There's speculation Morrison might be traded for Joe Smith. Reported by Emplay. I'd love to see the Lakers pull that off. Joe Smith gives us another big body who can post up or shoot jumpers. He's a veteran and I think he'd embrace an opportunity to play for a Championship. He's also an expiring contract. I'm not sure Oklahoma would still want him. I think the team originally wanted AMMO when they were in Seattle, because Morrison had a cult following playing at Gonzaga. He would have helped sell tickets and merchandise.
Yeah, this is an interesting trade. I'm excited to see how Morrison fits in the Tri, he'll definitely be getting some open looks, maybe he can deliver for us. As for Brown, he looks really athletic, so that's good. I doubt we'll see any playing time out of him since he's 3rd string at this point, but we'll see.
Remember the effect JCritt had on Farmar? He was pushing Farmar for his minutes and Farmar took his game to another level. Hopefully Brown has the same impact JCritt had. If Brown can give us a solid 6 to 8 minutes a night to allow Fisher more rest it will payoff during the playoffs.
[video=youtube;0uppJe2t5NU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uppJe2t5NU[/video] [video=youtube;-K-X-OxMJz8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K-X-OxMJz8[/video] Shannon Brown adds some much needed athleticism to our PG position.
I really hope Shannon Brown can get some PT. There were numerous rumors that he rode the pine in Cleveland because LBJ and Brown did not get along. I think Brown can be a good role player, but he needs the PT. I hope Phil can cut back on Fisher's minutes and work some in for Brown.
Fisher/Farmar/Brown Bryant/Vujacic/Brown Walton/Ariza/Morrison Odom/Powell Gasol/Mihm/Mbenga I miss seeing Bynum's name in there : [
He'll be back soon. Morrison is only 24, and I believe Brown is 23. Both highly touted college players who haven't done much in the league. Maybe a change of scenery will help them? They certainly have more potential than Vladrad. I agree with Shape in that I wanted Shannon Brown in the draft, kind of disappointed we took Farmar instead, but things have worked out in our favor. Brown is very athletic, and I've read he is pretty good defensively. Offensively, he doesn't really have much range. Hm... seems like someone we know? Maybe he'll turn into a Trevor Ariza type player, but regardless, he's an upgrade over Sun Yue if either Fisher or Farmar go down. I could care less for Morrison, but I like Shannon Brown.
I like this trade. At the very least, it gives us a little more cap flexibility this summer, making it easier to bring back Ariza and maybe even Odom (assuming he takes a paycut). However, I also like the trade in the aspect that I do like the players we got back. Brown has the ability to be a solid PG for us, and as mentioned earlier, hopefully he can push Farmar in the way Critt did last season. With Morrison, if he can get his shooting touch back, he could be valuable in the triangle with his ability to knock down the open jump shot. If both end up being busts though, whatever. We got rid of Radman, which makes this deal a win-win regardless of how these two perform.
how much are their contracts??? are they expiring anytime soon? do you think we will keep morrison for the long run? i like the acquisition of brown though... if fish and farmar manage to get into foul trouble or can't keep up against better PG's (cp3, nelson, harris, etc) then we have a 3rd option in brown. cap relief huh? to sign odom and ariza woot!
Brown's contract ends this season, and AMMO's can end a year before Vlad's. Salary info is in the Sportstwo tab at the top right of your screen.
Vlad was dead-weight anyway, how many DNP-CDs did he rack up once Luke got healthy a few weeks ago? Didn't play at all against the Celtics. As other people have said, this trade frees up minutes for Ariza (who is a lock for being resigned) and adds much need guard athleticism/depth (and hopefully D) with Brown. I don't really know if this changes too much with regards to Odom being resigned this summer since Morrison has another year on his contract after this season. But if getting out from under Radman's additional season on his contract (player option) is enough to convince Buss to spend the money on LO, I'm all for it. But he'll unquestionably have to take a paycut, unless he really balls it up this June and his stock rises so high that he gets big offers from other teams. I wouldn't mind signing him to a 4 year $25-$30M deal if one of those years is a team option. LO's reliance on athleticism makes him potentially susceptible to being a significantly less impactful player as he ages. He'll be 30 this year, so it would be good to have the option to keep him on or not at age 33 when most athletic guys begin to decline.
Also, unless Mihm really shows this team something, I think he's probably gone. If LO stays, you'd have LO, Pau, Bynum, and probably Powell, which leaves Mbenga as the insurance big. So with Mihm gone that leaves definite room for Brown, but if he wants to stay he really has to prove a lot these next 30 games + playoffs. If he can do something special on D, and maybe even hit some outside shots, I think they probably sign him as a 3rd/4th guard (along with Powell in all likelihood) to 1 year deals. And really, guys like Powell and Brown bring much needed athleticism with slugs like Luke and Sasha getting so much PT. Brown especially, the Lakers are desperate for speed on the perimeter with Fisher and Sasha being so slow and Farmar too small/weak as well as laterally challenged (but he actually makes up for some of that with killer hops and great north-south speed).
If you look at Morrison's rookie season, he actually wasn't that bad scoring wise. He tore his ACL or something like that, and I think I read that ACL injuries take a year or so to heal completely. If Kobe can turn Smush Parker to an 11 ppg scorer, and Kwame Brown to a serviceable starter at one point, I at least have some hope he can help Morrison in his year and a half as a Laker. Beyond that, defensively the guy is piss poor. Luke Walton literally broke his ankles, and I believe it was Luke who faked Morrison out which led him to tearing his ACL. And that is pretty embarrassing, I don't see how anyone can get juked out by Luke Walton. As for Shannon Brown, VC used to hype the shit out of him so I guess he can't be that bad. He's an athletic player, who is decent defensively (or so I read), and doesn't have a good jump shot. He played for Larry Brown, who gave up on him. Hm... does that seem familiar? Trevor Ariza part 2 anyone? I can hope. But yeah, I dunno why, I'm actually very excited by this trade. Probably because I just want to see some fresh faces on this squad. lol
Interviews: [video=youtube;3BVscQhG7-M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BVscQhG7-M[/video] [video=youtube;MEK25uI4z48]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEK25uI4z48[/video]
Morrison looks like he already partook in the CA green and Shannon Brown is just "happy to be in the NBA"...oh boy Not complaining...just saying...
It's going to be more of the same for him. The minute he starts losing focus and that shot of his doesn't go in he'll be deep Larry Brown's doghouse. Larry is just as much a prick as PJax is when a player gets on his bad side.
