Will/Can the Lakers repeat? Many questions loom on the horizon.

[WayOutWest]

Can the Lakers bring back Odom, Ariza, and Brown?  Ariza just upped his asking price with his playoff performances.  Odom is a high dollar guy but his is on the downside of his career and is more of a support/role player in an all-star's body.  I think Brown is a great value and they should resign him because it will not be too expensive.

The other big question is will Phil Jackson return as the Lakers head coach?  There are many reasons for him to retire, his health, go out on top, and he has accomplished something that will probably never be surpassed.  IMO he can walk away from the game TODAY as the greatest coach in NBA history.

Looking at the superior Western Conference teams, the teams that can knock out the Lakers are a healthy Spurs, Rockets, and Nuggets.  I don't know if Bynum will shake off this year and get back to pre-injury form, he did show flashes in the last couple of games.

In the Eastern Conference the Celtics, Cavs, and Magic will probably be back in the hunt and IMO the Celtics and Magic will be better once they get all their players healthy.  It should have been the Celtics in the Finals this year, they were clearly the superior team after watching how poorly the Magic and Cavs were in the Eastern conference playoffs, a healthy Celtics team would have wipped the floor with those two and it would have lead to an epic NBA Finals.

[westkoast]

Can the Lakers repeat? Yes.  I think they showed that they are as talented as anyone in this league.  I also think they have some of the best leadership and the top 3 coaching staff in the league.  Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol will be on this team regardless who does or does not return.  That there is enough to make them competitive.  Though just those two are not enough.  At the same time you never know who will become a key contributor to a team.  I don't think anyone, Laker fans included, really figured how important Ariza would be.  We talked about wanting him back a lot last year during the playoffs but I personally can't say I expected him to play like he has this playoffs.

Will they repeat?  Entirely too early to say with out being a homer or a hater.  First and foremost the Lakers need to get rest and then they need to make key personnel decisions.  The team is beat up and tired. Their two super stars have played more basketball( between the last two finals and the Olympics) than any other players in the past 2 years.

[msc]

I think the Lakers likely end up resinging all three, but especially Trevor and Lamar.  Both love it in LA, and while money is the ultimate deciding factor, Lamar has already said he'd be willing to take less to stay here.  It all depends on how much less we're talking about.  Trevor's stock is at an all time high right now and no doubt he will get lots of offers.  Him being an LA native, I know how much he wants to stay here.  So it looks good from the player standpoint, but ultimately it will come down to how much over the cap Dr. Buss is willing to go.  I would hope that the additional revenue from deep rounds in to the playoffs will be enough to convince him that he has to sign these guys at all costs.  Even if he matches each player's highest offer in the free market, I have to think that the additional revenue from the playoffs more than covers the luxury tax exposure.  I'd like to see them keep Brown too, I know he's a restricted FA, not sure the terms of his deal, but I don't think he'll command that many offers in the open market, so we should be able to keep him too.  

Regarding Phil, I can see the "going out on top" perspective and while it wouldn't surprise me to see Phil take that approach, I doubt he will.  How can you walk away from this young team that has all of the pieces in place for anther dynasty-type run?  He's in a position to possibly rattle off a couple of more championships in the next few years ... how do you walk away from that?  On top of that, this team is driven and self motivated and Phil even acknowledged that he didn't have to expend the energy he's had in the past to drive this team because of their drive and desire.  That takes some of the wear and tear off of his aging body.  He also has a competent group of coaches that can carry some of the weight and even let Phil stay home on some road trips if he needs to rest due to health concerns as he did for a game or two this year.  This would also give Kurt more opportunity for grooming, which would be fantastic in my book.  

I think he definitely honors this next year of his contract and possibly coaches one or two years beyond that if his health allows and the team is vying for a Championship.  

[Joe Vancil]

The biggest mistake most teams make with regard to the cap is signing a player to a cap-killer contract when the player isn't a contract-worthy kind of player.  The teams that do well are teams that don't have that kind of player.

Los Angeles was treated to this position by getting rid of a cap-killer in Kwame Brown in exchange for an expensive-but-worth-it Gasol.  The only "cap-killer" contract that LA has is Bynum, and it's not entirely hostile.  So Los Angeles can *AFFORD* Odom and Ariza, provided they don't get ridiculous about it.

No team (that's any good) is going to offer more than the MLE for Ariza.  The teams that can do it are wanting to save their money for next year, when everyone they stand absolutely zero chance in getting is on the market.  The Lakers shouldn't offer more than the MLE for Ariza.  A reminder to Ariza that EVERYONE has small forwards should suffice to get him to take the Laker offer equal to (but not actually their) MLE.

Odom *SHOULD* get more than the MLE, but is in a position where he can succeed in LA.  The trick here is to get Odom signed EARLY, by asking him 1) how much it's going to take, and 2) where does he want to go if that's too much.  If he demands a ridiculous salary, LA then has the option of getting another player in sign-and-trade.  When they make it clear that he'll be playing for a team that they're going to deplete, he'll decide winning titles isn't all that bad of a thing.  Remember - he used to be a Clipper....he knows how much he begged to get out of there.

That leaves LA the MLE, which they can use if there's someone out there that they just can't live without.  (There isn't.)  And there's your returning team.

[WayOutWest]

Can Kobe opt out of his contract and sign for a lower price?  Not sure if Kobe is willing to sacrafice dollars for the sake of keeping this team together.

[Joe Vancil]

Why would he do that?  LA can afford to pay Ariza and Odom without Bryant taking a pay cut. 

You save that pay cut offer for when a more highly coveted player becomes available.

[Reality]

Could the Lakers sign Jameer Nelson to back up again while their shooter is taking a series changing shot?

[WayOutWest]

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"This user is currently ignored." 

[Lurker]

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"This post should be currently ignored." 


 

[WayOutWest]

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"This post should be currently ignored." 


 

I can't help but look.....    you're too interesting. 

[westkoast]

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"This post should be currently ignored." 


 

I can't help but look.....    you're too interesting. 

Is that a pick up line?

[Lurker]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"This post should be currently ignored." 


 

I can't help but look.....    you're too interesting. 

Is that a pick up line?

That ignored poster must be rubbing (pun intended) off on WOW.

[Joe Vancil]

Thank goodness for a cartoon filter. 

(As described by a co-worker, everyone needs a cartoon filter, that, prior to getting any visual image of something, they run everything through, so that it comes out in cartoon form.  It makes comments like the last one funny rather than disturbing.)

[WayOutWest]

Thank goodness for a cartoon filter. 

(As described by a co-worker, everyone needs a cartoon filter, that, prior to getting any visual image of something, they run everything through, so that it comes out in cartoon form.  It makes comments like the last one funny rather than disturbing.)

There is no filter in the world that makes his comment NOT disturbing. 

[westkoast]

Thank goodness for a cartoon filter. 

(As described by a co-worker, everyone needs a cartoon filter, that, prior to getting any visual image of something, they run everything through, so that it comes out in cartoon form.  It makes comments like the last one funny rather than disturbing.)

There is no filter in the world that makes his comment NOT disturbing. 

True but very funny none-the-less