Near future for the Lakers?

[shadow]

There were reports that once Cousins' agents were made aware the Kings were discussing a trade they threatened teams that he would refuse to sign an extension with anyone who traded for him. Reports were the Kings wanted Ingram and Russell included in the deal, plus multiple draft picks I imagine (NOP ended up giving them their 1st and 2nd round 2017 picks). That seems like a lot to give up for potentially just a 1.5 year rental of Cousins if he refuses to sign an extension.

http://nesn.com/2017/02/how-demarcus-co ... ade-offer/

[jgoldstein34]

Ah, didn't realize they wanted Russell too. That changes it a bit, of course the whole point is to get a player of Cousins caliber so probably still worth it. If memory holds, people seemed pretty shocked with how little NOP had to give up to get Cousins, with a top 3 protected 1st round pick and Buddy Hield being the heart of the trade. Not much of a return for an all-star center.

I think with players this young it can be hard to predict their future with a ton of accuracy, but it seems that teams often hold on to prospects who aren't panning out a bit too long to fully cash in on any remaining trade value. I think potential gets overvalued when we talk about prospects, I just don't think the current "elite" prospects on the Lakers will amount to much. I hope I'm wrong, but I'd give all 3 (Randle, Ingram and Russell) up for Cousins in a heartbeat. I'd much rather have talent I know than potential, especially when they 3 guys just don't seem that good so far.

[jgoldstein34]

Does anyone think that Luol Deng holds any value to a contender still? Just had surgery on I think his pectoral muscle, not sure how that impacts him going forward.

[Crow]

He might. BR is looking incomplete / whack at the moment from my computer so I can't do a normal check. He can probably do better than last season.

[bondom343]

Not sure what but I'd guess they'd have to attach a pretty decent asset to Deng. He's older at this point and even in Lowe's recent column he mentioned a first round pick may be needed to move Demarre Carroll, who was still better than Deng and younger, as well as cheaper for less years. The Deng/Mozgov contracts are baffling to me

[jgoldstein34]

The Deng contract at least makes a little sense from the view that he can be a good vet and a good mentor to Ingram, still way too much money though. The Mozgov deal, along with the Noah contract, is just horrendous. That alone should have gotten the GM fired. I think they may be able to use Deng as salary filler if they ever find a way of trading for a star.

[JoshEngleman]

Now that they know they are keeping their 2019 pick, the Lakers should 100% wait on Paul George. Play the young guys for one more year, which also means you have one less year of the Deng/Mozgov/Clarkson deals. $44m per year for the next three years on those three guys is a death sentence. There is no reason sell off any of these young guys for Paul George. They'd be better off attaching Russell/Ingram/Randle to one of the crap contracts just to clean up the books a bit.

[jgoldstein34]

Agreed, with all the rumors around PG saying the Lakers are the favorites to sign him in 2018 there is absolutely no reason to trade for him now. That being said, if there was a team to make the mistake of trading for him, it would be the Lakers with an inexperienced and unproven front office who may want to make a big splash.

[Crow]

Magic on Ingram, essentially "we are unlikely to ever trade". Let's see how that goes.

[jgoldstein34]

I saw that, seems a mistake to me. Note sure why he's so attached to a guy he didn't even draft.

[Crow]

They are close in height. Magic probably wants him to be somewhat like him. The ambitions or delusions for him to be a playmaker will provide an interesting storyline.

[Crow]

Will Gunnar Peterson...

make summer workouts fun?
bring in celebrities to workout / hang-out?
promote the Lakers brand on tv?
get more results than previously?

[jgoldstein34]

My answer would be lead to a player getting injured. Doesn't seem like a good higher to me, at all. Makes for a good headline, not sure it makes for better basketball players.

[Crow]

Randle is the best performing of the young 4 but the clock is ticking. Do you pay him around $20 million on next contract? To pay anyone that imo he better be plus 2 on RPM or heading fast to it. Randle was about -2 this past season. I don"t think he gets there next season, end of season or mid-season. But how much progress? That will determine whether he should be dealt or planned to retain. Probably will end up "should be dealt". I dunno if they will see it that way. How star or faux star fixated are they? Extending him early would be very bold, probably stupid, unless he took a big discount to stay LaLa Laker.

No matter if he plays PF or C his man shoots massively better than him. Either he eliminates that gap- entirely, by improvements one way / the other or both- or he should be gone.

Luke Walton better kick it up big time or else he may feel heat and maybe deserved. He may have had fun working with the youth but he needs to show results, more than he has so far. Far, far more and pretty soon.

[JoshEngleman]

Randle is the best performing of the young 4 but the clock is ticking. Do you pay him around $20 million on next contract? To pay anyone that imo he better be plus 2 on RPM or heading fast to it. Randle was about -2 this past season. I don"t think he gets there next season, end of season or mid-season. But how much progress? That will determine whether he should be dealt or planned to retain. Probably will end up "should be dealt". I dunno if they will see it that way. How star or faux star fixated are they? Extending him early would be very bold, probably stupid, unless he took a big discount to stay LaLa Laker.

No matter if he plays PF or C his man shoots massively better than him. Either he eliminates that gap- entirely, by improvements one way / the other or both- or he should be gone.

Luke Walton better kick it up big time or else he may feel heat and maybe deserved. He may have had fun working with the youth but he needs to show results, more than he has so far. Far, far more and pretty soon.

I have Randle worth ~$12 for next year. He's 27-99 (27%) from 3 in his career. Unless you see that changing, there's no way you pay him anywhere near $20. At least, you don't if you are the Lakers. If he has a solid season, I would expect him to get a large offer as a RFA, but it wouldn't be smart to match it. I'd be trying to trade him now. There are teams out there he would be useful for, but I don't think the Lakers are one of them.