Laker Summer Fantasy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Eric Pincus
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Aug 14, 2005, 22:02





On Monday, August 15th, the deadline passes for the "Allan Houston Exception." The Los Angeles Lakers have already executed their one time luxury tax amnesty by waiving Brian Grant. Other players already cut by teams around the league include Derek Anderson, Doug Christie, Aaron McKie and the previously bought out contract of Eddie Robinson. Ironically, Allan Houston may not get the ax, with word he may just retire before the season starts.

Ultimately the decisions need to be made on Monday. Keep in mind that teams only gain luxury tax amnesty. If they're not over the threshold of $61.7 million, they have nothing to gain by executing the exception. Thus, players like Derek Fisher and Jalen Rose are not expected to be cut by their respective teams.

LA has already had lengthy discussions with Derek Anderson. Though Anderson has requested the full mid-level exception (MLE) of $5 million, the Lakers have stood firm despite their gaping hole at the point. Anderson has been shopping his services around the league looking for a higher bidder, but is said to passionately want to be a Laker. It would be reasonable to expect that he'll accept between $2 to $2.5 million next week from the Lakers, unless another team surprises with a significant offer. Whatever money Anderson agrees two, a little less than half comes out of the $9 million that the Portland Trail Blazers owe him for the coming season.

The Lakers will be looking very closely over the list of cut players once the amnesty deadline passes. Special interest will be paid to whomever the Indiana Pacers cut. Many expect Austin Croshere to be released. There are some whispers that Indiana my drop Jonathan Bender, possibly as compensation of sorts for backing out of a reported trade at the draft (if you believe such a deal ever existed). Others say the Pacers will use the amnesty on Reggie Miller's last year contract. That may be the case, but the Pacers will be above the threshold for the next two seasons, waiving Croshere or Bender would yield twice the savings.

A Plan
With the primary goal of having cap room in 2007, GM Mitch Kupchak needs to find a way to improve the Laker roster for the short term. That would mean the team is not likely to acquire any contracts that are longer than two seasons. I've been told there are exceptions to the rule should LA get an opportunity to land a high impact player, but to expect two-year deals.

Those remembering an unnamed power player mentioned previously in this column, I learned a little over a month ago that the Lakers were negotiating with the Chicago Bulls. Things quieted down for a stretch as LA waited to see which players would get the amnesty ax. Now that the likes of Chris Webber are not free agents, I've been told the line of communication has been re-opened with the Bulls.

Keep in mind that this is by no means in imminent deal. The Lakers have reservations. The Bulls have reservations. And the player, Eddy Curry, is still soliciting bigger offers.

The rumor as I've been told is Eddy Curry and Eric Piatkowski for Chris Mihm and "spare change." At this point it's not clear who else the Lakers would be sending, or if it includes their 2006 Miami pick. The Laker concerns obviously revolve around the health of Curry who has been cleared to play, but suffered from an irregular heartbeat and missed the end of the regular season and play-offs. Just coming off the loss of Ronny Turiaf, Curry could be too much of a risk for the Lakers, especially for a relatively cheap, solid big man like Mihm.

The Bulls are said to be reluctant to sign Curry to a long-term deal and have struggled to find an insurance carrier who will take on the responsibility should Curry's problem become an issue once again.

Finally, if the Atlanta Hawks offered Curry a lucrative deal, there Lakers would not be able to match it.

One of the primary reasons the Lakers are said to have interest in Curry over Mihm is triangle comprehension. The Bulls ran the triangle for the first half of Curry's career, whereas Mihm did not necessarily show a knack for the system last season. Curry is also a more dependable scorer down low, though Mihm is the better shot blocker and rebounder.

Should Laker fans expect this deal? As I've said before, if you expect any specific trade to go through, you're bound to be disappointed.

Jalen Rose
Another rumor has the Lakers waiting for the Rose to get cut by the Raptors. Failing that, the Lakers may be interested in trading for him. Toronto could be interested in getting out of his large two-year deal for ending contracts, as long as LA agreed to throw in some of their young players. Once again, it isn't imminent, but Brian Cook, Sasha Vujacic, Devean George and other ending contracts may be enough to get it done.

Consider a healthy Curry and Rose as the "dream summer" for the Lakers.

Best Case
As we continue this summer fantasy article, here's the best-case scenario as I see it.

Deal #1
The Lakers trade Chris Mihm, Jumaine Jones, Slava Medvedenko and the Miami 2006 1st round pick for Eddy Curry and Eric Piatkowski. Curry signs a two-year deal with a team option for a third, starting at $7.934 million. This particular package accounts for Curry's base year compensation status.

A better deal for the Bulls would be Mihm and Vlade Divac, who has a built in $2 million buy-out. Still, this is the Lakers' best-case scenario so forgive me . . .

Deal #2
The Lakers trade Vlade Divac, Devean George, Sasha Vujacic, Brian Cook and a re-signed Tony Bobbitt (minimum deal) to the Toronto Raptors for Jalen Rose.

There are different combinations of the two deals that can work, depending on Curry's starting salary. A package can be put together for Rose while sending Divac to the Bulls.

Free Agency (all splits of the MLE, the lower-level exception and minimum contracts)
Derek Anderson
Austin Croshere or Jonathan Bender, should either be cut
Tyronn Lue, if the Lakers want to cover every base. I'd suspect he'd be a long shot if LA landed Rose and Anderson and Piatkowski.
Calvin Booth or Tractor Traylor as size off the bench. Neither is perfect, but either could fill in some valuable minutes off the bench. Traylor is actually underrated. Booth hasn't been consistent for a number of years.

The Bottom Line
How much of this is likely? Am I setting expectations too high for Mitch Kupchak? Am I treating the NBA like it's my personal fantasy league team?

Maybe I'm being unrealistic, but the expectations have already been set. This is the Los Angeles Lakers and fans look for them to be an elite team year in and year out.

None of the ideas set forth in this article have come out of thin air. They're all well sourced as players the Lakers have pursued or considered this off-season on some level (save Booth who is complete speculation on my part). Whether the trigger will get pulled on any of these moves is a question that only time will answer.

In the meantime, the Lakers have two legitimate starters in Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom. They have two inconsistent players in Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm. They don't have a point guard and lack any serious depth off the bench.

Laker fans shouldn't panic, but be aware that as constituted today, there's no reason to expect much out of the coming season. The addition of Coach Phil Jackson will make in impact, but without the personnel there's only so much a great coach can do.

With my absolute best-case "fantasy" lineup, that's a team that can win some games:

PG Rose\Anderson\Lue\Smush
SG Bryant\Piatkowski\Wafer
SF Odom\Walton\Profit
PF Kwame\Bender
C Curry\Traylor\Bynum

I would say there's little to no chance that exact lineup hits the floor next season. I don't see LA taking on that many guards. The likelihood of either trade going through, Chicago or Toronto isn't "likely". Would Anderson still want to come if the Lakers picked up Rose via trade? Do the Pacers just cut Bender?

Too many questions I don't have the answer to. Let's hope that Kupchak and the Lakers think even bigger than I'm able to . . .