Aloha,
Just read an article by Chris Haynes that the Lakers have been receiving calls about Russ While he pointed out there have not been any serious conversations yet, it interesting that with a Russ playing well, it has generated some interest. We will see if there are any offers made.
Michael, my thinking is that we should just play out this season as is. Next summer we can figure out what needs to be done.
The problem, again, is that you’ve got too much money tied up in Lebron and AD. There don’t appear to be any indications that Lebron’s going to be magically better next year, nor is AD. Whatever cap you have isn’t going to get you a guy to be the #1 on the squad. Rotation pieces to carry you through the regular season? Again, not enough money to make much happen when a decent rotation piece goes for around 20mil. The answer is obvious. It was obvious in the summer. Blow it up. Rebuild. Reloading is no longer a thing. Without Dr Buss keeping the podunk owners at bay, these kids let them twist the CBA to forever suppress the Lakers natural advantages.
Get rid of AD while there’s still some value.
Russ can hang til he comes off the books, but definitely no need to give up assets to shed him.
Lebron is done, and it’s highly doubtful there’s a trade out there for him. Not at that salary and the BS he brings with him. He used to be great at destroying a team after he left. Now he can kill one from within. Hopefully the owners opt out of the cba in about a month, and there’ll be some way to get rid of him without him destroying the Lakers cap space for another 2 years.
I floated the idea this summer that we could easily retain Russ past this season. We have his bird rights and can go over the cap. Lakers need talent and if him off the bench works expect him to stay.