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Lakers Trade for LaVine, Olynyk, and Kessler

By July 11, 2024 6 Comments

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  1. You must not have been paying attention on the Mind the Game podcasts, Reddick went out of his way to critique switch everything defenses in the modern NBA. As did LeBron. Doubt he changed that stance in the last few months… I’m not saying they won’t depoloy it when it makes sense but there are too many good shooters nowadays to just make that the default option.

    • As I watched AD last night defending the paint, blocking 4 shots, alternating many more and dissuading people from even trying, I thought to myself gee we should make AD a forward again so he can guard guys out on the perimeter.

      • Yes but we already have 2 centers in Wood and Hayes, 3 if you count Castleton.

        I have been an advocate for AD at the 4 since the Bubble season but the truth is that you need an elite rebounder and screen setter (like Dwight or Ben Wallace) who also defends at an above average to elite level or that guy gets played off the floor fairly easily.

        AD is the center and we need a healthy Vando, or for Hayes to take a reallllllly big step forward to activate that level of defense on this team.

          • I believe you were answering the Wendell Carter comment. The problem is that Wood isn’t really a center. He played a couple of seasons with the Rockets when they did their tiny ball experiment. He only weighs 210 pound and gets moved around. He is better as a 4. And Hayes at 220 isn’t much better, he gets moved by the big boys as well. Carter Jr weighs 255 and can bang. He can also shoot the 3 so he can share the court some with AD. AD is even better now at the 5 than he was in the bubble. In my opinion he is the best defensive center in the world and I doubt the Lakers will move him out of the middle. Carter gives the Lakers someone that can play minutes with AD and a high end center for the 2nd unit.

          • I think that was below somewhere. Adding Carter for DLO? Madness, we then hope that Gabe plays all season at a fairly high level. Color me skeptical. I’m saying that we don’t need a 4th center, not with AD projected to play there in crunch time and the lion’s share of minutes in the playoffs. This team has far too many greater needs (like a point guard that can actually break down the defense) for us to waste time and resources on a backup big.

            We have 3, I’m including Wood because he has indeed played a lot of minutes at center. Hard for me to grasp when folks say “basketball is positionless now!” then turn around and say “but that guy only plays _____ position.” Can’t have it both ways. We’re either moving in a direction of positionless basketball or we’re not. All of our backup bigs have flaws but not so great that we should go into next season without a decent point guard. Besides, isn’t JJ some kind of developmental guru type dude? I’m sure he’s got a plan.

            FWIW Wood is 6’8″ 214 lbs, listed
            Carter is 6’10” 270 lbs listed.
            Hayes is 7′ 220 and moves like a gazelle. Why we’re not focusing on the players we already have…on really cheap deals…is quite mystifying to me.

            **update before I posted after I read the article because I realized the math was absolutely absurd lol***

            Why are we even talking about trading DLo for this guy? The trade below also throws in JHS meaning one thing to me: the author has no clue how NBA trades work on a practical level since WCjr makes $10+ mil next season and DLO and JHS combined salary is closer to $23 mil…who else we getting? Some of these articles are simply ludicrous, which is why I generally don’t actually read them, but since you asked…here we are 🙂

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