BRIGGS wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

Knixkik wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:Kobe is going to be 38 in 2yrs? How much do people think he has left? Even with HGH?

How much do you think Melo thinks Kobe has left? I can't imagine much.

knix--which player on the Knicks do you think is anywhere close to Kobe's level?

Of course no one is, but the question is does Melo think he can win a title with Kobe now? And what happens 2 years from now if he doesn't win one right away? It would be the most shortsighted move he could possibly make.

Does he think he can win with these Knicks????????????????

Does he want an entire cap taken up by him, Kobe, and Nash, or would he want to gamble that the Knicks can make better use of their cap space over the longterm and add younger players who compliment him better?

BRIGGS wrote:

martin wrote:so here it is: Kobe gets $23M next year, Nash at $10M.

martin--the fact that Kobe took less is telling. Why would he take less? So they can re up Kaman? This is set up for Melo--and Ill bet my .02 that Nash is either traded or medical retirement. Hes out--someone will take 2 number 1 picks for him.

Who says Kobe took less? He won't never make even a majority of this money on the open market. who says the Lakers even offer him the supermax? What incentive do they have to do that? He got paid more than i thought he was worth given age and injury. Lakers had no reason to give him a large extension like that. Kobe got all the money he could out of them and some.

martin wrote:so here it is: Kobe gets $23M next year, Nash at $10M.

It's looking like Nash will retire before that contract is up- he's breaking down badly.

I don't think any other team would have given Kobe that much- he got a good haul from a franchise he's done a lot for.

martin wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

martin wrote:so here it is: Kobe gets $23M next year, Nash at $10M.

It's looking like Nash will retire before that contract is up- he's breaking down badly.

I don't think any other team would have given Kobe that much- he got a good haul from a franchise he's done a lot for.

Just the other day Nash said he would play out his contract.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/11/23/steve-nash-shoots-down-retirement-rumors/

He's in denial- I think he'll come to his senses in the offseason.

With Kobe staying as highest-paid player in NBA, the Lakers can rebuild but it’s not easy
Kurt Helin

Kobe Bryant has signed a contract extension and is staying on with the Lakers for two more seasons. That news made Lakers nation happy — go to a Lakers game, see the flood of 24 jerseys in the crowd and you realize why the Lakers could not let him go at any cost. He is worth a lot to them financially. More than they can pay him.

But they are still paying him a lot.

ESPN reports the deal is for two years at $48.5 million — Kobe Bryant will remain the highest paid player in the NBA.

For a team that has sold its fan base on making a move with a lot of cap space this summer, this throws a little kink in the plan.

The Lakers will still have money to go after a max free agent (if they can recruit one, that’s another issue) but after that they wouldn’t have a lot left. Especially since they do not want to go over the luxury tax line next year, they want to get away from the repeater tax.

The Lakers still should have about $20 million in cap space next summer. In case you’re curious, that is about what LeBron James will get but less than Carmelo Anthony’s max ($23 million). Not that either of them are likely to leave their current settings ( you never know, but don’t bet on it).

However, the entire situation is not simple for the Lakers.

The Lakers process has to start with a clear plan for what kind of team you are building — if you are keeping Mike D’Antoni around as coach you can’t just go get anyone (particularly Carmelo Anthony), you need to get specific players that fit his system and what he wants to do.

The Lakers go into next season with three contracts on the books — Kobe at $23.5 million, Steve Nash with $9.7 million (with what he is saying I don’t expect he will retire), Robert Sacre at $915,243. They will have a roughly $1 million slot for their first-round draft pick this year. In theory Nick Young could stick around as he has a $1.2 million option, but it is more likely he opts out to try and find a longer deal. The Lakers have a player option on Ryan Kelly at $1 million they may pick up. The Lakers also likely would want to keep Jordan Hill around, but he is an unrestricted free agent playing his way into a bigger payday than the $3.5 million he made this year.

Then there are the cap holds — placeholders against what the Lakers can spend based on them keeping their own free agents. Pau Gasol is at $20 million, Steve Blake at $7.6 million and it goes on down the list through Chris Kaman, Jodie Meeks and others. The Lakers have to renounce their rights to all of those guys – Jordan Farmar, Xavier Henry, Wesley Johnson and others playing well in their roles — and let them be free agents to get the cap space. Or they could re-sign those guys and cut into the $20 million.

Which is to say, the Lakers can’t just test the market and expect Gasol to be there as a fallback in case their dalliance with others doesn’t work out.

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has said before rebuilding is a multi-year process for the Lakers — they are not going to check everything off the box this summer.

But if they are going to get Kobe Bryant the ring No. 6 he so desperately wants they only have a couple years now as a window. And it’s not going to be easy to get those guys.