Lakers Summer of 2012

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So, in response to an Aldeth series of questions, I'm opening this thread.

It seems that some teams just manage to do stuff to get better, and I happen to be a fan of one of them.

Flashback to the CP3 trade that suddenly wasn't. The Lakers then dump Lamar Odom for nothing and go into a shortened season with multiple back to back games with an aged roster and no bench to speak of. No surprise when they get blown out by the young studs of OKC in the second round. Lakers fans are in as much of a panic as you can be living in a place where the weather is almost always wonderful and sports are important, but not psychotically so (like, say, in Philly or Boston).

So, what happens? The Lakers manage to address almost all of their major deficiencies this summer. Amazing. Makes me giddy. Makes me as giddy as it makes Bill Simmons nauseous. I always know how happy I need to be in Lakers-related issues by checking in on Grantland to see how much Bill is dying.

They first pick up Nash. Bingo - instant geometric expansion of the value of this trade. Not only do they get a real point guard who, you know, can actually dribble and pass and likes to get assists. They also get an instant can of anti-Kobe hog. Now, Nash has the ball and he shoots 50/40/90. So now Kobe isn't looking at double and triple teams with the clock winding down. He's getting open looks. He's happier. There's someone else to take last minute shots and who is a legitimate threat. Oh, and remember that Pau's offense went AWOL the last two years. Well, there probably isn't a better pick and roll player than him. He now has a gift-wrapped point guard to get him the ball wherever he may like it.

But wait, you say, Nash is old and never could play defense. How does this solve the Lakers' habitual problem of letting the other team's PG into the lane with a gift-wrapped invitation to make an easy layup? Allow Mr. Kupchak to address that one:

Err, Bynum. You're good and all that, but you're a baby . . . and your knees are glass . . . and you only play defense when you feel appreciated on offense . . . and you have a serious attitude problem.* So, we're trading you. To Philly. Let's see how you like the fans that boo Santa Claus. And let's see how well you can play when you're the first option, not the third.

Oh, and Orlando, we're not taking any of your crappy contracts. (Not entirely true, as I consider Duhon a crappy contract, but his salary is relatively miniscule, so I'm good with that.) Orlando gives up the league's best center for a craptastic group headed by Afflalo (who really is the only player in the bunch. We'll get to Orlando in a moment.

So let's add Dwight Howard. He addresses our lack of defense at PG, and any other position for that matter. He doesn't need to be the scoring focus, which is a good thing because his offensive game is a bit, uh, limited. But Nash fixes that to a degree too, because he's also going to be a fun pick and roll partner with Nash. Seriously, Nash is going to average more assists on this team, at his current age of 72 (or whatever), then when he was in his prime. It's going to be sick. Dwight is going to be happy, because he's not the lightning rod on this team (that's still Kobe). My real hope is that Kobe kicks back and says something like "Man, my knees feel old. Let's let these other guys do the work. In a couple of years, I'll have more rings than MJ and my contract is up and I can play on a yearly basis at some low salary (nod, nod, wink, wink, Buss family, remember that ownership you gave Magic for nothing, well that works for me too) until I've had enough.

Now, Mitch isn't done yet, because, y'know, the Lakers' bench was still the worst in any league in history (slight exaggeration, but only slight). So, let's get Antawn Jamison for the league minimum. He averaged as many points last year as our entire bench. Oh, and we need a shooter, so let's get Jody Meeks for a low price, he can spell Kobe. Oh, and we needed to resign that energy guy Jordan Hill for a low price. He was good. And we need a backup wing, so let's resign Ebanks.

I mean, seriously, Kupchack just aced the freakin' summer! Simmons is throwing up in his mouth on a daily basis. I LOVE this. I even don't mind that Meta World Punch you in the face is our starting SF because even he will start hitting open threes when there's no one in the same area code. And if he flames out, we can start Ebanks for defense. I mean, seriously, we don't need a single point out of that position.

I'm so happy about all of this that I can barely contain myself. And no one is going to be able to tell me that the trade confirmation on Dwight wasn't a big middle finger to David Stern for screwing the CP3 trade. How do Gilbert and Cuban like it now? Tell me, Dan and Mark -- how does my ass taste??!!

As for Orlando, I can only imagine that they wanted to go the way of the Thunder and start over. On paper, the NJ deal looks better, but there are some expensive contracts and the players aren't that great. I would suspect that they are going to blow it up and rebuild through the draft and didn't want anyone's garbage. The only surprise I had was that they couldn't force someone to take on Hedo's hazardous waste contract.

So, Aldeth, no, I haven't really given this any thought this Summer at all . . . or maybe I have.


* As an aside on this, what kind of moron decides that he doesn't need to listen to Kareem Abdul Jabbar after about two years, on the theory that he's learned everything he needs? I mean REALLY! Kareem's just this guy, y'know, who is the NBA's all time scoring leader. Multiple MVP's. Multiple rings. Really smart. Plays the same position as you. Had a shot that was literally unstoppable. What does Bynum say? Nah, I'm good. Keep your Jabbar, thanks. Unreal.

 

AFI - the only reason I can think of why Orlando did this now, is that they just hired a new, young, coach. The Howard circus had to have been extremely toxic for the fans, teams, players, management, etc. and they didn't want to start the season that way. I figure they have a plan to bottom out at about the same time Hedo's contract runs out. Maybe a year before because you know that Simmons is going to start using the term "Hedo's expiring contract" the very day next season ends and there might be value to that expiring contract.

I looked over their roster, and it's clear that they are going to need to shed Harrington, Big Baby Davis, Jameer Nelson, Reddick and Hedo over the next two years. (By the way, that's a completely separate issue -- what in the hell were they thinking resigning Jameer Nelson to a contact??!! Undersized point guard with an injury history whose best days are behind him. Why, yes, we're rebuilding, but let's give that guy some extra money. WTF? Makes no sense.)

I understand why they didn't want Bynum - he was in the last year of his deal and they weren't going to be able to resign him.

The one thing to remember, I guess, is that there is a league minimum salary. I would suspect that they wanted to have a roster of relatively short term contracts that would get them to the minimum so that they could shed what they needed as they went along and added pieces. Right now, the only guy on their team that I think anyone would ever want is Afflalo, and he's not your star, he's your glue guy defensive leader willing to do all the dirty work who can also hit the shot.

 

If all we're looking at is Bynum now, we also can't factor in salaries, so I'd have to kick out several people in your list. Out of Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, David Lee, Al Jefferson, Rudy Gay, Josh Smith, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ellis, Jennings and Johnson, the only ones who are in the picture with Bynum are Love, Aldridge and the Gasols. You can't put the rest in the hopper with a straight face, sorry.

Let me tell you what Bynum does better than that group that I just sneered at - stand 7 plus feet tall and weigh 285 plus pounds and have a good offensive game inside, reliably make free throws, and, presuming he's motivated by his offense, he plays good defense. That (and the injury thing) was my main problem with him -- he didn't show up on D some nights. Well, as the guy getting 20+ shots in Philly, he'll be showing up on D, don't doubt that.

Assuming he stays healthy, I think he'll be everything that Philly wants.

So, my top 20 - Kobe, Howard, LeBron, Wade, Durant, Westbrook, CP3, Rondo, Carmelo, Dirk, Rose, Deron Williams, Blake Griffin, Love, Aldridge, Paul Gasol, Marc Gasol, Bosh, Pierce, and Bynum.

I omitted KG (too long in the tooth, sorry), Tony Parker (same), Tim Duncan (same), Ginobli (not sure that I shouldn't have included him), Ibaka (maybe next season, but still too raw), James Harden (really not sure about this) and Eric Gordon (really not sure about this either). I could see swapping some of those for the tail end of my list, but not ahead of Bynum. Note that the top 20 list has exactly 3 real centers in it, Howard, Marc Gasol and Bynum. I think Bynum is better than Marc Gasol. I also think that I could be convinced to remove Pierce because of his age and the fact that he's lost a step, Blake because he's too raw and has a really rudimentary offensive game when he's not dunking (and can't hit a free throw), and maybe one or another of the guards because of the glut of guards, but I'm not removing the tallest guy in the bunch when he can bring it on both ends (as long as we're not factoring in the fact that I think his knees are going Hiroshima some time in the next couple of seasons and we're going to have pictures of him and Greg Oden playing ball at the YMCA with 50 pound leg braces against sweaty short guys with hairy backs).


(By the way, how the hell do you not include Derrick Rose in your top 20?)

 

No disagreement on Howard at all. I just think that Bynum is the second best center in the league and a top 20 guy, so I guess I agree with Simmons. Aldridge and Jefferson are both more featured scorers on their teams, as Bynum will now be.

Love's stats are great, but misleading, in that he doesn't have anyone else on his team to get those boards or blocks, whereas Bynum was sharing with Pau.

 

Blades - I think Philly doesn't have a choice but to feature Bynum on offense. First, he's going to be the most efficient scorer by far, simply because of where his shots are coming from. Second, going inside out will open up the shooters for 3's. If they go multiple times down the floor without him touching the ball, they are doing something seriously wrong.

Next, if he's not going to get 20+ shots a game, who the heck is getting those shots? Jason Richardson? Nick Young? Jrue Holiday? Evan Turner? Spencer Hawes? I just don't see any of them getting more shots than Bynum. Plus, if they do and Philly isn't winning big time, there's going to be tremendous fallout and pressure because they traded their best all around guy in Iggy for Bynum. You HAVE to feature him.

 

Wow, that's pessimistic, even for Philly.