WELCOME TO LAKERHOLICS
A Virtual Community for Lakers Fans
-
LakerTom wrote a new post
Read MoreOverall, the Lakers and Grizzlies appear to be two fairly evenly matched teams, with the 2nd seed Grizzlies starting out as slight favorites over the 7th seed Lakers for their Sunday first round playoff game in Memphis.
The two teams met three times during the regular season, with the Lakers winning two out of three but never with all three stars. LeBron missed two of the three games, Davis one of the three, and Morant one of the three.
Since the trade deadline, the Lakers 115.6 OffRtg is #14, their 110.8 DefRtg is #2, and their +4.8 NetRtg #6 in the league while the Grizzlies 116.7 OffRtg is #12, their 113.0 DefRtg is #10, and their +3.7 NetRtg is #9 in the league.While the Grizzlies have home court advantage, the Lakers are not only finally getting fully healthy but also peaking at exact right time. Here are four reasons why Lakers should dominate and beat the Grizzlies in six.
1. Superstars
In the NBA, superstars win championships and as dynamic and exciting as the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant is as a superstar, there’s just no way he can match the combined superstar firepower of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Where the Lakers superstar advantage dominates is in the matchups. While the Lakers will struggle to defend Ja Morant, the Grizzlies do not have the size or individua defenders to slow down Anthony Davis or LeBron James.
Jaren Jackson, Jr. is not going to outplay Anthony Davis or Dillon Brooks keep up with LeBron James but Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura are the long, physical, athletic wings who can make Morant work for his shots.In the end, a healthy and rested James and Davis will be too much for the young Grizzlies. Lakers will steal one of the two games in Memphis, sweep the two in L.A, lose Game 5 in Memphis but then win Game 6 in L.A.
2. Experience
Experience is a prerequisite to winning in the playoffs and there is no way 23-year old Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson, Jr. can match the chanpionship expierence of 38-year old LeBron James and 30-year old Anthony Davis.
James and Davis proved in the bubble in 2020 that they could carry a team to the NBA championship. Now they are finally healthy and ready to show they’re still the best superstar duo on the planet by winning their 18th title.
Morant and Jackson, Jr. will have an uphill challenge to defeat what is a dramatically better Lakers team than the one that aready beat them two out of three times this season. Missing Adams and Clarke is not going to help.Bottom line, the veteran playoff and championship experience of LeBron James and Anthony Davis gives the Lakers a big advantage over an untested Grizzies roster that just won their first ever playoff series last season.
3. Health
Every NBA season proves a player’s greastest ability is still his availability. Fortunately for the Lakers, for the very first time this season, they are finally and completely healthy with all 15 players on the roster available.
That means the Lakers will play their best starting lineup for just the eighth time this Sunday. It means they’ll have Mo Bamba, their backup center for the first time in over a month. Lakers are getting healthy at the right time.
Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies will be missing their starting center in Steven Adams and key backup forward off the bench in Brandon Clarke. Xavier Tillman is the undersized backup who will start for Steven AdamsThe Grizzlies may have the better record and home court advantage but the Los Angeles Lakers are now 100% healthy whereas the Memphis Grizzlies will be missing two important front court players in Adams and Clarke.
4. Momentum
Momentum could be the x-factor that favors LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the new-look Lakers over the belicose, rebelluous Ja Morant and the ‘show-me-some-respect’ Memphis Grizzlies in their first round matchup.
LeBron, AD, and the Lakers are on a vision-quest to rise from the ashes of a 2–10 start and win their league-leading 18th NBA championship whereas Ja and the Grizzlies just want to salvage something from this horrid season.
Many had written off the Grizzlies before the Morant situation was resolved without irrepable damage but the team has competed and managed to stop the bleeding. Whether they can beat the Lakers though is another question.Right now, the Lakers are positioned for a deep playoff run that could lead to their 18th NBA championship. They’re finally healthy and have what could be considered to be a favorable path to title. That’s momentum.
15 Comments-
LakerTom1 year, 7 months ago
-
I am worried about the Grizzlies’ speed. I felt that the Lakers’ guards couldn’t stay with the Clippers ’cause they weren’t able to deal with a fast team. And Memphis is faster. We need to hope that the Grizz double AD so we can retaliate by doubling Ja; we’d need the full time efforts f Austin and Vando to try to contain Ja. I’m not sure Rui is the right person to restrain Ja; he could contain JJJ perhaps. I’m crossing my fingers that on Sunday we won’t be blown out of water. If we can slow down the game and make Grizz play half court offense, we may have a shot, not otherwise.
-
Dean, I agree 100% that speed is our biggest danger. In the one loss to the Grizzlies, we allowed 80 points in the paint which included 33 fast break points. Our guards basically could not stay in front of their guards.
I think the solution is to do the same with Morant as we did with Edwards, which was switch everything on him but don’t trail on the pick and let him put you in jail. Mix that with trapping whenever AD’s man sets the pick.
The Lakers found the formula to control the tempo and prevent penetration against the Wolves. They need to play that same kind of defense Sunday and prevent Ja from going off. The other thing is for whomever Ja defends to attack the basket.
-
-
-
Pretty much agree with all of this but would add another category: Physicality. As in, to what level of physicality is this series going to generally be played at?
With this being a series played mainly on the Grizzlies home floor one would expect that they give the home team some leeway in terms of establishing a level of physicality. That’s also something the Lakers can control by coming into the game and out of the half with the right focus and energy. Still, if the refs let Brooks get in James’ jersey every game and let Jackson body up AD this series will be difficult.
So much of our offense (and defense, honestly) relies on free throws. If that whistle isn’t blowing do we have enough to keep up with the fleet of foot Memphis squad? All of the games between the 2 teams had 20+ FTA’s for each squad with a ridiculous 40+ each in the first game played. The Lakers need to figure out what the refs are calling a foul and do their best to use that to some kind of advantage.
-
Yes, physicality is a serious factor, but I’m not as worried about it as I am about speed, which always favors the younger team.
-
Speed can kill, and between Morant, Brooks and JJ they have elite speed at three key positions . I just see us losing the series if we can’t gain the physical advantage, especially in the half court. Don’t let Brooks get into ‘Bron’s head with his antics, bump Ja all the way down the floor (something Caruso was excellent at but Reaves really doesn’t explore and isn’t in D-Lo’s NBA DNA but is in Schröder’s) and AD has to outplay JJ every game. Whether that’s through speed or strength doesn’t really matter, I suppose.
-
-
-
-
No, he didn’t factor into anything Chicago did. I’d say it’s more a shame we don’t have Thomas Bryant to add a quicker/bigger hustle option over Wenyan. I don’t see a big role for Bamba who is not quick or prone to hustling. There’s no slow of foot center on Memphis so you can’t play him in a small ball line up, they’ll simply run him off the floor and I doubt his ability to make a three pointer changes that.
-
-
Young, talented and hungry vs. old, injury prone. Only way this is a competitive series is if the league decides to not give Ja calls because of the gun stuff.
-
We only have 2 old guys if you want to count Thompson. Griz average age is 24 ours is 26 and that’s with LeBron.
-
Maybe, but how many of the young Lakers carry this squad? An injury to either Lebron or AD and it’s a wrap.
-
I think Austin, Rui, Vand & DLo are as good as we can hope for. Our guys defer to Bron & AD, especially Austin, but they’re capable of running the charge by themseles if need be. An injury to AD will be devastating but I’m not coninced of the same with the other. Hopefully we won’t need to test it.
-
-
-
-
I love this team and their potential. I’ve also not given up on Beasley or Bamba and think both could have big games for us down the road. But a core of James, Davis, Russell, and Reaves is a great start. Add in Vando, Rui, Dennis, Troy, Malik, and Mo. That’s a damn good 10-man rotation. Can’t afford to keep all of them if we win but the core 7, yes.
Lakers Tiers
——————-
1. Superstars: LeBron, AD
2. Stars: Austin and DLo
3. Diff-Makers: Vando, Rui, Dennis
4. Prospects: Mo, Malik
-
-
LakerTom wrote a new post
Read MoreAfter a dismal start in a season of parity, the remade Los Angeles Lakers have overcome long odds and are a play-in game win away from becoming one of the most dangerous 7th seeds in the history of the NBA playoffs.
The Lakers’ playoff path to their league best 18th NBA championship will begin tomorrow night when, as the 7th seed, they host the 8th seed Minnesota Timberwoves in a Western Conferenece 7/8 Play-In game.
While the Lakers hoped to win the 6th seed and avoid the risk of running into a hot-shooting team and losing in the Play-In, they’re still supremely confident they can beat the Wolves on Tuesday to make the NBA playoffs.Despite a terrible start and a tumultuous season, the Lakers finally have a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis and believe their new look lineup and rotation is capable of winning their 18th NBA championship this year.
Parity has opened the doors wide-open for a half dozen NBA teams who think they can win it all this year. The Lakers consider themselves to be one of those teams despite having to participate in the Play-In Tournament.So let’s take a deeper dive into how parity has leveled the playing field in the West, how the Lakers full roster is finally healthy and available, and how the team’s 7th seed is giving them a favorable championship path.
1. Parity Has Leveled Playing Field
The only reason the Los Angeles Lakers were able to keep their playoff hopes alive until the trade deadline and despite a poor start to the season was the near complete parity that leveled the playing field in the West.
Besides keeping the Lakers playoff window open, parity has also made it abundantly clear that there is no obvious favorite to win the championship this season. Instead, a half dozen NBA teams now claim to be contenders.
In the West, the favorites are probably the Phoenix Suns followed by the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers. In the East, the favorites are likely the Milwaukee Bucks followed by the Boston Celtics and Philadephia 76ers.The lack of a truly dominant team, the large number of superstars recovering from major injuries, and the crazy seeding caused by the parity has made it difficut to predict what’s going to happen in these playoffs.
Frankly, every contending team has weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be taken advantage of and has at times during the past season had periods of great struggle. This is as wide-open as the NBA has ever been.Finally at full strength after a plague of injuries and a late midseason makeover, the Lakers are now ready to use their new starting lineup and deep and diverse roster to take full advantage of the parity in the West.
2. New Look Roster Is Finally Healthy
The primary reason the Lakers believe they can win their 18th NBA championship this year is their full roster after their trade deadline makeover is healthy and available for the first time this season.
Because of injuries to both superstars and key rotation players and late moves at the trade deadline, the Lakers have only been able to play the above starting lineup in five games this season, winning four of them.
Since the trade deadline, the Lakers have posted an 18–8 record, second best in the league. Their 115.6 offensive rating since the trade deadline ranks 14th, 110.8 defensive rating ranks 2nd, and +4.8 net rating ranks 6th.With LeBron James and Anthony Davis finally healthy and the trade deadline moves creating a deeper, more diverse roster, the Lakers should be one of the most dangerous 7th seeds in the history of the NBA playoffs.
In retrospect, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office deserve kuddos for making the right moves at the deadline and Darvin Ham and his coaching staff deserve praise for getting the new roster playing at an elite level.The Los Angeles Lakers’ new starting lineup has been a great success. Russell, Reaves, Vanderbilt, James, and Davis have appeared in 64 minutes in 7 games and have posted a 123.5 OffRtg, 103.0 DefRtg, and +20.6 NetRtg.
3. Championship Path Is Favorable
Should the Lakers win the 7/8 Play-In Tournament game next Tuesday against the Pelicans or Timberwolves, their path to the NBA Finals per the sports books would likely include the Grizzlies, Warriors, and Suns.
Contrast that with the path the Lakers would have faced had they beaten the Clippers and ended up as 5th seed. Then they would have had to face the Suns, Nuggets, and Grizzlies, which is a far more difficult gauntlet.
The Lakers could easily find themselves eliminated by the Suns in the first round had they been the 5th seed. Now, as the 7th seed, they will face the 2nd seed Memphis Grizzlies, whom they beat two out of three this year.Should the Lakers prevail over the Grizzlies in the first round, their likely second round opponent would be the Warriors, another team against which they match up well, having beaten them three out of four times this year.
A win over the Warriors would most likely catapult the Los Angeles Lakers into a Western Conference Finals with the Phoenix Suns, whom like the Lakers could suddenly find themselves fully healthy for the playoffs.No fairy tale story is complete without a great ending, which for the Los Angeles Lakers would be to defeat the Boston Celtics in the 2022–23 NBA Finals to win what would be their league leading 18th NBA championship.
liked this
5 Comments-
Three Reasons Lakers Can Win Their 18th NBA Championship This Year?
1. Parity Has Leveled Playing Field
2. New Look Roster Is Finally Healthy
3. Championship Path Is Favorablehttps://t.co/kbDnFTComM— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 10, 2023
-
Other than glossing over the actual playin game a pretty solid read. I also wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re fully healthy or anything like that, not with D-Lo taking it day-to-day with a myriad of nagging injuries, AD playing on what is essentially a broken foot, Schroder dealing with some right Achilles soreness and LeBron playing on a partially torn/ruptured tendon.
But, yeah, other than that fully-ish healthy.
Of the potential spots we could have landed I like 7 as much as anything. We never were in reach of home court advantage in a series, would have had the same path as we do now with just a different first round matchup had we gotten to 6 (and more importantly extra rest) and if we take care of business against Minnesota I don’t think we play until Sunday which would be most excellent.
Need to have a healthy Schroder to run the second unit or to step in if D-Lo’s back/hip/foot/what have you doesn’t allow him to go in a game(s). Not really counting on the recent signings for much beyond waving towels and high fives. Feels like AD and LBJ are playing on a wing and a prayer, essentially, but there doesn’t seem to be any better options.
-
Considering we got to start our desired starting lineup for just the 6th time this season, this is the closest we’ve come to having everybody available, even Bamba.
If Dennis can go, that’s the best we’ve been able to field so far this season. Not that hard to accept that as a potential difference maker. Come on, Jamie. 6th time out of 82 games.
-
Dennis sounds like he can go so that’s great news. Still wouldn’t go so far as to say “fully healthy” but could be persuaded to dive into the “everyone is available” pool.
-
-
-
-
LakerTom wrote a new post
Read MoreThe Lakers’ win over the Wolves last night included everything their fans and coaches could want, including Davis continuing to take the torch from James and the purple and gold putting on offensive and defensive clinics.
The 39–38 Lakers are currently in 7th place in the West, 1.5 games behind the 41–37 Warriors and Clippers, who are essentially tied for 6th and 5th seeds in the West. Lakers own tie-breaker over Warriors but not Clippers.
Lakers have 5 games left: @ Rockets, @ Jazz, @ Clippers, vs Suns, vs Jazz. Warriors have 4 games left: @ Nuggets, vs Thunder, @ Kings, @ Blazers. Clippers have 4 games left: @ Pelicans, vs Lakers, vs Blazers, @ Suns.Last night’s game was the Lakers’ biggest win of the season. With Davis again playing like an MVP and James slowly working his way back into game shape after missing over a month, the Lakers wil be a playoff nightmare.
Like Isaiah Thomas said, there’s no team in the West that wants to face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Right now, it looks like the likely #3 seed Kings are the team the #6 seed Lakers would play in first round.With just 4 games to go, the Lakers right now have a lock on the 7th seed at worst and a good chance to move up to the #6 seed and get a week off for injured superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis to rest and recover.
The Lakers can expect a lot of strategic positioning moves over the last few games as teams try to win or lose games to avoid having to play L.A. in the first round of the playoffs. Going to be interesting to see what teams do.With the West wide open, the Lakers sent a message to the rest of the NBA with their dominating win last night on the road against the Timberwolves: Expect the 2023 NBA Championship to go through the Los Angeles Lakers.
Anthony Davis Takes Torch from LeBron James
Anthony Davis’ injury woes the past three seasons have led many Lakers fans to lose faith that he could ever prove to be good or healthy enough to take the torch from LeBron James as the Lakers leading prime superstar.
With James still working to get back to superstar status after being out for a month, Anthony Davis came to the rescue again, taking over and carrying the Lakers on his back for a second straight MVP-quality performance.
Anthony Davis not only led the Lakers to the team’s biggest win of the season but he did it on a bum ankle that he sprained early in the third quarter just as the Lakers were surging to get back into the game.I remember thinking as the game went to commercial that this might be the end of the Lakers’ season and wondering whether this also might be the injury that finally forced the Lakers to consider trading Anthony Davis.
Fortunately, Davis was able to walk off the injury and elevated his play to another level as the Lakers halfcourt defense shut down the Timberwolves and the Lakers closed the game by relentlessly going to AD in the post.If the Lakers are going to win their 18th NBA championship this season, it will be because Anthony Davis finally elevates his game to MVP level and at last takes the torch from LeBron James and the Lakers become his team.
New Lakers’ Starting Lineup Sizzles
The Los Angeles Lakers’ new-look starting lineup of Russell, Reaves, Vanderbilt, James, and Davis has now played together for 25 minutes and posted a sizzling 132.0 OffRtg, stifling 108.5 DefRtg, and +23.5 NetRtg.
The new-look starting lineup provides the Lakers with a balanced two-way lineup that possesses excellent size, length, athleticism, and versatility while balancing the team’s need for shooting, playmaking, and defense.
Russell and Reaves provide the Lakers with a backcourt that can shoot, playmake, and defend. Davis, James, and Vanderbilt provide the Lakers with a front court that can switch and defend every position on the court.As the Lakers head into the playoffs, Ham is also smartly narrowing his rotation down to 8 key players, the five starters plus Schröder, Hachimura, and Gabriel with additional spot minutes from Brown, Jr. and Beasley.
The only possible change could be the re-insertion of backup center Mo Bamba into the rotation. While Gabriel has been playing well, getting Bamba back would give the Lakers another desperately needed big man.The Lakers greatest challenge to successfully finishing the season is health. Rob Pelinka’s moves at the trade deadline clearly gave the Lakers a major roster upgrade. The only question is whether the trades came too late.
Lakers’ Defense Dominates Timberwolves
After trailing the Wolves 65–55 at halftime, the Lakers essentially came out and shut Minnesota down, holding them to just 18 points in the 3rd quarter and just 18 in the fourth quarter plus 10 garbage points in last two minutes.
With Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura protecting the rim in the second half, the Lakers turned the Timberwolves into a jump shooting team as they went from down 10 to up 7 to start 4th quarter.
Besides Davis and Vanderbilt, Shroder, Hachimura, and Gabriel all had outstanding second halves as they led Lakers’ dominant defensive charge, making steals, deflecting passes, blocking shots, and taking charges.Overall, the third quarter was probably the best defensive quarter the Lakers have had all year long. Ironically, right in the middle of this great 3rd quarter defensive run was when Anthony Davis twisted his ankle.
If there was a moment this season when everything hung in the balance, it was there in the third quarter when AD went down in pain holding onto his ankle. Fortunately, AD said later he was playing Sunday for sure.Since the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 110.3 defensive ranking was #1 in the entire league. They also lead the league in rebounding and rank best in the NBA in defending without sending opponents to the line.
Lakers’ Offense Feeds AD To Close Game
One of the major traits of a great NBA coach is the ability to find weakness in the other team’s defense and then relentlessly attack that weakness until the other team makes an adjustment. Darvin Ham is learning that fast.
Once the Lakers had built a 10-point lead over the Timberwolves, they displayed some of their best offensive discipline we’ve seen this season as they consistently got the ball to Anthony Davis where he could score at will.
So many times over the last three seasons, we’ve seen the Lakers find an opening in the opponent’s defense only to ignore it going forward and start playing iso-ball with LeBron or Anthony rather than running a set play.Last night, we saw the opposite. Even though he was limping a little from his twisted ankle, the Lakers either ran pick-and-rolls to get AD easy dunks or floaters or down-picks so he could catch the ball moving to the basket.
Best of all, Russell and Schröder never let the Wolves off the hook. Instead, every single time down the court they set up plays to get the ball to AD, often coming off a down-pick and/or rolling to the hoop for an easy shot.The ability to be hyper-focused and successful in getting Anthony Davis the ball to close out games was a huge development in the Lakers’ half-court schemes that should help them in those critical end game situations.
liked this
5 Comments-
This was a big win for Lakers for 3 reasons:
1. AD taking torch from LeBron
2. Defense shutting down Wolves
3. Offense getting ball to ADThis is the formula from now through 16 playoff wins.
-
Anthony Davis Takes Torch from LeBron James
If the Lakers win their 18th NBA championship this season, it will be because Anthony Davis finally elevates his game to MVP level and at last takes the torch from LeBron James and the Lakers become his team.https://t.co/flQvnDXkVl pic.twitter.com/SduMCPQfxw— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 2, 2023
-
New Lakers’ Starting Lineup Sizzles
The Los Angeles Lakers’ new-look starting lineup of Russell, Reaves, Vanderbilt, James, and Davis has now played together for 25 minutes and posted a sizzling 132.0 OffRtg, stifling 108.5 DefRtg, and +23.5 NetRtg.https://t.co/flQvnDXkVl pic.twitter.com/skTgHyUEho— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 2, 2023
-
Lakers’ Defense Dominates Timberwolves
After trailing Wolves 65–55 at half, Lakers essentially came out and shut Minnesota down, holding them to just 18 points in 3rd quarter and just 18 in fourth quarter plus 10 garbage points in last two minutes.https://t.co/flQvnDXkVl pic.twitter.com/j15dHWTMXO— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 2, 2023
-
Lakers’ Offense Feeds AD To Close Game
One of major traits of great NBA coaches is ability to find weakness in the other team’s defense and then relentlessly attack that weakness until the other team makes an adjustment. Darvin Ham is learning that fast.https://t.co/flQvnDXkVl pic.twitter.com/DZEsbunwU7— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 2, 2023
-
-
LakerTom wrote a new post
Read MoreAfter being on life support for first 76 games of the regular season, thanks to parity the #8 Los Angeles Lakers are perfectly positioned with 6 games to go to jump the #7 Wolves and #6 Warriors and win the #6 seed in the West.
Tomorrow night, the #8 Lakers visit the #7 Timberwolves in a game that could catapult Los Angeles past Minnesota to take over the #7 seed in the West, getting home court advantage in the Play-In Game for 7th seed.
A win tomorrow night would also leave the Lakers 1 loss from being able to use their tie-breaker to knock Golden State into the Play-In Tournament and steal the #6 seed in the West and guaranteed playoff spot from them.After a season filled with the constant pressure of ‘must win’ games, the last thing the Lakers want at this point in the season is to be forced to win one or two crucial games in the Play-In Tourney to make the NBA playoffs.
The Lakers will be under intense win-or-go-home pressure for each of their next 6 games while still facing a daunting challenge trying to reintegrate LeBron James into a lineup that finally learned how to win without him.Here are four compelling reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers desperately need to win the 6th seed in the West over the next 6 games to avoid having to participate in what is likely to be a tough, gruelling Play-In Tournament.
1. 6th Seed Guarantees Playoff Spot
The biggest benefit of winning the 6th seed in the West is the team is one of the six teams who are guaranteed a spot in the NBA playoffs. Unlike the four teams who finished 7th through 10th, 6th seed can relax. They’re in.
2. 6th Seed Gets Week Off Before Playoffs
The next big advantage of winning the 6th seed is a week off before the playoffs. For a team like the Lakers, getting a week for LeBron and AD to rest and recover and the team to actually practice together would be gold.
3. 6th Seed Plays 3rd Seed Sacramento Kings
Unlike the 7th through 10th seeds, the 6th seed knows they will play the 3rd seed in the first round of the playoffs. Frankly, there is no better first round opponent for this Lakers team than the playoff newbie Sacramento Kings.
4. 6th Seed Avoids Nuggets and Clippers
The other benefit of winning 6th seed is not having to meet #1 Nuggets, #4 Suns, #5 Clippers, or whomever emerges from the Play-In as #8. Our bracket inclues #6 Kings, #2 Grizzies, and whoever wins the #7 seed.
liked this
3 Comments-
Four Reasons Why Lakers Must Win 6th Seed and Avoid Play-In Tourney
1. 6th Seed Guarantees Playoff Spot
2. 6th Seed Gets Week Off Before Playoffs
3. 6th Seed Plays 3rd Seed Sacramento Kings
4. 6th Seed Avoids Nuggets and Clippershttps://t.co/X3qim2sEpC
— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 30, 2023
-
Warriors will be 1 loss ahead of us if we win tomorrow night and we have tie breaker. They have 3 tough road games and are poor on the road so there’s a chance they could lose a couple. Lakers probably need to go 6-0 or 5-1 at worst to win #6.
-
-
LakerTom wrote a new post
Read MoreSince declaring they plan to re-sign D’Angelo Russell as their point guard of the future this summer rather than pursuing Kyrie Irving, the Lakers had their first opportunity to see Russell and Irving go head-to-head last night.
While it’s just one game, Kyrie Irving dominated play and his match up with D’Angelo Russell as three costly end-of-game mistakes by Anthony Davis caused the Lakers to lose a 111–110 heartbreaking buzzer-beater.
Irving posted 38 points on hot 14–23 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists with just 2 turnovers in 39 minutes. Russell posted just 11 points on poor 5–17 shooting, 2 rebounds, and 11 assists with 0 turnovers in 36 minutes.Last night’s Mavs and Lakers game showed why the Lakers could still change their minds and decide to pursue a sign-and-trade for Kyrie Irving as their point guard of the future instead of re-signing D’Angelo Russell.
Kyrie is without doubt one of the most talented and hard-to-stop superstars in the league and performances like he had last night only make Lakers fans and even the Lakers front office more likely to rethink their position.But the decision is not as simple as deciding between D’Angelo Russell and Kyrie Irving. It’s actually a franchise-defining decision to pursue the three-superstars model or the two-superstars and deep-and-diverse-roster model. It’s about what is the right strategy considering where the Lakers are right now as a team, what resources they have to make changes, and what kind of roster do they need to build around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
As great an offensive player as Kyrie Irving is, D’Angelo Russell is still a better overall fit for Lakers than because he adds continuity, is younger, is taller and longer, is less expensive, and is more trustworthy and reliable.
1. Russell Improves Lakers’ Continuity
The Lakers desperately need continuity after three years of one-and-done rosters. If D’Angelo Russell continues to play like he has, the Lakers need to re-sign him long-term rather than trying to trade him for a third superstar.
After turning over almost their entire roster other than superstars the past three summers, Los Angeles reversed that strategy at the trade deadline by focusing on trading for younger players who would be great long-term fits.
Based on what we’ve seen in the 9 games he’s played, Russell already is proving to be the perfect point guard for the Lakers. He’s averaging 17.9 points, 3.6 boards, and 6.4 assists in 29.8 mpg shooting 44.5/37.1/82.8%.The Lakers think they have at least three more years of LeBron James as a superstar and building continuity by re-signing D’Angelo Russell long-term, as well as their other new additions, should be be a top offseason priority.
2. Russell Makes Lakers Younger
The Lakers would be wise to prefer the now 27-year old D’Angelo Russell over the soon-to-be 31-year old Kyrie Irving as the former gives Los Angeles four more years in the heart of his prime than the latter is able to offer.
Russell just turned 27-years old while Kyrie turns 31 years old this month, making him almost 4 years older. Essentially, Russell is just now entering what will be his prime while Kyrie could be nearing the end of his prime.
It’s fascinating to watch the evolution of the Lakers’ roster average age. In 2019–20, Lakers’ average age was 30.0 years. In 2020–21, it was 30.9 years. In 2021–22, it was 27.1 years. In 2022–23, it’s now down to 25.6 years.Assuming the D’Angelo Russell we’ve seen is the D’Angelo Russell we get, the Lakers would be foolish to give up a budding young star just entering his prime for a superstar with questions who’s close to past his prime.
3. Russell Adds Size & Length
Some of the Lakers’ early struggles were because of the physical makeup of the roster, which lacked size and length at almost every position, especially point guard where Darvin Ham usually started the 6′ 1″ Dennis Schroder.
Aside from adding needed shooting and defense at the trade deadline, Pelinka also added critical positional size throughout the Lakers roster, including point guard with the 6′ 4″ Russell who has a 6′ 10″ wingspan.
Russell uses that size and length along with changes in pace and direction to control the speed and tempo of the game. He’s not an above-the-rim player like Westbrook or Morant. He’s a game manager with swag.Where Russell’s size and length have really helped the Lakers has been on defense. Since he’s joined the Lakers, D’Angelo’s 103.5 defensive rating has been second only to LeBron James 98.5 for the last 14 games of the season.
4. Russell Is Less Expensive
One of the major reasons for preferring to re-sign D’Angelo Russell rather than trading for Kyrie Irving is their relative annual salaries. D’Angelo might be willing to sign for $30 million while Irving wants $47 million.
The Lakers learned first hand from the Russell Westbrook experiment how paying maximum salaires to three superstars makes it almost impossible to build a deep and diverse roster to support and complement the superstars.
There’s a good chance the Lakers could re-sign Russell to a 4-year $120 million contract whereas Irving is reportedly seeking a $47 million per year max deal. Bottom line, Irving is a superstar while Russell is simply a star.The problem with the 3-superstars model is not having enough cap space left to build a deep, diverse roster. Re-signing a star like Russell rather than a superstar like Irving enables Lakers to build deeper, more diverse roster.
5. Russell Is More Trustworthy & Reliable
The single biggest reason the Lakers should re-sign D’Angelo Russell rather than trying to trade him for a third superstar in Kyrie Irving is Dlo’s proven to be a more reliable and trustworthy throughout his professional career.
In today’s NBA, a player’s greatest ability is unfortunately his availability. Over his eight full seasons in the NBA, Russell has averaged 72 games per season compared to Irving’s 55 games per season over his eleven seasons.
More importantly, since signing with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie has played in only 103 or 43% of the 236 available games for a variety of reasons ranging from injury to unvaccinated status to various personal reasons.The Lakers need leadership from their point guard and D’Angelo has now matured and shown he can be trusted to efficiently execute a game plan, and provide solid leadership and personal reliability on and off the court.
Rob Pelinka and the Lakers made smart decisions in rebuilding their roster via trades at the deadline with D’Angelo Russell one of the critical additions that’s transformed the Lakers into legitimate championship contenders.
While last night’s loss to the Mavs was disappointing and discouraging, the Lakers are still just 2 games out of the 6th seed with 11 games to go. Their chances and confidence of making the playoffs drop with every new loss.
Whether the Lakers without LeBron James can run the gauntlet and make the playoffs is not as important as watching the team finally make smart long term decisions and build a roster with great promise for next season.Kyrie Irving may have won last night’s lead-to-head with D’Angelo Russell but in the long run the Lakers should stay the course and understand Russell is the better fit as the Lakers point guard of the future than Irving.
liked this
36 Comments-
As great an offensive player as Kyrie Irving is, D’Angelo Russell is still a better overall fit for Lakers than because he adds continuity, is younger, is taller and longer, is less expensive, and is more trustworthy and reliable.https://t.co/xi6LXoxPa2
— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2023
-
I agree with this pretty much 100% but my concern is that a game like last night where all the new additions weren’t able to stop or overcome Kyrie. That sort of thing feeds into their “superstars rule over team” theory/fantasy.
-
I dunno JS, the only balanced team without Supers were Hamster’s Pistons that romped us. Not saying we need 3 Supers, but we at least 2 plus surroundings that can hold on if 1 Super goes down. I prefer if we keep AD and LBJ, Ky is the fit. Other wise I go DLO and trade AD. We’ve way over estimated this comradery of these new guys (the gang that can’t shoot straight, lol!
-
-
Player vs Player I’m taking Kyrie everytime. But the Lakers salary structure makes it pretty much impossible and also foolish. We’ve already seen what it looks like when you try to surround 3 huge salaries with a buncha minimum salary castoffs…it don’t work. Add to that you’d have 3 guys where you can’t pencil them in to even play 60 games a piece. Rob needs to continue to dismantle the garbage he put together over the last 2 years…not make the same mistake twice.
-
I agree. One thing to look at is trade possibilities. Beasley, Bamba and Reed add up to 30 mil in tradable contracts. Even though they are not guaranteed they are technically under contract so they could be traded at the draft for an upgrade.
-
-
We 10th, but we have 37 losses. Losses mean everything. I am thinking 4-7 in the last 11, unless LBJ comes back. If we can’t beat Houston and then Luka-Less Dallas at home, I have very low expectations. : (
-
We should never forget this team is missing LeBron James but still competing and winning half of its games.
No Lakers team has been able to do that since we signed LeBron. Couple tough games could cost us season but not future.
If get to playoffs, LeBron changes everything. https://t.co/tMCl4RTWiw
— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2023
-
Not all about skills. It’s a head game as well. Member Magic, MJ, Kobe and LBJ smarts!
-
We lost a game that we had won. And it’s on AD and others who missed free throws. But what I’m seeing on the blogs is that Dallas was some bad team without Luka. We were without LeBron so that was a wash. But the Mavs were favored in Vegas. Yes they didn’t have Luka but they are a good team without him. It was a missed opportunity for sure but it doesn’t mean we are a terrible team. The were one point better than us.
-
Great points, Michael. One loss at this point does not eliminate us. We just missed a great opportunity to move up. Cats only have 9 lives.
-
Always be sure to do homework. Did not say we are a terrible team, just NOT GOOD. Seems like we have, again, inconsistent G-Leaguers.
-
Austin, Dennis, Gabriel. And Rui all had good games. DLO didn’t shoot well but he had 11 assists and no turnovers and was a plus 6. Even AD was okay, he just made a series of bad plays in the last 7 seconds. Hardly G leaguers. When you call them g leaguers that implies you think they are bad. We lost to a good team by 1 point when their superstars was hot. Happens.
-
True, but I think all of us get sold on the 3pt shooters: Bullock, Ellington, Beasly, Pat Bev, TB JR, Walker 4 and the list goes on. Can’t think of hardly anyone we’ve had is a real 3pt threat when need. These MAJOR LEAGUERS seem to show up every 5 games.
Also know that if you are in the NBA, you are good.
-
-
-
-
-
Where I completely disagree is that the moves made at the deadline somehow make this season a success. They do not. A losing season is a losing season, lipstick on a pig changes nothing except that you got a pig with red lips. It looks like one team or another that holds the tie-breaker over us will land at the 6 spot. So that means we’re really 3 games back. Missing the playoffs isn’t really acceptable but, if we can move through the playin and get to a favorable Kings matchup and move past the first round that would mean the current squad had grown together and is worth keeping some to most around. The calculus that’s being wholly ignored is the willingness of ownership to spend.
-
-
Some, all, none…I don’t know. The energy and focus have a really high degree of variance with this team.
-
-
So let’s look at some numbers. The projected salary cap for 2023-24 is $134 mil. If we waive Bamba by 6/29 (leaving only James, Davis, Vanderbilt, Reed, Christie & Swider) we’re sitting at about $95.5 mil in salaries. Pick up Malik’s option and that jumps to $112ish mil. You’re already looking at just an estimated $22 mil in cap space. That’s why I think, given his struggles, the Lakers will let Malik go. The Lakers need to be a lot smarter than they showed themselves to be the summer they gave THT a big contract and low-balled Caruso. They over-valued the Klutch relationship and under-valued what matters: on court fit. They compounded that mistake with the Westbrook trade.
-
So, if I had a say, I would advocate to keep Reaves and Rui. Offer both $10 mil when free agency hits with player options for the following season and team options for the one after that with decent raises built in. Offer LW4 the MLE again or use it in a similar player. That leaves D-Lo. As you say, he’s entering his prime but has yet to separate himself from the good players to a great one. $30 mil will be the starting point and if another team that needs a PG that can score, pass and defend well-enough (that line is always long) goes up to $35-40 mil what do the Lakers do? Now you’re looking at being just over the cap at $123 mil if you succeeded in signing Reaves and Rui for $10/ea. and LW4 (or similar player) to the projected $7 million. With 9 players under contract. Wenyan maybe signs for the vet minimum, again, if no team offers him more. That’s 10. The vet min deals count as a fraction of their worth against the cap. I don’t see the Lakers going over $40 mil to keep Russell. Maybe $45 which is about what we spent on this season’s team. A team that isn’t .500 with 11 games to go and outside the playoffs.
-
The team above will cost a few mil more than this season’s. It doesn’t even account for our draft pick, keeping our 2-ways, or keeping either Mo or Malik. If LeBron and AD are about as available as they have proven to been that’s not a contending team. That’s a team built on the hope that others fail.
-
-
-
I disagree. The trade deadline was important for this season because we’re no longer in the new-roster-every-year mode now. Even if we don’t win, we’ve come a long way learning how to win without LeBron.
I’ve never bought into the fake idea that it’s championship or bust. Every championship that’s been won was built by moves in the preceding years. The trade deadline saved this year from being a waste.
We may not win a ring but we made great progress getting back to contender level this season, changes that will have a major impact on the franchise’s future for the rest of the LeBron James era.
Making the moves at the trade deadline rather than waiting until next summer was an important step in getting a jump start on building a championship roster. The time spent together will give the team invaluable information with which to make decisions this summer.
It’s rate that every move a team makes works out. We brought in five rotation players. I still believe there’s a chance 3 or 4 of the 5 rotation players we added could be kept long-term.
We will also have 2 picks and $30M in tradeable contracts with Beasley and Bamba if there’s a chance to go out and get a player like Anunoby or Turner.
-
You don’t actually know any of the above. We could watch everyone who is not under contract walk and the Lakers throw the kitchen sink at Kyrie or make a trade for Lillard with our contracts and cap space. You have no clue what the Lakers will do and neither do I. You HOPE that the front office has learned some lesson. I do, too, but will not be surprised if, should this squad miss the playin, they all end up elsewhere.
-
The calculus that isn’t being brought up is the money spent after we hit $134 mil. That will define everything. If, for some reason, Jeannie decides that this team which has had multiple chances to get to .500, is worth a massive tax bill, maybe we keep the players mentioned and Malik B. The tax bill, for the Lakers, will be high.
-
Do you really think that Buss will pay $112 million for Russell and Beasley when she wouldn’t pay $30 mil for Caruso…who was a key player on a champion?
-
What I love is how you just posted about the importance of roster cohesion, chemistry and all that while at the exact same time mentioning how we might only keep a couple, maybe even a few, players. That’s not even touching on Austin or Rui or LW4. You’re basically advocating for 3 or 4, maybe 5, players who have barely played with LeBron and are about.500 with AD being a contender and worthy of a potentially massive tax bill. While I admire your enthusiasm I just don’t see the logic. I doub that the cheapy Lakers will, either. That’s why I really want this group, right now, to push and fight their way into the playoffs and at least force a real conversation about keeping them together. Because if they don’t it won’t be a conversation.
Jeannie didn’t even want to make the Russ trade.
Somehow Rob got her onboard (likely with the low cost, low risk aspect of the deal as it allows the front office to keep it’s absurd plan to pursue a mega star in place). That is not a vote of confidence. -
Always sticking your head in the sand…
I’m just bringing up legitimate concerns based on patterns of well-established behavior. Feel free to ignore them. We will not go over the apron to keep a team that is neither .500 or a playoff team together. Guaaaaaaaaaaranteeeeeeeeeed. Not “rooting for doom and gloom”. You show me the smart decisions the front office has made since Rob took over balanced against the bad, stack ‘em on up and see what you’re left with. The Lakers do have the potential to make a lot of hopefully good choices this summer. To me, that means very little at this juncture. Every loss makes it more likely that they make a bad decision. If that’s a “win for the season” or whatever I ain’t buying.
-
It doesn’t matter barring some miraculous string of health for a Lebron and AD. So far the ONLY player who took the crazy max and wasn’t a detriment to his team was Steph, but that’s obviously an oversimplification. You can’t pay Lebron 50mil at this stage of his career and seriously expect to compete. That mistake has poisoned the well as much as any of their (far too many to name) foolhardy moves. This team was cooked when they extended the washed king cuz that’s the brand I spose.
-
-
-
-
-
The tax apron is 162 mil which is the level we pay tax. so we could pretty much keeps everybody because of bird rights if we wanted to and not go to far over the apron. DLO Is rumored to want 25 mil for 4 years. Which is fair for his skill level. Although you might see guys signing 1 + 1 with a huge cap increase expected in 24-25. As far as Bamba and Beasley, we can keep them, cut them, trade them or re-negotiate a more appropriate deal. So we hold all the card.
-
The Lakers will not go over the apron. They have shown that to be an inherent philosophy for years now. But, for the sake of debate, let’s say they do. Still think D’Angelo will not be taking a pay cut. He made $31+ mil this season. That’s the negotiating floor. I don’t see him doing the team that traded him to get rid of Mozgov any favors and this could be his last chance at a big payday. Maybe the market dictates a lower floor, maybe higher as that remains to be seen. Same goes for Reaves. I want to say the bidding starts at 8 mil but, honestly things being as they are, it won’t surprise me if a team goes to $10 day one. I thought we held all the cards the season after the Bubble and we blew it. Big. Maybe lessons were learned, maybe they weren’t.
-
-
As a matter of since the tax began in 2001, we are 5th in the league in taxes paid.
-
Said/meant tax apron, which we did not go over this season. Now, hopefully, that means they wanted to just reset the repeater tax (which I’m not sure but believe they did) and will keep most or all the new guys. We’ll have to see. Regardless, my hopes aren’t high if they can’t even make the playin.
-
Actually we are siting at 169 mil and the apron is 156 mil this year.
-
-
-
-
Was reading a Spotrac grid that made it look like we paid 0 in taxes, possibly read it wrong (eyes old and mind tired w/east coast time change). My point is, minor amount or more of taxes paid or not, NBA scuttlebutt says Jeannie didn’t want to pull the trigger on the Russ trade. That’s astounding to me, if true. Furthermore, should we not get to .500 with the current cast of Lakers, make the playoff/in, then I have high doubts that we keep a lot of the current roster. Which means we’ll be doing exactly what we’ve done the past two seasons making it a trifecta of anti-team building. Furthermore, I’ve known plenty of card players that had a great hand a squandered it. Having good cards is but a small facet of the game as a whole.
In short I don’t believe the season could be qualified as a success just because we traded Russ. It was likely he was going to be gone by next season, anyhow. We just paid a smallish price to move him at the last moment (really ought to have been done last summer) and audition some guys on smaller deals. We can pick up the options on Bamba and Beasley and trade then, yes (if there’s a market for a $10 mil center who can’t score in the post and a $16.5 mil sniper with a penchant for missing) but have to trade them for someone under contract already, we’ll be hard capped if they sign an extension.-
Really I just don’t have a lot (sic:any) confidence that we’re not going to pursue an aged-superstar, especially if these guys don’t get the job done.
-
-
-
- Load More Posts
TOM WONG
Founder and Publisher
“Welcome to the new Lakerholics website. We wanted to create a place that would become the favorite online home for informed and passionate Lakers fans.
Please click ‘CONTACT US’ and let us know how we did, ‘JOIN US’ to become a member, or ‘SUBSCRIBE’ to receive our newsletter.
We promise to open your eyes, ears, and mind to brand-new purple and gold world.”
-LakerTom
FEATURED POST
5 Things: It’s the Simple Things
The world of sport is funny, so much is made of nuanced stats and metrics. Graphs and formulas for how you can win populate blogs and websites. “Experts” blab on and on about how analytics has changed sports forever. I don’t buy it. Why? Because when you look at who won and how it usually […]
FEATURED PODCAST
NBA Observations- Big Money Spent For The Clippers And Heat, Are The Lakers Next?
The guys from the Lakers Fast Break return for some NBA Observation as they share thoughts on the recent big-money extensions for Miami coach Erik Spoelstra and the Clipper’s Kawhi Leonard. Does this mean the Lakers will be opening up their wallet a little more as well? Plus after Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic’s huge rant after the Lakers game because of the fourth-quarter free throw disparity, we ponder if Darvin Ham will ever show that kind of energy if he remains as the guys on the sidelines for LA. We’re back talking some big $$$, and wondering if the Lakers are ready to go on a spending spree? Find out our thoughts on the latest Lakers Fast Break podcast!
Don’t forget to watch the Lakers games with us LIVE at playback.tv/lakersfastbreak and our newest Lakers Fast Break merchandise site is now up at https://tinyurl.com/39yb4ta3, check it out!
Please Like, Share, and Subscribe to our channel and our social media @lakersfastbreak on Twitter.
If you have questions, give us a shout-out on Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, Kick, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, or send us your thoughts to lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com or become a supporter of the Lakers Fast Break today at https://anchor.fm/lakers-fast-break
The views and opinions expressed on the Lakers Fast Break are those of the panelists or guests themselves and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Lakers Fast Break or its owners. Any content or thoughts provided by our panelists or guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, anyone, or anything.
Presented by our friends at lakerholics.com, lakersball.com, Pop Culture Cosmos, Inside Sports Fantasy Football, Vampires and Vitae, SynBlades.com, YouTube’s John Mikaelian, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble), The Happy Hoarder, EmpireJeffTV, Larry Lakers Dribbling Chat Chat, Lakers Corner, and Retro City Games!
FEATURED TWEET
Lakers stars used speed and space of transition as stage for talent
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1437491268544835595
LAKERHOLICS LINKS
Library of Links to Everything Lakers
LAKERHOLICS MEMBERS
A Los Angeles Lakers Community
ABOUT LAKERHOLICS
Dedicated to Kobe and Gigi Bryant
Recent Comments
WHO’S ONLINE
[who-is-online-now]