<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Lakers waived 33-year-old Brian Grant on Wednesday under the NBA's one-time amnesty provision, a move that cost them one of their few big men but could save them as much as $30 million in luxury tax. The Lakers must still pay the last two years on Grant's contract at $14.3 million and $15.4 million. However, if they had kept him, they might have had to match that amount dollar for dollar in tax. This season's luxury tax threshold is $61.9 million; the Lakers are above $80 million. "From ownership's standpoint, it's hard not to take advantage of something like that," said Grant's agent, Mark Bartelstein. "I don't think it has anything to do with Brian as a player. I talked to Mitch [Kupchak] and Phil [Jackson]. They had him penciled in as the starting four [power forward], but from an economic standpoint, this is something they felt they had to do." Grant said in a statement, "I want to thank the Los Angeles Lakers organization and Lakers fans for the support they showed me and my family during my time in L.A. I wish things could have been better last season." A hard-working, self-effacing, 6-foot-9, 250-pounder, Grant was the 1999 winner of the league's J. Walter Kennedy Award for citizenship. However, his career went into eclipse in 1999 after he signed a seven-year, $80-million deal with Miami. The Heat gave Grant and Eddie Jones similar deals, but when Alonzo Mourning began experiencing kidney problems, they were exposed as complementary players who were unable to reach star status.</div> Source
Well he may be a big presence size wise, but I'm not going to miss him. He was the 2nd highest paid Laker last year, and what did he do for the team? Nothing, nadda. So it's not that big of deal that we have downsized on a large player like Brian Grant because he did nothing to proove his worth......... Plus he's old hehe.
I really liked him as a player in Miami. He was tough and a excellent rebounder until his knees gave out on him. Im glad he is off our roster though. We need a more able body on the floor. I wonder what the Lakers expect to do to strengthen the frontcourt.
i say they just say ***** it since they have no other options and Throw in the young guys. Let Bynum play quality minutes behind Mihm, obviously play Kwame 30-40 minutes a game, and in stretches when the defense allows, move Lamar to PF and bring in Devean George off the bench. Since everyone saw what happened when Lamar played PF last year, he wouldn't do it for long stretches; just long enough to give Kwame a breather and let George in the game. Who's going to give Lamar a breather though?
The only thing I thought he did well for the Lakers was getting offensive/defensive rebounds when we really needed it. Too bad he would've been a decent backup but not for the price.
This "amnesty clause" doesn't even matter to us fans, so I don't see why people are happy that he was waived. His salary isn't coming off the books, and now we just lost a solid backup. The only one that gets anything out of this is Jerry Buss, who saves $30 million on tax. We do get one extra spot on our roster, but what's that going to bring in? An NBDL player? Sounds great...
