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On August 11 2012 03:43 strongwind wrote:
I don't think anyone doubts how good the Lakers front office is. But how can anyone think this is good for the NBA? I'm sick and tired of seeing the same teams winning every year, and the new CBA was designed to alleviate that. Except the big market teams don't seem to give a crap. I understand why Lebron ran off to create his superteam, because of crap like this. I'm pretty sure he was tired of seeing the same thing happening every year too, so he decided to take it into his own hands.
When you see trades like this happen, it makes all those incremental steps other teams are making to improve seem moot. Good luck trying to topple this team for the next 3 years at least. (And yes, sure, there might be some remote chance that Howard won't re-sign, but who honestly sees this happening? Where is he gonna run to?)
Blame the terrible Orlando FO. Anyone who's been reading these NBA threads here for years know I've said they are one of the dumbest organizations in sports. Turns out this trade was over the General Manager's head: The VP of Orlando ushered it in. Think about how stupid that is for a second.
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On August 11 2012 06:29 Itsmedudeman wrote:
That team is way better than what lakers had last year, and anyone who doesn't think so is insane. I'm guessing it's also not gonna have nearly as much issues as miami did when they got together. The pieces just seem so much easier to fit together any way you look at it.
And if not, Nash is gonna make them fit.
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Man, instead of having a draft for college players, they should have lottery picks and a draft for teams front offices.. ;D
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Miami's team fit together pretty damn well in the 1st year. They made the NBA Finals how much more of a fit do you need?
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They definitely had issues their first 20 games.
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Then they won like 18 of 20 in the next 20 games O_o Heat are really good.
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Sorry, you can't convince me that it's just the front office 'being good'. Houston made a way better offer. The Lakers just cash in on the cache of their brand.
Apart from fleecings that were precipitated by players forcing the hands of the GMs, I'd say Kuptchak has been average at best. Remember that long stretch when the Lakers were losing to the Suns?
How are you supposed to 'be smarter' when other GMs are purposely picking worse scenarios for their teams to benefit the Lakers? If I were a journalist, I'd be checking bank accounts right now, but you can't expect JA Adande to move out of his wifi hotspot.
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On August 11 2012 06:18 XaI)CyRiC wrote:Also, I don't agree that Dwight for Bynum was a lateral move. Dwight fits the team so much better as a low-usage, super-athletic and quick defender and rebounder. Bynum was more gifted in post offense and from mid-range, but the Lakers don't need that nearly as much. Dwight will cover for Nash's defensive weaknesses, make up for Kobe's tendency to cheat on defense, allow Artest to really body up and get in opponent's faces on defense (which he prefers and is best at), and allow Gasol to guard the less athletic big on the other team. He won't plug up the paint like Bynum did on offense because his points will come off of passes and cutting, and not slowly backing someone down. The general boost in athleticism and speed cannot be understated for a Lakers team that looked slow and old last season. We still don't know how all the pieces are going to mesh and get along, but I'm confident Nash will at least find a way to keep everyone happy. Kobe pushing for the Nash deal also gives me hope that he'll be more willing to concede a bit and operate off of the ball more. Just a lot of potential for Lakers fans to be happy about 
I take a look at Kobe's play at the Olympics as a good sign of how he'll look paired with Steve Nash.
When you have facilitators like Lebron, Paul and Williams on the floor, you don't need to always have the ball in your hands. When you have a guy like Nash on your team who Kobe has played against for over a decade now and whose game he respects I dont think you'll have too much unwillingness from him to let Nash be in control of the offense.
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On August 11 2012 07:01 Jerubaal wrote:
Sorry, you can't convince me that it's just the front office 'being good'. Houston made a way better offer. The Lakers just cash in on the cache of their brand.
Apart from fleecings that were precipitated by players forcing the hands of the GMs, I'd say Kuptchak has been average at best. Remember that long stretch when the Lakers were losing to the Suns?
How are you supposed to 'be smarter' when other GMs are purposely picking worse scenarios for their teams to benefit the Lakers? If I were a journalist, I'd be checking bank accounts right now, but you can't expect JA Adande to move out of his wifi hotspot.
You can't blame the Lakers for making deals with silly trade partners. That's what they are SUPPOSED to do.
ETA: Unlike everyone else I'm not sold on this team being better than OKC and Miami just yet. Defensively and offensively there are some major holes I see and don't have an answer to just yet.
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United States4471 Posts
On August 11 2012 06:33 Ace wrote:
Miami's team fit together pretty damn well in the 1st year. They made the NBA Finals how much more of a fit do you need?
They definitely made it work VERY well, but I think you have to admit that it at least looked a little questionable on paper. The idea of two of the most ball-dominant perimeter players in the league with shaky perimeter shots playing together doesn't sounds like the most complementary pairing. I freely admit to being one of the people who were skeptical about how well they'd be able to play off of each other because it looked like a lot of redundancy between the two.
On the other hand, the Lakers combination of stars looks like they'd mesh together better on paper from the outset. That doesn't guarantee anything in terms of what will actually happen on the court, but it would appear to make more sense than Miami's team up intuitively. Of course, this is assuming that Kobe actually changes his ball-dominating ways and learns to play well with everyone.
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On August 11 2012 07:08 Ace wrote:
ETA: Unlike everyone else I'm not sold on this team being better than OKC and Miami just yet. Defensively and offensively there are some major holes I see and don't have an answer to just yet.
Well I don't know who everyone else is but I don't think they are better than those two teams yet either. I just think they now provide a challenge. I would have been fooling/hyping myself as a laker fan next season if I thought we had a real good chance of winning the title but now it is a legitimate thought. Small-ball might just have to take a seat for a while, hopefully.
Simmons did a good job today http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8254854/mailbag
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United States4471 Posts
I don't see the Lakers as favorites yet either, but they're certainly strong contenders.
Both MIA and OKC rely heavily on getting into the paint and drawing fouls on offense. Dwight should help a lot with that as there's no one better at protecting the paint, and his reputation as a superstar defender tends to give him a bit more respect from the referees as well. As far as offense, having the ability to put three of the best playermakers at their position (Nash, Kobe and Gasol) and some very efficient scorers (Nash, Gasol and Dwight) on the floor at the same time should allow them to run an effective offense against even good defenses.
This is all pure speculation and theory of course, but it looks promising.
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LA is very close to Miami and slightly better than OKC imo, the only question marks about that team are how Kobe and Nash will share the ball and how healthly will they be.
Kobe is the 2nd best SG in the game, Dwight the best center, Pau top 3 at his position and Nash certainly top 10 PG (and closer to 5 than 10). The defensive issues all disappeared with Howard and the offense will run through Steve motherfucking Nash.
Only other thing that might be a concern is Mike Brown and how well he will manage the minutes of the old guys.
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United States4471 Posts
I'm curious to see what happens with their excess guards. No need for them to have Blake, Duhon, Morris, Meeks, and Goudelock (assuming they don't sign Odom-Johnson) as backups unless they want to be the 2011/12 Clippers (couldn't resist, even as a Clippers fan hehe). I have a feeling Blake is staying for his 3pt shooting and Brown's belief that he can back up both guard spots, although I'm not a believer in Blake the SG. I remember Duhon as a solid backup PG, but also don't remember hearing anything about him for the past few years and don't know what his play is like now. Morris would be the least likely to contribute to a championship run, but they just re-signed him and he's one of their few cheap assets. I don't think Goudelock will ever be a good option at PG, but it could work if he's playing alongside Kobe and Pau.
The obvious move would be to try to use some of the guard depth to improve at the SF position in case Ebanks doesn't pan out, but we'll see if Mitch has any magic left.
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On August 11 2012 07:08 Ace wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2012 07:01 Jerubaal wrote:
Sorry, you can't convince me that it's just the front office 'being good'. Houston made a way better offer. The Lakers just cash in on the cache of their brand.
Apart from fleecings that were precipitated by players forcing the hands of the GMs, I'd say Kuptchak has been average at best. Remember that long stretch when the Lakers were losing to the Suns?
How are you supposed to 'be smarter' when other GMs are purposely picking worse scenarios for their teams to benefit the Lakers? If I were a journalist, I'd be checking bank accounts right now, but you can't expect JA Adande to move out of his wifi hotspot. You can't blame the Lakers for making deals with silly trade partners. That's what they are SUPPOSED to do. ETA: Unlike everyone else I'm not sold on this team being better than OKC and Miami just yet. Defensively and offensively there are some major holes I see and don't have an answer to just yet.
No, I'm not blaming the Lakers themselves at all.
I'm also wondering if this isn't a possible countdown to Kobe's retirement. He has 2 more years on his contract and the 3.25x luxury tax kicks in '13-'14 which would have the Lakers paying over $100 million in luxury tax. Maybe he's told them he's done and wants one last hurrah before riding off into the sunset.
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On August 11 2012 09:46 Jerubaal wrote:Show nested quote +On August 11 2012 07:08 Ace wrote:On August 11 2012 07:01 Jerubaal wrote:
Sorry, you can't convince me that it's just the front office 'being good'. Houston made a way better offer. The Lakers just cash in on the cache of their brand.
Apart from fleecings that were precipitated by players forcing the hands of the GMs, I'd say Kuptchak has been average at best. Remember that long stretch when the Lakers were losing to the Suns?
How are you supposed to 'be smarter' when other GMs are purposely picking worse scenarios for their teams to benefit the Lakers? If I were a journalist, I'd be checking bank accounts right now, but you can't expect JA Adande to move out of his wifi hotspot. You can't blame the Lakers for making deals with silly trade partners. That's what they are SUPPOSED to do. ETA: Unlike everyone else I'm not sold on this team being better than OKC and Miami just yet. Defensively and offensively there are some major holes I see and don't have an answer to just yet. No, I'm not blaming the Lakers themselves at all. I'm also wondering if this isn't a possible countdown to Kobe's retirement. He has 2 more years on his contract and the 3.25x luxury tax kicks in '13-'14 which would have the Lakers paying over $100 million in luxury tax. Maybe he's told them he's done and wants one last hurrah before riding off into the sunset.
Kobe won't admit to being done until he's caught Kareem's scoring title and that's a fact. The man is ultra competitive and is very aware of his legacy and where he ranks among the top NBA players of all time.
His body will give out before he tells the team that he's done and wants to retire.
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Not to mention he is only 33(34), and probably has 3 more years of top 20 player basketball in him, and 2 more years after that of top 50. I'll have a hard time buying his retirement until he is closer to 40. I do think this is his last effort at Team USA, and will start to focus more on healing during the off season, but who wouldn't seize the opportunity of having Nash, Howard and Gasol bring him to another championship chase.
I mean, we are talking about Kobe Bryant here, if theres anyone in the NBA who will work on whatever he needs to, to remain competitive, its Kobe (or maybe Garnett).
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I have an idea. When you trade for a player, the amount over the luxury tax you go into because of that player gets sent to the team you got him from and that amount gets added to their cap. So the Lakers pay the Magic 19.5 million and they can go up to 89.5 million without incurring luxury tax. Better yet if they are forced to spend that money on salary.
I understand Kobe is competitive, but if the Lakers are able to sustain this team even after the new luxury tax kicks in, then...I just don't know what to say.
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On August 11 2012 10:09 Jerubaal wrote:
I have an idea. When you trade for a player, the amount over the luxury tax you go into because of that player gets sent to the team you got him from and that amount gets added to their cap. So the Lakers pay the Magic 19.5 million and they can go up to 89.5 million without incurring luxury tax. Better yet if they are forced to spend that money on salary.
I understand Kobe is competitive, but if the Lakers are able to sustain this team even after the new luxury tax kicks in, then...I just don't know what to say.
I mean Kobe only has so many ELITE years left where he's still driving to the paint and dunking over people and hitting super hard turn around fade away jumpers and being able to play defense at a high level while getting second in season scoring.
But... the amount of years he has in the NBA if he decides to pace himself the way Jason Kid has is hard to really measure.
Kobe's really the only one that knows.
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Start the damn season! And Dwight does a great imitation of Kobe lol.
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EPT
