Aloha

Okay Lakerholics, how many of you want Russ to take the most shots on the team? 9 for 21 with his normal half a dozen missed layups. LeBron wasn’t any better 6 for 18 with 6 turnovers. We can not win when our stars play like that.

And Frank didn’t help. Do we not have any plays? 15 seconds down by one and all we get is a forced 30 ft 3 by Melo. Did Frank not think that the Clips wouldn’t blitz LeBron? It’s the same thing every time. LeBron stands out there and dribbles the clock down and we get a bad shot. Down only one why wasn’t Howard in for a rebound? He dominated the glass all night. Then there was putting Russ on Morris. It was not from a switch, he was ASSIGNED to him and Morris backed him in and shot over him. Why wasn’t LeBron on him?

The only reason we were in the game was because we played good defense and Melo, THT and Dwight had good games.

Are we doomed? Probably.

Aloha

The more i think about our current situation, the more concerned I become. I remember the Cav’s last ditch move to try snd win and appease Lebron. We traded Clarkson and Nance to them. After the season, Lebron said thank you very much and gratefully stepped into the cap space that trade created and signed with the Lakers. He has done it every where he has played. there is absolutely no reason he wont do it again. Considering the Cav’s with their talented group of young players and only 43mil on the books in Lebrons free agent season, I’m sure that hasnt gone untoticed. I’m pretty convinced that Lebron will not be signing an extension with us is this summer.

so that is the primary reason I’m very hesitant to make an all out win now play to keep him. first of all I really don’t see us having enough amo to make any win now trades. it will cost us those 2 first round picks if we want to move off Russ. And it’s not going to bring back a star or enough quality role players to matter. And THT without 1sts attached won’t bring a lot back either.

when you think about it, AD will be 33 when the first comes do and 35 when that second 1st rounder comes do. considering the picks and pick swaps we spent to aquire AD it could make the Lakers irrelevant for a decade if Lebron leaves after spending every asset we have left to try and win now.

Some fans might figure we can just sign another superstar in free agency. Thats one of the reasons we are where we are now. we gave up young talent for scared cap space. How do you like the way PG and Kwai have been playing for us. lol. Truth is Shaq and Lebron are the only 2 superstars we have landed in the last 25 years. Most stars come through trades.

i think we have one chance. And that is to win big with what we have going down the stretch. It would be helpful if shocked the world and won it all. unfortunately I can’t see that happening even if we enter the playoffs with everyone healthy.

What i fear is what will probably happen. Lebron will not sign an extension. We will trade away everything we have left, but it won’t be enough and he will be playing for the Cav’s in 23/24. We will have a huge amount of cap space and perhaps we could sign another star, but even that will be hard to convince a ttar to come with such an dysfunctional front office. The stretch run will determine everything.

Kamenetzky Brothers
@KamBrothers
It was unforced error for Pelinka to present he and LeBron in total alignment after the deadline, but based on the offers reportedly available, not making a move at the deadline was the right call. If LeBron’s mad, then sometimes you just gotta let your stars be mad. AK

Aloha,

Leave it Chris Paul to get injured on a team with a chance for a ring. They say he could be out a couple of months with that fractured thumb. At his age who knows for sure. I guess this another example of why nothing is ever a lock in sports. If we somehow enter the playoffs healthy, who knows what can happen. As the old saying goes, that’s why you play the games.

Aloha,

Eric Pincu’s open up an idea that I hadn’t thought of.

LeBron to the Cav’s for Love, Allen and a 1st and 2nd. Note: I would love to include Sexton but he is a restricted free agent and a sign and trade would hard cap us.

AD to the Raptors for
Gary Trent Jr,
Anunoby, 2 1st round picks. and small filler

Russ and 2 first to the Pacers for, Brogdon and Buddy.

K Love and 2 firsts for Grant (2 firsts was the asking price)

Our line up would look like this
PG Brogdon
SG Trent Jr
Center Jarret Allen
SF Anunoby
PF Grant

Bench Buddy
Nunn
Austin
THT
Stanley

(Would love it if we could keep Malik)

Of course we would need a couple of smart Free agent back ups at PF and sF. Perhaps Melo?

Would this team be a serious contender? Perhaps but a lot of the guys are pretty young an may need another year.

Would this team be better then anything we can assemble keeping AD and LeBron? I believe it would.

Aloha

I don’t think anyone should be surprised by Lebrons recent remarks. He left for Miami when he didn’t think he could win in Cleveland. He went back when they acquired enough assets to win. Left for LA when the Cav’s were in cap hell and now that the Cav’s restocked he’s looking at them and thinking “I can win there”

We are facing a similar situation that the Cav’s faced. We are in cap hell with not a lot of amo left for significant upgrades. Now strange things can happen when it comes to trades. I personally thought that the Trailblazers could have done better than they did. But you can’t count on that. So I’ll leave the trade proposals for Tom and look at what can be done if we can’t find a trade that upgrades the team. I also don’t believe that the buyout market will save the season. There is only a week to go and there have only been a couple of guys bought out. Perhaps a name we can use will pop up but I’m not counting on that.

1 No panic trades please.
Any trades made should be for a true up grade. Not an aging player with his best years behind him.

2. We need to live and die with the kids. Malik, Austin, THT and Stanley play with the energy required to win. They all have shown great upside moments throughout the season. It’s time to give them a lot of run and see if they can find consistency. Over the last couple of games, Austin, THT and Malik were all tutored after making mistakes but they were also the reason we were in those games. Playing them more wont hurt our chances of winning a ring. That’s already unlikely. But they can develop into a quality supporting cast for next year or improve their trade value. Either way, it’s a win.

3. One huge thing in our favor next year is the cap situation around the league. There just will not be a lot of money available for free agents. For instance there are only 7 teams with projected cap space to sign Malik to a full MLE and only a couple of teams that could go over the MLE. And he may not be a good fit for some of them. While unlikely, we still might be able to keep him. That’s why it’s important to start him the rest of the year. If offered the full MLE of 9.5 mil to come off the bench somewhere or the mini MLE of 6.1 mil to start for the Lakers would he take less to stay like Bobby Portis did with the Bucks? We have plenty of cap space in 2023 so it would be something for him to think about.

4. With so little cap space available there will be talent that trickles down to the Vet minimum pay grade. Can we please try and find a couple younger guys that can defend instead of old guys with resumes. Last summer Hartenstein was available for the vet minimum to the surprise of a lot of NBA people. I liked him. But we signed DJ instead and the Clippers signed him and he has been great off their bench. Part of the reason the Clippers are still afloat is because of young guys they got cheap. Damion Jones is a free agent this summer. Let’s get him instead of a random 35 year old. And the first question should be, can they defend. A LeBron centric offense can generate enough points to win with a good defense. It can’t score enough with a bad defense. Hopefully the scouting department have other under achieving young guy like Malik on their radar.

5. Russ need to find his role with the team and star in it. He has been better lately. If he can constantly play this way it will set us up to be much better next year or like the kids increase his trade value.

5. If everything played out perfectly we could have a decent returning core. Imagine that, having player continuity. The silver lining in Nunns injury is he will probably have to opt into his player option this year. Which is a good thing because he is a quality player and we will need quality players. I would also like to see Melo come back for one more year. We could see a returning group like this.

LeBron
AD
Russ
Malik
Austin
THT
Stanley
Nunn
Melo

When is the last time we brought back 9 guys that know how to play together? With good health that team would be a top 6 seed for sure. And depending on development of the kids and a couple of good free agent signings maybe more.

And who knows if it comes together by the playoffs this year, we could even make a little noise. I know the Warriors don’t want to see us. It took bad games from AD and LeBron for them to win. And with our size advantage we are a bad match up for them. Anything is possible until you’re eliminated so who knows? Every team the Suns faced in the playoffs last year had an important player or two missing until the finals. That’s why you play the games.

Aloha,

The words coming from LeBron lately leads me to believe he will be gone after next year. Just a few of what he’s said.

With the All-Star game in Cleveland, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic asked LeBron if a return to the Cavaliers was possible.

“The door’s not closed on that,” James told The Athletic Saturday following the East’s team practice on the campus of Cleveland State. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”

And

My last year will be played with my son,” James said. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”

So why wait? He brought this on himself and now he’s trying to blame others for the utter failure that trading for Russ was. We can be left with nothing or be proactive.

Trade LeBron for Jarret Allen, Love and a 1st round and 2nd round pick. Toronto has been searching for a skilled big. Send AD to them for Achiuwa, Anunoby, Tent jr and 2 1st rounders. Detroit wanted 2 firsts for Grant, send Love and 2 first rounders. Now you have a young talented group and once Russ falls off the books, more cap space and picks. But, that probably won’t happen, he will leave the team in shambles like he normally does.

Would you take a look?

After a two-year ban for violating the NBA/NBPA anti-drug program, guard Tyreke Evans has been reinstated to play in the league.

Evans, 32, is eligible to begin negotiating with teams immediately and can sign a contract as soon as Friday at noon ET, the league announced on Monday.

Evans is considered to be in good physical condition and is expected to start making himself available to work out for teams. He averaged 15.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 594 career games.

He is 6’ 6” and has been a good wing player at both wing positions. If we don’t land one of the name players in the buyout, it be smart to at least have him in for a work out.

Aloha,

Mark Cuban said that his biggest mistake as an owner was tearing apart his championship roster after they won. If only the Lakers had learned from others mistakes. A championship team should look for roster tweaks to improve but the Lakers over two season went above and beyond a tweak here and there. They burnt the roster to the ground. All in the name of maximizing LeBron’s championship window. What the accomplished was the complete opposite.

There is nothing wrong with a big 3, but it’s extremely hard to accomplish as both the Lakers and the Nets discovered. You almost have to have at least drafted on of your big 3. And a team has to have at least a couple of decent role players left after the dust settles. The last and maybe most important element is your big 3 all need to compliment each other like say the Bucks big 3 do.

The justification for adding Russ was the same reason we acquired Dennis. To take the load of of LeBron. I didn’t mind the Dennis acquisition as much because it didn’t cost as much. The reality was that LeBron is going to play like LeBron plays until he hangs ‘‘em up. All the Lakers really needed was a point guard that plays well with LeBron. A decent secondary ball handler that can defend. Alex Curso anyone? Even Dennis was a better fit, at least he defends. It’s a shame Nunn has been hurt because he fit the mold perfectly. He would be slotted into the Avery role which would have been a real upgrade. If one went into a lab to create the worst possible fit as a co star for LeBron, after the smoke from the explosion cleared, Russ would walk into the gym surrounded by 10 mismatched minimum contracts. That isn’t the way to maximize Lebron’s. Window. Can you imagine how dismal the season would have been if we had not hit on Malik and Melo?

Unfortunately we will probably have a repeat next year, considering we are over the cap with just 6 players under contract, 7 if Nunn opts in, which he may have to since he has not played. Now with a reasonable amount of injurie luck we probably can be a decent team, but not a championship team next year.

2023 is our reset year. It is what the Lakers should be focused on. Only AD and THT are under contract and I think it’s very important that we do nothing going forward to mess it up. We will see how badly LeBron wants another ring before he retires. If he wants another max deal, I would cut him loose. The 2023 class has a lot of aging stars that I wouldn’t look seriously at but 2 names that jump out at me are Gary Trent Jr and Jamari Grant. Trent Jr is having a break out year and we all know about Grant. And they both defend their asses off.

We can start preparing for 2023 now by giving a lot of minutes to THT, Austin and Stanley. They all could develop into championship role players. If Nunn does opt in I would be very careful before I traded him and THT. There would need to be obvious upside there to give them up.
Another aging star? No thank you. I’m not sure if there will be a market for Russ this summer either unless he plays like he did against the Warriors the rest of the year. And even that may not be enough. I don’t see a Russ for Wall trade as anything more then trading one bad contract for another.

What we can’t afford to do is make anymore stupid moves in the name of winning now, because with what we have now in the asset department doesn’t add up to enough to help to win another ring, next year, even with good health.

I haven’t completely given up on this year. If we added a useful piece in the buy out market, the kids begin to develop and give us more good games, if AD can bring beast mode back on a nightly basis, we stay healthy and get Nunn back in time for him to develop a rhythm and Russ can play well like the Warriors game, we might make some noise. Yes that’s a lot and probably not enough to win a ring. But it could set us up for a better year next year, especially if some how we can keep Monk. Still 2023 should be the focus moving forward. Don’t let Rob mess it up Jeanie.

Aloha

Watching the game last night I kept thinking one thing. The Warriors do not want to see the Lakers in the playoffs. The Lakers actually match up well with them. With AD and LeBron we can attack their lack of size. LeBron and AD are not going to miss that many easy shots very often. Of course AD would need to bring his aggressive A game to the game but if he did, we would have a real chance. Also the Warriors lack of rim protection allows Russ, Malik and THT to attack the paint. On defense, well there could be high scoring games. But for whatever reason Avery always plays Steph tough. I think that was why he started last night and it paid off with a good performance when he was assigned to Steph. If our young guys continue to grow over the last couple of months we are capable of giving the Warriors all they can handle.

Aloha

How to out out play your opponent and be down by 6, Lakers style.

Miss 6 free throws
Miss 3 layups, 2 by Russ
2 terrible unforced turnovers
3 missed 10 footers by AD
AD runs into a 3 point shooter at the end of the quarter

Aloha,

What has happened to the Lakers? This makes the Jim Buss years look absolutely tranquil. First Magic steps down, ripping the organization at an impromptu resignation news conference. While he didn’t name names, it’s not a stretch to believe that Rob was the target of his wrath. Notice he never mentions Rob in any of his many tweets.

Then Rob says that AD and LeBron were on board with not making a move. Then it’s leaked that they very much were not okay with standing pat. The more I watch Rob, the more I’m convinced that he’s a slime ball. It’s no secret that he’s not well liked by other GM’s around the NBA. It appears he negotiates like agent. That’s good when you are an agent but bad if you are a GM. And you can not under any circumstances lie about your stars.

Then there is Russ, in his interview yesterday he said that his back tightened up because he is not used to sitting. Just lovely.

And finally the rumor that we didn’t make a trade that would have brought in two helpful players because of luxury taxes. Nothing more appealing to a free agent than a cheap organization.

So here is the question. If you are a bought out, do you, Choose the Lakers in 9th place embroiled in all of this controversy swirling around the organization? I have my doubts that top tier candidates will choose the Lakers. And it could very well spill into free agency this summer.

Laker excellence? Hardly. The solution? Jeanie needs to clean house this summer. First step fire Rob. Will she? After all he is a FOB. (Friend of Kobe). Hopefully Magic and Kurt will educate her. Most of his moves since the championship has failed. And then all this added drama. He needs to go. Then they need a new coach. Frank has lost the ear of the team and while it’s not all his fault, this has to be done. And it has to happen this summer. We can’t wait another year. Only AD and THT are under contract in 2023. It’s a chance for the team to build something new but if the organization is still in turmoil in 2023, who will want to come?

There isn’t much that the front office and Frank can do now. I always knew that we didn’t have the assets to land a star. I knew if the season was to be salvaged it was going to be up to the players. And that’s truer now then ever. At this point I’m looking more to the future than this season. And if both can happen, great.

THT, Austin and Stanley all have shown promise but all have been inconsistent. All three should get a lot of minutes. These players develop with be so important, whether as part of next years rotation and as trade pieces.

If Russ want to get paid after next year then he needs to improve his value, because he currently has very little value. And running his mouth won’t help. If need be Frank needs to sit him. And LeBron needs to get in his face and tell him to shut the f**k up.

We are a mess, and what happens over the last 26 games will tell us a lot about whether the Lakers can turn this organization around.

Michael Scotto
@MikeAScotto
Sources: The Lakers, Knicks and Raptors have discussed a 3-team trade.

Lakers get Cam Reddish and Alec Burks.

Knicks get Goran Dragic and draft picks.

Raptors get Talen Horton-Tucker and Nerlens Noel.

Not a major earth shattering deal but This is actually bigger then I could have anticipated. I had posted about the possibility of nabbing Reddish and Burks is a good player. Love to see it happen.

Aloha

Just when you thought the Lakers couldn’t sink any lower. We have this monstrosity. The single most embarrassing loss of the year. The low point of what, the last 20 years? Enough said.