Buddy Hield to lakers? Update: Westbrook to Lakers?

[tonydelk]

any way you slice it this is still a top contending team.  Glad they are out west.

[celticsclay]

I like Kuzma but this is a big win for the Lakers.

How?

Westbrook is an excellent passer, ball handler, and rebounder.  He will take immense pressure off of James and actually allow him to rest a lot more (on the floor).  That will give the Lakers a huge advantage at the end of games when James can go full bore and actually have stuff left in the tank.  Westbrook will also put relentless pressure on opposing PG's and he gets to the line a lot.  I just don't think it is a bad thing for a team to add a guy that plays most every game and is coming off a season averaging 22.2, 11.5 and 11.7.  And it isn't like Russ is replacing an elite shooter.  Schroder is a better shooter, but isn't a lot better or actually good, and Russ is literally better at everything else (and they still can sign Schroder or sign and trade him).  Harrell and KCP are fairly easy to replace role players, and while I like Kuzma, he just isn't a good fit with James and Davis so I think they can replace him fairly easily as well.   

Lakers clearly need to add some depth, but I don't think they will have that much difficulty finding some solid role players and they always could still bring back guys like Morris, Matthews, Drummond and Dudley (I expect Caruso and Horton-Tucker to be back).

What is the most they can offer Drummond for a contract? I think it is very hard to win in the NBA without shooting from your stars. Obviously Giannis was not a great shooter, but just about every other player on the team was a good player including middleton as a star. I am surprised you like this deal Mo.

Drummond would have to be the tax payer exception, but I'm honestly not sure he is going to get more than that.  KCP is the only good shooter they gave up in the trade.  Their next 3 best shooters they can all bring back rather easily (Gasol, Caruso, and McKinnie).  McLemore also able to come back rather easily and he was one of their better shooters.  The simple reality is the Lakers didn't have much shooting last year and Westbrook doesn't change that at all, but he adds so many dimensions to what they can do that Schroder (or anyone else) can't do.

Now maybe bringing back Schroder and doing the Hield trade might have worked out better, but I suspect the Lakers know they have a really good shot at getting some one to provide some shooting at the 2 guard spot.  Like maybe Reggie Bullock.

This seems be a really optimistic read on things. I certainly believe some team would give Drummond more than tax payer exception. He also made it pretty clear that his next contract is important to him and is not in ring chasing part of his career yet. Marc Gasol should retire. He also was upset with his role at points last year so if he did decide to play one final yeah might go back to memphis or something like that. Some of the other guys you mentioned like Dudley and Wes Matthews are not rotation players and really irrelevant.

Now maybe klutch can work some magic and can get some buyouts or guys to take a massive pay cut (like davis west a few years back). I’m just not sure who those players are.

Maybe some team will pay Drummond, maybe not.  I think his time at the end in Detroit, and then Cleveland and LA hasn't exactly made him a hot commodity.  He is an excellent rebounder, but does like nothing else.  Those guys just aren't very valuable.

Gasol certainly could retire, but he is under contract with the Lakers, so he isn't going anywhere else in the NBA without the Lakers blessing.  I think his issues were losing time to Drummond and frankly he was probably right.  Gasol provides a needed element for the Lakers with his shooting.  They'd love to have him back for 15-20 mpg to provide some spacing, passing, shooting, etc. 

Matthews played 20 mpg or so for the Lakers last year and started 10 games for them.  He played like 18 mpg in the playoffs.  He is absolutely a rotation player still (not a starter, but a solid 7th/8th man type player).  I agree on Dudley, if he has anything at all left, it is basically nil. 

But this is LA and the Lakers.  They will find players because of that fact alone, but also because they are clearly a title contender and players often want to do the ring chasing thing (and again it is LA). 

I have no idea if Westbrook will work with James/Davis, but I think he will work better than Schroder did as he is a significantly better player than Schroder and does everything Schroder does better than him, except shoot, but Schroder isn't a good shooter so I'm not sure that is anything more than a negligible loss (Schroder is better shooter than Westbrook, just not good).  They obviously have to fill in their depth, but they have a top 3 player in James, a top 10 player in Davis, and a top 20 (or so) player in Westbrook.  That is a very good starting point for a title contender.  They just need to stay healthy and get some bodies in there.  And given their contender status and the fact that they are the Lakers in LA, I just don't think it will be hard for them to find the bodies.

Come on man if Matthews played for us you would want him shipped out for a bag of balls. He shot 35% last year and 33% from three. Given he does nothing else at all (and his defense is as best average since his Achilles) he should not be in a rotation for a contender. Oh and did I mention he is going to be 35 next season? He played more minutes than he should have last year but it doesn’t mean he is a good player.

[Who]

Forget rotation player ... Wes Matthews is not even an NBA caliber player at this point in his career.

He is there on a name-only basis. Not performance-basis. The guy is a liability.

[kraidstar]

Forget rotation player ... Wes Matthews is not even an NBA caliber player at this point in his career.

He is there on a name-only basis. Not performance-basis. The guy is a liability.

Agree. Westbrook is also not a top-20 guy. There's a reason all Houston could get for him was Wall's albatross deal + a lotto protected 1st that turns into two 2nds after 2 years.

If Westbrook was that good he and Beal would have done better than 34-38.

[kraidstar]

Forget rotation player ... Wes Matthews is not even an NBA caliber player at this point in his career.

He is there on a name-only basis. Not performance-basis. The guy is a liability.

We might be seeing a replay of what happened to the Cavs. The LeBron GM Effect. LeBron loves big names as much as any casual fan. He makes the team overpay for his guys and they end up with a bunch of stiffs who can't create or defend.

The longer he stays,  the worse it gets.

[celticsclay]

Forget rotation player ... Wes Matthews is not even an NBA caliber player at this point in his career.

He is there on a name-only basis. Not performance-basis. The guy is a liability.

Agree. Westbrook is also not a top-20 guy. There's a reason all Houston could get for him was Wall's albatross deal + a lotto protected 1st that turns into two 2nds after 2 years.

If Westbrook was that good he and Beal would have done better than 34-38.

I guess it is possible wes matthews may not get an offer from the lakers or any team. 35 year old 3 and d guys that can’t shoot play d don’t usually have a lot of offers.

[Moranis]

So ESPN's free agent tracker which lists what they think every play is and what a starting salary for a multi-year contract would look like.

They have Wes Matthews as a key reserve with a projected salary in the 2-4 million range.  Key Reserve is behind rotation, so that is like a 10th man type slotting. 

They also do list Drummond as a starter in the 10-12 range (so slightly more than the full MLE).

Some other players with Boston connections or possible interest: Ball 18-20 million, Fournier 14-16 million, John Collins 24-26 million, Theis 8-10 million

[Roy H.]

So ESPN's free agent tracker which lists what they think every play is and what a starting salary for a multi-year contract would look like.

They have Wes Matthews as a key reserve with a projected salary in the 2-4 million range.  Key Reserve is behind rotation, so that is like a 10th man type slotting. 

They also do list Drummond as a starter in the 10-12 range (so slightly more than the full MLE).

Some other players with Boston connections or possible interest: Ball 18-20 million, Fournier 14-16 million, John Collins 24-26 million, Theis 8-10 million

I’d gladly pay Fournier $14 - $16 million.  Speculation is that he’s gone, though.

[Big333223]

I hope this Lebron/AD/Westbrook thing plays out the way I think it will. Westbrook can't shoot, AD doesn't want to play center, Lebron is about to turn 37 and is coming off injuries and the team is top heavy.

There are more dominoes to fall this offseason but it feels like a possible disaster.

[Celtics4ever]

Only one ball is used at a time.

[Moranis]

Howard, Ariza, and Ellington all signed vet minimum contracts with Lakers.  No world beaters, but all are still rotation level players. I expect more to follow.

[nickagneta]

Lakers medical staff best brush up on their geriatric care.

[radiohead]

Howard, Ariza, and Ellington all signed vet minimum contracts with Lakers.  No world beaters, but all are still rotation level players. I expect more to follow.

They got Bazemore too.

[Rikibellevie]

Lakers are clearly back in contention. I really hope our board and core can adapt like that when we will be in contention.

To all the pessimists for our future core if/when Beal is signing.... All say we can then only have garbage and are forced to give up on Smart. The Lakers are paying more than 115M for their big 3. We would make smthg like 93-95M with Beal. That is still 20M less. And lakers can still attract à bunch of m'inscrire, therefore they even don t have many youngs like Nesmith Timelord Pritchard....

The very bad news on the day for me is the fact we didn't make any TPE with Fournier.

[Celtics2021]

Howard, Ariza, and Ellington all signed vet minimum contracts with Lakers.  No world beaters, but all are still rotation level players. I expect more to follow.

They got Bazemore too.

The Lakers might have one of the oldest rotations in league history.  Good luck going the 100 games it takes to win a title.

9 players on their roster.  7 are at least 32 years old.  Anthony Davis the youngest at 28.