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

Time to move on Pop. Hall of famer. Nothing to prove.

 

May not have an option.

 

Yes he was already bad for a few years now with the medical issue it’s just gonna be worse

 

You’re wrong. Duncan was effective into his late 30’s. Dirk won a championship when he was 33 years old and still had several years playing at a high level after that. As far as Kobe his athleticism started to decline in his early 30’s and he was still one of the best players in the league. Why? Because of his skill set.

LeBron is still dominating past 40 because he has developed such a great skill set that isn’t strictly reliant on his athleticism. As far as Steph I have no idea what you’re talking about he doesn’t rely on athleticism at all he’s not a guy who is extremely quick or explosive. Steph dominates because of his all time great shooting ability, his ball handling skills, and his overall basketball IQ.

With Luka’s skill set, which is probably along with Jokic he is the most skilled player in the league there is no reason he can’t dominate for another decade. You keep going on about his conditioning and yet he still dominates and that was on full display tonight so obviously these conditioning issues are not prohibiting Doncic from being an elite superstar today.

 

I just checked. Lakers are #3 in defense the past 10 games. They are also top 6 in offense. Both without AD.

Losing AD hurts but Reddick has found a way to implement more switching. Rim protection is troubling but if the Lakers can just stay in front of everyone and switch every mismatch, they can survive. At the end of the day, most of the top teams in the West don't really have a big that I'm worried about outside of Nuggets and Mavericks. And we saw AD against Jokic... it's not going to stop him so we might as well get value elsewhere with Luka and dominate them offensively. I felt the Lakers probably were too stale with AD offensively at times. Teams knew what to expect and if they stopped Reaves, no one could really score with Bron on the bench. Now, teams are constantly for 48 minutes having to deal with a combination of Reaves+Bron or Luka+Reaves, or all three. There is no defense that is stopping that. NONE. It felt like the entire Nuggets series the past two seasons, the Lakers were playing in response to everything the Nuggets were doing. Now, the Lakers can force the Nuggets to adjust to us. They don't have the best defense and you can punish Jokic by making him switch constantly. He looked tired tonight.

Offensively, with Reaves+Bron+Luka feeding everyone, guys like DFS, Gabe, Knecht, Rui, and even Hayes could all score easier.

If the defense holds up, this Lakers team are my favorites to win the chip. It will be challenging against Boston but I feel like Tatum and Brown will underperform while Luka and Bron will dominate.

 

hornets lost by 53 to portland with ball, bridges, and williams all playing

how the f*** did the lakers lose to them the other night?

 

They looked bored. One of those games where you just don't care about and it showed.

 

Nah. Both Dirk and Duncan were in decline by 35, check their stats at that age, compared to when they were considered to be All NBA caliber players. That's just life, it applies to almost all of the greatest players in League history.

I didn't say anything about athleticism, I said that Steph, Kobe,Lebron, Jordan were fanatics about their conditioning and offseason regimen. That is what can extend a few guys elite level of play. It still only applies to a select few guys in the history of the NBA.

Steph Curry runs a couple of miles in each game, that constant level of movement he does, that's not normal. Athleticism isn't just about running and dunking.

Basketball IQ gets thrown around, like it's some kind of magic wand, that only a handful of great players possessed. That's just not true, all the great players had a high basketball IQ. They never stopped understanding the game at a high level, they were just no longer able to physically play the game, at an elite level anymore.

BB IQ doesn't override conditioning, hell Rondo still has a high BB IQ, but he can't give you 20 mins of high level basketball anymore.

All the great players were great in their 20's. The body can better compensate for poor workout habits, in your youth. It's how you maintain yourself over the length of your career, that's what allows some guys, to maintain elite status for a longer period.

The guys I mentioned were fanatics like I said. James has spent millions on sleep chambers ie. It's not just his high BB IQ. James is a freak of nature, and has shown himself to be obsessed with taking care of his body. He's a very rare example.

Luka is in his prime right now, he's been a pro for 10 years already. Strike while the iron is hot! That's my take. Like I said 3 rings in a 5 year run, that's outstanding. He's capable of that kind of run. If he stays in shape.

10 years from now? That's not garunteed, absolutely not, considering his conditioning history.

Maybe he'll get serious about the future, maybe he won't. However for these next 5 years,I expect to see the best he has.

 

If Luka got 3 titles in the next 5 years, he would get a statue right next to Lebron. And Lebron would likely have at least two of those with him and he would be sitting at the same table with MJ without argument anymore.

 

Yeah..I believe it can happen too.

 

Right?

We can't be losing to any more teams with losing records

Time to put the pedal to the metal for the rest of the season

 

That was a clear experimentation game. A ton of Len getting cooked, not going all out on defense ( no Godwin, minimal Hayes, ). Luka in fat Luka mode.

They still would have won easily but stupid ref decided to treat AR like they want to treat Draymond but don't

 

If they lose both Naz and NAW they're screwed.

 

not sure how quinn thinks we get the full MLE. dumping milton doesn't quite get us there and requires DFS to opt in or take a lesser salary in a long-term deal (i suppose that part is sorta possible...but not probable).

and any deal for claxton means we have to match (and probably exceed) 25 million in outgoing contracts. that's rui, dalton, AND another guy who's playing useful minutes for us right now.

all that said, we should try to help grease the wheels of any NAW or naz exits from minny for the next phase of the long game, which is ant as luka's post-lebron running mate.

 

We got Luka and folks are STILL, lusting after another guard? I'd rather try to sign Capela at the MLE. Since Indiana has to pay Myles Turner in order to keep him, I'd try a Knecht/Kleber pitch for Obi Toppin. Luka gets two lob threats, and we keep all our important pieces, for a stab at another Superstar later.

Me..I'd take Banchero over Antman.

 

I think I saw somewhere that LeBron could opt out and take a big enough pay cut to give us the full MLE. What he was allegedly open to doing last offseason if we could get Klay.

 

Not sure if there are better options out there, but NAW isn’t cutting it for me. Never thought he was anything more than a jordan clarkson. He’s somewhat of a chucker, doesn’t shoot particularly well, but i guess if he plays defense, that’s something. He’s avg at best.

Naz Reid is fine considering our need for a center.

Beggars can’t be choosers, no idea what our contracts our money is looking like this offseason.

 

Still want Ben Simmons as backup small ball 5. He’s not a superstar, but he’d be a great defensive presence for a cheap contract next season.