That's right. After the long, arduous, and HOT summer that followed a pretty chilling Lakers embarrassment in the Finals, I'm back here to spew my numbers, info, and dry humor out on you all.
If you didn't read my stuff last season, let it be known now, I'm NOT here to ramble on about how great Kobe is, I'm NOT here to defend the history of the Lakers organization, and I'm certainly NOT here to get the fanboy juices flowing.
What am I here for? To serve as a conduit for your hungry brains in need of an aggregation of Lakers news, notes, and oddities. ...All laced with my occasional wit and smart #### attitude.
Vlade STILL has a posse, and the posse has no agenda. Welcome home.
As documented throughly by a trip thought the VHP archives, last season was a roller coaster in Lakers Land. Well, the ups and downs of a trying, injury-laden season has lead us to this coming Tuesday. Preseason game one of the 2008-2009 season.
Ronny is gone, but Sasha is back.
Kobe and Pau are tired, but Andrew is at full health.
Phil shaved the beard, but grew out the hair.
Sun Yue is finally a Laker, but has mono.
Kobe wants to go to Europe... buuuuuut, it was "just a joke."
These are the story lines that will finally be partially laid to waste on Tuesday. We will finally have the numbers and pictures to back up everything we've heard for the past three months.
The off-season was a long one for Lakers fans. Perhaps the 'so close, yet so far' nuances of the NBA finals left fans in a perpetual state of anticipation for the coming season, waking in a cold sweat at 2am in the middle of August... waiting... just waiting to finally doze off for the night on a high note.
There is NO DOUBT that the Finals didn't go as planned for the Lakers, I could go on forever about that, but now, finally, is the time to buckle into another rousing season of NBA action.
Shifting back into the classic VHP style, let's get up to date on what's going on right now.
Perhaps, one of the most interesting stories of the off-season came out of the LA Times last week: Forget about that Lakers frontline of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
Odom has been shifted to ball-handling guard, part of an experiment conducted by Coach Phil Jackson in a monthlong petri dish called exhibition season.
Odom, who has already clashed with Jackson in training camp, has brought the ball up court for the Lakers in their first two days of practice.
Derek Fisher has shifted to a shooting-guard role on offense and Kobe Bryant has moved to small forward. [LA Times]
Well, aint that something? After all of the drama surrounding wether Lamar would even start this season with the new-look line-up, Phil drops this bomb. This is an idea that I like. Not only can Lamar handle the ball well, as evidenced through a small portion of last season, but the mismatch that this would create would be unprecedented. A 6'10" point guard taking the ball down and making plays has the potential to throw off an entire defensive effort.
Also coming out of camp: Sasha Vujacic suffered a moderately sprained left ankle Tuesday after coming down on the foot of DJ Mbenga on a drive to the basket.
Vujacic, who signed a three-year, $15-million contract in the off-season, is expected to be out a few days.
"I think he's going to be all right," Jackson said. "It's one of those weird ones. There's no swelling, but he's got some obvious discomfort." [LA Times]
That's about it for now... aside from Chris Mihm being deemed 100% for the fist time in a few years.
The Lakers take the court Tuesday night against the Jazz at 7pm on KCAL 9, locally.
In the midst of preparations for the opening games of Men’s
Basketball pool play in Beijing, Kobe is starting a new firestorm here
at home.
Kobe Bryant won’t sign a contract extension with the Los
Angeles Lakers until he has tested the global market, the U.S. Olympic
basketball star told Yahoo! Sports on Saturday.Asked whether he plans to solicit overseas offers before signing an extension, Bryant flatly said yes.It’s possible Bryant could leave the NBA for Europe –
perhaps in a dual role of owner and player – as early as next summer.
Bryant is signed with the Lakers through the 2010-11 season, but can
opt out after next season. [Yahoo! Sports]
I could express my opinion on this for pages, but I’ll keep it at this:
Why does Kobe feel the need to talk about this right now? After all
of the emphasis he’s put on the importance of winning an Olympic gold,
he’s spouting off about a controversial move that won’t even happen for
another year. It just doesn’t seem right.
I respect both Kobe’s status as one of the best players in the
world, and anyone’s quest for riches, but give me a break. Why now?
Just two days before the US is set to take on China in men’s basketball pool play at the Olympics, the Lakers have announced the acquisition of point guard, Sun Yue–China’s
premiere play making presence. Yue, drafted by the Lakers 40th overall
in 2007 has been highly touted as the “Magic Johnson of the far east,”
because of his 6-9, 205lb. frame coupled with his excellent
ball-handling and passing abilities.
The Lakers are set to make the deal official in the next few days.
“Hopefully, it will get done soon” said Lakers’ spokesman John Black,
yesterday.
This is a big pick-up for the Lakers. The word was that Mitch wasn’t
going to pull the trigger on Yue until next year, however, doubt on
Jordan Farmar’s progression is rumored to have been the kicker on the
move.
Despite the historical uncertainty on foreign players, the tape doesn’t lie on Sun Yue.
After
some tense negotiations, the Lakers and restricted free agent guard
Sasha Vujacic agreed to a deal Friday afternoon, Lakers General Manager
Mitch Kupchak confirmed.
The deal, according to sources close to the player, is for $15 million over three years.
The 6-foot-7 guard is scheduled to earn $5 million per season. [Press Enterprise]
The deal is a step up from the $12mil/three-year that the Lakers
offered him yesterday. So there it is. The Sasha sweeps is over. Sasha
got paid, Mitch got his guy, and everyone is happy.
Well, most everyone. Sasha’s $5mil/year deal makes him monetarily
more valuable than both Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum in their current
contracts. This may bring up some questions as far as the financial
situation that the Lakers are in. Despite the letting go of Ronny
Turiaf, the Lakers are under pressure to extend Andrew Bynums contract
for BIG money by the start of the season.
There’s a possibility that Sasha Vujacic might end up in Europe come next season. Hat tip to The Lakers Nation.
First Atlanta’s Josh Childress headed overseas, signing a
lucrative deal from a Greek club. Now Houston’s Carl Landry is
entertaining offers from across the Atlantic.
Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic also has been contacted by several
European clubs, according to a Slovenian newspaper. (Probably a good
move for him considering no NBA clubs have expressed interest in
signing the restricted free agent).
Kobe Bryant said he wouldn’t be surprised if Vujacic takes
the money and runs to Europe (if the rumors are true) considering the
Lakers aren’t offering him more than a qualifying one-year deal worth
$2.6 million.
“It depends on how much money they’re throwing at him,”
Bryant said. “You got rules (NBA’s salary cap), so you’re playing with
an uneven playing field. So if they want to throw a boatload of money
at him.” [OC Register Lakers Blog]
Interesting. This Euro fever, presumably sparked by Brandon Jennings’ decision
to forego the NBA’s one-and-done rule, can’t be good for the
Association. Europe is growing in desirability among NBA players
largely because of an influx of wealthy owners willing to dole out the
cash to bring in high-profile players and varying tax policies.
It may all be fluke, but the trend is catching on. Could the NBA’s image as the world’s premiere basketball league be in peril?
[Edit: 11:19pm] What started as a rumor, seems to be getting a little more serious.
Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic, a restricted free agent,
is prepared to leave the team and accept an offer from a European team
in the next few days if the Lakers don’t make him an offer he deems
fair, according to a source in the Vujacic camp who spoke only on the
condition of anonymity.
The source said Vujacic is seeking a multiyear deal from the
Lakers averaging about $5 million a year. Vujacic was hoping for a
six-year deal, but anticipated it could be shorter contract. [LA Times]
Ouch. $5mil/year? It’s going to be an interesting few days, especially considering Mitch’s goal going into the offseason
was to re-sign both Ronny and Sasha. $5 million a year is a significant
increase on Sasha’s current contract, which sat at just over $1.75mil.
Putting the situation into perspective yields these results: Vujacic
is arguably more valuable than Vlad Radmanovic, who is currently making
$5,632,200, and Luke Walton, who is making $4mil. It all backfires,
however, when $5mil/year would be more than Derek Fisher’s deal by
$649,000… not to mention, it dwarfs Andrew Bynum’s current contract
twice over and change.
The Lakers have a big decision to make in the coming days. LAHB will keep you current.
[Edit: Fri. 10:24am] Big development:
The Lakers offered Vujacic a three-year deal worth about $12 million, a salary that would pay him $4 million per season.
Vujacic, 24, is seeking a deal that will pay him between $5
million and $6 million per season, similar to what Jason Kapono (four
years, $24 million from Toronto), James Posey (four years, $25 million
from New Orleans) and Mickael Pietrus (four years, $25.1 million from
Orlando) got. [Press Enterprise]
So, the deal is on the table; albeit $1mil short of what Sasha
wants. Vujacic, who came out of the Finals with “I want be Laker for
life,” now has his chance to hold true on his statements for the time
being. Now, we sit back and wait. As always, LAHB will keep you current.
[Edit: Fri. 3:41pm] We should be getting an answer within the next few hours:
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said he expects a “resolution” to the Sasha Vujacic contract situation later this afternoon.
Hoopsworld
is reporting that the Lakers are among a few teams working for a
potential sing-and-trade involving Bulls’ small forward, Luol Deng.
Reports yesterday suggested that Chicago Bulls’ forward Luol
Deng and his agent were ready to issue an “ultimatum” to the Bulls,
basically saying if Luol did not have a deal done by September 1st,
that he would back away from negotiations and not negotiate again with
the Bulls. The reports suggested if Luol did not get a deal he’s
comfortable with, he’d sign the Bulls’ $4.4 million qualifying offer
sheet and become an unrestricted free agent next year and walk.
League sources suggested that the Lakers, Pistons, Heat and Jazz have all had discussions with Luol Deng’s camp about the framework of a sign-and-trade. [Hoopsworld]
The Lakers closed out SPL play with a couple of big losses, Friday and Saturday, cementing a 2-4 overall record.
The Lakers, with the deepest (in terms of number of players) rosters
in the SPL, were anchored by the one and only Coby Karl, who led the
team with 13.8 PPG. Rookie, Joe Crawford came in a close second,
posting 11.3 PPG.
On the boards, the hyphen crew held it down. UCLA alum, Lorenzo
Mata-Real pulled down 6.8 RPG, and Terp turned Euro guy, Nik
Caner-Medley averaged 5.0 RPG in addition to his 8.8 PPG. I’ve seen a
few rumors of Caner-Medley preseason roster talk, but none have been
confirmed.
Just as we were crossing into the realm of what could be
considered ‘drama,’ by some accounts, some fairly enlightening news has
come out of the Lakers’ camp in regards to Andrew Bynum’s recovery.
But first, here’s a quick timetable of what’s gone down as of late:
July 3rd: Andrew Bynum did indeed receive medical clearance
from doctors Thursday and will begin training in earnest by mid-July.
His agent, David Lee, said the Lakers center did not have any pain or
swelling in his surgically repaired left knee and will be ready to go
by training camp in October.[O.C. Register]
July 9th: Kupchak also questioned whether
center Andrew Bynum has been cleared by his doctor to begin training.
Last week, Bynum’s agent, David Lee, said his client had been given
medical clearance by Dr. David Altchek and would start training in two
weeks. “I’m not saying what he (Lee) said isn’t true,” Kupchak said,
“I’m saying he has not been cleared.” [OC Register]
The Clippers concluded SPL play yesterday with 78-80 loss to the
Hornets, finalizing a 2-3 record amid quite an eventful week or two in
the front office.
The five games served their purpose for the three Clips that matter
most in terms of development for the season. Al Thornton, Eric Gordon,
and Marcus Williams all posted solid averages throughout.
Though he only played two games because of a strained hammy,
Clippers’ first-round draft pick Eric Gordon led the team in PPG,
posting 19 in addition to his 5.5 RPG and 2 APG. Al Thornton played all
five games, averaging 15.8 PPg and 5.6 RPG.
The Clippers had two regular season roster players with the free
agent tag playing in the SPL. Marcus Williams averaged 11.6 PPG and 5.8
RPG and Nick Fazekas averaged 9.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG.
A lot of eyes were on the second round picks, center, DeAndre Jordan
and guard, Mike Taylor. Jordan led the team in RPG, with 7.2 in
addition to his 7.4 PPG. Mike Taylor averaged 10.2 PPG despite posting
an embarrassing 5.8 turnovers per game...
Hats off to The Lakers Nation
for getting the word out about this. AM570’s Joe McDonnell is reporting
the the Lakers will not be matching Ronny Turiaf’s $17 million, four
year offer from Golden State.
I
know, It’s just hearsay at this point in time, but Joe is one of the
most professional guys on radio, and is known for his reliable sources.
It’s really going to pain me to see Ronny in a different uni next
year, but at the same time, it wouldn’t have made monetary sense for
the Lakers to pay out that kind of change for what is essentially an
energy backup. I have a feeling that the frontladed nature of the
contract also drove the Lakers away. Reports noted Ronny will be
receiving $10 million in the first season of the new contract.
Rookie,
Joe Crawford made headlines Wednesday night as his buzzer-beating
runner granted the Lakers their second win in the Vegas summer league.
His game-winning shot was backed with 10 points and six rebounds on the
night. Four other Lakers finished in dubs, including Brian Roberts and
Lorenzo Mata-Real, who both finished with 12.
Coby Karl kept pace with his SL averages, scoring 14, but the show was stolen by an unlikely contributor.
Nik Caner-Medley with 19. Who? Let’s open the file.
Nik Caner-Medley, a product of New England, led Maryland in scoring
in his junior and senior year (2005-2006), in route to a no-show at the
draft. Nik signed a Summer League contract with the Pistons in 2006,
only to go down with a foot injury for five months. Since then, he has
played in Germany, back in the SL with the Kings, in the NBADL, and
most recently in Spain. He’s a 6-8, 200lb forward. If he keeps posting
big numbers, maaaybe we’ll see him don the purple and gold come November. This guy is new to me, but I’ll be keeping my eye on him.
Oh yeah… I forgot to mention that the Lakers beat the T-Wolves.
Kevin Love (probably my favorite rookie) lit it up. 18 points and 17
rebounds. I’m really excited to watch this guy ball. Corey Brewer put
up 19, and POOH JETER! chimed in with 15.
Sure the Lakers just got clowned, but these nuggets that I found (via The Lakers Nation), only one day after the hideous 39-point loss, may instill some hope among the optimists out there.
First, Andrew Bynum on contracts: In an interview toward the end of the regular season, Bynum said he
wanted to stay with the team and did not necessarily expect a maximum
contract extension of about $80 million.”I just want to be a Laker,” he
said. “As long as they treat me right, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t
have to be max [money] for me. I just want to be able to live
comfortably and take care of my family.” [LA TImes]
And second, Sasha on coming up short: “Next year, especially with
Andrew and the same group, we won’t be short two games like we were
this year; I can guarantee you that,” Vujacic said. “We are going to
work really hard. Personally, I’m going to work myself really hard in
the gym all summer. We want to win it. We lost our first (NBA) Finals,
and I think we have a lot more to go.” [OC Register]
There's also been a lot of talk about Ron Artest coming over, however he has made statements that suggest otherwise. I think the Lakers should consider pursuing him. He is going to be able to play a position (SF) that Lamar will need time to get adjusted to with Bynum coming back, with better efficiency, and most importantly, better consistency.
Finally, Phil Jackson, who is under increasing scrutiny (cough. after being out-coached by Doc), made these comments about the future during Tuesday's press conference:“We have to get some players if we’re going to come back and repeat, to have that kind of aggressiveness that we need.”
There's a lot of talk already. It's going to be a long off-season.
Of course Lakers fans would lash out on Paul Pierce's pseudo heroics in game one. It's been beat into the ground by columnists across the nation, but thanks to the marvelous photoshopping of a supposedly-anonymous Lakers fan, this one takes the cake:
Welcome to the greatest thing to happen to the NBA in years.
The conspiracy theorists got their wish as the #1 seed Lakers and the #1 seed Celtics clinched into the finals to make for the perfect storm of playoff basketball. Two of the most storied franchises in sports meeting in the finals for the first time since 1987. A lot of things have changed since 1987 (gasoline sold for around $1.15 a gallon... that's enough evidence), but the rivalry remains the same. Back in 2000, ESPN ranked it the the #2 "rivalry we wish still existed." Well, It's back. The importance of this rivalry spans generations, going back to their first meeting in 1959, and the subsequent six meetings in the 1960s.
This rivalry is so huge, that even I know a detailed history of it. I was -2 when the Lakers and Celtics last met in the finals, though thanks to some keen storytelling from my father and seemingly endless hours of programming on ESPN Classic, I know the history... I know the pageantry. I think it's the pageantry that puts it over the top. With the rivalry on the brink of dormancy in 1989, Electronic Arts released one of the greatest video games of all time--'Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs.' What other rivalry has an entire video game devoted to it?
Enough about the past. Though history is there, these are two completely different teams trying to write their own page in the book.
The Celtics had a much tougher route to the finals, requiring seven games with both Atlanta and Cleveland. However, after not winning a single road game in the first or second round, the Celtics managed to grab two in Detroit... Something that closes the door to the "they can't win on the road in the playoffs" thoughts. The Lakers did away with a sluggish Spurs team in five, much to the surprise of some.
The Lakers got back a key piece to the puzzle in that Spurs series; Trevor Ariza. While Trevor didn't get much action in the conference finals (four points in around nine minutes total), the week of rest was the best possible thing for Trevor's return. “I hope he’s going to have an opportunity to play,’’ Phil Jackson said. “He can help us.’’ Ariza then stated “I can’t say what the situation is or will be, but I know when the time comes, I’ll be ready.’’
The matchups are going to be what makes or breaks this series for either team. The Lakers main concern is going to be containing the Celtics big three. No surprise there. The LA Times is reporting:
Derek Fisher will guard second-year point guard Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant will start out on Ray Allen, but the frontcourt is somewhat unsettled.
Lamar Odom said he expected to match up against physical Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who outweighs Odom by 34 pounds.
“I’ll try to meet him as far out on the court as possible,” Odom said. “I’ll have my hands out, be like an offensive lineman coming right off the line and jam him early. I guess I’ll be Orlando Pace out there.”
Pau Gasol probably will start out on Kevin Garnett, and Vladimir Radmanovic probably will draw Paul Pierce, though this is the type of series where defense-minded forward Trevor Ariza could get more playing time, presumably against Pierce. [LA Times]
I know it won't happen, but I figure the Lakers would be better off sliding Kobe to the three to defend Pierce, bringing Sasha Vujacic into the lineup to guard Ray Allen. Having Vlad Rad guard Pierce doesn't seem too productive... unless, like the story suggested, they can get Trevor Ariza involved at that level.
Time for all the fun stuff:
The Celtics have won both matchups with the Lakers in the regular season. One being the "short-shorts" misstep, and the other being a 13 Lakers loss in late November. Since I've made the "post-Gasol acquisition era" a bit of a trend, I'll add that the Lakers have not seen the Celtics since the acquisition of Pau . Pau, however did see the Celtics on January 4 as a member of the Grizz. Pau got contained rather well, only scoring 12 points and pulling down eight rebounds.
In the
regular season, the Lakers scored 108.6 points per game and allowed
101.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 3rd of 30 and a
defensive rating at 5th of 30. The Celtics scored 100.5 points per game
and allowed 90.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 9th of 30
and a defensive rating at 1st of 30.
Series Schedule: (2-3-2) Game One Thursday - 6/5 Lakers @ Celtics 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
Game Two Sunday - 6/8 Lakers @ Celtics 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
Game Three Tuesday - 6/10 Celtics @ Lakers 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
Game Four Thursday - 6/12 Celtics @ Lakers 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
*Game Five Sunday - 6/15 Celtics @ Lakers 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
*Game Six Tuesday - 6/17 Lakers @ Celtics 6:00 - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
*Game Seven Thursday - 6/19 Lakers @ Celtics 6:00pm - ABC Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy
Player Playoff Averages:
(LAL) Derek Fisher - 10 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.2 APG Kobe Bryant - 31.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.8 APG Vladimir Radmanovic - 8.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.5 APG Lamar Odom - 14.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2.9 APG Pau Gasol - 17.7 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 4.2 APG
(BOS) Rajon Rondo - 10.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.6 APG Ray Allen - 14.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.8 APG Paul Pierce - 19 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.1 APG Kevin Garnett - 21.1 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.5 APG Kendrick Perkins - 7.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 0.6 APG
I'm a realistic observer of the vast world that surrounds the Los Angeles Lakers. You can thank Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac for making that possible. The greatest person of all time is Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. There's no getting around that. Me? I'm eighteen years old and working my way to a journalism degree.
Bulls’ small forward, Luol Deng.
is reporting
the the Lakers will not be matching Ronny Turiaf’s $17 million, four
year offer from Golden State.
Rookie,
Joe Crawford made headlines Wednesday night as his buzzer-beating
runner granted the Lakers their second win in the Vegas summer league.
His game-winning shot was backed with 10 points and six rebounds on the
night. Four other Lakers finished in dubs, including Brian Roberts and
Lorenzo Mata-Real, who both finished with 12.
