2024-25 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

Tonight game is postponed.
Charlotte Hornets 1/9/25, 7:30 PM
Los Angeles, CA
Crypto.com Arena
POSTPONED Los Angeles Lakers vs. Charlotte Hornets
Good. Get healthy AD and Cam .We need you later this moth

 

How can you say that with sore footed AD and no competent defensive back up BIG man heading into the playoffs where we face competent to great BIG men??? And it just can't be only win now and screw the future in the first place as ALL we have if every possible thing goes right for us is just a puncher's chance anyway, which most of us are just fine with .... being realists.

 

JJ seems to barely like to play one big, let alone two, let alone two together. I'm just being realistic about that aspect of it. You obviously can't play them both together anyway, due to spacing issues. I like Kessler as a good long term replacement at center for AD. He stays in his lane offensively. AD tries to get too cute with all of those jump shots that he takes. I think I read that he is something like in the 90 percentiles in long twos attempted and I think something like only in the 40 percentiles in long twos converted lol. I think lowkey that is a big part of the problem. Kessler stays in his lane and just score around the basket, allowing better, more efficient shooters to take the jump shots. With that said, unless we are low-key looking to shop AD very soon, I don't think it makes sense to trade for a player who is really a "luxury". Like with Westbrook, it was "nice" to have someone who could run the offense while Lebron is out of the game. But it never made any sense since we are talking about only 12 minutes per game or so. Same situation with AD/Kessler.

 

Beginning from today team can sign 10 days contract.Is anybody big that can potentially improve Lakers , exempt for Harrell ?
Here's some names

Malik Williams (26), Mamadi Diakite (27), Scal Labisier (28), Hary Giles (26), Dmitri Skapintsev, Ibou Badji (22), Marquez Bolden (26)
And of course Dwight,Biyombo or Cousins

 

I think all of LeBron, AD and JJ and other of his family member's houses were at extreme risk. Has anyone heard anything definitive on any of them?

One of my sons and his wife and our granddaughter's home was in the direct path in Alta Dena of the flying embers and homes going up randomly. They evacuated here in Burbank and knew that 4 of their/her friends homes had been lost not far away at all. At one point they checked on a ring doorbell app to see if anyone had visual on their home and someone posted back their exact area was all gone. You can only imagine. He tried twice to drive back to vicinity and just walk in to check and got turned around. Then around 2PM a friend called and said to check out KCAL news they "thought" they had seen their house. They turned to that channel and there was a crew on the main street going by their corner house on a cul-de-sac street .... but camera and news Gal focussed on the next corner only couple houses away where a home was burning and then panned down the street to a big burned out section.

So it was right there but needed to pan left!!! Finally it did and their house was untouched as well as neighbors directly across the streets at 45 degrees. What a "spectacular" family moment. Then finally he was able to get back in yesterday afternoon and help some neighbors houses with putting out small blaze with containers scooping out stored water in his garage (no hose pressure) and another with a downed tree.

 

God, JJ house is burnt

 

I've been Kessler-pilled at this point, and a big part of it is I'm not sure the bolded is true. Cranjis has a bunch of tweets talking about how some of the offensive schematic stuff JJ did early on with AD and Hayes together actually worked pretty well. I'll put it this way; I don't think playing AD and Kessler together is any more problematic offensively than playing AD and Vando together, and everyone has been dying for Vando to come back for a year now. Despite Vando making some threes sometimes, both are going to be disregarded by defenders and treated as non-shooters. From there, Vando offers some limited cutting and playmaking as a roll guy stuff (the latter of which I hope we at some point get to see more of, because I think Vando is a pretty decent passer) while Kessler offers the vertical spacing like we had with McGee and Dwight.

The idea is to get Kessler and play him next to AD a lot, hoping it really elevates our defense and doesn't hurt our offense too badly so long as they're handled right schematically. It's the same case for wanting Vando back despite them being very different types of defensive players.

 

And so we don't get killed on the glass and with no rim protection when AD sits. Otherwise EVERYONE should STFU with the Zubac wailing, me included. Kessler is a PIECE who will help NOW and will help post LeBron and even post AD. Win ... Win ... freaking Win.

 

You all know that even if Kessler is going to be traded it's going be Sacramento or Atlanta, just not to Lakers

 

FWIW, I think the plan might be for Vando to be the backup 5.

 

That's got to be a BS rumor started by a FOOL. Not directed at you. He's 6'8" 214 lbs. Oh hell yeah!!

 

Rui + JHS + 2029 1st (top-15 protected) + 2025 2nd + 2025 Clippers 2nd to Toronto for Abaji + Olynyk + 2025 2nd. Abaji is a really good 3 and D player, and Olynyk is a stretch 5.

 

For so many very good reasons, tonight's Lakers-Hornets game was postponed. Reasons too obvious to even mention.

For very irrational, sports-fanatic reasons, I was really looking forward to the Lakers beating the crap out of Charlotte after the tough loss in HOU and the idiotic loss in DAL.

But I get it. These fires are truly epochal and will now be a part of the narrative of our own lives until we die. I think we are all connected. Even if we are not personally damaged by this, too many others are, and we will experience the fallout of the mass suffering in our own lives.

Imagine losing all your stuff, your place to live, being in fear for your friends and family, your 'hood. Even trying to breathe. My lawd. Here I am ensconced in wine country, north of San Francisco. We had a lot of rain this season. I already feel Survivor's Guilt.
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NOW: the idea of having two bigs. Say we get Kessler. That's one thing; having Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen is another. There are some nice things we just can't have.

 

I don't think Reddick is going to want to play AD and Vando together for a lot of minutes. Unless he fixed his shot while he was out. Yeah I could see him as the defacto backup center.

 

Have you been watching the games and following the conversations here at all? JJ has actually said we need a BIG man. If Hayes or Koloko both with athleticism and actual 7 footers aren't close to being effective how in the **** is Vando who hasn't played in a year, at 6'8" 214lbs going to hold up against the actual many BIGS around the league when AD is out?? We have had this problem since the Bubble. Kessler is young, 23, a double double .... a Zubac that we never should have given up. This is absolute nonsense that Irwin picked up somewhere. But for you to think it could actually be OK, even as we see AD is struggling it seems with his foot .... is NUTZ.

 

Does JJ “Like” to go small, or does he feel he has to in order to compete due to limited quality options at present? Fair question IMHO.

 

If "Vando is going to be the backup 5" meant that when AD is out we're going to try switch-heavy lineups with 3/4 of LeBron/Rui/Vando/DFS and that Vando would be the nominal 5 on offense because he's the only non-shooter, that would be one thing. I wouldn't be stoked about it, but teams run lineups like that. That 2020 Rockets team with no center and a bunch of linebacker built dudes did it the best. But at that point, just play Hayes as the 5 who's actually better suited to switching the drop.

Irwin's often wrong, but I don't think he just completely makes things up out of thin air. Someone who's probably been right about some things in the past probably told him this Vando at the 5 thing. I guess we'll find out soon.

 

hayes is frustrating because he bring a lot of good things when he plays mainly size, the lob threat, and high motor but the lack of fundamentals like boxing out just makes me want to scream. Dallas abused the Lakers on the offensive glass because Hayes was playing like a chicken with his head cut off: everywhere but the right place

 

All the above is fine if it’s actually true and for when AD is out and there’s not an Edey in there dominating at the rim. Or an already more skilled than Edey and still a BIG center doing the same …. even worse.

But we still need a Zubac again and oh sure if by by some miracle could we please have him back at the age of 23 too? Pipe … right. I’ll take the words of people I respect here that are familiar with his game. This actually is that chance. Big 7 footer that is good all around defender “including” perimeter but especially at the rim, and a good rebounder …. a double double and has been described as durable.