I like the addition. They needed to add some perimeter defense to cover up for some deficiencies they add on defense. I think if Luka is in shape as he looks to be I expect he will be much better on defense than he was in the playoffs. Ayton was a huge upgrade we needed at center and Hayes is a serviceable backup. I like what they’ve done.
I'm not worried about his touches, I'm worried about him being terrible off-ball. If we don't find the right lineups for him, that means he could end up like a version of Vando for us: good defensively but near unplayable offensively. It looks like Smart needs touches to be playable offensively, although I hope that's not the case. But even if it were, I'm optimistic if we find the right lineups. For example, lineups like Smart / [Austin or Luka] / LaRavia / Rui / [Ayton or Vando] should be good both offensively and defensively.
It's a quality signing given his the Lakers need and his skillset & cost basis. However, he's only played 105 games the last 2 seasons. I'm going to manage "my expectations" and say he gives us around 58-62 games (if we're fortunate) 15-20 mpg and a good PO run. I wouldn't go beyond that. He has a lot miles on his body and he's on the other side of 30, but given the FA's available, this is a decent to good option.
105 in 2 seasons would actually be great for him. If he's playing good defense, I'd sign up for 58 + playoffs in a heartbeat. He's actually only played in 54 games the last 2 season. Not great Bob.
Rob sucks! He didn’t trade for a DPOY Guard in his Prime, convince Nico to trade us back AD for Gabe, Rui, and DK, nor replace LeBron with Bridges and Josh Hart! See, I can be a bratty Lakers fan as well.
Worst case scenario: offense will be like Westbrick bad but he won’t be a liability on defense like BRICKBRICK was https://youtube.com/shorts/USn44V-Ubr4?si=jzEX6RAViRgt7xRC slimmed down like Luka
Lakers got a starting caliber player who plays good defense and hustles for basically free. The summary of the Lakers offseason is they improved the roster drastically, spent zero future assets, and created no liabilities. This was honestly a masterpiece of an offseason. Whether the Lakers win the title this season or not doesn't change that fact.
He looks to be in lot better shape tbh in that clip then since he was back on the C Bags Would be great news
