*Official* 2007-2008 LA Lakers "the year we missed out on KG" thread

[Green Kool Aid]

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Kobe > Pierce + Allen.

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LOL

[hanster]

I'm very glad they're doing well right now, and to Semtex, I feel you on that one. I am frustrated in the way that we cannot compete with the top tier, given that we are a second-tier team (at the moment, I honestly don't know whether we are second tier or fighting for the 7th seed. They were doing really well last year until injuries hit them, yes, but also realize when we had our squad for the playoff we were of no match against the Suns. My gripe was mainly about Kupcake not going out and doing something, ANYTHING, to make us a top contender instead of floating around the second-tier. I hate to see Kobe's prime years go to waste.

[IrishHand]

Have faith brothers...I'm confident that an opportunity to pick up a quality player (with a big salary) for next-to-nothing (eg. Kwame Brown's expiring deal and a 1st rounder or two) will present itself in the next month or two.

Sacramento looks like an imminent fire sale - with Bibby, Artest and BMiller candidates for dumping. All would fit well with what the Lakers have/do...especially Artest imo. If they could ship Kwame+Crittendon+1st for Artest, the Lakers would cement their place as a legit contender imo.

The Lakers are looking great now, Bynum continues to improve/impress, Odom's due back soon...life is good. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Semtex]

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Have faith brothers...I'm confident that an opportunity to pick up a quality player (with a big salary) for next-to-nothing (eg. Kwame Brown's expiring deal and a 1st rounder or two) will present itself in the next month or two.

Sacramento looks like an imminent fire sale - with Bibby, Artest and BMiller candidates for dumping. All would fit well with what the Lakers have/do...especially Artest imo. If they could ship Kwame+Crittendon+1st for Artest, the Lakers would cement their place as a legit contender imo.

The Lakers are looking great now, Bynum continues to improve/impress, Odom's due back soon...life is good. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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See I am not so sure about this. I think Walton is key to this teams success manning the 3. Me and my friends were discussing the Lakers with Caron Butler instead of Kwame and the conclusion was that all Butler would bring is scoring and maybe some more defense but thats not really necessary. With Artest its almost the same, except you're not getting as much scoring but some more defense. The key to that position is the ball movement, and I think Walton is the best fit for the Lakers out of those three guys, and there's no way Artest is going to take coming off the bench or getting limited minutes, and the same probably goes for Butler.

This team is pretty good as is, starting Fish, Kobe, Luke, Odom and Bynum, and bringing Farmar, Sasha, Radmanovic, Turiaf and Kwame off the bench. Cook, Mihm and Maurice Evans give added depth in the frontcourt, and looks like to me all that is needed is maybe some more depth at the 1 and the 2.

[ClarkNasty]

C'mon man, you're saying that you'd rather have Walton than Artest or Butler and even implied that if you could undo the Butler for Kwame trade it wouldn't help the team that much. Think about it for a second.

[Semtex]

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C'mon man, you're saying that you'd rather have Walton than Artest or Butler and even implied that if you could undo the Butler for Kwame trade it wouldn't help the team that much. Think about it for a second.

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Not exactly. Lakers would definitely be a better team, but only because they would have depth at the 3. I think Walton would be a better fit to start with either Artest or Butler coming off the bench but do you ever see that happening? If you watch this team, Walton is unbelievably key to getting the offense moving.

[hanster]

I think Semtex is trying to say our improvements need not to be in the SF slot, but rather expend the players somewhere else.

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bringing Farmar, Sasha, Radmanovic, Turiaf and Kwame off the bench

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I really want to see Javaris be part of this, and drop Farmar. Hate Farmar. And I go to UCLA

[IrishHand]

Regardless of how much you like Walton (and I don't fwiw), what the Lakers lack is top-end talent. Artest is dominant defensively and a quality 3rd offensive option. He can guard 2s, 3s and a lot of 4s. Phil can handle nutjobs.

Plus, Phil's not too worried about positions anyway...you can rotate Fish/Kobe/Odom (ballhandlers) and Walton/Artest/Bynum on the floor for the bulk of the game, with the other scrubs getting spot minutes.

Regardless...my sole goal is for Kwame's contract to get turned into another quality player. Despite dire forecasts, I really think that the Lakers are one good player away from being legitimate, even in the West. Kobe's an elite talent, Odom's an All-Star, Bynum's looking better and better...one more and the team will be in solid shape.

[Green Kool Aid]

lol @ odom all-star comment.

[Semtex]

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Regardless of how much you like Walton (and I don't fwiw), what the Lakers lack is top-end talent. Artest is dominant defensively and a quality 3rd offensive option. He can guard 2s, 3s and a lot of 4s. Phil can handle nutjobs.

Plus, Phil's not too worried about positions anyway...you can rotate Fish/Kobe/Odom (ballhandlers) and Walton/Artest/Bynum on the floor for the bulk of the game, with the other scrubs getting spot minutes.

Regardless...my sole goal is for Kwame's contract to get turned into another quality player. Despite dire forecasts, I really think that the Lakers are one good player away from being legitimate, even in the West. Kobe's an elite talent, Odom's an All-Star, Bynum's looking better and better...one more and the team will be in solid shape.

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Yeah after seeing Peja go absolutely nuts last night I definitely think Artest would be a good pickup.