Let's get into the whirlwind of an offseason that just wrapped up for the Laker organization this morning. With just over $41,000 left in salary cap room, It is safe to say that we are done at this point.
First things first, the draft. We finished with a less than stellar season after our best player was traded off. At #9, we knew that we would find someone who could contribute, but unfortunately, we missed out on the real stars of the draft.
With the Pistons #6 pick, we selected Andrew Bogut. With only three players on the books, we had the opportunity to go BPA and know it would likely contribute immediately. Bogut has strong potential to be a very capable starting center in the future. Since Center and PG were the only two positions that we were bone dry on, Bogut represented the best option for our franchise moving forward. His upside puts him as a player that could be expensive to retain, but we feel like that sort of demand means he helped this franchise out. All-in-all, we are very pleased with landing Bogut since he could have gone earlier with Centers being in high demand.
With our pick at #9, we selected Raymond Felton. When the ninth pick of the draft is the fifth player taken at that position, that could normally be looked at as disappointing. The great thing about it is that Raymond is very driven to prove that the other teams made a mistake when they went in other directions. We see he has potential and hope to have him in a Laker uniform for a while.
With picks #16 and #17, we selected Linas Kleiza and CJ Miles. Both will bring much needed depth to the bench, and should be able to develop into spot starters.
We decided to skip RFA...errrrrrr....we forgot. With just over $29M in cap space, we went hard in round one of free agency, and boy, did that pay off!!!
Our last two additions, starting SG/SF Kobe Bryant and PF/C Jermaine O'Neal.
There is not much more that needs to be said about Kobe Bryant. Because he is a little more equipped physically than Larry Hughes to play the 3, we will start the year with him there and Hughes at the 2. We are very very excited about the next four years with Bryant in his prime.
Jermaine O'Neal is a guy I have been interested in since he came into the league, and while the contract obviously higher than what anyone else offered, we think it was a key target to fill an opening at PF. Plus, he will give Bogut the much needed time to develop at Center.
All six additions will be here for questions as well as the three returning Lakers. Feel free to fire away with your questions. This is of course before they have to leave to begin Training Camp. :-/
