I want this to be an issue all season long."I've been doing the same thing for 14 years straight," Westbrook said following the Lakers' 123-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors in their regular-season opener Tuesday night. "Honestly, I didn't even know what to do pregame. Being honest, I was trying to figure out how to stay warm and loose. ... That's something I just wasn't accustomed to."
The Lakers are a horribly run franchise that got extremely fortunate that LeBron wanted to play for them and was able to recruit AD to come with him. If they were not the LAKERS, they would be a team looking at a postseason drought that spans back nearly a decade. Ownership doesn't have a clue on how to run the team and that has been pretty clear since Kobe tore his Achilles. The one ring has done an enormous amount of work in keeping their heads above water.The Lakers got a championship going all-in on Lebron, but now they're stuck trying to win with most of their cap consumed by James ($46m), Davis ($38m) and Westbrook ($47m lol). What left is spread over a pretty grim supporting cast (washed up Pat Bev getting 13 million!), and after that...yikes, unless you think Kendrick Nunn can be a starter on a contender. They're desperate enough to pay old friend Dennis Schroeder to repeatedly put his head down and drive into the teeth of the defense for an off-balance, contested floaters. Lebron is going to love standing alone and open on the perimeter during the Schroeder Show. I guess they knew what they were getting.
Would they make that deal again? One ring, but then 4-6 years of mediocrity?
Would we make that deal? If we had a time machine and traded Tatum and Brown and picks to the Cavs in 2018, then added David via free agency, and the Celtics got Banner 18 in the bubble, and now in 2022 they were looking like a 35 in team, would it have been worth it?
If you want to share in my hate, follow this subplot: Having tried and failed to trade Westbrook in the offseason, the fallback for the Lakers front office and coaches was "Let's have Russ come off the bench and spark the second unit."
On paper, this isn't a bad idea. Westbrook needs the ball in his hands, so bring him in Vinnie Johnson-style and with a green light to shoot and vulture as many cheap rebounds as he wants. His awful defense won't be so bad against the other team's bench players.
Twist: Russ can't come off the bench. The Lakers tried to give Russ the Lou Williams role and he hurt himself because he doesn't know how to get warm unless he starts.
I want this to be an issue all season long.
Did they draft well? Randle was a good pick in a pretty crappy draft but they then had 3 straight #2 picks from 2015-2017. It's pretty tough to screw up 3 straight top 3 picks so not sure how much credit they deserve coming away with Russell/Ingram/Lonzo. D'Angelo Russell is 20th overall in win shares from the 2015 draft. The following year, they chose Ingram who is a good player but Jaylen is probably a better one. In 2017, they completely whiffed on Tatum vs. Lonzo (thank god). Hard to really fault them for the Jaylen/Ingram decision since everyone takes Ingram at #2 but they absolutely could and should have taken Tatum at #2 the following year. Just thinking about that gives me the hot sweats.The Lakers are a horribly run franchise that got extremely fortunate that LeBron wanted to play for them and was able to recruit AD to come with him. If they were not the LAKERS, they would be a team looking at a postseason drought that spans back nearly a decade. Ownership doesn't have a clue on how to run the team and that has been pretty clear since Kobe tore his Achilles. The one ring has done an enormous amount of work in keeping their heads above water.
One interesting thing was that during the end of the Kobe-era and the wasteland after it, the Lakers had a bunch of high draft picks and drafted pretty well. Ingram, Russell, Lonzo, Randle have all turned into good pros; non-lottery picks like Kuzma, Zubac, Larry Nance, Jordan Clarkson, etc. have all turned into solid pros. The issue is NONE of those players were good for the Lakers! They didn't have the patientice to develop any of them, and they sent them away (with Ingram/Randle/Lonzo at least netting AD) and watched them flourish somewhere else.
The ultimate LOLakers moment will be when they crash and burn this season and pluck the #1 pick ... and Wembanyama conveys to the Pelicans in exchange for the #26 pick.The Lakers are a horribly run franchise that got extremely fortunate that LeBron wanted to play for them and was able to recruit AD to come with him. If they were not the LAKERS, they would be a team looking at a postseason drought that spans back nearly a decade. Ownership doesn't have a clue on how to run the team and that has been pretty clear since Kobe tore his Achilles. The one ring has done an enormous amount of work in keeping their heads above water.
One interesting thing was that during the end of the Kobe-era and the wasteland after it, the Lakers had a bunch of high draft picks and drafted pretty well. Ingram, Russell, Lonzo, Randle have all turned into good pros; non-lottery picks like Kuzma, Zubac, Larry Nance, Jordan Clarkson, etc. have all turned into solid pros. The issue is NONE of those players were good for the Lakers! They didn't have the patientice to develop any of them, and they sent them away (with Ingram/Randle/Lonzo at least netting AD) and watched them flourish somewhere else.
I'd never make that deal. I've had so much fun watching the 2016-present Celtics, and I can't imagine trading that for one bubble ring and....whatever the hell I just watched in that game last night.The Lakers got a championship going all-in on Lebron, but now they're stuck trying to win with most of their cap consumed by James ($46m), Davis ($38m) and Westbrook ($47m lol). What left is spread over a pretty grim supporting cast (washed up Pat Bev getting 13 million!), and after that...yikes, unless you think Kendrick Nunn can be a starter on a contender. They're desperate enough to pay old friend Dennis Schroeder to repeatedly put his head down and drive into the teeth of the defense for off-balance, contested floaters. Lebron is going to love standing alone and open on the perimeter during the Schroeder Show. I guess they knew what they were getting.
Would they make that deal again? One ring, but then 4-6 years of mediocrity?
Would we make that deal? If we had a time machine and traded Tatum and Brown and picks to the Cavs in 2018, then added Davis via free agency, and the Celtics got Banner 18 in the bubble, and now in 2022 they were looking like a 35 win team, would it have been worth it?
If you want to share in my hate, follow this subplot: Having tried and failed to trade Westbrook in the offseason, the fallback for the Lakers front office and coaches was "Let's have Russ come off the bench and spark the second unit."
On paper, this isn't a bad idea. Westbrook needs the ball in his hands, so bring him in Vinnie Johnson-style and with a green light to shoot and vulture as many cheap rebounds as he wants. His awful defense won't be so bad against the other team's bench players.
Twist: Russ can't come off the bench. The Lakers tried to give Russ the Lou Williams role and he hurt himself because he doesn't know how to get warm unless he starts.
I want this to be an issue all season long.
Agreed, besides the Turner/Hield deal Utah was willing to deal Bojan Bogdanović, Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, and a 2023 first-round pick to the Lakers in exchange for Westbrook and L.A.’s 2027 and 2029 first-rounders.The Lakers are a horribly run franchise that got extremely fortunate that LeBron wanted to play for them and was able to recruit AD to come with him. If they were not the LAKERS, they would be a team looking at a postseason drought that spans back nearly a decade. Ownership doesn't have a clue on how to run the team and that has been pretty clear since Kobe tore his Achilles. The one ring has done an enormous amount of work in keeping their heads above water.
The arguments that the proponents of the deal kept touting have not aged well:I'd never make that deal. I've had so much fun watching the 2016-present Celtics, and I can't imagine trading that for one bubble ring and....whatever the hell I just watched in that game last night.
As I said after the Finals this year, getting to emotionally invest in a team's arc for 5+ years (where the key players stay the same and grow up together) is incredibly rare in sports, and makes the viewing much much more enjoyable. I wake up every morning (Europe time) in the regular season, excited to watch the prior night's game.
I bet Laker fans feel similarly, if they were honest. With the exception of that one title, they've been awful to watch for a decade. It's not fun.
Pelicans must be getting excited. One LeBron injury away from having a shot at Wembanyama and building a juggernaut.Ironically, the slowness of Lebron’s decline has worked against the Lakers a little bit. Because he’s still excellent, they’re never going to be abjectly horrible. But he’s not what he was ~5 years ago, especially on defense, so he can’t lift them like he used to with the Cavaliers. Also, there are a lot of very good young players now, which is something no one ever seems to predict when charting the back end of someone’s career.
Westbrook on the local news here last night "I feel I had a solid game"Game two (another loss this one to the Clips, the other team in this here thread), Westbrook goes 0-11 from the field (0-6 from three). Beverly and Nunn stunk up the joint as well, and the Lakers went 9-45 from downtown. And it sure looks like they will have trouble rebounding, in addition to shaping up to be a poor shooting outfit.
Wait, the Pels have the Lakers pick this year? Wow, this makes it even sadder for team LeBron!Pelicans must be getting excited. One LeBron injury away from having a shot at Wembanyama and building a juggernaut.
Yup. They can swap their pick with LA's in 2023 because of the AD trade. AND they also have their choice of LA's pick in 2024 or 2025. So, if LA blows up any time in the next 2-3 years, the Pelicans will be there to collect.Wait, the Pels have the Lakers pick this year? Wow, this makes it even sadder for team LeBron!
Laker nation held its breath while AD limped around last night. An AD injury probably means Bron focuses his energy on his next TV productionPelicans must be getting excited. One LeBron injury away from having a shot at Wembanyama and building a juggernaut.
That's the best part of this. An injury to LeBron...and LA is fucked. An injury to AD...and LA is fucked. And that's without the Westbrook/Beverly land mines that have already been planted. Only 2 games so way too early to gloat but the risk exposure for LA here is quite real.Laker nation held its breath while AD limped around last night. An AD injury probably means Bron focuses his energy on his next TV production
also the David Griffin Sucks at GMing - mea culpa thread must be on its way
They cannot protect the second pick because is so far out (or the first if the second is in the deal), unless the protection is that it turns into an immediate second - which is no bueno for the acquiring team.If I am LA, I am dangling Westbrook and 1 unprotected 1st (maybe putting in the 2nd with light protections) for Rozier and Hayward.
Charlotte’s not going to be doing shit this year and should strip mine the team to get Wembanyama.
Lakers get rid of Westbrook, add 2 rotation players who are at least average shooters and gets a lot better.
If they can keep 1 of the picks, they can then use that for another upgrade.
The Blazers had their center, Jusuf Nurkic, defend Russ and sag into the paint to clog driving lanes, suffocating the Lakers’ offense. Westbrook missed two wide-open jumpers. One was a 3-pointer with no defender making an effort to contest his shot. The other was an egregious pull-up 2-pointer with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and 30.2 seconds left in the game...
Yes, it seems quite possible that they are "bad" at "basketball."The Lakers somehow looked like crap and somehow still shot poorly without that succubus Russell Westbrook on the court.
Westbrook is bad now and a bad fit, but it's not like he's preventing some particularly useful players from getting minutes. They are going to be similarly bad with or without Westbrook.The Lakers somehow looked like crap and somehow still shot poorly without that succubus Russell Westbrook on the court.
So bad especially with AD tweaking his back early 3Q last night. When you insert Matt Ryan into your 4Q crunch time lineup you know the end is near. For the first time since I can recall we may have a team completely blow it up prior to the trade deadline. I’m talking…..allow AD and LeBron’s teams to work the trade market and their preferred destinations. I can’t imagine this mess continuing for 78 more games.Yes, it seems quite possible that they are "bad" at "basketball."
For in-prime Marv Albert on Knicks radio in the 70s, that would be "Lebron...from wayyy downtown....hits zippo...."
Pelinka's plank has to be sliding into place. You are spot on about the roster construction. LBJ will be making (more) changes soon if I had to guess.It still boggles the mind that the Lakers traded KCP, Kuzma, Harrell and a first round pick, and let Caruso walk because of the additional salary just to get Russ. That’s essentially five potential rotation pieces out the door, with no picks or cap space to replace them, for a guy that was a horrible fit from day one. It’s malpractice from a roster construction standpoint.
They should can er I mean trade the GM for that one.It still boggles the mind that the Lakers traded KCP, Kuzma, Harrell and a first round pick, and let Caruso walk because of the additional salary just to get Russ. That’s essentially five potential rotation pieces out the door, with no picks or cap space to replace them, for a guy that was a horrible fit from day one. It’s malpractice from a roster construction standpoint.
Houston still owes OKC 2024 and 2016 1st round picks, only top 4 protected, and a 2025 pick swap for Russ. And they gave them Chris Paul too.It still boggles the mind that the Lakers traded KCP, Kuzma, Harrell and a first round pick, and let Caruso walk because of the additional salary just to get Russ. That’s essentially five potential rotation pieces out the door, with no picks or cap space to replace them, for a guy that was a horrible fit from day one. It’s malpractice from a roster construction standpoint.
Seems impossible, especially in LA and with Lebron nearing the end.I can’t imagine this mess continuing for 78 more games.
I would not be too certain of Pelinka's demise. The dynamics that were in play during the second stint in Cleveland, are not necessarily in place now in LA.Pelinka's plank has to be sliding into place. You are spot on about the roster construction. LBJ will be making (more) changes soon if I had to guess.
You may well be right - I don't follow the Lakers that closely though what you say about how LeBron is perceived in the Lakers universe feels right.I would not be too certain of Pelinka's demise. The dynamics that were in play during the second stint in Cleveland, are not necessarily in place now in LA.
Also worth noting,
- Lebron has less leverage (multi-year deal, older, championship already won)
- the Lakers (rightly or wrongly) see themselves as a special franchise
- while the Lakers ethos includes "doing right" by their guys, not clear Lebron is viewed as a "real" Laker by the fans or the team
- Jeannie Buss is (undeservedly) loyal - see the Rambii
Finally, while Lebron the GM has a very poor track record, it is possible you can convince him that moving Russ and the two picks is the last bullet. Once they use it, that's it. So they can't misfire. Maybe he can be persuaded that if there is not a trade out there that makes them a true contender, then wait until the offseason, when we can sign Kyrie and we will still have picks to further upgrade a much better constructed roster.
- Lebron stirred the pot to try to force a trade last year and got nowhere
- that after the Cavs had their title - they did not move what became the Sexton pick - despite Lebron's really ratcheting up the pressure.
It was reported that LeBron is ineligible to be traded this season thanks to his extension.So bad especially with AD tweaking his back early 3Q last night. When you insert Matt Ryan into your 4Q crunch time lineup you know the end is near. For the first time since I can recall we may have a team completely blow it up prior to the trade deadline. I’m talking…..allow AD and LeBron’s teams to work the trade market and their preferred destinations. I can’t imagine this mess continuing for 78 more games.
I think LeBron sets the scoring title record and then shuts it down relatively quickly afterwards.James is ineligible to be traded during the upcoming 2022-23 season because the second year of his extension exceeds a 5% raise.
AD maybe, but LeBron is ineligible for a trade this year because of something to do with the structure of his extension. He has to marinate in this all year.So bad especially with AD tweaking his back early 3Q last night. When you insert Matt Ryan into your 4Q crunch time lineup you know the end is near. For the first time since I can recall we may have a team completely blow it up prior to the trade deadline. I’m talking…..allow AD and LeBron’s teams to work the trade market and their preferred destinations. I can’t imagine this mess continuing for 78 more games.
A core that, when paired with AD and LeBron WON AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP.It still boggles the mind that the Lakers traded KCP, Kuzma, Harrell and a first round pick, and let Caruso walk because of the additional salary just to get Russ. That’s essentially five potential rotation pieces out the door, with no picks or cap space to replace them, for a guy that was a horrible fit from day one. It’s malpractice from a roster construction standpoint.
I never understood this narrative. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s had people follow him/be persuaded by him to join the team…….and they won Championships. How is this being a bad GM?Finally, while Lebron the GM has a very poor track record,
It boggles my mind that someone could bemoan a trade where KCP, Kuzma, Harrell, and Caruso are netted out to bring in anyone, and that poster would be right.It still boggles the mind that the Lakers traded KCP, Kuzma, Harrell and a first round pick, and let Caruso walk because of the additional salary just to get Russ. That’s essentially five potential rotation pieces out the door, with no picks or cap space to replace them, for a guy that was a horrible fit from day one. It’s malpractice from a roster construction standpoint.
They have won championships mostly because Lebron is really fucking good, and not so much because ring chasers have tagged along. Sure, there is a little of that, but for every good move, there are a few bad onesI never understood this narrative. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s had people follow him/be persuaded by him to join the team…….and they won Championships. How is this being a bad GM?
Everywhere Lebron has gone, he has left the team in a shambles after his exit. The major exception was Miami because Pat Riley wouldn’t allow it. Now is that because Lebron and his followers put so much pressure on the team to do absurd win-now moves? Or is it because the management was incompetent to start with? Probably a combination of both.I never understood this narrative. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s had people follow him/be persuaded by him to join the team…….and they won Championships. How is this being a bad GM?
Lebron has won championships because he is a great player. Other players want to play with him because he is a great player, and increases the likelihood they win championships.I never understood this narrative. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s had people follow him/be persuaded by him to join the team…….and they won Championships. How is this being a bad GM?
Everywhere LeBron has gone, he has left that city with a Championship. This is like saying Dombrowski is an awful GM for accomplishing what he was hired to do.Everywhere Lebron has gone, he has left the team in a shambles after his exit.
I must have missed the championship on his first stop in Cleveland.Everywhere LeBron has gone, he has left that city with a Championship. This is like saying Dombrowski is an awful GM for accomplishing what he was hired to do.
That’s all ya got?I must have missed the championship on his first stop in Cleveland.
The Paxson/Ferry era?I must have missed the championship on his first stop in Cleveland.
Hey, that’s all you had.That’s all ya got?![]()