Lakers Thread

[Bruce]

I am aslo curious about any possible deals that could land Monroe for the Lakers. But if that trade were to happen, I think Hill and either Meeks or Xavier Henry would have to be involved. It would really be sweet though if the Lakers could trade Kaman, Harris and or Kelly for Monroe. LOL

[NovU]

Kelly right now is a crowd favorite and he has zero trade value so I doubt it especially for Monroe. LoL

[shadowgrin]

That nerve issue has been with Nash since he was with the Suns. From the link at the top post in this page...

“He has spondylosis so any time he starts to have a little bit of even a minor, minor shift in the way he moves all kinds of stuff happens,” Nelson said. “It can go from his shoulder all the way down to his hamstring and his foot, so he is very, very adamant about getting in and doing everything he needs to do and doing it correctly.

“When he misses these games he’ll play to a certain point where a lot of athletes will just play until they get hurt or shut it down early. He kind of knows how far he can go before it’s like, ‘OK, I need a little bit of a break to readjust what we’re doing and get back down.’”

Nelson said when Nash misses a game it’s typically a movement issue.

“He gets a little pain from shearing forces, but then he doesn’t feel like he can stop the way he stops, when he’s shooting he might drift, so it’s changing just real small, small things with his body, and we’ve watched him every day for the last seven(-plus) years so we see that stuff,” Nelson said. “If you were just watching Nash play he either looks fatigued or he’s missing shots, but we can see some of those issues.”

When Nelson and his staff see this they put him through a series of exercises and positions he can usually handle that he cannot due to the injury, then scale back, and correct a few things before Two Time is good to go once again.

[Jackal]

I'm sure Benji had the GOAT involved in that trade some how as it was just for lulz Bruce.

Besides, why trade for Monroe when they can try to sign him this off-season with the monies LA will have. Sure he's restricted but with Smith's signing and them gonna go ahead and wanna save money for Drummond's extension..I really liked that Smith signing. Especially since he can play PF too.

[Bruce]

At any rate, I have a wishlist of possible targets for the Lakers. I think the Lakers are weak in the front court this year. And should replenish their talent at the point this off-season and the next.

Big Men:

'14
Greg Monroe
Spencer Hawes
Marcin Gortat
Greg Smith
Patrick Patterson

'15
Enes Kanter
Derrick Williams


Point Guards

'14
Greivis Vasquez
Eric Maynor
Kirk Hinrich
:
Derek Fisher

'15
Kyrie Irving
Kemba Walker

I'm sure Benji had the GOAT involved in that trade some how as it was just for lulz Bruce.

Besides, why trade for Monroe when they can try to sign him this off-season with the monies LA will have. Sure he's restricted but with Smith's signing and them gonna go ahead and wanna save money for Drummond's extension..I really liked that Smith signing. Especially since he can play PF too.

I think Smith has been playing at SF so far this year. But of course I think you are right, I also do not think the Pistons are willing to venture into Tax territory to keep the 3 bigs. It also seems that Detroit needs to get help at 2 and will probably need to spend some money. It is really strange how Stuckey and Bynum has fallen out of favor with the team.

[shadowgrin]

Pau Gasol to donate $1000 for every point scored to UNICEF for typhoon victims in the Philippines.
http://www.crowdrise.com/unicefphilippi ... r/paugasol

Pau Gasol ✔
@paugasol

I've heard from a lot of you who will join me in pledging per point I score tomorrow. Who else will join me?

Phil Jackson also joins in with some ribbing at his former player.

Phil Jackson ✔
@PhilJackson11

@paugasol i’m in for $50 per point, $50 per rebound, and $1000
for every charge taken, mi compadre

I like this. Not because it's a donation for the victims but any Warriors player that prevents Gasol from scoring has no heart and is evil.

[NovU]

Wow. That's really a nice gesture even from a millionaire. He ain't anything close to the most paid athelete either. He's scoring 13ppg atm, I hope he doubles that at least, lol.

[Andrew]

Classy stuff indeed.

[shadowgrin]

So far I haven't see Bogut or other Gasol defenders body up Pau when he has the ball. They are mostly trying to 'outquick' him or rely on hand movements to guard him. The Warriors aren't evil after all.

[Stress Fracture]

That's $24,000 for UNICEF. Would have loved more if he had 30 points.

[Andrew]

Impressive outing for Young, he and Meeks made a couple of crazy threes down the stretch. Certainly an interesting team to watch, with so many new faces.

[NovU]

Update on Nash

Steve Nash is not considering retirement as he continues to try to return from the nerve root irritation in his back and hamstrings that has sidelined him for nearly two weeks. Rather, the Los Angeles Lakers guard is focusing on the final “18 months” of basketball left in what’s been a brilliant career.

“No,” Nash said after Lakers shootaround Friday in advance of their game against the Sacramento Kings when asked if retirement has crossed his mind. “Not at all. I don’t know where that came from. For me, I realize I have about 18 months left of basketball. I want the most out of this that I can possibly get. I don’t know if that’s going to be one game or the vast majority of what’s left.”

GREAT TO HEAR THIS FROM HIM. This guy's a warrior.

[Jackal]

Gasol went old-school Gasol against the Warriors. Man, I sure do miss this Pau Gasol.

phpBB [video]

Also Blake/Farmar...can't say enough good things about their effort both offensively and defensively. Blake guarding Iggy till whenever he was in the game and he just held his own (with some help from help defenders of course.)

[NovU]

Wow, just noticed the Lakers are 13th in West despite excellent 6-7 record, only ahead of Sacto and Uthazz.

[_Steve_]

It's a weird picture. Portland at #2 and PHX at #10 is something I really did not expect. Lakers at #13 does not surprise me that much.

[rise]

Wow, just noticed the Lakers are 13th in West despite excellent 6-7 record, only ahead of Sacto and Uthazz.

They'd be tied with for the 6th best record in the east with that record.


Bobcats currently have the fifth best record in the East!

[NovU]

Before you know it, they're back to .500!!! Amazing D'Antoni!

[Jackal]

Last three games have been played very nicely.

In other news Kobe extended by 2 years for 24 & 25 million a year. I thought he'd sign for around 13-18 million. Guy's gotta feed his family I guess.

[Andrew]

It'll be difficult to rebuild without a lot of cap space or trade assets, neither of which they'll have with Kobe getting that contract. I guess he's content to chase the all-time scoring record, because it's going to take a massive stroke of luck to make them viable contenders in the next couple of seasons.

[NovU]

Mike D'Antoni is a basketball libertarian.

[Jackal]

Any coach that benches Gasol because he wasn't the stretch 4 that he wanted can never be a "good" coach. I read some of the comments on that site and just closed the page.

[Bruce]

When is MDA going to stop giving Shawne Williams minutes? I mean, I see that Shawne plays hard out of the gates. But Shawne's numbers are bad. I think the minutes given to Shawne can be better used to evaluate other free agents.

[Jackal]

He was the odd man out a couple of games back, the back injury to Kaman has caused D'Antoni to sub him in at the 6 minute mark for Hill alongside Gasol. It was Kaman for a bit there.

[SoF'nAwesome]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-2 ... g-nba.html

[Andrew]

I can see where he's coming from, but I disagree. Teams like the Spurs and Thunder have done a great job despite being smaller markets and restricted by the cap. His example of the 70s and their eight different champions isn't a good one as it was kind of a Dark Age for the league, with its fair share of turmoil and before its explosion in popularity.

At the end of the day, the salary cap can't guarantee a perfect competitive balance, because some markets will be more attractive and some teams will make terrible decisions, squandering their cap space. That's no reason to scrap it, though.