Aloha,
When the report came out that the Lakers are willing to wait until the 15th to look for a trade, you could hear the groans from Laker fans everywhere. But this makes sense for many reasons.
The first and most important reason is, what trades are actually available at this time? There are no reports that the Nets are even shopping Kyrie at this time. Also that maybe because a survey from GM’s around the league indicates that there are not any takers. Including the Lakers.
As I suspected the Jazz are actually shopping for upgrades. They love Clarkson and are talking extension with him And they are not taking calls on Markannen.
The Pacers owner told anyone that would listen that he doesn’t believe in tanking. He wants to build while staying competitive. And so far that’s the case. The Pacers are off to a nice start and haven’t engaged anyone calling about Turner.. while I’m not saying he won’t be traded at some point it probably isn’t going to be for a while. And there is always the chance they try and extend him . He is not that old.
As for other teams there really isn’t a lot of rumors out there.
As for the Lakers, they have questions to answer. Can any trade elevate them into contention. The only way they can answer that is by playing more games.
AD is playing MVP basketball, can he sustain it when LeBron returns. And can LeBron look better then he has so far.
Lonnie has been terrific. Will his stellar play continue. Same question goes for Austin. He has been growing before our eyes. And please can we get him more then one 3 point shot in a game? Thomas has looked very good so far, will he continue to improve. Can we get more from some of the others?
We a need a lot of positive answers for all of the questions before we make any big trades.
After the 15th most of the players in the league will be eligible for trades. What opportunities will become available. Players can get injured. Teams can under perform. There could actually be smaller trades available that doesn’t include Russ.
We are one of only 8 teams with cap space next summer. I can see holding off on a trade if it’s not going to matter. We could add some good 3 and d forwards this summer. And if Lonnie continues to play this way I would love to keep him. But without cap space we couldn’t keep him because we don’t have bird rights. All of these things have to be considered. Waiting until the 15th will give the team more time to answer all of these questions.
Makes sense as this point in time to wait until December 15th but key is Lakers and AD continuing to play well. The Lakers will be lucky to go 4-3 in the 7 games in the first half of December as they go on a long East coast road trip that includes Bucks and Celtics.
There are several big questions that the next 11 games might answer that affect whom we might want to trade for:
1. Can Ham integrate LeBron without taking away from AD?
2. Who’s going to replace Pat Bev as starting point guard?
3. Can Schröder contribute anything at point guard?
4. Can Thomas Bryant be AD’s backup at center?
5. Do Lakers need a stretch five starting center?
1) That’s in AD as much as anyone.
2) One would imagine Schroder if LBJ can’t go but LeBron. Austin deserves to start.
3) Yes. He’s defended well enough and he’s more aggressive searching for his shot than PatBev.
4) Yes.
5) No but if one comes along wonderful.