If the Lakers let Kwame's contract expire...............

[MikeyMike]

Lets pretend we are in the offseason and Mitch ends up letting Kwame's contract expire without trading him....

Would that be a good move or a bad move? Don't just say yes or no...give reasons please...

If nothing on the Lakers changed except for Kwame's contract expiring...would the Lakers have any ability to sign a Free Agent other than using the MLE (Mid Level Exception)?

[tkb]

Best move is to trade him before the trade deadline, if there is a deal available to us where we pick up some talent. I wouldn't take on a lot of salary just for the sake of making a trade though, but if we can pick up some value, sure.

We will not be able to sign a free agent for more than the MLE if we just let his contract expire. I wouldn't mind seeing us re-sign Kwame for a reasonable price (MLE or less) since that wouldn't count against our own MLE.

[MikeyMike]

I just made a thread on the Knicks board proposing Curry for Kwame.

I'd be interested to see the Knicks fans reaction...

Mods please don't lock this thread now and/or move to trade thread.

[Slava]

If Indiana is willing to drop some salary, I'd even want to trade him up for someone like Jeff Foster.

[chefy]

let him walk, then sign k thomas, though i think kwame is a better defender than kthomas, but thomas is like poorman's h grant

[KObe Bryant]

Kwame is just for defense. I don't care if he don't play good offense. Whatever mitch does , i'll accept it.

[NOODLESTYLE]

$9 million off the books is good, but Kwame still has some sort of value. If we could re-sign him for a reasonable price, I would. But if anything, I would hope the Lakers get some good value by the trade deadline rather than just let Kwame expire.

[slifersd]

That would be the worst action Kupchak can possibly take in this situation. This team still needs another star player to make it to being a contender. And since we don't have a lot of other valuable tradable assets given that we are not trading Bynum or Odom (for whatever reason), Kwame Brown is the best trading asset we have and should not be wasted.

[milesfides]

First, I'd be surprised if we can actually move Kwame for anything much.

-Teams that are interested in his expiring contract would want to clear unwanted salary - usually players with worse contracts. It would be a risk to take on these kinds of players, but more importantly to Buss, he'll want to avoid the luxury tax.

-Teams that are interested in Kwame's playing ability would want him extended to an affordable contract, not the 9m he's getting. If we traded him before the trade deadline, his bird rights will transfer, but who would want him for anything more than the MLE anyways?

Overall, I think Kwame's trade value is low because he hasn't shown that he can be a reliable player, or that he has signif. potential. He's an injury-prone big man who has bad hands, has trouble finishing around the rim, an average or below average rebounder, whose main purpose is playing individual post defense.

Considering that Shaq's decline officially ends the reign of an unstoppable post player, there's probably less demand for a defensive specialist like Kwame.

I personally think we're going to extend Kwame for something close to the MLE for 3 years. I don't think he can get better on the FA market; owners aren't spending like crazy for role players anymore. We saw that with Varejao, who ended up with a 3-year MLE deal. Kwame aint getting more than that.

Kwame would take the MLE for us than some other team because he should like the situation here. We don't demand too much from him. Compared to MJ and Doug Collins and the pressure in Washington, LA must feel like heaven. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to be too ambitious on the basketball court, so I can't see how he'd be too ambitious about the green. I think he should know that he's a backup center or a defensive PF specialist. I don't see Kwame complaining about not getting enough touches. I don't think he's delusional.

All things being equal, I think he'd stick with L.A., and considering his fairly important role on the team, I think LA will stick with him.

[realfung]

Brown's trading value is all-time low....
So the Lakers better let him play and put up some numbers before trading him.

[davidse]

odds are we won't keep him.

first of all - phil doesn't like him and thinks he's a p ssy.

then there's 2010 cap flexibility which is a priority for the lakers - and will remain so at least untill kobe comitts long term, or untill they have a championship caliber roster in place.

since that is the case, we won't be offering more than 2 guarenteed years.
that means overpaying kwame again - which will have tax implications with ronny up for a new contract, and ariza likely to opt out of his deal (at least in my opinion) and the lakers (hopefully) looking to keep him with 2010 in mind once again...
those two contracts alone should put the lakers very close to the tax threshold - before we even decide on whether or not to use our mle.

then there's mihm. no way he opts out of his contract unless something dramaticaly changes this season, and if that's the case, that makes it even less likely that the lakers will overpay kwame again - with bynum probably ready for more minutes anyway.

another consideration is 2009 flexibility.
with kobe's opt out and lamar's contract ending, 2009 cap space is also on the back of the lakers' minds.
perhaps not as much as 2010 because of the type of free agents that will be available that summer - the lakers may even opt not to use their cap space - even if they have it in 2009, but they would like to have that option and the flexiblity it brings.
so to me that means that they may be willing to offer a 2 year deal - hurting pottential 2009 cap space - but only for a player they really like - and kwame is not that player.

so everything points to kwame not being extended.

a 2 year full mle offer to kurt thomas makes a lot more sense (maybe 3rd year team option).
however, i'm guessing we'll have some competition from boston for his services...

[Dexmor]

We would be the dumbest team in the league and anybody who thinks its a good idea is even more pathetic.

[mmyers37]

With Marc Gasol set to come over next year and expect some playing time, there is no need to resign Kwame to any kind of deal.

I'm sure the front office is looking into any move they could do with Kwame, but it would be stupid to make a move just for the sake of making a move. That would be Knicks-ish.

[Dexmor]

They should make a move because they need help and Kwame's contract holds value. Even a guy like Q could help them alot.

[TonyMontana]

I with davidse on this one .
We cant and we wont get any value out of Kwame .
I think Kwame is at his all time low .
On the other hand I try to see if the Wizards might be interested to trade Kwame for Butler ............... Oh wait we did make that trade already .

[idf469]

I with davidse on this one .
We cant and we wont get any value out of Kwame .
I think Kwame is at his all time low .
On the other hand I try to see if the Wizards might be interested to trade Kwame for Butler ............... Oh wait we did make that trade already .

LOL how about

Lamar+Kwame+1strd for Jamison+Butler

Now thats what i call RAPE.

[0HeadAche0]

well he does have one of the biggest expiring contracts in the league so their will be some interest in him. If we are not getting an Artest level player in return then i think we should let him expire and resign him for 4m.

[davidse]

I with davidse on this one .
We cant and we wont get any value out of Kwame .
I think Kwame is at his all time low .
On the other hand I try to see if the Wizards might be interested to trade Kwame for Butler ............... Oh wait we did make that trade already .

well, i didn't say the lakers won't try to deal kwame.
they've been trying to for a very long time...

it's just that the offers have not been very impressive so far.

either way, my point was that if they can't get a deal done for him this season, it's extremely unlikely that they resign him.

[semi-sentient]

-= original quote snipped =-




well, i didn't say the lakers won't try to deal kwame.
they've been trying to for a very long time...

it's just that the offers have not been very impressive so far.

either way, my point was that if they can't get a deal done for him this season, it's extremely unlikely that they resign him.

So who do they sign to backup Bynum? I have a hard time believing that we're going to put our money on Mihm being effective, and an injury to Bynum would be a major setback because of our lack of depth. If the plan is to let him walk, then I sure hope we have a plan to solidify our front-court in his absence.

[dockingsched]

They should make a move because they need help and Kwame's contract holds value. Even a guy like Q could help them alot.

7 points, 6 rebounds on 31% shooting who is paid over 8 mil for the next 3 yrs is better?

hell no. let kwame walk instead of that bs.