Originally Posted by DaRizzle

At the time it realistically was the best thing out there for PG for the Lakersand maybe to any teams standards.If you want to say you are sold on Fisher vs. other upper level PG in the NBA thats fine. I would say he is maybe just average if you take all PG out of their teams and just did it by abilities/ clock times from point A to point B, etc.. Him on the Lakers adds more than him going to any other team. You might not see it in a box score every night but you will see it over the long haul. He is the rock on that team. He knows what Phil Jackson wants maybe more than any active player in the NBA. You dont become president of the players association without being respected and having quality people/communication skills. He helps promote the right mindset among the team. Fisher might not always make the play but it will never be for lack of effort or having a brainfart.

In regards to guarding CP3 or Parker if we make it that far...its a team game, denying people to a certain spot, the Lakers arent going to just have Fish sit out on an island out there with CP3 and tell him good luck.

Just for your information about contracts in the NBA:
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#19 (This website goes over EVERYTHING)
This is from that site and explains the MLE.

MID-LEVEL SALARY EXCEPTION -- This exception allows a team to sign any free agent to a contract equal to the average salary, even if they are over the cap (see question number 24 for the definition of "average salary." Also note that for 2005-06 they used a defined figure of $5 million). This exception may be split and given to multiple players. It may be used for contracts of up to five years in length, and raises are limited to 8% of the salary in the first year of the contract. Signing a player to a multi-year contract does not affect a team's ability to use this exception every year. For example, a team can sign a player to a five-year contract using this exception and still use the exception the following year to sign another player. Also see question number 20 for more information on the availability and use of this exception.

If the player is a restricted free agent with one or two years of service and receives an offer sheet from a new team, the player's prior team may use the Mid-Level exception to match the offer sheet (see question number 36 for restricted free agency).

Here are the actual values of this exception for each season. Note that since this exception is based on the average player salary, the actual value of this exception is not determined until the start of the free agent signing period.