Lakers Agree to Terms With Aaron McKie

[Juronimo]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers22aug22,1,6730974.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true

Ending their search for a point guard, or at least a Phil Jackson-type point guard, the Lakers have agreed to terms with another candidate no one could have predicted, Aaron McKie.

"We've come to an agreement," said McKie's agent, Leon Rose, from his home in Pennsauken, N.J., Sunday. "Everything will get done over the course of the next few days.

"The Lakers approached him with a nice offer. He had a long talk with Coach Jackson regarding the situation and the role he can play was something that appealed to him.

"Coach Jackson has had a lot of success with veteran big guards and hopefully Aaron can have the same kind of success and bring the team a defensive presence.

"He's also looking forward to playing with Kobe Bryant. He's known him a long time from their days in Philadelphia."

The agreement is for two years and $5 million. The Lakers had no comment.

The agreement with McKie is expected to end negotiations with Derek Anderson, another big veteran guard who received a similar offer but was expected to take less and sign with the Houston Rockets.

Having traded Chucky Atkins, last season's starter, the Lakers have been looking for a successor in Jackson's unconventional mold, in which size and attitude count more than youth, athleticism, scoring ability — or even any experience as a point guard.

In Jackson's triangle offense, the point guard is called the "initiator." He sets things up and makes the first pass but doesn't control the ball as much as a conventional point guard and doesn't have to be as good a playmaker.

When Jackson arrived with the Lakers in 1999, he benched starting point guard Derek Fisher, who had just gotten a five-year, $15-million contract, and brought in bigger, older Ron Harper to replace him. Harper had played shooting guard for his entire career until Jackson switched him to "initiator" with the Chicago Bulls in 1995 at age 31.

A shooting guard throughout his career, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound McKie will be 33 in October. He is known as a tough competitor with a stand-up-guy reputation but his career has declined sharply since he started for the 76ers, who lost to the Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals.

Last season, new Philadelphia Coach Jim O'Brien parked McKie on the bench for the first half of the season to go with younger players. McKie got back into the rotation, averaging 21 minutes a game after the All-Star break, but his 2.2 average was by far the lowest of his career.

Anderson offered the Lakers a younger (31), more athletic option, averaging 9.2 points last season in Portland, although he missed 66 games in his last two seasons there.

However, the Lakers weren't convinced he was the defender and leader they wanted. Anderson is known as sunny and likable but his attitude was questioned by people in Portland. He reportedly didn't take it as a compliment when the Lakers asked him about it during his visit here two weeks ago.

Last week for the first time, the Lakers contacted McKie's agent, Rose. Until then, McKie had been expected to take a $1.1-million offer to back up Vince Carter in New Jersey.

By then, Anderson was reportedly leaning toward the Rockets, who could offer him only $1.7 million but made him feel he was the player they wanted.

The Lakers then made similar offers to McKie and Anderson, hoping to assure themselves of getting one of them.

With a $2.5-million slot left, the Lakers would like to add a small, quick guard or a big man. Their top guard prospect, former Laker Tyrone Lue, is expected to re-sign in Atlanta.

Still on the Lakers' list and available are former UCLA Bruin Earl Watson and former Laker Jannero Pargo. With a short list of big men to choose from, a return by Vlade Divac may be possible.

[Juronimo]

Hopefully the horrendous suggestion of Devean George being our starting point guard will be put to rest. Hopefully we can pull of a trade for Jalen Rose but that's probably wishful thinking.

[WestCoasta]

 

not great but oh well.....

[7even]

Well. Im not sure what to say.. sucks for the Lakers.

[ωεεźγ ғ]

well they did something fair enough

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Hopefully the horrendous suggestion of Devean George being our starting point guard will be put to rest. Hopefully we can pull of a trade for Jalen Rose but that's probably wishful thinking.

Who said anything about George starting at point guard? LMAO...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I honestly don't know what to think about this signing...They picked him over Derek Anderson, and Derek Anderson was one of the candidates I wanted the Lakers to sign. So maybe there is good reasoning behind this. Maybe Phil can rejuvinate Aaron Mckie's career. He wasn't so great last season, but he wasn't really mending into the rotation with all the guards in Phili. A plus is that this will make the Lakers a stronger defensive team. Sure, I would have prefered Derek Fisher or Marko Jaric, but now we have extra veteran leadership for a cheap price. The Lakers still have money to sign another player, possibly Pargo or Divac, as ya'll saw...I just wish the Lakers woulda' kept Rush last year...PeACe

[Javier]

I thought the reason they stopped going after Derek Anderson was because he is leaning towards the Rockets for less money.  Looks like McKie will be the "iniatiator"

[7even]

McKie
Bryant
Odom
Brown
Mihm

Bench: none

playoffs? I dunno..

WAY better teams, with no contest: Spurs, Mavs, Suns

Better teams, with chances: Sacs, Houston, Memphis, Denver, Minnesota

Competitive teams: Clippers, maybe even Utah and Warriors, who knows..


It's gonna be a tough fight for 8th seed.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I thought the reason they stopped going after Derek Anderson was because he is leaning towards the Rockets for less money.  Looks like McKie will be the "iniatiator"

Anderson offered the Lakers a younger (31), more athletic option, averaging 9.2 points last season in Portland, although he missed 66 games in his last two seasons there.

However, the Lakers weren't convinced he was the defender and leader they wanted. Anderson is known as sunny and likable but his attitude was questioned by people in Portland. He reportedly didn't take it as a compliment when the Lakers asked him about it during his visit here two weeks ago.

Obviously, he'd prefer to play in LA for more money, but the Lakers saw him as a potential mistake.

[Javier]

I see

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

McKie
Bryant
Odom
Brown
Mihm

Bench: none

playoffs? I dunno..

WAY better teams, with no contest: Spurs, Mavs, Suns

Better teams, with chances: Sacs, Houston, Memphis, Denver, Minnesota

Competitive teams: Clippers, maybe even Utah and Warriors, who knows..


It's gonna be a tough fight for 8th seed.

Aaron McKie…Sasha Vujacic/Tierre Brown
Kobe Bryant...Smush Parker/Tony Bobbit/Von Wafer
Lamar Odom…..Devean George/Jumain Jones/Luke Walton/Laron Profit
Kwame Brown…..Brian Cook/Slava Medvadenko/Ronny Turiaf*
Chris Mihm…..Andrew Bynum


Suns and Mavs are way better teams with no contest? I wouldn't go as far as that...Remember who's coaching the Lakers and the Suns lost 2 of their bigger stars in Quentin Richardson and Joe Johnson. The Mavs only have Dirk going for them...Sacramento with their unbalanced line-up and worse bench than the Lakers will not even be nearly as good as the Lakers will this year...And don't forget, the Lakers have enough cheese to sign one more player...The competition in the west will be San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Minnesota, Dallas, and the Lakers...7th and 8th seeds is a toss-up between Clippers, Suns, Warriors, Kings, and Memphis. Seattle, Portland, Utah, and New Orleans are lottery teams. If the Lakers don't make the playoffs, Phil Jackson is Del Harris.

[Stone Cold is Bout It, Bout It]

In Phil I Trust

[Javier]

In Phil I Trust

Word

[WestCoasta]

In Phil I Trust

Word