The Day After Tomorrow: Deadline Reactions

 
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sodapoppenski
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:59 am    Post subject: The Day After Tomorrow: Deadline Reactions

Alot of people seemed ready to chastise Mitch if he didn't pull off a big
trade before the deadline - but I wonder, how much of that was our
natural tendancy as fans to get out of sorts when the deadline looms so
near?

I mentioned a few times before the trade, that as "outsiders" we have
no real idea of what was or wasn't on the table.

Mitch could have worked his butt off looking for trades and simply been
asked too high a price for all the players he was interested in, right?

He could also have no looked hard enough.

The point is, with a GM - as an outsider - its tough to fairly judge. That's
why you've gotta give a guy a few seasons to judge his body of work.

I know, I know.

That's the opening for any Mitch-basher to jump in and say that he's had
a couple years and is terrible.

That part is debatable.

I happen to think he's not a great GM, nor is he as terrible as some make
him out to be.

Bottom Line: (at least for this trade deadline)...

The only big name to move was Francis. Most on here agree (myself
included) that we didn't want him in the first place.

The next tier down would be Earl Watson, a player some of us
on here coveted in the offseason - and I was one such person - but once
he signed that huge contract I'd lost interest.

Those are the only two legit names that moved, and both I'm glad we
didn't pick up.

I won't take the time to list all of the rest of the "filler" type players that
were tossed all over the league on deal-day, because the bulk of them
are inconsequential at best.

But let's examine our allegedly targeted need: a "veteran" guard.


Who moved?


Flip Murray - likely the only guard that moved who some people
on here had an eye on. The truth though? He's no better qualified to
start in this league than our own Smush Parker.

Flip only averaged 22 mins this season, but even adjusting his minutes to
match Smush - they're basically a wash in assists and rebounds.

As a scorer, Flip was roughly 10ppg, Smush 11.5. Adjust for minutes and
Flip has a rough edge.

But what do we need from a guard in the triangle, especially with
our current roster? Guys who can hit the open shot from the perimeter.

Smush shoots 38% from behind the arc. Flip less than 25%.

Smush's overall FG% is higher too.

Add to that the fact that either player is an average defender at best, and
why would we really need to bring Flip aboard?


Derek Anderson - I don't expect I need to explain this one as
much, but we considered bringing DA aboard in the offseason and he
publicly shunned us, turning down a better offer from the Lakers to go
play for Houston because he "wanted to play where [he] could win."

The guy's soft. He has injury problems all the time. He's not a good
defender at this stage of his career.

We've already got McKie and Slava, not to mention Divac's MLE situation
last year (there's some more ammo Mitch-haters)

Point is, I'm glad we didn't go after (or land) him either.


Who else did we not outbid someone for?

Ruben?

Bryon Russell?

Please.


My point is... I'd have liked to see a move too.

But I'd rather see no move, than a forced move that wasn't good for us.

All I've really heard after the deadline is that Mitch was in discussions for
bringing Boozer aboard (without moving LO) and attempting to bring KG
aboard (including LO).

Those are both reasonable goals, and are taking a legit shot at breaking
a big deal.

Minny wasn't gonna deal KG anymore than Philly deal Iverson when you
consider they can wait until the summer and have people standing in line.


So hey, reactions welcome now that we're past the deadline and most
of the hotheads have had a minute to cool off
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Dude
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:38 am    Post subject:

Great breakdown Soda. The bottom line is we didn't miss out on much.

I'm glad all our efforts to trade the-baller-formally-known-as-gump haven't come to fruition either. Yeah his contract situation's got him playing inspired ball, but he's a longtime Laker, triangle veteran, and a three time champion. I really feel that he's the defensive engine of the Lakers right now. In addition, he's showing us some nice offensive I didn't know were a part of his repertoire - his one dribble mid range jumper and hanging floaters in the lane. And how about that tech he got on the followup dunk? Good showing by gump.

Mitch is a scapegoat. Everybody knows the Buss family has final say in everything. With what they've accomplished in the last 2 decades, I'm willing to give them few more years to pull things together.

Out until the kids stop crying.
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NY_LakerFan
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:31 am    Post subject:

I was not so much disappointed that we did not make a move ... I was just surprised at the lack of trades league wide. With all the rumors flying beforehand, you would have thought there would have been several blockbusters moves.

Based on the rumors, I was a little disappointed we did not grab another potential scorer ... for example, Crawford from the Knicks. Again ... solely based on rumors ... it SOUNDED like we could have had him cheap. It also sounded like we could have added Boozer CHEAP ... meaning without giving up Odom in either case.

That being said ... I think the lesson to be learned is ... don't believe the freakin rumors. In 99% of the time, they are clearly nothing more than a so-called journalist's attempt to either influence trades or throw enough crap on the wall in the hopes that SOMETHING will stick so they can say ... See ... I had inside info all the time.
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8750
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:49 am    Post subject:

i repeat what i posted yesterday on LG2... i don't blame mitch if we didn't get a superstar... kg is the only real option and if we have to wait for him, let's wait... i don't blame mitch if he didn't trade for players with heavy contracts and questionable character... kmart, francis, boozer... to tell the truth, i wasn't also so excited thinking to have tmac... i definitely don't like odom's character, but i would trade him only for a first class player...
but mitch and/or the organization badly failed, as they do from years, because we deeply need good role players... maybe in order to win a championship, kobe needs another great star... but if you want to create a winning team, you need reliable role players... a defensive point guard, duhon or watson... because smush and sasha don't have good defensive skills... a reliable outside shooter... a blocker... that's the difference between the lakers management and spurs or suns or pistons... raja bell, boris diaw, tayshaun prince with the 23th pick, tony parker with the 28th... i was really mad two years ago when raja bell, nocioni, jasikievicius, were easily available... in these years mitch always took the softest players and never chose valuable role players...
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:00 am    Post subject:

Great read, man I'm happy (maybe cuz lately we're whoing some good ball ) that we didn't get player who has huge contract, but has changed many teams in career and is cancer type.
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numero-ocho
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:58 am    Post subject:

My reaction today to the lack of movement at the trade deadline is the same as it was yesterday: disappointment.

We all know we need help in the backcourt. The coach publicly stated his desire to get some "veteran point guard", but management didn't see the matter as urgent. Perhaps they feel comfortable bringing in Sasha when Smush is getting torched like was in the 2nd quarter, but I'm not. We lose too much rhythm offensively when we have to sit Smush down.

You can't just look at the players that "did" move. You have to also consider the players that "could" have moved if the right offer came along. Vet PGs who can play D and shoot like Tony Delk and Darrell Armstrong have been lost in their team's rotations in favor of younger guards. Heck, even a smart vet like Anthony Carter would have been an upgrade over Sasha.

These were guys who, I believe, could have help stabilize the backcourt for the remainder of the season and we would have been free to let them go in the off-season or re-signed them to a 1-year contract because of their age.
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sodapoppenski
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:46 am    Post subject:

I feel what you're saying Ocho, and on some level I agree. I certainly
agree that you can't "just" look at the players who did move.

But the players that did move are clearly players we could have at least
bid for - and I was just pointing out that none of those players would have
been that great a fit.

Players like Delk or Armstrong? Not bad fits, but when we're talking
veterans I don't know if guys that old with no tri-experience are the key.

Aaron McKie, even outside of injury, was widely-considered the slowest
triangle pupil on the squad. Could that be a result of being in the twilight
of one's career and not really caring to put in so much effort to learning
an entire new system, when you know you may just be there a year?

Just a thought.

I see either Smush or Sasha as a likely fixture at backup-PG once we
put our puzzle together.

So in alot of ways, this year (and maybe next) can be valuable minutes
for them to develop them and make sure they end up very good backups
instead of guys you wonder about each night off the bench.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:49 am    Post subject:

Apparently this was one of the worst active deadlines ever because of the following sweepstakes set to take place in the summer.

KG
AI
JO
T-Mac
Pierce

^
All potentially being put on the block in the summer. Many teams wanted to save their best assets for those players (In the Lakers' case probable targets are KG, JO and T-Mac)

While the 2007 plan and trade for a superstar only stuff may look like nonsense to us now, in 1-2 years we may be thanking Buss for his arrogance in thinking he can definitely aquire a SS.
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LakersRGolden
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:09 am    Post subject:

The Lakers still want to make the playoffs, so for the next 28 games, DG > anyone we could have traded him for.

Murry would have been nice, but how much are you going to give up for a 28 game rental of a player you wont even have rights too at the end of the year?

The only wasted trade asset is Slava's 3 mil. But how long of a contract would you take back? Why would a team trade you a contributor with a 2 year contract for Slava? To save 3 Mil? Not likely (but not impossible).
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:13 am    Post subject:

This deadline was poor, none of the players traded was worth anything in our roster.
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numero-ocho
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:21 am    Post subject:

sodapoppenski wrote:

Aaron McKie, even outside of injury, was widely-considered the slowest
triangle pupil on the squad. Could that be a result of being in the twilight
of one's career and not really caring to put in so much effort to learning
an entire new system, when you know you may just be there a year?


I hadn't heard that before and, yeah, it could be an unwillingness to learn at that stage of his career. I was sure Mitch Richmond would help us with his outside shooting in 02', but he couldn't drop a pea in the Pacific Ocean after we picked him up mid-season.

Then again, Phil did pointedly say he wanted a "veteran" guard.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:32 am    Post subject:

nice post soda as always...

i do wish the lakers did something to improve the bench but i am happy they didn't trade LO


I think one of the big winners of the trade deadline was the CAVS IMO...explain how they got lee nailon and a 2nd rounder for their 2nd rounder, what i don't get is the cavs 2nd round would be worse than the 76ers second round..can someone explain?? and they also got Flip for their 2nd round draft pick (wiliks) who never plays....
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:34 am    Post subject:

Quote:
Just Looking -- I was not so much disappointed that we did not make a move ... I was just surprised at the lack of trades league wide. With all the rumors flying beforehand, you would have thought there would have been several blockbusters moves.


I think that all of us are going to have to adjust for three things:

1. The Isiah Factor. As long as Isiah is GM of the Knicks (which shouldn't be much longer, unless he has a picture of the Cablevision board of directors with barnyard animals), we are going to get crazy rumors out of New York as Isiah and his cronies feed nonsense to their media lackeys like Peter Vecsey. If you believe that bunch of nonsense, then everyone in the league was drooling over the manure in the Knicks stables.

2. The Internet "Journalist" Factor. People like Sam Amico will make up trade rumors just to get attention.

3. The Manipulation Factor. A lot of agents have obviously figured out that they can get a lot of free publicity for their clients, and possibly even force trades, by spreading trade rumors that get infinitely republished on the internet. The so-called insiders on boards like this one are the obvious targets for this sort of manipulation. It was interesting to see some of the veteran insiders getting more cautious this year.

It would not surprise me a bit if none of the blockbuster trades ever came close to happening.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:44 am    Post subject:

LMAO @ AI actually almost being traded for Watson and Nene ROFLMAO
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:13 am    Post subject:

I'm not terribly disappointed. Part of me wanted to see a move, just to see one made, give me a little hope that things could change for the team in an instant. At the same time, I've been under the belief that this team would take a whole season to get it together and I wanted to see that have a chance to happen.

A lot of the trades would put us in a situation where those guys acquired would have to be the stars that got us there. Boozer and Francis worried me along with KMart's knees, and TMac's back (but damn it was fun thinking about TMac and Kobe together).

The last two wins have, atleast at the moment, made me ignore that nothing was done at the deadline. Hopefully moving Odom out of the initiator position makes him a more consistently effective player and doesn't drain too much from Kobe. That guard to take the load off Kobe was the one thing I was hoping they could have done.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:27 am    Post subject:

I disagree about Flip. He's not a guy that does well off the bench.

I didn't forget when he was averaging 22ppg 48&FG 38% 3pt FG with Ray Allen out for an extended period of time.

He's not even an average defender. He doesn't try. Doesn't mean we couldn't use a microwave.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:31 am    Post subject:

i would like to see slava cut and sprewell signed. do whatever it takes to get him. he could be a big addition down the stretch.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:57 am    Post subject:

I wasn't looking for or expecting a major trade. I was hoping Mitch could add another piece of depth. That is where Murray could have helped. he isn't any better probably than Smush as was pointed out, but if he was as close as it appeared that is still better than what they have going in the game right now. I just felt why not add a Flip or Reggie Evans and use one of the second round picks, Slava's expiring contract or something to get some player in here to add some depth. Oh well, it didnt' happen
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:10 pm    Post subject:

True... there weren't any big pieces that would have put us over the top... but I wouldn't have minded picking up Reggie Evans or Marc Jackson as a back-up big.

Oh well... here's hoping that we can gel as a team, master the triangle, play consistent defense, and get solid production from our 4 spot heading into the Play Off stretch.

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:58 pm    Post subject:

Very disappointed. Why didn't we trade Puke Walton for a bag of sh(bleep)t?
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:39 pm    Post subject:

Good post Soda. I agree with you that Mitch is not terrible, but not great. He is definitely mediocre.

I am definitley a Mitch basher for the simple reason that I don't want a mediocre GM for this franchise. It might be alright for a franchise content to make the playoffs, but this is the Lakers!

Granted it's not realistic to expect that they can contend every season for the championship, and their track record is better than any team since the Celtics of 40 years ago.

However, I just don't have faith that Mitch is the one to keep us at a high level. Again, not because I think he is terrible or the worst GM in the league. I just don't think he is good enough.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:17 pm    Post subject:

but Bostjan Nachbar was moved. He would have turned our season around!
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:23 pm    Post subject:

I'm still pretty amused thinking about all of these people (you know who you are) who sat on the coach contemplating what to do with the rest of their lives after the Lakers didn't make a deal.

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:43 pm    Post subject:

sodapoppenski...

I feel as if you jumped in my head and stole all of my thoughts. Seriously, the wording you used, the analysis, dead on with what I have thought all year long and leading up to the trade deadline.

So in conclusion...I agree!
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:29 pm    Post subject:

from me too.
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