Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone I can't believe this whole fiasco. Ariza is an idiot if he leaves LA. His game is well-suited to be here and I think he could be a bust for any other team. And if he leaves us for Cleveland's MLE, I will hate him until he retires.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Yeah, I feel the same way. Isn't getting multiple shots at a ring good enough for him?
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Personally, if Ariza wants to act like a baby right now, I'd let him walk. Fuck him and his shit ass attitude. If he wants to be an ungrateful bitch to the only team that's ever given him a chance since he stepped in to this league, let him walk. I'm sure we could bring in Artest or maybe even Marion for the MLE so they can get a shot at a ring.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Yeah, didn't expect this kind of money-grabbing stunt being pulled by Ariza. I guess he forgot how he was treated when he was in Orlando and NY and how it drastically changed in LA.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone There's only two places that can throw more than the MLE at him right now, and that's Portland or Toronto, and it'll be whoever doesn't get Hedo. I could understand jumping ship to Portland for a little more cash, because they'll also be contending for a title soon enough, but jumping ship to Toronto would be stupid for him. He'd go to a smaller basketball market and an absolutely horrid team where he'd plummet into the realm of irrelevance. And that team will only get worse after 2010 when Bosh leaves in FA.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Yeah, which is a sad case if Ariza does go and leave LA for Toronto. http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2009/07/trevor-arizas-negotiations-a-quick-thought.html
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone lol fuck it i'm done pretending to be this asshole. now it'll just be an ironic user name... the more i see from nba guys in the off-season, the harder it is to believe the teamwork-rah-rah narrative that's painted over the course of the year. i mean, on paper, a hometown kid just won a championship with his favorite team, the team he grew up watching in westchester. if this guy can't compromise on the money, who the hell can? these guys are all money-grubbers just looking to make a buck. it's hard to blame them, but it's also hard to have sympathy for dudes that are already filthy rich trying to make that extra million.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Marion wants to test the open market, but I think he's finding that he's too far down the free agency totem pole to get something more than what Toronto's offering (likely 3-4 years at $7-8 mill per). There's always a chance he takes less money to go to a championship team (he did say that he wants to play for a contender once or twice during the season), but I'm betting he stays with Toronto. btw, what happened during Andrew Bynum's contract negotations? I keep seeing your references to how his agent got owned, but I don't remember how it went down.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Bynum's agent tried to threaten the Lakers if they didn't offer Drew the max. He said his client would sign a 1 year deal instead and become an unrestricted free agent and then he'd really make it tough for the Lakers to keep Bynum. After Bynum's rep got smeared by the local media he told his agent to STFU and just get a deal done.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Bynum's agent is a douche. He threatened his client leaving. Bynum told him to shut his fucking mouth and get him a fucking deal.
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone Is there an option for Ariza that he'll get most of his money on upcoming years, but saves us a few millions this year, because we have a lot of expiring contracts coming up and then we could get upgrade on our PG. It would be great for everyone, Ariza will get his money and Lakers will be strong for years to come. Is there a possibility like this?
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone There's a max percentage raise he can receive each year. He would have to sign a 2 or 3 year deal with an ETO and then opt out and get compensated once some of our dead weight contracts expire. Another option could be facilitating a sign & trade. For example, Oklahoma City signs Trevor and then trades him to us for Adam Morrison's expiring contract and a future pick and/or backup PG like Jordan Farmar?
Re: BSPN: Ariza likely gone http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-8p8Q9Ka5BjjU3klhnk2Y2mUDYAD996H6581
