The Lakers could be faced with the decision to keep Odom or Ariza this offseason... I know this probably isn't the time to have this conversation, but it's going to come up very soon.... who would you rather have for the next 3-4 years if you had to choose one of Odom or Ariza?
That is a very tough decision and I will go with Ariza.
Ariza, like Odom, provides a lot of the "little things" whether he has a bad shooting game or not. The fact is Ariza is now a cemented starter also on this team and we are successful this way.
If we were to keep Odom, our starting Small forward would be Walton, and there isn't anything wrong with that, other than we wouldn't be as good.
So Ariza should be our first option over Odom, but after we sign ariza we should also do our best to keep Odom.
That is a very tough decision and I will go with Ariza.
Ariza, like Odom, provides a lot of the "little things" whether he has a bad shooting game or not. The fact is Ariza is now a cemented starter also on this team and we are successful this way.
If we were to keep Odom, our starting Small forward would be Walton, and there isn't anything wrong with that, other than we wouldn't be as good.
So Ariza should be our first option over Odom, but after we sign ariza we should also do our best to keep Odom.
Well, there is a large possibility that we could see the Bynum/Gasol/Odom trio play together next season if Ariza is gone. I think Odom would be better at SF than Walton though in the long run.
On the other hand, Ariza provides TOO much to lose so I would personally rather have Ariza than Odom on my team if I had to choose between the 2. Lakers FIRST priority should be to get Ariza on-board for the future. Everything else can wait, including Odom and even Kobe if he opts out. Kobe's hands are bound by the Lakers whether he knows it or not since Lakers have the upper-hand once they win the championship this year. Odom also wants to stay in LA due to his businesses so his hands are semi-bound by the Lakers (not as much as Kobe) so I think Lakers front-office should be fine waiting for Odom.
P.S. This Odom/Ariza issue has been discussed MANY MANY times already and there were MANY threads over this. I think somebody needs to sticky 1 Odom/Ariza thread so we don't have 50 people starting a new thread over this every week.
Please keep ALLLLLLL these type of discussions until the offseason! The season isn't over until the last buzzer of the Lakers 4th WIN! Present the Trophy to whichever team is Champion and enjoy it for a day or two.
Lets talk about Ariza's value and compare it to other people who had great years.
Luke Walton: averaged 12 ppg, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
result: 5 year, 6 million per year
Sasha Vujacic: Averaged 8 ppg off the bench shooting over 45% from threes that year.
result: 3 year, 5 million per year
When I look at Ariza's performance, its not all about scoring, but its not all about defense. Every night he does something different based on what the team needs. I think It is fit to pay ariza 5 million. That seems only fair because this performance seems as valuable as Walton and Sasha's contract year performances.
It'll be fit to give Ariza a 4-5 year deal worth something between 5-6 million per year and lets not overrate him in fear of him regressing next season lol.
Several times now Kobe has come out and said the Lakers have to keep both. I love the Kobe propaganda machine in action. Mitch must be going nuts everytime Kobe says this. lol
I mean I think anyone including Mitch would agree that to repeat, we need both.
However Kobe seems to be clueless in the business aspect of things. If he wants to take a 2-3 million dollar paycut, that would be big of him, and those 2-3 million would make a huge difference.
I don't expect Shannon Brown to stay because we will have committed so much money, and a team that thinks of his potential could offer him something about 3 million or above a year.
Kobe won't opt out...that leaves his salary a 21 mill instead of going to 25 mill...sort of a paycut?
When did Kobe say he wouldn't opt out? All he has said is he's not going anywhere. Business wise it's best for him not to opt out and go for a 3 year extension, but still he has not commitied himself either way.
When did Kobe say he wouldn't opt out? All he has said is he's not going anywhere. Business wise it's best for him not to opt out and go for a 3 year extension, but still he has not commitied himself either way.
the first line is
"EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Kobe Bryant said he plans to stay with the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers even he if opts out of his contract this summer." ???
here's what he said yesterday
Quote:
While Bryant said signing Odom, Ariza and Brown was `` of the utmost importance'' he wasn't all that chatty about his own contract situation.
`` I've been deflecting that all year, I ain't going to stop now,'' he joked.
Our own Elliott Teaford followed up with, ``Why though?'' and Bryant said, ``Because y'all are going to make it a big ass story... I'm not going anywhere, I ain't going nowhere, we'd just waste our breath just talking about it.
Odom or Ariza 2010?
