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

[oreomamba21]

I'm sick to my stomach that the CLIPPERS might end up with CP3.

 

[kobe8is]

Originally Posted by mjrod1985

Whatever moves we are going to do for Howard, please keep Pau...

This!

 

[Lizakers]

if we end up with Kobe, Gasol and Dwight I will consider it a successful offseason

Sign Billups and some good role players and LET'S GO!!!

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Do you guys think if CP goes to Clippers he'll be signing long-term with them? If not do you like our chances for him in the offseason? I want to think Mitch can find the room to get him.

 

[frenchblue23]

Odom was very serviceable for the last 7 years, but no doubt I will always remember the way he left the Lakers as a big cry baby.  
Who's does that seriously?      Gasol like a man, accepted the situation, and now he's way beyond good in my book, if not so already. 

 

[hunter2k4]

Adrian Wojnarowski is now reporting the CP3 to Clippers deal is dead... the league was trying to rob the Clips. by including Bledsoe

Also sources are saying D.Howard might have a change of heart and decide to stay in Orlando after all, provided management shuffles some players around to make the team substantially better

 

[darthska]

mrfantastic21:

---

I'm sick to my stomach that the CLIPPERS might end up with CP3.
I have a feeling that proposal will get approved, and that would be such a joke if it does.

Our offer (basically):
- Lamar Odom (Lakers)
- Kevin Martin (Rockets)
- Luis Scola (Rockets)
- 2011 1st rd pick (Rockets)
- 2012 1st rd pick (Lakers)

Clippers offer (basically):
- Eric Gordon
- Chris Kaman
- 2012 1st rd pick

So if you're comparing those 2 lists, the 2012 picks cancel each other out, since they're the same exact thing. So if the Clippers trade proposal is approved, David Stern is saying that… …

- Eric Gordon
- Chris Kaman

… … IS BETTER THAN… …

- Lamar Odom
- Kevin Martin
- Luis Scola
- 2011 1st rd pick

Eff outta here.

 

[guttagetsbusy]

And I just remembered that Shannon Brown signed with the Suns

I hope the rookies play well for us. I liked the spark that Breezy provided.

 

[af1 1982]

I have a feeling Kobe will go off this year. Well rested. The knee surgery went good. Coming of a sweep. I say he finishes top 5 in MVP voting

 

[krazyrodzilla]

CP3 to Clippers deal is dead WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[oreomamba21]

Thank god CP3 deal to the Clippers is dead. SMH at D12 having a change of heart. Looks like were not getting neither of them.

 

[freeze]

oh, glad that deal is dead, cp3 to the clips wouldve been scary 0_0...cp3...BGriffin..Crayon Buttler...lol...deandre jordan..aminu...pretty solid squad

 

[la kb24]

i dont think they would have been that good if you ask me if they got him

 

[nermindee]

http://www.lakersnation.c...wight-howard/2011/12/12/

 

[ryda421]

sad to see lamar go, but he wanted it so what can you do

 

[lokid40]

 

[moneylicious]

Cant believe I just watched the full 3:50

 

[knightngale]

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan
Why trade Odom? Kupchak: "To have waited 2 or 3 weeks...with Lamar when he’s not at practice, would have sucked energy away from the team."
Apparently, he thinks that the TPE can be useful. I doubt he will do anything more than signing some non name scrubs or rookies to make up for Odom.
I doubt the Lakers even have a chance at getting vets like Billups or Hamilton if they are cut.

Mitch is in love with TPEs and he does not even use them. What an idiot.

 

[dapurplengold213]

this has turned into a darn circus... wish we had just upgraded at the PG spot. I agree with what Kobe said. We go to 3 finals in a row then we lose (badly) one year and everyone wants to blow it up. Maybe we just needed to upgrade the obvious PG weakness. I really don't think we need an All Star PG.

edit:doesn't seem like dwight is coming to LA for now

 

[just blazed]

read from bottom to top




Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

Wouldn't Odom be a useful piece in a Dwight Howard trade offer? Kupchak: "There was no big deal available to us when we made this decision."

6 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

Why trade Odom? Kupchak: "To have waited 2 or 3 weeks...with Lamar when he’s not at practice, would have sucked energy away from the team."

12 minutes ago https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

Kupchak, again on nixed Paul trade to Lakers: "We did the best we can to express our displeasure."

19 minutes ago https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

NBA's decision to nix Chris Paul trade to the Lakers was "completely unexpected," Kupchak said. "I'm not sure it's ever happened before."

22 minutes ago https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

Of course, there's wiggle room with the word "expect" here. Expecting to have them and actually having them all season are two diff things.

27 minutes ago https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#https://twitter.com/#

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan

Mitch Kupchak has spoken: "We think we have three of the best players in the NBA—Andrew, Pau and Kobe. We expect to have them all season."

 

[noblekane]

lol kupchak has lost his mind. he still thinks the lakers can land paul. son is on drugs

 

[knightngale]

He still has no reasonable explanation for trading Odom to the team that swept the Lakers.

I knew the Gasol deal was a fluke. Dude keeps making terrible moves.

He is crazy if he thinks Gasol+Bynum+Kobe will be serious contenders this year minus Odom and Shannon. Especially if they only add some NBDL scrubs.

 

[rex ryan]

Originally Posted by NobleKane

lol kupchak has lost his mind. he still thinks the lakers can land paul. son is on drugs

honestly i think them, the clippers, golden state or whoever else still has an outside shot at acquiring him via a trade if they play their cards right.

the closer the trading deadline gets i expect stern to ease off of some of his outrageous unreasonable demands.  once the realization of him leaving in the offseason and new orleans not getting anything in return becomes much more of a potential reality i expect stern to back down somewhat.  if/when he does, i hope the lakers, clippers, and anyone else interested lowball the hell outta him to teach him a lesson.

 

[krazyrodzilla]

Bottom line for Kupchak: If team can be improved, it will be. Only person guaranteed to be in L.A. is Kobe (no trade clause).

 

[just blazed]

Mike_Bresnahan Mike Bresnahan
Kupchak contended the Lakers weren't done looking for ways to improve: “We are pursuing big deals right now." No guarantees, though. None.

- Let's start with Kupchak's overall bottom line/state of affairs: "If we can figure out a way to improve this team, we will do it. There's no guarantee that anyone will be here with the exception of Kobe, because he has a no trade clause."

Q: On L.A. still actively pursuing potential "big" trades:
Kupchak: "We are pursuing big deals right now. That has not changed. More than one big deal. But there could be more than one big deal that involves players other than the two you're thinking about.

- Kupchak was asked what brought about the shift in looking for big deals, when he's maintained this offseason that the team could win as was constructed. His simple answer: "Opportunity." To go further, once all of the teams were finally cut loose to talk to players/agents and the like, and figured out what the rules were, things began to present themselves.

- All big trades or small trades have the same goal for Kupchak: "A team that can be better than the team that got beat in the second round last year."

Q: On if the roster is worse than it was last season at present day:
Kupchak: "We're trying to improve our position (from last season). I think if we had gone to the Finals or won the Finals, you could say that we've taken a step back. But we got beat in the second round. Losing Lamar and not having Shannon Brown is a blow in terms of talent for this team, but it's not like we're breaking up a championship team … We will look to add to this mix."

Q: On the proposed trade from last week presumably involving New Orleans and Houston:
Kupchak: "There was never a trade that was announced, but clearly we were working towards something with other teams that we thought would result in a trade. It was disqualified by the NBA. (That was) completely unexpected … unique circumstances with the (Hornets) being run by the NBA. We did the best we could to express our displeasure, and to date there has been no change."

Q: On Odom being sent to Dallas:
Kupchak: "Lamar was sent to Dallas because he requested to be traded. That's not to say that we wouldn't have done something down the road. But the timing was such, and it's all tied into what took place last week, the unfortunate circumstances of Thursday and Friday. Lamar is probably more sensitive and emotional than most people, in particular our players, and that's a plus more than it's a minus. But in this case, he couldn't get over the fact that something like that took place. We were hoping that things would change in a day or two, but his representative called me on Saturday and said it's not going to change, and requested that (Odom) be traded. We worked together to find a spot that would give us the most flexibility going forward. There are a lot of teams in the NBA that would take a player like Lamar and you could probably do it in a day, but you'd have to take back players, and you might not like the players you were getting back, and there might be long (financial) commitments going out. That's not something we were interested in doing. All that does is handicap us going forward. To find a slot where you can just create complete flexibility and get back a pick (is unique).

- Kupchak went on to explain that it's the organization's philosophy to look after the Lakers first and foremost in a trade, and think less about with whom they're making the trade, even if it's in the team's division. He cited having traded within the division before (like Cedric Ceballos and Phoenix in the 1990's), and the team isn't "afraid of that." Taking precedence was the window in which a deal could be made, in which complete flexibility was a big key for L.A.'s future plans. Also, Kupchak was worried about energy being sucked away from the team with the "environment" that existed due to Odom's trade demand.

- Kupchak said that the Odom trade was "well thought out." He didn't deny that teams haven't gone through such a frenetic environment before due to the massively compressed time frame between when the CBA was ratified and the start of the season, but the Odom decision, he and Dr. Buss and Jim Buss collectively felt, needed to be made. Were they to wait a month or two to make the numbers work, find a team that had an exception, was anything but a guarantee. The key to making future moves is being flexible.

- The players are well aware that the roster could very well change tomorrow, or at any point of this season or in the future. Kupchak explained that while he felt badly about trade rumors some players had to deal with (particularly Pau Gasol), everyone understands that the players are paid a lot to play, the coaches to coach and management to manage.

- Kupchak does not anticipate using the team's amnesty clause for this season. They plan on carrying it forward to future seasons.