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

Reaves was great versus the Nuggets the two playoffs series. But now he has Luka instead of D'Lo dragging him down because the Lakers almost had to force themselves to play D'Lo just because they had no other option.

Biggest difference was getting rid of D'Lo for DFS. Because AD wasn't going to stop Jokic anyways, you can hurt the Nuggets elsewhere instead now with Luka.

What annoys me is Murray only shows up against the Lakers... I saw the Nuggets vs Wolves series and Murray looked horrible. Against the Lakers, the guy starts knocking down clutch shot after clutch shot. So frustrating that he only turns up against the Lakers.

 

the way i see it is that jokic will do his thing either way. no one's stopping him

the key to beating denver is limiting murray, porter, and gordon. you can't win if jokic AND one of those three both go off

 

Bingo!!!!

 

Minnesota did a great job, and still got knocked off in the next round. Folks are overrating Denver. They had a better squad last season.

 

LT is a man walking, completely without fear! Salute!!

 

A healthy Anthony Davis, more than covers for Derrick Lively. We got a small glimpse, of what that group is capable of, before AD got hurt. I'm with LT...bring on everybody else!

 

Me and YOU in a tree .... ?

 

AD + lively is the really scary back line, though, as was AD's vision for himself here. kyrie type orchestrating with exum/christie/dinwiddie at the guard spots and those two guys back line with marshall/washington at the big forward...that's formidable.

i just don't think we'll see that squad this year.

mavs fans will be the first to tell you gafford isn't lively.

 

Mavs post-trade seem like a high floor, relatively low ceiling team. I don't think Kyrie + AD is enough shot creation to keep up with OKC or Denver, maybe us too if things click. I could see them beating anyone else though.

 

think it comes down to your opinion of kyrie. i agree that i'm not sure he's enough on his own on the perimeter. even with a great defense around him and AD as the secondary offensive option.

 

Kyrie is a natural shooting guard. He's an elite scorer but not an elite playmaker. I think you have to be both an elite scorer and elite playmaker to be an offensive engine like Bron, Luka, Jokic, someone that can control the game and it's pace, especially when the game slows down in the playoffs. Role players need touches and a player like Kyrie can go off on a scoring rampage for a couple of games but those performances don't raise the floor of a team throughout a series.

Teams can overcome not having an offensive engine with a great system + defense (Spurs, GSW, C Bags) but it's apparent that a collection of elite scorers don't really work (BKN with Kyrie+Durant, Suns with Durant+Booker+Beal)

The Mavs have neither and with their recent injuries they don't have time to build any chemistry. Their system was Luka Doncic and you can't really build a new system on the fly. Historically it's never been done before. I honestly don't think they have a chance this year.

 

Kyrie Irving is still nice.

 

Need a legitimate center this summer, Rob. . Please and thank you.

 

Why not this guy from Europe?

7'3 giant and athletic Walter Tavares

 

So tough to find them.

The good ones are never getting traded because of how rare their skillset is UNLESS they are injury prone.

And if they're injury prone, you don't want to take a risk on them.

I think the Lakers have to take a serious look at how they're drafting players and try to prioritize a big. They've been good at drafting overall but a big they can develop on their own rather than looking for future trades could solidify the Lakers for the next decade.

 

Tavares is sloooooow but he played with Luka in RM and isn't any worse than Len.
I guess the latter was cheaper and already "here".

 

Walker Kessler and Donovan Clingan are the two young centers of the future I would love the Lakers to try to take a swing for in the summer.

I’m sure we tried for Kessler at the trade deadline, and would be surprised if we offered the same package (Knecht, 1st rounder, pick swaps) and Ainge declined. Ainge traditionally would trade his own mother and children for draft picks.

With Clingan, I think he actually has a higher ceiling than Kessler and am not entirely sure what Portland is doing with their team. They have a glut at center and eventually they will have to move either Ayton or Clingan. Ayton is likely tough to move because most teams won’t have the appetite for his large contract and I wonder if Clingan can be had for Knecht and our future firsts and swaps.

 

ayton expires after next year, and they used a pretty high pick on clingan just last year (in addition to him playing pretty well). think he's not getting moved unless it's a mark williams situation.