That’s a fairly disingenuous take. If it’s 3 games now, that projects to an 8 win difference. That could be the difference between a 2 seed and the play in. It also projects to someone that could make a huge difference in a playoff series. Role players and heart do matter. I noticed you tell a poster just yesterday that they clearly never played competitive basketball. I bit my tongue then, but I’d argue that important role players and heart are basic concepts that anyone who has played competitive ball would understand.
Understanding the value of role players, also leads to not overestimating the impact of their absence..We already have some good role players , some haven't played at all, others not much. I don't know for a fact that Monk, Tucker, Nunn or Reaves, won't have an even bigger impact on this team than Caruso, or any of the other guys that were here last year. I do know that last year's team, had their shot, and we lost in the first round. It might happen again, and then again it might not. So I'm all for who is here now, let them have their bite at the apple. I don't think any NBA players are lacking heart, if you did play, then you know that high level basketball isn't easy. To make it to the league period is an accomplishment, staying in the league and contributing on a team is even more so. Now again...on the subject of Caruso specifically, perhaps I just see it from a different viewpoint. I lived in Houston for 20 years, A&M is a local school, I already knew who Alex was before we drafted him. Plucky kid with surprising athleticism and good feet. That's who he was in college. I'm glad to see him do well, I guess I wasn't as shocked by it as others. Still 20 minutes a game can be replaced, and 25 million is a steep price to play for a 20 minute a game guy. That's my take...like him or not. I also still believe that the team made the right decision in picking Talen over Alex. Talen is 21, Alex is closing in on 28. Like him or not, he can be replaced. I don't think he was a critical must have.
Because Phoenix won 4 games. AD and Bron were hurt but that wasn't some undeniable reason not to move in a different direction. The tired point is that we were just fine as is last season. I disagree, it seems that the FO did too.
nailed it on the head right there. Role players like Caruso can mean being a 3-4 seed and having home court in the first round or being in the play in tournament. Caruso would have been the 4th or 5th most important player on this team (debatable who would be 4th, Melo or AC?) I suppose the most frustrating part with Nunn was we also spent our one on offseason free agency asset (the mid level) on him and he isn’t even on the injury report, he’s on the FBI missing persons report. Point is we spent our asset and got zero productivity and we won’t see him until February.
Possibly..or Nunn could be playing well in May and Caruso could be sidelined by injury. Who knows what will happen in the future, until it happens? Nobody is coming back, that ship sailed once they got moved. The same FO that put together the championship team, put this one together too. Now a popular player gets moved and the team hasn't fired red hot out of the gate. These people are all a sudden clueless? AD missed 30 games last season, we went 15-15.. I doubt he miss 30 with this injury, the season isn't over. I guess maybe, if they brought the entire Championship team back, we might have gotten out of the first round. Moot point..it didn't happen. What we have is what we have...lamenting over what could have been, doesn't change anything. These guys playing now deserve enough respect to see what they can do. Just like last year's team, and 30 games ain't it.
why does this team need respect? at this junction all the negative aspect of their gm remains n gotten worse, poor offense (bottom 5 in off efficiency just like last yr), poor ft shooting, consistently out rebounded, high TO, etc
Quit and follow another team. If you think all is lost, what's the point of watching? Plenty of games left to be played, nobody wins a chip in December
you're both looking great right now. and thank you for admitting that we lost because of injuries and not the supporting cast. which was obvious to everyone.
They're not being upfront about this. Did he have surgery? How the heck does a bone bruise in a knee keep a 26 year old out for 3 months? https://www.si.com/nba/lakers/news/kendrick-nunn-returns-from-covid-19-but-is-still-injured-ak1987
This was a pretty brutal blow. I wasn’t expecting him to be a total game changer but still I did think he would be a solid contributor. For him to be unavailable for half the season or more just sucks. I would definitely look to move him for a wing at this point if at all possible.
