Aloha,
This is such a strange year in the NBA. A slew of injuries to key players have kept most of the west bunched together. I can’t recall a season where so many teams are still fighting for a playoff spot. After all our injuries, a poorly constructed roster and blowing a hand full of games we should have won, it’s amazing we are still in the conversation. The only reason we are is the trades we made.
It is a shame we did not have time for this group to learn to play together. I have liked what I’ve seen from most of them. The biggest issue has been the unfamiliarity that has led to a lot of mistakes you generally see early in a season. But even with the injuries and the new roster we are in every game, which gives me hope that we can get into the playoffs but more importantly I think we are set up for a much better roster next year.
Unlike the last few years, we will have the ability to retain 11 players 12 if you count Pippin who has been great in the G league. Now of course we probably won’t keep them all but we finally have options.
If you count our first and 2nd round draft picks we have we are at around 139 mil. But we have 33.5 mil in non guaranteed contracts. Of that only Vandy at 4.7 mil is a no brainervkeeper. Reed will be cut, freeing up 2 mil. Bamba and Beasley could be cut, guaranteed, traded or renegotiated. In Bamba’s case at 10 mil he is over paid for what he has shown and for a back up. If not traded, I think he will be either cut or renegotiated down. At 16 mil Beasley is not over paid if he rediscovers his shooting stroke. He is over paid if he doesn’t. A lot will be determined down the stretch of the season.
I think our only path to contention is with guys we already have improving. We do have salaries to to trade and draft picks so there are ways to bring in another decent player or two. But we will have to wait and see. We need to guarantee a salary to trade it . So a lot depends on who wants draft picks. And what they have to send back. Our guys all would be expiring deals so that helps.
We do have some things working in our favor. First the only teams with cap space this summer are rebuilding. And there will be another new TV deal in 2024 and it’s expected to be huge, leading to another big jump in the cap. So I think a lot of players will be willing to take a little less on 1+1 deals. So for me here are the things I think we must do.
Resign DLO. He wants to be here and most of the teams that would be interested in him won’t have the cap space to sign him. He is the perfect 3rd option for LeBron. He is a must. 25 to 30 mil will probably get it done.
Guarantee Vandy. Duh!
Resign Austin. Because of the Arenas rule the most he can be offered is a little under 12 mil for the first 2 years. Now a team could give him an offer sheet with a huge back end of 27 mil for the last 2 years but he’s not quite at that level. He wants to stay, so I would offer him 12 per for 2 years and negotiate an option year.while he isn’t the defender that Caruso was, he’s pretty good and much better on offense. I think we will keep him.
Resign Rui. While a little inconsistent I see a lot potential in him. I have heard he’s value is currently between 10 to 12 mil. Give it to him.
Resign Gabriel. We have early bird rights and he will not be that expensive. You just want energy guys on your roster.
Dennis, Lonnie and Troy won’t be expensive but probably hard to keep depending on what we do with the non guaranteed contracts. Of the 3 I would say Dennis is the priority. He is a good back up point guard. When you look at the free agents available, there isn’t many quality back ups available. Would Dennis stay for a 1+1 7 mil Mini MLE? Unless there is a trade available I would at least try.
We could have a solid returning core. Continuity is something we haven’t had in 3 years. Now if we could just have a semi healthy year. One can dream can’t they?
Excellent post, Michael. When you consider where we were before the trade deadline and where we are after the trade deadline, it’s hard not to see this year as a critical year in which we made great progress towards erasing major mistakes of the past two or three years and positioning us finally with a great roster, better financial and team building options, and a chance to be one of the best teams in the league next season.
I find myself dismayed at some of the bloggers who feel this year is a disaster and can’t see the immense progress made both in how the front office and ownership was viewing the situation and how they responded with a set of terrific trades that totally changed the dynamic and potential of the Lakers roster.
Whether we can still make any noise this season is still important because we’re committed to this group of players as the core of our team next season. We’re not going to trade LeBron or AD. We’re going to try and win another one or two rings with them as the core. It’s just building a strong and good enough roster around them to allow us to limit their minutes and games and use load management to optimize what we can get from them.
This season was lost by our not making trades this summer. In a way, it was sacrificed as we waited until the right deals came along, knowing fixing the problem for the future was more important than any longshot hopes of winning a ring this year. I still think we have a puncher’s chance but that could vanish in an instant at this point. Lakers essentially have to win out to make it happen this year.
But the big moves that needed to be made were made, both internally in straightening out our front office and getting everybody back on the same page and externally in trading for players who truly give us more size, shooting, and defense. The trades may not have saved this season but they have given us hope that we may once again win #18 in the next 2 or 3 years.
I don’t expect the doomsayers and naysayers to do anything but predict more doom and gloom and then chatter away happily about how ‘right’ they have been about this team. There comes a time when being a fan gives way to being a troll. Seeing a lot of that in this blog and in social media. Makes you wonder why these trolls even care enough to show up.
Thanks Tom, the problem that a lot of people don’t seem to grasp is the difficulty of building a team with the salary cap restrictions. We can’t do better than DLO without basically tearing the team apart. And in keeping Austin, Rui and Vandy you have to gamble that they will improve with experience. As we have learned it’s not easy filling out a competitive team in free agency. Even if we let Beasley and Bamba walk, we are still much better after the trade than we were before. We have flexibility now, and a group of young players that can grow together. We can also have some continuity for the first time. It’s hard to win if you turn the roster over every year.
Too early for me, most of these have not been consistent. We shall see, 11 to go.