The 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers thread

[Brian in Mesa]

The 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers thread

Starts now.

 

[D-Dogg]

Woo?

 

[Dback Jon]

Will Dwight come back?


Will Kobe be Healthy?


Will D'Antoni be back?

 

[unseenaz]

I say 50% chance Dwight stays in LA 50% chance he goes to the Nets

 

[desertdawg]

Will Dwight come back?


Will Kobe be Healthy?


Will D'Antoni be back?

If Kobe wants one more ring, he will have to go to Durant's team and help them beat the Meat, otherwise Kobe will be out soon and Durant will have to wait for Wade to retire.

Lakers are done, Howard aint enough, won't ever be enough, and doesn't even show up when D'antoni coaches. Artest (believe it or not) was a silent backbone on that team, I can see him joining another team that actually has a shot at a ring. There's days when Gasol can't even walk in L.A., that dude got blamed for everything. The only thing the Lakers have going for them is that the commish is there biggest jocker, I heard he has a purple toilet to coordinate with his urine.

 

[bankybruce]

Mods, can you rename this thread, The 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers Road to Andrew Wiggins thread?

 

[La11y]

Will Dwight come back?


Will Kobe be Healthy?


Will D'Antoni be back?

Yes

Yes

Heck no

 

[Gee!]

This is pure awesome..

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...know-makes-fun-old-los-angeles-164906086.html

 

[Brian in Mesa]

This is pure awesome..

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...know-makes-fun-old-los-angeles-164906086.html

Yawn. Welcome to 26 days ago. More awesome Yahoo journalism - reporting on a story from the May 4th edition of the USA Today.

 

[Gee!]

Yawn. Welcome to 26 days ago. More awesome Yahoo journalism - reporting on a story from the May 4th edition of the USA Today.

It's new to me.. And it doesn't make it any less funny whenever it was reported..

 

[Brian in Mesa]

It's new to me.. And it doesn't make it any less funny whenever it was reported..

Yeah, I did think it was funny when I read it nearly a month ago in the paper.

 

[D-Dogg]

Mildly funny when fresh.

 

[D-Dogg]

Well, I really don't care much which way D12 goes, however, I'm pretty pissed off we let Earl Clark walk to the Cavs without even matching or offering anything lower.

Clark was one of the few bright spots in a dismal season.

D12 is an enigma. He drives me crazy...my pro/con list for him on the Lakers is basically even, and I really don't give a crap either way.

 

[D-Dogg]

Ding Dong, the witch is dead.

I perused my comments on D12 from last season's thread. Wow. I was a mad bitch.

Whatever, Dwight is garbage. He's a petulant child and fumbles the ball away more than Kwame Brown.

Dwight doesn't have experience playing THROUGH injuries. He's playing WITH injuries and that's a very different thing.

And Dwight never has had anyone pushing him, period. He hardly pushes himself.

If the Lakers don't trade him, they are making a mistake. You can't build around that guy. He is a finger pointer and lacks drive. And I really wanted him here, having coveted him since before he was drafted, but he's absolutely changed every concept I ever had about him.

Kobe will be gone in a couple of years, and Dwight is not the centerpiece of a team. Especially if he never recovers from the back injury.

Kobe out of the picture, cheese. I don't want to build a team around Dwight. He's been flat out awful. And on top of it, he's been whiny. All while getting stripped over and over, bricking free throws and blowing layups.

Has nothing to do with Kobe. Has to do with the fact that Emperor D12 has no effing clothes, and I'm shocked to see it.

Whatever, there is nothing wrong in there. Dwight doesn't get it yet. LA didn't get him to smile and talk about how this is bananas, and doesn't even feel like real life. They brought him in to dominate. He has failed thus far. Kobe is pushing him, sure, but the LAKERS expectation is the huge push.

Try again, haters. While you are at it, light a fire under Dwight's ass, please, or he's going to be bounced.

I don't care what anyone says, Dwight sucks and is a huge ***.

Dwight still being a whiny bitch. Argues with Nash on the floor because he wanted a lob and not the bounce pass, when he should have moved his ass to help Nash out when he was trapped on the play. SMH.

If it wasn't for defense, Dwight would be absolutely useless out there. Another pansy ass weak layup in the first Q had me rolling my eyes.

I don't really CARE what Howard is going through physically. I do know that he has chemistry problems with everyone on the team, gets stripped too often, tries layups instead of dunks, and gets outrebounded like crazy. I do know that he can't post up down low, and when he does get position, he has no post moves at all. And when he does get close to the rim, a quick foul on him is as good as a turnover since he's bricking his free throws. That's what I CARE about. Not his pain tolerance.

This is the guy that we are supposed to be looking at as the future leader of the team, that will be the centerpiece when Kobe is done, that will be the guy the team is built around. His audition is failing. When he's talking about three years and Kobe and Nash are looking at the retirement horizon, he simply isn't there mentally. I have no trust in him as a leader, and that has NOTHING to do with his physical pain.

Tim Duncan must lack it, because sitting out when cleared to play, in the PLAYOFFS, definitely shows a lack of desire to win. But at least Duncan had proven his value to his team and they all knew that when he was on the floor, he gave it all. Dwight hasn't done that and has chemistry issues with the group, so sitting out is even worse.

Dwight flat out sucks this year. He gets stripped constantly, all game long. He makes Kwame Brown's hands look gooood.

Pau and Howard can't be on the court at the same time, it is known.

And honestly, I don't even care if he leaves. Holy crap has he been terrible. He's weak and useless.

we both know that... but he doesn't and that's all that matters to a guy as stupid as Dwight. if y'all don't win a chip in the next two years with Kobe (which I do think is still very possible that you do), then Dwight (assuming he stays) will eventually become the the biggest Laker bust of all time, IMO. He will never be an Alpha Dog superstar champion IMO because he doesn't work on his game. For him to still be so limited offensively makes zero sense and he ain't a guy who can take you to a title. he's a perfect number 2 banana who thinks he's top dog.

Last one from Cheese is awesome...sums up why I'm not bothered that he's gone.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/howard-495416-nash-lakers.html

That was probably where I was 100% against D12. I remember the game, and the play, very clearly. When you can't even get on with Nash and point fingers at him, you suck. Nash kept that damn play alive with hard ball busting work, and D12 left him in the lurch, then bitched about where the ball was placed (the only spot Nash could have conceivably delivered it). Dude refused to adjust, and he had tons of time to.

 

[devilalum]

Prediction

Lakers suck all year and get their envelope taped to the bottom of the lotto barrel.

Metaphor

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The franchise has only missed the postseason 5 times in history, so we'll have to see how the year plays out to see if this will be the 6th year, but so far I am not buying all of this lottery talk. We have only had two of our own lottery picks ever, both number 10 picks - Andrew Bynum and Eddie Jones. The team usually plays better without Kobe so maybe his absence will actually help. Other players can get more involved in the offense. Might be a rough year, no doubt, but rough for the Lakers is still enough to get into the playoffs in most years.

 

[D-Dogg]

PG - Nash-Blake
SG - Meeks-Kobe (when he returns)
SF - Rookie Ryan Kelly
PF - Jordan Hill
C - Pau - Sacre

And right there, with the above, they are over the cap. So all they can sign are vet min and MLE. And not one of those guys is going to play 38 min a game, so the Blake, Meeks, Kelly, Hill backup, Sacre lineup is going to get a lot of run.

Last year's team eeked into the playoffs.

This years will need to be super healthy, lucky and unconscious to not be in the wiggins running.

 

[D-Dogg]

What I'm going to enjoy the most this year...

Gee! freaking out and cheering for Lakers wins as they spiral deeper and deeper into the lottery for Wiggins et al.

 

[Gee!]

What I'm going to enjoy the most this year...

Gee! freaking out and cheering for Lakers wins as they spiral deeper and deeper into the lottery for Wiggins et al.

You think the Lakers are gonna be worse than the Suns? Haha.. Ok.. I will be laughing as Kobe gets pissed off at all their losing though.. Wont be more than the Suns though..

 

[D-Dogg]

You think the Lakers are gonna be worse than the Suns? Haha.. Ok.. I will be laughing as Kobe gets pissed off at all their losing though.. Wont be more than the Suns though..

Just you wait, Gee. Just you wait. You'll be a bandwagon Lakers fan and I will save every pleading "just win Lakers" post from you for posterity.

yeah, they gonna suuuuuuck.

nash/blake
meeks/kobe (most of the season)
ryan anderson (second rounder)
Jordan Hill/Pau
Pau/Kaman

the end. 30 wins is the ceiling. Bledsoe alone gives you SOOO much more firepower. Bledsoe puts that ratass group above in the playoffs.

 

[Gee!]

Just you wait, Gee. Just you wait. You'll be a bandwagon Lakers fan and I will save every pleading "just win Lakers" post from you for posterity.

yeah, they gonna suuuuuuck.

nash/blake
meeks/kobe (most of the season)
ryan anderson (second rounder)
Jordan Hill/Pau
Pau/Kaman

the end. 30 wins is the ceiling. Bledsoe alone gives you SOOO much more firepower. Bledsoe puts that ratass group above in the playoffs.

I won't be cheering for the Lakers to win.. Because if they just miss the playoffs and are the best worst team, the NBA will find a way for them to win the lottery and get the number one pick.. I will always be cheering for them to lose..

 

[Gee!]

Bledsoe alone gives you SOOO much more firepower. Bledsoe puts that ratass group above in the playoffs.

I just dont get the hype on this guy.. Last year he averaged 8.5 ppg and 3 apg. And he was in the d league in 2012 after his third year in the NBA.. Nothing about him says takeover guy.. I'm not seeing what everyone else is..

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Current roster:

Gasol, Kaman, Sacre, Hill, Kobe, Meeks, Nash, Blake

 

[Mulli]

Current roster:

Gasol, Kaman, Sacre, Hill, Kobe, Meeks, Nash, Blake

:championship:

 

[Dback Jon]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...ant-does-not-want-pay-cut-help-125531553.html

In the days since Dwight Howard spurned the Los Angeles Lakers to join the Houston Rockets, fans of the NBA's most consistently successful franchise have looked toward next summer as the time for rebuilding and a return to championship contention. With big-name free agents like Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James available, the Lakers will presumably attempt to parlay their history and market into a star who can carry them into the next era.

This plan depends partially on Kobe Bryant, also a free agent in 2014, taking a pay cut. Kobe, who turns 35 in August, can take approximately $32 million in salary per season under a new max-level contract. Although he has said he plans on playing only three or four seasons, a max deal for Kobe would be the largest in the league by a considerable margin and likely eat up more than half of the 2014-15 season's salary cap (the cap this season was just set at $58.7 million). That would severely limit the Lakers' ability to bring in another star and field a championship-level team.