Scrubs vs. Starters was a perhaps unexpected plot twist to the preseason. LeBron and Russell rested for the sake of rest and AD missed time due to his balky back. After assuring the world that, were the games to matter, AD would play, coach Ham trotted out a who’s who of bench guys on this iteration of Laker basketball. For the most part they floundered against the superior starting line up that Minnesota deployed but still some players shined and it was good for all of them to get the kind of run they just won’t see in an NBA game.

1. My opinion to start Thomas Bryant remains unchanged. The dude plays hard, has a better skillset than Jones, and just looks hungrier. Touching the next level only to sustain a serious injury looks like it’s lit a fire under TB and he made the most of his extended run last night. While he missed his 2 three point FGAs (a theme shared by basically the whole squad) he was active on defense and aggressive in the paint even when he was going up against Gobert. His aggression and attack-mode earned him multiple trips to the stripe which helped us keep pace early in the game. Jones is probably the better shot blocker in terms of racking up the stat itself but Bryant is his equal on defense because of his superior nimbleness and mobility. I’m sure we’ll get another look at Jones as starter and perhaps he’ll come back with something better. If the choice were up to me and I had to make it today, Bryant would get the nod.
2. Lakers offensive rebounding was great! Unfortunately it was a byproduct of a slew of missed shots in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Threes or twos, didn’t matter, Laker youngins missed a grip of shots of all shapes and sizes. Again, is this a three alarm bell for the season? Not really, but it does spotlight an issue we all had going in to this campaign which is the new Lakers are not known for their scoring penchant.
3. Lonnie Walker IV’s debut. LW4 got some solid minutes in starting hot and cooling off. Hit hist first three and went on to miss the next 6, I believe, and didn’t look to aggressive attacking the basket. Coming back from lower body injuries is always a process though so really it was just nice to see him get up and down.
4. Turnover leads to turnovers. This is basically the second straight season the Lakers have over-hauled the roster. It’s also the third in which key members of a banner winning team were let go without much reason or rhyme. It shows in a stat like turnovers. If it takes a few weeks to months for guys to get truly familiar with one another, and you’re not a consummate pro, the chemistry side of the ball can be a long time coming. The Lakers are averaging a grip of turnovers to start which isn’t great because turnovers were a key part in our general undoing last season. Can’t blame LeBron or Russ, either, they didn’t play. I can handle turnovers in preseason but they need to start coming down into the 110-13ish/game range. Which is a little above average. 12ish is elite and I just don’t expect that from guys who take risky passes in both James and Westbrook.
5. AD’s injury. Has to get mentioned even though coach Ham went out of his way to try and make it a non-issue. He should take a Popovichian route and deflect with one/two word answers. In reality this kind of injury is common but Lakers fans have AD injury PTSD in a big way so any minor injury is certain to be semi-overblown amongst the fan base. Goal is to get everyone through preseason healthy and ready. That ain’t changed.

Hoping to see more starters from here on out. Would like to win at least one game, not because it’ll have any bearing on the standings but because of the spiritual significance. The fans need a W to calm their hyperbole down a bit. Still, just coming out of preseason healthy will be good enough for me. Just would be nice if there was a shred of momentum to the start of the season.

While not the outcome Laker fans are ready for (a win) the team showed a lot more of what it can do last night against a top-rated opponent.  Yes, Phoenix is in a state of semi-upheaval (Sarver Gate, Crowder Gate, Ayton Grumpy) but they still looked solid for the half they played the key players in.  That would be the first half.

1. Lakers go small. The starting lineup of Reaves, Beverley, Westbrook, James and Gabriel was fine. Little small for my tastes but that’s how one rolls when AD has back issues but more on that on down the line. Reaves must have wanted to prove me wrong after the last 5er downplayed his playmaking skills. True Grit (my personal moniker for him) racked up 9 dimes to three turnovers which is what’s called setting the table proper. Reaves didn’t force his offense and was content setting up his guys all night long. Having Beverley play alongside him helps stabilize things. I like how Pat just makes the play in front of him. Open shot, take it. Guy open somewhere and you have a hand in your face, move the ball. Communicate on D, get results. If AD was the 5 in this lineup I could see it being our closing 5. Still prefer a more traditional look with either Jones or Bryant to start but if this is how coach rolls to start the season I won’t be mad.
2. Starters shot the three ball well, bench notsomuch. Except for Nunn the bench struggled with it’s three point scoring all night long. Generally the bench has just struggled to score. Rob filled out the Laker bench this season with rangy guys who can kind of slash to the rim and Ham seems to have not unlocked who should be slashing and who should be shooting. Some of these issues won’t be as magnified when the minute distribution normalizes but the bench is already looming as one of the bigger issues.
3. That LeBron is OK at basketball. One game removed from going O-fer LeBron looked like LeBron. Who knows how he’ll stand up to the 82 game grind but his tune up looks pretty solid. He’s not the two-way force he was in the past but if we can get a defensive lineup around him I like our shot against a lot of teams. Elite teams are going to be a handful…but they are for everyone. That’s why they’re elite.
4. Kendrick Nunn lighting it up. Loved Nunn off the bench in the microwave role. In my opinion, at this early stage, it’s the best use of his skillset and he can be the first option in a lot of the lineups when James or Davis are out. Feels like he can be close to a point-a-minute guy which serves us well off the bench. Bringing Nunn off the bench allows Reaves to be the glue guy (which he got props from The King himself on post game) and possibly start Beverley to help on D. Not sure I want to bail on Jones or Bryant starting yet but…
5. Neither Jones or Bryant is grabbing that torch and running with it. Both players came into camp talking about seizing the moment and such. Still waiting on that one. I’m sure Damien worked on his three point shot over the summer but it’s not falling yet. I really think he’s the better off the bench center of the two mainly because that unit, in theory, will run more of the system and less of the “give the ball to a superstar and clear out” offense. Knowing your number is called on a specific play or what you’re supposed to be doing on a given set could be the key to best utilizing Jones and his athletic skillset. In the end, I’d rather station the kid closer to the hoop for rebounds and put backs, he’s shown to be able to excel in that role, no need to reinvent the wheel if it ain’t rolling smoothly. Bryant can function as a release valve for cut off dribble drives or broken plays. He’s quick enough of foot to get back under the hoop from the corner three spot if it looks like a shot is going up from someone else and his shot is just more polished and reliable.
   

All in all, an improvement. Still would like to see more execution and poise from all of our bench guys, especially guys who are unlikely to make the team. You want a shot somewhere else? No better place to get some shine on your game than here. Go get it and bring it home. Go Lakers.

We should all go back and look at what we posted and wrote about preseason last summer. What many considered to be a non-factor, essentially an obstacle to the regular season and the forthcoming romp through the regular season en route to the playoffs, turned out to be a harbinger of doom. The Lakers loafed through preseason and showed everyone they weren’t done. Loafing, that is. They proceeded to loaf their way through the regular season and right out of the playoff and subsequently playin picture altogether. The casualties of that loafing about were basically relegated to one man: Frank Vogel. The coach has been the biggest change from last year to this. Out is coach Vogel, in is coach Ham. The fringes of the roster changed as well. Other than that, not all that much changed for the Lakers which means the biggest thing that has to change for success to be enabled is the attitude of the players themselves.

1. Respect what preseason is for. A good or bad preseason doesn’t guarantee a good season nor does it doom a team to a bad one. But it does have it’s place in a complete NBA season and it is an important one. It’s where the foundation of what the team can accomplish is laid down. It’s where habits, good and bad are formed. It’s where somebody hoping to make the team can get a shot to show what they can do with an expanded role or next to elite players. It’s where a guy who worked on a deficiency all summer can test it out in a NBA-level environment, not just in the gym. For vets it’s a tune up, especially for a vet like LeBron whom there are no more questions about is he or is he not prepared. He is. I don’t need to see the Lakers win out during preseason or play the Trio big minutes but I do want to see it used properly, unlike last season.
2. Move on from the summer. This one applies to, well, all of us. The team, the fans, and especially the media. Everyone was so invested in what a Russell Westbrook could look like they never imagined, or seemingly planned for, a reality where Westbrook was still a Laker today. He is and likely will be until closer to February and possibly the entire season. Since we have his Bird Rights it shouldn’t be inconceivable he re-ups with us, all things considered. Whatever happens in that scenario it’s well past time we all just moved on. If a trade happens we’ll see who it’s for and recalibrate but I’m not giving anymore “OMG WHAT ABOUT THIS TRADE?!?!” articles or posts the time of day from here on out. Not until January 2023. For all intents and purposes, this is the Laker team and I’m rolling and rooting from them. Like I do.
3. Stay healthy. The absolute #1 goal of any preseason in all sport is for the team to get through it as healthy and intact as possible. This then reapplies to the regular season and once again for the playoffs. Rinse, wash repeat, as they say. For the Lakers this has a double-edge to it, though. We need to see Russ, AD and LeBron get reps with the new guys. They need it, the new guys need it, and it was one of the biggest aspects of last preseason that doomed the regular season so completely. We need to find that balance and get everyone some time on the floor together. Mini camp in San Diego ain’t enough.
4. Buy in to the new coach. Everyone is saying all the right things. It’s what this time of year is for: paying lip service to all the great moves, the new things the coach wants and so on. In fact, we heard the exact same words coming out of people’s mouths this time last season, too. We need more than lip service and glad handing. We need buy in and it needs to show itself on the floor. Saying and doing are vastly different and nothing proved that more than the Lakers 2021-22 NBA regular season. It wasn’t until a few vets got real in post game comments after it was much too late to do anything about it that you heard that if the other team just played harder they would beat the Lakers. Unacceptable and inexcusable. Coach Vogel was a patsy, a fall guy if you will, for an entire organization’s failures from the owner to the last player on the bench. That cannot happen again.
5. Have fun. Given the somber summer we just went through, the drudgery that was last season, and the fact that Father Time is undefeated it would be easy to mope into the season. Don’t fall prey to that trap, this is sport, it’s a game, the players are all pretty good at playing it they just need to make it work as a cohesive unit. Go out there and have fun, smile, nothing erases bad memories like good new ones so let that be the thing that guides you into the regular season from here on out. That’s another one that goes for everyone, fans and team alike. No NBA roster is perfect, stop worrying about making the perfect trade, listen to the vets and coaches and just go hoop man!
   
   We’ll learn a few things about this Laker team tonight and more as preseason moves on. Hoping for a lot of good things tonight but mostly just to see how competitive we can be and for everyone to get through healthy. Go Lakers.

I’m having a really hard job connecting the dots on this roster. Last season was difficult, too, especially every move made after we traded for Russ (which I was originally in favor of). This? This is getting absurd. Like…are we setting LeBron up to win the MVP because he’ll have dragged this atrocious assemblage of NBA talent to a playin slot? I don’t get it; still, in terms of the season opening roster it looks like this is it.

1. The choice not to trade Russell Westbrook for either next summer cap space reasons or future draft pick reasons. I have long been harping on Rob for treating first round draft picks like a dude selling old stereos and tires out the back of his van. Every summer he’s been on the job he’s traded at least one. I get it: it’s unlikely we’ll draft the next Laker superstar with LeBron and AD on the team. However, he has often done this while bidding against nobody else (AD and Schroder trades) or to overpay on bringing in talent (Westbrook trade bringing him here). Rob as an agent had a job to maximize the investment a team would commit to his clients. He doesn’t seem to understand that he needs to have a foot in the future as well as in the now as a GM. Win now doesn’t entail simply bailing on the future. Regardless, like the last time we traded for Russ, it’s the moves made after the fact that are more perplexing than choosing to trade for, or in this case move forward with, the mercurial PG. Like last season’s roster we made early moves for easily attainable players, filled the roster out with more players at mismatched positions, and generally didn’t follow the LeBron Rules while filling out the roster.
2. If keeping Russ on the roster was a possibility why did we move so fast on Lonnie Walker IV? I think of Lonnie Walker as a cheaper, guaranteed for one season instead of possibly two, version of THT. Not known for his defense or shooting, scores by getting to the rim while not really generating foul shots and mostly a project player. This, to me, has Klutch all over it. That’s too bad and basically shits in the face of anyone saying the Lakers are in ‘win now’ mode. If we used the sole spending tool available to us to appease a sports agency…on a player as limited and one-dimensional as Walker is…Rob should be fired. Frankly, Dennis is more worthy of that MLE than LW4. If keeping Russ was always in the mix I really don’t get this one.
3. Overloading the PG position. One has to hope these signings came with at least the acquiescence of Coach Ham. We’re carrying 4 point guards to start the season none of whom are knockdown shooters. In fact all of them are drive and kick PGs by rep. Again, why go so much against the grain with a LeBron led team? Frankly I wish we had given Isiaih Thomas a shot, at least that dude can shoot and us not much worse on D. The sole reason I can see carrying this many guards is to make sure at least two are healthy. Beverly has missed significant time due to injury the past two seasons and Nunn has yet to play a meaningful game in a Laker uni.
4. Going all in on next summer. I can see both wisdom and extreme risk in pursuing this line of strategy. We’re bidding against nobody this summer looking to pull from a limited pool of teams to move Russ to. This isn’t a good negotiating environment and that was before the Gobert trade inflated expectations beyond reality. There are better players than what’s available that could be targeted next summer. Wiggins, D’Angelo (since the Lakers seem big on reunions) and, yes, Kyrie Irving could all be on a list of players one could consider to be better than the current crop available in a trade now. We could also whiff on all of them, we’ll only have $35ish mil in money we can offer next summer, well short of a max salary offer. Does Wiggins want to move on from a roster already built to win now? For less than the max? To still be in LeBron’s sizable shadow for at least one, possibly two, seasons? Is Kyrie worth that much, honestly? The dude wants to play 55/games a season at his whim. D-Russ isn’t really a needle mover. I could see a combo of Turner and Russ but I’d there enough money to get both? Lotta risk on that path but it does keep assets we can use on down the line in-house.”

All in all this has been about as disappointing of a follow up to last season as can be imagined. Far from a master class I feel like Rob has flunked out at every turn. Either you’re all-in on trading Russ or you’re not. Either build around LeBron or accept the ridicule and risk of assembling a junk pile of a team. If this is a plan it’s an awful one, too to bottom, inside and out. I had though a Russ trade would be difficult due to his contract size and the amount of the requisite buyout. I didn’t imagine the Lakers would both double-down on bad fits around Russ and LeBronpr impose artificial barriers to getting deals done. I thought Rob deserved to be fired after assembling last season’s team. If he’s not fired after this I just might take a break from this crappy version of NBA reality TV until substantial change happens. I’ve done it with the Angels team I grew up watching and I have no problem cancelling the outlandish amount of money I pay/month in cable bills to watch a clown team play junk basketball. This has become a joke, at least on paper. It looks more like a silly reality TV show than an NBA team. All we need to do is bring back Nick Young. I’ll tune in…for now, but the franchise is walking a line it never even needed to get close to with bad choice after bad choice.