5 Things: And So It Ends

What began as an imploding star creating a singularity that sucked the joy of basketball from the Lakers and their fans turned into a beacon of hope and ended with a sweep at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. We’ll get into the regular season on down the line, likely (for me anyhow) after the NBA Finals. For now I just want to look back at this game and series and what it heralds going forward.

1. Same old story. Lakers hung in there, Denver found a way late to pull away and shut us down. A lot of that is just Jokic and Murray are locked in right now. Murray finds a way to hit big shots, Jokic finds a way to hit big shots AND make winning plays. Hard to overcome that from two players who are in sync. In the end the Nuggets were, by far, the better team to the degree that they should be the team that the rest of the NBA blueprints to try and beat or at least neutralize. Whether the Nuggets go all the way and bring Denver it’s first-ever title is another story, and one that largely depends on whether the Heat close it out against Boston tonight *I think they will). Both the Heat and Nuggets will then basically equal amounts of time off. Should be fun.
2. The LeBron James question. When you have LeBron on the team he’s the dominant point of conversation, focus and attention from the outside world. It’s both a luxury and a cruse. A luxury in that it’s a kind of shield for the rest of the team from a lot of scrutiny and a curse in that they rely on him as a crutch far too often. Some of that is by LeBron’s own choices, which he could do better about owning up to. Some of that is just the way the NBA functions. I can understand James questioning the 82 game grind because any talk of retirement is surely about that and nothing else. Hard to see LeBron retiring after a sweep, honestly, dude has a lotta pride. Mongo also brought up a great point in that if anyone would want a retirement tour it would be The King. He’s under contract next season and I expect him to be a part of the Lakers.
3. The Anthony Davis question. AD no-showed the first half, turned it on a bit in the second, and basically played like I expect him to at this point. This question got answered for me last season. The Lakers simply have to at least test the trade waters for Davis. Laker fans know the truth: Davis will never be “The Man”. Any idea of a torch passing or a throne ascended (insert parable as you choose) is nonsense and if you didn’t watch him no-show in the 3rd quarter or waste his elite defensive ability letting Aaron Gordon go off in game 4 (his primary defensive assignment after getting switched off of Jokic in favor of Rui Hachimura) then, frankly, you weren’t paying attention. Should LeBron retire the franchise will take a step back if Davis is crowned (without earning) the “alpha dog” title. He lacks the fire inside, and honestly that isn’t a knock. He’s an elite defend and a solid scorer but he needs someone else to help him. Like Pau Gasol before he can be an amazing complimentary superstar. I doubt he can lead a team to the NBA Finals as the featured, lead player on a team.
4. The D-Lo question. This one is tricky as D-Lo can simply choose to play elsewhere. He owes the Lakers nothing, can decline a sign and trade and is free to pursue his destiny as he so chooses. One imagines, based on his comments, he will be looking for a large role on offense, installed as a starter (even in the playoffs) and money in the $30 mil range to start along with a few years tacked on. Russell presents as many questions as he does answers. He’s always been a combo guard, in my opinion, and can play off the ball as well as on. His defense has been a liability and continues to be. He’s also the second best point guard who will be available to sign this offseason so suitors could very well line up and offer comparable deals to the one we’d like to offer and better if we start with a low-ball offer. For the Lakers the issue is compounded by our cap space situation, or lack thereof. If he walks for nothing the Lakers will be hard-pressed to find talent that will replace what D-Lo brings, flaws and all. I think it’s imperative that the Lakers do their best to retain D-Lo simply for the sake of not taking that cap hit. He can be traded if we get into the season and it’s just not working out. We saw that with Russ, you can trade guys almost no matter what. It might cost a draft pick or something but it cam be done.
5. The Lakers as a whole gave it everything they had. Should Darvon have challenged the out of bounds call when Murray fell? probably. Could LeBron have dropped the ball off to Reaves after the inbounds play where he flung up a wild step back fadeaway from 20? Of course. Would Anthony Davis have made that wid3e open three as time expired. Maybe. The season though acme down more to a team that was coming together on the fly led by an aging superstar and an inconsistent cohort getting beat by a cohesive unit that knew where it wanted to go and how it wanted to get there. Reaves and Hachimura did everything asked of them and more. Russell acquiesced to come off the bench and still found ways to contribute (whether it was a meaty or meager contribution is up for debate). Guys were in and out of the rotation and stayed ready (looking at Vand-o and Tristan Thompson here). My point is that this team overcame a helluvalot to get to this point and was a few bad breaks going their way from meeting this challenge. While it may not work out to keep everyone on the roster we hope will stay or would like to see return I think the Laker FO will at least kick the tires on that scenario. One does wonder what a solid camp and offseason of growth together would help to build. In Denver we’re seeing what building as opposed to re-inventing the team can do for you. Here’s hoping that Rob was paying attention, too.

Lot of shout outs and positives to look at and some questionable things and moments as well. So much of success in sport is built on camaraderie. This team seemed to like playing together. The NBA, being the business that it is, can be unforgiving so we’ll see if the future holds a Laker team building off of success or trying to, yet again, re-invent itself over a summer. I know what I’m hoping for. Go Lakers.