Aloha,
The video Tom posted of what Rob is planning is most revealing. Looking to find players that fit AD’s timeline seems to eliminate a lot of potential free agents and trades. It also seems like he’s looking more to just improve a little this season. Like me I am sure he believes baring injury that LeBron probably has at least 2 more years at the level he displayed this year.
Christian wood would be a move that would fit into AD’s window. But you still need a solid supporting cast if we are able to land a younger free agent. Currently these are the guys that fit AD’s window.
KCP
Kuz
Alex
Avery
THT
That is a nice supporting core. And one thing that is not discussed much is next years cap. KCP is the only one that needs to be paid this year. Next year both Kuz and Alex will have low cap holds and Avery will only be a little over 5 mil. And they all will have bird rights. So we can sign someone and resign them and go over the cap. If the young guys continue to improve this could be huge.
You read all this wild trade scenarios but For me there isn’t a REALISTIC trade out there that would be worth giving up our young core for. And I look at the top teams, none of them have much more to work with than us. I believe ever one of our young guys will be next year. Unless something unexpected drops out of the blue like Pau Gasol did, I don’t see us making any big trades.
I agree the Lakers do have a natural conflict in what kind of supporting cast they need because of the difference in age and number of years remaining in careers between LeBron and AD. 8 years is a big difference.
I also believe having a mix of younger players and seasoned veterans is important. You need that mix to win. I think young core’ is a misnomer for the Davis, Kuzma, Caruso, KCP, and Avery, who are all in their mid to late 20’s. Our young core’ is THT. Period.
And while I like them, they were not enough alone to win the championship. They also needed the seasoned vets like LeBron, Rondo, Morris, and Howard to accomplish that.
Having said that, I’m not a fan of going all in with nothing but vets to win it for LeBron. We need to balance it and keep adding players who are AD’s age so we can transition. Young players like THT or whomever we draft are likely at some point to be trade bait.
I’m in on rolling it back because continuity is a big part of why we have such great great chemistry but torepeat and threepeat, we’re going to need a third star and I probably a guard because every great team has had a great guard. Although I do think Wood could be a difference maker but that’s only because we have the worlds greatest point guard in LeBron right now. The AD era will need a superstar guard.
So much as it’s fun to want to roll it back, the competition will be greater and the Lakers will make a big trade. You can bet on that.
To get Chris Paul Lakers would need to send out, Kuz, Alex, Green, McGee, Cook and Avery. Not worth it for a 36 year old with a disturbing injury history who who be more of a 6’ shooting guard when Lebrons on the floor. Part of our success of our team was our defensive guard rotation and we would be giving up 3 of them. While Chris still competes on defense he is isn’t the defender he use to be and not big enough like Green and Alex are to handle small forwards in our schemes. I believe we will resign Rondo which give us a PG when LeBron rests. We just don’t need CP3. We would not be as good a team.
I hope we don’t trade for Chris Paul. We would have to send out $33M in salaries, which would mean Green, Kuzma, Caruso, Cook, McGee (if he declines PO), and Bradley (if he declines PO). All we would have to go with LeBron, AD, and CP3 would be THT and our draft pick. That’s crazy. I also feel exactly the same about the plans to go after Giannis or another superstar. You can’t just trade the entire roster.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to give up Kuzma, Green, McGee, Cook, and the pick for Wood but that also opens up cap space to pay for AD getting $5M more, KCP $4M more, Rondo $3M more, keep Morris for the BAE, and $9M for the MLE to get another impact player. I don’t consider Kyle, Danny, JaVale, or Quinn as key pieces.
The core pieces besides Bron and AD are KCP, Rondo, Morris, Caruso, THT, and Howard. If I can improve the team and not move any of them, no problem. Keep the core and add to it is how we’re going to create a dynasty. Keep that core and add Wood, Dragic, Cousins, and a couple of other players with potential like Rondo and Dwight were last season and we repeat and threepeat.