/CP3/Bynum trio, and they would have run into the Heatles in the finals plus the OKC big three in the west playoffs (that the Kobe/Pau/Bynum trio lost to in five).
After that, Bynum’s knees would have broken down. If we still went through with the Dwight trade, we would have had the same diminished Dwight that we had in 12-13. And still had to get past both the Spurs and Heatles.
It doesn’t seem to me CP3 would have fit particularly well with either Bynum or Dwight. Neither were good pick and roll players. Dwight in particular was notorious in the 12-13 season for being a poor screen setter.
Not a guaranteed ring unless other changes happen.
Turns out CP3 wasn't that guy. Kobe would've had to bail him out too. And Kobe was getting older as well.
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8623 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2024 11:59 pm Post subject:
Here's a what-if I read about in Jeff Pearlman's book:
In 1981, the Lakers wanted to draft Larry Nance. But coach Paul Westhead was given final say over who they would draft, and so they drafted Mike McGee.
If they had listened to Jerry West and drafted Nance:
1. How much better would the Showtime Lakers have been? Would they have won more than five chips?
2. Would they still have drafted James Worthy in 1982? _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
The two biggest what if for me personally, is what if Del Harris didn't stop Jerry West from making the move to get Tracy McGrady and adding him to the Kobe/Shaq Lakers. It would have cost us Eddie Jones, but we'd have gotten T-Mac before he broke out. And he would have been with the Shaq Kobe Lakers.
The other one is what if Magic didn't retire right before the Lakers drafted Kobe and signed Shaq. We would have had Magic, Kobe, Shaq on the same team, even if it was for one or two seasons. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
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