Lakers paying almost $130 million for 12th-place team

[The_Ripper]

As detailed by HOOPSWORLD.com, the Lakers currently have $99,893,231 in payroll this season.
 
With a record of 17-22 (12th place in the Western Conference), the Lakers will pay $29,586,231 in luxury taxes. All told, the Lakers' $129,479,462 payroll is easily the highest in the league.
 
No other team is at $100 million. The Miami Heat is just under the $97-million mark (including tax), but they're coming off an NBA championship.

The Lakers pay three players (Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol) a total of $66.4 million, more than 15 teams pay for their entire rosters.
 
Next season, the Lakers have "just" $68.1 million in payroll, but if the team re-signs Howard at $20.5 million, that number jumps quickly to $88.6 million. That's based on six players under contract; the payroll would still need to climb with the salary of at least seven more players.
 
Complicating matters, the league institutes a "graduated tax" next season. A $100-million payroll would trigger in the neighborhood of $73 million in taxes for a total of $173 million.
 
The Lakers are at nearly $130 million and they're not a playoff team. Are they going to be appreciably better next year at $173 million?

http://www.hoopsworld.com/los-angeles-lakers-team-salary/

[PLANT]

The Lakers have BIG TIME problems.  I dont see this ship getting turned around. 

[Sccit]

The Lakers have BIG TIME problems.  I dont see this ship getting turned around. 

right...cuz we dont have 1 of the best rosters in the league playing for the most successful franchise in sports history. we'll be fine . hopefully, management realizes their mistake and fires d'antoni sooner rather than later...but were not in the worst of shape, even though it does look pretty bad right about now

[Citizen-Y]

The LA Knicks

[Chamillitary Click]

They're going to be fine. Eight new players to the roster, new coach, new system, new chemistry. Injury problems and shit. Have them as the third best team in the West behind OKC and the Clippers.

[Citizen-Y]

They're going to be fine. Eight new players to the roster, new coach, new system, new chemistry. Injury problems and shit. Have them as the third best team in the West behind OKC and the Clippers.

If they want to make the playoffs they might want to start, I don't know, maybe winning some games would probably be a good start.  They are going to have to play .700 ball from here on out to make it.

[Sccit]

They're going to be fine. Eight new players to the roster, new coach, new system, new chemistry. Injury problems and shit. Have them as the third best team in the West behind OKC and the Clippers.

If they want to make the playoffs they might want to start, I don't know, maybe winning some games would probably be a good start.  They are going to have to play .700 ball from here on out to make it.

were only 3 games back from a playoff spot....the bottom of the west is a lot weaker than it's been in a while, so we still have a good shot


but ur right, if we wanna make playoffs, we really gotta start turning things around NOW

[King Of The Greater Los Angeles Area]

all my niggaz look rich as fuck

[Chamillitary Click]

all my niggaz look rich as fuck

I believe the line is "live rich as fuck". But then again, who really knows what 2 Chainz is saying sometimes.

[M Dogg™]

Thing is that the Lakers have missed the playoffs just 5 times since 1960. Think of that, the Celtics have missed the playoffs 13 times since then, 15 times since, and the Heat 8 times in their existence. The Lakers are the most consistent franchise in the NBA. One bad season is a drop in the bucket.

Here is the thing, the Lakers need to destroy and rebuild. I say their priority must be to do everything in their power to keep Dwight Howard. Hell I say trade for Kevin Love while he is cheap and coming off injury. Get young talent around Howard now, forget making the playoffs this season and start to rebuild a younger team. But let the record show that when it comes to rebounding and building a competitive team, no one has a history like the Lakers, no one.

[LooN3y]

Thing is that the Lakers have missed the playoffs just 5 times since 1960. Think of that, the Celtics have missed the playoffs 13 times since then, 15 times since, and the Heat 8 times in their existence. The Lakers are the most consistent franchise in the NBA. One bad season is a drop in the bucket.

Here is the thing, the Lakers need to destroy and rebuild. I say their priority must be to do everything in their power to keep Dwight Howard. Hell I say trade for Kevin Love while he is cheap and coming off injury. Get young talent around Howard now, forget making the playoffs this season and start to rebuild a younger team. But let the record show that when it comes to rebounding and building a competitive team, no one has a history like the Lakers, no one.

keep dwight and feed him "in the post"? this guys is one of the worst offensive star bigmen ive seen in, particularly forever.

and he complains about not getting enough touches? and he doesnt want to run the Pick and roll? ridiculous.

theres alot of problems on this team and ego managing is one, another is having a system when it doesnt fit the roster, and all in which leads to basically no team chemistry and the loss of effort on defense.

nash isn't that great of a post feeder, he never played with a post player, but dwight isnt a back to the basket post player, so the fact taht nash has to post feed a guy taht isnt even good in a post is already an idiotic move right there.

since dwight has no post game, nash is forced to try to beat guys off the dribble and draw a double team, which is particularly hard at his age, but when he does he get it to him in the post, he does the turn around jump hook and completely misses the rim,

dwight needs to dive with nash when he drives and beat his man off the dribble and get that lob or that baby assists and get those garbage points, WHICH WAS WHAT I WAS THINKING HE WAS GOING TO DO THE MINUTE WE GOT HIM.

pau is the best post up bigman on this team, no question about that, please dont bring up pau getting punked in the post this year, because that was what? once or twice a game? if any post ups for him at all? mike dantoni in all his wisdom would rather have pau shoot 3 pointers all day.

all of course the DNP's of jamison and meeks, ridiculous, u need to give these guys some repetitiveness to build chemistry and confidence.

and of course, mike dantoni doesnt want to post up, when we have pau, ron, kobe, jamison, who work pretty damn good off the post. and yea having dwight score couple off the post is good, but that shouldnt be dwights bread and butter, because we all knew before he left orlando, i mean shit well before he left orlando that he had no post game, and it shows now.


its been a joke since we left the triangle, why leave a system that which the roster was built for and make players pick up a new system?


it obviously didnt work

[Remedy360]

I'm on record several times saying the Lakers would be fine, but shit's looking bad for them. The D'antoni hiring is looking worse and worse. Granted, they've brought in a lot of new guys, new system, etc, but time is ticking. Kobe is having one of the best years of his career, the guys around him need to step up the intensity. And LOL @ Gasol being reduced to a role player.

[LooN3y]

I'm on record several times saying the Lakers would be fine, but shit's looking bad for them. The D'antoni hiring is looking worse and worse. Granted, they've brought in a lot of new guys, new system, etc, but time is ticking. Kobe is having one of the best years of his career, the guys around him need to step up the intensity. And LOL @ Gasol being reduced to a role player.

2 consecutive coaching hires would do that.


especially when the 1st coach just had no idea how to run the offense nor had the respect of the star players and when the 2nd coach force feeds his system to a roster that isnt qualified to run that system, in which both have been playing the senior star players to the ground.



we have kobe, gasol, dwight, jamison, ron, hill (used to) and he doesnt want to run any post ups?

shits ridiculous. and jim buss is on that hating phil jackson crack

[Mietek23]

I think Howard will leave Lakers in the summer - it's obvious he don't want to be there. They should trade him and get something in exchange while they still can..

[DeeezNuuuts83]

I'm on record several times saying the Lakers would be fine, but shit's looking bad for them. The D'antoni hiring is looking worse and worse. Granted, they've brought in a lot of new guys, new system, etc, but time is ticking.

His system is just better utilized when you have a team of smaller guys running it... which isn't the scenario but he's forcing that style upon them anyway.

My friends who are Clippers fans and Lakers haters have been having a field day with this... except for last night when the Clips AND the Celts got beat the way they did haha.  There was a lot of silence on Facebook last night.