True Lakers Fans

First signing of the FA

Russian Roulette!! We've seen Tim-O (my new nickname for him) at his best, and we obviously saw him at his most irrelevant in this year's Finals, but he's got real NBA playoff experience and he's just now thirty. Less of a stiff than Hibbert and D'Angelo will put his stats on fleek. Ok. Who's next?

lakerevolution wrote:Russian Roulette!! We've seen Tim-O (my new nickname for him) at his best, and we obviously saw him at his most irrelevant in this year's Finals, but he's got real NBA playoff experience and he's just now thirty. Less of a stiff than Hibbert and D'Angelo will put his stats on fleek. Ok. Who's next?

More like Stink-O LOL or Stiff-O#3 as Roy is Stiff-O#2, and Sacre is Stiff-O#1. Sacre still gets my #1 ranking. God I hope and pray that Ingram turns into a type of player like Durant is or I would take him just being PG good in a couple of years. If not we are in trouble. I think Ingram has the most potential out of any of our players that we currently have. Ok I will stop as I am being negative now but speaking the truth unfortunately.

My thing is was there anybody even offering this guy even 1/2 of what we're going to pay him? This is 4 times more than he was getting paid last year.

Mozgov was gonna get extra money regardless. In a rebuild, you gotta use tape, glue, nails and the occasional tire patch. The money means nothing. The 30-win plateu does, and that springboard to 40+ has to start somehow. These next couple years will be lucrative AND ludicrous. I want to say "you ain't seen nuthin' yet."

lakerevolution wrote:Mozgov was gonna get extra money regardless. In a rebuild, you gotta use tape, glue, nails and the occasional tire patch. The money means nothing. The 30-win plateu does, and that springboard to 40+ has to start somehow. These next couple years will be lucrative AND ludicrous. I want to say "you ain't seen nuthin' yet."

As of now I don't see us coming close to 30 wins with who we currently have unless Ingram has an All-Star type Rookie Season or we make a key trade. I sound like Ken has sounded the last 2 seasons going in now, LOL. I have been Mr Optimistic/Mr Positivity the last 2 seasons going in predicting .500 teams, etc.. They now have to prove it to me before I even pick us to win 30 games. IMO we way overpaid for Mozgov as well but when your team is in desperate need for a Center shit happens like that. Oh well it is what it is. At least we have 16 Championships and 10 since 1980 so why bitch about anything in reality as we should just be grateful.

GRADING THIS TRADE:




Timofey Mozgov is the rare free agent that would have benefited by being on the open market a season ago when he was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ invaluable center in the playoffs and before his offseason surgery plagued him all of 15-16. But Mozgov did extremely well in free agency, certainly far better than expected, by quickly signing a four-year, $64 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as the first move by any team in free agency. A salary starting at just under $15 million per season for Mozgov is the equivalent of about $11.2 million under the previous salary cap.

Mozgov was impactful in his first few months with the Cavaliers during the 14-15 season, averaging 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game. Mozgov had a PER of 18.7 and True Shooting Percentage of .621. The Cavaliers were immediately impressed by Mozgov’s size and mobility at the center position and trading away two future first round picks to the Nuggets was a worthy gamble.

Mozgov was a big factor for the Cavaliers in the 2015 Playoffs and helped them get out to a 2-1 lead before the Warriors went small in Game 4 of The Finals and effectively took him out of the series.

Mozgov underwent knee surgery last July and rushed back ahead of his free agent walk year. Mozgov averaged just 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game along with a PER of 14.6. Mozgov played better as the season continued but he was nowhere near the player he was the previous season and was a fringe player in the playoffs.

Mozgov still scored a very solid 1.22 points per possession as the roll man over 79 possessions. Mozgov isn’t an ideal roll man for D’Angelo Russell but he’ll give them more in this area of the game than Roy Hibbert did, especially if they get better spacing.

The Warriors also had some level of interest in Mozgov so it will be interesting to see how Luke Walton will use him as he’ll run some elements of the triangle while also playing out in transition.

Mozgov is 30 and coming off a season in which he played minutes but clearly played hurt, plus he ranked 75th out of 76 centers last season in Real Plus Minus, which is a troubling combination for the Lakers. Mozgov is barely good enough to be a starting center at this point in his career and projecting him out four seasons from now makes the contract look burdensome. Andrew Bogut is a year and a half older and the physical decline for players with this profile is swift around this age.

Mozgov doesn’t fit in with the Lakers’ timeline of younger players and he also is not where the direction of the league is going. The center position has depth in this market, especially since you can get away with playing certain power forwards at center with bench units.

Grade for Lakers: D+

Mozgov seemed like a victim of bad timing but he moved quickly on an aggressive offer from the Lakers. Mozgov would have received a bigger contract last season, but this is an excellent consolation for him considering how everything went wrong for him other than leaving Cleveland with a wing.

The Lakers are in rebuilding mode and expectations are low. If the contract turns out poorly for the Lakers, there will be more blame on Jim Buss for it than Mozgov himself.

Grade for Mozgov: A

The Cavaliers traded for Channing Frye at the deadline and it made them better in the short-term with his ability to spread the floor and also made their already tenuous cap situation less so by making Mozgov expendable. The Cavaliers have LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and Frye taking the bulk of the minutes at center and power forward, at least certainly in the playoffs. If Mozgov had been a free agent last summer, they would have almost certainly maxed him out and possibly have reached a different resolution with Thompson, who is clearly the better player for them.

The Cavaliers surely would like the opportunity cost of those first round picks back, but their cap and luxury tax burdens are severe enough even without Mozgov.

Grade for Cavaliers: A

Lakers4Life wrote:GRADING THIS TRADE:




Timofey Mozgov is the rare free agent that would have benefited by being on the open market a season ago when he was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ invaluable center in the playoffs and before his offseason surgery plagued him all of 15-16. But Mozgov did extremely well in free agency, certainly far better than expected, by quickly signing a four-year, $64 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as the first move by any team in free agency. A salary starting at just under $15 million per season for Mozgov is the equivalent of about $11.2 million under the previous salary cap.

Mozgov was impactful in his first few months with the Cavaliers during the 14-15 season, averaging 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game. Mozgov had a PER of 18.7 and True Shooting Percentage of .621. The Cavaliers were immediately impressed by Mozgov’s size and mobility at the center position and trading away two future first round picks to the Nuggets was a worthy gamble.

Mozgov was a big factor for the Cavaliers in the 2015 Playoffs and helped them get out to a 2-1 lead before the Warriors went small in Game 4 of The Finals and effectively took him out of the series.

Mozgov underwent knee surgery last July and rushed back ahead of his free agent walk year. Mozgov averaged just 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game along with a PER of 14.6. Mozgov played better as the season continued but he was nowhere near the player he was the previous season and was a fringe player in the playoffs.

Mozgov still scored a very solid 1.22 points per possession as the roll man over 79 possessions. Mozgov isn’t an ideal roll man for D’Angelo Russell but he’ll give them more in this area of the game than Roy Hibbert did, especially if they get better spacing.

The Warriors also had some level of interest in Mozgov so it will be interesting to see how Luke Walton will use him as he’ll run some elements of the triangle while also playing out in transition.

Mozgov is 30 and coming off a season in which he played minutes but clearly played hurt, plus he ranked 75th out of 76 centers last season in Real Plus Minus, which is a troubling combination for the Lakers. Mozgov is barely good enough to be a starting center at this point in his career and projecting him out four seasons from now makes the contract look burdensome. Andrew Bogut is a year and a half older and the physical decline for players with this profile is swift around this age.

Mozgov doesn’t fit in with the Lakers’ timeline of younger players and he also is not where the direction of the league is going. The center position has depth in this market, especially since you can get away with playing certain power forwards at center with bench units.

Grade for Lakers: D+

Mozgov seemed like a victim of bad timing but he moved quickly on an aggressive offer from the Lakers. Mozgov would have received a bigger contract last season, but this is an excellent consolation for him considering how everything went wrong for him other than leaving Cleveland with a wing.

The Lakers are in rebuilding mode and expectations are low. If the contract turns out poorly for the Lakers, there will be more blame on Jim Buss for it than Mozgov himself.

Grade for Mozgov: A

The Cavaliers traded for Channing Frye at the deadline and it made them better in the short-term with his ability to spread the floor and also made their already tenuous cap situation less so by making Mozgov expendable. The Cavaliers have LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and Frye taking the bulk of the minutes at center and power forward, at least certainly in the playoffs. If Mozgov had been a free agent last summer, they would have almost certainly maxed him out and possibly have reached a different resolution with Thompson, who is clearly the better player for them.

The Cavaliers surely would like the opportunity cost of those first round picks back, but their cap and luxury tax burdens are severe enough even without Mozgov.

Grade for Cavaliers: A

Unfortunately those grades are right on. Mozgov made out like a bandit here and I don't mean Smokey. I am sorry if I sound negative but I don't like this at all.

Grade for Tim-O: A

Grade for Lakers: C+ or better

Let's see how our rookie, rookie-sophomores and sophomore-juniors interact with Mr. Mozgov before believing what these "Sky Is Falling" hacks have to say about things.

3Peatkb24 wrote:

Lakers4Life wrote:GRADING THIS TRADE:




Timofey Mozgov is the rare free agent that would have benefited by being on the open market a season ago when he was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ invaluable center in the playoffs and before his offseason surgery plagued him all of 15-16. But Mozgov did extremely well in free agency, certainly far better than expected, by quickly signing a four-year, $64 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as the first move by any team in free agency. A salary starting at just under $15 million per season for Mozgov is the equivalent of about $11.2 million under the previous salary cap.

Mozgov was impactful in his first few months with the Cavaliers during the 14-15 season, averaging 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game. Mozgov had a PER of 18.7 and True Shooting Percentage of .621. The Cavaliers were immediately impressed by Mozgov’s size and mobility at the center position and trading away two future first round picks to the Nuggets was a worthy gamble.

Mozgov was a big factor for the Cavaliers in the 2015 Playoffs and helped them get out to a 2-1 lead before the Warriors went small in Game 4 of The Finals and effectively took him out of the series.

Mozgov underwent knee surgery last July and rushed back ahead of his free agent walk year. Mozgov averaged just 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game along with a PER of 14.6. Mozgov played better as the season continued but he was nowhere near the player he was the previous season and was a fringe player in the playoffs.

Mozgov still scored a very solid 1.22 points per possession as the roll man over 79 possessions. Mozgov isn’t an ideal roll man for D’Angelo Russell but he’ll give them more in this area of the game than Roy Hibbert did, especially if they get better spacing.

The Warriors also had some level of interest in Mozgov so it will be interesting to see how Luke Walton will use him as he’ll run some elements of the triangle while also playing out in transition.

Mozgov is 30 and coming off a season in which he played minutes but clearly played hurt, plus he ranked 75th out of 76 centers last season in Real Plus Minus, which is a troubling combination for the Lakers. Mozgov is barely good enough to be a starting center at this point in his career and projecting him out four seasons from now makes the contract look burdensome. Andrew Bogut is a year and a half older and the physical decline for players with this profile is swift around this age.

Mozgov doesn’t fit in with the Lakers’ timeline of younger players and he also is not where the direction of the league is going. The center position has depth in this market, especially since you can get away with playing certain power forwards at center with bench units.

Grade for Lakers: D+

Mozgov seemed like a victim of bad timing but he moved quickly on an aggressive offer from the Lakers. Mozgov would have received a bigger contract last season, but this is an excellent consolation for him considering how everything went wrong for him other than leaving Cleveland with a wing.

The Lakers are in rebuilding mode and expectations are low. If the contract turns out poorly for the Lakers, there will be more blame on Jim Buss for it than Mozgov himself.

Grade for Mozgov: A

The Cavaliers traded for Channing Frye at the deadline and it made them better in the short-term with his ability to spread the floor and also made their already tenuous cap situation less so by making Mozgov expendable. The Cavaliers have LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and Frye taking the bulk of the minutes at center and power forward, at least certainly in the playoffs. If Mozgov had been a free agent last summer, they would have almost certainly maxed him out and possibly have reached a different resolution with Thompson, who is clearly the better player for them.

The Cavaliers surely would like the opportunity cost of those first round picks back, but their cap and luxury tax burdens are severe enough even without Mozgov.

Grade for Cavaliers: A

Unfortunately those grades are right on. Mozgov made out like a bandit here and I don't mean Smokey. I am sorry if I sound negative but I don't like this at all.

What's puzzling to me is that no other team was even offering 1/2 as much as we're paying him (he got paid $4 million last year) AND he wasn't even one of the top 50 free agents!! ......DA FUCK??

Lakers4Life wrote:

3Peatkb24 wrote:

Lakers4Life wrote:GRADING THIS TRADE:




Timofey Mozgov is the rare free agent that would have benefited by being on the open market a season ago when he was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ invaluable center in the playoffs and before his offseason surgery plagued him all of 15-16. But Mozgov did extremely well in free agency, certainly far better than expected, by quickly signing a four-year, $64 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as the first move by any team in free agency. A salary starting at just under $15 million per season for Mozgov is the equivalent of about $11.2 million under the previous salary cap.

Mozgov was impactful in his first few months with the Cavaliers during the 14-15 season, averaging 10.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game. Mozgov had a PER of 18.7 and True Shooting Percentage of .621. The Cavaliers were immediately impressed by Mozgov’s size and mobility at the center position and trading away two future first round picks to the Nuggets was a worthy gamble.

Mozgov was a big factor for the Cavaliers in the 2015 Playoffs and helped them get out to a 2-1 lead before the Warriors went small in Game 4 of The Finals and effectively took him out of the series.

Mozgov underwent knee surgery last July and rushed back ahead of his free agent walk year. Mozgov averaged just 6.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game along with a PER of 14.6. Mozgov played better as the season continued but he was nowhere near the player he was the previous season and was a fringe player in the playoffs.

Mozgov still scored a very solid 1.22 points per possession as the roll man over 79 possessions. Mozgov isn’t an ideal roll man for D’Angelo Russell but he’ll give them more in this area of the game than Roy Hibbert did, especially if they get better spacing.

The Warriors also had some level of interest in Mozgov so it will be interesting to see how Luke Walton will use him as he’ll run some elements of the triangle while also playing out in transition.

Mozgov is 30 and coming off a season in which he played minutes but clearly played hurt, plus he ranked 75th out of 76 centers last season in Real Plus Minus, which is a troubling combination for the Lakers. Mozgov is barely good enough to be a starting center at this point in his career and projecting him out four seasons from now makes the contract look burdensome. Andrew Bogut is a year and a half older and the physical decline for players with this profile is swift around this age.

Mozgov doesn’t fit in with the Lakers’ timeline of younger players and he also is not where the direction of the league is going. The center position has depth in this market, especially since you can get away with playing certain power forwards at center with bench units.

Grade for Lakers: D+

Mozgov seemed like a victim of bad timing but he moved quickly on an aggressive offer from the Lakers. Mozgov would have received a bigger contract last season, but this is an excellent consolation for him considering how everything went wrong for him other than leaving Cleveland with a wing.

The Lakers are in rebuilding mode and expectations are low. If the contract turns out poorly for the Lakers, there will be more blame on Jim Buss for it than Mozgov himself.

Grade for Mozgov: A

The Cavaliers traded for Channing Frye at the deadline and it made them better in the short-term with his ability to spread the floor and also made their already tenuous cap situation less so by making Mozgov expendable. The Cavaliers have LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and Frye taking the bulk of the minutes at center and power forward, at least certainly in the playoffs. If Mozgov had been a free agent last summer, they would have almost certainly maxed him out and possibly have reached a different resolution with Thompson, who is clearly the better player for them.

The Cavaliers surely would like the opportunity cost of those first round picks back, but their cap and luxury tax burdens are severe enough even without Mozgov.

Grade for Cavaliers: A

Unfortunately those grades are right on. Mozgov made out like a bandit here and I don't mean Smokey. I am sorry if I sound negative but I don't like this at all.

What's puzzling to me is that no other team was even offering 1/2 as much as we're paying him (he got paid $4 million last year) AND he wasn't even one of the top 50 free agents!! ......DA FUCK??

I don't get it either, it makes no sense signing him at all really because he doesn't even fit our style of play but to sign him to that outrageous contract is mindboggling. I don't pretend to know more than Mitch or Jimmy as they are professionals but I don't get this at all. I actually rank this signing one of the worst I have ever seen by the Lakers. I am glad you are at least on board with me so I don't look like an ass in here LOL because I can tell you don't understand it either and don't like it. I am just being more outspoken about it. I don't think anyone even seen this coming either, I sure didn't. He was no where near one of the desired Free Agent's on the market.

Mosgov < Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Joakim Noah, Bismack Biyombo, Festus Ezeli, Zaza Pachulia, Ian Mahinmi, Donatas Motiejunas, Marreese Speights

Ok I would had been ecstatic over Drummond, Horford or Whiteside.

I hate Dwight but I'm sure I would be happier than the Russian

Jefferson or Noah would had been solid

Biyombo & especially Ezeli would had made sense

SHOOT! I would had been content with Zaza!!!

Again, this Mosgov guy was on nobody's radar. What gives?

Lakers4Life wrote:My thing is was there anybody even offering this guy even 1/2 of what we're going to pay him? This is 4 times more than he was getting paid last year.

Craig, everyone knew that this summer the salaries would sky rocket. This is a reasonable signing under the circumstances. None of the top guys are going to get anywhere near the Lakers because we're bottom feeders. His contract is market value and will be movable in a trade in the future, assuming he stays healthy. The Lakers knew what they were doing. We're not thrilled, but we aren't going to get thrilled in the beginning of a rebuild. I'm cool with it.

KobeMVP888 wrote:

Lakers4Life wrote:My thing is was there anybody even offering this guy even 1/2 of what we're going to pay him? This is 4 times more than he was getting paid last year.

Craig, everyone knew that this summer the salaries would sky rocket. This is a reasonable signing under the circumstances. None of the top guys are going to get anywhere near the Lakers because we're bottom feeders. His contract is market value and will be movable in a trade in the future, assuming he stays healthy. The Lakers knew what they were doing. We're not thrilled, but we aren't going to get thrilled in the beginning of a rebuild. I'm cool with it.

Fair enough but why a 4 year contract for a 30 year old center who's coming off an injury? Why was he the 1st call at 12:01 AM?