Payton to the Lakers

Freddie

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It's on the front page of ESPN with no link.

Glove Fits ... And Lakers Are It
Gary Payton has verbally agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers for their mid-level exception, according to ESPN's David Aldridge. Payton reportedly will make between $4.6 and $4.9 million next year.
 

fordronken

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Despite all the debates we've been having about who is a better fit for this team(PJ Brown, Karl Malone, etc.), this lineup will be scary next year. Thank God most of them are old and will retire before the Suns hit their prime.
 

Cheesebeef

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Payton and Kobe in the backcourt - interesting - IF Shaq comes back healthy and determined this year the Lakes are gonna be scary - can you imagine what the west will look like if LA gets Payton and Malone, The Spurs get either Kidd or Jermaine O'Neal, AND the Mavs get Alonzo? Not to mention Sac-towns already formidable squad as is and our up and comers. Jesus, at that point the East should just be naished from basketball.
 
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Freddie

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Does anyone have a feeling that Pippen will sign for the league minimum as well?

I think Shaq will defer the scoring load more to Malone and Payton, and the jury is still out on Kobe? I wonder how he and Malone will get along after the spat they had at the all star game a few years back...
 

Cheesebeef

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Originally posted by Freddie
Does anyone have a feeling that Pippen will sign for the league minimum as well?

Honestly if they're starting line-up is:

Payton
Kobe
Pippen
Malone
Shaq

And you assume they all come in healthy (especially Shaq), no one should or will beat that team. Every one of those guys, even though older, ALL have at least one more year of sufficient gas in the tank. If that happens, I'm going to have to move out of LA, because I won't be able to take it.
 

thegrahamcrackr

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As long as they are winning, which they should, there will be no problems. Seriously, that starting lineup would be the best of this decade at least. Not only can the team score from anywhere, but unlike the mavs they have 3 of the best defenders in the league. There is no reason besides injury or fatigue that the lakers should loose a game
 

LakeShowMan

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I know none of you care what I think, but at least this is some good news after the last couple of days. I honestly never thought this would happen. Everyone always says it isn't the money, and then they always go where ever the biggest check.

Way to go Gary!! I can't wait to get my #20 Payton jersey!!
 

JCSunsfan

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I think the line up will be like this.

Payton
Kobe
Fox/Cook/Walton (Fox at the beginning of the year. Looks taylor made for Walton to step in).
Malone
Shaq

Note: This is not the quickest line up on the face of the earth.

When we play the Lakers its run, run, run, and run some more.
 

Ryanwb

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I am sorry, but that is just too many egos to go around......
 

elindholm

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Should be a fun team to watch. The joke will be when they win and Phil Jackson gets the credit for "bringing all of the egos together." I think most people on this board could coach next year's Lakers to the title.
 

Chris_Sanders

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Hmm...

I would love to see Payton get a ring.

I never want Malone to get a ring.

Ah well.
 

LakeShowMan

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Originally posted by JCSunsfan
I think the line up will be like this.

Payton
Kobe
Fox/Cook/Walton (Fox at the beginning of the year. Looks taylor made for Walton to step in).
Malone
Shaq

Note: This is not the quickest line up on the face of the earth.

When we play the Lakers its run, run, run, and run some more.

Fox is probably going to miss the first month or two of the season. Devean will start and he will get lots of open jump shots with those other 4 on the court (which he actually was making a lot of last year until he turned the ankle). The best part is that we'll be able to bring guys like Fisher and Fox/George off the bench once Fox is healthy. We not only added other players that could score and keep teams honest, but our depth is almost on par with the other upper echelon teams in the West. Maybe Horry will still sign back (we have his bird rights). Then the Lakers would be absolutely loaded.

C- Shaq
PF- Malone, Horry, Medvedenko, Cook
SF- Devean, Fox, Walton
SG- Kobe, Rush
PG- Payton, Fisher

IR- Pargo, Madsen?
 
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hoopdeedofor2

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Payton
Kobe
Pippen/fox/george
Malone
Shaq




How would we begin to guard this lineup. Maybe the ego thing will work against them. Let's hope and pray. Not quick? The back court is as quick or quicker than ours with way better scoring. Shaq is quick when he wants to be and Malone is not to slow for his age. This is scary.
 

JCSunsfan

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Not quick? The back court is as quick or quicker than ours with way better scoring. Shaq is quick when he wants to be and Malone is not to slow for his age. This is scary. [/B]


That depends on who is playing in our back court. Its Steph and JJ, we are quicker. If its Steph and Penny, the Lakers are.

I' m sorry, but Shaq has not demonstrated up and down the court quickness in quite some time, neither has Malone.

This will be a very good team, but quickness will be their one weakness. It will be interesting to see how they cover for it.

They will be a very good defensive team. Both Payton and Kobe are excellent defenders. Small quick pg's might give them some trouble.

Shaq is usually pretty good at clogging up the middle and "King Flop" always seems to frustrate opponents.
 

Chaplin

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Don't worry so much. I hope we don't have to listen to this whining all season... :D

Payton isn't going to score 20 points a game. Besides--I'm not so worried about him when we've got a guy who is better at his position anyway.

Is he good enough to get the Lakers the championship next year? Probably. But not if they have to get through us first... :D
 

slinslin

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Payton isn't that good anymore anyway. His defense is average at best as Steph put like 41 on him the last game.

I wonder how much he will contribute as the 3rd or 4th option.
 

PhiLLmattiC

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Sorry Slin but gp is still an excellent player. However the lakers weakness will be quick guards like marbury and iverson. The lakers have never been able to guard them and next year won't be any different unless shaq comes back in shape.
 

thegrahamcrackr

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I really do not think that quickness will be that big of an issue. Sure they may not be able to run out of the gym like the mavs or kings, but they never have been able to. If Malone does join, that will give them 4 very very smart bball players. If Shaq comes back in shape (doesnt even have to be great shape) they will be very very hard defensively, plus they will have 2 more players who could legitimately drop 20 a night if needed, not to mention their depth will be much better since last years starters will be coming in as subs. I think Fisher especially will thrive next year compared to the past few as long as he accepts his new role.

With Payton alone, they are my favorites for enxt year, if malone joins as well, they may as well hand the trophy over right now.

Don't forget, that while people question Jackson's actually coaching ability, he is by far the best coach at getting the most from his players. If anyone can handle the egos it will be him.
 

notakiddfan1

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This whole ego thing isn't as much of a problem as you guys think. Shaq and Kobe would still be the crux of that team on both ends of the court, and that would be obvious just by looking at their paychecks. By Malone accepting the veteran minimum, he is pretty much saying that he's going there to win a championship, not to necesarily average 20 points per game, and not to try to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. And although I'm not as old as he is, I have a feeling that once you reach the mid 70s, it gets really tough to go out on the court every night and try to be a consistent scorer. He had to do it in Utah, but now that he's gone, there's no reason he won't be able to accept whatever duties he needs to fulfill.

As far as Payton is concerned, the guy still has mucho game left in him. For the 58 games he played in Seattle this year, where he was comfortable in the offense, the guy averaged 20.8 points on 45% shooting, dished out 8.8 assists and grabbed 4.8 rebounds. All this while only turning the ball over 2.5 times a game, which comes out to a 3.5 assist: Turn-over average. The last time I checked, that is the opposite of being "not that good anymore." Not only that, but even though most of you guys have agreed that Stephon Marbury is hands-down better than GP, those statistics certainly beg to differ. I would probably agree with you guys on this as well, but to dismiss the issue as a given is a pretty unfounded action. Now, Payton is said to be somewhat of a trouble-maker at times, but GP has been around mediocrity for so long now that I'm close to sure that winning will calm any uprisings that Payton might think of causing.

If they could add Scottie Pippen, which is really nothing more than a rumor at this point, he prolly wouldn't be a problem either. Fact of the matter is, if he could survive the Portland Trailblazers, where passing is more the thing you do with the pipe than with the basketball, I'm sure he'll have little trouble making it in LA. Besides, this guy has played second fiddle his whole basketball career, and the only times he's had an opportunity to do anything else, he's shown repeatedly that he'd rather give the assist on the winning bucket than take the shot. Which I respect greatly.

And if all else does begin to fail, the Lakers, despite what some would like to believe, do have a very sturdy safety-net to fall back on in Phil Jackson. Say what you will about his abilities as a coach, but the bottom line is Shaquille O'neal, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Glenn Rice, Toni Kukoc, Horace Grant, just to name a few very respected NBA players have never won a damn thing without Phil Jackson at the helm.
 

fordronken

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First off, I doubt Pippen will come. It seems like he wants to go somewhere where he can get a job with the organization afterward(Chicago anyone?) and I doubt the Lakers can make him that kind of a commitment.

Secondly, Devean George had better be shooting three pointers all offseason because he's gonna be open for them A LOT. Who are you gonna double off of other than him? Or you could just single cover Shaq...

And finally, this should be, once everyone learns the offense, an absolute machine in the half court set.
 

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