Aloha,

I have been looking at the state of the Lakers, searching for something that could turn the season around. The fan side of my brain was thinking, if we trade Russ and our 1st for Wall, and maybe find an upgrade by trading THT without a 1st attached and then luck out in the buyout market, then maybe in the next 25 games we can build chemistry and do some damage in the playoffs. The pragmatic side of my brain says, get real fan boy, you’ve watched the competition, that ain’t happening.

My pragmatic brain has won the argument. I think we have the same chance to win a ring standing pat as we would with the realistic trades we could make. Slim to none.

So I would make sure that no stupid panic moves are made and hope for the best this summer.

Right now Westbrooks trade value couldn’t be lower. Does it make sense to use that first just to move him? That Rocket deal will probably be available in the summer. If we bite the bullet and stay with Russ, he could possibly play better and increase his trade value. If he does increase his value, maybe he opts out this summer because of the humiliation of this season and signs a longer deal with another team. Unlikely but Who knows? But replacing him now with Wall really isn’t going to do a thing to win this year.

Same goes for THT. His value is low at the moment, although he has looked good at times. He’s just 21. Could he become more consistent over the last part of the season? It’s possible. Again, his value probably can only go up. By the way, doing a deal for say, Terrance Ross isn’t going to win a ring. Let THT play out the season and see if his value can increase.

Our situation could even be worse next year. It will be difficult keeping Monk who has emerged as our 3rd best player and at Melo’s age, who knows what he will do. So we will be in the same boat next year, needing to find good players. Nunn is a good player. He has a player option and because of his injury, he may have to opt in for another year. Trade him now and that’s one more good player we will have to find.

Unless there is a player that would be valuable next year as well, I don’t think I would even use any of our 2nd rounders just for a run now.

Like I said, I don’t see any of the options available to us making any real impact on this season. Every move we make in the next 24 hours should be made with an eye on this summer.

Aloha,

I kind of feel sorry for Frank. He was given this roster and asked to turn it into a championship contender. The real culprits of course were Rob, LeBron and AD. It would have been a hard task to accomplish without all the injuries. With the injuries, a nearly impossible task.

Of course as we all know the Westbrook acquisition has been a disaster. First it was folly to believe that LeBron would hand the wheel over to another driver and let them run the show. LeBron will always be LeBron and will continue to do LeBron stuff until he hangs it up. What the team needed was a secondary ball handler who can score and can play well off the ball. DeRozen anyone? LeBron and AD talked with him as well. But to be fair, he was with the Spurs and we all know how much Pop loves the Lakers, so perhaps that prevented a deal from getting done.

In every post game interview we hear LeBron and others say they want Russ just to be Russ. I feel a little sorry for Russ as well because he can’t be Himself with LeBron, and this roster construction. I knew it probably wouldn’t work. No, I’m not some brilliant basketball mind. The entire basketball universe knew it wouldn’t work, except for LeBron, AD and Robb.

After the dust settled, what we had was a mishmash line up, with poorly fitting parts. Perhaps the front office had to much confidence in Frank and believed he could fashion a top ten defense out of this collection of misfit toys. Unfortunately Frank is not a miracle worker and with all of the injuries could only do so much.

So what is the solution? Trading Russ would be an answer but perhaps the only team would be Rockets. And it would cost us a 1st round pick. I’m not sure Rob will do that. Trading for Wall maybe a solid move but Wall hasn’t played and it would be a huge gamble. Besides Wall is a guard that also needs the ball in his hands to excel. Could he adjust better than Russ has? That’s the big question.

Short of a trade the ball is in Franks court now. I do believe he has managements approval to do whatever is needed to win. So Frank can begin by reducing Westbrooks minutes. He can do that in a number of ways, depending on match ups. Start him but pull him earlier for a rest, and put him back later. And don’t eat him finish unless his confidence is high and he is on a roll. The key here will be Nunn. Once he is back, he is the perfect secondary ball handler to pair with LeBron, he can both run the offense and play off the ball. He can score and most importantly he is a very good defender. Giving Nunn some of Russ’s minutes could help turn this season around. And if Nunn plays at a reasonable level, I would start him over Russ. Let Russ run the 2nd unit. Russ might actually excel against other 2nd units. I know it’s a bad look having a 44 mil player coming off the bench, but if it can lead to some wins, and playoff success, you have to do it. It’s all up to Frank.

Aloha,

The Cav’s just traded for LeVert from the Pacer. They sent a 1st in this years draft, 2 2nd’s and Rubio’s contract. Like I have said before, there are not many GM’s with the kind of job security it take to wait 5 years for a draft pick to hit.

Aloha,

Ah, there is nothing more entertaining then watching your favorite team come out with zero energy. Display no transition defense, spot the opponent 21 points in the first half, make a huge comeback, take control of the game, only to miss 6 out 7 free throws, have the game go into over time before finally pulling it out. Whew…must see TV, anyway a few thoughts.

The Knicks are not a good team. If we come out this way against the Bucks we will lose by 25.

Barrett had 36, a career night. I wonder if records are kept for players that have career nights against the Lakers. Seems like there is a new guy every game that has a career game against the Lakers.

I bet the Knicks are on the phone right now trying to work a trade for Russ to come and energize their team. 😂
Russ is not a good player right now. Russ deserved to be benched. When Nunn comes back would Frank dare to bring Russ off the bench? At least cut his minutes down until he works through whatever it is he is going through.

Now the good. We may have a big 3. LeBron, AD and Monk were sensational. It was a great move starting Monk at the 2. This is 3rd star level play. We may miss his offense with the 2nd unit but it’s with proper rotations he can get some time with the 2nd unit.

Currently AD is the best center in the NBA. 28 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals. If he can sustain this level of play we always have a chance.

LeBron isn’t human. Coming in after missing 5 games and dominates. He continues to amaze.

THT has taken a lot of heat lately. While he didn’t contribute much on offense, he played great defense and had a team high +22 to show for it. He was especially effective in OT.

Trevor, another player who had been maligned also stepped up nicely with some solid D. This is the 2nd game in a row that he has looked decent on D. Hopefully he is finally finding his legs and getting back into game shape.

The Lakers are now only 3 games out of the 6th spot, and 4 1/2 out of the 5th spot. There is still time to make a move out of the play in round. But if we don’t come out with the proper energy, it will be hard to achieve. Hopefully playing the Bucks will light a fire under them and we come out swinging.

Aloha,

Just now recovering from the Clippers loss. That was a hard one to take because it was a winnable game without LeBron. And we don’t have many more of those coming up.

The good news was we stormed back from 17 down. The bad news was we played inconsistent basketball yet again for 3 quarters and stunk up the place in the 3rd…again.

The good news was we held the Clippers to 17 in the 4th. The bad news was 7 of those points came in the last 50 seconds.

The good news was that Russ led that 4th quarter push. The bad news was he helped build that deficit through the first 3 quarters with only a couple of points and assists and his usual suspect defense.

The good news is we got a very good performance from our bench. We finally saw Trevor who was a plus 14 play the kind of defense we had hoped to see. The bad news is Melo went down with an injury, removing our best 2nd unit scoring option.

The good news is we shot 25 free throws to the Clippers 11. The bad news is we missed 8 and lost by 1.

The good news is AD played like the best center in the league again. The bad news is we waisted the effort with the same old mistakes that we repeat over and over again.

My glass half full spilled over a couple of weeks ago and it’s now bone dry. I don’t think we can make a big time trade and honestly I’m not sure if any of the big names on the trade market would translate into a championship. As for the buyout market, there hasn’t been a whisper of who might be available. There are just so many teams still in the hunt for a play in slot, that there may not be many vets that are bought out.

So can anything be done? I guess you can never say never. Of course nothing can happen without health. But beyond that health a few things need to happen.

I think it’s important to land one more player. I would look at Kenrich Williams. A vastly underpaid 3 and D guy that could bolster our SF rotation. And he’s under contract for another year that would be golden for a cap strapped team like the Lakers. The Pacers Holiday would be also a good addition. Another 3 and d guy that can defend both wing positions. Unfortunately he’s not vaccinated and I doubt anyone trades for him unless he does. Both guys can be had for draft picks and filler.

I look at Nunn as a major add to the rotation. He is ramping up again and with the all star break coming up I think he could be good to go down the stretch. I believe he was the guy that was going to be starting in Bradley’s spot before the injury. He will be an upgrade over Avery in every conceivable area. His return will be better than just about any realistic trade we can make.

THT and Austin both need to find more consistency. Both are young and will continue to make mistakes but it would be helpful if they can cut down on them. Both need more consistent offense. On defense it would be great if THT could become more like Austin in team defense schemes and it would be great if Austin to get a little bit more like THT on ball because quick guards blow by him a lot.

Trevor and Stanley. Trevor is simple. Show us that defense you showed against the Clippers. As for Stanley, raise your 3 point % to at least 35/36%. He maybe our best point of attack defender but he’s been wasted a bit at the 4 and 5 where he is a bit undersized. LeBron coming back allows Stanley to take on big wing and that’s what we need the most.

Can we find a small role for Wayne? We still need 3 point shooting and it’s asking a lot to sit him for 4 or 5 games then expect him to come in and hit shots. If not, trade him. He’s maybe the only one of our bench sitters that could bring at least a pick back. A lot of teams need shooting.

If we had a few more wins under our belts I would say, hold LeBron out until after the break but we are not in the position to do that. We will probably rest him today but it’s important that he’s back after that. Every single game is precious. As for the all star game, I wish he wouldn’t play but if he does I hope it’s just a token appearance.

The last piece of good news is the all star break will give this team some practice time. This is important considering we haven’t had anytime to do so with all of our players available. We won’t have a lot of games left to find a rhythm as team so the break will be extremely important.

Aloha,

The disaster of this season keeps rolling along when even some wins feel like losses. This is one of those games. Last night the Lakers wasted what was a solid defensive effort with our same old demons. We took a big lead and then rolled over in the 2nd quarter. 16 turnovers led to 24 Blazer points. We turned the blazers over 12 times for one point. Then there was 18 offensive rebounds we gave up. And in the spirit of keeping the game interesting we missed 7 free throws down the stretch that allowed the Blazers heartbeat to stay alive. Another game. Same issues. On a night when offense eluded most of our players it could have been another devastating loss. Against a better team, it would have been.

AD was a monster. 30 points 15 boards and 3 blocks. Even when healthy AD has been an enigma this year. He outplayed Embid and had this kind of game against another solid center. But there have been games where you hardly notice him. He has to be monster AD for the rest of the year for us to even have a chance.

Melo had another solid game. If it wasn’t for his offense it wouldn’t have mattered what AD did. But we don’t get this Melo constantly either. I’ve said before he has been either hot or cold we little in between. We we will need more of these games moving forward.

We have 3 more winnable games without LeBron coming up and 3 tough ones before the all star break. The Clippers and Knicks are the next 2. I’m not sure when LeBron will be back. It follows a pattern of no big deal, then he misses a month. We absolutely have to win those 3 and upset at least one of the Bucks, Warriors, Jazz. The Jazz have been falling so that might be the one. Although we gave the Bucks all they could handle last time without LeBron. I’m hoping the break will allow the team some practice time that they haven’t had. Also Nunn is ramping up his work outs, so it would be great to have him ready for the stretch run. If we can put together a winning streak down the stretch the 5th and 6th seed are not out of reach. But it will never happen with games like last night.

Aloha

In the spirit of Tom’s trade hunting, I’ve come up a plan to land KD! Kidding but looking at team needs I have come up with a possibility. The Cav’s biggest need is shooting at the 2 and perhaps another secondary ball handler as well. We know that they have their sights set on Gordon and LeVert but so do other teams. If they fail to land a big name how about Ellington and THT for Cedi Osman. I would even throw in a 2nd rounder. Ellington gives them some 3 point shooting and THT gives another ball handler with play making ability. Gives us a 6’ 7” small forward who can defend a little and score a little as well. Since the Cav’s went with their jumbo line up, he’s been coming off the bench. He could actually start for the Lakers.

Aloha,

I seriously am not expecting the Lakers to be able to pull off a significant trade this season, primarily because THT is the center piece for any major trade. I personally believe that THT has real potential and he has flashed it from time to time. But his inconsistency is not that appealing right now for sure. But there is a secondary issues that’s not brought up by anyone on the blog. Okay, not brought up by Tom, since no one else thinks we can trade him for a star either 😂 THT has a player option for the 2023 season. Call it the Rich Paul effect. If THT does take a big step forward next year, can a rebuilding team that is several years away from contending keep him? Or would he walk to a win now organization? That is something that GM’s will consider. A 2027 1st rounder and a inconsistent player that can be gone in 2023, along with another player that hasn’t played and can walk this summer isn’t exactly a strong package.

Aloha

The Lakers have shown interest in the Pacers Holiday a 6’ 6” 3 and D guy that play both wing positions. But I came across this.

Holiday is one of the many players the Pacers are believed to be shopping in trade, but his vaccination status could make a team (such as the Los Angeles Lakers) less inclined to make an offer.

One league source on a top-10 team guessed that Holiday might get vaccinated if he had a chance to join a contender. But a source close to Holiday acknowledged that vaccination status could be an impediment.

Would be a good add but not if won’t get vaccinated.

Aloha,

After watching the issues we had with Ish and scary Terry, it was clear to me that LeBron and AD’s injuries were not the only ones that severely impacted this team. Now Austin is a promising young defender but it was painfully apparent that he doesn’t have the quickness to hang with players as quick as Ish. And it was folly believing that THT was going to come in and be a defender as good as Alex or THT. While THT has shown enough flashes of defensive ability, it’s rare for a 21 year old to become a defensive stalwart. That usually takes several years.

It’s easy to see, considering Russ is not much of defender that Nunn would have been playing the Bradley role on this team. Avery has taken a lot of heat from some, but we were lucky he fell into our lap, there was no plan B and without Avery, it could have been worse against some of the quick guards in the NBA. While Malik has some quickness and has shown some defensive improvement, at only 23 he also has a lot to learn.

So to me I think of Nunn as our secret weapon. It’s tough when you can’t defend the opposing point guard with your own point guard, but Thats our situation with Russ as our point guard. With our lack of trading chips, Nunn could be our best mid season acquisition. He is quick, a good defender and a 3 level scorer. I know we dangled him in the trade offer for Grant, which made sense but I doubt he’s been part of a package for a lesser player. I mean it would be disastrous to have a Westbrook/Buddy starting backcourt. It would be like a sieve that would make AD’s life miserable. It would also be a lot to ask of a 33 year old Eric Gordon to stay with guys like , Tre, Ja and Steph.

For us to even have a chance, it’s going to take more than just LeBron and AD being healthy, we are going to need Nunn as well. Hopefully he will be returning soon enough to find a rhythm before the play offs.

Aloha,

Russell Westbrook is the single most frustrating Laker I have ever followed. He helped bury us in the first and dug us out in the 2nd half. Then he puts up a 3 at the buzzer. The floor was spread and he took the 3.
🤷‍♂️

It’s really hard to have any kind of rhythm as a team with the rotation shuffled all the time and it did hurt us, especially in the first quarter. So that’s why it was so fun to watch these guys battle when they could have given up.

It was great to see Bazemore hit some shots. For awhile he couldn’t make a layup. Hopefully this gives him a little of the confidence he clearly had lost back.

Austin had a nice bounce back game. He had trouble defending Ish but over all he was real solid. And it was good to see him finally hit a couple of 3’s.

There was some very questionable coaching moves, the biggest being going with DJ over Dwight. I think we win the game if Dwight starts. DJ’s 6 missed free throws killed us.

That blocking call on THT that resulted in a 3 point play have may have been one of the worst calls I have seen this year. It was even challenged. That turned out to be a huge bad call that may have cost us the game.

Ellington went 3 for 5 from 3. Hit his last 2 and never got another shot. This is a season long frustration for me. Our inability to look for our shooters. Steph Curry might only get five 3’s a game on this team.

One thing that won’t show up on the stat sheet. Stanley set great after great pick to free Russ. He might be the best at setting picks on the team.

It was a great team effort game. They kept knocking us down and we kept getting up.

Aloha

Oh well, this should be interesting, AD, LeBron and Malik are all out today. What else is new.