On the heels of the poor Clippers being spurned by Elton Brand (more on that in the coming days) in hilarious fashing, the Lakers seem to have been hit just as hard. Word on the proverbial street (or more likely, on the off ramp of the information super highway) is that Ronny Turiaf has agreed, tentatively to play for the Golden State Warriors for $17 million over 4 years (http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_S_turiaf_09.47b3657.html). What do I think about this, you ask? Good question, you. I get the same feeling that I got when Golden State signed Derek Fisher for $37 million over 6 years, and that is that Golden State has NO idea how to properly run a team. I loved Ronny on the Lakers. I loved making jokes with my friend about Phil Jackson yelling at Ronny at practice claiming that he “has no heart”, along with 4 billion other heart related comments (for those of you who don’t know, Ronny was diagnosed with an enlarged aortic root and required open heart surgery at the beginning of the 2005 NBA season). It does bother me slightly, that the Lakers had a chance to dump Ronny over this heart condition but chose to stick with it, pay his salary AND cover the expenses for his surgery, and he goes his own way once he is a restricted free agent. I know he must look out for himself, but it always bothers me with loyalty is thrown by the wayside.
Honestly, the Lakers cannot and will not match the offer by the Warriors (whose team now consists of an overrated wingman, no point guard, and paying $17 million to a guy who averaged 6.6 points/game (albeit he did drop 23 points against them in 2006, so maybe they are still stinging from that thumping). He is a decent player with phenomenal energy, and a great cheerleader, but if that was really so important I would just sign a coked up squirrel and staple some towels to it’s legs. So while I am sorry to see Ronny, and will no longer be able to compare his head to that of the Predator (here’s a picture of Ronny after a blocked shot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:6098_16_7.jpg , uncanny isn’t it???), I’m happy that he received a nice pay day and will be able to live comfortably. See ya 4 times a year.
Now that we have that out of the way, it’s time for the Lakers to sign James Posey! A great perimeter defender and solid spot up shooter, he is exactly what the Lakers need right now. Sasha manages to cover one of those two options, but in all seriousness his defense consists of standing in front of a defender and hoping that they move anywhere near his face so he can hurl himself on the floor like Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and try to draw a foul. Once an opponent stops doing that, however, he is at a loss. I like Sasha a lot, but he is NOT a $5 million a year player by any stretch of the imagination. He has had one good year, and that does not automatically equal the mid level exception. I think the Lakers learned from tossing out the mid level from one year wonder Luke Walton (who also had a career year in his contract year, and who now couldn’t shoot the ball well if you gave him a gun and named the ball “Bill”). They Lakers have the funds to sign Posey or Sasha but not both. If the idea for the Lakers is to get tough, then Posey is their man. I would offer 5 years $30 million to him and go from there. He is 31 years old, yes, but his tangibles are far more valuable than Sasha’s and Ronny’s put together, making him the perfect fit for this team. If they can sign Posey, they can plug him in at any time off of the bench to freeze a particular player and for his hot shooting once feeding Kobe, Pau or Bynum in the post. If they manage to get him, then David Stern can just Fed Ex the Larry O’Brien trophy to the Lakers every November 1st, because it will be over. I don’t want to hold Mitch to the fire, and I am sure that Jerry Buss (M.D.) wants to secure his payroll under the salary cap, but this is the best way for the Lakers to secure their standing as the elite team in the league and salary cap relief once Walton’s and Radmonovic’s awful contracts come off the books (2013 and 2011 respectively). Yup, Lakers have it just as bad as the Clippers...
