Trades possibilities....and what teams are open for business

Recent finals participant. Like how we were trying to throw $$ at Hedo Turkoglu after Magic were in the Finals.

 

Just relaying what they said. But they also said "similar salaries". I'm not sure front offices consider these "similar".

Zach LaVine 5 yr(s) / $215,159,700 | $43,031,940 per year avg | 2027 / UFA
Jerami Grant 5 yr(s) / $160,000,000 | $32,000,000 per year avg | 2028 / UFA

 

If the Lakers are talking like that in negotiations (the LaVine and acquiring a pick rather than Grant and giving picks up) hopefully Joe is quick to bat it down as posturing. "Are you saying that you're trying to insure that LeBron and AD don't win another title with you and you're just going to amass assets for after they're gone while they are there?"

 

Yup. Not even close. Not with the current CBA. That extra 11 million is a HUGE for a team like the Lakers.

 

If this is the strat for the Lakers and not just saying this cause this might take out the trade as an option. Then the Lakers will be a team that might make it to the second round and then get bounced and this will tick King Dipshit off so either he is telling the truth OR this is a message to other GM's saying we will not be taken advantage of cause you think WE MUST make a move. The problem with this strat we all know its crap cause King Dipshit is the real power so let the fun begin.

I bet they make a trade for a star or star ish level player by Sat

 

Would lebron resign if that were the case? Not buying it.

 

LeBron would have went somewhere else if he actually wanted to seriously win. He is just ready to ride this out and be comfortable in a city he now likes.

 

I'm skeptical we can get more than an unprotected FRP for Grant. If so then I'll be very impressed. But at the end of the day if the choice is an unprotected FRP or bring Grant back with that huge contract I'm doing the deal and grabbing the pick.

I really don't want to see Grant being a focal of our offense nor risk he declines/injured and we get stuck with that contract for 4 years.

We already lost on of these gambles with Timelord, but that was a younger player, a shorter contract, and a much cheaper contract. Funny that some of the posters saying we should've traded Timelord now say we should hold out for more with Grant.

 

That's selling low

 

Then why fire Ham? I think LBJ finds losing incredibly distasteful.

 

I think I'd do the deal for Rui, a first, Vincent, and the 2029 pick (I like going all in for one year and not putting our eggs too much in one basket). We could add Jabari to give them a play now option. Also imagine the chaos, the sheer lunacy, as the Los Angeles Lakers management, trading Dalton Knecht, a fresh-faced beacon of potential, heralded with the kind of pomp usually reserved for returning war heroes. The ink barely dry on Knecht's contract before the unthinkable happened. In a move that can only be described as a fever dream born of an LSD trip gone wrong, they traded him to the Portland Blazers. That’s right, the very next day, poof, gone. The front office, a collective of bumbling fools, looked dumber than a sack of hammers. This was management at its most absurd, chasing after god knows what, like a dog chasing its own tail. Here we are, watching this trainwreck, wondering if they've been taking lessons from Wile E. Coyote on strategic planning. It's like celebrating a new couch with a grand party only to set it on fire the next morning. How could they make such a short-sighted decision? It's almost impressive how spectacularly they can screw up. The ridiculousness of it all is staggering, like the times are a-changin’ but the brains are derangin’. This is the stuff of legend, a Shakespearean comedy mixed with a Tupac beat, only to crash headlong into a Bob Dylan ballad of bewilderment. Hark! What madness is this? To herald a knight only to banish him by dawn? The sheer, unadulterated stupidity of it all, a court jester's joke made flesh. This is the Lakers' front office at its finest, a ballad of blunders, an epic of idiocy. The laughter is unending as we all look on, mouths agape, thinking, what in the ever-loving hell were the Lakers thinking?

Follow it up with Ant and Reath to Orlando for Cater Jr. and Black. Flip Carter Jr. to OKC for Dieng and next year's Miami pick.

This is a balanced team that has potential but is still bad enough enough to lose (a ton).

Scoot / Vincent / Banton
Sharpe / Knecht / Rupert
Advija / Black / Murray
Rui / Camara / Dieng
Ayton / Clingan

sell Thybulle and Timelord for something, probably not much value there.

 

Alas, a cruel twist of fate has rendered my grand opus a hollow shell, a work in vain! The Lakers, in a fit of bureaucratic folly, have now signed Dalton Knecht, binding him irrevocably to their gilded cage. This grievous turn transforms my narrative into a travesty, a mockery of the craft I so painstakingly wove. Oh, wretched ink, spilled for naught! This farcical saga no longer unfolds with the brilliance of absurdity but instead lies flat, a deflated jest. It is as if the gods themselves have conspired against me, weaving threads of irony into the very fabric of destiny. In this darkest of hours, I am left to contemplate the myth of Sisyphus, endlessly rolling my boulder of creativity up a hill, only to see it tumble back to the abyss. The weight of my labors feels unbearable, and in my despair, I am tempted to emulate the forlorn poets of yore, to cast myself into the sea, bidding farewell to this life of futile endeavors. As Odysseus once braved the Sirens' call, I too am drawn to the waves, where the salt of the ocean may wash away the bitterness of my fruitless toil. Farewell, sweet muses, for in this travesty, I find no solace, only the cold embrace of a watery grave.

 

I don’t expect any of Ayton, Time Lord, Grant, Ant, or Thybulle will be Blazers after 2 seasons. And I expect all will be traded for filler + youth + draft

By trading away the accumulated players under Olshey, money was coming back and then eventually flipped … so it does take time while accumulating younger players — which they have. And aren’t paying tax. It’s not an ideal Tanktastic job where they have cap room to absorb short, crap contracts while extracting 1st rounders as the price. But the above assets do have value at a time when parity in the NBA has buyers with high hopes.

This roster and team salary will be restructured, IMHO. I like what’s been done so far (on balance).

[NOT getting Cody Williams or Salaun? — annoying but Clingan was reasonable. NOT keeping 34 to select Furphy? Unforgivable, but it’s 34 — and I could be wrong.]

 

Your astounding array of mixed metaphors, similes, and allusions (though I did not catch personification use on my first and only read) earns regard … though Dennis Miller was the master, you have put in the time. I encourage imbibing a single beer of choice — not as self medication for melancholy but as a companion to it, a pal, a little buddy — and only one and no driving afterwards.

 

Thanks a lot for your kind words there. Really means a lot to me, you know? I mean, wow, the whole mixed metaphors, similes, and allusions thing—you're really seeing all that, huh? And I gotta say, I do appreciate the nod to Dennis Miller. That guy sure knows his way around a thesaurus, doesn't he? But, let's get real for a second here—Dennis Miller might be your guy for, like, a dissertation on the decline of Western civilization or some shit, but Norm Macdonald—now that guy, he was the real deal. See, Norm had this way of taking something completely mundane, like a moth or a doghouse, and turning it into this epic saga that'd have you in stitches.

I mean, you ever hear his joke about the moth? It starts off like this simple little thing, and by the end of it, you're caught up in this existential crisis about life and meaning and darkness, and you're laughing your ass off because Norm’s got you thinking, "Man, what the hell just happened?" That's the beauty of Norm—he’d take you on this wild ride, and you’d be grateful for every twist and turn. He’d say something completely absurd with a straight face, and you’d have to do a double-take, like, "Did he really just say that?" It's like he had this secret power to make the simplest things seem profound and the profound things seem simple. That's not just comedy—that's artistry.

Dennis Miller, on the other hand, well, he's more like a fireworks show. Lots of bright lights and loud noises, but if you don't have the right references, you might miss the whole point. With Norm, though, it didn't matter who you were or what you knew. He had this universal appeal, this way of connecting with everyone, making you feel like you were in on the joke, even if you didn't get all the nuances. Norm was real. Whether he was bombing on purpose or just riffing on whatever popped into his head, there was no pretense. You got the sense that he was always just being himself, and that honesty, that rawness, it made his comedy resonate on a whole different level. And he wasn't afraid to say some wild shit, either. He'd drop a bomb just to see where it landed, and it was always fucking hilarious.

So yeah, Dennis Miller's got his place, no doubt about it. But Norm Macdonald—he was a legend, a true master of his craft. And I appreciate the suggestion about the beer, by the way. A little buddy to keep the melancholy company sounds just about right.

 

I'd be very happy with these picks from Lakers in a Grant trade:

2031 unprotected

2029 swap where Blazers get the better of LAL(unprotected ) or worst of PDX/BOS/MIL