While he came away empty handed at the Trade Deadline, Lakers VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka may have bounced back to win the NBA Buyout Sweepstakes by signing Andre Drummond and Ben McLemore.
The Lakers buyout duo came up big last night as the undermanned Lakers, missing LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Marc Gasol, and Wesley Matthews, dominated the heavily favored Nets in a 126–101 blowout win. The stars of the game were the Lakers’ new center Andre Drummond who posted game high 20 points and 11 rebounds and guard Ben McLemore who rained 5 threes and 17 points late to turn a close game into a rout.
The game was a matchup of two highly publicized buyout duos as the Lakers’ Drummond and McLemore faced off against the Nets’ Aldridge and Griffin. The matchup of the buyout duos was a blowout like the game itself. Drummond and McLemore played like championship contributors while Aldridge and Griffin played like waived veterans. The Lakers’ duo combined for 37 points and 12 boards vs. the Net’s duo’s 14 points and 3 boards.
The Nets were 11.5 point favorites despite missing their third superstar James Harden. The Lakers were not only missing their two superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis but also three other key rotation players. The difference in the game was the Lakers’ top ranked defense holding the Nets’ 2nd ranked offense to just 101 points on 43.8% shooting from the field and 18.5% shooting from deep, including 0–15 second half threes.
Pelinka’s buyout market coup has taken away a lot of sting out of losing LeBron and AD for at least another two or three weeks. Drummond and McLemore have given the Lakers serious hope they can weather the storm. Davis is expected back in two weeks and LeBron in three. The Lakers are now 1 loss behind the Nuggets for 4th in the West and two losses behind the Clippers for 3rd in the West. Their goal is obviously 3rd seed in the West.
While it’s still early and the sample size is small, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers’ front office may have won the NBA buyout sweepstakes with their savvy signings of center Andre Drummond and guard Ben McLemore.
One of the overlooked aspects of the Lakers trouncing of the Brooklyn Nets was the matchup of buyout duos – Lakers’ Andre Drummond and Ben McLemore vs. the Nets’ LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin. Rob Pelinka vs. Sean Marks.
While it was just one game, I have to think the Lakers, Dre, Ben, and Rob were the clear cut winners over the Nets, LaMarcus, Blake, and Sean.
Most of the time, buyout additions don’t really make that big a difference but the action in the buyout market was insane this year, dwarfing the trade deadline market completely. Rob has done a great job the last two years by adding Keef last year and Dre and Ben this year.
Small sample size so far but I think Rob and the Lakers found two key missing puzzle pieces with Dre and Ben giving us desperately needed size at the five and volume 3-point shooting at the two.
Lakers just need to keep pushing hard until Bron and AD return. Beat the Knicks and Hornets and finish this roadie with a 5-2 record and keep that #3 seed in their headlights going forward.
The veracity of this notion can’t be determined at this time. Neither player will have the role they have now as they’re not sharing the floor with James or Davis. Last night our buyout guys had more impact but, in all honesty, far less is being asked of LMA and BG. Even with Kyrie going down they’re not shot creators, just finishers. LMA will be huge for them in the playoffs and Blake…is Blake, we’ll see what he has left. Aldridge can stretch the floor, defend at a fairly high level and is a solid passer. Let’s see how these guys all mesh when our team is healthy-ish and rejoin this debate then.
LOL. Of course. No James, No Davis for Lakers. But No Harden, No Kyrie for Nets. Anybody who thinks Aldridge and Griffin were better signings than Drummond and McLemore are either Nets’ fans or…