Aloha,
Well the playoffs are not even here yet and the click bait crew is already posting trade scenarios for the Lakers. Everyone seems to think we need a third star. And most of the names mentioned are offensive players, even though after a slow start our offense is rolling.
Since February 1st we are 18 and 8 with 10 wins coming against playoff teams. That roughly equates to a 68 win season over 82 games. And even. More note worthy was the fact that Vando and Vincent each played in just one game. Both of them were being counted on as important role players for this team.
The problem with trades for stars is they cost a lot. While you may strengthen one position you can weaken your team by losing quality role players. I am still under the impression that this team is much better than their record. The amount of injuries along with some truly baffling rotations have contributed to where we are now.
I’m am still a fan of depth over a third star. Look at the Nuggets. They are 6 and 11 when a star sits because they have no depth. The Suns are fighting for their playoff lives because of one star being out a lot. On the other hand the Lakers are 6 and 4 when LeBron sits. They have had problems when AD has missed games but that’s primarily because we don’t have quality depth behind him.
Some say we need better perimeter defense but our two best perimeter defenders have hardly played. Vando being out has also hurt our rebounding.
When you look at recent champions they all have a few years of continuity. Our core only came together at the trade deadline last year and got us to the conference finals. Austin, Rui and Vando haven’t even reached their prime years yet. I’m watching both Austin and Rui grow. Rui in particular has really elevated his game since becoming a starter. While Austin was fatigued from a summer with Team USA early on, he has rebounded nicely. I would hate to give up either at this point.
I think ultimately our off season will depend on how we look in the post season. It’s not easy to win a ring after only being together a year. I would love to run this group back and give them another year to grow as a team and as individual players. I would like to try and improve around the edges. With LeBron and AD’s injury histories I don’t believe 3 stars and no depth is the right path forward.
Only 7 games left in the pre-season then the proverbial rubber meets the road once the play-in games commence. Fair or not, the playoffs have become the only measuring stick that really matters. I’m old enough to remember that DEN series a year ago…we can’t have guys forced off the floor again.
I’d love to keep this core together but if our perimeter defense gets torched then some changes will need to be made. Because the problem is that the starting backcourt is good on offense but not on defense. The solutions off the bench are good on defense but a big drop-off offensively. It ain’t football where you sub in & out with each possession. It used to be real trendy to say “All we need is some 3&D guys” but now you look around and realize they’re a rare commodity.
I feel like alot is gonna depend on who we get matched up with again; it broke well for us last year. There are teams above us that we can beat..especially now that Monk is out for 4-6 weeks. Gotta see what MIN looks like when/if KAT comes back. DAL is an unknown because we haven’t played them since they added that size to their frontcourt. Clipps are the Clipps. The scary part about DEN is that MPJ didn’t even play that well when they swept us in the playoffs but he’s been on a heater since the All Star break. Gonna be fun….