Quincy Olivari talked about the moment he found out he made the team and what was like to receive praise from @MagicJohnson pic.twitter.com/1zisTbQsjw

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 20, 2024

Great move by Lakers front office. Koloko is major upgrade over Castleton. Love the addition of Olivari. Lakers now have three excellent two-way players. Major upgrade over last season.

Love to see Lakers sign Lonnie.

Doubt that happens, would take trading one of Cam or Wood at this point. All the two-ways are settled and I’m not sure LW4 can even sign one due to his years of service.

He still with the Klutch Klown Krew? Then anything’s possible.

Lotta hype from one preseason game lol

AD at #6 and LeBron at #8. Excellent top ten.

I like this top ten.

Olivari was solid
22pts
8 for 16 50%
5 for 9 on 3s
7 boards

Sign this kid man, this is who you can drop development hrs on because he's not that far off. In 2-3 yrs he could be playing with vets and helping.

And he's well rounded when you listen to him speak

— CL Owens 🏀 🇺🇸 (@CSmoove_Sports) October 19, 2024

I’d be giving Olivari JHS and maybe even Max Christie minutes.

The passion Olivari has for the game & how good he is he deserves to make the Laker roster. Rather see him in a Laker uniform than JHS. 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/hEjmSZ1On2

— Audel Del Toro (@CantBeatAudel) October 19, 2024

We waived Castleton and signed QC to his 2 way.

JJ Redick on the pressure Bronny James deals with off the floor: "He's a very grounded young man who is very coachable and has a very good head on his shoulders. Couple conversations that I've had with him just about what it is like to be him. And I'm sure there's some amazing…

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) October 19, 2024

Bronny’s 17 points from tonight were the most points scored in a preseason game by a 55th pick in the last 15 years pic.twitter.com/NFbYPSU34h

— 🎭 (@MaskedInLA) October 19, 2024

Took 17 shots to get there but you can see a way forward for him to become a solid defender and maybe a decent catch and shoot guy.

Considering the Lakers need to create spacing for Jams and Davis and modernize the offense by shooting more threes, Dalton Knecht’s performance last night could be the start of a legitimate campaign not just to include the rookie in the 9-man rotation but also to eventually start him.

With an offense built around Davis as the hub and an elite playmaker like LeBron James, the Lakers could survive with a Reaves/Knecht backcourt and a James/Davis/New Center front court.

I clearly see Knecht as a guard and not a wing. Playing him at wing negates any size advantage we get from playing AD at the four alongside a true starting center.

I’m also thinking Christian Koloko could possibly be at least the backup center we need if not good enough to play alongside AD.

One way or another, there is going to be heavy pressure to start Dalton Knecht. He needs to be on the court with LeBron and AD. Add his shooting and an athletic shot blocking bouncy center, and the Lakers could be legitimate contenders.

Real question is not whether Knecht makes rotation. It's when does he start!

Lakers need to play DK at guard, not wing to keep starting forward slots for LBJ and AD. Reaves and Knecht could be backcourt of future.

Find starting quality big to go with AD and Lakers can win #18. https://t.co/tjMzQXqXrW

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 18, 2024

JJ Redick Trolls Dalton Knecht After His Incredible 35-Point Game Against The Suns https://t.co/Z81X8LfonM

— LakerTom (@LakerTom) October 18, 2024

“The Lakers are on a mission. We got everything we need.” @SnoopDogg thinks the Lakers are going far this season 💪 pic.twitter.com/xGutDourVp

— First Take (@FirstTake) October 18, 2024

Well the honeymoon didn’t last too long for some folks out there lol.

This is why he was smart to already walk back an arbitrary number and why picking a number out of the air makes zero sense to me. 20, 30, 40, 50, even 60 three point attempts could be the right number on any given night. But to say that we, as a team, in order to win games, NEED to take _____ number of threes in every game is just flat wrong and the bad shots we’ve watched for most of preseason bear that out.

The goal should be taking a good shot, not a shot from a specific location. Sometimes the two meet up and that’s great. Sometimes they don’t and that needs to be OK if you want to play winning basketball. Winning basketball needs to be the goal when you man that bench for the purple and gold. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to wait for you to go through 2-3 years of growing pains and getting the that perfect core group of guys to buy into your system before you get shit-canned.

That core group of guys might last a season or two. JJ could be gone before the trading deadline if that’s how we end up playing night in and night out, podcast creds be damned. He’s on LeBron James’ timeline, not anyone else’s and LeBron has brought friends to the team and subsequently helped show them the door in the name of winning plenty of times.

Still, only preseason and that gutsy win by our future G-Leaguers bought Reddick at least the space to not go through preseason 0-fer. But every loss, and especially any losing streaks, are going to be under a microscope of epic and petty proportions. Should see more starters tomorrow night which should help.