Well that was fun. The short preseason and training camp were a bona fide success with every Laker of note seeing some floor time. With a few days before the start of the regular season and the Lakers not having many questions in terms of how this team defends or where our points come from there were few surprises. Having said that, THT certainly did turn some heads. Now for the real thing.

1. Best thing about preseason and the Lakers going 4-0? Nobody got hurt. Outside your standard NBA bumps and bruises, ankle turns and such the team got to see what everyone could do without seeing any serious injuries. Shout out to Mikal Bridges who looks like he suffered no ill-effects from his fall last night. Nothing dirty about the play but I have a standing rule of wishing good health on professional athletes, regardless of the team, play hard, compete well and stay healthy. No injuries.
2. Anthony Davis looks ready to bring the rain. That third quarter was a thing of beauty and Davis has been leading with his defense as always. I think that, if LeBron ends up missing a dozen or so games this season due to load management, you will see a stronger and more assertive Anthony Davis as result. I think he could make a big push on both the MVP and DPOY goals, as well. While there is no doubt that LeBron James is the engineer that drives the Laker train there is also no doubt that Davis is the locomotive driving it forward on both ends.
3. The Two-Step career of one Kyle Kuzma. I want to preface all this by first saying I thought Kyle had s pretty good preseason showing. His shot has been smooth, he plays under control and he knows his game. The fact that he and the Lakers couldn’t come to terms on an extension isn’t too surprising to me for a few different reasons. Primarily Kuzma and his agent likely feel like he’s buried in the rotation here in LA. Professional athletes don’t train hours and hours a day, practice, workout some more, watch film and then maybe train some more just to be pegged into a hole that the rest of the world sees them in. they are so good at what they do because they bet on themselves and the ones that don’t usually don’t last. Kyle is betting on himself, either during the season by proving he’s worth more than being a 7-10 million dollar player. Or the following offseason where he will be an unrestricted free agent and will test the market in a summer when a lot of teams will have cash to spend. The true question regarding Kyle is: does he finish the season in purple and gold. My sense is a pretty firm ‘yes’. While you don’t want to use him for nothing you would still have the option of signing and trading him in the summer and recouping some loss that way. For the cap-strapped Lakers it also wouldn’t be the worst thing on Earth if we lost him for nothing, as well.
4. The G-Leaguers getting some burn. With the active roster expanding to the full fifteen every night there will be some interest in which G-leaguers, if any, make the cut. I don’t see any of them sticking with the big club except for maybe, maaaaaayyyyyybeeeeee Cacock. We need some size and Kostas is a major product who will benefit more from getting up snd down in the development league. I think we keep Quinn Cook (non-guaranteed deal) and so my guess is the roster will look something like:
   STARTERS: Schroder, KCP, James, AD, Gasol
   BENCH: Caruo, Kuzma, THT, Harrell, Morris, Matthews, Dudley, Cook, McKinnie, Cacock
   That’s a solid 15 there. There will be nights where we call upon the likes of Kuz and Tucker to take on larger roles and show their leadership qualities. That group may not have the decisive position/responsibility assignments traditionally seen in the NBA (no true back up PG, for instance) and we may lack for quality size after Gasol and AD, but there are a lot of guys who can make plays for others and play big.
5. Speaking of which, welcome to the Lakers Alfonzo McKinnie! Got his Laker debut in last night, grabbed a board and got a foul in. Enjoy being a Laker!

All in all, a fairly meaningless preseason. The highlight of course being Talen doing all he could to make a case for himself in terms of having a role and getting some minutes. I’m excited to se what kind of adjustments he can make going forward. Go lakers.

With one odd starting line up and an empty arena the Lakers started off sluggish against the new-look Phoenix Suns. LeBron looked a little rusty, Booker looked like the spectacular scorer he his and in the end…it didn’t matter. We won our 3rd preseason affair 112-107. Phoenix looks like a team ready to move up in the NBA hierarchy and one of the big non-Laker questions if the season is will they bump Portland (and stiff arm Golden State) and ascend into the playoffs?

1. THT making it happen. Professional sport has plot lines and one of those that always has a place in every season in every type of team sport is ‘will the kid stick?’ Well…this kid is gonna stick. THT has done about as much as possible with his opportunity to shine in the NBA preseason. On a team like the Lakers, burdened with expectation and with eyes on another banner, that’s no small thing. We don’t need to get into the stats, they’re solid across the board, but what I like best about his success is he isn’t forcing the action to get his buckets or make an impact. It’s all within the organic flow of our team which is not easy to do. He won’t be getting the minutes he gets now, that is one certainty, but if he can impact the game at a similar level he will be another 2nd round gem unearthed by the Laker scouting dept.
2. Kyle Kuzma’s improved game. Kyle looks smooth. It’s a known fact that he generally plays better as a starter but that there is no clear path to a starter role on this team. He showed us that game again last night. Started in place of KCP and responded with one of his better games of the preseason. It’s a flummoxing situation for all involved because you want to see Kyle do well but he does struggle more when he comes off the bench. Maybe, and we say this every year since his rookie campaign, but maybe this will be the season where he really puts it together on both ends and can be another consistent scorer off the bench. His shot looks improved so maybe the short layoff will be better for him in general.
3. Trezz’s energy. Gotta love it. I also love his midrange game, he’s got a nice 10-15 foot jumper he can splash. But his calling card is his energy which is infectious and helps give the bench an early identity to build around. Between Harrell, Kuzma and THT the Lakers have three really solid bench contributors to go along with Caruso and…maybe Quinn Cook right now as the lead players off the bench. The bench will be called upon, often, in the early part of the season as I expect Vogel to impose an unstated, non-rigorous minutes limit on AD and LBJ. There will be stretches where they both sit and it’ll be guys like Trezz and and Co. that need to come in and make instant impacts. He may be new, may not have won a ring but you can see how Montrezl is already making his presence felt on our bench squad.
4. Only Laker we haven’t seen is Alfonzo McKinnie at this point. Every one else that was a camp invite has been cut, the 2 Way dudes have all gotten some burn…not Alfonzo. Can’t see anything on any injury reports or any news about him going through COVID protocols so not sure what the situation is there but I had hoped to see him get some run in. One more preseason game left so we shall see.
5. Oh yeah, AD and LBJ had their preseason debuts. They looked great! neither played in the second half. While we still haven’t seen the entire team play in a preseason (KCP and Caruso out with hip issues, not major) the things that were hallmarks of the championship team remain early on in preseason: team play, solid defense and we have 2 of the best players on Earth at positions that really compliment one another well. So as we make our way to the final preseason affair on Friday the same things that were true and defined the team last season remain true today: we’re going as far as Davis and James take us.

One more of these to go, then the W’s and L’s start to matter. I expect we’ll see as close to the full roster play something akin to regular season rotations on Friday if everyone is healthy enough to go. Next Tuesday we kick it off snd get this party started, Can’t wait. Go Lakers.

That was a fun game to watch. When you’re on fire from distance like we were, playing the kind of defense that leads to a bunch of easy baskets and making plays for the team the game is fun to play and watch. That was indeed the case last night.

1. Rinse, wash, repeat. Beating the Clippers back to back, even in preseason, is always a treat. Y’know…I used to feel bad for the Clipps. Not so much these days what with all the hype they keep pumping up about this and that. In all honesty the only good things that’ve come out of Clipper Land these days is us snagging Trezz and the news that Steve Ballmer won’t be knocking down the Fabulous Forum in order to build his mega sports complex in Inglewood. Nowadays I take a slightly sadistic, special pleasure when we hand that squad an L. Even in preseason.
2. Winning with defense. The best part, in my opinion, about the preseason thus far has been how locked in our defense is. Sure there have been some miscommunications between the new guys (expected) and some break downs here and there (always will be, except of course the Game 6 defensive masterpiece) but for preseason the Lakers already look pretty solid on defense. Whether it’s crashing the glass or ducking into passing lanes for steals or THT mugging Kawhi Leonard the Laker D is on point.
3. Three point barrage. It won’t happen every night but man were the Lakers on fire from three last night! The team shot a whopping 72% and everyone who took one made one (except Marc Gasol). Fun stuff!
4. Speaking of the debut of Marc Gasol… Man is it going to be fun watching Marc with the ball in the high post. Sharing the floor with LeBron and Anthony Davis is going to make his passing so incredibly deadly. His ability to drop surgical strike passes from the top of the arc is a lethal weapon that should be classified as such. The only blemish was he missed his sole three point shot. Other than that he looked like a perfect addition to a Laker team that prides itself on defense and a team-first mentality. Welcome (back) to the Lakers Marc Gasol!
5. The best for last. You knew this one was going to be about Mr. Horton-Tucker. Talen was superb last night and if he keeps this up he’s going to make somebody sit. Who that will be is a tough question for coach Vogel to answer (and he said as much in his own post-game session) but it’s an awesome problem to have. Talen hit step backs from the mid-post out to the three point line while shooting 11-17 (4-5 from three, 7-9 from the stripe) bullied Clipper defenders on his way to the rim, grabbed 10 boards to go along with 4 assists and 4 steals. For as much as he had the ball in his hands he only had 2 turnovers which indicates to me he’s playing under control and not just barreling his way all over the court. He picked his spots perfectly last night and the Clippers, who boast some decent wing defenders named Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, had zero answer for him. While this may not happen every night and he certainly won’t play that type of role on this team on a nightly basis…yet…it was a blast to watch Talen deliver his best performance to date in an NBA uniform. Keep up the good work.

We got two more preseason games left against Phoenix and then this thing kicks off next week. So i expect we’ll see the true starting 5 to a limited degree on Tuesday and something approaching a normal rotation in the second game before the games matter. The emergence of THT as a ball distributor who can obviously get his own shot makes the lack of a true back up PG less of an issue. Between Talen, Gasol and Caruso we have the talent on the roster to create offense in the half-court when Schroder or James sits. That was one of my concerns for this team coming in and seeing how well THT has passed and created has been awesome. Kid needs a role. Back up point forward sounds about right to me.

Please check out our friends of the site, Gerald Glassford and Rafael Barlowe who run Lakers Fast Break and NBA Draft Junkies, respectively.

Aaaaaaaaand we’re back! The Lakers title defense kicked off its Foreward part of the season (aka as the NBA preseason this year) as Chapter 1 is yet to come. We didn’t see many of the players who were featured on the team when we won the NBA title a couple days ago or so. We did, however, see many (not all) of the new faces in what was an expectedly ragged affair. Style points weren’t many to come by and there won’t be any major rotation decisions made based off of what we saw. so the news that will likely make the most headlines is: The NBA is back!

1. The Good. Talen Horton-Tucker looked pretty good, he made nice plays both for himself and others. He looked solid on D as evidenced by his three steals. He had really a nifty finish over Zu in the 3rd. Not the most efficient showing, he played a tough game, though. He consistently found a way to slow the game down which is a huge developmental step for any young player. Trezz played as advertised. the dude almost had a double-double by the half and brought regular season energy in a preseason game. I loved his steal and finish on Serge in the first half. There were some nice defensive close outs for a preseason game. Wes Mathews had a super-efficient game. Biggest good? No serious injuries after we saw Wes hit the deck with a slight ankle tweak and Caruso slip and get some treatment on his hip.
2. The Bad. Schroder didn’t ‘wow’ and none of our ‘sure hope they improve as shooters!’ guys shot great. Fans of Kostas Antetokounmpo saw some nice flashes but will surely have wanted to see a little more, he did play well on defense. Kuzma had a mostly ‘Kyle…’ showing until the game was on the line when he found an open Quinn Cook for a three and canned a clutch triple of his own. You know, the regular preseason kind of thing.
3. The Ugly. The turnovers, so very many turnovers. With so little time between October 11th and the season kicking off there isn’t the luxury of a lengthy ‘getting acquainted on the court’ phase of the season and it showed tonight. Also the overall shooting was terrible, especially from three point land. Personally not sweating the Bad or the Ugly, for many reasons. Mainly: it’s preseason.
4. One odd thing: no rookies on the Lakers this year. There will be no hazing, no backpacks, everyone will carry their own luggage (or in the personal manner preferred) and the whole squad will have some amount of NBA service time logged, barring a trade.
5. From paper to reality. Since we didn’t see 4/5ths of the Lakers starting line up tonight (I’m assuming Schroder starts) it’s fair to say we still ain’t seen nothing yet. We got a win, nobody got hurt and some of the guys we’re hoping develop into something useful did pretty well. We’ll see if Sunday sees more players of impact see the floor for some time together.

For more exciting NBA news and Los Angeles Lakers info, introspection and insight check out NBA Draft Junkies and Lakers Fast Break!

Well…that was quick. Feels like no time has passed since we watched the Lakers partying in confetti. In the time that has passed we’ve seen some Lakers leave, some new Lakers come in and the most important Laker sign for the foreseeable future. Let’s dig in.

1. The LeBron James extension. This is key because it gives the front office a stable foundation from which to build a roster up from. If you can pencil in 20-25 ppg, 9ish boards and 10 dimes from your franchise cornerstone it makes filling out the rest a lot easier. Keeping James in the fold until the mid 2020’s means he will have a chance to catch the NBA All Time Best Scorer Ever one unheralded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That is no small thing. So, while some Laker fans may yet still scoff that LeBron is as much a mercenary player as a Laker I couldn’t disagree more. The modern NBA is not a place where the players you draft set down roots and plant themselves in one spot for their career, or at least most of it. The greats play for multiple franchises now, it’s just how it is. With the pursuit of the trophy taking on a nigh magically maniacal aura and the way that teams often bump up against the cap and ar unable to compliment their superstars with the appropriate kind of talent that enables them to win it all it’s just as easy to ask out and move on as it is to forge ahead and slog away. So mark me down as super-stoked that LeBron has chosen to throw his lot in with us for the next few seasons.
2. Signing Schroder. At this point this feels like old news but there’s a lot of smarts in this. Dennis is not only a player with upside yet remaining and a work ethic as strong as any star in the league but he plays with the right kind of fire. He has that dog, as they say. Some may expect him to take a secondary role but I do not, at least not in the regular season. I expect LeBron to ease his way into this one, more than any other season we’ve seen from him. Not because he’s injured but to prevent that from happening. Schroder is the key to that. he can get his own, create for others and will not shy from taking big shots. If Dennis signs long term after this season I also believe we’ll see a slow passing of the major ball handling duties torch passed from LBJ to DS, as well. James doesn’t need the ball to romp and destroy. Schroder unlocks those powers.
3. Bringing key members of the band back. With the return of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Markieff Morris, and LakerTom key player of all time Jared Dudley the Lakers brought back 2 key on-court contributors and maybe the most influential non-player since M.L. Carr and his epic towel, ‘Kieff and KCP were key contributors to the Lakers winning the Larry O last season and while there were serviceable replacement players on the market there is something to be said for chemistry and trust bred in the test of strength and will it takes to win it all. While some may not look at bringing Duds back as all that monumental I think it does have significance. The reason being is you need guys like that. you need the guy toiling in silence and darkness with no reporters asking him questions, no limelight, no drama. Just the work of being a professional basketball player. There is honor and a kind of quiet glory in that. Dudley may not play 300 minutes next season (364 total minutes played last season, plus 9 minutes in the playoffs) but his behind the scenes contributions will carry a weight equal to his on-court numbers. Pope is a dynamic enough two-way player who will forever be good for one bone-headed play/game and in Morris we bring back one of the cogs to our skilled ball line up.
4. The new faces ain’t too shabby to look at. The Lakers did more than add Schroder, the big surprise to many was bringing in Montrezl Harrell since his fit on our team seems, to some, questionable. I look at this as another way to spell LeBron James early on that we may seem some spot starts from Trezz. But my excitement that we picked up Marc Gasol whose Laker journey has now come full circle can only be described as through the roof. Bringing in March opens up the floor for any kind of line up we want to deploy. Traditional big and PF combo? No problem, Gasol fits seamlessly alongside James and AD. Want to go small? No problem, even if AD is out for some reason or in foul trouble Marx stretches the floor and opens up the lane. Want to to hard and crunchy? Trezz and Gasol can level a team just by setting hard screens. Gasol might just be the key off-season stroke by Rob Pelinka and we end up with a Super Gasolio Brothers kind of vibe if Pau gets that offer sheet from us.
5. The ones that stayed. I have long been a proponent of not shipping out of all our cost efficient talent. In the modern NBA you need some draft picks and some cost-controlled impact to have a chance. Can’t always rely on the vet minimum to fill out the roster in a respectable fashion. In holding onto Caruso and THT while also getting Kostas on a two-way deal (no cap hit!) was key. It gives us little pieces to include in a future trade or to place around the cornerstones. The little guys who contribute are often unheralded but, in my book, never forgotten.

This roster is better, on paper, than the roster we opened camp with last season. The test will of course be how it plays out on the hardwood and what test that will be. Possibly an entire season with no fans, rough. Maybe another Bubble playoffs. All sorts of COVID related issues. But the talent and chemistry is there for the Lakers to repeat so let’s start off camp in a weekish with that goal firmly in mind.

Go Lakers

When the word “flurry” doesn’t suffice because the NBA trade season was more like a Nor’Easter of player movement that scarcely was able to keep pace with the number of big time extensions doled out you just gird your loins and ride it out. When the dust settled this morning, for the most part, I figured now would be a good time to write about these new-look Los Angeles Lakers. I have to preface this by saying I liked all of the moves we made, they all made sense in terms of our team identity and skill set. In short…

1. Dennis Schroder: This guy is a perfect fit for everything we’re doing these days. Solid scorer, solid passer, tough as nails and getting better. The best thing, in my opinion, about this signing is that it adds another dynamic isolation scorer/play-maker to the roster that over relies on the brilliance of LeBron James with the ball in his hands and the scoring prowess of Anthony Davis. Getting Schroder gives us a legitimate 3rd option when both aforementioned players are on the court and a solid 1st option should they both be on the bench. His defense is solid, maybe not spectacular but on our squad you just need to out the effort in and the results will bear out. In a familiar theme this off-season he also brings a ton of grit to the team, as well. While he’s not the passer that Rajon Rondo is he’s a capable PG who hits the open man and creates offense simply off his penetration into the lane.
2. Montrezl Harrell. Grit defines this guy. Trez is all energy all the time, while he had a disappointing Bubble showing (likely why he was available at the price he was) there’s a reason why he’s the reigning 6th Man of the Year. He plays hard, does all the little things and can play the 4 or 5. While not an outside threat Trez is a great finisher and will be a solid pick and roll partner for Dennis Schroder and James. Personally I’m pretty excited about this pickup, I love gritty hard-nosed players and Harrell checks all those boxes.
3. Wes Matthews. A great pickup to address scoring off the bench. With Kyle Kuzma’s shot firmly lodged in the “streaky” category (along with Alex Caruso) the Lakers did themselves right picking up a shooter of Matthews’ caliber. While not one of the legendary marksmen in the modern NBA, Wes is a capable scorer and solid defender. That fits perfectly into what our bench needs and we have an even better backup for LeBron than we did previously. Wes is still coming back from a significant Achilles, as evidenced in his below-average season last year, and could be a huge addition if he can get back any of his pre-injury mojo.
4. This one just dropped, Markieff Morris. ‘Kieff earned a spot in the heart of Laker fans with his solid showing against Houston and contributions throughout the Bubble playoffs. Knows his role, plays his role and does well in his role and that’s no small thing in the modern NBA. With Morris back in the fold (and I realize he’s not necessarily a ‘new-look Laker’ but this being his first full season qualifies, in my humble opinion) the Lakers bring back one of the key cogs in our small ball lineup. Great pickup by Rob and Co.
5. Marc Gasol. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Gasol brothers. Love their skill set, love their approach to the game and they’re both winners at every level of the game. While we may not be getting the Memphis ‘grit and grind’ version of the younger Gasol we’re certainly getting a rugged tough interior defender who can handle the likes of Jokic and other rugged, skilled big men in the game. His ability to can threes makes him the perfect fit alongside AD and LBJ and with guys like Harrell and Morris on the squad we won’t need huge minutes from Marc. Save him for the playoffs along with James and any other vet that needs to be eased into the season.

The return of KCP certainly gets honorable mention but it’s not like Laker fans are unfamiliar with what he brings to the table. Alfonzo McKinnie brings in another certifiable defense oriented small forward and for all this we still have Kuzma, Caruso and THT on the roster meaning we’ve not utterly dismissed the value of home grown talent. All in all, for the amount of time everyone had to prepare and the small window within which all of these deals happened I think the Laker front office deserves an A-/B+ for these moves. A better grade may be retroactively rewarded based on the outcome.

Go Lakers.

Well here we go! With free agency set to start 2 Friday’s from now (11/20/2020) the Draft scheduled for a week from tomorrow and the season starting in just 42 days (training camp starts in exactly 3 weeks!!!) that begs a lot of questions about the impending NBA season which is 42 short, power-packed, action and fun-filled days away!

1. How will the schedule look? We’ve heard many theories, tons of theories. This has led to a multitude of theories about those theories and, let me tell you, that’s a few too many theories for this feller. I want to see dates, places, match ups and so on. 72 games is a lot to pack in and, with travel, there will be likely games missed. How will that effect the playoffs? Likely, but again nothing is certain until it’s announced, it will also feature some sort of play-in tournament to decide the final playoff spot or two. Will there be back-to-back-to-backs in some spots? With a lot of the award shows that shut down downtown LA from time to time likely being put on ice how will that effect the road trips? What is the plan for making up missed games? Feels like there won’t be an All Star Game because that’s as much about drawing several thousand people to the host city as much as anything else and you know that ain’t happening next year. Hard to debate the vagaries of the schedule without something to actually debate.
2. What are the health concerns for the players? Frankly, there are many. Whether it be from players not competing since March and risking injury ramping up their activity level or the quick turnaround for the teams that went deep into the Bubble Playoffs and even the increased likelihood players will show positive results with the travel that will be a part of next season there are lot more ways injury can effect the team. This is one of many reason why I am in favor of holding onto some, if not all, of our younger (cheaper) talent. While the age difference between young NBA players and old is not vast it is there and younger people recover faster when they get it. This may not matter and it may, depends on what the policy is for positive test cases is. if it’s a hard two weeks after no symptoms every day you show symptoms really matters. Add a day or three and you could see some players miss months recovering from a positive COVID case. The asymptomatic’s are a different thing altogether. Furthermore, if a player has already caught COVID and recovered they are in possession of at least some protective antibodies (some double infections have indeed occurred both abroad and here at home so it does not mean one has achieved something akin to full immunity. you gain resistance). Does that make a player slightly more desirable should one come to know they already had COVID and now have those antibodies? Isn’t that some odd form of injury prevention? As you can see, I have a lot of questions and very few answers in regards to all of this.
3. How will the NBA Load Management guidelines change, if at all? The hottest topic in the 2019 portion of last season was Load Management. Kawhi’s load management had garnered the Clippers a decent fine, the topic of what load management was and why team’s are essentially encouraged to fabricate reasons why a player would not be suiting up that evening and so forth. It’ll be interesting to see if the wording of load management is re-worked in advance of the season because it’s almost certainly to be used more in the forthcoming season than ever. LeBron has all but signaled he’ll be “taking it easy” in the early half of the season, but does that mean sitting out or cherry-picking. Will the NBA be apt to fine players for sitting because, if one turns on the TV expecting to see player A and that player is load managing won’t they simply turn the channel and watch something else? With TV ratings and what advertising money teams can squeeze out of that? That should be an interesting thing to see unfold, especially early in the season as guys encounter conditioning issues or short rest from the playoff issues.
4. Not gonna lie, I find the idea of opening up the luxury boxes a little odd. I mean…I get it. It could be some source of revenue in a league looking in more nooks and crannies for extra dollars than Donald Trump is looking for missing ballots but it still feels odd. The word is actually elite, it feels like another example of how those with the means can avoid the uncomfortable. Having said that I hope that the NBA and the teams do the right thing and both charge an arm and a leg and providing the most needy of us with an experience they could never replicate: watching an NBA game from some of the priciest seats in the house. I figure it’s all but guaranteed the NBA and NBPA won’t come to blows over this issue, after all it benefits both parties as it would drive the BRI up a bit but it could also be used to do something more.
5. The final point is wholly narcissistic: how many of my ‘What will we see from the Bubble aka Permanent Changes” Fiver I did a couple weeks ago will make it into the new forma? Let’s recap!
   1-Extra Space along the base and sideline? Don’t see why not, with no fans and likely a scant number of media and photographers in the building it makes sense to keep the aspect of the Bubble that added the most excitement around. Feels like a hard yes.
   2-Microphone on the lead official? Again, why not? Makes sense, adds real-time excitement and info over controversial calls and what better way to here that a player has been tossed for the thing we’ve seen replayed 64 times than from the head ref? Feels like a hard yes.
   3-Bigger bench area? I sure hope so, this may depend on every arena and how they’re constructed to accommodate sporting events. The older arenas may have fixed seating down to the court area with no ability to disconnect and roll them away for storage but most modern arenas can pull seating out and modulate the space. May come down to cost, might be something that comes and goes based on venue. Feels like a maybe.
   4-Virtual fans. Harder to say for similar reasons I hesitate to full out predict the bigger bench area for the players. Each venue will have different ways to run cable, provide feed and they won’t want to obfuscate the luxury boxes, should those be available for fans to observe from. Having said that it won’t surprise me if the virtual fan is, in many ways, here to stay. Since the pandemic is likely to occupy the majority of our 2021 life, and possibly beyond, it means that we may be over another year of not full arenas and there are ways to incorporate the virtual fan app into a televised broadcast to make fans feel more connected. Feels like a soft yes.
   5BLM on the court and social messaging-This will be interesting. I can see some teams wholly embracing the BLM messaging and jersey changes. The jersey changes feel like they could be on the outs. Jersey sales will be a large economic factor and unless the NBA wants to make a show of selling the jerseys and raking in profits while the actual BLM organization has to field GoFundMe campaigns and the like to raise money has some pretty terrible optics. However, the recent news of the large number of secret conservative donations sporting franchise owners (including the majority of NBA owners) make means there may be some resistance to that, in general. I’ll say this, the players will probably push for something, feels like the writing on the court may simply be incorporated into the larger NBA message (NBA Cares, their partnership with Kaiser Permanete and the health awareness causes and so on). Maybe it won’t be on the court, maybe it’ll be more subtle (like the advertising patches…waitaminute-
6. We interrupt this Five Things to make it a 6 Stuff I Find Interesting because I just had a brain storm while typing. Jersey patches may increase and that should not surprise anyone at all. The NBA has been moving in this direction for awhile, the WNBA is there. Only MLB and the NFL don’t have overt jersey patches besides the Nike swoosh. That will change at some point. The money could be another way to offset the BRI losses of fans in the stands. Ok back to my summation of #5.
   
   5…summated-Point being on the social messaging that the players will not likely want to concede ground won on this topic. It matters to them personally, to the communities they represent and a large swath of the fan base. While it may turn some people off it’s highly likely those are casual fans who are just looking to gripe about something in an illogical manner. The kneeling will stay, BLM will either be on the court or somewhere visible. The jerseys…not so sure about that one. Overall feels like a solid yes.
   
   Anyhow, it’s both exciting and challenging for the NBA to turn this around that quickly. It may mean that, because so much work is being crammed into such a tight window and with players potentially coming up injured early before camp even starts while working out that we see a depressed preseason trade market but a bat guano madness trade deadline trade season. Hard to say. I will add that the short camp and quick turnaround may put the onus on chemistry more than usual. With 10 fewer games it makes winning (and actually playing) the games on the slate more important. Which feeds into the load management point, and so on. One thing is sure, this all starts next week with the NBA Draft so buckle up, Lakerholics, this is sure to be a wild and interesting voyage!

As we begin to enter the ‘wheeling and dealing’ phase of the shortest NBA off season ever I thought it would be fun to juxtapose the trade scenarios with some reasons why I think we should hold onto some of our key contributors not named Anthony Davis or LeBron James. While some of these players may end up elsewhere, in this opionators opinion that we should do what we can to retain their services.

1. Rajon Rondo. The obvious first choice. He may only play for 1/3 to 1/2 the regular season, may take careless risks in the regular season and his superpower is laregly rendered moot during the regular season. While I believe the moniker “Playoff Rondo” to be both overly simplistic and factually incorrect (I prefer Hyper-Prepared Rondo, lol) there is no denying his impact in a 7 game series. Furthermore, he’s the perfect backup point guard to pair with LeBron and Davis. He doesn’t need to score. Ever. His impact is not in the amount of points he scores but rather the points he creates for others. The buckets he scores are the cherry on top. His ability to be a coach on the floor, bringing the guys together during foul shots, and allowing LeBron to take on a off-ball roll are all instrumental to the Lakers success.
2. Alex Caruso coming in hot right behind Rondo. There’s a Wall Street Journal story about the pairing of Caruso and James. Together they have +18.6 points per 100 possessions. The other HOF and All Star teammates LeBron has played with that reached that number? Z-E-R-O. Not Kyrie, not Wade, not Davis, Bosh or Love. Nobody. The tandem of James and Caruso was more devastating than the hyped pick and roll we hoped to see from LBJ and AD. You don’t trade that weapon away for a player of unknown impact or for an expensive HOF/All Star that needs the ball. Certainly not for Jrue Holiday. No offense to any other player in the NBA but it takes a certain amount of selflessness, smarts and physical gifts that few possess to succeed at that level playing with a star like LeBron. Putting selflessness first was not by chance, it defines Caruso as a player. he doesn’t need the ball to score, hits enough threes to keep defenders kind of honest and is an excellent off-ball cutter. James and Rondo both rely on those kinds of players to rack up assists and open the floor for drives. The funny thing is it sort of took Avery Bradley opting out of the Bubble for Caruso to truly shine which begs the following question: if Bradley opts in and with Caruso under contract, where does that leave us with Rajon Rondo and KCP in free agency?
3. Kyle Kuzma. I know, this one looks a little odd to me, too. But here’s my line of thinking. Yes, the Lakers are a mega-earning powerhouse sports franchise. Yes the Lakers are known to value superstar wattage to solid production from role players. Yes Kyle Kuzma had an up and down season and regressed (again) from the three point line. But he was our 3rd leading scorer in the regular season and only .7 points behind KCP in points per game in the playoffs. His defense, play making and ability to do things other than score to help the team all took steps forward, especially his defense. On top of all that Kyle is cheap this year ($3.5 mil for 2020-21) and cheap in terms of QO/cap hit in the year of Giannis ($5.2 mil, but with an $8.9 mil cap hit until signed). This is significant for a variety of reasons. Cheap, impactful talent is 24 karat solid gold for an NBA GM. You want to avoid triggering the hard cap at any and all costs and Kuzma keeps improving every year in multiple ways. If he can regain anything close to the touch he showed as a rookie we will have a player that can start or have tremendous impact coming off the bench. The Caruso Rule applies here, as well: unless you’re bringing back the perfect fit of a player for both AD and LeBron, and there aren’t many, stick with what worked and let it improve even more. A 5-10% overall improvement in Kuzma’s game puts him in similar categories to a lot of the players we theorize trading Kyle for but at a fraction of the cost.
4. Dwight Howard. This one depends a lot on what late-career Dwight is looking for. Money? Guaranteed starting spot? Larger role on offense? Rings? if it’s the last one my hope is he can find a way to return to LA on a cheap deal, we won’t be able to offer him a deal that represents his true value to the team. While he may not be the Dwight of old (and has been taking some heat from his family on social media for his Dad skills) he was invaluable in some of our playoff series wins. The pressure he puts on the defensive rebounding of our opposition is elite, his rolls to the rim are effective and he still has great defensive timing when he challenges shots. While I wouldn’t consider moving players in order to free ups space to offer him more money I would consider offering him a deal early in free agency that was a raise over his pittance he played for last season.
5. This one will be controversial but I’ve done some crunching and it’s hard to dispute his impact: keeping Danny Green even if it means we don’t sign KCP.. I know, I know…he’s over-priced based on his box score stats. But if one is being honest and looks at the deeper numbers Green’s impact on the Lakers on both ends of the floor was essential to the success of the team. Green is tossed into trades because of the need to fill salary while chasing other team’s superstars and the gaps are filled in, often with some of the players mentioned above. But, for one second, let’s say we don’t shoot for an unnecessary home run, after all we did just win the NBA championship and almost as impressive earn the best record in the West. Green’s shooting opens the floor, even when he misses, because he has shown a knack for hitting big shots, going on streaks from three and making the defense pay for forgetting him. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, a key reason I would choose keeping Green rather than potentially breaking the bank to keep UFA Caldwell-Pope and he’s solid on defense. The one thing that makes me lean more to the KCP side of things, should it come down to trading Green to clear space to resign Pope and not get hard capped.

There are some controversial notions above, I admit, furthermore the Lakers may feel entirely differently than I do. I don’t work for the Los Angeles Lakers under Rob Pelinka so I can’t say with any certainty whatsoever how they evaluate their current players or juxtapose the roster with what they think they can trade for. For my part,as an observer and opionator, I can’t think of a player that we can trade for that will bring back the impact of Caruso for the cost of the player. They just don’t exist. Another superstar will see limited touches and role if they’re a guard or ball handling forward, that’s LeBron’s role for at least another year, possibly many more. But there’s also a line of thinking that says we should start building for the future. For my part I firmly believe that both Kuzma and Caruso can be a part of that. Of course if once-in-a-lifetime trade presents itself and one or both are the coveted assets then you make that deal. That’s not Chris Paul, at least not to me. Jrue Holidy is the better fit and we should not include Caruso in that deal, we have other assets I’m far more willing to part with.

The last point I’ll make on all of this is why I didn’t include KCP or Markieff Morris as a top-five keeper. While I valued their contributions and both played very well in the playoffs I think we have the players to absorb their loss. I’m assuming Avery Bradley opts in. Frankly, that makes Pope an un-affordable extravagance. He played well in the playoffs, and was instrumental in the NBA Finals but he and Bradley’s skill sets overlap and, frankly, Avery is the better player. He’s as good of a defender, if not better. He’s just as good a scorer and less apt to make silly plays (I have a standing rule that KCP is good for one bone-headed pass/game and he generally meets that standard, that’s not a knock just a reality the player has created via their play). So, if Bradley opts in we’re good at the off-guard spot. The reasoning for Markieff is twofold: I’d rather keep Dwight and stay away from Hard Cap land and I’d think THT can bring the same impact. That last point is highly debatable but he was solid in his playoff showing, great in the G-League and with the success of so many of our developmental league players I’d just as soon bet on that than potentially having to over-pay or use an Exception to keep Morris.

If you’re interested in a quick tutorial on what triggers the Hard Cap and what that means this is helpful: https://basketball.realgm.com/article/241253/CBA-Encyclopedia-Hard-Cap

If you’re curious about our current cap situation, check this site out: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/cap/

The Utah Jazz have been sold by the Millers. While they will almost certainly stay in Utah for the foreseeable future this begs the question raised by LakerTom somewhere down yonder when he stated “…nobody will be selling their franchises.” It’s not that I disagree, I’m just not going to outright dismiss the possibility that some small market, perennially failing and especially family-owned teams might get an offer that is hard to leave on the table. In the opinionating on sports and their inner workings game we like to play it’s always easier to play with and make decisions with someone else’s money and future.

It’s why, while I admit the idea seems both farfetched and something which both sides would be loathe to see happen, I haven’t entirely ruled out the potential of a lockout or strike. While I do believe that both sides will move mountains to make it happen there is one mountain that could be too big to move: the mountain of money the owners stand to lose without paying fans next season. While there is more money to be lost should there be no season at all and the NBA and NBPA have proven to be the most congenial and collaborative of owner/union groups there’s enough that could be disagreed upon that makes the pragmatist in me raise one, one mind you, eyebrow.

OK. Here we are. Again. The dreaded NBA Dog Days where all and every shred of potential information will be over-analyzed, over-debated and over-discussed. I will say these are my happiest dog days in nigh a decade. Since we won it all and such. Before we forget about everything we saw and heard in the Bubble I wanted to revisit a few of the things I really liked about Bubble play.

1. The extra space on the base and side lines. I can imagine the owners not liking the idea of moving back the court side ($$$) seats, the camera guys being annoyed at having to get great action shots from an extra 15 feet away and folks up on the stanchion seats not getting to watch the under the basket battles rage. Frankly, it should be worth it. The first thing and best thing I feel about how the play in the Bubble was different was all the extra out of bounds space. It allowed for more athletic drives, more aggressive pass interception attempts and generally added to the excitement. While I don’t expect the space to remain it tops my list of favorite things about the in-game experience.
2. Microphone on the lead official. Honestly, why hasn’t this already been done? We already mic up random players from each team, drop a mic into the coaches huddle, interview the coaches from the sideline and we added a pregame interview with X factor players that also was some danged boring TV. But you know what I really appreciated (when they remembered to turn them on) was hearing the rules explained from the official in real time. That was cool and I wish they would do it over the in-arena sound system like in the NFL, as well.
3. Bigger bench area. It was cool for the players not playing to add to the fun with cheering, jeering and cavorting when they weren’t on the floor. Lighting the entry tunnels in team colors was really cool, too. While some of these things (especially the added room for the bench players) will likely disappear as the threat of COVID does (should that ever happen…) I sure hope they allow for the excitement the bench players being able to stand and cheer their teammates on introduced during the bubble.
4. Virtual fans. You might be asking your self…how? How would this be accomplished in arenas where there are live fans and furthermore…why? I’ll admit that this one is a bit shaky. Assuming that, even in a world and an NBA season that exists within COVID-19 and that the NBA is somehow going to go ahead and bring some fans into arenas somewhere and there will be humans paying to watch other humans play basketball. Watching the World Series makes me think they should have just kept the cardboard cut outs…it’s like you turned on a minor league game that got moved to a too big stadium. If you want to have folks fill out the arena in a socially distant way…indoors…you’re going to have a very small amount of people. So why not have the virtual fans in places where people wouldn’t want, or be able to, be seated? Keep the intensity at a higher level. Keep fans into the game, and besides it’s cool to see who on planet Earth is tuning in.
5. Saved the best for last: keep the BLACK LIVES MATTER on the court, every court in every arena. Keep the jersey messaging, keep all of the social justice line items, keep it all. The fans you lose aren’t worth the tears or energy it would take to make them understand why this is important. When they come around, if they come around, we can welcome them back with open arms. But the fact that a multi-billion corporate entity in America is lending it’s voice to a movement for social justice is a big deal. This is not a gimmick, this is a movement and every voice behind it makes it louder. The NBA is an amplifier, it is not the message. Keep the messaging.

Those are the things I would love to see carry over, in some fashion or other. The only one of those I truly expect to make it is the social justice messaging, I think the players will demand it to the degree that they can. The space…probably won’t make the cut, those are high dollar inches and feet. Refs might stay mic’d up, not likely to be like the NFL. Anyhow, here’s hoping that some of the cooler things from the Bubble stick around.