Aloha,
Now that was ugly. Overall the preseason was a bust. Injuries, and holding guys out for precautions? Anyway, again we were unable to really see what this team is going to look like in the real season.
AD dominated at center but what’s up with the back? I’m leaning towards precautions but with his history it’s unsettling to see him out this early.
LeBron also looked good at the 4 doing LeBron things. But after that we saw some good things at times from a few other guy, but little consistency. Waiting for you PatBev to show up.
Now of course in the regular season it will be different. If healthy, big if, either AD or LeBron will be on the court most of the time and there will be much tighter rotations but this roster is screaming for help.
And there is the rub. This teams biggest need is a wing with size that can defend and knock down a 3. Unfortunately with the exception of Crowder who we don’t have means to trade for, there isn’t another guy out there. At least publicly. Of course we could also use another guy, that can, you know, shoot.
I think it would be easy for Rob to overreact and swing a trade that may not address our biggest need. I think the smart play is to wait and see how the season unfolds and if any useful player comes on the market. At this point I feel the worst thing we could do is to give up those picks on players that are not going to make us contenders. And as far as I can see, those players are not on the market yet.
I’m curious to see who these players are who are better solutions than Turner and Hield for the Lakers. Right now, I don’t see any potential candidates on any of the tanking teams that could be better than Turner and Hield. Go down the list of tanking teams and tell me whom are you thinking of? Thanks.
Why does it have to be a team people think is tanking? Why can’t it be for a disgruntled star who has a wink-wink-nod deal in place to get traded to one of a select group of preferred destinations? Honestly it doesn’t take much for a narrative to change. It’s why I keep hoping, albeit it feels more and more like foolishness than hope, that Rob will figure this all out better or Jeannie will realize that money talks and BS walks.
Why can’t you give me a list of possible candidates?
Kyrie Irving, Zach LaVine, Kristaps Porzingis.
I just want to see the 2 players better than Turner and Hield you and Michael are so sure will magically become available by February 9th with the Lakers likely out of contention by then since the season would be 2/3 over.
You think it’s a guarantee a trade will happen, I do not. I’ve long said they could quite easily and understandably wait until summer to re-work the roster and prioritize depth over another player. Turner has stated, multiple times, he is testing free agency. Trade or no don’t see why that would change. Buddy won’t play when the game is on the line, Myles might not, either. That’s not better, that’s treading water badly. You ask people to predict the future when you’re absolutely awful at it.! I’ve been reading these “guarantees” for 10 mintgs now.
You see this as an exercise of addition by subtraction, I do not. I see a hith rate if probability we will just waste another 2 draft picks for a guy who will walk ou the door and anither who will be harder to trade for equity. Thats Heild and Turner. But sure, I’ll play:
1) Portlabd ane Lillardor Grant.if thag goes south and Grant’s agent says he aint staying ir Dameasks out.
2) Brooklyn for Kyrie and change
3) GS for Wiggins and Dray for Russ and AD if the FO loses faith in the pairing like many arebstarying to
4) Orlando for Harris, Ross, Bamba
I could go on but the fact is bot one person opinionating or reporting knows what is really hoing on. Not Woj, Buha,or Shams. They are reacting. Rob will do his job and he’ll do it methodically. This may not please many. Cant even say it pleases me but it is what I think will hapoen.
Thanks for the answer. All pie in the sky. Turner and Hield are the best answer for Lakers ST and LT imo.
Currently, there isn’t anyone publicly on the block. But I’m not anxious to make a panic trade to be a little better. So we avoid the play in but lose in the first round. That doesn’t cut it for me. Earlier Tom, you stated this trade could give us a punchers chance. Now in your mind you have elevated Turner and Buddy to legitimate contenders. We have AD at center. Turner is an upgrade over the other two guys but he doesn’t address our biggest needs. A wing with size that can hit a 3. We make your trade and we are still in the same boat and next year too. No cap space to add the players we need.
Michael, I agree with you that this preseason was a waste. I didn’t particularly like the way Ham handle the substitution and rotation. It seems like he only coached and tried things for the first quarter and a half then just put scrubs in and called it a night. We didn’t get to see enough combinations of actual core players in there together for a significant time.
I also didn’t like that he had everyone in there in spotty roles and minutes with no time to settle into any kind of rhythm. His substitutions were too quick to get any actual flow or assessment. As a result, we have no idea where the scoring is coming from aside from LeBron and AD.
I was frustrated with Ham’a use of the final two and a half quarters of each game as garbage time. Also, the jack-a-three offense is not going to work for us as we do not have shooters.
And please, let us stop with this stuff about taking precautions because it is only the preseason. We have 82 game marathon to embark on and injuries are bound to happen. But give the players a bit of time to stay on the court to find a rhythm.