That's a tough one... On one hand, quality backup bigs are important to eat the regular season minutes to help AD out and you want one who can step up and start when AD is out. There's some good shooters in the draft who are projected to be in our range-ish, can one of them replace Beas for a fraction of the cost? On the other, (regular season) starting caliber shooters who other team's respect are rare and expensive. You're not going to get one in FA in our price range. You don't just trip over those guys. And backup big men are the easiest position to fill on a roster, even late into the season. Depending on who the replacements are, I could get behind either move, just need the moves lined up before cutting either loose.
On the other hand the cheapo FO won't sign one until the last day of the season, and Ham won't play them anyway. Need someone that Ham is "supposed" to play, and need someone to get in his ear about using that 5 to load manage AD in-game, even just for some of the minutes w AD at 4 and Bamba or other C at 5.
something rob might have learned this year is that you can't give ham the option. if you want to play centers, you can't give him a bunch of guards. he'll play them. at center if necessary!
Got this done in time just before the game soon. It shows that Ham is still not good. In fact, these rotations are often pretty bad, until the end of the 4th, which is why it was an up and down game, basically tied until late in the 4th. Quick explanation why at the end. Although it was already obvious to us eyetest wise and for many games now. 4/16/23 Game 1 vs Memphis 1Q 12:00-5:30 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 6:30 +1 5:30-4:43 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 0:47 +3 4:43-2:41 DLo/Schroder/Brown/Rui/AD 2:02 +3 2:41-0:17 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/AD 2:24 -3 0:17-0:00 Schroder/Brown/Vando/Rui/AD 0:17 +1 2Q 12:00-9:40 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 2:20 +2 9:40-9:21 DLo/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 0:19 -1 9:21-7:38 DLo/Brown/Vando/Rui/LeBron 1:43 -5 7:38-5:37 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 2:01 +1 5:37-4:03 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 1:34 -6 4:03-2:34 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/Rui/AD 1:29 +0 2:34-1:15 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/LeBron/AD 1:19 +2 1:15-0:08 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron 1:07 -2 0:08-0:00 Schroder/Reaves/Vando/Rui/LeBron 0:08 -2 3Q 12:00-5:33 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 6:27 +3 5:33-4:52 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 0:41 -1 4:52-2:25 DLo/Schroder/Brown/Rui/AD 2:27 +6 2:25-0:00 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 2:25 +4 4Q 12:00-9:05 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 2:55 -7 9:05-7:51 Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 1:14 +0 7:51-6:03 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 1:48 +5 6:03-4:38 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 1:25 -2 4:38-0:30 DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 4:08 +14 0:30-0:00 Walker/Harrison/Christie/Gabriel/Bamba 0:30 +0 WHY IS HAM STILL PLAYING THESE STUPID STUPID CENTERLESS ROTATIONS?!?!?!?! AD was +27 for the game. Beast. Monster. Dominant. Total Stud. When he's out of the game, Ham plays Rui and LeBron at C, and the team suffers, -11. STOP DOING THIS HAM!!! Use Bamba, Thompson, maybe even Gabriel - stop playing LeBron and Rui at C! And when Vando is only doing okay - Play RUI with the starters! Don't wait until the very end of the game! This was a 2 pt game at the end of the 4th, with 4:38 left. Ham finally plays Rui with the starters, and the team goes +14 and destroys Memphis. DO THIS MORE! With just those 2 adjustments, the Lakers should obliterate Memphis tonight. Do I have faith that Ham will do this? I do not.
"With just those 2 adjustments, the Lakers should obliterate Memphis tonight. Do I have faith that Ham will do this? I do not." 4/19/23 Game 2 vs Memphis 1Q 12:00-5:40 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 6:20 -5 5:40-5:00 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 0:40 -2 5:00-4:19 Schroder/Reaves/Brown/Rui/AD 0:41 +3 4:19-2:51 DLo/Schroder/Brown/Rui/AD 1:28 -2 2:51-0:15 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 2:36 -5 0:15-0:00 Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron/AD 0:15 +0 2Q 12:00-8:54 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/LeBron 3:06 +0 8:54-6:21 Reaves/Beasley/Brown/LeBron/AD 2:33 +0 6:21-5:34 DLo/Reaves/Brown/Rui/AD 0:47 -4 5:34-3:21 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 2:13 +5 3:21-2:36 DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 0:45 -1 2:36-0:05 Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 2:31 -4 0:05-0:00 Schroder/Reaves/Vando/Rui/LeBron 0:05 +0 3Q 12:00-5:24 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 6:36 +2 5:40-2:36 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 3:04 +6 2:36-1:10 Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 1:26 -3 1:10-0:00 Schroder/Beasley/Reaves/Rui/LeBron 1:10 -2 4Q 12:00-9:05 Schroder/Beasley/Vando/Rui/LeBron 2:55 +1 9:05-0:30 DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD 8:35 +1 0:30-0:00 Walker/Harrison/Christie/Gabriel/Bamba 0:30 +0 Starters came out poorly in this one, -5, but it was recoverable from. Some up and down, then Ham puts in his terrible, terrible Center-less lineup and next thing you know, we're down double digits and never recover from it. Center-less lineups were -6 this game and are -17 over this series. Someone get Ham a memo to stop doing this! Some have said it's not the lack of a big man, it's the terrible lineup around LeBron like Beasley missing shots. That wasn't the case though. In the 1Q where they went -5 in just 2.5 min, Beasley went 1-2 incl a made 3 assisted by LeBron. In G1, the Center-less lineup that went -5 in less than 2 min was DLo/Brown/Vando/Rui/LeBron. 2 other lineups that went -4 in less than a minute were DLo/Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron and Schroder/Reaves/Vando/Rui/LeBron. These lineups have our best players like Reaves, Rui, and LeBron in them, with DLo, Schroder, and Vando alternating, and they're still bad - because they need a big man to operate properly. Is Bamba or Thompson the answer to all of our problems? Probably not, but it would probably help at least a little - and when you've experimented the other way and been hugely negative playing without a Center - it is most definitely time to try Bamba or Thompson there for at least 3-5 min/game. It is inexcusable not to even try, when you're getting killed doing an obviously stupid thing. Also, as bad as DLo was this game, Lakers were still winning with him, but losing with Schroder. In the 2nd half, the only negative lineups were Schroder lineups. DLo lineups were +9 in the 2H. The standout lineup of this game was DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD that went +9. It had a nice run in the 2Q, a nice run in the 3Q, and then wasn't tried in the 4Q bc LeBron played the entire 4Q. LeBron usually does better with a small rest in the 4Q imo, so in retrospect, Ham should have used this +performing lineup mid-4th. That alone could have boosted the Lakers by 5-6 pts, and with some rest, LeBron and the closing lineup might have carried us home. I don't know why Ham didn't do this, considering it worked well in the 2Q & 3Q - and Ham actually did this in G1, which is what won us the game! In G1, Lakers were actually down by 1 mid-4th, and then Ham used this DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD lineup, which went +5 in less than 2 minutes, and it gave LeBron a rest, and then you come back with LeBron for Vando and win the game. Do this again, Ham! But he brainfarted and just didn't use it, and the closers were fine at +1 but couldn't pull off the kind of magic they did in G1. Anyway, the lessons are basically the same, plus the above addition - don't use these stupid, stupid Center-less lineups, use the closing lineup more than just the end of the game, and use the lineup mentioned above, for a stint in the 4th. With just these adjustments, the Lakers should obliterate Memphis in the next game. Do I have faith that Ham will do this? I do not.
Okay, I made a simple updated rotation that basically takes the good from what Ham is already doing at the start and end of games (starters are good, Rui 1st sub is good, closers are good), and changes out what he is doing bad (stupid Center-less lineup) in the middle. This is an extremely simple version that could be adjusted, but you get the idea. It's primarily a 7-man rotation plus spot minutes for 3 role players. I could expand it to be different for each half, use additional lineups, fine tune minutes, get Brown more minutes, etc, but it doesn't seem necessary, unless this would somehow get to Ham, lol. 1Q/3Q 12:00-6:00 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 6:00-4:00 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 4:00-2:00 DLo/Schroder/Brown/Rui/AD 2:00-0:00 Schroder/Beasley/Rui/LeBron/Bamba 2Q/4Q 12:00-9:00 Schroder/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/Bamba 9:00-7:00 Schroder/Beasley/Vando/LeBron/AD 7:00-5:00 DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD 5:00-0:00 DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD This yields the following total minutes: 38 AD 36 LeBron 36 Reaves 34 DLo 32 Rui 24 Vando 18 Schroder 10 Bamba (can also use Thompson or Gabriel) 8 Beasley 4 Brown And the following depth chart. Some people count LeBron as the 3 or 4, vs Vando/Rui as the 3 or 4. I don't think that's an important distinction to make when 2 of those 3 are on the floor, but it can be listed either way. DLo (34), Schroder (14) Reaves (36), Beasley (8), Schroder (4) Vando (24), Rui (20), Brown (4) LeBron (36), Rui (12) AD (38), Bamba (10) .
Got this done just before gametime tonight. The previous game was great at the beginning, then lineup mistakes brought the lead down. Hope that doesn't happen tonight. 4/22/23 Game 3 vs Memphis 1Q 12:00-6:13 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 5:47 +15 6:13-4:46 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/LeBron/AD 1:27 +2 4:46-4:16 DLo/Schroder/Beasley/LeBron/AD 0:30 +1 4:16-1:11 DLo/Schroder/Beasley/Rui/AD 3:05 +8 1:11-0:00 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/Gabriel 1:11 +0 2Q 12:00-8:19 Schroder/Reaves/Brown/Rui/LeBron 3:41 +1 8:19-7:46 Schroder/Reaves/Brown/LeBron/AD 0:33 +0 7:46-5:04 Reaves/Beasley/Brown/LeBron/AD 2:42 -3 5:04-3:51 DLo/Beasley/Vando/LeBron/AD 1:13 +0 3:51-1:56 DLo/Beasley/Vando/Rui/AD 1:55 +2 1:56-0:04 DLo/Vando/Rui/LeBron/AD 1:52 -9 0:04-0:00 DLo/Beasley/Rui/LeBron/AD 0:04 -1 3Q 12:00-6:49 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 5:11 +4 6:49-5:49 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/LeBron/AD 1:00 -7 5:49-4:13 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/Rui/AD 1:36 +4 4:13-2:45 Schroder/Reaves/Brown/Rui/AD 1:28 +2 2:45-0:00 Schroder/Beasley/Brown/Rui/AD 2:45 +1 4Q 12:00-7:31 Schroder/Reaves/Brown/Rui/LeBron 4:29 -3 7:31-6:56 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/LeBron/AD 0:35 -3 6:56-1:39 DLo/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/AD 5:17 -4 1:39-0:00 DLo/Schroder/Reaves/LeBron/AD 1:39 +0 Starters came out with great effort and energy, on both O & D, to a blistering +15 in less than 6 min! After that the Lakers both build and give up a bigger lead, due in part to wonky lineups. Ham forgoes Rui as the 1st sub (which he was in G1 & G2) and makes an in-game adjustment to make Schroder the 1st sub and use a 3-guard set. The 3-guard sets work in the 1H but not the 2H and go +5 overall, but -7 with LeBron and +12 with Rui (plus AD in all of these lineups). The Lakers huge lead holds through most of the 1H until Ham puts in a really strange lineup: DLo/Vando/Rui/LeBron/AD, which quickly goes -9 in less than 2 minutes. Usually Ham goes too small, but in this case he gambles that going big is the right adjustment, and loses the gamble. Thankfully, we don't see this lineup again in the 2H, and have to just hope that Ham learned his lesson. The LeBron at C lineups went -2 but at least didn't give up too much. And for 1 brief minute, we actually see Gabriel at C in the 1Q with a +0 lineup. LeBron is clearly gassed in the 4Q, but Ham doesn't give him any rest, and it costs the team in 3 separate lineups, -3, -3, -4, for -10 total. We lamented Ham doing this in the previous game as well, and we hope he gives LeBron a break in the 4th tonight. For some reason, Ham never even used the standout lineup of the first 2 games: DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD. Nor did he use another great-performing lineup and closers of the 1st 2 games, DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD. I give Ham credit for prepping the team well, leading to the blowout 1Q, but there were a lot of terrible lineups and adjustments after that. Which didn't cost the game, but brought a 27 pt lead down to 10, and could have lost the game in another situation where the initial lead wasn't so big. I really hope that tonight he does the 3 things we've been mentioning: don't use Center-less lineups, use the DLo/Reaves/Rui/LeBron/AD at various points throughout the game as well as closing, and give LeBron a rest in the 4Q with this lineup of DLo/Reaves/Vando/Rui/AD. With just these adjustments, the Lakers should obliterate Memphis tonight. Do I have faith that Ham will do this? I do not.
Update after round 1: Rui and Reaves have really cemented themselves in the rotation. DLo had an ok series with a breakout game 6 which was big. For next season: DLO (25m) / Schroeder (7m) / ? (vet min 1.8m) Reaves (11.3m) / Christie (1.8m) / ? (vet min 1.8m) Vando (4.7m) / Rui (15m) / Lebron (46.7m) / ? (vet min 1.8m) / Wenyen (1.8m) AD (40.6m) / Bamba (10.3m) / ? (vet min 1.8m) Assuming we resign Schroeder for the mMLE and Rui for 15m per (above the MLE and a similar contract to Kuzma), that's a total of 171.4m. The luxury tax line is going to be about 162m. The backup SG spot is up for grabs and we have options with Christie, Lonnie and Beasley. Truthfully, I'm not sure what to do about Lonnie or Beasley. We have an option on Beasley for 16.5m but I find us bringing him back a little unlikely given how poorly he has shot. So the luxury tax might see us let Beasley go. As for Lonnie, we can offer him around 7.8m. He is handy to have but is he worth the luxury tax implications? Although I'm not sure if Christie will be ready, I think we should give him a chance to claim that spot and sign a vet wing for the minimum behind him that can also play SF. As for the backup C spot, I'm interested to resign Bamba and see what he can bring as a rim protecting, 3pt shooting center that can spell AD for up to 20 mins a game. But he adds another 10.3m to the salary that makes the Beasley or Lonnie decision harder. I'd like another energy C behind them - heck bring Tristan Thompson back. The only remaining two questions I have is, do we retain Beasley as a shooter or even a future trade piece? And can we bring any other impact vet minimums to the roster like we have in the last few years? Maybe someone like Jae Crowder, Markieff Morris, TJ Warren, Seth Curry, Austin Rivers etc. I don't know, but we've managed to find Monk, Troy Brown Jr etc.
You're right, we have a first round pick at 17 which is a 3m salary and a second round pick which would be below a vet min. I'm not really up with draft picks, but we could potentially fill a wing or big hole with one that first round pick.
i'd be very surprised if we planned on our pick playing. i'm also sort of expecting us not to keep it, tbh. starting to wonder if we might package bamba and/or beasley with the pick to bring back less salary on a rotation-worthy player. not sure who that would be, but i'm guessing that's a possibility based on our cap situation. it's weird because to me, our two biggest needs are a shooter that teams have to respect and a backup center. and we literally have those under contract. but in the playoffs, the shooter hasn't been hitting (and has thus been bad) and we won't even play the center.
