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

We literally have 5 guards on the roster.

And 3 of them are on expiring deals, right?

 

Russ definitely wasn't the only problem with the team last year. No way around it, a lot of guys on the team last year just shouldn't have been on the court.

I do think we are better, I just wonder how much the improvements will show up in the win / loss column.

And despite my pessimism and criticisms of the roster and the front office, I would be thrilled to watch us come out strong and rack up some early wins including against the Clippers and Warriors.

 

LOL.

I really like to be optimistic but the team isn't giving me much to work with right now.

Ham's got his work cut out for him.

 

Me either. You should listen to Vinay's YouTube from last night. Was solid.

 

actually, all 5 are. because the entire roster aside from AD and lebron are expiring. again.

 

We seem to be automatically slotting teams based on the assumption, that they will have their best players on the court. At the same time, we are diminishing the impact of us having our own. James and Davis are still the best duo in the West IMO. Granted this is a show me season in that regard.

The Clippers didn't make the playoffs but now they are contenders just because Kawhi and George are back? Golden State was just in the lottery last season. I have a hard time believing that a healthy James and Davis, are a 7th-8th team in the West.

 

Yeah, I don't get the roster construction.

This makes no sense.

 

I'll check that out today.

 

you have to assume health across the board. if you do, it's very easy to make the case that pretty much every team above us a) has a good one-two punch and b) has a MUCH stronger supporting cast. most of them have also played together for multiple years. picking us ahead of them isn't really defensible.

the clippers, denver, phx, and gs are essentially returning the same teams with two of them (den and lac) returning allstars to the floor.

put it this way, post in a neutral forum that you expect the lakers, as currently constituted, to beat out any of those teams, and i think you'd get some serious pushback.

 

the clippers are probably the deepest team in the NBA. they made the play-in game last season without kawhi and PG, so yeah, they're 100% title contenders if those two can stay healthy (massive if)

 

just go down the rosters of those teams and ask yourself how many of their players would be our third or fourth best player? it's depressing.

 

It’s all this guy sees. Literally nothing else matters to him. Giving away great fitting players for I’ll fitting ones, having all your money tied up in three players, hiring bad coaches, putting ineffective GMs in charge, throwing away young talent because they don’t fit LeGM’s “timeline,” being cheap on good players and then throwing stupid money at bad ones. Nope! None of that matters! “As long as you have LeGM and AD on the floor surrounded by G-League players, you are guaranteed a Championship!”

 

There is no point in bringing up facts or rationalizing with someone who is completely irrational.

 

Yes, I think most of us are assuming good health for all the teams out there. Injuries could and would change things.

The difference between us and the other teams, IMO, is depth and shooting. We lack on both fronts and absent some real leaps in performance by multiple guys, I see that hurting us and our overall record.

 

Also, I'd say the Clippers will be in a good spot if they get even one of George and Kawhi back and playing well. I think they will find a way to not win as usual, but that's a well built roster.

 

lol, i keep forgetting the grizzlies!

i think we're with the mavs (brunson for wood is a slight downgrade, imo), wolves, and pelicans fighting for 6-9 as it stands.

i guess the "good news" is that okc, houston, SA, and utah are all going to be planning on losing all year.

 

mavs have luka so i'm going to put them above the lakers

i agree that it'll be a 3 team race between the lakers, wolves, and pelicans to determine those last few seeds. there's also portland but i'm not sure what to make of them

 

They still didn't make the playoffs. Just like we didn't

 

they made the play-in game and won 9 more games, which is a whole lot more than the lakers did. and they did it without both of their stars

but hey, the roster you surround your stars with means nothing