Lakers Free Agency Turnaround

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Clayton

It has been a long couple of days for Lakers fans hoping to sign a player or two, but sadly, it has brought us nothing, until now.

Problem is, Lakers management was being ridiculed for wrong reasons.

It was being blown up that the Lakers are inept, due to not being able to nail down guys that they only had a pipe dream of signing anyways. Guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan, and even guys like Tobias Harris (who may or may not have received some interest from the Lakers, and was maxed out by the team who held his restricted free agent rights), were likely never coming to the Lakers.

Fans (and hopefully the front office) may be finally realizing that the Lakers were in really no position to sign the stars. The roster is not making it to the playoffs (and get that crap out of here that they would have if they had taken Jahlil Okafor, because that is idiocy), and mainly loaded with incredibly young talent.

By the time Russell and Co. are ready to start competing (in about 3 or 4 years), Aldridge (for example as he seems to have been the main target) would be around 34.

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Sure, next offseason brings hope in the form of another loaded free agent class, but that is just stupid to depend on. So why would LMA throw away years of his probably already slipping prime and of title contention elsewhere (the Spurs are probably his destination), to play with an aging Kobe, young kids who are years away and hoping to sign free agents in a year or two?

It just does not make sense.

So what the real issue here is not that they struck out on the stars. The real issue here has been that the Lakers struck out on all of the great role players, while they held out futile hope for guys they really only got meetings with, because of the name brand. They had to have known they weren’t really in contention, or they were too ambitious.

Now don’t get me wrong. If a superstar gives you a meeting, you take it. Maybe you get lucky. But if that meeting goes sour or if you think that it is unlikely, you start contacting other players. Immediately

The Lakers had 2 major holes, the small forward (the 3), and at center (the 5).

Here are some guys the Lakers lost out on while waiting for LaMarcus to make a decision, or even missing out on DeAndre Jordan:

3 - DeMarre Carroll, Corey Brewer, Danny Green (more of a two, but has the height, length, shooting and the defense to play the 3), Wes Matthews, and Al Farouq Aminu (overpaid by the Blazers)

5 - Robin Lopez, Tyson Chandler, Ed Davis (maybe a 4), Brandan Wright, and Omer Asik (bad last year but still overpaid)

Now some of them may not have even been interested in playing for LA (yes some my not want to actually play for LA), or maybe the LAkers did not like them either, but there were options.

All of the very good free agent options are gone, with the Lakers left out in the cold, still holding out pathetic hope of landing the star they’ve never really had a chance at.

What the Lakers need to realize themselves (along with fans), is that they cannot take the short cut. Striking deals with superstar free agents is not their thing. The last free agent signing that landed a superstar was Shaq in 1996. So… 19 years… Tell me again that the Lakers sign megastars?

Nope.

Want to know the beauty of that signing in the first place? Shaq joined a Lakers team that had won 53 games the previous season. Know how many games the Lakers won last year? A franchise worst 21 games. That ain’t attracting anyone, not even all the cap space they have.

So again like the last Lakers free agency piece, what is next? Options are few and far between in regards to free agency, guys to possibly take an extreme risk on and choices seem to be narrowed down a bit in the trades department.

With how the Lakers are now, you ideally would pray that Robert Upshaw proves his worth in summer league and seizes the spot, as he has potentially Top 10 talent, but the red flags mean he should probably be forced to show he has matured. It may be best for Upshaw to “chase a carrot” for sometime and learn on the bench to start the season or even the D-League.

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Well, then after so much worry and criticism, the Lakers made a move that makes so much sense and brings the best player to them. The Lakers just took on Roy Hibbert in a salary dump.

Hibbert, may have actually been the best fit for the Lakers other than maybe DeAndre Jordan, and they got him for cheaper, less years, and essentially no risk.

Hibbert does have his issues, such as he is not offensively dominant (or that awfully memorable 0 points and 0 rebounds game against Joel Anthony), but he is not an absolute zero on that end of the floor. Even if George Hill set him up perfectly, he still is not the greatest at finishing at the rim, despite his size.

Where Hibbert excels at is on defense. According to nba.com and their defensive rating, Hibbert posted a 101.1. At first glance, that number is far from elite, but that does not tell the whole story.

What has to be factored in was the team that surrounded Hibbert last year. Luis Scola, Rodney Stuckey, CJ Watson, and Chris Copeland are not the best defenders in the world. David West is ok, but with Paul George out the majority of the year and George Hill out for nearly half, the defense around Hibbert was not good.

With Hill and George out, the Pacers, despite the multitude of bad defenders, still ranked 8th in defensive efficiency.

What do the Lakers need most at the 5 this year? Defense. A very good rim protector to help clean up the mess created by all of his young teammates while they learn. According to shotanalytics.com, Roy Hibbert held opposing teams to an elite, 44% at the rim, and nothing above even 40% in the 8 to 12 foot range. To put that in perspective, only two players in the NBA last year were better at protecting the rim, defensive stalwart Andrew Bogut and the French sensation, Rudy “Stifle Tower” Gobert.

Yeah that is impressive.

Another positive to adding Hibbert? He would be an amazing on the court mentor for Robert Upshaw. Hibbert only has one year left on his deal and it is not for sure that  he will want to return, or that LA will want him after the season.

Upshaw is not under contract yet (only an invite), but after numerous interviews, he appears to be very happy to be with the Lakers summer league team and wants to stay with them. He probably would give the Lakers the first chance to match a contract offered to him by another team, or they can sign him to a multi year, unguaranteed deal. Learning from the bench or playing in the D-League for a year would be great for him.

The deal in acquiring Hibbert is not yet completed, as there is talk about making it into a 3 team sign and trade situation for the Dallas Mavericks and Indian Pacers. The deal is not finalized, but from what I am gathering it could look a little something like this:

Indiana gets: Monta Ellis (4 years and $44 million), and either Raymond Felton and/or Nick Young, rights to Ater Majok (from LA), and probably a heavily protected second round pick in the future.

Dallas gets: Jeremy Lin (deal not yet finalized, but probably in the neighborhood of 3 years and $15 million, but depends mostly on how much they can absorb due to their cap situation), more future assets(?), and Nick Young (?).

Los Angeles gets: Roy Hibbert, Justin Anderson and possibly Raymond Felton (as a salary dump, but likely to be).

Now I am not great with the cap, so Felton’s inclusion and other numbers may not be off some.

For Indiana, this trade gets rid of Hibbert and his big salary (over $13.6 million), as they seem to have soured on each other, and the Pacers want to get faster. The Ellis signing only points more to Paul George running as a playmaking 4, like the Pacers have been discussing. They may need to be taking either Felton or Young back to sweeten the deal for either Dallas or LA.

Dallas gets a solid 1, who has been much maligned since his Linsanity time in New York. He is not the best PG in the league, but he does some things that high quality backups can do. Pass, penetrate and provide some spacing. He is not great at any of it, but with Rick Carlisle getting his hands on him, he could be a valuable player. With signing DeAndre Jordan and Wes Matthews, the Mavericks do not have to cap room to give Lin adequate salary demands, thus the inclusion of Anderson (but get to that in a minute).

Taking Nick Young may not make sense, but the Pacers may not want not absorb Felton, and it appears that the Nick Young is out of town. Shipping Young to Dallas, would provide some stability while Parsons and Matthews recover from possibly severe injuries. So why include Anderson again? I am getting to that.

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Making this deal for LA makes sense in acquiring Hibbert, but the other two teams need to shuffle salaries a bit. The Lakers have no need to help out either team. Sure they took Hibbert, but he fits well with the Lakers.

So why further help with Lin getting to Dallas and helping Dallas send Ellis to Indiana? Well first off, they may be able to get rid of Young. His deal is not terrible, but I have never been a huge fan. Good offense, but he is pathetic on defense. Plus, his role is now in question due to another acquisition that will be discussed in another minute. What the deal really could get the Lakers is the real prize, Justin Anderson.

Anderson is an athletic freak with incredible leaping ability and an insane wingspan, who would fill a big hole at the 3. He shot well in his final year at Virginia, but his mechanics were again off at the combine, much how they were in his first two years at Virginia. That may be due to injuries he suffered this past season. If he can revert back to that form, it would be huge as he shot 45% from deep before his wrist injury.

The Lakers did draft Anthony Brown, but Anderson is slightly younger and flat out better. I would probably try to keep Brown as he was a second round pick and has no guarantee at a contract. Keeping Brown would form a very good rotation at the 3, not to mention longer 4s in smaller lineups.

So the Lakers could demand that Anderson be included in the deal, to sweeten it for them. This would hurt for the Mavs, but getting rid of the cap hold on Anderson would free up more money to secure Lin.

Now before anyone starts going crazy (as I have a bit already, as I want Simba badly), this is speculation, and the framework may fall through. The entire deal can not be agreed upon until the 9th of July anyways due to the memorandum, so maybe that is why it is tight lipped at the moment. We will see. At minimum, the Lakers are getting Hibbert in just a salary dump, the rest would just be gravy.

Do not forget, Robert Sacre and Ryan Kelly have been rumored to be in the deal as well. This would move salary in Kelly (plus his stagnation), and possibly give Upshaw Sacre’s spot. With Sacre gone, Tarik Black would be the only back up big, so Upshaw deep on the bench would be a solid move to learn.

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After all of this, the Lakers also went out and signed Lou Williams as their bench scorer. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year, is clearly and offensive spark plug. Problem is, Williams signed for three years and $21 million. This only hints that Nick Young is included somehow in the deal mentioned above. With Young on the roster, it appears that Lou would not be able to get this contract.

Lou is a fan favorite it seems among the league, and is very much a valuable bench scorer. He only seems to be getting better after his ACL tear a couple years ago, and winning the award only adds to this.

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of the deal. Lou is essentially a 6’1” shooting guard, who finishes poorly at the rim. His salary of $7 million will only be roughly 7% of the cap next year, so it really is not all that bad. he is a very good shooter, and it much more consistent than Young. The best part of it, he can help teach the young guns, but also that it would get rid of the headache known as Nick Young.

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On top of the trade for Hibbert and Williams, the Lakers added veteran rotation big (and a former liked player by me), Brandon Bass to the mix. He will provide good leadership and mentorship for the young guys on their way up. The years and dollars are not yet known on Bass, but it cannot be too long or expensive.

Really the only downfall of bringing Bass (other than Jeff having to officially hate him now), is that he could steal minutes away from the young guys. Inept Byron Scott is an idiot and probably give Bass the majority of the minutes.

Are the Lakers going to be world beaters, or even playoff contenders? No, but what they are doing is making solid moves after having a disappointing start to the free agency period. The roster seems to be shaping up nicely, maybe even forming an identity, while even possibly be making another solid addition in the young asset department (by adding Justin Anderson).

There will be ups and downs to the year, but it will be very exciting to see how the team grows. Do not count on making the playoffs, but do expect to be entertained and get excited for the future of the Lakers.

Only a couple months ago we were saying the Lakers could have the worst future outlook in the entire league. A few days ago we were saying the Lakers would be screwed for years. Now, we added very good veterans, have major young building blocks already on the roster, possibly adding another, and have a true wildcard in the form of an immensely talented big man who went undrafted. Maybe the front office is not so bad after all.


To follow Clayton go to @19Yanks23 on Twitter

Lakers free agency so far...

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Clayton -

If you have been reading our blog so far, you may have noticed that it has been heavily basketball orientated so far. This may be mainly my fault. For a few years I lost the love for it, but ever since last June, I found my love for it again.

Don’t get me wrong, as the resident Lakers fan, I loved the championships (the last one only happened 6 years ago...), but after the league killed the Chris Paul to Lakers trade, I soured for sometime. I watched games, kept up with things, but I did not have the connection to it that I used to.

Then comes 2014 NBA Draft time. I all of a sudden am renewed with excitement for basketball, once we get the 7th pick. I was hoping that Marcus Smart would fall or Joel Embiid’s injury would make him slide, but thankfully that did not happen (as Embiid may be out another year).

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Obviously the Lakers took Julius Randle at 7, who had been projected at times to go as high as 2nd overall, but I still was not happy with the pick. He had his own foot injury, showed up to camp overweight and had a ton of flaws. The pick of the draft (well at least for LA) was the Lakers actually buying off the 46th pick from the Washington Wizards to pick eventual All-Rookie team point guard Jordan Clarkson.

Free agency was terrible. The Lakers focused on a terrible idea of signing Carmelo Anthony, to take over for the aging and injury prone Kobe. Thankfully, Melo re-signed with New York, but the process was so drawn out, and the team was afraid of restricted free agents (RFA), that all the good talent was either gone, or in a holding pattern due to RFA.

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So they re-signed Nick Young (4 years and $21.5 million) to a terrible contract that should have been noticeably awful from the beginning. Unfortunately due to a good season, everyone overlooked his career as a streaky shooter who played matador defense.

Then the Lakers re-signed Jordan Hill to a 2 year, $18 million deal with a team option after one year, thinking that a team would trade for him, but he disappointed all year.

The nail in the coffin was claiming the amnestied Carlos Boozer. Oi...

Not only did they strike out on a terrible free agency plan to begin with, but they signed two guys to dreadful deals and claimed another terrible one.

One solid was the Lakers absorbing Jeremy Lin’s contract to acquire the Houston Rockets draft pick. We knew it was not going to be high, but it was a good asset. He is not the best guard in the world, but he is definitely not the worst either. He filled a hole for a season and brought us an asset as well.

Then, Randle broke his leg in the season opener. The team around the rookie was awful, though some stupidly thought it was decent, so I knew immediately what the Lakers should start doing (and after some of the pick ups, this could actually been the plan all along).

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Tank.

Tank the hell out of the season.

Send it all up in flames.

Lose every game for all I care, and actually, I want you to lose every game.

Now this sounds terrible and the stigma of tanking is a dark cloud for most, but many did not realize this, the Lakers would have lost their pick if they picked lower than 5th.

We need that pick desperately.

So all season, injuries mounted, rookies for the D-League played, and I prayed for the Lakers to keep their pick.

NBA Lottery night came and pick seven rolled around (the lowest the Lakers could have gone, but still would have given up the pick), and I was about to pass out from nervousness. The Denver Nuggets were called. Then at six, the Sacramento Kings were called.

B-I-N-G-O!!! Lakers keep their pick!!! By the end of it, the Lakers ended up jumping the 76ers (who had made a trade at the deadline to acquire the rights to our pick if it fell out of the Top 5. and has to be Top 3 in order for the Lakers to keep the pick), and essentially just flipped spots with the New York Knicks.

THE LAKERS HAVE THE SECOND OVERALL PICK!!!

Then suddenly, it hit me… We would probably be taking Jahlil Okafor. The presumed top pick since his senior year of high school. The 6’11” big man with the 7’5” wingspan and the wonderful post moves.

Yay!..... wait… Okafor? The big man with probably below average athleticism? The big man who has range to maybe 8 feet? The guy with huge hands, but can’t make a free throw? The believed superstar with bad conditioning issues and bad defense?

Post men are valuable, but it has been years since a team had a dominant low post guy as the focal point of the team. If you want to argue a few guys, that is a story for another time or the comments.

So…….. What are the Lakers other options? Well Karl-Anthony Towns is going No.1 overall so don't even waste your time. To me, that left point guards D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay. In the modern NBA, the league is driven by dynamic guards.

D’Angelo, the sweet shooting combo guard with good handles and range for days, but not the greatest athleticism and poor defense as well. Maybe compared to James Harden? That sounds good.

Mudiay, a personal favorite, the crazy athletic point guard who may be best comparable to a pass first Tyreke Evans (think his insane rookie year, not his terrible sophomore year or first year in New Orleans). He lacks a proven jump shot, but despite what the casual fan says, the shot is not broken and just needs coaching. Plus, he is a possible elite defender at the position with insanely functional athleticism. Sign me up.

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Well as times goes on and the draft draws near, I am resigned to the Lakers being stuck in the past and taking Okafor, despite what I feel are two superior players. Then, two days before the draft, rumors swirl of the Lakers being highly intrigued by Russell.

It has to be just a smokescreen. Rumors of a DeMarcus Cousins trade seems to mean that Russell may actually be the better fit, but Sacramento owner Vivek Ranadive is holding firm with Vlade Divac against George Karl in trading Cousins.

Well then roles in draft night. No one knows who the Lakers are picking, but everyone is assuming it will be Okafor. No one seems to know, not even the great Adrian Wojnarowski.

Then, the Lakers decide to be forward thinkers and take Russell, to the dismay of so many. The Lakers make two more picks on the night (Larry Nance Jr. at 27 and Anthony Brown at 34) and the future looks a bit brighter.

Not to mention, snagging the insanely talented but deeply troubled Robert Upshaw as an undrafted free agent to a summer league invite. Go check out Draft Express on him. His defensive numbers are insane. If he can lose his demons, he has a very high ceiling.

Now let me get to the whole point of this article, free agency is now in full affect. Over a billion dollars has been spent on players and guys are flying off the board.

But the Lakers are just sitting here after they have apparently struck out on signing LaMarcus Aldridge (pipe dream), maybe Greg Monroe (bad fit and now with the Bucks anyways), and the guy who I think we should have thrown everything at, DeAndre Jordan. I won’t get into too much about these guys, as most should know about them already.

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The thing I will say though is this, even though LaMarcus is the better overall player, DeAndre is the better fit. LaMarcus wants to stay at power forward (4), and we need a rim protecting center (5). Not to mention, Aldridge is about to turn 30, while Jordan is only about to turn 27.The minor age gap helps Jordan out. With how the team is set up, DeAndre catching lobs in transition, grabbing a ton of rebounds and blocking shots is just something that fits best, despite the lack of a real offensive game.

Now what do the Lakers do after they underwhelmed the big men? First they need to not get on any form of social media.

The fans are absolutely butchering them online. Saying the front office is incompetent, out of touch and just boring. Now maybe the Lakers are way behind the times in terms of analytics (something this site firmly believes in), but do not come at me with that garbage of the Lakers are incompetent.

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Yes we are in this mess, but the Lakers have had a bit of bad luck. After pulling off a bit of a coup in trading for Dwight Howard (I hated the trade, ask Jeff, and I always knew he was going to leave, yes I believed 100% that he was bolting), and paying a bit too much for Steve Nash, the Lakers looked like they were about to go off again. A star quartet of Kobe, Dwight, Nash and Pau Gasol looked very good. Not to mention, the previously mentioned CP3 trade, which was vetoed by Dan Gilbert’s crying to David Stern. All great moves, though they did not work out as planned.

Then players got injured (Kobe and Nash) and we all should have known Dwight was leaving, as he never gave any indication he was going to stay. That is not the front office’s fault. The moves were hailed at the time and they were great risks.

But despite 5 titles since the turn of the millennia, the fans were livid.

Then the following year, after Carmelo dragged out the process and chose to stay in New York, fans were livid.

Their reasoning why people should come to LA? Well it’s L.A.! It’s Tinseltown. It’s beaches and sunshine and blah blah blah. This appears to be part of the failed proposal of Jeannie Buss, who won’t get off the airwaves, bashing brother Jim Buss. It is ridiculous. It is now debatable that she is more to blame than Jim.

Most athletes have summer homes in California, and during the season you are traveling, so who cares?

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Well then it is the prestige the Lakers have. This is a good one, but after the Laker killing new collective bargaining agreement, a lot of their advantages went away.

Well if not those two, playing with Kobe is awesome. That is not always the case, but factor in the mileage on his legs, his real age and his continuing physical breakdown, he is not the same player he once was.

Yet all the blame is put onto the front office. Do they have some fault in some guys not coming, especially not bringing in solid young role players to help the rebuild? Sure, but do not act like they have not made great moves in the past. Fans have the shortest memory, it is unbelievable.

Fans are expecting stars or superstars to come, saying that is how the Lakers build. Actually that is in no way the case. The Lakers have never built through free agency. their last big free agent signing? Shaq back in 1996, and he was added to a team that won 53 games the year before! He was the finishing piece, well other than trading for Kobe on draft night.

Before him? Really no one. All the Lakers stars have been acquired through the draft or trades.

So go ahead and shut up and stop talking that nonsense that the Lakers build in free agency. Is it ok to be disappointed that the Lakers missed on the best big men? Yes it is ok, but it is not the end of the world. It is not like we are making the playoffs anyways next year. We are in the middle of a rebuild, and people need to finally come to grips with this.

So what is there to do now? Nail the rest of free agency. As off this moment (it is around 11 o’clock at night on July 1st) (Editor’s Note: it is now 10 o’clock on June 2nd, so Robin Lopez is gone), the Lakers have not been told they are truly out of the running for Aldridge or Jordan, but now we are steep underdogs to get them.

So again, what should the Lakers do? Go to the back up plans. So many guys have been signed that there are only a few good options left. The Lakers need a 3 or a 5. After the big guys are gone and most of the mid tier centers are gone, the only solid defensive big man left is Kostas Koufos (Robin Lopez just signed with the Knicks...). The best option at the 3 is to try for RFA Tobias Harris.

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To me, the best option is to go after is Harris. The Magic are unlikely to match offers for him, and he is still only 22. He would be a solid fit, despite some of his own playing style issues, but he is likely the best option left.

The dream now would be to sign Harris and Koufos. It seems it should be achievable. I would like to believe that Koufos’ market would be roughly Brandan Wright money, 3 years and $18 million, so pairing the two could be done without dumping salaries.

Though it may be a bit of a disappointment, signing Kostas Koufos at the 5 would not be terrible. He played very well in Memphis, and has low mileage. He is not a great player, but he is a solid defender and should come reasonably cheap, allowing to sign Harris. Maybe one more option in unrestricted free agency could be Bismack Biyombo, but I would try to look into other options before settling on him, maybe even bringing back Jordan Hill after declining his option.

Enes Kanter is sort of out there, but he does not fit the team and is a RFA. You could reach out to Larry Sanders, but he is a complete basket case, and rumored to be taking time off from the game to get his life together.

Are those our only options? I feel that the rumors lead us to believe that the Lakers have a better chance at nabbing Harris right now, so let’s go the next portion of targeting big men. In free agency those seem to be our only choices, so yes, but there could be possible trade targets. With these guys, you have to take into account that the Lakers have limited trade assets, and even those are just salaries (Nick Young, Ryan Kelly, Robert Sacre and unguaranteed contracts of Robert Sacre, Jabari Brown and Tarik Black).

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Maybe you can get the Warriors to throw in Festus Ezeli (or Marreese Speights, but they just picked up his options and they really like him) if you take on David Lee’s deal (and then likely ship him out as well, or just hold his expiring contract). Roy Hibbert does not appear to wanted in Indiana, especially with drafting Myles Turner, but do they want to get rid of him bad enough that they dump him for some of the guys mentioned above? Probably not. Those may be the two best options.

Two unlikely but maybe a bit cheaper, or easier to get, could be Miles Plumlee from Milwaukee, Alex Len from Phoenix (already signed Tyson Chandler and rumored to be a possible spot for Aldridge). Maybe with drafting Karl-Anthony Towns, the Lakers can try to nab, Gorgui Deing, but that iis highly unlikely. You could look into one of the 7 centers the 76ers have, with realistically maybe one as a chance, but they would want draft picks, which the Lakers have few of. Portland has a few young guys, but with LMA likely leaving, they will probably hold onto Mason Plumlee or Meyers Leonard, so you can likely count them out.

The Thunder appear to have a stockpile of young big men in Enes Kanter (he is their RFA, but they appear intent on playing him with Serge Ibaka), Steven Adams, Mitch McGary or veteran Nick Collison, not to mention recent draft pick Dakari Johnson who they intend on signing, and probably playing in the D-League. The Thunder do appear to have too many guys under contract and still intend to sign Kanter after re-signing Kyle Singler yesterday as well. They may need to get rid of some bodies.

Some of those guys aren't very appealing, or some aren't even very good. Then again, some may be just outright impossible to pull away. Now don’t start wit me that we should have drafted Okafor. Russell was a great pick. Don’t over think it.

What is most important is that the Lakers were not thinking playoffs this year. They are thinking towards the future. So stop worrying about next season. We aren't swinging a 30 game improvement and beating out any of the playoff teams. The Lakers need to develop players, get them playing time, and fix what is wrong with their free agent pitch, as we head into the next two years of free agency with superstars possibly changing teams due to the massive cap spike.

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So Lakers, stay the course. Do not worry about the common fan that has no clue. Build for title contention for the next 10-5 years, not the next 1 or 2 of questionable playoff appearances.

You can find Clayton on Twitter at @19Yanks23