I'm not really hopeful about Knecht, Vando, Bronny, - the data points don't look good (knecht end of the year/summer league, Vando playoffs again, or in Bronny's case he's probably still a year or two away) I think there is a very good chance LaRavia is one of those guys who will shine as he just needed a situation where he needed more minutes. His production and eye test are good for the minutes he's played. I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's a very good chance he moves ahead of Rui in the rotation as he's going to be more consistent defensive player Kleber - maybe his career trajectory doesn't look good at his age but some these have a renaissance 1-2 years before retirement. It would be really helpful Gabe - I hate watching him (i'm sure he's a nice guy off the court) but honestly just hate watching this dude. But if you're looking for a missing piece to a true title contention this guy is way more critical than I want him to be. A PG who can defend other quick guys, score at times, and take the ball pressure load off AR is something the Lakers really need. Sigh
I'm a bit more optimistic about Vando, myself. First time healthy in like 2 years, I remember him wreaking havoc on other players defensively in the past and he became one of my favorites. If you restrict his playing time to 15 mpg or so he can be brought in to do some high energy defense and boards. I think Knecht is glued to the bench with the arrival of LaRavia and I'm ok with that. Bronny has shown some growth and I could see him getting a little more of a shot this year, maybe taking a few of Gabe's minutes in the regular season. I'm quietly optimistic about Kleiber just as you are. I think with good health this year he and Hayes can share that backup 5 position and Maxi could even be inserted as a 4 at times possibly. He can stretch the floor a bit. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the current roster and I'm looking forward to seeing how the new guys fit in (Ayton, Smart, LaRavia). I believe we've bolstered some of the weak spots we had last year with their additions (real starting center, POA guard defense and a shot making, defensive minded big wing to take the place of DFS). A healthy Vando and Kleiber are nice additions as well.
i'll echo the sentiment that the most interesting player heading into camp for me is gabe. as panko said--in theory, we could really use the best version of gabe. and jj seemed to like him, so i'm guessing he'll get his shot to prove he can be part of the rotation. if he can basically be a modern derek fisher for 20mpg, it really helps us.
surprised this wasn't bumped. who starts with lebron (and smart) out? rui, obviously, who was probably going to start even with smart 100%. so now who's the 5th? i'm going vando. ayton/rui/luka/vando/reaves first sub at 6 minutes is hayes/gabe/laravia for vando/ayton/reaves? or is that too much at once? it's weird how we seemed to have one too many guys in the rotation and now we have one too few before the ball has even been tossed. guess that happens most years, though.
Yeah, quite a turnaround from expectation to reality this offseason. Yeah, it will be between Vando and LaRavia. I guess Vando gets it as a prize for being in good shape this preseason and to motivate him for the full year. Would rather go with LaRavia because I like Vando's energy off the bench, but indeed he's a better fit for the rotation schemes. Vando should play more minutes with Ayton than Hayes, so it's better if he starts What if Smart is healthy? I would still have him off the bench as he ramps up, but he may start
I think LaRavia gets the nod because of his shooting. Luka Reaves LaRavia Rui Ayton Honestly that starting lineup isn’t so much worse than the one Luka took to the finals with Kyrie, DJJ, PJ and Lively. We then have Gabe, Smart, Vando, Hayes off the bench. They’re a defensive orientated, high energy unit that will play really hard. I think we’ll all be surprised how far Slim Boy Luka and Summer’s Best in the Gym Austin take us. People will be calling to trade Lebron and build around our two gun slingers.
I think we are worse in every position. But I get the point, it's a solid 5. Thing is the West is a juggernaut. I think even with an MVP Luka we are still fighting Clippers/Warriors/some surprise. While I had us above Rockets and Wolves with an healthy Bron. It will be tough to be in the top6 with Bron missing around a quarter of the season right off the bat. But here we are and we are definitely in a better position to hold our ground now than with AD. Really hope Rui and Ayton start strong. I'm sure AR does his part, as well as Luka. It's up to the other guys
What if... Smart was the initial starter in JJ's head in Rui's slot. And now with Bron's injury is actually Vando who replaces him. You get the optimal Luka build and bring Gabe, Rui and LaRavia off the bench. Hayes and Knecht play a few minutes too. Luka AR Smart Vando Ayton I like it. It's closer to how we will play in the upcoming years.
I tend to agree with you, but to play devils advocate for a moment. Lots of those players weren’t considered good until they played with Luka. PJ was having his role diminished in Charlotte. Defensively he is better than Rui, but he is nowhere near the finisher or shooter that Rui is. I’d like to see what a full season with Luka looks like. Lively although talented is a 24 min player that has averaged 40 games a season. He is a 13/11 with 2 blocks per 36 center. Ayton in the seasons he had an all time playmaker was 18/11 with 1.5 blocks and plays above average interior defense. I actually think Ayton is the healthier, more athletic and talented player here. Just have to see if his mental and physical click here. Kyrie is better than Reaves. But Reaves is a sub all star that’s going to give you 20/5/5 (maybe more with LeBron out). He is in his peak seasons so let’s see what kind of running mate he can be for Luka. DJJ was great with Luka, but they got him off the rubbish heap for the minimum. So I don’t think it’s ridiculous to think LaRavia can look fantastic alongside Luka as well. When we go to the bench; Gabe and Tim Hardaway are comparable, Smart & Vando are better than Exum or Grant Williams, Hayes isn’t that much worse than Gafford to be fair. And we also have Kleber the chosen one on our team. I don’t think our team is that much worse than theirs, without taking into consideration LeBron. I think OKC and Houston will be above us in the standings as they’ll just play hard due to their age every single night. We’re in that next section with Denver and the Wolves - all solid teams. After that it’s GSW, Clippers, Spurs - who are either too old, too injured or too young. I think Dallas, Grizzlies, Kings and Portland are outside the top 8.
The 5th starter is going to be interesting. We're going to have to do a lot of mixing & matching. If Vando, could hit a shot, I would just go in that direction, which they still might, but IDK. Guess we'll see soon.
might be an interesting fit. We may not need his offense with the other projected starting 4 (No including Lebron)