With the Lakers' season now over, there's been talk of possible roster restructuring. And as we hit on earlier Monday, a trade for Dwight Howard -- perhaps in exchange for Andrew Bynum and possibly Lamar Odom -- is not out of the question. But it's also possible the Lakers could look to target a point guard. Over the last two seasons, the Lakers have had issues guarding quick point guards, something J.J. Barea took advantage of in the Mavs' series win over L.A. If Jeff Teague, after his breakout series against the Bulls so far, is the future in Atlanta, it's possible the Lakers could make a play for Kirk Hinrich, who's currently sitting out the Atlanta-Chicago series due to injury. Last season, Hinrich's name was floated as a possible addition for the Lakers at the trade deadline because he's a known quality defender who brings some size to the position. Of course, the Lakers could also try and strike it big by trying to trade for Chris Paul or looking to acquire him in the summer of 2012 when he's eligible to become a free agent. While the triangle offense has never been want for a dynamic PG such as Paul, if current assistant Brian Shaw doesn't assume control of the team as head coach, there's no guarantee the triangle will remain as the team's offense. And thus Paul could potentially come into play. Source: ESPN
I think you all are crazy thinking we need to rebuild this team. Bynum, for the most part, stayed healthy this year and was the only player who gave a fuck in the post season. Give him a chance--he's only 23 and he's got a shit load of potential. Maybe the injuries will stop. Jerry and Jim Buss, Mitch, and the new HC need to have a sit down talk with Kobe and Pau and see if they can repair their relationship...if they can't...Gasol needs to go. Flip him for a PG and a shooter off of the bench. There is no need to rebuild this team. Yes, Kobe is entering the twilight of his career, but he is still a top player in the league. Bynum took major steps towards becoming a 2nd option in this post season, and Odom...for the most part, is still a damn good bench option. We need two things--a solid PG and a knockdown shooter. Those are easy fixes. Even easier when you can dangle Gasol or Odom out there as trade bait.
Yes, we don't need to make any major changes. But we do need to make a change. 1. We need a PG, who can defend and consistently knock down the 3 (especially due to games like game 3 vs. the mavs) maybe hinrich, or even redick since we run the triangle... 2. Explore trade options for Pau (maybe artest even), teams are quickly spreading the word on how to defend him, simply push him around... and ron? his production seems a bit too low for someone as good as him who has been playing in the triangle for 2 years now. 3. Look for players that are dead-eye 3pt shooters and/or athletically gifted (what j. west said) and are capable of starting for us (Jrich? AK47? Batum?) 4. I seriously thought Kobe would wind back the hands of time a bit in this year's playoffs since he was being saved all throughout the season (averaged 33mpg!)... But he was so disappointing, unable to take over and shift into that next gear. If he manages to dominate, even just during the playoffs then it would mean a lot.
Yes, we don't need to make any major changes. But we do need to make a change. 1. We need a PG, who can defend and consistently knock down the 3 (especially due to games like game 3 vs. the mavs) maybe hinrich, or even redick since we run the triangle... 2. Explore trade options for Pau (maybe artest even), teams are quickly spreading the word on how to defend him, simply push him around... and ron? his production seems a bit too low for someone as good as him who has been playing in the triangle for 2 years now. 3. Look for players that are dead-eye 3pt shooters and/or athletically gifted (what j. west said) and are capable of starting for us (D. Wright? Lewis (w/o his contract)? AK47? Batum?) 4. I seriously thought Kobe would wind back the hands of time a bit in this year's playoffs since he was being saved all throughout the season (averaged 33mpg!)... But he was so disappointing, unable to take over and shift into that next gear. If he manages to dominate, even just during the playoffs then it would mean a lot.
Something like Odom/Blake for Felton/Harrington? Harrington's contract is ugly so I'm assuming Denver is going to want us to take it. He can score off the bench, so that is pretty nice. Problem here is will Fisher accept coming off the bench? Or will he cause issues over it?
Yeah, saw the article from LA Times I think, saying that trade could work financially and all, but will our bench be weaker cause of that? I'm not really sure how good Harrington is right now. I think Fish would be okay with going off the bench if it helps win a title.
Our bench is going to suck, anyways. We need a pure scorer coming off the bench--we don't have that. Harrington can still score and he's coming off the bench in Denver, already. So I'm fine with that move because it still gives us a bench player capable of backing up Gasol and upgrades our weakest rotation position.
that trade would be crazy good for yall, felton would be a huge upgrade over fish, and harrington would keep a decent bigish guy on the bench, although not on odoms level
im a bit hesistant on letting odom go, especially with his surprise efficiency. id like the lakers to look at hinrich (8M), sessions (4.5M), bayless (3M) even augustin (4M) and stuckey (4M)... all of whom are upgrades at this point and can knock down long J's consistently.
I don't know what you're on Kobe23, but the only good shooters out of that bunch is Hinrich and Augustin. Stuckey is ungodly inconsistent and has no three point range, and the same can be said with Bayless and Sessions. Sure, any of those three are overall upgrades over Fisher, but none them can shoot a lick.
Now that Brown is in and the triangle is out you have to get Fisher the FUCK out of the starting lineup. Dumping the triangle seems to make the PG search more wide ranging though. Felton is a good idea since hes backing up Lawson now but I can't see Denver wanting Odom. Jerry West has been hinting at a Monta Ellis trade coming up. He could have been a monster triangle PG if you gave him a few years to learn the system. Not a PG though but maybe between Kobe, Odom, and a pure backup PG (Blake) it would have worked. Not sure what kind of trade would have to happen with that though. Baron Davis is another guy who may soon be a backup if Cleveland takes Kyrie Irving. He probably wouldn't be hard to get and you might be able to swap some Walton/Artest/Fisher/Blake type contracts for him with minimal sweetner added. How about Aaron Brooks? Now a backup in Phoenix. Hes a restricted FA but you could S&T for him.
Any of those players would be an upgrade over DFish. This is going to be a sensitive issue for Mike Brown and I could see some backlash from the vets if he yanks Fisher out of the starting rotation. I think this Laker team is going to have similar problems the Yankees are dealing with this season with Fisher playing the role of Posada, and Kobe playing the role of Jeter. Hopefully Kupchak has the balls to speak with Fisher and get the point across he's no longer good enough to defend these younger more athletic guards anymore and his greatest asset is his leadership. Be a leader and bench yourself.
Always thought it was weird how a guy like Fisher who is so level headed, classy, professional, has the highest role of all active players in the players association, etc. could think he was so fucking awesome. Total delusions of grandeur. He asked for a trade from GS when he was losing playing time to Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, and J-Rich lol. Even weirder that Kobe can't get over his man crush with Fisher and admit the guy is past the point where his positives outweigh his negatives.
Im not necessarily thinking about 3's. But most of those guys offense comes from the perimeter. And that's all we need to open up the paint, not necessarily 3's. Also, most, if not all, of those guys are really quick. With defensive minded players such as kobe and artest on the team, these guys can easily learn to play D.