[:: LAKERS 2014 THREAD | POLL: Who Should Coach Next Year? ::]

[senorroboto2k5]

wth

Man you just set yourself up for another round of old man jokes

 

[bravelude]

Just running the numbers, trading the pick for Love won't make us a contender in 2014, nor will it in 2015.

Love, Nash & Kobe would be $49mil of the $62mil salary cap. Without any other moves really available except for overpaying a Luol Deng, or resigning Pau, 95% of your cap is taken up by 4 starters. And we'll lose good role players that we can't keep anymore; Wes, Farmar, Bazemore, Xavier. Will be an extremely flimsy team, and have to piece together 75% of the rotation on cheap deals like this year.

LetAssume we give Kelly, the Sacre extension 3year / $4mil guaranteed. Well worth it to keep him around for between $1-2mil a year.


So 2015 would have Kobe ($25mil), Kevin Love ($18 and some change). $2.5mil for Sacre & Kelly. About $17mil left. Rondo will require a 30% max salary of $18mil. We couldn't sign both of them if we wanted to.


Now if you keep the pick:
And you lock up a few guys multiple years for cheap. Sacre, Farmar, Kelly, Wes. They can be 7-10 in a championship caliber rotation.

#4pick + those 4 in 2015 would be $10mil. Add Kobe & Love that's 7 men of the rotation for $53mil.

2016 $12mil for the #4 pick + the 4 cheapies. Add Love at $19 mil. That's 6 men of a rotation for $32mil. By 2016 that #4 pick is either your 6th man or a solid starter. If he's a starter. You can go after Durant. Then put $10mil into the other 2 starters. Then $5mil into your 6th man.




Moral of the story. We can't contend next year or the year after. There's only 1 circumstance that we could. Nash retires, LeBron decides he wants to be a Laker. We keep the pick. That isn't happening.

That's only if those guys wanna come here.  Kobe's confident talk is looking far-fetched.  I don't think they are going to be able to contend either.  It's sad, but true.  Unless something happens.  

 

[essential1]

Gross overreactions to the tourney continue...

He's been hoopin like this since the tourney last year tho... How many games of his have you watched??

He's projected late 1st - Early 2nd.. You don't reach that far for a player.

And when you do.. See cavs Anthony Bennett.

Bennett wasn't a huge reach, AT THE TIME.. Maybe 5 or 6 picks. The reason the surprise is because Noel fit better. They needed a Center for the future. Couldn't draft 1 or 2 with Kyrie & Waiters. They already had drafted Tristan and Bennett is too fat to play 3.

Bill Simmons reaction

 

[pmatic]

I think Bennett was a semi-huge reach. Most people expected Noel or Oladipo going #1.

 

[trynafeelmink]

It's crazy to me that they didn't get Oladipo... He's PERFECT to play alongside Kyrie and he could defend both spots, has a lot of upside.

 

[yeezusdisciple]

Swaggy p got robbed smh

 

[daddyrabbit251]

Damn man they flocked P

 

[sb]

 

[lovehateself]

It's crazy to me that they didn't get Oladipo... He's PERFECT to play alongside Kyrie and he could defend both spots, has a lot of upside.

like @Essential1  said, there was  no need for oladipo at the time since they had kyrie and waiters. the cavs needed a legit big man and i guess they were put off by noel's injury. they then went on to sign Bynum on a low risk/high reward deal and we all know how the pick and signing ended up working out for them....

 

[trynafeelmink]

There have been rumblings of trading Waiter since last season tho... They could have easily shipped him off and got a decent return. There has been 0% chance of that backcourt working at all.

Two ball dominate shoot first guards who don't play a lick of defense and both want to be the man.

 

[lovehateself]

There have been rumblings of trading Waiter since last season tho... They could have easily shipped him off and got a decent return. There has been 0% chance of that backcourt working at all.

Two ball dominate shoot first guards who don't play a lick of defense and both want to be the man.

issues were with Mike Brown. 

prior to the trade deadline there were rumors of talks with the lakers about us wanting waiters or a 1st round pick being included for us to send them gasol for bynums non-guaranteed contract. this would have made them a playoff team btu they didnt want to give up too much and eventually settled for deng. he made them a bit better but theyre still a few games out of the final spot and theres no chance he's staying unless they offer a max deal. 

point being, that backcourt isnt gonna work, in terms of them becoming contenders. the cav team culture right now, is not a winning one

 

[licensed to ball]

If CP and P were as #TeamTank as they claim they would of given Mike Brown a fair shot like I pleaded for

We'd be well on our way to worst record and highest chance of the #1 pick if you guys would of just given my dude a chance

 

[CP1708]

Last year we tryin to win a title. But Brown broke the old guys during the preseason (literally, you have to be a special kind of stupid to wear down your old guys before the first game) and they were behind the 8 ball from there on.

We could def use Brown help this year tho. We need to be on that Philly plan.

 

[pmatic]

Uh, you must've forgot.

I was being pretty reasonable with Brownie until the end when he lost the team.

 

[CP1708]

Me too.

Til we beat Detroit, that's when I lost it.

 

[licensed to ball]

Dat 4 and a half hour 1st practice

 

[pmatic]

On that note, the Lakers might have dodged a bullet not hiring Rick Adelman.

He seems to be going through the motions with the T'Wolves. But a lot probably has to do with his wife being ill and being a mediocre team (not that the Lakers seem to be soooo much better at the moment).

 

[licensed to ball]

P is there any former NBA coach that is currently out of the league that you feel didn't get a fair shake?

Someone that might still deserve a 2nd shot but isn't getting one?

 

[pmatic]

I think Alvin Gentry and Nate McMillian's in their last years, didn't get fair shakes. Gentry (borderline NBA retread) was given a Suns roster that was destined to fail and McMillian was the victim of a revolt led by Ray Felton lol.

But I really wouldn't them as head coaches myself.

Stan Van Gundy too, since Magic ownership fired him to appease Dwight. He on the other hand, I would be all for.

 

[licensed to ball]

Thanks. Good looks on those names.
I've been wondering why McMillian hasn't been given another shot as head coach.

Did he wear players down?

 

[CP1708]

McMillan sucked here in Portland. Poor rotations, poor adjustments, and wore guys down. Even the Portland media started railing him. (They back anybody) yet they all wanted him out.

He's a Karl guy, easy to see why he stinks.

 

[pmatic]

I think he didn't loosen up the reigns enough. But then again, when a player revolt is led by Ray Felton, I get suspicious of the players moreso than the head coach I think there was another player or two involved (Jamal Crawford and Marcus Camby?) too.

 

[pmatic]

Vonleh profile by Ford, Pelton and Elhassan

360 draft profile: Noah Vonleh

Noah Vonleh | 6-foot-10, 240 pounds | PF | freshman

Chad Ford's Top 100: No. 7
Strengths: Rebound%
Weaknesses: Usage, Assist%
WARP projection: 2.5 (fifth among Top 100)
Comparables: Chris Bosh (97.9), Derrick Favors (97.7), Spencer Hawes (94.7), Kosta Koufos (94.5)

The analytics perspective

Kevin Pelton: While Vonleh does not project as a valuable player as a rookie, his long-term future appears bright from a statistical standpoint in large part because of his age. Vonleh won't turn 19 years old until August, making him one of the youngest prospects in the draft. At Indiana, Vonleh scored primarily around the basket, but his 48.5 percent 3-point shooting and 71.6 percent accuracy from the foul line suggest he could eventually follow his best comp, Chris Bosh, to the perimeter.

For now, Vonleh will contribute most as a rebounder. He pulled down better than one in four misses by opponents, ranking 12th in the NCAA in defensive rebound rate, per kenpom.com. His translated rebound rate is third among 2014 draft prospects, and Vonleh is also an above-average shot-blocker for a power forward.

The scouting perspective

Amin Elhassan: Vonleh is a long, active athlete with great agility and fluidity. He has a very soft shooting touch as a big, with range that stretches out to the college 3-point line, where he shot 16-of-33 this season. He's an excellent runner in transition, can change direction and avoid defenders trying to draw contact.

Despite his physique and athleticism, he's not a very good pick-and-roll player, as he tends to drift toward the pop more often, and when he does roll, he doesn't have great timing or conviction coming out of the screen. Even so, Vonleh has all the physical tools and is skilled enough to be a tough cover as a roll man.

Vonleh does a good job of fighting for post position from block to block, despite his relatively slim frame, which allows more physical defenders to push him off the block and knock him off balance. He's at his best when he's able to reverse pivot and face his man, then attack off the bounce. He must recognize when he's clearly superior athletically and can just blow past his man. He owns good use of either hand around the rim, but has a tendency to bring the ball down.

Defensively, he's an excellent rebounder who will board outside of his area, using his length and agility to cover lots of space. He exhibits adequate awareness, although his reaction time is a little slow, particularly when asked to guard or recover to a stretch big. On pick-and-roll plays, team philosophy seemed to dictate he should hang back rather than hedge or jump the screen; but there's no reason he can't guard out on the perimeter.

The NBA front office perspective

Chad Ford: Vonleh has been in the top 10 of our Big Board virtually all year. While NBA scouts had doubts about his NBA readiness before the season began -- some still do -- they see him as someone with incredible NBA upside. He's big, he's athletic, he can score both inside and outside, he rebounds and he has a reputation of being a hard worker and someone who is easy to coach. Players like that don't really grow on trees.

He's a lock for the Top 10. The question really is: How high can he go? Two players who play his position, Kentucky's Julius Randle and Arizona's Aaron Gordon, are currently ranked ahead of him right now. Randle is more NBA-ready, and has more offensive skills in the paint at the moment. Gordon is the best athlete of the group, and is already an elite defender. But Vonleh is bigger than both, has a more established outside game than either player and is a terrific rebounder. He's probably less ready than Randle and Gordon to come in and compete as a rookie, but many scouts believe that in three years, he might be the best of the bunch.

His biggest fans in the NBA agree with Kevin Pelton's Chris Bosh comparison. If that's accurate, he should be a top-5 pick. If he's something less than that, then we probably have him accurately pegged at No. 7 on our Big Board. Workouts might be key for him. NBA teams are going to try to get these three in for workouts together, and if Vonleh can dominate there, he'll likely leapfrog both.

Passing on the possibly the next Bosh would be tough.

 

[worldbeefreeg]

I love Vonleh as a prospect would much rather have him than Gordon.

 

[pmatic]

I'm looking forward to his measurements (wingspan and standing reach) the most out of all the prospects.

If he measures long enough, coupled with his rebounding he might be able to play center like a Bosh/Noah/Varejao.