By Joel Meyers
FOX Sports West & PRIME TICKET
ASK JOEL ARCHIVE
January 28, 2011
Joel Meyers returns to answer more questions from Laker fans. Joel looks into any chance of Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul ever joining the Lakers, the controversial Jerry West comments and takes a look at the Joe Smith-Sasha Vujacic trade.
Besides hearing a rumor about CP3 looking into the Lakers in the future, what do you think about Melo joining the Lakers instead of going to the Knicks? Will he fit with the triangle offense/defense? I know it's a long shot, but it worth a talk. But if it did happen, who will we give up?
Aidan, Long Beach, CA
Aidan,
It's a good thought, but Denver only wants to deal with teams that have multiple No. 1 picks and expiring contracts. The Lakers don't have either, although if you were to dangle Andrew Bynum out there, that might be a different story. He's untouchable as far as I'm concerned, but that would be one way to get their attention if the Lakers wanted to make a bid for Melo. I actually feel like it's almost inevitable that Anthony eventually becomes a Knick. He obviously told New Jersey he wasn't interested in signing an extension with them, forcing the nets to back out of the process. New Jersey has the picks and the expiring contract of Troy Murphy that Denver has been looking for. The trading deadline is Feb. 24, so we still have plenty of time for other teams to get involved. We may even see a contender take him on a rental basis, hoping to convince him to sign an extension once he plays for them. My hunch is the Knicks and Amar'e Stoudemire, as they have plenty of cap room once again this off season. Then don't be surprised to see Chris Paul opt out of his deal the following summer, giving the Knicks the threesome they've been searching for.
Hey Joel do you think that Jerry West's comments about the Lakers defense could have been him just trying to motivate them during a long season? It must be tough to be motivated every night when all that's important to you is April through June.
Anthony, Largo, FLA
Anthony,
You bring up a couple of good points. Whether or not Jerry West is a part of the Lakers day-to-day operations, he still has very strong ties to the organization and always wants them to succeed. His comments were taken seriously and could only help the Lakers focus at the defensive end of the floor. This group has a ton of experience, which can also make up for what they don't possess anymore. When they were in their 20's, they could make up for their defensive mistakes with their athleticism, quickness and ability to recover. Now with 10 Lakers 30 or older, they play with the wisdom of seeing so many different situations at that end of the floor. Plus, once the games slow down in the postseason, the Lakers should look just fine in their half court defense. You also bring up the long grind of the regular season. I look at it like running a marathon, where you pace yourself through each stage of the race. The Lakers are just starting to pick up some steam with only 10 weeks left in the regular season. The most important stages of the race come over an eight-week span from mid April until mid June and the Lakers have shown over the last three seasons, they know how to build towards a strong finish.
What is the advantage of getting Joe Smith? I think Sasha Vujacic is better and we needed a big back-up center, not an old forward. I'm concerned because the Celtics have about four good centers. We need a great strong back-up, 7-foot center, and secondly, maybe back-up
