Comments on a proposed trades including one with Golden State

First off, you never, ever acquire a contract like Derek Fisher's unless the rest of the deal is too sweet to pass up. I call contracts like Derek Fisher's a "Misery Burden", because such contracts are very hard to trade. The Lakers already have such a contract with Brian Grant's, and I have yet to hear of even a rumor of any team wanting any trade with the Lakers that involves Grant. Also, given Fisher's age, his current contract is probably his last contract. At any time, he can just stop caring, stop keeping in shape, stop dieting, stop working out, stop hitting the weight room and it will have zero effect on his financial future. Now, Derek may be professional enough that he will give his all to the end of the contract, but there is definitely a chance that at any time, he will become a non-contributing financial liability.

To see what I am talking about, look at one of your other trades (which is rumored to be close to happening) - George and Medvedenko for Bender and the 17th pick. Why are the Pacers offering the 17th pick for what is essentially a bench player swap? Because they are willing to give up that much to get rid of a bad contract. And Fisher's contract is much worse than Bender's.

Secondly, always go to RealGM.com and check to see if your trade is possible. The Odom/Divac/Jones/10th pick/future 2nd rounder for Murphy/Dunleavy/Fisher/40th pick trade idea doesn't come anywhere close to having balanced salaries so it can't happen.

More on the Odom/Divac/Jones/10th pick/future 2nd rounder for Murphy/Dunleavy/Fisher/40th pick trade idea. Odom and Jones are roughly the same age as Murphy and Dunleavy, so the Lakers effectively give up one young player in this trade. Right now, the Lakers want to get younger, not give up young players.

As for doing 4 trades involving 7 players, it is generally a bad idea to trade too many players. You should trade at most one, maybe two of your top six unless something exceptional is happening. Last year, Mitch was forced to blow up the team, but you shouldn't choose to do that. Making trade A with the hope that trades B, C and D happen is foolish because lots of trades never happen. It takes players a long time to get comfortable and to mesh with each other. It takes a couple of years to evaluate rookies. So, keep the number of trades realistic.

I disagree with the Vujacic and cash for #19 pick. First off, I don't think Sasha showed enough to be worth a #19 pick. I can't see a team trading a draft pick for him because that would mean that the Lakers know that draft pick being traded is worth more than Sasha. As Sasha is the only young, promising point guard on the roster, I wouldn't trade him unless I was getting a young point guard in return. Certainly not for a draft pick. Again, this looks like counter-productive churn - Sasha spent one season getting to know the players and now you want to start all over again with a new draft pick.

As for trading Atkins and the #17 pick for Arroyo, have you checked out Arroyo's stats? In four seasons, he is averaging only 3.4 apg and 7.2 ppg. In 40 games with Detroit, he shot .376 and averaged 3.2 apg and 5.4 ppg. You would be trading the Lakers' starting PG and a #17 pick for a so-so backup PG. Forget about Atkins, I wouldn't trade the #17 pick for Arroyo because you can at least hope that the #17 pick will eventually blossom into a starter.

Posted here on LG.net