Mitch Kupchak Discusses Offseason (great read)

Lost One · Jul 9, 2009

Business deals fall apart all the time.

For fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, it's difficult to understand how quickly Trevor Ariza went from NBA Finals hero to an expatriate Houston Rocket.

Equally, there's a palpable excitement surrounding Trevor's replacement, former Defensive Player of the Year, Ron Artest.

The Lakers may eventually prove to be better than they were a year ago but until free agent Lamar Odom is re-signed, the franchise has taken a step backwards. LA just doesn't have a proven big man behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum without the versatile Odom.

With teams like the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic retooling to challenge the Lakers, keeping Lamar is General Manager Mitch Kupchak's top priority.

With the Lakers and Odom's representatives still far apart in talks, Kupchak can only profess to be "hopeful" that a compromise will be reached.

In acquiring Artest, the Lakers added a high impact player on both ends of the floor. At the Mid-Level Exception (MLE, ~$5.85 million), he's a bargain.

"I would say that today," said Kupchak, "where he is in his career . . . Ron is a better player."
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Ariza was well liked by the organization but it became clear very quickly that his agent (David Lee) and the Lakers had divergent expectations.

"We didn't know that we would have an impasse so quickly in trying to keep this team together with Trevor Ariza," said Kupchak at Artest's introductory press conference. "As general manger you make a list of players based on 'What if?' Quickly after June 30th it became apparent that we wouldn't be able to keep the team together and Ron was available."

Lee was adamant than his client was worth at least $7 or $8 million a season. The Lakers simply didn't have that amount in their budget and believed market value was much lower than the asking price.

Ariza would go on to take even less money with the Rockets than what LA was willing to spend. By then the Lakers had already moved on to Plan B.

"I thought maybe as we continued to talk that maybe there would be some meeting of the middle ground within 24 hours but it moves so quickly and you have to go on feel," said Kupchak. "I just didn't feel that we were going to be able to make a deal. If we did it would preclude us from bringing back the other players that we wanted to bring back."

The Lakers have already re-signed Shannon Brown for the team's $1.99 million Bi-Annual Exception. The deal is for two years but Brown can opt out next summer. By then, LA would have his "Bird" or "Early Bird" Rights" and greater flexibility in a longer, more lucrative deal.

Now the question remains Lamar Odom . . .

With Artest signed at $5.85 million, the Lakers are committed to $83.8 million in salary for the upcoming season. With the luxury tax threshold dropping to $69.9 million, some $13.9 million in taxes have pushed the total payroll to $97.8 million.

Re-signing Odom at even $7 million could jump the Lakers up to $111.8 million . . . and Lamar's agent is looking for closer to $10 million.

Had the Lakers given $7 million to both Ariza and Odom (along with Brown), the payroll would have climbed to at least $115.5 million.

"We've always tried to make good basketball/business decisions. You know [team owner] Dr. Buss, this is what he does. He doesn't have a software company. He doesn't own a manufacturing company," said Kupchak. "He owns the Lakers and this is his life . . . and I think that's good because it forces him to pay close attention to gather information so he can make good decisions."

With the league projecting that the luxury tax threshold will drop significantly next season, the Lakers are looking at consecutive years of record payroll.

"It will be a sizable bump, there's no doubt about it," said Kupchak. On some $10-15 mil extra in taxes, "I don't think maybe . . . I think that's for sure."

Is that a fee Dr. Buss is willing to pay without cutting into the team's nucleus?

"The family, and this came up in the meeting on July 1st, we ended up talking financial terms for an hour or two," said Kupchak. "At the end of the conversation, [Buss] looks at [me] and says 'But we're so damn competitive.'

"So it's almost like the thing you talked about for the last hour almost begin to go out the door because he wants to win," conceded the Laker GM. "I think the balance is that he's knowledgeable enough to make a good decision when it involves basketball and business."

Mitch acknowledged that finances have gotten in the way before for the Lakers.

"We do have to make hard decisions. A year ago we let Ronny Turiaf go to Golden State and that was something we didn't want to do. Four years ago we let Derek Fisher go to Golden State. Those are tough things you have to do but by and large, [Buss] wants to put the team with the resources he has in a position to win."

Even now, Kupchak still can't be sure that economics won't get in the way of retuning Odom. If he does end up signing with another team, the Lakers wouldn't have any spending power to replace him beyond minimum contracts (and potential trades).

One option was to fashion a dual sign and trade with the Rockets for Ariza and Artest. That would have necessitated the inclusion of other players like Brian Cook, Adam Morrison and potentially Brent Barry. The extraneous names wouldn't be the goal, but such a deal could have preserved the Lakers Mid-Level Exception (providing similar relief to Houston as well) and a chance to shop for an Odom alternative.

Sources say the Rockets were open to the idea but LA was not . . .

"You know something, in this business if you try to get too cute, something's probably going to go wrong. The quickest and easiest route to get Ron Artest would be to get him to sign the Mid-Level," answered Mitch. "Once you start talking about sign and trades, other general managers become involved; other representatives become involved. You go from three people (which are myself, the agent and Ron) to dealing with at least six people. My experience tells me that those things rarely work out if ever."

Would Kupchak's aversion to complicating the Artest deal suggest an underlying confidence that an Odom deal can be hashed out? There doesn't appear to be a clear-cut Plan B in this case . . .

"I'm hopeful," is all he would admit. "I can't be any stronger and I don't know how strong a word that is but I am hopeful. I think we have a chance now."

If the Lakers do indeed bring back Odom, is Mitch comfortable enough with the roster as it is to bring this group to training camp?

"It's a big assumption," he replied. "I have no idea if we're going to be in a position to do that, but yes."

Now it's just a matter of time and negotiation. Lamar's other avenues seem to be dwindling but it's his agent's responsibility to leave no stone unturned.

"I'd like to get some clarity in the next day or two or three," said Mitch.

In the meantime, Kupchak is grateful to have the Artest signing locked in.

"To say that we planned this a week ago would be completely untrue but when it became apparent we couldn't keep the team together," said Kupchak. "And to be able to move quickly and get a player like Ron Artest . . . I can't begin to tell you how fortunate we are. I think that potentially we can be a better team and I believe that."
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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=13240

You can tell Mitch is an intelligent guy, and that all Jerry Buss cares about is winning. This was an excellent interview. Only gives me more confidence that Mitch will make the right moves to keep improving this team.

Mamba · Jul 9, 2009

Amazing how time has changed our perception on Mitch.

Lost One · Jul 9, 2009

Black Mamba said: ↑

Amazing how time has changed our perception on Mitch.
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Not really. I always liked Mitch and supported him. Never wanted him fired.

Mamba · Jul 9, 2009

anique_24 · Jul 9, 2009

Great read. I used to hate him back when he made stupid drafts and overpaid, but he's a very good GM now.

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Mitch Kupchak Discusses Offseason (great read)

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Mitch Kupchak Discusses Offseason (great read)

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