5 THINGS

As the sun sets on the Laker’s once hopeful season there have been a lot of subplots, a lot of self-inflicted issues and not quite enough winning. In the end we came up against the best team and lost, again. Yes we got the losing streak over but a season of Lakers basketball is rarely, if ever, defined by the consolation prizes. Especially when we got as much as we did out of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. So as we turn to an early than desired summer of speculation I can think of at least 5 things that need to be addressed.

1. AD. Anthony Davis is here to stay for the foreseeable future unless he demands a trade. He just played in all but 7 games and had one of his best seasons ever. There are some things that AD doesn’t do well but, by and large, it’s hard for me to critique AD after this season. Do I wish he had a little more Kobe and a little less Pau Gasol in him? Sure. But the defense is as good as it is mainly because of his effort and leadership on that end of the court. I think the best thing for AD is to have an honest conversation with management (and to a degree himself) about what his best role truly is. If he wants a banger just to play 15-20 MPG then keeping someone like Hayes makes a lot more sense and I would even encourage them to work out this summer and see how they can best compliment each other on the floor, especially on offense where things tend to get crowded unless you have 2 bigs that can shoot the three ball. If AD were being honest I think he’d see that playing the 5 is actually his best role and just stop complaining about it. Will that happen? I kinda doubt it.
2. LBJ. LeBron has a player option this summer, have you heard? We’ll get into that aspect of it all down yonder. I want to take a moment to appreciate what LeBron has just accomplished which is to have the best season an athlete of his age has ever had in the NBA and probably top 5 in all sport. His work last summer on his three ball translated so well onto the court it’s almost a shame he didn’t shoot it more in the playoffs (although I understand why and it’s because we generate our best offense in the paint which translate well to the free throw line differential). One has to at least wonder what LeBron could do next season with a summer of basically just getting his ankle right and working on his game in the lab. He may not be the LeBron of old, and the debate about what his contract size means to the overall roster quality is a certainly a valid one, but there’s no denying that if LeBron walked away now he’d be walking out while still being capable of playing at a ‘top 20 in the game right now’ level.
3. 6/29/24. The date by which all of our players with player options need to decide whether to pick them up or test free agency. Those players are LeBron James ($51,408,000), D’Angelo Russell ($18,692,307), Christian Wood ($3,036,040), Cam Reddish ($2,463,946), and Jaxson Hayes (also $2,463,946) along with deciding whether or not to sign Max Christie ($2,321,816) and Skylar Mayes ($2,244,249) to a Qualifying Offer. That is a $78,064,239.00 question mark that is wholly out of the hands of the front office and if they choose to sign both Mayes and Christie to their QO’s we’ll have $82,630,304 in player options (if the Lakers offer the QO both players can either walk away and test restricted free agency as the Lakers have matching rights for both). Feels highly likely that Cam and Christian pick their respective options up. They played pretty inconsistently, were injured a lot, and weren’t highly sought after last season. Especially Wood, who comes with a unique set of luggage that I’m not sure this quiet season put behind him. Hayes is an interesting question as he showed a ton of improvement over the course of the season and could probably find a raise on the open market since he’s making bottom barrel money. I can see a lot of teams offering him a chunk of their MLE (no Bi-Annual until next summer) or possibly even their full MLE if they really believe he has room for growth. Those are the small fish, the two big ones are of course DLo and LBJ. It’s hard to say what LeBron will do but my bet is he opts in without an extension and just does 1 year deals after this. He will not take less and I don’t think he cares about any of the questions surrounding anything he does as he knows there are fewer and fewer seasons of them coming. Russell is a true quandary to me. Played about to his earning level this season, in my opinion. You can take snap shots of the season where he played a lot worse and a lot better and therein lies the rub. Inconsistency is the bane of playoff success, however, so it’s hard to see playoff contenders lining up with a bigger offer, at best maybe a similar offer but with more years. If Russell walks it won’t be easy to replace him, we won’t have free cap space to make a splashy free agency signing and so would require a trade, or sign and trade, to make it happen. Probably can’t work a sign and trade, honestly, as it would hard cap us at $172 million (estimated, hard number to come) and if everyone picks up their options it puts us at $178 million. That’s with Prince, Dinwiddie, Mayes and Christie walking. In short, in order to make a splash it will be via trade which means 2-3 players gotta go.
4. Injuries. Yeah, they were a real thing this season as we all heard. A lot. And often. Still, the core of Russell, Reaves, James and Davis played no fewer than 71 games each. Hachimura played 68. So, if the logic is that Vanderbilt and Vincent are somehow such integral pieces that we would have beaten Denver or vaulted towards the top portion of the western conference (+9-10 games), I have to disagree. I’m a huge Vanderbilt fan and Vincent looks like he’s not as bad as Kendrick Nunn but they are not +9/10 game players or series altering against Denver. That is an excuse, not a reason. Fans can use excuses and it’s totally fine. Coaches, management and players cannot. At my job if I get sick the work does not go away. It’s waiting for me when I get back. So if Coach Ham wants to use injuries as an excuse as to why the season went south on the team I expect he’ll be looking for a new job soon.
5. Speaking of Coach Ham. I still got 50/50 odds he’s back to start the 2024-25 campaign. Maybe with new defensive assistant coach Frank Vogel or offensive coordinator Adrian Griffin or some such but I doubt he gets fired. There are baked in excuses already parroted by everyone in the organization. If Denver repeats there will be solace taken in losing to the champs, again. Most of all, for all the “money is no object to THIS team” being paraded around the internet since we got shown the playoff door, true Laker fans know that is utter BS. Money is definitely a consideration which is why we cheap out on training staff. Toss in the fact that, other than Mike Budenholzer, there are no established coaches out there who’ve shown to be better than Darvin Ham. Mike has won a chip, at least, so I guess there’s that. Still, LeBron will not likely want another 1st year “what in tarnation should I do now?!” head coach to carry along with his body and the team. So, yeah it’s possible Coach Ham gets shown the door but it’s unlikely his replacement is all that much better.

Here’s a list of the free agents this summer. Click here.

It’s not all that great and the ones we’d want are probably out of our price range of what we can offer. Enjoy the summer everyone!

The Alamo, that house in Young Guns, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, and the Lakers’ locker room. What do all these things have in common? A group of people with their backs up against the wall with nothing left for it but to come out guns-a-blazing and see if they can shoot their way out of their worries.

1. Keep forcing action in the paint. The three ball is important but the Lakers are utterly dominating in the paint and that needs to be the theme for the rest of whatever playoff life we have left in us. We can’t let Denver outscore us in the paint or in transition and the second-chance points need to at least be kind of close.
2. Attack their best players on offense. Can’t line change like in hockey so, when they’re on the court, attack Jokic and Murray as a first, second and third option. We got Jokic in foul trouble which did absolutely nothing to stifle his legendary excellence on offense but did mean he played with less, shall we say enthusiasm, on defense which made it easier on our guards and best players to score at the rim and in the paint.
3. Make Murray move. Make him fight through screens. Do everything but sweep the leg (sensei?) because if his hamstring is giving him trouble that’s a weakness we absolutely need to exploit just like Denver did to us last season with LeBron and his foot. Lateral movement is not a hamstring’s friend and neither is contact. Show Murray both sides of that coin.
4. 48 hard. I said it at the beginning and between every single game, this is not a team you can play 44-46 good minutes of basketball, it’s a full 48 of excellent effort or go home. It really is that simple. Whomever is on the court, whatever your role is, play hard and with force. Do not let the Nuggets dictate pace or physicality or you are toast.
5. There’s only one way to stop the Nuggets fans from chanting and we kind of frittered away what may have been our best shot of that in game 2. Win on their floor. Now we gotta do it twice and, no matter what articles are written or what media head says otherwise, all of the pressure is still on us. This isn’t a series until we win at Denver and, since we no-showed game 3, we need to do it twice in a row. Daunting? Yes, absolutely. Impossible? …No? I don’t think so…but nigh impossible. It will require the utmost of focus, execution, and not whining about the officiating. Just go out and play. Hard.

Bonus point: I’m not sure I’d throw Vando into this fire. Dude needed a few weeks to get back to the player we remembered from last season and this really isn’t the time. I’d say 100% no way except for we don’t really get that much out of the bench right now so I suppose he couldn’t hurt. Still, it’s a lot to ask a guy who hasn’t played in 2 months to come into a tense playoff atmosphere and bring his A game.

And so it shall be. No bracket wackiness, no losing to win, just steel on steel and may the best team win. This was my personal preference not only because there are no guarantees but because why wait? We won’t have home court unless the Bulls go all the way and we meet in the NBA Finals, the earlier round gets the most rest between games and we can get to Denver a couple days early so the team can acclimate (I believe they leave today for the Saturday game). Injuries to Butler and Caruso during their respective playin games show that nothing planned is set in stone. So why wait? Bring on the pain.

1. Live with Jokic’s greatness. Nobody will stop him, nobody will contain, he will put up great numbers so you have to focus on making it as difficult as possible. AD hasn’t been great against him, Rui can (in theory) hold his own in terms of playing face up D but that leaves us vulnerable to back cuts an quick hitting actions. My potential solution? Have LeBron guard Jokic. LeBron won’t get moved around, has the smarts and hops to affect his jumpers, and it allows Rui to focus on either MPJ or Gordon and AD to focus on being elite at defending the rim. This will give up a lot of mid-range shots and that is by design because you want to get them off the three point line and you don’t want them slicing for easy lay ups. Last season LeBron’s foot didn’t make this a viable strategy so maybe, with slightly better health, he can be the Jokic Affector we need (nobody stopping the dude, don’t use the term, it’s like Ruben Patterson calling himself a Kobe-Stopper which was #$%&ing laughable).
2. Neutralize Aaron Gordon. He was a surprise in last season’s playoffs and kept doing the exact same damage against us all season long. the lakers need to respect that he has sacrificed a lot of role to be an elite 4th or 5th option. That may sound like a small thing but I assure you it is not. Gordon has a habit of getting timely offensive rebounds and canning late three pointers, this cannot be allowed to happen. Rui, or whomever ends up on him, needs to respect his shot but keep him off the glass.
3. Make life miserable for Jamal Murray. If we can force Murray into tough shots and make him play defense it will help reduce his impact in the 4th quarter. Murray often lies in the weeds until crunch time, content to let the game play out until it’s time to step up and make some big shots out of set actions. Set an aggressive defensive tone on him early and don’t stop, I would even rather send him to the line than get hot from three. Knock him down, hit him on screens, make him work on defense.
4. Don’t get out-coached. Just…just don’t. Don’t lose faith in DLo, let him play his way out of his contract and let that fall where it may. Don’t get stuck on what worked for maybe a game and a half last season (Rui on Jokic) and expand your mind on what defending a multi-tool center can look like. Use Hayes, who should end up with 4 fouls and maybe a flagrant almost every game (that’s based on what constitutes a flagrant 1 nowadays), and use him more than maybe you think you should. Same goes for Vincent. I like Dinwiddie but if he’s not scoring Vincent is the better option. Take that step, Coach Ham, I think you got it in you, man.
5. The process of beating this team is almost sure to come with trials and pain. So learn the lesson of the last 8 games and execute at the highest level. If we execute well we can hang. I can live with Denver winning off of a H.O.R.S.E. shot or 4. I cannot abide death by 1,000 back door cuts. Clean up the mistakes, don’t get lost in the moment, use that Calm app or whatever LeBron uses to still his thoughts and focus on the game and get this done.

The Lakers improved on last season’s overall regular season record (2022-23 was 43-39, 2023-24 is 47-35 a 4 win improvement which ain’t bad considering everything that happened this season) and it’s a fair argument that, without an incredible series of injuries to all but 3 or 4 major players, it could have been even better. Still, what did that get us? We didn’t get the 7th seed, we got the 8th. The rest of the West got a lot better, or consistent, and it showed in our conference record (27-25, identical to last season when we had a chemistry and talent-fit issues abound along with serious injuries to AD and LBJ). So, all things considered, I have to say this Laker team is better than last season’s and that running it back in the manner that we did was as good of a choice as could have been made. So now, the part that really matters, the playoffs as another regular season bits the dust.

1. The Good. Top of the good list is the overall health of LeBron and AD. While LBJ has been dealing with a balky ankle he still is moving a lot better at this point than he was last season when he had the foot strain injury. As a result LBJ is playing at a higher level than at the same time last season. You can see it on both ends. AD, other than his face being target practice for defender’s hands, has also had a relatively injury free season best reflected by his now career high games played, 76 (previous high was 75 twice as a Hornet/Pelican). These two playing as well and as much as they have allowed us to push through the myriad injuries that plagued pretty much the rest of the roster at some point or another all season long. The All Star of availability though simply must go to Austin “82 Games Played” Reaves. Of all the players coming into camp who had questions about how they would get through the regular season I’m not sure anyone was as scrutinized as Reaves who played for Team USA last summer and looked like he wore down towards the end. Awesome accomplishment in the era of load management from all 3.
2. The Bad. Obviously the injuries. I hate this excuse but this season it just seemed to affect every aspect of the team being able to come together. however i will add that I feel it’s impact was amplified by extremely questionable choices in player rotations and minutes distribution. The biggest issue being the continued under-utilization of Rui Hachimura and the use of Taurean Prince in questionable defensive matchups. I actually am find of TP, I like how he isn’t content to hoist up threes and will attack the rim when the defense gives up the lane. But he cannot guard power forwards or most guards. Will he try? Of course, everyone who is on the floor generally does indeed try. He’s just not very good at it. Rui, however, can defend over his weight class. Pair him with some decent perimeter defenders and AD and you have a blueprint for defensive success. Like Hayes he took the critique the coaches had for him to heart and his increased his focus on rebounding the ball. He’s one of our best players and needs to be on the floor when the game natters unless he’s been shown he can’t hang against a specific matchup.
3. The Ugly. Honestly, nothing ever got too ugly this season. Nothing like the last couple weeks of the Westbrook Experiment. If anything the ugly comes this summer when D’Angelo Russell, and maybe Hayes, opt out and leave us with roster issues and not many means to resolve them. Lakers need to convince to DLo to opt-in and extend him. Might need to do something similar with Hayes, not sure what the money w can offer either is at this time. Both are solid in their specific roles and Hayes still has a lot of upside. These are all questions for the regular season. Honorable “Ugly” mention would also be the month after the playin victory
4. Thoughts on the season. Coach Ham has taken a lot of flak without getting credit for pushing the guys to improve. Injuries affected his plans, he may have been slow to adapt but I think he did (eventually) adapt. Some have called for his firing, I don’t see it happening in 2024. If we turn the year over and 2025 starts rough…maybe? I think there are too many baked in excuses for this season, the guys have responded to his benching’s and earned spots that better suit their salary and role. Winning the playin matters to Jeannie, for her it is not a meaningless accomplishment like it is to most fans and the media. Add-in the improved record over last season’s team and it’s hard to see the FO canning Ham over injuries and a few questionable minute distribution snafus.
5. Thoughts on the playoffs. Personally, I had been asking to face Denver in the first round of the playoffs for a couple months now. While it is possible we move to 8th and could face off against OKC and the winner of Minnesota/Phoenix I prefer facing Denver right off the bat. There’s no getting away from playing on their home court so why not deal with it before playing in 2 or 3 grueling playoff series? I would put LeBron on Jokic. We need AD to be an elite paint protector and that role is compromised when he’s playing Jokic up around the top of the key. I would put Hachimura on Gordon and make him earn those rebounds. We need Rui to play at Gordon’s level to take us to the next level, especially with Vando being out.

Let’s do this!

More than just a single game was at stake last night. The Lakers had a chance to move up in the standings, win the season series (and thus tie-breaker) against the Kings, and continue to show that the inconsistent play that has come to define this season was well and truly behind them. None of that happened as the Lakers quickly surrendered a 19 point lead and never really got close after that due to defensive breakdowns and an overall lack of intensity on that end. They did make a lot of shots but it didn’t really matter because we let the Kings make more. A lot more.

1. It’s always going to come down to defense. Always. We shot over 50% overall, over 40% from three, and we took more than twice the number of free throws as the Kings did. Every starter scored in double-figures and we had 25 assists on 42 makes, better than a 50% ratio for scores off the pass. The offense is not the problem. The defense? Not NBA playoff caliber, not without at least one of Cam or Vando in the current schemes. If we’re counting on 39 year old James to maintain a high degree of effort and energy on that end we are fooling ourselves. AD cannot do everything and when he sits, or got into foul trouble like last night, we sink faster than a mob boss wearing concrete shoes. Guys like DLo, Reaves (who was unable to stay in front of the quicker Fox after holding his own against the slightly slower SGA) and Prince need to be better.
2. Go big. The small ball lineups for the Lakers, as can currently be deployed, simply do not work. We give up too many rebounds, don’t play a smart or good enough brand of defense and the scoring doesn’t offset what we give up. I get it that Taurean Prince is Coach Ham’s long lost step son or whatever but line ups since Hayes found a new level defensively perform better than our small ball lineups that don’t have Cam or Vando. If injuries are going to constantly be used as the most pathetic excuse since Gen. Colin Powell talking roaming RV chemical weapon labs in Iraq as a justification for that invasion than the coach and his staff need to do a better job of believing their eyes, the stat sheet, and W/L record and adjust to the new reality. That reality is a bigger lineup that features Hayes, James and AD. You can play TP at the 2 with Dinwiddie if he’s the second coming or what have you but to continue to bang your head up against a wall that produces ineffective results is asinine and silly.
3. AD struggles against bigs from across the pond. Be it Nurkic, Jokic or Sabonis AD has a lot of issues staying out of foul trouble against players with superior fundamental skills than American bigs. This isn’t so much of an issue now but come playoff time it will be unless we somehow only play the Thunder, Warriors and…well…after that there ain’t no more teams that feature American centers, really. Not sure what it is but AD needs to figure that one out and play better defense without fouling.
4. Points in the paint cannot be lost for us to be able to win. We can’t become a jump shooting team because it allows a team like the Kings to murder us in the paint. The team and the coaches just need to be a lot smarter in this department and not get baited into the open jump shot the defense is obviously happy with you taking. We need to drive, drive, drive the ball to the rim and attack. We were getting to the line but when we settled for bad shots we gave up fastbreak points.
5. Couple that with our offensive rebounding issues (season long) and that’s where we lost the game. Offensive rebounds create some of the easiest shots in the game. We give up a lot of them. Small ball doesn’t work the way we play it. See 5 Things #2.

Big test tonight against the surging Bucks, need to reassert our dominant selves and not let what worked early in the season obfuscate what has been better of late. The defense better show up or I don’t think this one will be very close at all.