2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

Writers at the Athletic pitched their best offers to Detroit for Grant based on the teams linked to him. Gives you an idea of what kind of offers we're probably competing with. And note this was pre-Knicks trade. Think getting Cam might take them out of the market for another wing, which is good for us.

Trade offer: Lakers receive Jerami Grant, Pistons receive Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Kent Bazemore and a 2027 first-round pick

Trade offer: Portland receives Jerami Grant, Detroit receives Norman Powell and Ben McLemore

Trade offer: Washington receives Jerami Grant, Pistons receive Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Thomas Bryant, 2025 lottery-protected first-round pick (or two years after a draft-pick-owed commitment to OKC is settled, whichever occurs first)

Trade offer: New York receives Jerami Grant, Detroit receives Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Obi Toppin, NYK 2022 first-round pick (top-10 protected)

 

It's all about fit and maximizing our rapidly closing window. No time for him to get where he needs to get to on a Bron team.

 

Latest from Marc Stein on some rumors...

Regarding Grant

Kings looking to deal

Mavs would like to get in on some of the bigger deadline names but need to dump Hardaway

Thunder still need to spend $20m this season and will take your bad contracts if you're willing to give them picks

 

hield/barnes/bagley/basically any other player works for simmons/harris. i think it's a good deal for sac, and not a bad one for philly, considering how far they tanked simmons's value.

 

I really hope we don’t trade away either Nunn or THT. We don’t even know what Nunn looks like with this group of guys. What if he meshes seamlessly with LeBron and relegates Russ to coming off the bench? It could change a lot of things. I do agree that THT and Russ are a bad fit together, but why choose the younger, cheaper player with much more promise to get rid of when the problem is the other guy who could be gone this summer? It makes zero sense. Since I’m of the belief that there isn’t a trade to be had that will significantly improve our team’s biggest issue this season(defense), so we should hold on to all of our young, talented pieces until a home run deal presents itself.

 

Gotta agree as well. My only hope is that someone will take on RW's expiring contract next year. Personally, I think AD should take the rest of the year off and really try to heal his body. This halfway there approach is not working. Take the year off, tank the rest of the season, move Russ in the off season as an expiring contract but replace him in the lineup now with THT with the hope that he might figure a few things out and catch fire. I am hoping we can keep Monk and his defense begins to improve under Vogel. Then try to improve our team for next year.

 

I'm not ready to go there with AD, I think he cares a lot about the game and does not want to represent badly. He walks the company line from what I can tell. Don't see him as a lazy wanna be at all. I just think he has not been able to stay healthy and has a bod prone to breaking down. Whether he can ever get to a point where he can play the game consistently or not is the question. He has had lingering issues for a couple of years now and just needs to get healthy if he can.

 

Nunn could be a top 10 level player for the rest of the season and even then we're not benching Russ. That's not an option.

Nunn is too much of an IF at this point. If he comes in and does this or does that. Season is half way over. He still will have to ramp up and get his conditioning right. If we can package him for any kind of help on the wing, i do it without hesitating. Same reason I'm not holding my breath that Ariza if going to be who we thought he was going to be before he got hurt. I'm not willing to let us keep rolling with the same limited perimeter defense. There's the IF with Ariza too. What IF he's ready to take on the role we had him slotted for when the playoffs roll around. Ok, what if he's not? Then it's solely on Johnson assuming he sticks. That's way too big of a risk.

I don't think we will move Russ this summer either. There's not a market for him. I think we're stuck with him and have to make it work until this contract runs its course. As mixed of a bag as it's been, no way I pick a THT over him. THT is an overrated, overpaid project by Laker fans. He could be really good... one day. It's not going to be here. Bron, Rob, and Vogel made a critical miscalculation with where they thought he'd be development wise this season. It impacted our roster construction to painful levels. He doesn't fit with our guards and can't shoot. Bron isn't going to wait on him either.

Not doing whatever it takes to maximize your chances these next couple years is a grave mistake. When Bron leaves, so does our ability to compete for a championship for awhile. AD isn't able to be that guy and can't stay healthy enough for us to rely on him. There's no promises that other star we eventuality bring in will work out either. Outside of Kobe and to a much lesser extent if you want to include Fish and Bynum, we bring our top players on our contending teams in from trades and FA. Our homegrown crop has served as a trade chip. That's the LA way and it just so happens to coincide with the Bron way.

Even if Grant only increases our odds 5% and we're a 6th seed, I make that all assets in trade for him without pause. That's because in a 7 game series, if we're healthy, I trust our formula of Bron + AD + Vogel. If we can get there healthy, I think we have a puncher's chance against anyone. But I know that's not enough, they can't do it alone. You need to beef up the perimeter D and flip some of the dead weight at the end of the bench for players capable of at least being an 8th man on a playoff team.

 

If hypothetically AD hadn’t hurt his groin last year, getting to the second round instead of the first round may have actually been the difference between a first round exit and a championship… If we had got past Phoenix, we’d have injury depleted Nuggets and Clips in the next two rounds.

So I can’t agree with this take. I think Grant would totally be a difference maker. He is exactly what our team needs on paper. No he doesn’t suddenly make us an obvious championship favorite, but he tangibly improves our chances.

Turning down Grant, feels like it would be turning down a double just because it’s not a home run. Taking a knee to lose the game at your 20 yard line, instead of picking up the 30 yard reception that puts you in viable position for a Hail Mary.

I agree that THT will eventually grow into a better player than he is now, but I would be surprised if he develops into as good of a player as Grant within the rest of Lebron’s timeline (if ever).

 

Some positive news...

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com...update-timeline-mcl-sprain-return-date-lakers

 

So, you guys think by trading for Grant, everyone else around him is going to dramatically improve on defense? It doesn’t work that way. Yes, he would help, but we would still be playing a lot of guys who play below average defense because that’s all we got.

 

I would much rather have some young talent to build with once LeBron leaves than nothing at all. At least then you have the option to package them together for a very good, sub All Star type player.
If we can’t dump Russ this summer, there will be no way to build a well rounded, Championship quality team anyway.

 

You're right they won't and they don't have to. BUT you have to stop the bleeding of playing dwarfs at SF and then them also playing up to PF and small ball 5.

Baze was supposed be that guy along with a healthy Ariza and an emerging THT. Well guess what, Baze isn't rosterable. Ariza is in his final year...or 2 (that's really iffy) and coming back from ankle surgery. How long is it going to take him to get his legs and then his confidence? He has no faith in anything that's not a spot up 3 right now offensively and that's understandable. And THT ain't ready and is waaaay too small for the role they had slotted him into during the summer.

Our surest thing on the wing is a 10 day'er in Stanley Johnson. That's scary. I think he can be a big part of us correcting our off-season miscalculation, but he should not be starting in the playoffs and that's what we're looking for. A big, strong wing who isn't a liability offensively, can hit the 3 well enough to keep the D honest and cover the big wings around the league.

You can let Bron and Russ do all they want to do defensively (admittedly Bron will crank it up when he has to) and roam when you have AD in the middle and two defenders who can stick with their man in Grant and Bradley. Monk has been a neutral, so you could use him instead of AB depending on what kind of offensive punch we need when we're healthy.

I don't see how you or anyone can't see how 30+ minutes a game of something we don't have and are starving for as a team would drastically change what Vogel can do defensively with this team.

Package what young talent? We don't have picks. THT and AR in a couple years will not get you an all star reserve.

We tried the kids route. That was a bunch of feel good losses. Until the grown ups stepped in and Bron kicked the door in and got us a ring WITHOUT the NBA toddlers.

 

I didn’t say All Star reserve- I meant a level below All Star. You have no idea how Nunn, THT, and Reeves will perform the next few years. Picks can be recouped from other teams. We will still have AD as well.
Big names get moved every year and having these young guys to package with AD isn’t a terrible offer.
Many devalued our young group before, but we flipped them for AD.

 

assuming we won't tinker much before the deadline, apart from probably picking up a buyout or two, Rob is going to have to pull some miracles at the end of the season to get rid of Westbrook and get us contending again.

 

THT...

 

I wish...