Lakers getting swept?

[aygov]

I've gotta say I didn't expect the Lakers to get out of this series and I was hoping for a sweep, but I didn't expect them to get so completely and utterly destroyed by the Mavs. I fully expect, now that Phil is gone, this current Laker team to be blown up. Kobe will stay, but the rest of them are up in the air and I think Pau is pretty much gone already. There are rumors of the Lakers getting D. Howard which isn't that crazy since they do have some decent players to deal to Orlando for him.

 

[TomHanx]

There are rumors of the Lakers getting D. Howard which isn't that crazy since they do have some decent players to deal to Orlando for him.

I gotta say i would think Orlando would never deal one of there big men to LA ever again. but

"call me crazy"- Kobe Bryant

 

[aygov]

I gotta say i would think Orlando would never deal one of there big men to LA ever again. but

"call me crazy"- Kobe Bryant

This is true, but I think he is gone when he is a free agent so do they either deal him and get something for it or let him leave as a free agent and get nothing?

I think the Magic deal him and get something out of it, but who to? As a Bulls fan I'm hoping and praying he'll come to Chicago, but do the Magic want to keep him in the East and have to deal with him all the time or do they try to send him out West to LA (Lakers/Clippers). I think the Lakers definitely have some cards to play but some of those cards come with some really bloated contracts...

 

[the_bird]

Chicago needs a SG, not a center. Noah's plenty good to win with. Chicago could *really* use Ray Allen; if the C's blow things up, watch for him to go there (maybe for Taj Gibson, maybe for that other young seven foot Euro you have, I know some people really like him).

Magic won't trade Dwight until next year's deadline, unless they can get someone to also take Gilbert Arenas. Gil and Kobe would be an epic pairing in LA, because I guarantee that the pairing would end in a homicide. Probably on-court.

 

[smakudwn]

Gil and Kobe would be an epic pairing in LA, because I guarantee that the pairing would end in a homicide. Probably on-court.

That made me laugh. Agent Zero and the Black Mamba on the same team........

 

[aygov]

Tbh I'm just sick of Boozer. He's an overpaid waste of space that has a really good nack at going missing in the post season. A problem I think Howard would solve nicely.

Allen would be nice as well because as much as I like Korver I think we're seeing that him and Deng just aren't enough in the post-season.

 

[the_bird]

Tbh I'm just sick of Boozer. He's an overpaid waste of space that has a really good nack at going missing in the post season. A problem I think Howard would solve nicely.

Allen would be nice as well because as much as I like Korver I think we're seeing that him and Deng just aren't enough in the post-season.

I love Deng, but Korver should be a fringe rotation player. Can't play D worth a lick. Ray and Deng would an outstanding pair. Ray's not too bad a defensive player, either, and Thibs will make him keep playing on that end.

I was watching Boozer closely the other night; he's a shockingly bad defensive player. He's as bad as David Lee. Literally just stands there as the opposing big guy drives to the lane and dunks over him, or puts up a little shot from five feet. Doesn't move his feet, doesn't try to contest the shot, nothing.

I'm rooting for Chicago now, if for no other reason than all of the trash talking Brian Scalabrine will do to Paul Pierce and KG about his TWO Championship rings.

 

[aygov]

I was watching Boozer closely the other night; he's a shockingly bad defensive player. He's as bad as David Lee. Literally just stands there as the opposing big guy drives to the lane and dunks over him, or puts up a little shot from five feet. Doesn't move his feet, doesn't try to contest the shot, nothing.

Exactly. He's just infuriating to watch defensively. You also forgot to mention that when said big guy dunks over him he'll swipe at the guy to ensure he gets a shot at an and-1. For the money he is on ($13-15 mill/year) he needs to contribute a heck of a lot more defensively than he does.

 

[the_bird]

Enjoy what's left of the basketball season, because there ain't going to be any games next year.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/sto...oses-45-million-hard-salary-cap#ixzz1MY8wVC6I

Owners proposing a $45M hard cap, 25% below the current soft cap and FAR below the average team payroll (only one team, the Kings, would have been below the cap last year). Salary rollbacks, only partially guaranteeing contracts, all kinds of fun stuff. Nothing I inherently disagree with, but they are SO far apart from the current CBA, there's no prayer in hell that any agreement is met anytime soon.

I'd be absolutely shocked if there is any basketball next season at all.

 

[bob1852]

Enjoy what's left of the basketball season, because there ain't going to be any games next year.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/sto...oses-45-million-hard-salary-cap#ixzz1MY8wVC6I

Owners proposing a $45M hard cap, 25% below the current soft cap and FAR below the average team payroll (only one team, the Kings, would have been below the cap last year). Salary rollbacks, only partially guaranteeing contracts, all kinds of fun stuff. Nothing I inherently disagree with, but they are SO far apart from the current CBA, there's no prayer in hell that any agreement is met anytime soon.

I'd be absolutely shocked if there is any basketball next season at all.

Agreed.

Have you read Bill Simmons' book about basketball? He's got a pretty big write-up about how in today's NBA the '86 Celts wouldn't have been able to exist with CBA and salaries and what-not. Pretty interesting to think about, considering you probably agree with me that the '86 C's were the best team in the history of the NBA....

 

[the_bird]

Here's my proposal, mostly cut-and-pasted from another forum:

I'm in favor of greatly simplifying the system - cutting Larry Coon's FAQ down to about twelve items.

* Hard cap - some figure between the current "cap" and the luxury tax threshold. What's the average team payroll? Somewhere around $55M? Make the hard cap a little bigger, maybe $60M-$65M. Also impose a salary minimum of $35M-$40M, so teams can't chintz out on putting together a competitive squad.

* Contracts limited to three years, except max contracts allowed to be four. I'd be in favor with the last year of a 3-year contract, and the last two years of a 4-year deal, only being partially guaranteed as well.

* Two max contracts allowed per team. Max contracts equal to ~25% of the hard cap. As with Who's proposal, no salary increases built into the contracts. Might define "max contracts" as a percentage of the cap rather than a specific dollar amount; a max player could then earn "raises" if the salary cap was increases. 25% might also be too high - maybe closer to 20%?

* Rookie contracts stay more-or-less the same - slotted based on draft position, with two guaranteed years. One team-option year, then free agency. Given that high school players are no longer draft-eligible, I'd be open to letting players become free agents one year sooner than currently.

* 2nd round picks - same basic structure as 1st rounders.

* All players are free agents after their third season.

* No more "MLE" and "LLE" exemptions; it's a hard cap.

* Veteran minimum salary structure similar to what is in place today (more $$ for older vets), but all vet-minimum contracts count the same towards the cap. A five-year vet on a minimum contract might earn $1M, while Shaq earns $2M; both count as $1M for hard-cap accounting purposes. Don't want to discourage teams from signing older veterans.

* Teams that are hard-capped out but have experienced major injuries are allowed to petition to sign additional players at the minimum, but the injured players must be removed from the roster for a period of time (maybe the remainder of the season).

* As with the current system, cap holds of ~$1M for every roster spot (up to 12) that's unfilled.

* 16 roster spots - encourage teams to develop some prospects in the D-League. 12 active players.

* All players eligible to play in the D-League, with the player's consent (let injured guys rehab in D-League, like MLB players going to AAA). Good for the rehabbing players, good for the D-League to get some "names" playing.

EDIT: I'd also be OK with a portion of the players' salaries going into a deferred comp plan. Might save the owners a little money up-front (depending on how things are accounted for), and quite honestly so many of these kids are just clueless how to handle their finances. Absolutely no reason Antoine Walker should be bankrupt. Deferred comp is a perfectly valid form of compensation for high-salary individuals.

 

[bob1852]

EDIT: I'd also be OK with a portion of the players' salaries going into a deferred comp plan. Might save the owners a little money up-front (depending on how things are accounted for), and quite honestly so many of these kids are just clueless how to handle their finances. Absolutely no reason Antoine Walker should be bankrupt. Deferred comp is a perfectly valid form of compensation for high-salary individuals.

Agreed, but then there's the other side of things. No reason the Arizona Diamnondbacks should still be paying Matt Williams and Randy Johnson out of their 2011 payrolls...

 

[the_bird]

Well, it'd be in a DC plan, in a trust. They'd make a contribution each year based on their salary obligations (in lieu of paying more money out directly as player salary), and the players would earn an income benefit from the trust sometime after they retired. The owners could even offload their risk onto an insurance company.