The Official Los Angeles Lakers thread

[LAKERS_FAN89]

coo

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Walton to stay with Lakers after agreeing to 6-year, $30 million deal

Luke Walton reached agreement Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers on a six-year, $30 million contract after general manager Mitch Kupchak placed a call one minute after midnight to express the team's interest in retaining its best unrestricted free agent.

They called at the earliest possible moment, and we worked on it all day," agent Lon Babby said. "They wanted him back, and Luke wanted to be there. We wanted to make every effort to get an agreement.before we went out and looked at any other teams."

Another of Babby's clients, Grant Hill, had one of his more lucrative options taken away when the Toronto Raptors decided to spend their mid-level exception on Miami Heat sharpshooter Jason Kapono.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2922663

Damn, that's a lot of money, but it's good to see him back.

[LAKERS_FAN89]

The Lakers have also reached out to free-agent guard Steve Blake, who was with Denver last season and could turn out to be the efficient veteran ballhandling guard they're seeking.

"They're really interested," a league source said.

Blake, 27, was traded early last season from Milwaukee to Denver and averaged 6.4 points and five assists in the Nuggets' high-scoring offense. Steady but not flashy, he is a pass-first player who can hit open shots. At 6 feet 3, he also has decent height.

There's a good chance he won't re-sign with Denver, and the Lakers are desperate for a ballhandling guard.

Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar are the only ones who return from last season, and first-round draft choice Javaris Crittenton played only one season at Georgia Tech.

More-prominent free-agent point guards — Detroit's Chauncey Billups and Milwaukee's Mo Williams — are expected to re-sign with their teams for more money than the Lakers could offer.

The Lakers still have the mid-level exception at their disposal, and can offer a free agent a deal up to five years and about $30 million.

The mid-level exception can be spread out over more than one player, although Blake probably will earn the full mid-level exception, if not slightly below it.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers2jul02,1,7649675.story?track=rss

[Teddy Roosevelt]

^Good choice, the Lakers can use a pass first point guard. He played nicely for Denver.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Still waiting on a trade.

[wcsoldier]

Steve would be a very good AND realistic choice for the PG job.. can hit the open shot without a doubt, decent D and passer

[wcsoldier]

Walton to stay with Lakers after agreeing to 6-year, $30 million deal

Luke Walton reached agreement Sunday with the Los Angeles Lakers on a six-year, $30 million contract after general manager Mitch Kupchak placed a call one minute after midnight to express the team's interest in retaining its best unrestricted free agent.

They called at the earliest possible moment, and we worked on it all day," agent Lon Babby said. "They wanted him back, and Luke wanted to be there. We wanted to make every effort to get an agreement.before we went out and looked at any other teams."

Another of Babby's clients, Grant Hill, had one of his more lucrative options taken away when the Toronto Raptors decided to spend their mid-level exception on Miami Heat sharpshooter Jason Kapono.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2922663

Damn, that's a lot of money, but it's good to see him back.

yeah ... we have to trade Vlad , we can't allow to give the MLE both of Luke and Vlad on a such long term period... the ideal thing is Sasha, Cook and Vlad wouldn't be here next season ...

[GangstaBoogy]

^ actually I wouldn't mind keeping Vlad if we got rid of Cook. There's definatly no point in having both of them.

[Antonio_]

Actually both of them sucks.

[GangstaBoogy]

They hope they can re-sign center Chris Mihm and a veteran guard.

Mihm's agent, Jeff Austin, told the Lakers his client is looking for the mid-level exception of $5.5 million.

The Lakers think that is too much to pay for Mihm, who missed all of last season recovering from right ankle surgery and still was paid his $4.2 million salary.

Mihm has been working out with Andrew Bynum at the team's practice facility in El Segundo, but the Lakers want to make sure he is healthy.

Mihm played in just 59 games during the 2005-06 season and averaged a career-high 10.2 points. He was injured March 12, 2006, against Seattle and played in just one game after that, playing 14 minutes in the season finale.

59 games in 2 years and he thinks he's worth 5 mill? Lmao fuck off Chrissy Tenderlegs.

[Antonio_]

Mihm is a pretty decent offensive center. I mean a C who can score 10+ ppg and make a couple of blocks is def what we need. I dunno about the full MLE but hey, if we wanna win something NOW, we betta pay the players.

[wcsoldier]

 lol NO WAY we are accepting that, if yes , Mitch will be on the next level when it comes to hit lows  

[wcsoldier]

Mihm is a pretty decent offensive center. I mean a C who can score 10+ ppg and make a couple of blocks is def what we need. I dunno about the full MLE but hey, if we wanna win something NOW, we betta pay the players.

Bynum will be better than Mihm next year ( Andrew ain't going nowhere , don't trip) and Mihm is the biggest foul prone I've ever seen

[Antonio_]

Mihm is a pretty decent offensive center. I mean a C who can score 10+ ppg and make a couple of blocks is def what we need. I dunno about the full MLE but hey, if we wanna win something NOW, we betta pay the players.

Bynum will be better than Mihm next year ( Andrew ain't going nowhere , don't trip) and Mihm is the biggest foul prone I've ever seen

Ok. Bynum will be better. I agree. We need a backup C who can score 10+ ppg.

[7even]

Bynum staying = Kobe bitching