I really believe in continuing to back Rob THROUGH THIS SUMMER. But don't sign something until this season pans out because this is the most important summer/season of his tenure here. This is a "redemption" summer or a "4 total failures out of 5 with a superstar loaded team for 4 of them" season he is facing. 1 championship is NOT ENOUGH FOR WHAT WE HAVE GIVEN. WE started the sacrifice in 2013 with lotto year after lotto year building draft assets 2013-LOTTO 2014-LOTTO 2015-LOTTO 2016-LOTTO 2017-LOTTO 2018-LOTTO after 5 years we add Lebron, granted with no one to pair with him in 2018 the no-playoffs seasons continued. That summer we add AD 2019- WIN NBA FINALS 2020- LOSE FIRST ROUND SUNS (2-4)We add 3 centers none of whom fit in for the CONSTANTLY injured AD: Gasol, Drummond, Montrezl. We almost sign the hardly MLE-worthy Schroder to a massive 84mil deal (Rob escapes HUGE bullet) we fill up on guys like Wesley Matthews, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, THT, Ben McLemore, Alfonzo McKinnie, with the only players of substance being Caruso, KCP, Kuzma and LBJ (who was out 27 games). 2021- LOTTO - Rob assembles sharpshooting roster from 3. Team averages .347 from 3 and plays horrible defense. Westbrook leads the way. We have suffered 8 out of 9 years. 7 out 9 of those years had guys with names like Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash on the roster We are definitely owed more (as Laker fans)
The caveat here is that, all those big names missed significant time due to injuries. We are simply not going to win if the big guns aren't available to play. It kills every thing you planned on. We at least won a chip with a healthy Lebron and AD..it should be blatantly obvious that they were more important than the makeup of the supporting cast. It's extremely hard to manufacture a roster that is going to overcome James and Davis playing in less than 30 games. I like this roster make up so far, I wouldn't be depressed if we went into training camp as is. Bryant and Jones gives us more youth at 5, with different skill sets to compliment AD. Bryant can play the Mar Gasol role... a stretch 5 on offense that can defend the paint decently. Jones is the traditional 5..defend the paint and run the floor for lobs and boards. We only had 2 wings that were decent last season. Reaves and Johnson. Guys with size that could compete on defense, fill the lanes on the break, and bring some energy and a lil athleticism overall. Now we have 4..Reaves,Brown, JTA and Walker. All young, similar sizes, has some athleticism, and should be hungry. Beverly is an upgrade over Avery on both offense and defense. Nunn is a dynamic scorer that can give us a solid 20-25 mins a game. The backcourt and wings are better this season IMO. The wildcards are Gabriel, Huff, and Swider. Size,Length, youth, and have specific skills that can be of use. Gabriel is long, moves pretty good, he might not play much but I like the versatility of having a kid that can guard 3/4/5 in spots for stretches of a game. Swider can shoot, he's 6'9, if he can knock down shots in camp against these guys, he can be a useful player. Same with Huff...long, can shoot the 3 and competes and will block shots in the paint. These guys might only get 10-15 minutes and probably get some DNP on a lot of nights, but they can be useful in some matchups or fill in for a time if injuries occur. It goes without saying that Bron, Anthony and Russ, need to be on their A game all season, but I'm not as down on these other guys as some.
I like Gabriel, Huff and Swider, all three have something to offer. Been watching Huff for awhile and if Swider can develop a couple other areas beside shooting he will be valuable. I wouldn't have an issue starting with what we have either. I'm a broken record but I want to see what Ham can do. Beverly, Nunn and Reaves give us some solid defense. I know Nunn is still a question mark.
You have to go all in when you have LeBron on the team. I like the guys you mentioned as well but it's not the right mentality when you have a 38+ year old star.
It's easy to say Rob failed. It's not so much he failed but he just isn't good at this job. Jeanie isn't willing to take on salary for mid tier players which is fine but it means the Lakers team has to stay stagnant. So, getting salary drops from other teams without having to give draft capital is a no-no. Lakers need to grow a pair and just say we are going into next year with the current team. If someone comes in at the last second and makes a killer deal, just say that it changed at the last minute and we got a deal we never thought we would get and changed our minds. I don't understand why so many people cant just be truthful in the process and not passive aggressive morons.
If there isn't a good trade available what is the alternative? Another bad trade isn't going to help.
If Rob wants to change his narrative. He tells Westbrook to stay home until his contract runs out at the end of the year or they do a deal at the deadline.
yeah, i've been pretty vocal about this the past week or so: you can't just not play russ. he has to at least be given a chance with a new coach before he's asked to leave. i don't see how he can be worse than last year, and i don't see how anything could drop his trade value. he could have a career ending injury. he could slap a fan. he could be exposed as a ranking member of a mexican cartel. none of this would make him worth any less in trade. if we can't move him, we have to try to extract something out of that 50 million we're paying. and maybe that something ends up being 20mpg off the bench. and maybe then he pouts his way to john wall territory. but we can't just put him there to start.
This But I've also predicted he'll actually be our best player this year. Not that it's a good thing, but I do believe it may turn out that way due to age and softness of the other top players on our team. Russ has had an entire long offseason to rethink his approach to the game, has a new coach, and a fresh start. If we don't have a killer deal in the works, I think he plays 30+ min a game, and depending on our record, we reevaluate our options at the All Star Break.
i'm fine with it. not happy, but fine. it's clear rob tried to move him, and it's clear everyone was trying to rook us in every single deal.
Agreed, you can't make a trade just to make a trade. The correct alternative for me would be to play the young guys you mentioned and bring Russ off the bench or send him home until a trade partner is found at the deadline. There are reports that Ham has the ability to bring him off the bench or send him home, let's see if that's true. At the end of day, we have an inexperienced GM that is good at negotiating salaries but not draft capital.
i think you start him and ask him to play differently than last year (especially on defense). if that doesn't work, bench. if that doesn't work OR he pouts, fine, send him home.
….. and that tells every team in the league Russ will not change his desired and declining style of play or be good with coming off the bench. Good luck with the dollar value of that next contract. See this is the leverage (I) think we have with him this year that of course Vogel and staff did not this past season.
