Cutting Thomas and keeping Zu makes little sense as Thomas looked like a modern stretch 5. Very weird/dumb decision.
Yeah seemed weird but then again Zu was a block machine and inside presence when he played a lot early on. He seems to respond well to more PT. The Lopez/Bogut signings killed his PT. Probably killed more in the process.
There’s always stuff behind the scenes we don’t know about. For every 5-10 Upshaws that get cut, we’ll lose 1 David Nwaba. I’ll trust the FO on this one because of the stuff we don’t know about. (Work ethic, maturity, behavior, roster makeup, future roster plans, coachability, etc)
I actually saw the opposite, Bryant looked incredibly raw, was good in the G-League, but like a chicken with its head cut off in the real games. Zu, while disappointing, if he could get in shape and mature, at least has the tools to be a very solid backup C someday. For all the talk of Bryant being able to hit threes, he made exactly 1 last season. I liked Bryant as a hustle guy, but I like Zu as a potential player at the end of the bench more.
He’s looking good, but I have to be that guy and bring up level of competition. I’d read it isn’t that great. And if other teams are putting rosters out there like the USA did, yeah, not great. Still rooting for Zu, he’s young. But he’s also slow, not agile, and can’t jump. Some of those dunks in clips above are rejections in the NBA, he goes up too predictably, it’s just he’s taller and bigger than the other guys in these situations, which isn’t the case in the NBA. Still hoping he can mature into a competent backup though, at least he’s lost weight and is working hard to be in shape, that’s a start.
that last drive is exactly what we need to see from zubac. the d left a seam figuring he couldn't lumber in and finish, and he capitalized. there are opportunities like that on nba courts, too. i'm still a believer in size, despite what's happened recently in the league. i think the pendulum is going to start swinging the other way soon, in fact, and more teams will be wanting to employ competent large humans instead of just trying to jack threes and switch everything.
The Lakers brass had to be paying close attention to Zu's current tournament play. Maybe with the same eye that they seem to have for picking winners where others have passed .... they think he's finally passably quick enough and strong enough to give some quality minutes? He ****ing ought to be by now. He had to know this was a do or die summer, and may still get shipped out. Hoping he stays for the low dollars and finally starts playing like the very good center he can become. Do it Zu!!
Maybe, but you also have three HoF centers in your avatar, so you might be biased. I think it would take a Shaq or Hakeem type post threat to do it though. Ewing or even David Robinson probably isn't enough.
If they decide to do exactly that and keep Zu for wherever in the rotation and number of minutes, they will likely give him a bit of a green light to expand his game to again like when he first came in. He's got some post skills and Zu is a big young dude running the floor well now from what I saw of the tournament highlights .
Well... yes. Ewing maybe, but not Robinson. Hakeem, Shaq, Kareem would absolutely demolish these Warriors though.