Aloha,

Have you wondered how Walker ended up as our MLE signing? I read a disturbing little blurb about our free agency stance. Apparently we ended up with Walker as our MLE signing because the Lakers were not offering a 2nd year, even with a player option, which is standard with MLE signings. We may have lost Otto Porter Jr because of this.

Now the Lakers are resisting taking Joe Harris back in a Kyrie trade. Yes he makes twice as much as Curry and yes he has two years left on his deal, while Curry is a expiring contract, but his contract isn’t terrible. And if it’s winning that matters Joe is a much better fit. He is a knock down 3 point shooter and at 6’ 6” he has the size you want at the 2. Plus he can defend a little, while Curry is a liability.

Now I’m no fan of Kyrie, and At this point I’m probably against resigning him. But for one year bringing him in along with Harris would give us a legitimate shot at a title. With Kyrie and Harris shooting we could plug in Stanley at the 3 for defensive purposes and we would have a very strong starting line up. You couldn’t really start Curry with Kyrie because they would just be too small.

Pay the money Jeanie, titles are hard to come by. Worry about Joes contract next year.

Aloha,

One of the fun aspects of the NBA off season is all the speculation as to where different players could be traded to different teams. Writers look at a player that a team wants to move or the player themselves wants out and they come up with trade scenarios that excite fans and insure clicks, especially if it’s the Lakers. The big problem of course is these trades never look at why both teams would do the deal. And if they rarely ever happen.

When Pincus wrote an article on how the Lakers could move Westbrook, he made it clear that these were just examples
of what could be done, not anything that was in the works. He pointed out that the Pacers had 2 contracts in Brogdon and Buddy, that may no longer fit in their plans and they may be willing to dump. This took the internet by storm. Before long a slew of writers were parroting the same trade. In many fans minds this was a done deal. But no one was really asking why the Pacers would just dump two quality players with value on the market. As it turns out the Pacers are good business people and moved Brogdon for 4 players and more importantly a first round pick in next years draft, not two distant picks that the lakers have to offer. They can cut 3 of those players and it would cost them 3 mil. Theis was the fourth and he is a very good backup center that they can keep or trade. Plus they still have Buddy for the bench or a future trade. Good shooters have value in this league.

OKC was another popular destination among writers, because OKC has a history of taking on salary for draft picks. But we are talking 47 mil here. OKC only had 18 mil in bad contracts that they had to send back but both were expiring deals. And could be traded in smaller deals or cut for far less. So the suggestion that they would take on an additional 30 mil for one 1st in 5 years seemed a absurd to me. Especially when considering that beginning in 2026 they have 2 first round picks each year through 2029.

The only proposal I actually took seriously was the Hornets rumors because those were actually coming from the Hornets camp. Plus MJ is a terrible owner and talent evaluator. Even worse then Magic. Alas now that Bridges has been charged with felony abuse any trade for Hayward or Oubre is probably off the table until this situation is resolved.

There were other proposals but those were the most realistic. We never were going to get Randle for Russ or Grant for THT and Nunn alor other crazy things.

This brings us to Kyrie. Like I’m fond of saying, never say never, still dumping him, while bringing in even more salary would not be good business. And including Joe Harris and THT in the deal would be criminal, considering he could be moved for something useful. In this case a lot of what happens, depends on what happens with KD. Neither Kyrie or KD have played much and the Nets don’t owe them anything. The Nets are in a position to play hardball. KD is under contract for 4 years. So if they don’t receive a package they like, they have the next couple of years to find one they do. A KD trade is the only way I see Kyrie being dumped. Now this is about as real as these click bait proposals get. Still, like I’m also fond of saying, I’m not holding my breathe.

Aloha,

The more I think about it, the more I don’t see a Kyrie trade happening this summer. While I always say never say never, I’m not confident. The Nets have stated that will not help him, and why should they? They know he’s leaving so they don’t have to make him happy. He’s barely played so there is no loyalty angle and they know they always have the Lakers in their back pocket in case they decide to trade him. Russ makes a 11 mil more then Kyrie does and to make the trade they need to add to a little extra salary. Why trade another player to make Kyrie happy? Why take on that much money for a player they don’t want? I’ve heard the proposal to add THT and bring back Joe Harris as well. Why would they do that? That would hurt the team. Joe Harris is a quality player and can bring back a better return then THT, like the Pacers did with Brogdon. I think their best move is to enter the season with Kyrie and see what happens. They can always revisit the trade at the deadline. By then a big chunk of Westbrooks salary will have already been paid. And if KD is still there, they might even be contending and keep him. This is a business and I believe the Nets will do what’s best for business.

Aloha

One thing I noticed this year is teams guys that were considered possible vet minimum player a little more then the minimum. And teams with the full MLE gave players a little more then the tax payer MLE. The Lakers were really handcuffed by this, since we had so little to work with. With that in mind the Lakers did pretty well. The only bummer was DiVencenzo was let go after we committed to Walker IV. Although Walker is a Klutch guy so that was probably pre-ordained

Aloha

KD said he wouldn’t accept a trade to the Heat unless they keep Lowrey, Bam and Butler. Really? why in the world would the Nets trade him under those conditions. Hero is the only other real good player left and he only makes 5. 5 mil. Duncan Robinson? Please. This super star entitlement thing has to end. If the Nets can’t get back a quality package they should just tell him no. And if say the Kings offer a great package I would tell KD, enjoy Sac town dude.

Aloha

Well another Russ target is off the board. Brogdon has been traded to the Celtics for Nesmith, Theis and a first round pick next year. I’m not surprised. That is the way teams move contracts they don’t want, especially when it’s a quality player like Brogdon.

Aloha,

So far our signings are 26, 23, and 22 years old.

Aloha

The Lakers land 6’ 4” SG Lonnie Walker IV. This could be a nice signing. There wasn’t Much talk about him because I think the opinion was that the Spurs would extend him. He’s only 23 and a very good defender but he had an off year shooting the 3. If he can straighten out his shot he fits the defense first mode.