Anyone else have a terrible feeling that Posey is going to end up in Laker Gold?

[Rida]

I feel the Lakers out of any team in the NBA will push hard to accquire Posey this offseason.

I have a hunch then as I have a hunch now that he is heading to LA.

I really hope i'm wrong.

[Roy Hobbs]

Let's hope not.  They already have Odom, VladRad, Walton, and Ariza who play small forward, and they're well into the luxury tax.  I'm hoping they're frugal and decline making an offer.

[Last Train]

I don't see it.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I feel the Lakers out of any team in the NBA will push hard to accquire Posey this offseason.

I have a hunch then as I have a hunch now that he is heading to LA.

I really hope i'm wrong.

No. They have don't anything to offer that the Celtics can't.

[libermaniac]

They also have their own FAs to worry about in Vujacic and Turiaf.

[rondohondo]

Posey has a great bond with all the Boston players. I just don't think he would go from the celtics to their hated rivals for an extra 2 mil a year. I do think he would go to New Orleans though if they offer him the full MLE for 4 years and the Celtics don't match

[indeedproceed]

If anyone offers him the full MLE for 4 years he'll go. That kind of contract would be an albatross to any team.

[wdleehi]

Posey got to watch them up close when they broke down and pointed fingers.



Plus he spent time with Shaq who I am sure talked about Kobe the teammate.



Unless the lakers are offering a ton more money, I don't see him going there.

[crownsy]

find it hard to belive, i think the lakers are well over cap like us and are thus are unlikely to offer a ton more money than we do, plus they have guys of thier own to resign.

be more 10 times mroe worried about the hornets, thier under cap.

[wdleehi]

fidn it hard to belive, i think the lakers are well over cap liek us and are thus are unlikely to offer a ton more money than we do.

be more worried about the hornets, thier under cap.

But would they go after Posey, or a young player they hope can be that type of player in Peitrus?

[Jon]

If the Lakers were smart, they'd go all out for Posey.  He'd be a far better fit at the 3 than anyone they have now.  A front court of Odom, Gasol, and Bynum may sound nice, but it lacks the quickness and shooting range to not hurt the Lakers' offense (Kobe is going to have trouble getting to the hoop if all three of them are on the court together).  And while Bynum might give them good interior defense, Odom at the 3 also hurts them defensively. 

Posey would change all of that.  He'd spread the floor, keeping their offense dangerous and would improve them defensively.  Hopefully Ainge and Wyc look at the situation, give Posey the contract he wants, and just make sure the contract expires before they look to rebuild.  As long as they do that, they should be in good shape. 

[cordobes]

   

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak recently said he would call Vujacic's agent immediately after free agency begins at 9 p.m. The Lakers also will try to keep Turiaf but are willing to spend more money to bring back Vujacic, who might receive a payday of close to $5 million a year.

    The Lakers will pay almost $5 million in luxury taxes for last season and aren't expected to dip too far into other options if they re-sign Vujacic and Turiaf. The most the team could offer a free agent from another team is the mid-level exception of about $6 million a season.

    "A lot of it's going to depend on the progress we make with Sasha and Ronny," Kupchak said. "I think we feel if we can bring those two players back, and we get Trevor [Ariza] and Andrew [Bynum] back, we'd be happy going into training camp with that group. If we run into a roadblock . . . then we'll have to look in other directions.

    - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nba30-2008jun30,0,5247254.story

Kupchak, the Lakers' general manager, indicated he would rather keep his team intact for next season — getting healthy, re-signing restricted free agents Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf and probably letting his mid-level salary-cap exception go unspent in free agency for budgetary reasons.

"If we did nothing," Kupchak said, "and brought back the players that are our existing free agents, just by virtue of this team aging one more year and getting Trevor (Ariza) and Andrew back, I think we're right back in the hunt."

- OC Register

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kupchak-odom-jackson-2073990-bynum-don

So, answering the question:

No. No team is going to offer Posey more than the MLE. I don't think that  any team will offer him more than a 3 years full-MLE contract. And I'm pretty sure the Lakers aren't one of the teams making offers.

Once again, luxury tax hell is very underrated... Lakers aren't going after anyone if the resign their players.

[Brickowski]

Posey won't bring the Lakers a championship.  They need a big man who can defend, and theywould be better off spending their MLE on a player like Diop.  In fact, if Posey leaves, Diop would be at the top of my free agent list for the Celtics and I would be willing to offer the full MLE.

That assumes that a player like Antawn Jamison won't play for the MLE.

[cdif911]

If I'm Posey and I leave the Celtics, I go somewhere that I can start on an established playoff team - so New Orleans is a possibility and so is Cleveland, not sure who else would have those kind of minutes for a 3

[Chris]

I think the team that is going to make a big run at Posey will be Portland.  Their only remaining hole is at the 3, and he would give them some much needed veteran leadership to help make the leap.

I also am more worried about teams like Cleveland or Dallas targeting him than the Lakers.