The Los Angeles Lakers highest energy guy off the bench has signed a contract to leave the organization that gave him life, literally.

For those that don’t remember, the Lakers franchise, otherwise known as Jerry Buss’ wallet, dished out the money to pay for his open heart surgery. They also continued to pay his salary and have supplied him with the best coaching staff to turn him into the player he is today.

Ronny still remains a mildly above average bench player but his energy and enthusiasm are very difficult to match. If Turiaf were to leave the Lakers, Mitch Kupchak would have many problems in finding a replacement.

Sources are reporting that the Warriors have offered Turiaf a 4 year deal worth approximately $17 million. For the Lakers this means severe luxury tax territory, especially for years 3 and 4 of the contract. With the Andrew Bynum era slowly approaching, Pau Gasol availability in the starting line up, and a healthy Chris Mihm, the Lakers may not even need the services of Ronny Turiaf next season. Perhaps resigning a player such as DJ Mbenga or even picking up Kurt Thomas wil prove to be more beneficial as this young team can use some veteran leadership besides Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher.

If Turiaf was able to command $4+ million a year, how much will Sasha’s next contract be worth?

Thank god I’m not that one dishing out the money to these players, o wait, I am, ticket prices just went up almost 9%… dammet, this sucks…