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

I'm still very much alive and well Cookie. I continue to be amused with this Westbrook obsession too.

 

The ludicrous excuses and advocacy for him telling us what we saw/still see with our own eyes isn’t to be believed …. isn’t an obsession? Seems “creepy” to me.

 

Lol..you still don't get it. Whatever you saw didn't change the fact, that we were doomed anyway.. Maybe it would have made you feel better, if he played better in your eyes. Me I don't give a s*** about that, because we were sitting on the Titanic regardless IMO, and that MF was still heading to the bottom of the ocean.

 

Both things were true …. with AD and LeBron injured we weren’t winning that year and Russ was awful regardless of that and continued it through three more coaches and two more teams …. but you won’t acknowledge the latter … so you’re ingenuous as all bleep about that saying you don’t give a s***. Why then can’t you let the rest of us vent when the opportunities keep popping up? No you’re right there immediately and constantly with your ridiculous excuses for him.

 

I don't give a s*** about Westbrook's legacy. What part of that do you fail to understand? Who cares what he does at the next place? That doesn't change s*** about my opinion on what happened here. Again you seemed to be more concerned about him than me. Dude is heading to the Hall of Fame, you didn't like him, so what, he's not here anymore.

 

Westbrook was just bad from a fit standpoint. His lack of perimeter shooting, preference to drive, and high usage was a terrible complement to Lebron and AD's inside play. Many of Russ's strengths and weaknesses lined up with Lebron's at the time, so there was duplication factor as well. It's not Russ's fault, Lebron and AD maybe, potentially influenced Rob to trade for him? Idk. But, when AR started to show signs of develomment, that was even more skills duplication issues. The roster was not balanced at that time and Russ didn't complement the team and they didn't complement him. He's still a great nba player HOF and all of that.

 

Russell Westbrook is a guy you put on a bad team because he'll carry them in the regular season and ultimately be shut down in the playoffs against better teams. He'll put up nice numbers but you know against the good teams, they'll just lock him down and force him to turn the ball over.

The problem with Russ is simple: He doesn't have a high BBIQ. He's like a muscle car. Just goes fast and makes a ton of noise. But you put a speed bump in front of him and he's rendered useless. He doesn't know how to adjust... Goes 100 miles an hour playing the same style.

You can't put Russ on a title contender and expect title contention because he's too stubborn on the court. You dare him to shoot, he'll shoot it.

Also, he doesn't improve. Did his 3P% improve as he got older? NO, it got worse. In his first 8 seasons in the league, Russell Westbrook shot 82% from the FT line. The last 8 seasons, he's shooting 69% from the FT line. Not only is he losing his athleticism but he's also getting worse at shooting the ball and making FT's. Look at all the great players Russ has had on his team... nearly every team got better after they got rid of him. If Russ was still in OKC, OKC would NOT have gotten Shai and be in the position they are now. The best thing OKC did was getting away from Russ when they had the opportunity to do so. The worst thing the Lakers did was trading for Russ by giving up key rotational players. That was the beginning of the end of that Lakers title contention with that group... Went from having a deep roster to one where we relied on a $50 million selfish ballhog who can't shoot.

 

Yeah that was messed up that we lost KCP. I could care less about Kuz though, but still. That was maybe Laker brass under valuing 3 and D? They probably learned from that though. JJ seems to be a true analytical basketball person so he will have input in his time here. I'm sure he will advocate for those type of players moving forward.

 

I like Westbrook!! He good!!!


He was great on the Lakers!!!

We want him back!!!

Spoiler

 

I guess I need to open this thread next week and skip ahead a few pages to see if this moment has passed.

 

because we paid as much for the tires as the engine? and we hoped the tires would at least help us push the car off the tracks before the train got there instead of melting onto them? am i doing the metaphor right?

 

Petition to stop talking about Westbrook

 

Signed x 100

 

"The gift that keeps on giving"...

 

Two most impressive Team turnarounds/improvements this year for me are:

WC: Houston Rockets
EC: Detroit Pistons

Just feels like they really maximized their talents and got the most out of their roster. They BELIEVE they can beat you, and are willing to outwork you.

I predict they will be a tough out for any team that plays them.

Lakers in 5.

 

New piece from Woike


Fri, Apr 11 at 4:00 AM



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Lakers forward LeBron James grabs a rebound in front of Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, rear, and Max Christie during their game Wednesday night in Dallas. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

Hey everyone, it’s Dan Woike, beat writer for the L.A. Times. and welcome to an airborne edition of this week’s Lakers newsletter, a chance for me to tell you all what’s really on my mind tariff free!

As the Lakers clinched a playoff spot after an emotional win Wednesday in Dallas, it felt like a good time to check in on how they’ve managed to pull this all off.


Going small
One of the defining moments of the Lakers’ season happened when Lakers’ team doctors decided that Mark Williams wasn’t going to be able to pass his physical.

Had the Lakers invested significantly in the Charlotte center, they might not have learned to embrace their small-ball lineups.

During the 104 minutes with Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith on the court, the Lakers have outscored opponents by 21.8 points per 100 possessions. The group’s played 104 minutes together — and the net rating is seventh best in the NBA among lineups with at least 100 minutes of court time.

Having only shared the court in 12 games means there’s also time to for that group’s on-court chemistry to grow.

“When we play smaller, it’s not like we’re playing small,” coach JJ Redick said before the Lakers beat Dallas. “Those guys are big. They have length. They’re strong.

“… I think just it’s as much mentality as it is schemes and then offensively being able to play small with all shooting lineup and guys that can create off the dribble. It can compromise the defense.”

The Lakers have stood down some of the Western Conference’s giant teams with the strategy, with Dorian Finney-Smith’s plus/minus numbers as the best evidence.

When the Lakers won in Denver earlier this season, Finney-Smith was a plus-21. Against the Grizzlies in Memphis, he was plus-15 and then plus-16 against the Rockets. In the blowout win against the Thunder on Sunday, he was plus-28 and a staggering plus-29 against the Mavericks on Wednesday.

“Come on now,” he said with self-congratulation after hearing the stat Wednesday. “Come on.”

With Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura in the those lineup’s best versions, and with Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt also key pieces in the Lakers’ small-ball plans, the Lakers have found a real identity, forcing them to execute on defense and keep bigger teams off the glass.

“It also reinforces a lot of the things that we really value, which is effort and physicality and communication. All those things,” Redick said. “And our guys have consistently shown that they can do it. We are not in a stage of the season where we can have an on off switch. We’ve got to be on, the lights have to be turned on all the time.”

Luka’s magic
Lakers fans have gotten a glimpse of Doncic’s magnetism in his short time with the franchise, but the pull he has on people was on full display Wednesday as Mavericks fans poured appreciation onto him.

By the end of the game, the Lakers’ bench was completely on board, players chanting “Luka Luka Luka” along with the crowd in a moment that could have long-term implications for the group.

But mostly, the big takeaway was Doncic having his moment and meeting it with the kind of game his fans will speak about for the rest of his career

“We were talking pregame, there’s a few players and typically it is not always, but typically guys that love being on stage and love the performance aspect of it are typically elite players and great players,” Redick told me after the win in Dallas. “And like when I think about Luka, it’s performance art. He’s on stage. He’s, he’s in some ways ad-libbing … and there’s an element of art to it. The same way that an actor on a Broadway show goes on stage.

“It’s the live aspect of being able to perform and then feed off the energy in the building.”

 

I don’t either, but then again, I wasn’t expecting Shaq to come, nor Pau, and especially thought we had no chance of getting Luka.
I think the only real factors include the huge directional shift of Denver and that Jokic and Luka are really good friends.
An easy counterpoint could be that Joker really likes playing in Denver, no matter who’s in charge and will like the new Coach and GM.
A lot of “if’s” are attached this kind of thing.

 

JJ Redick, “We were talking pregame, there’s a few players and typically it is not always, but typically guys that love being on stage and love the performance aspect of it are typically elite players and great players,” Redick told me after the win in Dallas. “And like when I think about Luka, it’s performance art. He’s on stage. He’s, he’s in some ways ad-libbing … and there’s an element of art to it. The same way that an actor on a Broadway show goes on stage.

“It’s the live aspect of being able to perform and then feed off the energy in the building.”

>>>>> Niko ... thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!! Seriously, "We're not worthy"

 

“Crime Against the Humanity of LakerNation”