Russ helps lift people up

Aloha, Michael…

Excellent points. I’m in favor of signing Rondo because the Lakers need playmaking as much as they need 3-point shooting during the long regular season. And Playoff Rondo has shown he can be an elite playmaker and dead-eye 3-point shooter in the playoffs. Will there be a point where he won’t be Playoff Rondo? Some will say that was the last playoffs on the Clippers but again, that’s on the Clippers, which is not the same as on the Lakers playing with LeBron. To me, it was more the great play and shooting of Reggie Jackson that kept Rondo off the floor more than his poor play.

Where will Rondo’s minutes come from? I would see him as the primary backup to Russell Westbrook. Assuming Russ starts and closes games and plays 30 minutes per game, that would leave 18 minutes for Rajon as backup point guard, which is about how long you would want him to play. You and everybody seem to be assuming that LeBron will play some minutes at point guard, which I don’t think will happen as often as others expect. I think the goal of the Lakers is do play LeBron and AD as the primary front court tandem because those are their best positions and make up the Lakers best lineups. Will LeBron have the ball in his hands a lot? Yes, but I think it will be Westbrook and Rondo who will be feeding him and AD the ball in the post. The Lakers are going to use LeBron and AD at the four and five to bully and physically bash opposing defenses. I think the Lakers realize the solution to create opportunities for shooters is for having their superstars play in the front court.

I’m not worried about our defense. Like our offense, it will depend on LeBron and AD remaining healthy. If they are healthy, then we have the anchors to our defense. I also think Russ will be fine defensively on the Lakers. He will follow LeBron and Anthony and focus on defense first. D is going to be what ignites our transition game. When you have 3 superstars who can play defense like the Lakers Big Three, that’s a huge plus over any other team’s Big Threes. I also think the addition of Dwight, Ariza, and Bazemore will more than make up for losing Caruso, KCP, and Kuzma. Our offense will be twice as good as last year and our defense a little better because of LeBron and AD playing major roles instead of being injured.

I share the same hopes for THT having a break-out season but think it’s his 3-point shooting that is still the key to his ceiling being a star or superstar. Just too great a need to have whoever plays the two or three be a high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter. Can’t waste one of your two non-superstar positions on a player who can’t shoot over 30% from deep. Shooting will be so important to THT that he could easily be trade bait at the deadline if he doesn’t show improved long-range shooting. He and Nunn are our only two trading chips that are not minimum contracts. Talen has dodged trades so far but he better start hitting those threes or he could find himself in another uniform at the deadline.

It’s hard not to envision the Lakers pushing hard to win this season and almost taking the approach that this might be the last realistic opportunity to win another championship for LeBron. His window may be closing faster than expected, especially if the Brooklyn Nets Superstar Big Three can stay healthy. It’s obvious to me that the Lakers believed they couldn’t win running it back or without a third superstar. That means they’re not going to hesitate to trade THT at the deadline. He’s their single most important trading chip.