[Real Shalongest]

Via Chad Ford on ESPN Insider:

Here’s one potential solution: The word out of the All-Star Game late Sunday had the Lakers recruiting the Portland Trail Blazers as a third team in trade talks with the Bulls. According to one source familiar with the discussions, the Lakers would get Hinrich, the Bulls would get Adam Morrison, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Juwan Howard, and the Blazers would land Tyrus Thomas and Sasha Vujacic. Such a deal would lessen the amount of money the Lakers would be adding to their payroll next season.

[Real Shalongest]

Doug Thonus

The Lakers want Kirk Hinrich, sort of. The Bulls want to dump him. The issue seems to be the Lakers won't entirely give the Bulls expiring deals, instead they want to unload Sasha Vujacic who is still owed 5 million in salary next season. Both teams are exploring options for a 3rd team to step up and take Vujacic's salary with Tyrus Thomas possibly going to that team as a sweetner.

Portland was considered to possibly be that team. Now Minnesota is considered possibly to be that team. I don't think Tyrus Thomas as a rental is really worth taking on Sasha Vujacic for a full extra season, so I find it highly unlikely a deal like this goes through with anyone.

So assuming that the three team option can't be found, who blinks first?

If the Bulls can't dump Salmons or Hinrich elsewhere then trading Hinrich in this move does give them enough cap room to make a max FA offer next season even with Vujacic hanging around on the team. In other words, while hardly ideal, this trade would give the Bulls the flexibility they demand to stay in the 2010 race.

On the other hand, the Lakers may still feel like they have to do something, and in the end, the Lakers have money to spend. They were the most profitable team in the league last season, and if they think this significantly helps their championship odds then they ultimately have more to lose by not making such a move.

Does either team blink and soften their demands to get this done or is Hinrich still a Bull after the trade deadline? Interestingly, the Bulls have apparently passed on several opportunities to dump Hinrich for expirings over the past year. John Paxson mentioned the opportunity to guarantee cap relief last deadline when stating he didn't take it. The Bulls also were rumored to pass on moving Hinrich to the Blazers in the off-season for expirings.

If they get stuck with him and somehow don't free up enough room to make a max FA offer, then they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

[Juan23]

Lakers will get Kirk Hinrich.....

[Nanizm]

Juan23, on 17 February 2010 - 06:43 AM, said:

Lakers will get Kirk Hinrich.....

Maybe the recent play of Shannon Brown and the play of Jordan Farmar will keep the Lakers from pulling the trigger on the deal.
They might feel they have enough to win it all and there would be no need to commit 10 mill a year for an addtional 2 years.

[Real Shalongest]

Quote:
The NBA's summer of 2010 has been easy money for sportswriters, and has been for quite some time now. With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and a whole host of others being available on the free agent market at the end of this season, writing about rumors and possible combinations of which players may end up where has been the simplest way to both fill space and increase page views, all by doing nothing more than speculating on the future.

But this most recent rumor? The one from Roland Lazenby that suggests LeBron James has begun to make it known to the Lakers that they are his destination of choice next season? Now, at this very moment, things have officially gone too far.

Before we tear down the notion that this could possibly ever happen in our universe, it's probably best that we start with the obligatory citation:

The greatest NBA free agent of all time, LeBron James, is quietly making overtures to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He wants to play for them. And James is not all that concerned whether Kobe Bryant is part of the equation. Bryant, of course, has yet to sign a contract extension with L.A. and could wind up a free-agent himself, albeit one with high mileage.

But the overtures have been made. LeBron wants to wear the purple and gold. Mainly, he wants to wear a championship ring, which means he wants to play for Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

Where does one begin with statements as silly as these? Let's start with Kobe Bryant.

It's true that Bryant hasn't yet signed an extension with the Lakers, and that yes, if he wanted to, he could become a free agent. But no one in their right mind actually thinks this will happen; Bryant is simply waiting until the season is over to get the contract stuff done so as not to let it become a distraction during the team's campaign to try to repeat as champions. Bryant is going to end his career as a member of the Lakers, and it would take a highly unlikely series of circumstances to prevent him from doing so.

One of the theories where Bryant might not continue with the Lakers revolves around the re-signing (or not) of the team's current head coach, Phil Jackson. Just as Lazenby has in the past, at the end of this current piece on LeBron and his "overtures," he details the supposed power struggle going on behind the scenes in the Lakers front office. Specifically, the fact that Phil Jackson's deal too is up at the end of this season, and that, at a price of $12 million a season, the team's ownership may want to go in another direction.

Bryant is likely to be very vocal when it comes to the team retaining Jackson's services, and the fact that he has his yet-to-be-signed extension as a bargaining chip makes it all the more likely that Phil will be back as the head coach for as long as he wants to be. And this is where the pairing of LeBron and Kobe begins to fall apart. Because unless Bryant and his max contract leave town, how in the world are the Lakers supposed to fit James and his (required) max deal under the team's salary cap?

The simple answer is, they're not. LeBron James doesn't get to play with Kobe Bryant and be coached by Phil Jackson, unless the team completely guts itself of all essential components to a run at a championship. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum: all gone, if LeBron is to be signed by the Lakers.

So yeah, there's no way this is happening. Did Lazenby simply make this up? Of course not; he cites one of his "best inside sources, a close Jackson associate," and even quotes this person a few times throughout the article.

An anonymous source is a journalist's best friend, especially one that can be quoted with fairly innocuous comments, which can later be extrapolated into something much more ominous that would have a juicier impact on the league at large.

Just to be perfectly clear, I'm not insinuating in any way that Lazenby is fabricating any of this. But it's so preposterous that it is, at the very least, irresponsible to write this up with a "LeBron a Laker?" headline. Even for someone who, not so coincidentally, has a new book out on Lakers legend Jerry West, and links to its Amazon.com purchase page at the end of the story.

I sure would like to try what ever this person is smoking

[Real Shalongest]

Speculation around the league, though, has Finley looking at league powers like the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. “There are other teams, championship-caliber teams that want Michael,” Thomas said. “But he is not going to be in a hurry. If you know Michael, you know he is going to think about this very carefully and make the right decision for him and his family. He won a ring with San Antonio and he will never forget that. So, that will weigh into his decision.”

[Nanizm]

Real Shalongest, on 03 March 2010 - 03:16 PM, said:

Speculation around the league, though, has Finley looking at league powers like the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. “There are other teams, championship-caliber teams that want Michael,” Thomas said. “But he is not going to be in a hurry. If you know Michael, you know he is going to think about this very carefully and make the right decision for him and his family. He won a ring with San Antonio and he will never forget that. So, that will weigh into his decision.”

Finlay cant have much left if Spurs let him go. He was servicable about 3 years ago. Lakers could use a vet back up guard but not Finlay.
What about Mike James? He was a 20 and 8 guy a few years ago.

[Steven]

Real Shalongest, on 03 March 2010 - 03:16 PM, said:

Speculation around the league, though, has Finley looking at league powers like the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. “There are other teams, championship-caliber teams that want Michael,” Thomas said. “But he is not going to be in a hurry. If you know Michael, you know he is going to think about this very carefully and make the right decision for him and his family. He won a ring with San Antonio and he will never forget that. So, that will weigh into his decision.”

I think it would be good for an insurance policy to rent him for 3 months.

[Real Shalongest]

Nanizm, on 03 March 2010 - 03:39 PM, said:

Finlay cant have much left if Spurs let him go. He was servicable about 3 years ago. Lakers could use a vet back up guard but not Finlay.
What about Mike James? He was a 20 and 8 guy a few years ago.

I`ll take Finley over Sasha or Walton anytime. His best years are behind him, but I`m sure he can come off the bench and add 7 to 9 points a game.

[Ricky]

Why not Bevin Knight? He's pretty good on 2k10