Aloha,
If you are why Rob hasn’t got anything else done the Hornets traded Richards to the Suns for 3 2nd round picks and Josh Okogie. Okogie is a good young defensive minded wing who has also raised his 3 point percentage to 38%

The Lakers had interest in Richards but in the NBA brave new world, they couldn’t compete with an offer like that.

Aloha,

It’s trade season again but not much is going on. There have been only two meaningful trades and the Laker had one of them with the trade for DFS.

No one believes we are done yet. A quality backup center is the top priority. I can single out at least 3 games we lost because we didn’t have one. Our other need is at least a decent backup PG with some offense. Our 2nd unit doesn’t have a lot of scorers.

Unfortunately things have changed. The new CBA has made it extremely difficult to get trades done. And the play in game has cut down the number of sellers.

And this is what makes it weird. The play off race is so tightly packed that that there isn’t the urgency yet to make a deal. For instance the Spurs are in the 12th seed but only 3 games out of the 6th.

And the bottom feeders are tightly packed as well. Only a couple of games separate the worst teams from the very bottom. So the sellers are not motivated at this time either. I believe they are all holding out for overpays.

I doubt the Lakers will overpay. Primarily because there isn’t a Trade that would catapult them into true championship contender status with OKC or the Cavs.

The Lakers have said they will only trade a first for a player that will play the next 4 or 5 years with the Lakers. That eliminates a substantial amount of the rumored players. Kessler fits that timeline but he may not even be on the market. And if he is, don’t expect him to be moved until the last possible minute. Danny will hold out as long as possible. Although I don’t think he will get multiple firsts because Kessler isn’t that good.

So I guess we wait. That maybe best anyway. Maybe other players become available. Or perhaps one of the sellers becomes realistic like the Nets did and let a guy go at a fair price. As much as our backup center situation is killing me It will also be good to see how we look with a healthy squad.

I will be surprised if we see anything happen for another couple of weeks but would be delighted if something did.

Aloha,

This was a good win. It really feels like this team is really coming together. And it was a team effort. We shot the ball well. 43% from 3 and 49% overall. And 5 guys were in double figures.

the Hawks are not a good defensive team. But it was our defense that impressed me the most. The Hawks are a very good offensive team. They are 5th in the league in scoring at 117 a game and we held them to 102. We also out rebounded them by 17 boards. If We didn’t have turnover issues again we would have won by more than 17.

We are now 4th in the west and climbing. The DFS trade was a great move that will pay off more as he becomes familiar with our system.

I believe we have a real shot at the 4th seed.

Aloha,

While we lost last night, I was encouraged by a few things.

First our starters beat their starters and that is one of the best starting units in the game. And we got enough good looks but be had some bad luck. Rui had two 3’s go in and out and Max and Dalton had two as well. Lebron and Cam each had one. Like they say, close but no cigar.

The problem was their bench beat ours by 20. This is our biggest problem that needs to be addressed. Struss beat our bench by himself. Once Shake and DFS our integrated into the offense that will help. And Wood can score and he will be back soon. Since there isn’t many microwave scorers out there, I think it’s kind of up to Dalton. Hopefully he can regain his confidence. He has demonstrated that he can score in a variety of ways but we really needs his 3 ball to start falling.

It’s looking more and more like we have our point guard and 3rd star in Austin. He’s over 18 ppg now and his assist numbers are rising. With DLO gone, that should continue. He was great again as a scorer and play maker, against one of the best defenses in the league. He’s fearless and successfully challenged their bigs inside and won. One columnist called him Luka light. I agree with that. Neither are particularly quick but they each have the handles and IQ to manipulate defenses.

I look at the rumored available players for trades and I don’t see any that will elevate us enough to be worth a first round pick. Even Kessler wouldn’t be a great fit next to AD. While Danny would trade his children for the right price, it might take more to get Kessler then one his kids.

I think adding DFS and Shake allows us to wait and see who might become available. At some point we will need to address the back up big spot and perhaps look for another 2nd unit scorer. If we did a 2 for one trade for the backup center we could look at Lonnie Walker who is drawing a lot of interest from multiple teams as he plays overseas.

It’s not often that I’m encouraged by a loss but I was this time. I even thought the defense was pretty good. It’s just that they made a lot of tough contested shots, so you have to tip your hat. And with Vando back very soon he could have helped with our Struss problem. The Cavs went 18 and one in December and have lost only 4 times. To trade runs with them like we did. Gives some hope that as we become more familiar with JJ’s system and maybe more growth from the young guys, we may end up in the top 3 to 6. And if you get there, who knows what could happen. I’m not saying we are a true contender yet but I think we’re closer then we have been this season.

Aloha,

Well it appears that Rob isn’t just sitting around after all. DLO goes to the Nets, along with Lewis for Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. This is a good deal for the Lakers giving them a quality 3 and D wing. I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t bring back Sharpe as a back up center, because they could have fit his salary in instead of Milton. They will be around 2 and 1/2 mil under the 2nd apron that could be helpful. We also gave up 3 2nds but no firsts. So we still have those to work with.

Rob kind of reminds me of Mitch in one respect. He never shows his hand. Everyone thought we were trading for Buddy but he trades for Russ. The Rui, DLo and Vando trades came out of the blue. And now this one. We still need a back up center. I’m hoping that will happen soon.

Aloha,

28 points off of turnovers. Ball game.

Aloha,

Now that was fun. Our defense continues to roll along and what’s the most impressive, it’s been shutting down very good offenses. We are now the 5th seed in a very tight western conference. If there is going to be a trade or two, the way we are playing Rob can wait for a better deal. Just a few thoughts.

For me this might have been LeBrons best game, primarily because he was pretty engaged on defense, with the exception of a couple of uncontested Murray 3’s. On a night where the Kings were determined to not let AD score, he repeatedly attacked the holes that was created all the way to the rim.

Rui hasn’t shot the ball well the last 2 games but he was still huge in both games. There is a good reason why despite Laker Tom’s best efforts, he is not on the trade block unless it’s for a superstar. He has become a very good defender and can guard 3 through 5 like last night. Neither Murray or Derozan could do much against him and he held his own against Sobonis when we went small. And he has been great on the boards as well. That game winning tap out is something he has been doing all year. What made that even more special was he moved Sabonis under the basket to get to the ball and Sabonis is a strong dude. But so is Rui.

Over the last 10 games or so, DLO seems to have rediscovered his offense. He had another fine game and he competed on defense as well. He is always mentioned in pretty much every trade but they better have a plan for the second unit because he is most of our offense on that unit.

Gabe has been looking like the guy we were hoping to get when we signed him last year. He plays tough defense and his shot has been falling. The last 2 games he went 6 for 8 from 3 and one miss was a half court heave at the buzzer.

Man it’s a shame that Cam can’t find his offense. Because he has been playing some great defense. And he came up with 2 big offensive boards.

AD had a big game on defense and rebounding. I really wasn’t that concerned about his scoring because they sent two or three guys at him all night, which allowed Lebron to score at the rim pretty much whenever he wanted to.

Austin is definitely this teams glue guy as he does a little bit of everything including completing on defense. It’s no wonder we struggled during those 5 games he missed. He’s perfect as our 3rd option.

One sour note for me was turnovers. On paper 13 turnovers isn’t bad, but as usual it was the kind of turnovers that is maddening. I counted at least 6 of what I call WTF turnovers. Sloppy unbelievable turnovers that lead to easy baskets. A lazy out of bounds pass by AD. A couple of passes by LeBron that I couldn’t figure out who he was passing to. A fumbled hand off, a 5 second count. He goes on and on. The Kings had 12 points off of turnovers in the first half alone. Stupid turnovers kept the game close and continues to plague the team.

If we can pick up a couple of wins at least he end of the month it could set us up for a great January where we are home for almost all of the month. Go Lakers.

Aloha,

It’s funny, I never feel like we are doomed when LeBron has to miss a game. Over the last 2 years we have won more than we have lost. It’s when AD had to miss a game that I panic.

While AD was AD, it really was DLO and Rui driving the win. This was reflected in plus minus AD was +4 but DLO was +29 and Rui was +31.
Yesterday was the first game this year that DLO has dominated. It happened a lot more last year. It was good to see and I hope this wakes him up.

As for Rui, this an example of what he can do when the team involves him in the offense. From an efficiency standpoint point it was one of his worst recently he was only 9 for 13. He missed 4 shots! And only 3 for 5 from 3! I’ll give him a break on one of the 3’s the ball was dumped off on him and he had to throw it towards rim to beat the shot clock.

I kid of course. I have been calling for Rui to get more touches because he is our most efficient scorer. And JJ said something in post that was surprising. He said that this was the first game since pre season that he drew up an ATO for Rui. And it was not just offense. Rui had 4 steals, a block and Grant didn’t score a point against him.

While I would like to see Rui more involved, we have enough weapons to get multiple players more involved. Sometimes I believe we force feed AD and LeBron too much. I would love to see a more balanced attack. We have a lot of days off coming up, maybe JJ can work on that.

Aloha,

well that was ugly. This was a schedule loss. JJ should have rested Lebron, he has looked tired over the last several games. while he said he felt good at the beginning of the year, i belive he is feeling the effects of the Olympic summer just like Austin felt the effects of his team USA summer. The game might have even been closer without Lebron.

There are other issues that need to be addressed. We started the year with AD as the hub and that worked extremly well. We have went away from that over the last few games. part of that maybe AD’s foot issue but teams have made adjustments as well. Dalton went through a hot streak but teams have adjusted to him as well.

The mark of a great coach is the ability to adjust to the opponents adjustments. We will see if JJ can do that. The defense has been better. even last night, we gave up 109 points but the TWolves went on a 13 to 2 run against mostly G league guys in the last 4 minutes.

We continue to run Dalton off of screens but the defenses are ready for it and he never seems to get free. His open looks have come from inside out basketball and that is Laker basketball. We have to get back to basics and attack the paint. I would have liked to see Rui involved more as well. last night he was 4 for 5. Rui started out the season scoring well. Then played sick and missed some games. Then he hurt the ankle and missed some more. Since coming back its like he is the forgotten man on offense and its up to JJ to get him involved.

This stretch of games would not be nearly as bad if we had not given away 3 games we should have won. So I’m not going to panic yet. We need to tread water until next month when most of our games are at home. Hopefully AR will be available for the Heat.

We have shown we can win at times without Lebron, so I would look at games that we can rest him.

But now its time for JJ to earn his money and adjust to the opponents adjustments.

Aloha,

17 turnovers 5 by Lebron giving him 25 over the last 5 games

OKC 15 offensive boards.

Ball Game

Side note while I like Daltons shooting we will not win many games when Dalton gets 17 shots and AD gets 9. One shot in the 4th for AD will not cut it.

Utah is next. Might be a good game to rest LeBron because he has had a sting of subpar games.

Aloha,

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I’m thankful that the Lakers ended that losing streak and actually played some decent defense. Just a few random thoughts.

The Spurs are no longer pushovers. They are a solid team that was on a 4 game winning streak including wins over the Warriors and OKC. What I liked about this win was the total team effort on both sides of the ball. Defensively it was a great team effort and on offense there were 7 guys in double figures.

Moving Dalton into the starting lineup was the right move. While we give up a little defensively, one good defender does not make a great defense, so you might as well be the best offense you can be and Dalton does that. Even if he’s not scoring, you can’t help off of him. The Spurs did a few times and he burned them. And what’s cool about this line up is teams can’t help off of Rui either because he’s shooting 50% from 3.

Our half court defense isn’t to bad, it’s transition that kills us. And it’s turnovers that feeds that. Not just turnovers, but stupid turnovers. If there were a stat for stupid live ball turnovers the Lakers would lead the league. We had 13 turnovers which on the surface isn’t terrible but they led to over 20 points, most of those in transition.

Speaking of stupid turnovers, LeBron may lead the league in that category. He had 5 more turnovers last night. Several were the head scratching variety. He now has 20 turnovers over his last 4 games. This 4 game stretch is one of LeBrons worse stretches as a Laker. Yes he had a triple double and yes he was big in the 4th but poor shot selection and the turnovers were one of the reasons he had to be big in the 4th quarter. Hopefully this is just a slump because he needs to be better than he’s been for us to have a chance.

We had a DLO sighting last night. He has struggled offensively this year but we were reminded of how dynamic he can be on offense. We probably would have a couple more wins if he had been better. Hopefully he turned a corner and we will see more of this of this going forward.

Max was great last night. He teases us with this kind of play and when he does it makes that contract look good. He always plays hard and he has ability on both sides of the ball. What he’s lacked is consistency. He came into the season with high expectations because of that contract. Hopefully he is becoming more comfortable now. If we can see this version of Max night in and night out he will be huge for our bench.

OKC is next. It will be a tough game. While OKC has a sizable advantage in the back court, we have a size advantage. Outside of Hartenstein they are a pretty small team. They will need to collapse inside which should open things up for Dalton and Rui for 3’s.

So happy Thanksgiving. Go Lakers!

Aloha,

Talk about a crazy year. When the schedule came out, it looked like the Lakers were going to be severely challenged. But we find ourselves the 3rd seed and 1. 1/2 games out of first with the 5th best record in the NBA.

I think JJ has proven that he is up for the job. Moving DLO to the 2nd unit has made a world of difference. It has balanced the team, giving us DLO and Dalton to go with LeBron. Now the bench is scoring.

There are defensive concerns but our offense has become one of the best in the league. Hopefully the return of Vando will help in that area. Adding Cam to the starters has helped our defense and it’s been pretty good during our 5 game winning streak.

JJ wants a 9 man rotation but I really think we should go 10 deep. I don’t think it’s wise to play LeBron and AD extended minutes every night.

Austin is shooting 36% from 3 but I think he will be better. If he can get it up to 38% or better he can be that 3rd star. He is flourishing in this offense and averaging 18 a game with nearly6 assists and 5 boards. The best of his career.

In Dalton we finally have that motion 3 point shooter. We have other guys that are good 3 point shooters but Dalton can shoot on the move which we didn’t have before,

Now if we can just get all our guys healthy at once perhaps we can figure out how good this team can be. Starting at the end of this month, through most of December most of our games are on the road. I think we only have 4 or 5 at home. That will be a real test. I hope we pass. If we get through that stretch on a positive note, this team might be contenders after all.