Lakerholics

A Lakers Fan Community

Houston Rockets

Lakers’ Best Trade Package for Russell Westbrook Should Include Both Picks

By 6 Comments

The bad news is the Lakers’ tradeable players have played so poorly their only value this summer will be as salary filler. The good new is Russ’ expiring deal will have value and the Lakers will have two draft picks to trade this summer.

This summer, the Lakers will need to combine Russell Westbrooks $47 million expiring contract with their unprotected 2027 and 2029 post-LeBron first round picks to create the best possible trade package to upgrade their roster. The Lakers saw at the trade deadline how Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and Nunn had lost trade value but also how even their 2027 first round pick had greater value than expected. It was key to every failed deal at the deadline.

Packaging Westbrook’s expiring contract with their two first round picks dramatically expands what the Lakers should be able to get in a trade as salaries become easier to match when the total dollars involved is higher. Considering the trades that were available to the Lakers at the deadline for one first round draft pick, imagine what Pelinka might be able to negotiate if he offered two post-LeBron unprotected first round picks with Westbrook.

NBA teams make trades for different reasons, often to clear cap space for the future or avoid luxury taxes. Here are three trades of Russell Westbrook and their 2027 and 2029 first round picks the Lakers should target this summer.

1. Trade with Indian Pacers for Turner, Brogdon, and Hield

The Lakers have always been interested in Myles Turner and now that the Pacers are in the middle of a major rebuild, the timing could be right for them to trade Russ’ expiring contract and their two first round picks for Myles.

Per HoopsHype, the Pacers are still looking to trade Malcolm Brogdon and Buddy Hield this summer and would consider including center Myles Turner for “two first-round picks or a promising young player and a first-round pick.” The Lakers should offer Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and their 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks for Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Buddy Hield, each of whom would immediately start for the Lakers.

Indiana should be at the top of the list of possible trading partners for Russell Westbrook since they’re looking to move multiple long-term contracts to clear up cap space down the road and acquire first round picks and young talent. While the Pacers will have to pay Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and Nunn $62 million for next season, they will save over $125 million over the next three years by getting out of Turner’s, Brogdon’s, and Hield’s player contracts.

The Pacers’ Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Buddy Hield should be the Lakers top trade target this summer. It would add championship quality starters to complement James and Davis without increasing annual salaries.

2. Trade with Houston Rockets for Wood, Gordon, and Wall

If the Lakers can’t pull off a trade with the Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner, they should turn their attention to trading with the Houston Rockets for Christian Wood, a stretch five center who can block shots and shoot threes.

Per Brian Windhorst, the Lakers turned down a potential mega deal with the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline “involving Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, and 2027 first round pick for John Wall and Christian Wood.” The Lakers should offer Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Stanley Johnson, and their 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks for Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, and John Wall, each of whom would be a starter for the Lakers.

The Lakers also know they could have traded Russell Westbrook and their 2027 first round draft pick to the Rockets at the trade deadline for John Wall so the proposed trade with two draft picks could be attractive to Houston. Word from Houston is the motivation to trade Wall for Westbrook is the Rockets believe Westbrook will be more willing than Wall to buy his way out of the last year of his contract, which could save the Rockets some money.

Targeting a trade for Wood, Gordon, and Wall should be the Lakers second priority this summer. While it would dramatically increase the $3 million in luxury taxes the Lakers will play this year, it would be a championship team.

3. Trade with New York Knicks for Rose, Randle, and Reddish

If the Lakers can’t make a trade for Myles Turner or Christian Wood, then they should focus their attention on Julius Randle of the New York Knicks, who is rumored to have asked the Knicks to trade him to another team this summer.

According to sources, Julius Randle and the Knicks are headed for a divorce because he “feels the FO hasn’t supported him through tough times this year and promises about how the offense would go through him has stopped.” The Lakers should offer Russell Westbrook’s $47 million expiring contract and their 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks for Julius Randle, Derrick Rose, and Cam Reddish, each of whom is an excellent fit next to LeBron and AD.

While the Knicks supposedly have no interest in trading for Russell Westbrook at the trade deadline, the lure of his $47 million expiring contract and two post-LeBron first round draft picks could change their mind and direction. Russ would be great playing in Madison Square Garden and knows the East well after his time with the Washington Wizards. The trade would allow the Knicks to move on from the Randle mistake while getting two great picks.

Trading Westbrook for Randle, Rose, and Redding not only gives the Lakers three starting quality players for Russ but also breaks Russ’ $47 million into three smaller more easily tradeable contracts of $14, $26, and $6 million.

Lakers Need Modern Center Who Can Protect the Rim and Stretch the Floor!

By 6 Comments

For a franchise that won the championship a year and a half ago by being the physically bigger and more athletically dominant team, the Lakers seem to have forgotten how much size matters, even in today’s positionless NBA.

The Lakers’ lack of front court size other than LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be at the heart of their plans to rebuild their roster this offseason. The question is whether to acquire more size via a small forward or center? While pursuing a small forward like Jerami Grant makes sense, trading for a modern center who can protect the rim and stretch the floor like Christian Wood or Myles Turner could be a smarter strategic move for the Lakers.

Trading for Christian Wood or Myles Turner has distinct advantages over trading for Jerami Grant. Most importantly, it lets Anthony Davis and LeBron James play their preferred power forward and small forward positions. Adding a center like Christian Wood or Myles Turner would also give the Lakers the versatility to play play big or small and empower them to have a leading shot blocker protecting the rim for all 48 minutes of every game.

While many expect the Lakers to pursue Jerami Grant, the Lakers should surprise everybody and zig while the rest of the league zags. Dominating size was a big part of the formula the Lakers used to win their 18th title. They need the intimidating rim protection of their title run in the bubble but updated with a modern center who can not only block shots but also create desperately needed spacing by pulling opposing big men out of the paint.

The Los Angeles’ Lakers objective this summer should be to trade Russell Westbrook and rebuild the team’s starting lineup with elite 3-point shooters and defenders to complement superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Ideally, the Lakers need to find a trading partner to take Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and their 2027 and 2029 first round picks in return for a new starting point guard, shooting guard, and center.

Here are two proposed mega trades to give the Lakers three new starters. They acquire Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Buddy Hield from the Pacers or Christian Wood, John Wall, and Eric Gordon from the Rockets.

Pacers’ Trade for Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Buddy Hield

The Lakers logical trade partner this summer should be the Pacers, who are in the middle of a total rebuild, having already traded Sabonis, LeVert, Holiday, Lamb, and Craig with Turner, Brogdon, and Hield still on the block.

The core of the Lakers and Pacers trade is Russell Westbrook’s $47 million expiring contract in a salary dump for the $40.5 million over two years owed Buddy Hield and the $44.3 million over two years owed Malcolm Brogdon. The Lakers would move to expand the trade by adding Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and their 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks to the deal to convince the Pacers to include Myles Turner’s $18 million expiring contract.

For the Lakers, the trade transforms their starting lineup at both ends with Malcolm Brogdon and Buddy Hield becoming the starting guards and Myles Turner the starting center playing with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Suddenly, the perimeter defense, rim protection, playmaking, rebounding, points in the paint, 3-point shooting, ball security, and floor spacing for the Lakers starting lineup dramatically improves over this year’s starting lineup.

The beauty of the Pacers trade is the Lakers total payroll remains about the same as this season as will the team’s luxury tax bill. The team also gets younger with the 26-year old Turner and 29-year old Brogdon and Hield. Winning with LeBron requires surrounding the King with high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters and adding Turner, Hield, and Brogdon should move the Lakers’ 3-point attempts and percentage to top five.

While Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Buddy Hield are not superstars, they’re the three legitimate championship quality starters the Lakers need to complement superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and win #18.

Rockets’ Trade for Christian Wood, John Wall, and Eric Gordon

The Lakers other top trade partner this summer should be the Rockets, who are undergoing a major rebuild and will be looking to move veterans like Eric Gordon, John Wall, and Christian Wood for young prospects and draft picks.

The core of the Lakers and Rockets trade is a swap of Russell Westbrook’s $47 million expiring contract for John Wall’s $47 million expiring contract as the Lakers and Westbrook mutually agreed to part ways the end of year. The Lakers would expand the trade by adding Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Stanley Johnson, and their 2027 and 2029 first round picks to get the Pacers to include Christian Wood and Eric Gordon in the deal.

For the Lakers, the trade transforms their starting lineup at both ends with John Wall and Eric Gordon becoming the starting guards and Christian Wood the starting center playing with superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Suddenly, the Lakers become a more versatile and dangerous team that can play five-out small-ball-on-steroids with three of the best small ball centers in the league in Anthony Davis, Christian Wood, and LeBron James.

The one negative to this trade is that the Lakers total salaries increase by $16.3 million, which could result in extra luxury taxes unless the Lakers move Wall, which they will have the opportunity to do before the deadline. There’s a good chance they could use Wall’s $47 million expiring contract to pick up some bench depth much like the Clippers were able to do this year at the deadline with their great midseason trade for Powell and Covington.

While Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, and John Wall are not superstars, they’re the three legitimate championship quality starters the Lakers need to complement superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and win #18.

LAKERS POST-TRADE DEPTH CHART

5 Things: Lakers continue dominance over Houston

By 2 Comments

The Lakers are using the Rockets as a punching bag of late. In a chippy, chirpy affair the Lakers handed the Rockets their hat and saw some really positive developments in the doing. Since the Bubble it’s been nice to see the Lakers have Houston’s number and the best part, for me, was how much work we put in on the defensive end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmwsQ_dHrFM
  1. The Defense showed what it can be but is still a work in progress. Granted, the Rockets are kind of a mess and a big time work in progress. Harden and John Wall are a different version of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. For all our steals, blocks and stops the Rockets outscored us almost 2-1 in points off of turnovers. Like us the Rockets also had 8 blocks and stole the rock 7 times. The best defense came early before AD sat with foul trouble. The Lakers will, at some point, be a better defensive scheme team, but the skill the individuals on the team have are getting the job done early.
  2. Anthony Davis is a nightmare to defend. Silky smooth jumper, cans them from anywhere, footwork on the block, and solid on the break. You have a stretch big shooting a three? He better make it if Davis contests because we have 4 guys on the team that can throw the down court bomb for an easy score and they all rebound pretty well. His step back jumper is quickly becoming an unstoppable weapon. He bodies up and bounces off of contact neutralizing any shot blocking effort. AD had a superlative game marred only by early foul trouble. He also got back on track from the stripe where he’s shooting under 74%.
  3. Talen Horton-Tucker’s career game. In many ways Houston was the team where Talen got to show the NBA world what he could do. Up until those minutes THT was a bucket full of hope and promise and not much more. Horton-Tucker showed us all something in this game. He had 4 steals, he guarded Harden as well as can be expected and he scored within the flow. THT was stellar, probably his best complete game as a pro and if he can play like this consistently with the minutes he’ll get on this team it bodes well for his future. In Kyle, Caruso and Talen we have three young, solid cornerstones to build around or, should the need arise, include in a trade. I don’t get the sense Rob is looking to trade any of those 3, though. Still, it’s NBA, stranger things have happened.
  4. Turnovers holding the Lakers back. The Lakers are going to get better at being less sloppy, key guys are still getting acquainted, but man I can’t wait for the turnover issue to be a thing of the past. Once we clean up un-forced miscues we’ll be a team that is extremely tough to beat.
  5. Boogie! Yeah, yeah he got into it with Markieff, hit LeBron in the head and got ejected but it was still great to see Cousins playing and playing well. Frankly both he and Wall looked pretty good all things considered and that bodes well for Houston going forward. Cousins was rolling, too, so his ejection certainly benefited LA though it was well-warranted if wholly unintentional. The shove on ‘Kieff was all intention. Be interesting to see if any chirpiness lingers in the next one.

All in all a really solid win. Houston is a better team than the record indicates but definitely need to worry about falling far behind early in a loaded West. Golden State is streaking, Denver has yet to find it’s footing, the Spurs are lurking. Feels like only a matter of time that James needs to find another home but whither shall it be? Increasingly it looks like the Heat are the likeliest of destinations. Philly is leading the East and Brooklyn is unlikely to gut the squad. Duncan and Herro could get it done with filler. Not sure that will happen, honestly. James has carved a unique kingdom and Houston and few seem willing to help him move it elsewhere. Interesting stuff.

Could Lakers’ Version of Small Ball Be the Blueprint to Win a Championship?

By 2 Comments

With Markieff Morris replacing JaVale McGee, the Lakers may have found the perfect version of small ball to unleash superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and a new starting lineup to lead them to a championship.

While starting Morris was tactically done to better matchup with the small ball Houston Rockets, how the Lakers played on offense and defense with Markieff in the lineup could convince Vogel to make the move permanent. The speed and quickness Morris brought turbo-charged the Lakers’ defense and the his ability to spread the floor with 3-point shooting clearly opened up the paint and empowered LeBron and AD to attack the rim on offense.

Starting Morris instead of McGee makes the Lakers more versatile at both ends of the court with only a small sacrifice in terms of size since Markieff is still 6′ 8′ and 245 pounds and able to play and defend the center position. When you consider Anthony Davis is 6′ 10,” LeBron James 6′ 9,” Danny Green 6′ 6,” and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 6′ 5,” the Lakers’ lineup with Markieff Morris at the five is clearly not your prototype small ball lineup.

Frankly, ‘small ball’ is a total misnomer for the Lakers’ lineup with Morris instead of McGee because it’s not a ‘small’ lineup. It’s a ‘skilled’ lineup where all 5 players can handle, pass, and shoot the ball and play defense. It’s a versatile lineup that can easily match up with any style of play or opponent. It can play big or small, fast or slow, inside or outside, offense or defense, which makes it the ideal Lakers’ lineup to start or finish games.

While many believe Vogel inserted Morris into the starting lineup for his offense, the more likely reason Frank made the change was defense, which is why he may elect to continue starting him going forward in the playoffs. Defense has always been Vogel’s calling card and the heart of his decisions and the speed and quickness of the Lakers’ defensive rotations in the second half of Game 3 and first half of Game 4 were championship caliber.

That defensive velocity and intensity is something the Lakers can’t duplicate with JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard in the lineup. It could be the Lakers’ version of the ‘death lineup’ that fueled the Warriors’ three championships. That raises the possibility of Vogel opting to continue starting McGee and deploying the higher energy Morris lineup as at strategic points in games where the Lakers need stops like Kerr did with the Warriors death lineup.

Designed to accelerate the Lakers’ ability to rotate and run shooters off the 3-point line and cruise the passing lanes, the Lakers’ version of small ball was also elite at blocking shots with James and Davis protecting the rim. Whether Vogel decides to start Markieff Morris or emulate the Warriors and deploy the Lakers’ new version of small ball as a wild card coming off the bench to lock down games, he’s found a game-changing defensive weapon.

As important as the Morris lineup will be to the Lakers’ defense, don’t discount how his presence in the lineup impacts the Lakers’ offense and unleashes superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis to attack the rim. Vogel may start Markieff because of his ability to stretch the floor. He’s clearly a better 3-point shooter than Green, which is what makes the Lakers’ small ball version better offensively than the Warriors’ ‘death lineup.’

When you take into consideration the ability of the Lakers’ version of small ball to run 5-out sets to create more space and unclog the paint for LeBron and AD to attack the rim, it makes better sense for Vogel to start this lineup. The Lakers have struggled starting games and halves this season, often due to opponents packing the paint and forcing them to settle for jumpers instead of attacking the rim. Starting out going small could change that.

While defense certainly wins championships, you also need great offensive performances by your superstars, which is why unleashing the power of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is so important for the Lakers to triumph. The defensive strategy to beat the Lakers by the Clippers or whomever will clearly be to pack the paint to stop LeBron and AD from attacking. Playing 5-out with Markieff Morris and spreading the floor is the counter to that.

Great teams become great because of facing great challenges, which is why I’ve always been in favor of the Lakers having the Blazers, Rockets, and Clippers as their likely opponents on the road to their 17th championship. Facing two teams with loaded back courts and divergent styles like the Blazers and and Rockets has helped make the Lakers a better basketball team and may have given them the blueprint for winning a championship.

How the Lakers Shut Down All Three Keys to the Rocket’s Analytics Offense!

By 2 Comments

Everybody knows Daryl Morey, Mike D’Antoni, and the Houston Rockets went all-in on analytics-driven small ball with five players under 6′ 7″ with layups, free throws, and 3-point shots being their blueprint for scoring.

Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers took the Morey and D’Antoni Rockets to school and put on an elite clinic on how to shut down the three scoring keys Houston’s small ball offense relies upon to destroy opposing defenses. After a first half shootout, the Lakers doubled and forced Harden to give up the ball, hounded and chased Houston’s shooters off the 3-point line, and protected the rim without fouling with a swarm of mobile shot blockers.

The result was a second half where the Lakers’ defense shut down the small ball Rockets’ offense, holding them to just 38 points on 13 for 37 from the field (35.1%), 6 of 16 from deep (37.5%), and 6 of 6 from the line (100%). This was against a Houston team that boasted the third best second half offense in the NBA during the regular season, averaging 56.8 points while taking 44.5 shots from the field, 23.3 three-pointers, and 13.2 free throws.

The usual defensive strategy in the NBA is to take away what a team does best and force them to do what they don’t do best. In the second half, Frank Vogel’s strategy was to take away everything the Rockets are built to do. They limited Houston to just 16 3-point attempts versus their average of 23. They allowed them to make just 1 of 11 on layups and blocked 5 of them. And they defended without fouling allowing the Rockets only 6 free throws.

It will be fun to see what changes D’Antoni will make to counter the moves Frank Vogel’s made to shut down Houston’s offense in what is a must win game. These are the chess games where great coaching comes into play. So far Mike D’Antoni won the first game and Frank Vogel has come back to win the last two games. Morey’s and D’Antoni’s future with the Rockets may be on the line tonight so look for new winkles tonight against the Lakers.

If the Lakers win, this series is all but over. If the Rockets win, then all bets are off and we’re likely to see a Game 7. I still have the Lakers in 5 but we’re going to need big games from Playoff LeBron and Playoff Rondo to do it.