2nd worst kept secret is the fact that Kevin Love is going to be a Laker either this offseason via trade or in 2015 via free agency. Dude was born to play for that team.
I don't think K-Love is going to go to LA. The team is in a bad way.
I think K-Love is really sick of mediocrity in Minnesota and won't go to LA (even though it probably would be his 1st option otherwise) unless they show they can compete for a title ... which I don't think they can prove. Not with their roster in the state it is in. Not with Kobe coming off a career-threatening injury. Not with Pau Gasol slowing down. With minimal trade assets and cap flexibility (once K-Love signs with Kobe's $25mil extension, those two contracts wiping out almost all cap space).
The team is just in too rocky a situation.
I think LA needs to make a big upgrade somewhere before they can convince a top free agent like Melo or K-Love to join them. They just have too much ground to make up to go from where they currently are (~25 win team) to challenging for an NBA title. Too much ground for one major FA signing to make up for on his own. I think LAL will be looking at 2nd or 3rd tier free agents until they close that gap.
Yeah, LA is not in a good way these days. They messed up with Dwight Howard. They messed up with the coaching carousel: hiring mike Brown, passing on Phil Jackson, hiring Mike D'Antoni. No one has faith in the new owner leadership. Jim Buss so far appears to be the Dan Gilbert of the West coast. He wants his fingerprints on the team. They have irritated another star in Pau Gasol. They have killed their cap for the next two years by overpaying Kobe Bryant. One star plus old Kobe plus a handful of role players are not going anywhere in the west. Also don't forget about Nash's 9.7 million.
They will bounce back. But this summer and possibly next will be a tough sell. They have some PR work to do this summer.
Topic: Raptors (39-31) at Celtics (23-47) Game #71 3/26/14 (Read 18726 times)