My answer is 'maybe' until he proves he can be an every day starting center for us and he doesn't have an immediate setback on his knee. I don't think it makes sense for the Lakers to get an extension done, because he becomes a RESTRICTED free agent this summer and the Lakers would have the opportunity to match any offer. For now, I think Bynum's agent needs to allow his client to prove himself and the money will take care of itself.
IMO, you give him a nice fat extension when he becomes a RFA. Let him prove he can contribute for a full season first (which I believe he can).
Word. Hes probably not really worth 16 mil/year right now but you have to give it to him based on potential as well as the fact that if they don't offer it some other desperate team definitely will.
I want to see him play this year before we hand over any cash to him. I want to make sure that surgically repaired knee is okay for one, and two, I want to see if he can put up consistent numbers for an entire season. We haven't seen that yet.
If bynum becomes a RFA, what would be the max other teams could offer him? Still 80M? If its the same then i say we should wait til next offseason... it wont hurt if we manage to shave off a portion of that 80M
That seems way too high. Maybe if he was an UFA but next season, as a RFA, I can't see many teams offering that much, tying up their cap space, only to have the Lakers match. I know the size of the contract is about his potential but he won't be worth anywhere near that for the first 2, maybe 3 years of the deal. If I'm in the Larkers fron office I'd be willing to offer 12-13M / year, and that's assuming he finishes next year with a line of about 15-16/10/2.
To provide him so much money means we have to give up odom. Is he worth this? It's all depends on his knees.
i know! lets wait til Bynum becomes an RFA... then im sure teams would offer him contracts but not as high as the 80M max bec. of their cap and since we have his bird rights... we'll match the offer he received from other teams... which should be less than 80M LOL (talk about undercutting your player ) will this ^ work?
Bird Rule lets the Lakers match any offer, no matter how big it is. In fact, they can offer more than any other team. The strategy of letting him go RFA and telling him to go get his best offer and the Lakers match is a Bulls/Paxson style move, and it really hurts the relationship between the player and the team. Most of the time Pax has done it, the player's been moved. Gordon's the most recent example.
