Official 2016 Free Agency Thread

What would you pay Dwight? He's looking for the max...

 

I don't want Dwight back, but at the right price (sub-max, say 20 per) he can still play. absolutely must have a stretch-4 with him, though, and randle is the antithesis of that.

edit: for rofy--I think that 20 per figure is perfectly reasonable for howard in the new cap landscape. his max is obviously a crazy amount, though.

I just don't see how the lakers go down that road again. someone will, though. at that price or higher.

 

We dodged this bullet several years ago... now he is what, 3 years older? No thanks.

 

Fair enough. Just wondering.

 

If D12 was still performing like he did before his back injury in Orlando, then I'd give it some thought. But he's not. He's regressed quite a bit. And if his asking price is the max, then we'd have to pass on it.

Shaq is just being Shaq. I can't see any reason why Durant would leave OKC to come here.

 

Imagine if Durant or D12 go to GS. What does that set-off in terms of the wheel of free agents and where they go. Gasol to SA/HOU/MIA? Whiteside to HOU? Drummond to MIA?

Dirk to OKC?

My mind is spinning....

 

For what it's worth on Bleacher Report just got an alert that Scottie Brooks is interested in the Lakers job if Byron is canned. Not the best candidate out there, but if he brings KD with him do it in a heartbeat.

 

Yeah, that's been the word for awhile. He wants the job. He's also living in California right now. I like Brooks. Not my first choice but an upgrade indeed.

 

What I like about Brooks is he actually preaches and teaches defense. The Thunder have been considerably worse on that end without him even with argurably better defensive personnel. Everyone blamed him for all the isolation basketball we saw and guess what? They still play the same way. Why? Because Durant and Westbrook don't trust their supporting cast because they aren't very good. Management traded away two All Stars in Harden and Jackson and another very solid player in Lamb along with extending Ibaka who has been a dissapointment the last couple of seasons and Kanter is just awful. They're gonna have to rely on guys like Kanter, Singler, Dion super scrub Waiters, Adams who I do like, but other than that not much to like. Good luck against SAS or GSW.

Brooks obviously knows how to develop young talent. It's no secret why Durant and Westbrook love him so much. He gave them a chance to be successful and develop. He never benched them for mediocre and inferior players or for trying to take over games. The guy had a system, but no system is gonna work when you have so many non threats offensively like Sefolosha, Perkins, Collison, an over the hill Fisher, etc. That's on management not Brooks. He's a very good basketball coach. He's a great defensive mind, he develops and knows how to communicate, he gets the best out of his talent. They went to the Finals in 2012, West Finals in 2014, #1 seed in 2013, and nearly made the postseason in 2015 despite Durant missing so much time. He'd be an excellent hire.

 

I'm sure Brooks and Thibs are both good at player development. But do they want to do that? Brooks isn't a young pup coach anymore. He turned 50 years old last July and will be 51 next season. Like Thibs, I'm guessing he wants a veteran team to coach to the playoffs rather than a bunch of young guns. He's been there and done that.

 

This team can be in the playoffs with young guns. Not like it's never been done before. Brooks did it before. All they need is the right coach to guide them and perhaps a max player and a couple of solid veteran additions. As bad as Byron was our young guys still made plenty of progress. D'Angelo was night and day compared to the tentative 19 year old kid we saw at the start. Struggled at the end, but at least he wasn't playing passive and looking a bit out of his depth.

Clarkson struggled with his defense, but offensively he was our most consistent player all season long. This would be great for Jordan and trying to get him to work on his defense technique and get him to defend on a consistent basis. Randle also looked like a different player. His rebounding was good all year, but he started to slow his game down and make better decisions with the ball and not being so one dimensional.

Will they be ready to carry us to the playoffs next season? Probably not, but if you get someone like Whiteside who has been dominant in the second half of the season. That will vastly improve the starting unit. I'd take a good look at Bazemore and try and bring him back and move Clarkson to the bench. We don't lose much offensively, but he vastly improves the perimeter defense and is a better fit with Russell. There's at least three starting caliber small forwards in free agency.

Unfortunately it's all moot if Byron is retained.

 

F this guy. Give me Whiteside any day of the week.

 

So do we still throw a max at DeRozan if he continues to suck in the playoffs? I mean I suppose it helps if Toronto loses in the first round, but I'm not sure I want a guy on the Lakers who seems to perennially come up small in the postseason especially getting a max. If we get KD then I think he'll be just fine as a number two option, but definitely doesn't look like a number one guy.

 

I'll get crucified here but i never wanted DeRozan

 

I'll take him all day long and twice on Sunday. Plus, we have cap space to add other pieces with him; so, if he is best served as a primary option ton sign with that will work or he can morph into a secondary option if you add a Durant or Westbrook.

17-65 win teams can't be picky.

 

I don't think it's about being picky. I just don't feel comfortable throwing the max at a guy like DeRozan who has a proven track record of struggling in the postseason. Unless it results in getting Durant or Westbrook.

 

He had a bad game. Long series. Toronto's offense doesn't do him any favors; they usually get exposed in the PO's. 26, All-Star is definitely worth the max, IMO.