Lakers with a very good offseason so far

[t-wizzle]

Bringing in Nash was a great move regardless of his age. He will get the ball where it needs to go and when they pound inside he will always be ready for the ball to be kicked back out for an open perimeter shot.

Jamison a very solid signing as well as he gives them some much needed scoring (likely off the bench).

Now they are apparently pursuing Howard? I think Bynum is more skilled offensively but his time might be up with LA and it may be better for him to move on. Kobe still has a couple good years left in him so the pressure would not be on Dwight to carry the load but rather to be an anchor on defense and their main low post presence.

[HoulihansTX]

Amensty Metta, and find a way to trade for Howard. Until still not better than Miami/OKC/Spurs

[PickWinnerAllDay]

Bynum out and Howard in is a no brainer.

Bynum the bigger mental midget, more injury prone as well.

[jjgold]

Howard would make LA a real threat

Meta not going anywhere, you need a guy like him on team

[NYSportsGuy210]

Lakers baby.

If they get Howard will be just as good if not better than OKC. I guess I was correct in saying the Lakers were smarter keeping Gasol and trading Bynum for Howard.

[t-wizzle]

Pretty sure amnesty deadline passed

[cankid]

you knew there was going to be major changes, looking decent so far

[beerman2619]

Lakers just keep getting older guess will see if it works.

[rm18]

Jamison is a loser/team killer, Cavs traded for him and then they imploded

[sportsfanatic]

insane if lakers get dwight. i'd say they'd be better than thunder at that point.

[iQon]

Dwight's a coward and has no desire to play in LA. Guy doesn't care about winning, he cares about his "brand".

If he goes to LA with Gasol, Nash, and Kobe... he has a legit chance to win a title this year. But his ego is too busy comparing himself to the ghosts of Kareem, Wilt, Mikan, and Shaq. His ego doesn't want him to go to "Kobe's team".

[SteelRain]

do we even know if dwight is healthy

dude had some serious back surgery & might be that he could never be the same

lakers gambling big time

[riffraff24]

The haters should get in their last words while they can...Hope you had fun the last 2 years cos shit's about to go back to normal kids. Lakers ON TOP

[shadymcgrady]

Mike brown has got to go. A defense only coach like that can't utilize offensive minded players like Nash and jamison

[Goat Milk]

insane if lakers get dwight. i'd say they'd be better than thunder at that point.

uh......That's not really a question. Thunder would not win more than 1 game in a series vs. the Lakers if they got Howard.

[t-wizzle]

uh......That's not really a question. Thunder would not win more than 1 game in a series vs. the Lakers if they got Howard.

I give OKC a 10% chance at best to win the championship next year. They are everyone's trendy pick but people don't realize that they have holes and really got all the way to the finals this year because they are young and athletic. One thing I will say is that in all sports, you need to stay young but the Thunder won't win with such a weak frontcourt and mediocre defense. I've been right all along about every single thing I've said about Durant so I'm not even going to get into that.

[Goat Milk]

I give OKC a 10% chance at best to win the championship next year. They are everyone's trendy pick but people don't realize that they have holes and really got all the way to the finals this year because they are young and athletic. One thing I will say is that in all sports, you need to stay young but the Thunder won't win with such a weak frontcourt and mediocre defense. I've been right all along about every single thing I've said about Durant so I'm not even going to get into that.

yeah you have. Durant is a stud though and only 23 years old, we could be seeing one of the greatest ever to lace them up. He will put on muscle in time. Ibaka is a fukking joke. He keeps embarassing himself. First with the Lebron comment. Then with the Spain comment- shot at the US. Westbrook is good and the Olympics will mature him playing with the greats, but he is a selfish player and a PG can't be selfish. He's a SG.

I agree, Thunder are not winning the West next year. Right now even without Howard I like LA to win the West and if memphis can all stay healthy for the whole year they are the dark horse with Gasol emerging as the best center in basketball and Rudy Gay of course.

[t-wizzle]

yeah you have. Durant is a stud though and only 23 years old, we could be seeing one of the greatest ever to lace them up. He will put on muscle in time. Ibaka is a fukking joke. He keeps embarassing himself. First with the Lebron comment. Then with the Spain comment- shot at the US. Westbrook is good and the Olympics will mature him playing with the greats, but he is a selfish player and a PG can't be selfish. He's a SG.

I agree, Thunder are not winning the West next year. Right now even without Howard I like LA to win the West and if memphis can all stay healthy for the whole year they are the dark horse with Gasol emerging as the best center in basketball and Rudy Gay of course.

OKC would be fine if they got a distributor at the point and played Westbrook at the 2. He is a bit undersized but makes up for it with his athleticism.

Ibaka is just a dumbass but that comes from just not having a clue about this culture.

I have always liked Memphis as well but they can't win with Randolph and Gay. One of those two needs to go. It'd make more sense to get rid of Randolph but I'm not sure Gay can carry the load as the number 1 player on a team. I just don't think he quite has what it takes psychologically. Gasol is extremely skilled but he is a Gasol i.e. he is soft. For his size, he should be raking up boards and being more of a presence on defense.

[Speedy88]

Lakers have had a great offseason. Nash and Jamison will both help a lot. Got a good feeling we'll be seeing a LAL vs MIA finals if the Lakers can find a way to get Howard. Bynum is a talented player, but he will never be as good as Howard. Howard has shown that when he is focused and has the right team around him, he is a top 5 player. Bynum will never be a top 10 player.

Of all the teams out West who have their eyes on the finals, the Lakers are the only ones who have actually improved this offseason. San Antonio and OKC have both had very quiet offseasons. Memphis hasn't done much either other than losing Mayo.
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[TheMoneyShot]

Will the Lakers have to give up Bynum for Howard? How can they acquire Howard without giving up someone special?

[jsmithj88]

Dwight's a coward and has no desire to play in LA. Guy doesn't care about winning, he cares about his "brand".

If he goes to LA with Gasol, Nash, and Kobe... he has a legit chance to win a title this year. But his ego is too busy comparing himself to the ghosts of Kareem, Wilt, Mikan, and Shaq. His ego doesn't want him to go to "Kobe's team".

arent those the qualities people wanted in a superstar?
selfish to want to win it themselves, to be the man on their team?

[jsmithj88]

Will the Lakers have to give up Bynum for Howard? How can they acquire Howard without giving up someone special?

is this really a serious question?
wats ur trade proposal? MWP and a bag of skittles for howard?
of course bynum has to be traded, the dude is on the last year of his contract

[darkhat]

Howard is willing to sign a long term deal now too.. They just need to convince bynum to do the same.

[wantitall4moi]

LMAo typical, as usual.

Nash is past his prime, still decent but not in the same league as the elite guards around, never did play defense.

Jamison is a joke, people actually thinking this guy is a good get are deluded.

But this is what the Lakers do to appease their fans that dont have a frigging clue about basketball, they go out and try to get guys with 'big names' and 'reputations' to plug inand sell tickets and luxury boxes.

How fast people forget how bad that team was (when it mattered) with Malone and Peyton on it. They struggled in a mediocre western conference that year but got pushed through the play offs with the typical referee help until they ran into the Pistons who were on a roll and kobe decided to go braindead and shoot the lakers out of games they had chances of wining and basically caused the lakers to get swept in the finals.

Lakers can sign all these guys all they want, they still have to play shut down defense to win. If the lakers hadnt played awesome defense last year they would have been a laughing stock. They still werent all that good as seen by their typical quick exit from the play offs. but they did have a respectable win loss record, but were a great fade ATS.

if it continues to go the way it is that will repeat itself this next year. Full season so they should win 50-54 games but they still arent even close to OKC or the Heat, even with Howard they would have to play top notch to beat OKC even but still couldnt beat Miami in a 7 game series, assuming no injury issues of course.

[hotelis]

do championships matter? all i see is players sabotaging chances of winning a trophy by going after bigger contracts.

[therushishere]

After working with LA big men staff for 7 years, Bynum has a better offensive game. Unfortunately, Gasol also has a great offensive repertoire. A great low post offensive repertoire requires touches or it becomes less involved in the flow of the game, and therefore less productive.

Bynum is a great defensive player with length who alters and blocks a lot of shots. Howard though, is a once in a generation defensive talent and is truly on a different level defensively than anyone else in the league. His offense has developed since he entered the league and is good, albeit not great. In LA he will have access to some of the all time greats to help smooth out his low post game. In the meantime, Gasol can start getting more consistent touches to get him back on track. As Gasol declines due to age (or is traded), Howard can start getting more touches.

All three are great players, but I see Howard and Gasol fitting together much more nicely than Bynum and Gasol ever did. It will ultimately help the team infinitely to have the best offensive skillset in the league for a big to go along with the best defensive talent in the league. For these reasons I think itll be a lot bigger of a deal than what the casual Lakers fan sees when he gets excited that they have perennial All-Star Dwight Howard.

I've seen a Turkoglu/MWP swap being mentioned that I would be very excited for if I was a Lakers fan too. MWP is starting to lose his quickness and athletic ability that he relies on so much. Turk doesn't use any of that but somehow always finds ways to win and would be one of the top players on my list if I wanted to build a winning franchise. He's a proven winner and does the little things you need to win.

On the other hand, if the rumors are true and Bynum does get shipped to the Cavs- watch out. Kyrie/Bynum instantly becomes one of the best PG/C combos in the league at two of the hardest positions to fill with All-Star caliber players. One is 19, one is 25. If they are able to keep Tristan Thompson they also have 2 additional top 4 picks to build with as well as a consummate professional and do it all team player in Tyler Zeller off the bench- plus whatever else they are able to develop or sign with their cap space next summer.

[deadstare]

can't wait for the 2013 championship parade

[meader99]

can't wait for the 2013 championship parade

You gonna be in South Beach?

[King Mayan]

can't wait for the 2013 championship parade

Where you from(la wise)??

I'm already camping out next to staples center. Want to join me??

[jsmithj88]

I've seen a Turkoglu/MWP swap being mentioned that I would be very excited for if I was a Lakers fan too. MWP is starting to lose his quickness and athletic ability that he relies on so much. Turk doesn't use any of that but somehow always finds ways to win and would be one of the top players on my list if I wanted to build a winning franchise. He's a proven winner and does the little things you need to win.

are we talking about hedo here? is he gonna guard lebron, KD, rudy gay, melo and the rest of the top SF's?
the lakers need MWP more then hedo. i dunno where u got the idea that hedo is a winner, the dude is nothing special
didnt do anything in toronto or the suns or his current stint in orlando

[therushishere]

are we talking about hedo here? is he gonna guard lebron, KD, rudy gay, melo and the rest of the top SF's?
the lakers need MWP more then hedo. i dunno where u got the idea that hedo is a winner, the dude is nothing special
didnt do anything in toronto or the suns or his current stint in orlando

Personal preference I guess.

Of course hes not Lebron or Durant. But if you dont want to spend the max this is the guy I want if im not rebuilding. I dont think anybody did anything special in Toronto or Phoenix when he was there. However, looking back to the Orlando days before he was let go, I really liked his ability to hit big shots and make savvy plays when needed. The fact that a winning organization such as the Lakers is looking at trading MWP for him lends to the fact that they agree.

[jsmithj88]

Personal preference I guess.

Of course hes not Lebron or Durant. But if you dont want to spend the max this is the guy I want if im not rebuilding. I dont think anybody did anything special in Toronto or Phoenix when he was there. However, looking back to the Orlando days before he was let go, I really liked his ability to hit big shots and make savvy plays when needed. The fact that a winning organization such as the Lakers is looking at trading MWP for him lends to the fact that they agree.

no1 is comparing him to KD or lebron. i said GUARD KD, lebron, etc. if u trade away ur best defensive player for hedo, whos gonna guard the other teams best players, esp. SF, which is their positions.

when hedo left the magic and got way overpaid by toronto, was he to sit back and relax? or was he supposed to make an impact and help out bosh? he was a bust and got shipped out of town in 1 year. same thing with the suns, didnt do jack shit with one of the best PG's in the game and a high powered offense. the dude barely shot 40% this year, and hes 7ft tall !!!
if hes included with the howard trade, its not by the lakers request, thats for dam sure .............
so hes a winner because he had a couple good seasons in orlando years and years ago?
u may wanna reexamine ur thoughts there dude

[therushishere]

no1 is comparing him to KD or lebron. i said GUARD KD, lebron, etc. if u trade away ur best defensive player for hedo, whos gonna guard the other teams best players, esp. SF, which is their positions.

when hedo left the magic and got way overpaid by toronto, was he to sit back and relax? or was he supposed to make an impact and help out bosh? he was a bust and got shipped out of town in 1 year. same thing with the suns, didnt do jack shit with one of the best PG's in the game and a high powered offense. the dude barely shot 40% this year, and hes 7ft tall !!!
if hes included with the howard trade, its not by the lakers request, thats for dam sure .............
so hes a winner because he had a couple good seasons in orlando years and years ago?
u may wanna reexamine ur thoughts there dude

Obviously Howard and Bynum are the crown jewels here.

I'm saying for a salary shed it really wouldn't be that bad because IN MY OPINION he could contribute to a winner (List of teams that are not winners right now: Orlando, Phoenix, Toronto). If you learn how to capitalize and spell maybe ill read more of your response but I really have no reason to. Maybe well bump this thread down the line.

[jsmithj88]

Obviously Howard and Bynum are the crown jewels here.

I'm saying for a salary shed it really wouldn't be that bad because IN MY OPINION he could contribute to a winner (List of teams that are not winners right now: Orlando, Phoenix, Toronto). If you learn how to capitalize and spell maybe ill read more of your response but I really have no reason to. Maybe well bump this thread down the line.

this is the internet, not a writing workshop
turk has been a bum since he signed that contract
we'll see how this goes ........

[Speedy88]

Reports are now saying Howard won't sign extension right away, and will test FA. I believe under the new CBA, you can earn more money if you test FA rather than signing an extension right away. I find it hard to imagine Dwight won't stay in LA assuming everything goes smoothly in the first year.