FanPost

Monroe resigns, Bledsoe next target


Eric Bledsoe needs to be a Laker for now/future

Fortunately for the Pistons Greg Monroe remains their power forward. Fortunately for the Lakers they did not make a "Jim Buss" move and try to pick him up. With a roster stacked with power forwards, 5 to be exact, there was no reason. Of course, one can argue that the starting center for the Lakers is going to be a power forward anyways so why not go after Greg Monroe. The reason is clear. Eric Bledsoe is better long term and he has to be their next target. As of right now ESPN, Bleacher Report, and every sporting outlet puts the Lakers out of the playoffs and that’s a given because for them to be good everything needs to go right. Kobe needs to be healthy and they need to develop chemistry that was at times non-existent last season. Another given, but the biggest factor is defense. They need defense and that is the only reason they will continue to stay out of the playoffs. Most of their projected starters are out of their prime and this is assuming Steve Nash plays half of the games this season. That is likely because the back to backs this season is down by a few compared to last year’s catastrophe. So back to Eric Bledsoe, a promising piece to any team for the long term, he needs to be picked up by the Lakers. You might ask, how is that possible when the Lakers have no cash to spend? Cut Steve Nash, free up 7 million+ in cap space and hand him a long term contract that starts out with 7 in the first year and than gradually goes up every year. So were looking at a 5 year/55 million contract. Anyways, money has never been an issue with the Lakers so why not go over the cap to revive these last two years. These next two years could be promising because Bledsoe could start at point guard. This will work because last season he played in a backcourt with Dragic who also dominated the ball like Kobe in sense. So he knows when to pick his spots and score. And of course Kobe is coming off an injury so expect Bledsoe to be the more dominant out of the gate or at least balanced between him and the mamba. Now, the Lakers only have two open spots on their roster and the way the new roster system works is that 13 players are allowed to be active during one game instead of 12 like the old days. This helps Los Angeles because besides Robert Sacre and Ryan Kelly, (maybe even Wes Johnson) the rest of the players have promise. So expect the Lakers to bench Sacre and Kelly often if they pick up Michael Beasley and Eric Bledsoe.

I go on other websites and read articles and some of them are completely ridiculous. Even facebook comments and tweets from fans claiming the Lakers will win the title with this core or Kobe is going to be back to normal just like that are absurd. So I write my articles with mostly facts and some stretches, but this stretch is not even that far of a reach. Bledsoe has been a free agent for the past 33 days. In fact the owner of the Suns shared that Bledsoe has not contacted him or the team for the past four months! Working in the Lakers favor? Nobody has extended him an offer sheet so it seems more and more likely he will stay with Phoenix. BUT what do the Lakers have to lose by signing him or Michael Beasley. Seriously. As soon as the Lakers extend him an offer sheet the Suns should match it, right?. Wrong. Just because the Kings feel Isaiah Thomas is a back up point guard does not mean the Suns do. And didn’t Eric Bledsoe play for the Clippers recently, so he’s familiar with the area. And for geography sake, last I checked Arizona is pretty close to California, which coincidently is the same reason Steve Nash is a Laker. Look, I’m trying to make this sound good, but at the same time it is true. The Lakers have three point guards: Jordan Clarkson, Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash. Jordan Clarkson is great! Future? Most definitely. Jeremy Lin most likely is going to start half of the Lakers games, but realistically he is more of a back up. The same role he had with Houston should be the role he has with Lakers. It doesn’t matter though because he will get minutes. Kobe is not going to get his usual minutes so enter Lin. And Steve Nash needs to go away. It sounds great; Steve Nash in the same category as other Lakers greats to wear their uniform, but who cares. He is 40. The Lakers can win now. When I say win now I mean make a solid run in the playoffs like the Blazers last season. No way a championship is in the works, but with this solid foundation for the future they can get to the playoffs looking like this.

STARTERS BENCH FILLERS

PG Eric Bledsoe Jeremy Lin* Jordan Clarkson

SG Kobe Bryant Nick Young* (Open Spot/Missing Jodie Meeks?)

SF Michael Beasley Xavier Henry* Wes Johnson

PF Carlos Boozer Julius Randle Ryan Kelly

C Jordan Hill Ed Davis Robert Sacre**

* = Good enough to start on this team and most teams in the league

** = Only true Center/7 footer