Manley said if Malone does return to play in the NBA, it will only be with the Lakers. ``He doesn't want to move his family,'' the agent said. ``He will be 100 percent physically in the next couple months and his skills are obviously still great. He still could play this year. Anything's possible -- the door is still open.'' The 41-year-old Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late June. Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract with the Lakers at season's end, making him a free agent. Several teams, including San Antonio, Minnesota and Miami, expressed interest. Malone and Manley had lunch with Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Thursday to let him know Malone wouldn't be at training camp, but that he wouldn't sign with another team, either. Buss offered Malone an unspecified job with the Lakers, Manley said. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-l...ov=ap&type=lgns Greay News i just hope he wont come in and ruin the chemistry.
Well, here we go...I posted this in another thread, but this thread seems appropriate also. Depending on how healthy he is, Malone may start or be off the bench for Grant... C - Vlade Divac/Chris Mihm PF - Karl Malone/Brian Grant/Brian Cook SF - Lamar Odom/Caron Butler/Luke Walton SG - Kobe Bryant/Kareem Rush PG - Chucky Atkins/Sasha Vujacic That will be the 12...with three on the IR... If Atkins is just terrible, the Lakers can try Vujacic...and in games with guards such as Iverson and Kidd, the Lakers will more than likely go with this lineup... C - Vlade Divac PF - Karl Malone (or Brian Grant) SF - Lamar Odom SG - Caron Butler PG - Kobe Bryant OR... C - Vlade Divac PF - Karl Malone (or Brian Grant) SF - Caron Butler SG - Kobe Bryant PG - Lamar Odom Looks more like a contender for sure
This is really good, now the Lakers have really good depth, Malone can teach those young big men a thing or two
Yet somehow ESPNEWS stated Malone will not play this season. Karl won't play till the 2nd half of the season anyway (If he even plays) according to coach Pop.
Since Malone is a free agent, he can sign with any team anytime in the middle of the season correct? He can perhaps wait and see how the teams start especially Lakers, Spurs and Heat and try pick one if he wishes to.
he could, but then that would ruin the team he goes to since they dont have practice like when Webber came back the Kings fell apart
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Yet somehow ESPNEWS stated Malone will not play this season. Karl won't play till the 2nd half of the season anyway (If he even plays) according to coach Pop.</div> Is coach pop his trainer. I think karl knows himself betetr than coach pop.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Zoltar:</div><div class="quote_post">This is really good, now the Lakers have really good depth, Malone can teach those young big men a thing or two</div> Malone is not signed yet, so it's premature to say that.
The Mailman's Future is with the Lakers if he Returns <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Karl's not playing, but he's also not retiring," Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, said Friday. "He's leaving his options open. Nothing's carved in stone. "He will be 100 percent physically in the next couple months and his skills are obviously still great. He still could play this year. Anything's possible -- the door is still open." The 41-year-old Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late June. Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract with the Lakers at season's end, making him a free agent. Several teams, including San Antonio, Minnesota and Miami, expressed interest.</div> Full Story
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Zoltar:</div><div class="quote_post">he could, but then that would ruin the team he goes to since they dont have practice like when Webber came back the Kings fell apart</div> Yeah at first I thought Malone showing up halfway through the season would be great. His body would be fresh and he would still have lots of gas left in the tank for the playoffs. BUT, then someone mentioned the Chris Webber coming back late in the season thing and I changed my mind. The Kings were playing awesome "together" and then they threw a "rusty" Webber into the mix and everything went bad. I guess a team grows throughout the season and is designed to "peak" by the playoffs and even though Malone is as experienced as an NBA player can get, I predict it would still have a negative effect on the team showing so late in the year.
Does anyone else think Malone is bad news for the Lakers? I mean, chemistry is going to be a big thing for these Lakers, and Malone just popping in in the middle of the season isn't neccesarily a great thing. I woudlnt' mind so much if he was with the team, but he's gonna remain unsigned and not around the other players. In addition, there is an uncertainty that hangs over the team. Should we hold an extra man, or should we save that spot for Malone?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheNextJordan8:</div><div class="quote_post">Is coach pop his trainer. I think karl knows himself betetr than coach pop.</div> Clearly you had no clue that Pop has talked to Malone alot during the summer. Therefore telling Pop he likely won't play till after the all-star break. Malone might as well retire If he is going back to L.A, he clearly is not going to get a title with the Lakers, nor will he get the scoring title. Seems a waste of time to me.
People I think Malone is finish. I hope he takes the a job within the Laker organization. I was really hoping for him to come and play but I don't think so and Mitch agrees with me... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If he wanted to play today, he couldn't anyway," Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, said Friday. "He will be able to in the future. You play it by ear. He's not closing any doors, but he's going in a different direction that obviously is retirement-bound." "We'll never close the door, going down the road, but it's our understanding that he does not intend to play anymore," General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "The door's ajar and who knows what might happen in the future. There's not a timetable?. If he's healthy, could he play for us? Absolutely." Manley said, "Karl told Jerry [Buss] that he has told his family he's only going to move them once to play basketball and once more to retire." Manley said Malone would not make a career decision until he was fully recovered. "His focus is on his family and his personal life right now," Manley added. "At this time, he doesn't want to play basketball." </div> http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/n...orts-nba-lakers
Those are some conflicting stories. One is kind of neutral and the other is pretty much saying he is done. We'll see if we can get some kind of clarification soon. By the way, I don't see any way that Malone can destroy chemistry. Webber messed the Kings up because he demanded the same PT that he used to have and wouldn't play within the Kings' offense. Malone know his limits and accepts them and would try to help the Lakers in any way he could, which would probably mean about 20 minutes a game to help stop the bigs that are giving the Lakers trouble.
I think it depends on how bad the PF spot plays up in the season. Since it looks like Brian Grant and Slava seem to play the position for majority of the time, If Slava really sucks with this team's plays, I dont see any reason why Malone can replace Slava's minutes in the middle of the season...I dont think things can go worse if that were to happen. Y'all know how Malone plays pick and rolls!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, here we go...I posted this in another thread, but this thread seems appropriate also. Depending on how healthy he is, Malone may start or be off the bench for Grant... C - Vlade Divac/Chris Mihm PF - Karl Malone/Brian Grant/Brian Cook SF - Lamar Odom/Caron Butler/Luke Walton SG - Kobe Bryant/Kareem Rush PG - Chucky Atkins/Sasha Vujacic That will be the 12...with three on the IR... If Atkins is just terrible, the Lakers can try Vujacic...and in games with guards such as Iverson and Kidd, the Lakers will more than likely go with this lineup... C - Vlade Divac PF - Karl Malone (or Brian Grant) SF - Lamar Odom SG - Caron Butler PG - Kobe Bryant OR... C - Vlade Divac PF - Karl Malone (or Brian Grant) SF - Caron Butler SG - Kobe Bryant PG - Lamar Odom Looks more like a contender for sure </div> Sweeetttt. Im liking those 2 line-ups.
Well, as much as I hate to say this but, Malone just doesn't catch my eye anymore, he's getting old and getting injured. He always seems to hesitate when he shoot. But on the other side, I would like to get him back since he has good defense. But he'll probably won't get much playing time since Brian Grant is here.
