WMC 24-25: Seasonal Highs And Lows!

1. i still think getting a ring was worth it. all those draft picks are on max contracts right now and not winning s***.
2. i also fear the bridge plan post-lebron, but it happens to everyone. i do think we need to start taking asset management seriously next year. and i think the FO has some leverage now. AD and lebron got to play gm, and they screwed the pooch. time to let the professionals handle the next round.

we just need to have enough around for when luka forces his way out.

 

Abeer: I admit I don't read all the off-season speculations that get printed in the Morning Dish, Hot Take, or LA Times, much less ESPN. But can you link just ONE article so I can get started on revising my ideas? If Pelinka is just a functionary now and Lebron and AD run the show, this is a HUGE story as the Lakers continue to have a non-playoff-worthy season. It shows the superstars' hubris.

Also, NB: I don't think Vogel was involved in roster moves in the off-season. Again: I suspect Pelinka/Buss asked for his input.

Your points about Melo and Russ and the catastrophic performance on D are very well taken.

My gawd I'd give my left nut for Derozan instead of Russ at this point.

 

You'd have the exact same issues with Derozan as you do with Russ. He doesn't space the floor and he doesn't defend that well. The reason why Derozan looks so good is because he is the first option with free reign, with great 3&D guys around him.

If he was here, he'd be regulated to a third option, looking for mid range jump shots and having to tackle the best wings on defence, which he isn't equipped for.

 

not sure i agree at all there. westbrook's defensive issues aren't speed-related. and our best perimeter defender (reaves) isn't exactly lightning out there.

defense is about focus and effort. shane battier wasn't a great athlete and was one of the best defenders in the league for a decade.

the only speed problems are mental, imo. save or maybe melo. he can't get to spots even if he wants to/knows to. but monk and westbrook are plenty fast enough to get places, they simply don't. lebron, too, for that matter.

i think some of howard's comments were aimed directly at lebron and AD, tbh. even AD has been taking some plays off defensively, which is not at all what he's been like for his full career. it's like the two of them really thought adding another big name would just make it so they didn't have to try as hard. but you still do. the hope is that you don't have to try so hard for 42 minutes per game, but that requires trying just as hard as you ever did for 33mpg.

 

good dodge, kcp.

though that reporter might eat those words in a couple months, on both sides. i don't expect washington to continue to be this good or us this bad.

i will say that we have enough data to suggest that kuz, kcp, and trez are vindicated and didn't deserve all the crap they caught from laker fans last year.

all of them are basically the same guys, too. it's not like anything changed (e.g., lonzo learning how to shoot after he left).


trez, in particular, is averaging 17/8 in 28 minutes and is a general positive in all metrics (just as he was here, btw--he was a great MLE pickup). i still don't know why we chose to use him like we did. i'd imagine he's pissed, and he's not wrong to be.

schroder's wrong to be pissed at us, but trez isn't.

 

The moments of joy have become more and more a rarity as a Lakers fan these latest 10 years .

We became a normal NBA franchise .

It sucks and the future doesn't look too promising either

 

We just won a Championship a little over a year ago. SMH

 

Sure but since 2012

1 title
1 WCSF
2 1st round exits
6 seasons without playoffs

This isn't Lakers material despite the title .

 

i don't get it. that's still way better than pretty much any team's worst decade.

the problem was that we briefly thought building through the draft was a good idea. it was not. i don't think we'll make that mistake again.

 

Balance of superstars + young role players who compliment them to build team chemistry. This franchise heavily swayed towards pleasing Lebron instead and completely lost the plot. Again, he's the longest tenured since he got here in 2018, that shows he's turned it into a clown show right now. Young role players who compliment him were necessary. TBH Lebron is a pretty hard guy to play alongside with long term, we had rare pieces in KCP, AC and Caruso who could do that. But of course LeGM

 

Man this guy has been to the Finals in 10 out of the last 12 years, on 3 different teams! What are you even talking about...hard to get along with? You seem to have a big Lebron James hater issue. I guess you were happy as a lark with the youth experience before he signed right?

 

That's why we signed Lebron and went in another direction.

 

KCP was inconsistent as hell offensively during his lakers tenure but he shot the lights out in the bubble and actually played D. and harrell was an excellent spark off the bench last season before he became unplayable in the postseason due to his awful defense. he has every right to be pissed at the lakers for the whole drummond thing, but lakers fans should hold no ill will towards either of these guys

kuzma, on the other hand, never lived up to his potential after a stellar rookie season. he showed flashes of what he was capable of, but he played poorly more often than not. it was painful watching him in the playoffs last year. he always came off as one of those guys who would thrive outside LA because of all the pressure that came with being a laker, so not surprising at all to see him playing so well in washington. he wouldn't have been playing this well if he was still a laker

 

but he's really not playing much better in washington than he did here. people just aren't asking him to be a star/third scorer. your post is sort of proving my point: the same play elsewhere is good. here it was (supposedly) junk.

 

We can be critical all we want of KCP and Kuz, but bottom line is, last year’s team was championship material when healthy. That’s all that matters.

 

All I know is our record wouldn’t be any worse if we had AC, KCP, and Kuz this season. Trez was good offensively but just awful on D. Also, we wouldn’t be weighed down with this massive anchor that is Westbrick’s contract. We could have flipped any of those role guys, at any point of the season, for a player who actually fits alongside LeBron and AD.

 

funny thing is that trez has never once statistically graded out as a bad defender. there are some matchups that can exploit him, but most teams on most nights did not.

 

You're not a Laker fan, you're a Lebron fan who's bandwandgonning it.

Look at the revolving door of teammates since his late Miami days (and especially his 2nd CLE stint). Whatever team hes on, there's always plenty of issues with roster construction, coaching problems and poor teammates according to his fans but they have to come to terms that the common denominator in all that dumpster fire is Lebron.

He wouldn't have reached that many NBA finals if he was out West. Its the big boys conference and Lebron is on pace to not get out of the first round 3 out of the 4 years hes been out West. There's a reason it was called (L)eastern Conference where Lebron had cupcake level competition in comparison to the West.