Aloha,
Well the NBA 2nd season has begun, also known as the arm chair GM season. We just won a ring but you always want to do what you can to improve your. While we don’t have a lot of amo to work with, either does our major competitors.
First I want to say, I love this team, it’s the best defensive team in the league, with two of the best offensive players in the NBA. It’s deep and versatile. We can play any style of basketball. I believe if we brought back the exact team we would be even better and win it all again.
Continuity is very important. And it’s easy to forget how many new players we added. One of the big surprises for me was how much we won early. We were winning ugly, but still winning. As the season went on, we just got better and better as a team. With a year under our belts, I can’t see a reason why we wouldn’t continue to improve. I watched Kuz after the early injuries begin to develop into a very good defender and play maker. All he really needs to do is correct his 3 point shot. If he can get it back to where it was as a rookie he is going to be a terrific player, and he will continue to improve. He could develop into a guy that can guard the big wings in the league and at 6’ 9” he taller than most of them. He actually showed that ability multiple times in the playoffs.
Alex also grew tremendously over the course of the season, with his defense and hustle he could actually grow into a star. I actually like him better now than Lonzo. He became better at running the offense as the season progressed and he has an undeniable chemistry with LeBron. Again, if he improves his 3 point shot the sky’s the limit. I would actually like to see Alex and KCP start with Avery and Danny coming off the bench. That’s a terrific rotation.
I’m also excited by THT. The kid showed me a lot and he doesn’t turn 20 until next month. He is only 6’ 4” but plays bigger with his fullback body and huge wing span.
But you can always improve the roster. A lot will depend on what Rob wants to do. Chase a 3rd star next year or keep a 2 star system, with a deep roster of quality role players. Personally I like the later. So if we stay the course, who could we bring in? Like Tom my vote goes with Christian Wood. His youth and upside is intriguing. It would be nice to have a little more youth on the roster. He can learn from AD and LeBron and from our secret weapon. Phil Handy, the best player development coach in the NBA. In a tight money market we might be able to land him with the MLE. And worst case he would still be better than Javelle. If we can’t get him, I would make a play for Joe Harris and his 44% 3 point shooting. He’s also a decent defender. In this market he also might be had for the MLE. I would then try and Land Boogie for the minimum or bi annual at center.
Speaking of the bi annual exception I hope we could keep Morris with that. Now we have bird rights on KCP, Rondo and Avery so we can go over and sign them. I still kind of think McGee will opt in. Even if we resign Rondo, I would look at Teague or Augustine for a veteran minimum contract. With Rondos injuries it would be a nice insurance policy. If Rondo leaves I definitely think we need one of those two.
I don’t think we need to do a lot to repeat. So we will have to wait to see what Rob thinks.
1st unit
Lebron
AD
Wood MLE
KCP
Alex
2nd Unit
Avery
Green
Kuz
Morris bi annual
Rondo
3rd Unit
Mcgee
THT
Teague vet min
Jeff Green vet min
1st round pick
Boogie, Harris and Howard all in play if Wood doesnt happen.
One thing is that Bradley has a player option and could opt in, Lakers have no bearing on his choice save for that he played well here and we’re going to give him a ring.
I love the idea of trying to add Jeff Teague on a vet min. deal. Quality player, great skill set, could be looking for a ‘win now’ situation. Personally I’d pass on Jeff Green but also wouldn’t go apoplectic if he ended up a Laker.
Aloha, Michael…
Great to see we’re pretty much on the same page. I share your love of this team and hope we keep the core together. They are clearly the best defensive team in the league and proved defense wins Championships. And I agree 100% continuity is critical. It’s a big factor in building and maintaining culture and chemistry, which were why we thrived in the bubble while other teams like the Bucks and Clippers floundered.
One of the areas where we don’t agree is our backcourt. I think KCP deserves to start next season regardless of whether Bradley declines his player option. Kenny has earned the starting role. If Avery wants to start, he will have to win that position back. As for Alex starting, I think the second starter needs to be a real point guard. While I would prefer Rondo to come off the bench, having an elite playmaker on the court with LeBron was invaluable in the playoffs.
I would like to see us somehow be able to land Dragic via the MLE or Schroder via a trade to pair with KCP. I would sign-and-trade for Wood if Dragic was willing to sign for the MLE. After our own free agents and Wood, Dragic or Schroder are my next priority. Having a point guard rotation of Dragic and Rondo would really turbocharge the Lakers’ offense.
Glad to see you on the Christian Wood bandwagon. I’m so stoked on this as the main strategy the Lakers need to pursue. He is ranked by as the #3 free agent this offseason by ESPN behind Anthony Davis and Fred VanVleet. Since AD is not really a free agent, Wood is really the #2 available free agent. He already has said he’s leaving and the Pistons can’t offer him more than $10 million, essentially the same the Lakers could offer with their $9.3 million non-taxpayer MLE. Lakers need to prioritize signing or trading for Christian. He’s a mini-AD clone.
Here’s my ideal 15-player Lakers roster for next season:
STARTERS:
PG: Dragic (MLE)
SG: KCP (Bird Rights)
SF: LeBron
PF: Wood (S&T for Kuzma & Green)
CE: Davis
BENCH:
PG: Rondo (Early Bird), Bradley
SG: Caruso, THT
SF: LeBron, #28 Pick
PF: Morris (BAE), Dudley
CE: Howard, Cousins
New additions are Dragic, Wood, Cousins and #2 pick.
Subtractions are Green, Kuzma, Cook, Waiters, and Smith.
Michael, in future, please click the new post link in the black WordPress strip at the top of the page to create posts. It will open the Gutenberg editor which gives you a lot more options to control the content than using the front end editor on the Blog page. It will let you add a featured image and will automatically include a READ MORE tag. Email me if you don’t understand. Thanks.
Have reported the problem with paragraph breaks not showing up on Blog page. Editing makes them show up but refreshing page reverts to no paragraph breaks.
Great post, Michael. You pretty much echoed everything that was in me. There’s nothing else for me to add except to say your choice of guards Jeff Teague and DJ Augustine is exactly what I was looking for in addition to Dennis Schroader. Any of these guards would be an upgrade. My picking order of choice would be Schroader, Augustine and then Teague, but only if their costs would not greatly change the dynamics of the roaster.
Schroader would be a good one!!
You are right DJ. He’s hard nosed and doesn’t quit.