*'11-'12 LAKERS Thread; 41-25* 1st Rd: DEN (go to 1st Rd. Thread)

[darthska]

If y'all bammas jinx this w/ all these season threads, I'm banning everyone of you!

Like I said in the *apparent* season thread, I'll save my comments on the *alleged* new season for when the season has started, when training camps open up.

 

[tupac003]

I'm so glad to see this!!!

Lot's of questions this coming up year. We could either be great or it could be a disaster.

I'm just happy that I will be getting lakers basketball again!

Let's go Lakers!!

 

[badboyf0life420]

is shannon B still with the lakers? how come he was the lakers representative during the lockout?

 

[guttagetsbusy]

Originally Posted by PMatic

I just remembered Bynum is suspended the first five games of the season.

Damn I forgot

I wanted to see my son eat on Christmas day.

 

[jretro23]

will definitely be an interesting season

 

[ag 47]

66 games. I like our chances

 

[TipsyMcStagga]

I see J.J. Barea is a free agent. He'd be a small upgrade over Blake, that's for sure! Btw, am I the only one still missing Ariza?

[h6]
[/h6]

 

[VinMillerHearn58]

Originally Posted by KOD843

I see J.J. Barea is a free agent. He'd be a small upgrade over Blake, that's for sure! Btw, am I the only one still missing Ariza?

[h6]
[/h6]

Nah, I wanted him on this team after what he did during the 08-09 season and especially what he did in the playoffs. But that dude fell off after he left, not thanks to his idiot agent.

 

[rex ryan]

Originally Posted by kvsm23vs24

I forgot that bum Mike Brown is our new coach

puts crack pipe in my mouth.

mike brown is the next bill bellichek.      got fired from a cleveland team only to make the most of his 2nd opportunity.       im hoping.

 

[jaehow]

I'm ready for xmas..

 

[81ackmamba]

I am excite.

 

[ZKO_24_7]

Originally Posted by AG 47

66 games. I like our chances

^this.
Checking in for what will be an interesting season.  I wonder if the trade deadline changes with a shorten season?  ...as for the pg q's, i like the idea of baron davis for a year IF that's all LA can afford.

 

[freeze]

ahhhh riiiiight...that suspension...smh...just remembered.




damn i miss phil. just doesnt seem right to have our lakers back and not see him on the bench sitting on that thrown =/

 

[ryda421]

(bart scott) can't wait

 

[th0mas cr0wn]

 

[sohi 23]

if Pau pulls that %@@@ again he's out

 

[tennhouse2]

I would love baron on the team

 

[moneymike9]

All the amnesty cuts wont be available for us coz of our payroll.

Really hoping that Luke retires, then we can amnesty Blake, and hope a quality FA gets intrigued by our team and signs for cheap...if not, hopefully Morris and/or Goudelock pans out. Still kinda wish we drafted Selby though...i have a feeling dude's gonna put in work in this league.

 

[licensed to ball]

KOD you ain't the only one missing Ariza. 

 

[mercutio]

Wooo! The season's back (hopefully). I don't want my joy to be dashed if some last minute snag comes up. Anyway, I'm looking to be more involved in the Laker thread this year. I was always lurking before and figured why not participate?

I'd love to have Baron on our squad, but I have some doubts it'll work out that way. From what I've been hearing about the amnesty clause is that the teams under the cap will have a shot at him first. But at the same time, he's already voiced his desire to come to LA. No hate on DFish cause I've always been a fan (even though he gets lit up on the regular) but if we get Baron, I hope DFish is definitely getting less playing time.

Anyone else curious about the "World Peace" jersey?

 

[tupac003]

[h1]

[h1]latimes.com[/h1][h2]Lakers bring new coaching staff, many questions into NBA season[/h2][h3]Aging Lakers are a year older but still one of the NBA's most intriguing teams heading into a truncated season after end of lockout. Most regulars will be back but several roster spots remain in flux.[/h3]
By Mike Bresnahan

3:25 PM PST, November 26, 2011



Not much has happened since the Lakers last played a game.

Ron Artest has a new name. Derek Fisher is now 37 years old.

Oh, and Phil Jackson is gone, a whole new coaching staff is in place and there are questions about whether the Lakers can return to their championship air of 2009 and 2010.

Now that the NBA lockout has apparently ended, the Lakers remain one of the league's most intriguing teams. But what exactly will they look like in 2011-12?

Most of the regulars will be back. Kobe Bryant (33 years old) has three years left on his contract, as does Pau Gasol (31). Lamar Odom (32) has two years remaining, along with Andrew Bynum (24), though neither has a fully guaranteed deal beyond this season.

Then it gets interesting.

Fisher and Steve Blake are holdovers but the Lakers want to add a point guard before the season starts, via free agency or the expected "amnesty" provision in the new labor deal that allows teams to waive a player without having to pay luxury taxes on his salary, or have his salary count toward the salary cap.

The Lakers are curious to see if veteran point guard Baron Davis gets cut by Cleveland. He has two years and $28.7 million left on his contract, though he can be signed for substantially less than that. The Lakers also want a shooter and are monitoring whether forward Rashard Lewis (two years, $43.8 million remaining) gets waived by Washington.

Because the Lakers are so far over the salary cap with a current payroll of about $90 million, their only real spending tool in free agency is the mid-level exception, which will shrink dramatically from last year's five-year, $29-million maximum for such a player.

Jamal Crawford is one of the top options in a weak free-agent class, but the former Atlanta Hawks combo guard will probably want too much for the Lakers' taste. Jose Juan Barea ran rings around the Lakers in the playoffs, but Dallas is expected to make a big push to re-sign the unrestricted free-agent guard.

There's also a question of which player the Lakers will cut with their amnesty provision: Luke Walton or Metta World Peace (Artest).

Walton, 31, has two years and $11.5 million left on his contract. World Peace, 32, has three years and $21.5 million remaining. Walton has been plagued by back problems the last few years and averaged 1.7 points in 54 games last season. World Peace played all 82 regular-season games last season but averaged a career-low 8.5 points.

The Lakers would save $11.5 million in luxury taxes by waiving Walton and $21.5 million by cutting World Peace but would still have to pay the salary of whichever player they cut.

There are other roster questions.

There's a chance guard Shannon Brown returns despite declining a $2.4-million player option last June. The start of his 2010-11 season was much stronger than his finish but the Lakers hadn't shut the door on re-signing him after he averaged 8.7 points and 19.1 minutes.

The Lakers will bring back Devin Ebanks for sure with a bargain-like $788,872 team option and might also bring back the less-promising Derrick Caracter for an identical $788,872 team option.

The Lakers did not have a first-round pick in this year's draft but could quickly add end-of-bench depth by signing at least two of their three second-round picks at cheap prices: Michigan guard Darius Morris, Charleston guard Andrew Goudelock or Sudanese forward Ater Majok.

Above the realm of second-round picks and free agents who might or might not join the team, there's the almost forgotten factor of all the unfamiliar faces on the Lakers' coaching staff, let alone the new offense and defense they plan on implementing.

Coach Mike Brown will send away Jackson's triangle offense and bring in a scheme that centers more on getting the ball down low to the big men.

Not to be forgotten, however, is that Bynum will miss the first five games of an already truncated season because of a suspension for body-slamming Barea in the final game of the Lakers' forgettable playoff limp in May.

The Lakers are a year older and a year wiser, though they were already supposed to have the wisdom part down. Once their roster shapes up, this season will be about hanging with the younger teams (Oklahoma City, Miami, Chicago) and having enough to turn it up in the playoffs . . . they hope.

[email protected]

twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan

Copyright [emoji]169[/emoji] 2011, Los Angeles Times

[/h1]

 

[tupac003]

Oh quick question,

Does anybody know how much the NBA leauge pass is going to run this year? Navy moved me to Washington state (shoot me now) and yall know I can't miss my Lakers games. If anybody had it last year how much did it cost?

 

[freddypee]

Originally Posted by mogzz04

All the amnesty cuts wont be available for us coz of our payroll.

Really hoping that Luke retires, then we can amnesty Blake, and hope a quality FA gets intrigued by our team and signs for cheap...if not, hopefully Morris and/or Goudelock pans out. Still kinda wish we drafted Selby though...i have a feeling dude's gonna put in work in this league.

THIS 

 

[darthska]

Originally Posted by KOD843

I see J.J. Barea is a free agent. He'd be a small upgrade over Blake, that's for sure![h6][/h6]

A small upgrade? I think it would be a HUGE upgrade. But I can't stand Blake, and I love Barea.

 

[tupac003]

[h1]latimes.com[/h1][h2]New NBA deal may curtail Lakers' free-spending ways[/h2][h3]Luxury tax rules and penalties will be much more harsh under proposal to be voted on this week. The move is aimed squarely at teams such as the deep-pocketed Lakers that repeatedly go over threshold.[/h3]
By Mike Bresnahan

8:25 PM PST, November 27, 2011

Celebrate good times?

The NBA lockout appears to be over, but so might the Lakers' free-spending ways.

The Lakers, often the league leaders in blowing past the luxury-tax threshold, were one of the teams targeted by small-market owners and NBA officials in the proposed collective bargaining agreement.

If players and owners ratify the new deal with a majority vote this week, the Lakers face an incredibly steep tax designed to instill more league parity and less spending by deep-pocketed teams.

League officials aren't exactly shy about hiding their approval.

"The luxury tax is harsher than it was in the past deal and we hope it's effective," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said.

The first two years of the agreement still hold the traditional dollar-for-dollar penalty for teams exceeding the tax threshold, but the future poses a financial trap for the Lakers that might affect their desire to take on large salaries.

For the 2013-14 season, the luxury-tax penalty moves from dollar for dollar to a $1.50-to-$1 ratio for the first $5 million a team is over the threshold, a $1.75-to-$1 ratio if a team is $5 million to $10 million above the threshold, a $2.50 ratio for $10 million to $15 million, and a $3.25 ratio for $15 million to $25 million beyond the threshold.

The Lakers' payroll last season was $91 million, the NBA's largest, and they paid an additional $21 million in penalties because they were that far over the tax threshold. In two years, a $91-million payroll would cost the Lakers a staggering $68 million in additional taxes.

Team officials are not allowed to be interviewed until the deal is ratified, but it won't spoil the surprise to say the Lakers aren't thrilled.

In 2013-14, they have already committed a whopping $61.5 million to only four players — Kobe Bryant ($30.5 million), Pau Gasol ($19.3 million), Metta World Peace ($7.7 million) and Steve Blake ($4 million).

Uh-oh. New tax rules creating havoc in big cities across America.

"We feel ultimately it will give fans in every community hope that their team can compete for championships," said Silver, speaking indirectly to Memphis, Charlotte, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, et al. "And that their basis for believing in their team will be a function of management on that team rather than … how deep the owners' pockets are or how large the market is."

There are other reasons the Lakers might have to stop the payroll party.

Under the agreement, teams that cross the tax threshold four times in a five-year span will also be hit with a "repeater tax," an additional dollar-for-dollar penalty on top of any existing penalties.

Even if the Lakers try to maintain their spending ways, they face immediate financial obstacles aimed at irritating big-money teams.

Most teams over the cap can use the mid-level exception for a four-year contract worth about $22 million for a middle-of-the-road free agent. The Lakers, however, will be so far over the tax threshold this season they can use only one "mini mid-level" contract to woo a free agent — a three-year deal worth about $10 million.

It's tough to attract a big name with so little to offer financially, though the Lakers hope to land a veteran who is cut by another team, specifically Baron Davis or Rashard Lewis.

The Lakers currently owe $91 million to only 11 players, including team options they're expected to exercise on second-year players Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter.

They'll get some tax relief by waiving World Peace or Luke Walton via the one-time "amnesty provision" that teams can employ, cutting one player and not having his salary count against their cap and any taxes.

World Peace (three years remaining, $21.5 million) is more likely to be waived than Walton (two years, $11.5 million) because of his larger contract and the tax implications down the road.

Walton's contract expires in 2013, right before the luxury taxes are ratcheted up, but World Peace will cost the Lakers an estimated $27 million in salary and taxes in 2013-14 under the new rules if the Lakers are $10 million to $15 million over the tax threshold that season, a conservative estimate at this point.

World Peace averaged a career-low 8.5 points last season. He is 32 years old.

The Lakers aren't forced to make their amnesty decision before the season begins, but if World Peace is gone, it might be the first of many financial sacrifices for them in coming years.

Small-market teams, rejoice!

Oh, they already are?

San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt said the agreement would "allow us as a small market to be competitive. It'll create parity across all 30 teams. We're excited for the fans, we're excited to start playing basketball, for the players, for everybody involved."

Those who might not be so excited: the Lakers and their fans.

[email protected]

twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan

Copyright [emoji]169[/emoji] 2011, Los Angeles Times

This has me worried...I wonder how Miami is going to be able to keep thier big three together. Damn small market teams...