Panic in LA

Aloha,

I hear the howls for a trade all the way hear in Hawaii. And I am all for a trade if I thought it could elevate us beyond a possible 6th seed and a first round exit. Based upon what we have seen from the supporting cast so far, I don’t see a realistic trade that will do that.

I didn’t come into this season with very high hopes. I thought we would struggle out of the gate with pretty much a brand new squad. I thought we would be maybe 4 and 6 at this point. And if we had shot even 30% from 3 earlier we would be at least that maybe even 5 and 5.

But we haven’t been able to overcome our schedule. Through 10 games the Lakers have played the hardest schedule in the league. I was hoping to pick up some wins against the Jazz but they currently sit at the top of the west. Playing that second game without 3 starters including LeBron didn’t help. We also lost to the Trailblazer in a game we should have won. They are number two in the West. We lost to the Cav’s, number one in the east. We spit with the Nuggets, number 4 in the West. We lost to the Clippers before they lost Kawahi again. By the way everyone is always talking about AD but never about Kawahi missing games. I don’t get it. We also lost a game to a very large TWolves team without AD. Plus LeBron played sick a couple of games.

Now the talk is that the Lakers are reluctant to trade picks unless they think it can turn them into contenders. I whole heartedly agree. You really need to see if some of the other guys can improve. PatBevs offense has been MIA but we really missed his perimeter defense the last two games. Can he find his shot? Nunn had a decent first game and lost his offense. He seemed to find it again yesterday. Will he regain his confidence and score better moving forward? Walker has been very good except from 3 point land. Can he begin to hit a few more. Brown has been pretty good. Can he keep it up? What will the addition of Dennis and Bryant mean to the team.? I think we signed Dennis just because he was a value signing after his stellar Euro league. And Bryant had a very good preseason. He should offer a little relief to AD.

Until we can answer a few of these questions it doesn’t make sense to me, to make a trade and give up picks if it’s not going to get us out of the first round. And even worse would be adding contracts that would keep us mediocre, when we have the cap space to potential add a little quality depth to the roster.

So the Lakers have stated they will give this roster 20 games. I hope they do. I want to win another championship as soon as possible. So for me there is no difference between a terrible record and a first round exit in the playoffs. And if we keep Rob in charge, we are going to need every draft pick we can get.