2023-24 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

At 21M this season, and 23 M next season, Capela is good value for a team in need of a STARTING center that could rebound at a very high level, and defend the rim at a high level. Although the Lakers could use an upgrade at BACK UP center, and could upgrade their rebounding, I don't think they would want to waste their limited bullets on something they don't have a huge need for. I mean, the going rate for a backup center that could rebound is what? Drummond makes 3.6 M. Somebody like that would make more sense. It makes much more sense for the Lakers to use their bullets on three-point shooters (s) that could somewhat defend, and/or the quickness and athleticism that they have been mentioned to want. I have to admit, I cringe whenever somebody mentions Capela to the Lakers. I get disappointed in them because oftentimes they are paid media people, or people who fancy themselves as Lakers bloggers or whatever.

 

AD thinks we are one of those teams.

but yes, if ham hams, it makes little sense. of course, neither does hunter unless you pry prince from ham's cold, dead hands.

 

AD don't know s***. It is obvious that he belongs at the 5 and Lebron at the 4. AD lost his GM privileges already with the Westbrook debacle.

 

I don't think AD is being a prima donna anymore about wanting to play the 4. If AD moves to the 4, and we stick a non-shooting center like Capela at the 5, then that would cause the following major issues:

(1) Would clog up the lane even more than it already is, further exasperating our spacing issues.

(2) Would cause the 39-year-old Lebron to chase around 3s on defense.

 

By himself, I'm not interested with how we're constructed and how those minutes are deployed. With Murray and his reasonable salary, I'm good with their combined money. Clint is only on the books for 1.5 years.

Defense and rim protection is pricey. Our defense goes to s*** sliding down hill while on fire when AD sits. Capela isn't AD, but he is the best defensive big on the market. Can't compare him to Drummond, because the big Penguin gives you nothing on defense.

If we've talked to the Nets about some of their role playing wings, and it sounds like we have, I wouldn't be surprised if we've asked about Claxton. Difference is he's a rental since he's expiring, but that's a cheaper alternative.

 

Though enticing because of the upgrade on the defensive end, I feel that the there would be spacing issues.

 

Point number 1 is true but as far as 2 goes, Lebron would just guard the lesser offense player on the other team ala 2019-2021. Green, KCP, Bazemore etc guarded the main wing on the opposing team.
My guess is Prince would move to the 2 and take on that challenge if we got a center to slide AD to the 4. It would also let AD also guard a wing from time to time and also roam if he knew he had a big protecting the lane.

AD at the 5 is just too taxing on him. He's the be all, end all for the defense and looks small against a lot of centers. When we had Caruso and KCP as guards, it was a DEATH lineup for the opposition but those days are gone.

To be an elite defense, we gotta get AD back to the 4. Bron at the 3 being a detriment is overstated because he will still guard the same type of player as he does as a 4. Offensively, teams already pack the paint on us so how much worse can it get???

 

The biggest thing holding this team back from being a legit contender is the halfcourt offense. It’s just plain bad, and has been since last season. Trading for Clint Capela doesn’t help that. We could have the #1 defense in the league, won’t mean anything if we’re like 20th in offense. That just doesn’t work in today’s NBA at the highest levels, and we’ll get to see that play out with the Timberwolves in May. We’re already one of the worst shooting teams in the league, trading for another non-shooter to feature prominently in our rotation is just foolish.

The 2020 framework is not applicable anymore, we shouldn’t try to replicate it. AD is a 5 now. He doesn’t move on the perimeter quite as well anymore and we all know about his jumpshot. He’s having his best/healthiest season in years playing almost exclusively at the 5. There’s no evidence it’s too taxing on him. More importantly, LeBron isn’t the same player he was in 2020. He can’t prop up a lineup with that little shooting every night anymore.

 

I believe one has a direct affect on the other.In theory the better you play defense should lead to easier baskets on offense

 

I believe the biggest thing holding them back is their defense.
They constantly get destroyed by every single lead guard in the League because they are desperately needing a decent defender at the POA.
They also need a big off
The bench who can defend.
Since this team is never going consistently out score their opponents, they need to be a top five defensive squad if they plan on going anywhere.
They really only look good as a fast break team and you have to make defensive plays in order to get out and run.

 

Trade Cam and Prince for a bag of peanuts .

I'm cool riding with Bron , AD , Austin , DAR , Vando , Rui , Max and Wood for the rest of the season

 

i like cam as vando insurance. prince needs to move to the bench. this is his home.

 

That has been the Memphis Grizzlies formula; bad halfcourt offense, make up for it with an elite defense, offensive rebounding and fast breaks. How has that worked out for them? It’s the formula of an overachieving regular season team that bows out in the first round, maybe second round if you’re lucky.

That just doesn’t work against the best teams in 2024. The C Bags are too versatile for that. The Nuggets have too high a floor offensively for that. We lost the Nuggets series because we couldn’t go blow for blow with them in the halfcourt. Because we couldn’t force Jokic to defend in space, which is the one weakness in his game.

 

The Nuggets were also the 3rd best team in defensive rating during last season’s playoffs.They completely shut down DLO on offense which allowed them to play him off the court on defense.They also rebounded better 42 offensive rebounds to the Lakers 28 for the series.Rebounding is still an issue with this team.

 

LOL... both gonna be Wood-ed next game and Pimple Jr. is going to play 64 minutes.

 

Or we can make sure Wood gets 25 to 30mpg a game: I'm thinking all the backup 5 minute plus 5-10 minutes AD.
He really is a good fit with AD (another shotblocker/rebounder with length who can hit the 3)