The way things have gone with the current front office I can't get this scenario for the upcoming off season out of my mind. The top free agents pass on the Lakers, desperation sets in and they overpay to sign Butler and Cousins,New Orleans gives the finger to Magic and sends Davis elsewhere. Lebron gets Carmelo to agree to a Vet minimum and Magic agrees to keep him happy. Rondo resigns, and the young core including their #1 pick are browbeat into obscurity. New coach Tyronn Lue rolls the ball out on the court and sits back and watches some ugly, d****** basketball.
I have to agree with everyone on this and go against @vasashi17 once again. The Zu trade was just the icing on the cake...we cannot make ANY excuses for that one. With that said, the FO has a chance to makke up for it this summer...this is the most important summer of Magic's career as an executive. I'm looking at whether the can build a ROSTER versus bringing in a superstar...that would impress me more than swinging for the home run.
If that's the scenario, as long as there aren't any serious injuries, Lonzo/Ingram/Kuz/Lebron/Cousins probably doesn't get beat into obscurity. In fact, that team probably ends up as a fifth seed or so in the West. Not exactly what we were promised with the arrival of The King, but 5th seed...and little hope of improving on that.
couldn't agree more, yes GSW has been star studded but they built that team internally and didn't run a bunch of yrs of just trading their young guys for flash name (Klay for KLove)....IF Den can get out of the West (whether they win chip or not) will show that you dont need a team of stars to beat GSW or possibly win a chip (If Bucks or Tor win it further proves that pt.)
You guys remember how Time Warner SportsNet debuted during the 2013 season and it was funny to watch all the new, slick, polished promos while the team/season was cratering before our very eyes? Do you realize it's been 7 YEARS and we still haven't had a good season? Like, the people who run the Lakers network have NEVER had a good season to work with?
Yes it is different because we absolutely did not offer Jules an extension as you keep saying. https://247sports.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/Article/Lakers-didnt-offer-Julius-Randle-130688888/ Also my point in my post was not about lamenting the loss of DLo and Jules, it was that the image we are projecting is that if you leave or don't come to Lakers like Mintz's boys (PG, DLo, Jules), you'l find success and by coming here (see LBJ) you won't. You can throw any modifier, qualifier to that equation you want, of course there is much more to it than that but people tend to simplify things down to their common denominators include agents and players and this is not a good look to be presenting as a team. Not trying to beat on a dead horse here and I still have the team and FO's back but this hasn't been a smooth procedure to date.
yeah...but in fairness, each team drafted a top 10 nba player (jokic, curry), then drafted well after (thompson, green, harris, murray). we only got the second part. i'm not sure we could have just stayed the course with young guys and expected results. but we didn't have to trade everything for cap space. again: there are other ways.
Savs: your analogy game bro, haha. Even tho I disagree with the comparison of it, keep that same energy tho. Folks bring up DLo, BLo, Jules, TB and Zu as the clusterf***s in reporting their history of migraines. I've said I would have handled BLo, TB and Zu differently, but that just leads to possible future 2nd round picks and BLo possibly helping us get to the playoffs this year. But does it set us up for the future? Are they needle pushers for a team looking to go multiple years into the postseason? Would Luke even play them big minutes if they came back? If you're sincere in answering those questions, those losses are being made far more than they are. So that gives us, DLo and Jules. If you don't think the FO was trying to create 2max (with a 2-3m paycut each) to keep Jules this last summer, then I'm not sure we have anything to discuss. Using DLo among others, to create room for 2max players, while tampering for Paula, while offering a QO to make Jules a RFA (@Alcindor I think you're mixing up what I'm saying with a QO vs an extension) all have something in common: Mintz. So if you're shielding the other party while denouncing us with the way that all played out, then again, I'm not sure we have anything to discuss. Weez: Lack of awareness? If anything, they are fully aware of how the media and fans are reacting. We need shooters: Shooters on a 1yr deal were far and none this last summer. Rumor had it that the Lakers were ready to pull on Bullock Dec. 15th (first available moment that we can trade nearly all our guys) but Detroit wanted to hold off till the deadline to see if they got better deals. Check Mus's stats - 73% of his offense comes from 3, which leads all centers. He also was top 5 among centers in 3pt attempts per game. Again, I'm not saying it was a great deal, but the FO showed they were willing to bend away from their vision of playmakers to take the ball more out of Bron's hands. Made Luke a lame duck coach: since Mag/Rob took over, Luke's been on the job 2 seasons. After Magic admonished Luke for our defensive effort, LA climbed into the top 10 after we had hemorrhaged away points in the first 5 games of the season. Beas sonned or bro'd Luke and the FO swiftly moved on it. They tried to also muzzle and revoke Lavar's press access last year. Again, the FO is aware that the fans/media are trying to have Luke look in a negative light when it comes to our FO/Bron. They've done what they could, including giving a roster to Luke advocating small ball. Kb24, fab4, Weez, Savs and anybody that's willing to listen: If anything, yall need to be made aware, the best records in the NBA have not been elite shooting 3pt teams. Also historically no one beats the Dubs in the postseason by outshooting them. That's facts. Jules wanted out and although his situation is unique with the AD stuff, he hasnt really made a difference defensively for the Pels. DLo is being used like a high usage star and still the Nets wouldn't make the playoffs out West. TB hasn't really pushed the needle for Washington. Zu's played 5 more minutes per game for the cLips and if Zu gets an offer sheet this summer, how much of a strain would that put on the cLips to match if free agents are still deliberating on committing to the cLips. All these guys are putting up good numbers this year and would definitely make solid complimentary pieces here, but I still take BI over any of them...and most definitely AD over any of them. Plus there is that max slot to fill. You guys want to bury the FO even though DLo, Jules, Zu and TB are distance memories. Hey, if that's what works for yall...who am I to tell y'all otherwise. But our FO put together a stop gap roster that might have made the playoffs and played the spoiler if good health permitted it. They tried to present it nicely with the playmaker spiel, but it was a stopgap roster. The real magic occurs after we lock in our core...and that obviously hasnt happened yet. If they want to lockup playmakers on multi-year deals (more options available than guys willing to take 1yr deals) after we secure a 2nd max guy, then I think reinventing the wheel will look a whole lot better than it did this season.
Yes, these might be facts. I can name you a fact like: The best team in the NBA is the best shooting team in the NBA. What does that or the other facts prove? Not much IMO because of the sample size. Three pointers are being taken because they have proven to be better by pretty much every analytic metrics. You can simply produce more points per possession. And it has led to a movement that most NBA teams have embraced. And if you look across the NBA...most playoff teams are good 3 point shooting teams and most lottery teams are mediocre or bad three point shooting teams. With regard to 3 point shooting...there is also a huge difference between being a great 3 point shooting team and being absolutely terrible and unable to hit the water sitting in a boat. You might be getting away with bad 3 point shooting if you are amazing at something else but when you are average at some things and terrible at some things you end up where we are...in the lottery. Same applies to FT shooting. We lost so many games this season simply by failing at the line repeatedly. I can count at least 5 games. Can you afford to give away 5 games? If you are the Warriors yes, if you are a fringe playoff team, hell no. They have one summer to clean things up. One summer only. If we see brainless moves being continued and rolled over to 2020....and Buss still holds on to Magic...then I will only be interested if the Lakers get a new owner with an IQ that is at least higher than the room temperature (in celcius).
It really only boils down to this for me. This season was a failure, team was terribly constructed, trade deadline was a disaster, our medical staff is clearly not very good, even if it means protecting players from themselves, Luke wasn’t the right coach for the job but has been left to coach as a lame duck since like 8 games in. But, they still landed LeBron so that was a huge get. We have every right to criticize the poor decisions of this FO right now, and there are many, but this was always a 2 summer plan. If they land a 2nd star like Kawhi or Kyrie, if we manage to hang onto our best kids (IMO Lonzo and BI), and then they put together a competent roster around them this time with shooters, all will be forgotten and the FO will have learned from mistakes, grown and moved on to being trustworthy. Hell, I’d be happy to land players like Butler, Walker, or Vucevic, a shooter like Bojan Bogdanovic, I would be pleased with the FO showing a plan to move forward and try to progress to a PLAYOFF team, to walk before we run, to truly start to build something where even if it doesn’t work we have assets worth something to move to try again. What we cannot do is strike out, LeBron may have come here half for basketball and half for Hollywood, but he’s still not going to put up with a garbage roster and the final years of his prime wasted, and he shouldn’t be expected to, because he joined knowing we had cap space and a plan to get better. It’s bleak now, but the FO can learn from their mistakes if they get that self-awareness I spoke of earlier (maybe accountability is a better word?) realize they don’t know it all and maybe get together more as entire group (President, GM, scouts, analytics people, etc) and learn from eachother to try and make this team the best it can be. All hope is not lost yet, my faith in the FO is very shaken, but this summer is huge, and they can still pull some magic off, no pun intended.
Sums up the situation very well. Mistakes have been made across the board, and this summer represents the opportunity to create an inflection point in the downward trajectory of our organization. You hit the nail on the head when you said that striking out is not an option. I like to think that our FO learned this lesson the hard way, but only time will tell.
If we whiff on the big K’s in FA, I’d be thrilled with Vucevic and Boggy, with a hopeful trade of BI/Kuz/Hart/lotto pick for AD. Does that work financially? Lonzo Boggy Lebron AD Vucevic
I swear , like we used to say Mitch used his magic wand, that’s what this FO will have to pull off, a miracle (no biblical pun regarding Pelinka intended).
Kb24: We can tread the current or turn the tide. I rather change course than conform to the norm. @Magic Skywalker had an endearing post in another thread and it's becoming apparent that fans find how the game is being played unbecoming. Yeah, we could get more shooting, but once the 2nd max slot gets locked up, you can start to target free agent shooters that are not just limited to the 1yr stopgap variety. But I rather get grimy defensive smashmouth players to round out our roster, particularly when you consider that we can cast a wider net targeting those type of players who aren't also limited to just 1yr cap rollovers. The key is locking up that 2nd max slot with a title contending core piece. Imho, stop with the Golden State model...and reinvent the wheel rather than doing what the next team is doing. Shooting is an art...but the game has turned to trash, cause the mid-range and the back2basket game is equally beautiful to watch. Plus they absolutely neutered defense. That being said, I agree with the free throw shooting. That has to change for the better...but recall it was the FO that wanted Luke to add shooting coach to his staff...and we all know how that turned out. Weez: your take is completely reasonable and I agree, something needs to hit this summer. I do fear that we could see 1yr retreads in that most of the free agents this summer can make more money if they take a 1+1 deal this summer. That could lead to more cap rollover contracts again, but the silver lining is that whoever we pair with Bron will allow us to observe it within a 1yr trial window. If it dont work, AD in 2020 if He hasn't already been rerouted to us by then. I understand fans will be upset with that scenario, but again imho it's the smart approach to do with our books. Punk: that scenario is possible as long as Bogs and Vuc agree to split the 30-33m in cap space we have and we trade for AD using the 5-8m in remaining cap to absorb that contact after they do.
