[BasketballGuru24Participant]

The L.A Lakers

Unless Cleveland raises multi-year offer that starts $3.5M , Matt Barnes Will Sign a 1 -year $ !.7M Deal with the lakers Sources Tell Y!

https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA

This Is Giving the Lakers even more depth having Blake, Odom , and Barnes coming off the bench. Not 2 mention with 2 bright rookies and their great starting 5. This team is really hungry for their 3 straight ring and might get it.

[llperez]

 He is one of my top 4 all time favorite bruins and would be a huge FU to the rest the league if the lakers get him. But ill wait till its official. Him KObe and Ron ROn gaurding the perimiter would be huge for playing against miami. ANd if Ebanks can defend a little, that would be about as good a defensive wing group as you have in the league.

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

With 2 7 footers and 3 deadly perimeter Defenders guarding the outside. This is going 2 be a good year for the lakers and i really think they can beat the miami heat.

[llperez]

i would be really surprised if barnes turns down twice the offer from cleavland. I mean, la has many perks and maybe he could make that money back somehow, but still barnes isnt one of those guys who’s banked a ton in his career. He could just be using the lakers as a front to get the cavs to up the offer.

[ghettosermonParticipant]

Lakers are really suited to beat up on the Heat this year especially while the Heat are just starting to build their roster. Gasol/Bynum/Odom inside will Bosh, Big Z, Juwan Howard. Now the Lakers have a whole bunch of versatile defenders like Odom, Artest, Barnes, Kobe, and Ebanks to get in front of LeBron and Dwade. Also as far as PG’s Fisher and Blake can more than handle Chalmers with their experience.

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

This Could be a tougher and better team then last year with the addition of barnes. I just hope they don’t sign CP3 They probably have 2 trade bynum which won’t be good news.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Very nice for the Lakers if they get him. They still will have the issue as far as a back-up center should Bynum be injured again, but Pau Gasol does have the length to play 5 in a crunch and now they have a deeper core at guard and on the perimeter. Barnes, Blake and Odom off the bench is huge, it would be a huge pick-up for LA. It is not exactly like the Heat have superstars at the 5, and while they have a lot of height and some good veterans, the Lakers will cause some potential match-up problems more so than the Heat will. It will be about LeBron and Bosh outplaying their match-ups of Artest and Gasol (easier said than done) and Wade holding his own against Kobe. That is to say if they can get past the Celtics and Magic, who both will be formidable opponents. I think the Lakers have to still at least be the favorite pre-season, though I am going to be push for the Heat to challenge. Boston and Orlando have big holes of their own, and honestly I really like Miami over them. Jermaine O’Neal is a big wildcard for Boston, but honestly the guy can still play when he is healthy. He will be a step-up from Rasheed, as Jermaine is more likely to mix it up downlow and get rebounds. I mean, they now will be starting 5 guys who have all played in the All-Star Game since Perkins will be recouping from his ACL tear. Miami will be likely starting 4 (if Z starts at center) with 1 coming off the bench (if they sign Stackhouse), but O’Neal is not as far past his playing level as Stackhouse or Z. Just like the PG and C were major wildcards for the Celtics, they will be for the Heat as well. None of their big men are better than average at this point, and they are all of the slow and lumbering variety, which is a worry when going up against a healthy Bynum or Dwight Howard. I have a feeling one of them steps up and they figure things out, but it is a legitimate concern and I think they are done looking for bigs with 4 Centers signed (Ilgauskas, Pittman, Magloire, Anthony). I do not think Shaq would be a good fit, but than again, I do not know any available, un-signed big man who would.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Im starting to get worried. Are the Raptors ever gonna move Calderon?

[NashyMingParticipant]

I am not really sure why teams like Cavs and Raptors would actually go after Matt Barnes.

The dude is already 30 years old. He’s good fit for a contender or for a playoff team, but he wouldn’t help marginal team like the Cavs or Raptors get to the playoff. He may help to win a few more games and lose some ping pong balls, but what’s the point? Why even go after him anyway?

I am happy to see the Barnes to Raptors deal to fall through. Raptors for the top 5 pick!

[ummm…LooneyParticipant]

Good potential pickup….But I still think the Heat can beat LA…but im a Heat fan so we’ll see.

[NashyMingParticipant]

If you visited RealGM, one of the poster there posted what BC told the season-ticket holders in an event that…
1) Teams do have interest in Calderon
2) However, the offers are too bad to be considered. I would imagine Raptors getting crappy offer like another bad contract (or worse) in return or asked to include a pick
3) BC is still trying very hard to move Calderon as he mentioned “as of now” when mentioning about Calderon.

I am actually fine with keeping Calderon. He’s happy to play in Toronto and he’s not a headcase to maintain in the locker room. He had a bad year, but he is working hard to get better. I am not sure if he’s going to play for Spain in the FIBA game, but if he skips it, he has a good chance to be healthy and ready to play in the NBA season. I certainly think it would be fine to keep him around and hope he can get back his game and up his value.

[BasketballGuru24Participant]

Raptors just want Barnes cause they never had a tough guy before. The last tough guy was probably charles oakley. They still think they have a shot at the playoffs, this is why they pursuing him.

[NashyMingParticipant]

BC is just trying to save his job because he would certainly get fired (actually not to be re-signed) if the Raptors miss the playoff again this coming season. That’s why he’s trying to keep patching the Raptors while it’s obvious that the Raptors should speed up its rebuilding process.

I am pretty sure BC knows the Raptors likely won’t make the playoff. The signing of Barnes is a “Hail Marry pass” to try to get the team to fight for a playoff spot. One tough guy wouldn’t just make a team tough, and I actually think Barnes is tougher on his mouth than his actual play. Barnes is a decent role player, but he won’t make or break a team.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

They have too, but I think he is very hard to move. What is his current deal, I heard 3/29, which is just ridiculous. Whoever wants to take that money, good luck, that Bobcats deal seemed too good to be true and it was. No matter how insignificant that trade to Dallas seemed to look, Michael Jordan not taking Calderon was a great call on his end. I hope their is a suitor for Calderon, but the odds are we are not going to get back very much for him. I just would like the Raptors to do it so we can get a better look at the teams future.

[huff09Participant]

It seems to me as if the lakers pg position will be more than shaky this season, fish is old, and blake isnt all that impressive. They need a younger, strong guard to run the triangle and get to the rim, and that will take some offensive pressure off Kobe at the guard position. I think they would do good to offer a few pieces and maybe a draft pick to portland for bayless (since portland does not seem to have much faith in him). What do you guys think?

[NashyMingParticipant]

Actually, the PGs are usually role players in the triangle offense.

Triangle Offense is actually a big man oriented offense. It was probably at its purest when Shaq was the centerpiece of the Lakers 3-peat run with Kobe as the sidekicks. Phil Jackson was a big man himself, so he adapted the triangle offense and actually successfully implemented it on the Bulls and the Lakers.

Phil Jackson needed to slightly tweak the triangle to make it plays around SGs for MJ’s Bulls and the current Lakers. I didn’t really study enough, but I think the key of Triangle is actually having a good passing big man (Longley, Gasol, and Shaq are all decent-to-good passers as big men). Another key is to have a swingman that is capable of creating offense for himself and others (MJ, Kobe, Pippen). Then some role players and some defensive oriented players (Rodman, Artest, Ariza, Fisher, Harper, etc).

The system never really needed a super star PG. MJ’s Bulls had Ron Harper, who wasn’t really that good when he was a Bull, but he’s a big guard capable of passing (not really a great passer) and playing good D. The Lakers had Derek Fisher who is a good 3-pt shooter, a good defender (although his age is catching up with him) and an ok passer (not good, not great, but good enough).

Steve Blake is actually pretty similar to Fisher in a sense that he can shoot 3s and pass a bit. Also, he plays hard and would try to play D (although probably not as good as Fisher in his prime).

Steve Blake and Derek Fisher are probably good enough for the Lakers. The key would still be Kobe, Gasol and Artest.

[Tobe BryantParticipant]

I definitely don’t think Portland has given up on Jerryd Bayless, but in case they have, here is a trade I executed. Please no negatives!

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine

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