2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

can't see how his decision impacts much. they're at about 140 committed with him opting in. so they have space, but waiving him could only net let like half his salary, and i don't know if there's a FA worth chasing at that money. i guess they could make an RFA bid for a watson/eason without worrying much because nobody is signing there anyway.

and i suppose if they moved morant for less salary incoming, the extra boost could allow them to say...make a max offer to reaves? who's from near there?


anyway, i see all that as unlikely, and the more sensible route for them is to use kcp's expiring to eat salary and a pick at the deadline if possible.

 

no he did not. And that is exactly what he would say too lol. Shaq is a career 50% free throw shooter and Hack a Shaq was deployed. The NBA even had to step in and change rules to curb. i guess 50% is ok if your dominant like he was. Now get a team full of 50% free throw shooters to go along with his 50%. very similar to below avg to avg defenders that defends when it counts.

 

I like your passion but he did make them when they counted Sacramento Kings Game 6 Staples Center. Come on now.

 

Luka wants a Big. So my guess Ayton is out. Who can they get IDK. Walker may push his way out but that will be very difficult to do. Lakers will need some assets to make any deal possible.

 

Kobe/shaq won 3 rings and dominated 1 playoff run dropping just 1 game. If Lakers depended on Shaq to make FT when they counted that was not going to be possible. Shaq was a dominant force and the key reason Lakers were dominant but make no mistake Kobe Bryant was the primary closer in end games. If you fouled Kobe it was not Shaq like maybe he makes 1. like those odds. On the other hand Kobe was almost automatic and like pick your poison. Shaq on the other hand was sometimes pulled.

 

If JJ had a lil Phil in him. Lakers would have been healthy and some players would have felt less isolated. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/r7wWKZ5Diks

 

The Luka not as tough as Brunson is a weird take.

He spent the early part of his Mavs career battling the Clippers who threw the kitchen sink at him. PG, Kawhi, Morris, Shamet, Mann, Batum and Beverley. And he busted them all.

The year after he made Booker cry. And then he took out Clippera. OKC and Minnesota on his way to the finals.

The guy is the literal definition of, give me anything half way decent and let me go to work.

But apparently that’s not tough?

Almost as weird as your winning percentage in the playoffs one.

Lakers fans hate Reaves, hate LeBron, hate Luka and also hate our role players.

 

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I guess if I'm a current Laker center I might be feeling a little offended.

Somehow I doubt anything being reported though. Everyone wants a top shelf center, a top shelf PG, a top shelf coach, a top shelf ownership, top shelf 2 way wings with length, etc.

I guess we could make articles about any position and technically be right even with no real sauces. (reference to what's his name)

 

......Constant complaining to ref and not getting back on defense is being not as tough. Ex no one was complaining about the refs until Austin came back then boom a whole game and interview of feeling disrespected by a ref. It transfer to other players it becomes a talking point for your coach and it becomes distracting. Now your focus is on the ref and not hitting back your opponent.

Your playoff winning percentage is your playoff winning percentage just like your arguing who he made cry and who he beat. You do realize other players/teams have these same hurdles of players and teams they have to beat to have a winning percentage right? Spurs beat OKC the champs tough right? did they also struggle late in games vs Knicks? like hitting a teammate in the back with the ball, shooting when was to be holding the ball, blowing big leads, shooting 3s when should be digging deeper. Did NY display more experience and toughness than Spurs even if Spurs were also tough? Did i say Luka was weak or soft?

All Laker fans dont hate Reaves, Luka, Lebron. Lets say a fan acknowledge Lakers may need to get tougher or more focused in the paint. Does that mean they hate Ayton? I will agree some fans do that but not all. Not because a player may not fit or you point out a players not so strong points equal hate. Just made an example with Shaq. Knowing he was a poor free throw shooter is not saying one hated Shaq.

Shaquille O'Neal had a career postseason record of 129-87
Kobe Bryant compiled a career playoff record of 135-85
Michael Jordan compiled a career playoff record of 119 wins and 60
LeBron James holds an NBA playoff career record of 188-114
Devin Booker holds a career postseason record of 25-26
Anthony Edwards holds a career NBA postseason record of 26-26
Victor Wembanyama holds an overall career playoff record of 12-10
Luka Dončić holds a career playoff record of 26-29
Giannis Antetokounmpo holds a career playoff record of 44-40
Bradley Beal has a career playoff record of 22-27
Nikola Jokić holds an all-time playoff record of 53-47
Anthony Davis holds an overall career playoff series record of 32-29
Russell Westbrook holds a career playoff record of 64-71
James Harden holds a career playoff record of 98-93
Austin Reaves has a career NBA playoff record of 11 wins and 21 losses a

 

look i did not make this up i only noticed it. It is what it is. You have to take into account Lebron and Davis won a title. I also pointed out Kobe had a similar situation when playing with Bynum and Lakers insisted . He was a champ and may have won more maybe passing MJ if the roster was up to par to compete, ..... LeBron James and Anthony Davis have incurred all of their 21 playoff losses together as teammates since 2022 while sharing the floor with Austin Reaves. Now If your going to build with Austin and Luka get pieces that fit let them loose.

 

Mostly agree, I’d be happy with Jefferson too and think he’s ready to contribute day 1. I say Cenac because he measured really well, almost like kel’el ware. I think he’s in the lamarcus aldridge mold and he’s young, so for me a project that’s a good gamble. I don’t think Swain’s jumper is so bad, 34% 3pt on 2.6 attempts, 81% ft all three years plus he was the main guy on that Texas team that overachieved in the tourney. He’s got good wing size, tested well athletically, and can pressure the rim and I’m banking on him getting easier looks here. Baba Miller has similar size to Brazile but a wider mix of skills, he looked pretty good in the scrimmages, definitely a gamble but it’s the second round where so few guys hit. Just my 2 cents

 

Potential bigs:

Kessler
Salary: Probbaly around 31 million in year 1
Cost: Probably Knecht, #25, and the 2031 1st

Gafford
Salary: 17.3 million
Cost: Probably Knecht, #25, and the 2031 1st

Ware
Salary: 4.7 million
Cost: Probably Knecht, #25 and the 2031 1st. Possibly take back a bad contract with him.

I guess we would be lucky with either of them.

 

Joshua just seems the anti-Luka fit. A wing who's not a shooter nor a lockdown defender. Never seen the guy but have heard about him. His comps are Kyle Anderson/Diaw. He might be a great player in this league, but don't think he has the archetype to reach that potential in our team. I'd rather go a different path


Regarding the centers, I'm warming up to Kessler. Him and Ware are my fav centers I'd go above and beyond to get. It just immediately solves a glaring need of this roster and gives Luka a running mate for the rest of his tenure. With AR locked in too, you basically spend the rest of Luka years trying to nab wings every summer and deadline. It makes a very simple path moving forward and there's value to that.

Kessler may be an overpay. But we might have to do it. The best teams in the league have really good centers and we will need size to win the West against Wemby, Hart/Chet, Jokic and Gobert.
He's also the perfect archetype that simplifies your defense. Elite rebounder and rim protector. It makes it easier to live with weaker on-ball defenders like Luka/AR.

I'd use all cap space on him and Bron.
Then throw the 3 firsts and scrubs for Trey

Luka
AR
Trey
Bron
Kessler

That's probably the best lineup we can get to this offseason and it's a championship contender one.

We don't go for depth but we can then: 1) try to get Portis for Ayton for example, saves them 22 million. Not sure anyone in the league is offering firsts for him. Maybe send a swap or something
2) Imperative for Smart to take the PO.
3) Use the room MLE on a perimeter guy: Kennard, Thybulle, Grimes, Huerter
4) Bet on Thiero and Jake development and try to hit on a couple vet min flyers/ring chasers (Ellis, Tim Hardaway, Hyland, Fontecchio, Tyus Jones)


Can be something like:

Luka | Smart | Bronny
AR | Thybulle | THJ
Trey | Fontecchio | Jake
Bron | Portis | Thiero
Kessler | Hayes | Love

We have an 8-man rotation with Smart, Portis and Thybulle.
Hayes, Jake and Thiero complete the bench with the vet min guys
Love and Bronny occupy the last slots.

 

Looks like Ayton is the best bet, Let Walker sign a 1 year deal and become an unrestricted free agent. Danny wont let Walker go for free and any trades will want a ton. Jarrett Allen or Claxton may be easier to snag. In all honesty it will be hard to out do Ayton at 8mil.

 

Can you not use the win percentage of playoff games as an argument? It makes me just want to ignore you because it’s such a poor use of stats and it’s honestly painful to engage on something that should jsut be understood.

There are way too many variables and too small a sample size to draw anything meaningful from it. I gave the example of KG who is a top 15 player (and would of been without a ring anyway), he had the worst win percentage in the playoffs, even though he averaged crazy lines like 24 points / 19 rebounds / 6 rebounds / 4 stocks for a whole series.

The reason why that argument sucks is because there are too many variables and no control data. As an example, if everyone played the same amount of games in the playoffs, we could draw better conclusions. But even then, so much of it has to do with the team around you. It’s just a waste of time argument to use.

 

Knowing Danny Ainge, his style of GM is to grossly win every trade or not do one at all. He is going to ask for all 3 draft picks for Kessler and probably Adou as well. I actually think he wouldn’t even trade with us if we brought him that.

Gafford is worth a single first. Guy is decent but not 2 firsts good. And Dallas won’t trade with us unless they rip us off.

That’s a fair price for Ware and I’d be seriously interested.

Claxton is probably worth a single first too. I know you don’t like him because he isn’t the best rim protector we could get. But he brings other styles of defense to the table that suit us and our coach’s play style.

 

Love the team.

But there is no way that Ainge lets Kessler walk. He is going to match anything he has to, to keep an asset.

I don’t think he cares if Kessler is upset, unless he gets a huge over value in a trade. He isn’t letting him walk.

 

Would anyone consider trading Reaves for Murphy, Herb and Missi?

 

Yeah it's a best case scenario and a few things need to fall right.
I'd argue it's not crazy to offer 45M for Kessler and really make Utah budge. I think they want Cam and they can just let it go
Because the domino of that is that you can go to Bron and say "we got Kessler and Trey but we need you to sign for 8mil". And Bron can sell it as the orchestrator of a potential championship team and it only happened because he allowed. He can even say it was him that proposed it.
I also think Bron has a 2-3 year window in him. He just averaged 21-6-7. In a front loaded team he can take the back seat and have a couple very good playoff chances.
So if he takes 8 instead of 20-25, that's the 12-17M that we're paying more to Kessler, so we are actually spending around 30 on Kessler.

Finally, Bron and Portis gives us a couple solid years at the 4 while Thiero fully develops and we have a couple seasons to find the next guy that can fit along Luka, AR, Trey and Kessler core

I'd throw all picks and swaps to make this happen

I'd bite. That's 3 guys that have all potential to be in a Lakers core rotation that wins a championship in 2028. Also all make perfect sense around Luka and you'd a few more avenues to round out the rest of the roster