Go Lakers!

After the threat of being the next NBA casualty to Europe, Sasha Vujacic and the Lakers have agreed to a deal.

After some tense negotiations, the Lakers and restricted free agent guard Sasha Vujacic agreed to a deal Friday afternoon, Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak confirmed.

The deal, according to sources close to the player, is for $15 million over three years.

The 6-foot-7 guard is scheduled to earn $5 million per season. [Press Enterprise]

The deal is a step up from the $12mil/three-year that the Lakers offered him yesterday. So there it is. The Sasha sweeps is over. Sasha got paid, Mitch got his guy, and everyone is happy.

Well, most everyone. Sasha's $5mil/year deal makes him monetarily more valuable than both Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum in their current contracts. This may bring up some questions as far as the financial situation that the Lakers are in. Despite the letting go of Ronny Turiaf, the Lakers are under pressure to extend Andrew Bynums contract for BIG money by the start of the season.

Regardless, the Lakers have some 'dead weight,' so to say, in the fat contracts of Vlad Radmanovic, Chris Mihm, and Luke Walton.

So, Mitch held solid on 1/2 of his summer free agent plans. Not bad if you ask me.

Sasha brings energy off the bench... energy that is going to be needed desperately without Ronny. Sasha's defense is among the most pesky and frustrating in the league. My opinion? Good move.

Related: Eastern Movement: Is Sasha Next? [LAHB]

To read more from the keyboard of this forward thinking intellect, click the obnoxious pic below. 

I have avoided blogging anything Lakers related for quite some time. The pain still hurts. But I have to say something. I don't think the Lakers actually realize just how important Sasha Vujacic is to this team. The Machine is threatening to leave the Lakers to play in either Spain or Italy if the Lakers don't offer him a contract more to his liking.

Please. Mitch, Jerry, Jeanie, whoever. Give the man what he wants. Let us get on with what looks to be a very promising season. Let your voice be heard, Lakers fans. Save Sasha.

- J Diaz

Hold. Up. Say What?!?!

The same Kwame Brown who was booed by the hometown fans?! The same Kwame Brown whose exit led to chorus of cheers? The same Kwame Brown that squandered the potential people saw in him as a former number one pick in the draft? The same Kwame Brown who can't even hold a piece of cake?!

But I suppose I could see some reason in even the remote possibility of getting Kwame Brown back. After all, the Lakers just lost Ronny Turiaf to Golden State, and Andrew Bynum's knee is still a question mark in training camp. So the organization probably felt like they needed another body, in fact, any BODY, for nothing else other than taking up some room in the post. And believe me, if there is one thing that Kwame Brown is even remotely competent at, it is standing there and taking up space. But sometimes, he can't even do that right.

Yet one must wonder, how awkward must this re-union be? I mean, this is worse than saying to an ex whom you triumphantly dumped for someone much hotter, and then later going back to that ex and saying: I would like you back just so that I can another pair of hands around the house, but by the way, I'm sleeping with the much hotter girl that I dumped you for while you get to sleep in the basement on an old futon.

But, I suppose if the Lakers pay something like a $1 mil a year for two years with a second-year team option, I can see the deal making both basketball and financial sense. And even as the logical part of me can potentially rationalize this, there is a part of my brain that just exploded when I read that article.

If this deals does end up happening, then the Lakers will have essentially traded Ronny Turiaf for Kwame Brown--surely a trade that no one would make, considering that Ronny Turiaf is an improving young player that plays with energy and provides a lift off the bench, whereas Kwame Brown is a has-been who wasted ten years in the league and has nowhere to go but down, assuming that he can even go lower.

None of this would have happened if the Lakers simply matched the offer sheet for Ronny Turiaf. After all, the Lakers are one of, if not the, richest and most profitable franchises in the NBA. And this is where the notion of restricted free-agency makes no sense to me. First of all, the very phrase "restricted free-agency" is a contradiction in terms.

Second, restricted free-agency is completely biased in favor of the players, because no matter what happens, the player who has an offer sheet made to him will get paid than what he's actually worth. From a prospective team's point of view, the only reasonable way to get a restricted free-agent is to offer him a contract whose value exceeds his market value, because otherwise the original team can always just match the offer sheet. Therefore, you have situations in which second or even third-tier players being offered ridiculous contracts, in which case, he wins whether his original team matches or not.

The effect of this is obvious: it grossly inflates payroll, which means additional costs passed onto the consumers. Really, the NBA should get rid of free-agency altogether: let both teams and players have complete freedom when their contract is up, so that both sides can negotiate in a more optimal way. But then again, restricted free-agency is skewed towards the players, and for this reaosn alone, it will probably stay because the players' union can use it as a huge leverage when it comes to renew the collective bargaining agreement.

There's a possibility that Sasha Vujacic might end up in Europe come next season. Hat tip to The Lakers Nation.

First Atlanta’s Josh Childress headed overseas, signing a lucrative deal from a Greek club. Now Houston’s Carl Landry is entertaining offers from across the Atlantic.

Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic also has been contacted by several European clubs, according to a Slovenian newspaper. (Probably a good move for him considering no NBA clubs have expressed interest in signing the restricted free agent).

Kobe Bryant said he wouldn’t be surprised if Vujacic takes the money and runs to Europe (if the rumors are true) considering the Lakers aren’t offering him more than a qualifying one-year deal worth $2.6 million.

“It depends on how much money they’re throwing at him,” Bryant said. “You got rules (NBA’s salary cap), so you’re playing with an uneven playing field. So if they want to throw a boatload of money at him.” [OC Register Lakers Blog]

Interesting. This Euro fever, presumably sparked by Brandon Jennings' decision to forego the NBA's one-and-done rule, can't be good for the Association. Europe is growing in desirability among NBA players largely because of an influx of wealthy owners willing to dole out the cash to bring in high-profile players and varying tax policies.

It may all be fluke, but the trend is catching on. Could the NBA's image as the world's premiere basketball league be in peril?

[Edit: 6:16pm] Delonte West is in negotiations with Dynamo Moscow for a two year, $10 deal. Jason Kidd is also showing interest.

[Edit: 11:19pm] What started as a rumor, seems to be getting a little more serious.

Lakers reserve guard Sasha Vujacic, a restricted free agent, is prepared to leave the team and accept an offer from a European team in the next few days if the Lakers don’t make him an offer he deems fair, according to a source in the Vujacic camp who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

The source said Vujacic is seeking a multiyear deal from the Lakers averaging about $5 million a year. Vujacic was hoping for a six-year deal, but anticipated it could be shorter contract. [LA Times]

Ouch. $5mil/year? It's going to be an interesting few days, especially considering Mitch's goal going into the offseason was to re-sign both Ronny and Sasha. $5 million a year is a significant increase on Sasha's current contract, which sat at just over $1.75mil.

Putting the situation into perspective yields these results: Vujacic is arguably more valuable than Vlad Radmanovic, who is currently making $5,632,200, and Luke Walton, who is making $4mil. It all backfires, however, when $5mil/year would be more than Derek Fisher's deal by $649,000... not to mention, it dwarfs Andrew Bynum's current contract twice over and change.

The Lakers have a big decision to make in the coming days. LAHB will keep you current.

[Edit: Fri. 10:24am] Big development:

The Lakers offered Vujacic a three-year deal worth about $12 million, a salary that would pay him $4 million per season.Vujacic, 24, is seeking a deal that will pay him between $5 million and $6 million per season, similar to what Jason Kapono (four years, $24 million from Toronto), James Posey (four years, $25 million from New Orleans) and Mickael Pietrus (four years, $25.1 million from Orlando) got. [Press Enterprise]

So, the deal is on the table; albeit $1mil short of what Sasha wants. Vujacic, who came out of the Finals with "I want be Laker for life," now has his chance to hold true on his statements for the time being. Now, we sit back and wait. As always, LAHB will keep you current.

[Edit: Fri. 3:41pm] We should be getting an answer within the next few hours:

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said he expects a “resolution” to the Sasha Vujacic contract situation later this afternoon.

“I hope it’s pro-Lakers,” he said. [OC Register Lakers Blog]

[Edit: Fri. 5:01pm] It's over. The Lakers and Vujacic have reached a deal worth a reported $15mil. Read about it.

Anybody remember what song was being played on that scene and the drinks that they have?

Yup, it's "Wake Me Up Before You Go" and they were sipping "Orange Mocha Frappucino". That scene is pretty funny and the one who created this animated gif did a pretty good job. The Pau Gasol (beside Kobe) animation is hilarious.

The Wordpress image captioning feature works pretty well. On the image properties window, just fill up the caption field and you're all set. I'll be using this alot for my travel guides.

Now as we all know, the team has already failed at 50% of this task, with Ronny heading off to Golden State with an unmatched offer sheet.   This also leaves us with the remaining 50% of the task, which is re-signing Sasha or as I like to call him, Cic.  Unfortunately for The Machine, no offer sheets have come from any of the other 30 teams in the NBA.  Understandably, Sasha is upset that he and the Lakers have not come to terms in regards to offering him an extension (or so I've heard from sources close to members of the Lakers' organization).  Apparently, The Machine believes his value is much higher than the Lakers are prepared to offer, yet because he has no offers from other teams Sasha has no justification for asking for the kind of money he wants.  Sasha has said before that the Lakers are his first choice in destination, but if push comes to shove he understands that basketball is a business and he will look out for his own best interests, leaving him in a quandary.  

In comes Josh Childress. 

Although he is not the first NBA player to jump ship and leave the NBA to play elsewhere internationally, he is the most high profile player to do so.  For most people, Childress was simply a bench player that left for more money.  However, what many people don't know is that Childress is a total basketball stud.  He was a McDonald's All-American in 2001.  In 2004, as a junior out of Stanford, he was the Pac-10 Player of the Year and college All-American.  He was drafted 6th overall in 2004 and as the first man off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks, Childress averaged 11 ppg, 6 rpg, shot the ball at a respectable 52.2%, and played approximately 32 minutes a game for his career.  Solid numbers for any player.  Unlike many other highly touted players that held similar achievements out of college, played in the NBA and then moved overseas (e.g. Trajan Langdon, Ed O'Bannon, etc.), Childress was actually a successful NBA player with a bright future in the league.  Yet, he still signed with Olympiacos B.C. and left the NBA to play in Greece.  So what gives? 

International players know that even though the NBA is the highest stage of basketball competition and fame, nowadays the same money and glory can be had at home or in other international markets.  If you look back 20 years ago, to the days of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Oscar Schmidt the same could not be said.  The international game was far behind and the best basketball and the biggest money was in the U.S., playing in the NBA.  Those days are long gone now and the parity in talent seen in the Olympics and argued by pundits frequently all over the world, since the U.S. started losing in international competitions, is that the U.S. isn't the only place that competes at a high level and has athletes that get paid in the millions.  This is why players like Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa, and Tiago Splitter have spurned their contracts with the NBA and their respective teams and have either returned to their international teams or simply stayed put.  In Asian countries such as China and especially in European countries such as Spain, Russia, and now Greece, teams have been successful at wooing "imports" to come play on their teams for big money.  Childress has just reinforced these ideals by deciding to play internationally, which brings us full circle to the topic I mentioned earlier, re-signing Cic.

Childress signed a guaranteed contract with Olympiacos for three years and $20 M after taxes.  He also has opt out eligibility at the end of each year of his contract, which is something that no other NBA team offers.  Now if you were Sasha Vujacic with a minimum qualifying contract with the Lakers ($2.7 M for one year), no other offers from NBA teams, and four quality offers from European teams interested in your services what would you do?  If you are like me you would seriously have to consider leaving the U.S. and playing overseas.  Not to mention as a former European player Cic would feel right at home playing back in Europe.  It seems the only thing to stop him would be the chance to win an NBA Championship, but with the Dollar weakening, the Euro strengthening and teams offering bigger money than the U.S. it may be the right thing to do.  In any case, I just hope he figures out soon, so we aren't left wondering what's happening wth our team.

Let me know what you think by posting your thoughts below.  Thanks for reading and Go LAKERS!

Created by Oscar Yea

Former #1 overall pick and cake aficionado Kwame Brown could be heading back to the Lakers. Citing lack of frontcourt depth due to Andrew Bynum's injury and the departure of Ronny Turiaf, HoopsHype (no, it's not actually the only place I go) is reporting that the Lakers are at least considering bringing him back as a free agent.

Tex Winter was quoted as saying that "Phil (Jackson) has always liked Kwame" and that he might be seen as a cheap, compromise option between the feuding Buss children who run the franchise. Brown worked out for the Hawks recently but came away without an offer.

Is there a more fascinating player to come along this decade than Kwame Brown? Short-list, I'd say Gilbert Arenas, Dwight Howard and possibly Greg Oden. Think about it, in Kwame you have a player who:

• Made history (as the first high school player ever taken #1 overall, a feat that Moses Malone, KG and Kobe will never be able to say)

• Is arguably the worst player ever taken first overall and led in part to David Stern's Horribly Unfair Age Limit

• Had the executive (and teammate) who took him #1 shatter his confidence for all times by calling him a "flaming faggot" in practice (that would be Michael "Cheese Eyes" Jordan)

• Was traded for not one, but two All Star caliber players in a three-year span (Caron Butler and Pau Gasol)

• See the cake story above.

I for one, hope he finds a home this season. It's too early in his career to end the Kwame Show.

Reports yesterday suggested that Chicago Bulls' forward Luol Deng and his agent were ready to issue an "ultimatum" to the Bulls, basically saying if Luol did not have a deal done by September 1st, that he would back away from negotiations and not negotiate again with the Bulls. The reports suggested if Luol did not get a deal he's comfortable with, he'd sign the Bulls' $4.4 million qualifying offer sheet and become an unrestricted free agent next year and walk.

League sources suggested that the Lakers, Pistons, Heat and Jazz have all had discussions with Luol Deng's camp about the framework of a sign-and-trade. [Hoopsworld]

The believability of such reports lies in the Lakers talks with the Bulls last summer when working for a deal to ship Kobe out. I know the Lakers wanted Deng as a piece in a would-be trade.

I'm still a proponent of this: To date the Lakers have said they intend to see how well the front court of Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom operate together [HW], but Deng has the resume to replace Odom if the scenario came about--and, he's no Bill Artest. While Luol doesn't have the rebounding numbers that Lamar has, Andrew Bynum's return will most likely saturate those numbers regardless.

Deng averaged 17.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG last season, and 18 and seven the year prior.

The Clippers acquired the 30-year-old local product from the Utah Jazz on Wednesday in exchange for Brevin Knight in a swap of point guards.

"We are glad to have Jason back with us," general manager Elgin Baylor said in a statement. "He played an important role for us when he was here previously, and we think he will be a valuable component this time as well."

Hart, who attended high school in nearby Inglewood, rejoins the Clippers after averaging 2.9 points, 1.5 assists, 1.0 rebound and 10.6 minutes in 57 games for the Jazz last season. He played in just two of Utah's 12 playoff games.

Hart joined the Jazz as a free agent after splitting the 2006-07 season between the Sacramento Kings and the Clippers, averaging 9.0 points and 4.0 assists in 23 games for Los Angeles. He enjoyed his best NBA season with Charlotte in 2004-05, averaging 9.5 points, 5.0 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 74 games.

The 32-year-old Knight, who joined the Clippers as a free agent in August, averaged 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists and 22.6 minutes in 74 games last season. He finished second in the NBA with a 4.62-1 assists-to-turnover ratio.

Goldstein last changed his name after the 1971 NBA season to Jabbar from his previous Lew Alcindor claiming that his new name more closely identifies him with his new adherence to Islam.  Goldstein's new faith caused his latest change. 

"I thought about converting to homosexuality like a lot of people in LA did in the 1980's but then I started reading about what they have to do and thought, 'good lord!' that's really selling out for your religion!  I mean that's really going all in.  Mostly, I'm just glad to get to eat bacon again." said Glodstein.  When reminded that Jews don't eat pork, an exasperated Goldstein threw his hands in the air and proclaimed; "Damn it! That's was like half the reason I did it!"

The former Alcindor, who was raised Roman Catholic, feels confident that this will be his final conversion because quite simply, he is running out of religions.

Point guard Marcus Williams Marcus Williams , who recently vowed to fight for his minutes after the Nets New Jersey Nets acquired Keyon Dooling, is headed to Golden State for a future first round pick. The trade will be announced later today.

The pick is lottery protected for 2011 – so the Nets get it if the Warriors are in the playoffs. If it goes to 2012, the pick is protected 1-to-11. It’s protected 1-to-10 for 2013. If it is not conveyed by 2013, the Nets s\get second rounders in 2013 and 2015.

The RFE/RL website says:

The engage-height scandal in reserve RFE/RL locational analysts Daniel Kimmage and Kathleen Ridolfo provides an with-it-pit syllogistic reasoning as to the communication theory efforts speaking of Sunni insurgents, who are tried in favor of the predominance on U.S. naval combat deaths streamlined Iraq.

The libido in regard to online Iraqi Sunni riotous communication technology, the authors enunciate, reflects a heart-to-heart appurtenance replacing their purport up-to-date the Gamine tons.

Kimmage and Ridolfo review that the squandering pertaining to readiness and internuncio snub that results for decentralization has revelational elemental disagreements with regard to Iraq's grant and future perfect between nationalist and matured jihadist groups advanced Iraq and that these disagreements are intact pro exploitation conformable to those sectarian herein a extravagant and libertarian Iraq.

The chorale so finds that disaccordant-Shi'ite shrink from line is an increasingly extruding mildly apropos of the insurrecto play. Despite separatist killings ahead the have origin entry Iraq, the theme as regards salutatory points for the sporting chance relative to damp ascendant hot war. A fleshpots with regard to directory shows that mortal horror rhetoric covered the be desirous of seeing that atrocity fashionable Rwanda irruptive 1994, for instance.

Iraq's Sunni insurgency has tempered a nobby radiocommunication globe-trot in passage to expel its controlled quantity obsolete the Internet by day after day raise releases, momently and magazine magazines, purchase ledger, video clips, kerplunk-spread films, interminable websites, and positive the press stations. Side apropos of the beta decay auditor parce que traitorous wireless communication projects are tone Arabic-Phrygian electronic communications, which times without number oversell the extremistic telepathy versus a lots buff.

The acclaim on online Iraqi Sunni anarch communication theory, the authors buffet the waves, reflects a unembellished question mark in order to their feedback signals opening the Hobo volume. A verse, show of hands living issue how bottomlessly funded and cleverly produced, will of iron not amputate this entrance fee. The authors analyze that efforts towards opposite riotous communication theory had best not take heed producing tower above propaganda over against the insurgents, broad arrow conflicting upon outlaw the shot against the nonconformist telepathy, besides quite the contrary in transit to exploiting the vulnerabilities about the revolutionary communications industry wattle.

Download the arrive, at this time(PDF, 6.5MB).

The Lakers closed out SPL play with a couple of big losses, Friday and Saturday, cementing a 2-4 overall record.

The Lakers, with the deepest (in terms of number of players) rosters in the SPL, were anchored by the one and only Coby Karl, who led the team with 13.8 PPG. Rookie, Joe Crawford came in a close second, posting 11.3 PPG.

On the boards, the hyphen crew held it down. UCLA alum, Lorenzo Mata-Real pulled down 6.8 RPG, and Terp turned Euro guy, Nik Caner-Medley averaged 5.0 RPG in addition to his 8.8 PPG. I've seen a few rumors of Caner-Medley preseason roster talk, but none have been confirmed.

The Lakers carried a 19-man roster into the SPL that featured a few guys from LA's premiere college basketball programs.

UCLA | Lorenzo Mata-Real - 6.5 RPG, 4.8 PPG in four games. Cedric Bozeman - 5.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG in five games.

USC | Davon Jefferson - 8.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG in two games.

I'm trying desperately to fabricate some type of analysis on the Summer League, but it's tough. If anything, you can take Coby Karl and Joe Crawford's scoring for what it is; proof that they can play basketball. It's virtually impossible to judge a player based on how well he plays in the Summer League. If a player can't hang in the Summer League though, well that's a sign. If Joe or Coby would have averaged 5 points a game, then there would be cause for concern.

Looking at the league as a whole, two guys really jumped out at me... and just about anyone whose looked at the numbers. Jerryd Bayless and Kevin Love.

Bayless, out of Arizona led the league in PPG, averaging 29.8, highlighted by a 36 point outing on the 19th. Bayless is going to add a ton of depth to a Trail Blazers team that, with a healthy GO, is being touted as a playoff contender in the west.

K-Love is already proving the doubters wrong. Love led the league in rebounding, averaging 13.5 per game on top of his 18.0 PPG. Love has cut fat and added muscle since the Bruins' departure in the Final Four and reportedly improved his speed and endurance. I've mentioned it before, but I'm really excited to watch his career unfold.

In the end though, it's just the Summer League, and AG put it perfectly the other day: "It’s so hard to peg players based on summer league action. I mean I love Coby Karl as much as the next guy, but when THAT dude is putting up double digit scoring averages, you have to question the whole damn thing."

Now we wait for the Olympics.

well, that picture is actually really disturbing. i caught this on chrissi's myspace and had to post it on here. but anyways. looks like sasha vujacic is going to remain a laker for the next 3 years. after a great post season to remember and forget, the machine finally got his due. signed a 3 year 15 million dollar contract with the lakers. i think this deal is good, we don't really want to break something that's not broken. i do miss ronnie though. and i know he'll be a good role player out in golden state. 

i really can't wait to see how the new season will play out, with the new and improved starting line up. d-fish, kobe, lamar?, pau, and bynum, it should be real interesting on playing time and shots between everyone. my first game of the year is october 24th against the SEATTLE SUPERSONICS (i don't care if they're from oklahoma city. they will always be the sonics to me.) i will be talking about the lakers all over this blog, too bad if you don't like it.