Shannon Brown agrees to 2 years, 4.2 million with the Lakers.

Well, LO stepped up in the playoffs against Phoenix as well, and in the 03/04 season with the Heat. None were contract years.

And I already responded to Ron replacing LO. Check post #70.

Funny because I've never been a huge LO fan, yet here I am defending him.

 

Trevor's production? Bynum can only play better than he did this year. Fisher, Shannon at the 1? We can get that back easily. Hell if Sasha shoots over 21% from the three point line that's another upgrade. :]

 

In the same line of thought, San Antonio gets Manu back, and allstar talent, who will surely be better than last year, obviously. They get a player who can potentially put up 20 a night in Richard Jefferson basically for free. And they're about to sign a veteran free agent who can put up a double double each night.

Boston, the same team that took the Orlando Magic to 7 games, gets allstar DPOY KG back, along with Rasheed Wallace, for free.

Losing LO would be a major blow if we cannot find a suitable replacement. That's all I'm trying to say. I don't know why that's hard to understand.

 

Then hypothetically:

Ron + Drew healthy = ? See what I mean? If Drew is healthy and we have Ron, it doesn't matter what the West does. You're basing this off Bynum's injury history solely and LO's importance. LO was not needed in various series. LO is a role player, Bynum and actual improvement at the 1 can easily account for that.

 

LO is not needed if Drew is healthy and plays at a high level. When was the last time Drew was healthy? How long has Drew played at a high level? For a couple of weeks each season? For the past two years, he's had more average/poor games than he has good/allstar games. Drew has yet to show us he can stay healthy, nor has he ever shown he has the stamina to withstand an 82 game season plus postseason, along with playing at a high level, which is why, once again, I'm not keen on banking the season on him. All he's shown me so far is potential.

Just a question for you, are you comfortable with Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga, or whatever scrub we're going to sign with the LLE or vet's minimum as the primary backups for Pau/Drew? Because if the answer is no, then that's all I'm arguing.

 

Didn't you just say Ron replaces LO? We don't need Bynum to be at Odom's level, and we got not much out of our Point guard spot and won it all.

Would we be at the same level? Yes because it is not just about Power Forwards and centers. We have other means to replace LO, as you have already admitted. :]

 

Talent wise Ron replaces LO. But they play different positions. I know Ron can play PF at times, but I don't want to see him going up against guys KG/Rasheed defensively.

We're still weak up front. Do you think Drew can replace Trevor's production in the postseason? Because he hasn't shown me anything to make me believe he can. He has stay healthy for once and play well for more than a couple of games in the season.

And once again, are you comfortable with JP/DJ? Because based off your posts and comments towards JP, I already know the answer. The answer is no. So in other words, you agree with me that we'll need an upgrade over the two if LO leaves.

 

Before last year, Trevor missed 110 games in three years. He's not worth more than the MLE, I don't know how anyone can say they know Bynum can't play at his level. And you're not thinking about Shannon, or not being in a slump at point guard.

Once again, I'm not even sure we needed LO in the playoffs this year.

 

Drew has been given major minutes and role for two years. Two years he had serious injuries that kept him out for a long stretch of time. Not to mention he also had injury issues in high school. Again, he needs to show me he can stay healthy for once before I start proclaiming he can be.

We can match up with them, I never said we couldn't. But if you look at the talent they have on that team, we're not much better off. I'm sure if we matched up with them in a seven game we'd be favorites, but it would still be a hard fought series. Getting Richard Jefferson gives them another guy who can go off for 20 a night, it gives them more offense, something they've lacked in the past. Just frees up Duncan/Manu/Parker even more.

 

You don't know Drew can play at a certain level because he never proved he can. And I'm not talking about bringing Trevor back either, I'm talking about replacing Trevor's production that he gave us in the postseason. Certainly not something you'd find with LLE.

Needed LO as in, needing him in place of JP? Because if you mean replacing him with someone like McDyess, then yeah, maybe your right. Replacing him with Josh Powell? Who knows. All I know is we wouldn't have won a ring if we had JP playing LO's minutes.

 

So what's the excuse for Houston, Denver, and Orlando? Because quite frankly, he didn't look good at all during the postseason. He could've gotten in a groove going up against 6-6 Chuck Hayes, but didn't. That shows that he wasn't ready because he wasn't completely healthy, again, one of my concerns.

 

Drew can't play at Trevor's level? Yeah I think he can pretty easily, he doesn't have to even play at LO's level to match Ariza. And even if he didn't, if we get something else out of our backcourt this time it would make up for Trevor. Fisher was getting torched defensively and not playing to his capabilities.

If Manu stays healthy, I'll assume Bynum will too. Our team is more likely to get homecourt imo.

 

Height is a problem, isn't it?

Trevor's production was important in the regular season as well, but it doesn't matter because his play in the postseason is ultimately what helped us win the championship. You can't take that away from him or completely negate that when looking at production.

Ron shot horribly in the post season as the #1 option. He's going to be the #1 option here?

 

Can Drew play at Trevor's level, the way he played in the postseason? Consistently? Because ultimately that's what we'll need from him, because we have zero big man depth behind him. It's also hard to judge these things because Drew picks up fouls in bunches, while Trevor doesn't. Drew on the bench with DJ or JP in does not equal Trevor's production, not even half. That's my whole point. We have no depth behind him.

If Bynum stays healthy, he has yet to prove to me he can play at a high level throughout the year. He's only done it in spurts before getting injured. Exactly why I'm not banking the season on him.

 

You're still overstating LO's importance to this team, our team was so good he got hurt against Houston/Denver and we still won. We blew out the Magic in two games and still had two games left in LA to finish them. We won game 2 but Lewis went off for 34 points. I love LO but we're still in the mix last year, and this is without Ron or Shannon being more involved.