No problem - there's sure to be a flurry of refreshes around then. The only 'major' one that is fire-walled is ESPN's (their current one is a month old so I wasn't bothered to find out what they thought) so it won't be hard to put together.
The terribly mediocre Lakers
- Thread starter smastroyin
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I've said it before, but the failed Justise Winslow trade was one of the best things ever to happen to Danny. Every GM knew that it was possible to get one over on him after that.
Of course, he's the luckiest human being ever to have lived, so maybe the fact that that trade didn't go through is just more evidence of that, and no one should ever complete a trade with him.
Like Conan the Barbarian, Ainge has seen plenty of stuff that is good, but he knows what is best.
I am not anywhere near convinced that the future picks Ainge offered weren't either 1) heavily protected BRK/MEM/etc picks, or 2) Celtics own draft picks. I just cannot see a scenario where he offers a substantial haul to move up 6 spots.
Yes, Ainge would have been offering 4 late-round #1s -- and the Heat would have been right to turn them down (assuming, of course, that Winslow was Kawhi Leonard. Instead, he's looking more like Josh Jackson).
Wasn't the Heat that turned it down. Charlotte (and MJ) turned that offer down to take the immortal Frank Kaminsky.
I'd have sworn it was Charlotte that turned down the offer, and the Heat just simply wanted Winslow, meaning the Celtics had to move ahead of the Heat. All reports at the time I recall had to do with 'Charlotte turned it down'.
The infamous proposal (which, like others above, I suspect did not actually include any of the Brooklyn picks without heavy protection) was indeed with Charlotte.
Maybe they need another heart to heart:
Article notes they have some easier teams coming up - Charlotte, Atalanta, Sacramento - so will be interesting to see how they play against other bad teams.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21956179/kyle-kuzma-says-los-angeles-lakers-loss-oklahoma-city-thunder-pretty-embarrassing
Article notes they have some easier teams coming up - Charlotte, Atalanta, Sacramento - so will be interesting to see how they play against other bad teams.
You have to love (as a Celtic fan) it when the rookie is saying they quit.
Its due or die time for the Lakers, next three opponents at home are Charlotte, Atlanta and Sacramento. Lose those games and we can realistically watch La Liga, Arizona, Texas, and Duke more closely.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21956179/kyle-kuzma-says-los-angeles-lakers-loss-oklahoma-city-thunder-pretty-embarrassing
edit: HowboutdemSox beat me to my Laker Shaudenfreude glee
Its due or die time for the Lakers, next three opponents at home are Charlotte, Atlanta and Sacramento. Lose those games and we can realistically watch La Liga, Arizona, Texas, and Duke more closely.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21956179/kyle-kuzma-says-los-angeles-lakers-loss-oklahoma-city-thunder-pretty-embarrassing
edit: HowboutdemSox beat me to my Laker Shaudenfreude glee
538 predicts that they'll have 46%, 66% and 74% chance to win each of those 3 games and yet still has them come in at 26.5 wins for the season (T3rd with Orlando). If they were to drop 2 of 3 of those they'd be under 26 wins.
basketball-reference has then almost 3 wins better and averaging the two predictions has them in a virtual tie with the Suns and Magic for 3rd so, again, dropping 2 of 3 could give them 3rd place all alone.
Average of 538 and bb-ref predicted wins:
Sac 25.0
Atl 26.2
Orl 27.4
Pho 27.6
LAL 27.8
Chi 29.6
Mem 30.6
Brk 33.5
Dal 33.8
Cho 37.0
NYK 37.0
basketball-reference has then almost 3 wins better and averaging the two predictions has them in a virtual tie with the Suns and Magic for 3rd so, again, dropping 2 of 3 could give them 3rd place all alone.
Average of 538 and bb-ref predicted wins:
Sac 25.0
Atl 26.2
Orl 27.4
Pho 27.6
LAL 27.8
Chi 29.6
Mem 30.6
Brk 33.5
Dal 33.8
Cho 37.0
NYK 37.0
They're on the small side, but shifty, and man can they flop.
That one's pretty wrapped up, unless you're a Valencia fan trying to see if they can hang on to a UCL spot.
Oh, you meant EuroLeague and Liga ACB
Typos aside, glancing at the RM season summary, you really do get way more games of tape over there than you do from an NCAA season. 34 from the league, ~30 from EuroLeague depending on playoffs, maybe another few from the domestic Cup playoff... it's nearly an NBA-sized season, all told.
edit: wow, had my own typo. Whoops.
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EuroBasket is the International event (i.e. countries playing countries). The EuroLeague is the international league for club teams, in which Real Madrid is currently 6th with a 9-5-0-1 record (the last two being OT wins & losses). They also play simultaneously in the Liga ACB (or Liga Endesa), the league for Spanish clubs. In that one they are 1st at 12-1-1-0, a comfortable 6 pts ahead of Barcelona, Valencia and Fuenlabrada. Incidentally, Doncic was just named the youngest ever MVP of the Month for Diciembre
Lakers are in a stretch where they'll be playing the 2nd out of 11 games on 1 day rest.
One of the bigger issues for them, besides talent and experience, is that most of the roster is effectively auditioning for their next team. This creates an incentive to play individually, which really hurts on the defensive side of the court.
One of the bigger issues for them, besides talent and experience, is that most of the roster is effectively auditioning for their next team. This creates an incentive to play individually, which really hurts on the defensive side of the court.
Earlier in the season it appeared that the Lakers were better than their record -- they had been pretty good defensively and Ball was keeping the offense out of the basement. But now they look to be exactly as good as their record. Closer to the true cellar dwellers like the Kings and Hawks than even mediocre teams like Brooklyn et al.
Is it that ball impacts winning? My in laws are form LA -
- i need ball to be an enigma, low scoring, ugly to look at, but too good to move on from, and a crazy father that makes it more irritating.
- Further I need their pick this year.
- Personal redemption for the gloating after they stole the trophy from pierce et al.
It looks like a terrible trade but Donovan Mitchell also went 13th in the NBA draft. No one was expecting this. We also have no clue what Tyler Lydon is as he hasn't played. Trey Lyles has been really impressive of late though. He's not Donovan Mitchell, but he is a 6'10 PF who just turned 22 in November who is averaging 16.6 points, 7.1 rebounds on .569/.500/.677 shooting in his last 12 games. He's been getting significantly more playing time due to injuries (28.6 last 12, 12.8 in the 20 games prior). For the year, he's shooting .521/.457/.741. 43-94 from 3, so he is going to regress some, but he has looked pretty promising. He was a lottery pick out of Kentucky just 3 seasons ago and has that 9 foot standing reach. The talent is there.
I am also pretty high on Murray. Kid is still 20 and doing very impressive things while going largely unnoticed for it. I guess a lot of it depends on where you come down on Murray re Denver's success. If you think Murray can develop into the 2nd guy to pair with Jokic, that team is top heavy and deep, especially if Lyles is for real. Thing with Denver, 8 of their players are 22 and under, with Gary Harris being 23. There are a lot of guys who could continue to improve. I also watch a lot of Denver games so I could be biased a bit, but they are loaded with young talent.
They also have salaries in Mason Plumlee, Kenneth Faried and others to match up salary wise in a trade.
Down 20 at home to Cha early In the 4th. Giving up a ton of points...
Home vs. ATL and Sac in their next two games will be big. Even a split would be a victory for the pick.
Home vs. ATL and Sac in their next two games will be big. Even a split would be a victory for the pick.
I sometimes feel like his existence was designed by God to troll Kevin Pelton types.
Lakers drop their 9th in row, now just 1 game ahead of Atlanta for NBA's worst record. The Hawks are next on the schedule (Sunday)
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In their last 7 games, only the double OT to Houston was a less than double digit loss. Margin of loss has been 17, 10, 15, 6(double OT), 18, 37, and 14.
I'm no mathematician, but that can't be good for their point differential.
I'm no mathematician, but that can't be good for their point differential.
In tail-wagging-the-dog fashion, their Pythag is catching up with their actual record. They’re now at -5.4 PD, in a grouping with ORL and CHI, better than only SAC and PHO.
Strangely they played Golden State very tough and Houston too, yet are being destroyed by mediocre to bad teams.
Has anyone asked Lavar what they are doing wrong? They suck with Ball and without.
Why? His RPM numbers are good for a 19 year old and he has the second best on-off numbers on the team behind Randle.
Sometimes I feel like this forum was designed by God to troll "single game +/- numbers are utterly meaningless" types.
I think it’s just a really poorly constructed team, so the whole is less than the sum of the parts. They’ve got terrible outside shooting, mediocre rebounding and rim protection, and only one legit PG on the team. Walton wants them to play like the Warriors but he doesn’t have the pieces.
I’d think Walton’s seat has to get hot at some point. How many times can a proud franchise get blown out at home before somebody needs to take a fall? And it’s not going to be Magic taking responsibility.
I’d think Walton’s seat has to get hot at some point. How many times can a proud franchise get blown out at home before somebody needs to take a fall? And it’s not going to be Magic taking responsibility.
I agree. The paranoid side of me sees the league wanting the Lakers to pick first.
Won’t be the Lakers’ pick it’ll belong to the Sixers, right?
Top of the lottery is such a jumble right now with 8 teams separated by 3.5 games. I thought that the Lakers would struggle against Charlotte (even though they beat them a few weeks ago) but I think they win the next two.
Odds of the pick conveying are 75% if they're the 1 seed, and 80% if they're 2 or 3. So not that different.
Yes, with the expected pick slot being a bit higher in the event it’s not the one pick. I think we’re rooting for them to have the worst possible record.
https://squared2020.com/2017/05/23/is-the-nba-draft-lottery-fixed-a-statistical-analysis-of-1994-2017/
The NBA draft lottery is not fixed. All evidence suggests it's random. Not criticizing, just trying to assuage your fears.
The other way to assuage his fears, as Montana Fan said, is to note that the Lakers are losing the pick regardless.
Nets 15 wins, 4 games out of the #8 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Lakers 11 wins, 9 games out of the #8 spot in the Western Conference playoffs and only 1 game ahead of the Hawks for worst record in the league. I think we can safely say the Lakers pick turned out to be more valuable than the Nets pick. And also that the Nets coach is doing more with less.
Yeah, Ainge/Zarren really should get a ton more credit for this bet than they have. If Lin were healthy, the Nets would likely be contending for a playoff spot, and they have an outside shot as is.
Waiving Bogut.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-to-waive-andrew-bogut-veteran-center-expected-to-join-playoff-team/
He wasn't really a big factor for the Lakers, only averaging 9 minutes per game.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-to-waive-andrew-bogut-veteran-center-expected-to-join-playoff-team/
He wasn't really a big factor for the Lakers, only averaging 9 minutes per game.
I have seen maybe 7 or 8 Laker games. Bogut looks completely cooked.Still awesome that he ha splayed 216 minutes, and has more fouls (40) than points (36)
Even in his cooked state, I'd think he's bring a bit more than Tarik Black, who's currently seeing occasional meaningful minutes as the Rockets' third-string C.
And given Morey's stated obsession with the Warriors, I'd think he'd be intrigued by being able to glean whatever GSW "state secrets" he can from the Big Aussie.
And given Morey's stated obsession with the Warriors, I'd think he'd be intrigued by being able to glean whatever GSW "state secrets" he can from the Big Aussie.
Bogut in that lineup would be great for the Rockets competitors. He is completely cooked and while SRN is typically on point about all things NBA, I cannot agree that he'd be an upgrade on Black. I mean, Black is essentially a warm body that occupies space on a basketball court much like Bogut but at least he can score occasionally. Bogut cannot and his vaunted defensive skills left him seasons ago. That said, I do believe he will get a look in Houston or possibly elsewhere. Then he will get hurt during warmups and summarily retire.