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.
Good observations, Michal. All spot on. There are two ways to upgrade your bench. One is to out and trade for some solid bench players who can step right into your rotation.
The problem with that approach is it does not solve the issues with the starting lineup. At the least, we need a proven POA guard to start next to Reaves. I do think DFS could fit as third starter in place of Rui to solidify the front court although the better and more visionary solution is somebody like Turner.
Lakers need to solve bench issue by upgrading two starters. DFS could be one. Somebody like Dejounte Murray or Myles Turner could be a second. Bottom line, upgrading the starting lineup will move a player or two to boost the bench
While Rui may get traded, Max should be coming off the bench for us like Knecht if we want to have a championship caliber roster. While he’s not the stretch five I would prefer, Kessler is so good defensively and so young and cheap that he’s probably worth the two picks because it also means being able to keep guys like Rui, Gabe, Max, and Vando, who may not be good enough to start on a championship team but are clearly good enough to come off the bench for a legitimate contender.
Aloha Tom, Turner is not on the trade block. After a slow start, the Pacers have begun to turn it around. They have had several good wins recently including the Celtics and they are now only a couple of games out of the 6th seed. Plus Thomas Bryant is their only other center and they aren’t making the playoffs with him at center. As for Murray well I’m glad we didn’t get him because he sucks. Hes never been a great shooter but this years he’s shooting 25% from 3 and 35% from the field. I’m not giving up 29 mil in contracts and even one first for that. I’m okay with Max. Defensively he’s been really good on defense. Other options out there suck to. Lonzo really sucks this year. Smart has not been been good when he’s actually able to play. And Bruce Brown sucked last year and has only played one game this year. I’m willing to wait to see who else might become available.
Need reliable 3 shooters IMHO. JJ also needs to have us focus on the defense of other teams that shoot 3 well. We seem to be scrambling when it comes to that and we ain’t so good at that.
Ps-If Konnection could be what we’d hoped for?