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wolfpaclaker
Retired Number
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 58419
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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:04 am Post subject: Lakers in News June 20, 2012: Olympics: Pau Gasol heads Spanish basketball team |
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| Quote: | Olympics: Pau Gasol heads Spanish basketball team
MADRID - Los Angeles Lakers power forward Pau Gasol will spearhead Spain's bid to go one better than their silver-medal basketball showing in Beijing come next month's Olympic Games in London.
Gasol is joined in the team by brother and center Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies, and three other NBA players: Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Manuel Calderon, shooting guard Rudy Fernandez of the Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder's power forward Serge Ibaka. |
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wolfpaclaker
Retired Number
Joined: 29 May 2002
Posts: 58419
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Ramon Sessions to test market
If the Los Angeles Lakers want to keep Ramon Sessions as their point guard of the future, they will have to make a long-term commitment to him.
Sessions chose against exercising the final year of his contract to stay with the Lakers next season and will explore the free-agency market, his agent said Tuesday.
Sessions
"Ramon has carefully considered this decision," said Sessions' agent, Jared Karnes, in a statement. "He had to make a career decision and ultimately decided to do what was best in providing stability and longevity for him in the NBA, and this could only be achieved through a multiyear contract."
The Lakers were prepared for Sessions' decision, but had hoped they could retain him and see what he could bring during a full season as the starting point guard before making a decision on an extended contract offer.
"I would have preferred that he would have exercised his option to extend and would have been with us for another year," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters on a conference call Tuesday afternoon. "Only because he is a young player that's going to get better."
The Lakers acquired Sessions, 26, at the trade deadline from the Cleveland Cavaliers to replace the 37-year-old Derek Fisher, who was sent to the Houston Rockets in a subsequent deal. |
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32
Retired Number
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Posts: 73134
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:30 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Give World Peace a chance - somewhere else
I've finally grown tired of World Peace – the Lakers player, not the concept.
The Twitter attack on James Harden, just a couple months after Metta World Peace's elbow attack on the same player, was the last straw.
The former was not nearly as vicious as the latter, but it helped drive the point home. Three years on one team is more than anough for the athlete formerly known as Ron Artest.
The 2011 NBA collective bargaining agreement gives the Lakers an amnesty provision they can use to take one contract's charge off the salary cap. They still owe the money, but get cap relief.
That amnesty isn't going to be used on Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum. Next in line on the Lakers' salary list is World Peace, who will be 33 in November, and is owed $15.5 million over the next two seasons.
I was initially opposed to the signing of Artest in the summer of 2009, mostly because I preferred Trevor Ariza (and still do), as well as Artest's age and volatile history.
But Artest helped deliver an NBA title in his first season as a Laker, and he was no passenger en route, performing especially well in the final two rounds of the playoffs. The Lakers might not have got to the NBA Finals without Artest's putback of a Bryant airball against Phoenix to win a Western Conference finals game.
Two second-round playoff exits followed, and it's time for the Lakers to make some changes.
World Peace still brings toughness to a team, and no one on the Lakers cares more about winning, except Bryant. But World Peace's three-point shooting, at 29.6 percent, was his lowest mark since 2002, and at his age, can't take on the range of defensive assignments he could before.
When the Lakers signed Artest, he was two years removed from a career-high 20.5 scoring average, and coming off his final NBA All-Defensive selection. Those days are long gone, although he can still heat up at times, and can make a clutch shot or play on a big stage. Or, he can elbow someone in the head (Harden wasn't the first; ask Manu Ginobili about the 2006 playoffs).
Trading World Peace, at his age and salary, probably isn't in the cards. But, as noted earlier, three seasons is past Indiana Ron's usual shelf life with an NBA franchise.
He spent not quite four seasons with the Indiana Pacers, his longest stint with one NBA team. I can't imagine him spending a fourth, or fifth, season as a Laker.
If World Peace gets taken off the books, that might help clear a return to the Lakers by Ariza and/or Lamar Odom. And I know I am not alone in wishing for that to happen. Shannon Brown can come back, too.
Click on the photo of World Peace for a look at his Lakers career, and possible replacements. |
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Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold. |
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VicXLakers
Franchise Player
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 11823
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Hornets deal Ariza, Okafor to Wizards for Lewis
http://www.nba.com/2012/news/06/20/hornets-wizards-trade.ap/index.html?rss=true
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The New Orleans Hornets traded forward Trevor Ariza
and center Emeka Okafor to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday for
forward Rashard Lewis and a second-round draft pick. Lewis is entering
the last season of a $118 million, six-year contract and could be a
candidate for the NBA's amnesty clause, meaning he may not end up
playing for the Hornets if New Orleans chooses to cut him loose in order
to clear space under the salary cap.
"We are rebuilding our team and this is one step in our new direction,"
Hornets general manager Dell Demps said. "This trade will provide an
opportunity for our young players to develop and create flexibility to
add to our core group moving forward."
Said Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld: "Rashard unfortunately was
injured while he was with us, and he didn't get an opportunity to show
the kinds of things he was capable of doing. ... He had a very hefty
buyout in his contract, and we elected to add a couple of players to the
roster by using his contract."
Grunfeld said the Wizards would have had to pay a $13.7 million buyout.
New Orleans also receives the 46th pick in this year's draft, which
originally belonged to Dallas.
The Hornets, who are expected to take Kentucky star Anthony Davis with
the top overall draft pick and also have the 10th selection, did not
have a second-round pick before the trade. Washington, meanwhile, has
the third overall pick and still has the second pick of the second
round.
Grunfeld said the deal won't have any effect on the team's draft plans.
"We felt like we needed to add some veterans to the roster, and we were
able to do that with this move. ... We get players that are good solid
players and fill two needs for us," he said. "Instead of going into free
agency to try to fill our needs, we did it through a trade."
Okafor has never lived up to being the second pick in the 2004 draft,
but has averaged double figures in points (12.7) and rebounds (10.1)
during his career. Last season, however, he averaged a career-low 9.9
points and 7.9 rebounds and missed time with a sore left knee.
Ariza averaged 10.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, but was deactivated for the
last few weeks of the season while the Hornets, already well out of
playoff contention, took a closer look at younger players on the roster.
Several of those younger players, including second-year swingman
Al-Farouq Aminu, showed signs of improvement as the Hornets won eight of
their last 13 games.
Grunfeld said Ariza and Wizards point guard John Wall, the No. 1 overall
pick in the 2010 draft, played together in a pickup game in Los Angeles
on Wednesday.
"We think we're a better team today than we were yesterday," Grunfeld
said, "but we still have a lot of work ahead of us." |
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Cha*n
Star Player
Joined: 20 Jul 2009
Posts: 7233
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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Ramon Sessions Leaves Los Angeles Lakers with Few Options: Fan Reaction
On Tuesday, June 19, Ramon Sessions, the point guard the Los Angeles Lakers acquired during the 2011-2012 season in order to get younger and more athletic at the point guard position, opted out of his contract with the team. With Sessions declining to sign his $4.55 million player option for 2012-2013, this leaves the Lakers with just one point guard under contract, Steve Blake.
Now, this doesn't mean Sessions won't be a Laker next season as he can still sign with them. Perhaps he declined his option so he could negotiate a long-term deal or possibly ask for more money. Whatever the case, at present, it leaves the Lakers with little-to-no options at point guard. Some fans have stated that they are happy Sessions declined his option because of his poor performance in the playoffs averaging just 9.7 points and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 37.7 percent from the field. |
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Cha*n
Star Player
Joined: 20 Jul 2009
Posts: 7233
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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Kobe Bryant: Report: Lakers pushing to get into 1st round
The Lakers are reportedly trying to make a move to get a first-round pick in the NBA draft.
Sam Amico is reporting that the Lakers are "making real push" to get a first-round pick, and have their sites set on one of two Baylor forwards: Perry Jones or Quincy Miller. What the Lakers would give up is unclear, but based on who they're looking at, it wouldn't be too much. Jun. 21 - 2:12 am et
Source: Sam Amico on Twitter |
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revgen
Franchise Player
Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 10220
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:28 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Lewis is entering the last season of a $118 million, six-year contract and could be a candidate for the NBA's amnesty clause, meaning he may not end up playing for the Hornets if New Orleans chooses to cut him loose in order to clear space under the salary cap. |
Amnesty can't be used on Rashard Lewis once he's traded to New Orleans, so I'm not sure why the writer brought that up.
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sirronstuff
Starting Rotation
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 643
Location: TX
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:28 am Post subject: |
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| revgen wrote: | | Quote: | | Lewis is entering the last season of a $118 million, six-year contract and could be a candidate for the NBA's amnesty clause, meaning he may not end up playing for the Hornets if New Orleans chooses to cut him loose in order to clear space under the salary cap. |
Amnesty can't be used on Rashard Lewis once he's traded to New Orleans, so I'm not sure why the writer brought that up. |
Yeah, that threw me off. just when I thought I understood the new CBA lol 
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