So...what now??

If we're gonna lose a lot of our squad, the sole person I want back is Kobe. If Shaq seriously thinks he deserves a max contract extension, screw him -- he's on the decline.

I think the main reason we lost is our lack of depth. When Malone got hurt, all of a sudden it became like Spurs-Lakers 2003...no PF could consistently hit a shot so the PF was able to zone up and float around in the paint. By that happening, we couln'd tget the ball to Shaq as many times as we'd like...and Kobe could easily be double teamed. And the fact that nobody else was contributing, the Lakers were just screwed.

What would I like to see? I'd love to see a new team built around Kobe. I want a true point forward that's athletic and can play defense...ala vintage Scottie Pippen.

 

Exactly. If we're going to build around one player, It would seriously have to be Kobe Bryant. The man is 25 years old, and just entering his prime. Shaq is just talking out of his ass of course. Wear and tear is beginning to have an effect on his body. What I'd like to see next year is a brand new young athletic power forward, a new small forward with hopefully Rick Fox retiring and Devean George coming off the bench, and most importantly a new bench with excellent shooters. Something we've lacked for years. We seriously cannot have people named Brian Cook as one of our role players. It just won't get us anywhere.

 

So I am back, only to post in this thread however because I find the rest of the 'basketball know-it-alls' here ridiculously incompetent in the way they blast me for defending the Lakers and most noteably Kobe Bryant. They fail to realize that their bias against the Lakers and Kobe is as strong as my bias for them so their arguments that I am just a biased fan that knows nothing carries no weight. That said I'd like to share thoughts about future scenarios I would like to see the Lakers explore.

First and foremost I do think that the Lakers have some solid pieces to build around. Luke Walton is and will always be a very capable backup SF although never a marquee player. His high basketball-IQ off the bench is always a nice thing. Something that should always be considered in role players is the fact that you want them to be just that, role players. You don't need a star thats going to put up 20 points (however nice that might be), you just need a guy that can come in a give 20 good solid mistake-free minutes. Luke can do this.

The second player is Kareem Rush. People forget how efficient of a player Kareem was in college. 60+% from the field is no joke. In only his second year in the league he showed dramatic improvement in his feel for the game and defensive abilities (I would imagine practicing against Kobe Bryant every day will do that to a player). I think he is a key player in the Lakers future because he gives flexibilty to the Lakers in how they use Kobe in the future. Slotting Kareem in the SG position allows the Lakers to go very long and athletic at the 1/2 while using Walton at the SF. Walton is a legitimate point-forward and the move would force a lot of teams to tweak their lineups because Kobes ability to defend opposing PG's is greater than most opposing PG's ability will be to defend Kareem. Look for Kareem to make more big strides this coming year, I think his work ethic is better than most people think and we all saw just how hot of a hand he can produce.

Slava - This year was a major stepping stone for Slava. His defense picked up and he proved that he is a very capable player. Jackson even said Slava is much better than people think he is. The biggest problem with Slava is his confidence, once he misses a couple shots then he begins to hesitate before firing up future shots which creates fg attempts that are out of rhythm and thus dont go in. His defensive intensity also relies heavily on his offensive production. As I told Mel before game 5, the only thing Slava needs to get going is a green-light. He should be used off the bench primarily as a scorer and should be given the green-light to fire at will when he comes off the bench (similar to Wally in Minny).

The last piece to the puzzle is naturally the player the Lakers should build around for the future. No. 8. I get so sick and tired of people saying how much better Michael was than Kobe because Michael had 'no help'. In 93-94 when Jordan was 'retired' Pippen averaged 22 pts, 8.7 boards, and 2.93 steals per game. Those are hardly scrubby numbers and negate the argument that Pippen was only great because he had Jordan to make him better. A multiple all-star selection and all-nba selection what people fail to consider is the fact that Pippen was probably the second best perimeter defender in the game next to Michael. This gave Michael the ability to only key in on the other teams best offensive players when absolutely necessary, where as Kobe consistently has to go up against the oppositions best players and exert a ton of energy doing so. That being said, I think that it is about time the Lakers retool this team and build it specifically around Kobe, just like the Bulls were built around Michael. Once this happens, I believe that a Kobe Bryant that is truly greater than Michael Jordan can finally emerge. I don't think the triangle offense is what Kobe hates so much, its the fact that their triangle isnt built around him.

In order to retool the team the biggest task for the Lakers is to move Shaq. Don't get me wrong, I agree that the big fella is still the most dominant player in the game but his contract (both current and future demands) have put such huge handicuffs on the Lakers financially that the team can hardly afford to do anything else other than sign a buncha washed up old veterans to vet minimums (no disrespect to Gary and Karl, I think they brought a lot to the table this year for us, but just weren't the right pieces we needed). Shaq constantly complains about Kobe not being a team player. Off the court issues have as much to do with being a team player as on the court. A true team player is KG. The man takes a 13 million dollar a year paycut to better the future of his franchise. Are you listening Shaq? You and your ridiculous 30 million dollar a year extension demands show just how little you care about the team regardless of what your style of play may be on the court.

When talking about retooling a team around Kobe Bryant it is necessary to consider the similarities between Jordan and Kobe and understand what made Jordans Bulls work so well and why Kobes Lakers are so dysfunctional. It is also necessary to take into consideration the changes in the game such as those that call for the need of a competent post man.

If the Lakers are unable to get quality players in return for Shaq, then there are still some things that they can do to try and pull next season together. Unfortunately, with Malone opting out of his contract, it is clear that we will not be able to retain him for the 1.5 mill minimum anymore. I would have liked to see him back without having to use up a good deal of the mid-level E to sign him for the reason that there will be a player available this year for the mid-level E that can improve the outlook of the franchise not only this year, but for many years to come.

That player is Marquis Daniels. It is highly unlikely Dallas will be able to swing the entire mid-level E for him with their nagging pursuit of both Steve Nash and a competent new big man. At 6'6" Marquis is a player that could fit nice in the backcourt along side Kobe Bryant. He is an outstanding 1 on 1 player that can create open looks for himself and is also a competent play maker capable of creating open looks for others. One of the knocks on him coming out of Auburn was concern about Daniels' ability to defend. It seems as if a year spent with the defensive minded Josh Howard changed Daniels' mentality about defense and defense is more effort than anything else. Kobe and Daniels would be able to share ball-handling duties as well as defensive duties on the perimeter (you wouldn't have to see Kobe guarding Bibby, Cassell, and Parker all game long anymore because Daniels can slow them down on his own). He is also capable of bringing 30-40 point games if the offensive flow allows it which is the kind of alternative scorer the Lakers have sorely missed.

There are a couple options that I think the Lakers may be able to at least attempt to work out in terms of Shaq with 3 different teams. The first one being the best option, but also the most unlikely. It seems like Larry Bird has become increasingly frustrated with his Pacers team, and that JO has become increasingly frustrated with the franchise since the dismissal of Isiah. While the team is openly shopping Harrington, I think that they realize that he is very capable of becoming a marquee player if given the opportunity. The same goes for Bender. The Pacers don't want to give up on these two young players yet but with Artest logging the majority of the minutes at SF it is hard to see where Harrington and Bender really fit in. That is unless the Pacers decide to move Artest in favor of Harrington and Bender. While it might sound stupid to trade the defensive player of the year, the Pacers probably noticed Artests offensive woes in their elimination from the playoffs and also his costly technical foul which essentially cost them the series. They have also been looking to unload Crosheres contract for years so I would propose that a JO / Artest / Croshere for Shaq trade is um not very likely but could leave both teams in an interesting situation. If the Pacers were to make that move it would be a statement that they are committing to the development of Bender and Harrington and returning a squad of Tinsley, Miller, Jones, Harrington, Bender, Foster, Shaq is not the worst rebuilding situation I have ever seen. What it leaves the Lakers with is a defensive minded swing player that can lock up the opposing teams best perimeter player, a very competent big man who is also able to stretch the defense with a mid-range jumper that Shaq is not able to do, and a big fat ugly contract with a quick footed but under powered power-forward but hey, Croshere can shoot the ball. If the Lakers can pull this trade off, and sign Marquis Daniels, I like their chances immediately for next year. Daniels, Bryant, Artest, Slava?, JO with George, Kareem, Walton, Cook, Croshere coming off the bench.

The other 2 teams are Portland and Chicago, gotta go for now but i'll write about those later on...let me know if there are any other possible Shaq scenarios anyone has thought of.

 

k i am back, continuing with the other 2 viable options i see...i think that Portland could be a player in this scenario because they are looking to win with Randolph in the lineup and don't really want to ink Shareef or Theo Ratliff to long term deals and they make roughly 25 million a year combined...compared to Shaq's 29 odd million he is due this season...that puts them about within the 15% differential that the contracts have to add up to for a trade to work salary wise...if they are short they can package one of their minor contracts like dan dickau to put them over the edge or even possibly try to unload a bad contract like DA or Ruben Patterson if the Lakers were willing to take it on or even the number 23 pick in this years draft if portland wants to unload that...Shareef would bring a nice athletic scoring presence to the PF position while Theo (as old as he might be) is still one of the leagues more formidable inside presences on defense...In addition this opens up future flexibility for the Lakers after next season as both Shareef and Theos contract are up at the end of next year...if Shareef is working out nicely at the PF for the lakers they can resign him and if not they can just go after the new free agent market or save the cap room for the year after (when Yao Ming becomes a free agent)...If the Lakers still used the MidLevel E to sign Daniels, this would leave them with Daniels, Bryant, George, Shareef, Theo with kareem, luke, slava, and whoeverz else on the bench...still not too shabby...

Lastly are the Chicago Bulls...Eddy Curry is obviously not working out in Chicago and the bulls took on a couple contracts they would love to rid themselves of...scouts still believe curry can become a dominant nba center, just not with the bulls...specifically the Bulls have been looking to move the contracts of Eddie Robinson and Antonio Davis...They also have no clue what to do with Crawford and most likely are going to let him leave via fa this year anyhow...a package of E-Rob / Antonio Davis / Curry / and a sign and traded Crawford starting at the 5 mill a year he is looking for would work with salaries as well for Shaq...both Erob and Antonios contracts are up at the same time as Shaqs which would clear 20 mill off the books for the Lakers at that point leaving them to once again chase a marquee free agent...Davis and Curry give a competent inside presence while Crawford could provide a nice scoring punch from the combo guard position (much the same as i hoped daniels would if the lakers were to sign him)...while e-rob could turn out to be a real nice player if the situation were right for him...extremely athletic with a quick smooth release on his shot...in this scenario i wouldnt want to see the Lakers chase after daniels but rather a long/athletic shot blocking PF...one player that specifically comes to mind that will prolly be available for hte mid-level E is stromile swift...although he is restricted i don't know how much memphis would be willing to pay to keep him around...

but i think for sure shaq needs to be traded and i would also like to see the lakers acquire a dead eye shooter ala steve kerr or john paxson from the bulls runs...let me know what everyone else is thinking...