yeah, the westbrook trade has so far turned out to be more of a negative. he's been playing like his usual self as of late but still doesn't change the fact that they had to sacrifice the defense in order to bring him in and that's made all the difference. still amazes me how a team with 3 superstars manages to play this poorly.
The thing is the Russ trade would be fine if Rob didn't botch free agency. Had he kept AC and brought on 2 SFs with min deals and 10 guards instead of 12, I don't think we'd be having nearly the number of issues we're having today. Is AC or a real SF going to get our two best players to play like they're capable of? No. But but when you clean up two HUGE glaring weaknesses, other issues become easier to bandaid or easier to overcome until they get their s*** together. As I said in another thread, I like most of our signings if you're looking at them individually and not in the context of the team or building a functioning roster. But even under the best circumstances it required all pieces to fit, play well, and stay healthy. Clearly that hasn't happened. Everyone has been hurt. Baze is trash. And we can't even get Frank's starting unit on the court.
the roster looks good on paper until you realize most of them are 3 pt specialists in their 30s who don't play a lick of defense
Did Rob botch free agency? I am sure the edict to not sign Caruso came down from the top and he didn't have a choice. As for the sfs, I'm not sure who was available that would have signed for the minimum that was worth even that. Maybe there was, but I don't recall any that were any good willing to take the minimum. When you have only one contact available over the league minimum, it's hard to fill out the roster. We as Laker fans like to believe people take less to come here, but the reality is when you sign minimum players, you get minimum contributions. This falls at the feet of Lebron and AD. They wanted the third star, and Lebron is smart enough to know (not sure about AD) the only way to get that done is to send out everything not nailed to the floor.
Bembry- partially guaranteed deal, Nets James Johnson-Nets Otto Porter-GS Ennis- still available Or if we used the mid level to address that need instead of signing a guard we may never see on the court... Torrey Craig-Pacers Jeff Green-DEN Mo Harkless- Kings David Nwaba- Rockets
This should have been our team: Westbrook/Caruso/Reaves/THT/Ennis/LeBron/AD/Damian Jones/Dwight/Melo. Then see if it's possible to add Ariza/Porter, Nunn/Monk or Ellington, but only 1 "small" guy of those 3. Better? I think so.
At this point I’d just like to see Reaves play period. He was available to go, why was he a DNP Vogel? We could REALLY use him about now. We need some size, youth and smarts out there. I don’t care if he starts or not, just give the kid some PT!!
Would we have had more than minimum contracts if we hadn’t signed Russ? I hold Rob responsible for not telling Bron and AD no but I know how the NBA works for star players. So Rob get 20% blame, while Bron and AD get 80%. I agree that Rob wanted to keep Caruso, so that choice falls at the feet of Buss.
Them not going after Porter made no sense compared to the Nunn add. You had Westbrook, Lebron, THT who can all initiate offense. K9, Nunn, Monk, Wellington are all small. Would have dropped one of the non MOnk contracts on Porter. Team would make a whole lot more sense
Otto Porter was the most obvious choice for the minimum or heck even the MLE...still boggles my mind that we went and signed 10,000 guards after trading for Westbrook. Now we have a logjam of mediocre guards...go figure.
Rudy Gay was another great option alongside Otto Porter Jr. This would all be a lot better if we had one of them and a healthy Ariza.
No, we wouldn't have had more than minimum contracts. But the point is we would have had actual depth. I get trading away depth for a second star or a first star since you need two stars to win championships, but if you have AD and Lebron, depth is more important than a third star. I know it's the Eastern Conference, but the Wizards are third in the East right now, and they're doing it with guys that we had under contract. And I think 20% is way too much blame to put on Rob for not standing up to Lebron. No one stands up to Lebron and lives to tell about it. Well, I guess Riley did when Lebron wanted Spoelstra fired early in Miami, but Riley is also part owner and, well, he's Pat Riley. But Standing up to Lebron probably means there is no Rob and the new GM does what Rob did anyway.
