CW is a player that needs to be in the right situation.He is very talented but not a guy that you can plug into any team.He needs the right coach,veterans and organization to maximize his potential
but the point is that none of our three bigs wants to wrassle the gators. wood came out and said it in one of the interviews, which concerned me. still wish we had grabbed just one bruiser.
Yes I know and that still leaves AD as most capable to handle those guys but at least during other spots maybe in other games against teams that don’t have the big bruisers who give him the most trouble (some just his speed and talent make life not as bad for him against) …. he can at least get a break from always at the 5 when he’s in the games to some PF offense and defense duties. Might cheer him up?
Wood isn't the issue: even if you're not a drinking the Kool-Aid like myself with regards to Wood his skillset/size is a good match for AD and team needs. It's Hayes which doesn't make sense: he doesn't bring the wood, he can't shoot so you can't play him with AD - just an odd fit who is even odder now that you have Wood available. I'd swap out Hayes for Biyombo and call it a day
i'd take filling the 15th spot with biyombo or similar. it's clear we didn't think wood was likely when we signed hayes, but that doesn't explain our complete lack of interest in muscle at that spot.
Sure you didn't know if you're going to get Wood but why target Hayes in particular as your first big signing? felt he was a backup at the 5 at best - taller version of Gabriel who barely had any playing time with Ham. The Lakers don't seem to have a good center strategy outside the bubble year: they seem to trying to follow the NFL model of not over-paying for running backs which sort of makes sense but they're franchise player needs a specific skillset next to him. They had Lope and Zubac who both would have fit great next to AD (particularly Lopez), Gabriel who was undersize, lebron at the 5 which is frankly a joke, and the Hayes signing. May work out because they got Wood which to their credit they made a big push for
i think hayes was a fine signing in a vacuum. he can play backup 5. i just expected we'd sign another backup 5 who complemented him. but it sounds like we were calling wood the whole time, too.
There’s plenty of time to fill needs during the season.Should probably start scouting journeyman/overpaid bulk at the center for trades or released guys.
I don't think I did good job fully explaining my Hayes dissatisfaction. Hayes is not a good match for the Lakers needs either himself IMO or if they add someone who does fill a need like a bruiser. If they got really a good bruiser like say Valanciunas somehow: where would that fit with Hayes? You probably would want the good bruiser at the backup C minutes. You can't play Hayes with a non-shooting big man. We already don't think Hayes/AD will work together. Hayes doesn't seem like an add-on that you could use to fix a matchup problem but more of a regular season minutes filler when AD needs his time off. I get it with AD's injury history but this team got swept with a big bulky center and who cares if you soak up regular season minutes when the playoff hits and you still have the same matchup issues?
Well again who were our options next to the monies we determined they absolutely wanted to lock up for this season and future asset availability? Biyombo … yes but they seemed to want more vertical again.
the lakers have had success with guys who can finish lobs, and hayes can definitely do that. that's where it made sense to me. but when we had mcgee (lob finishing), we also had howard (muscle). that was a good formula. two different kinds of bigs to deploy in different matchups, knowing that in reality, the center to close games was going to be AD.
I thought McGee was pretty much a waste of minutes and Howard was very good (underrated how good he was as he was a very good lob threat himself and better rebounder/defender than McGee). I guess it makes sense than why i don't like the Hayes signing lol
They know they have Colin to bail them out...lol. I know no one wants you hear it but... 6'11" 230. Certainly not a beast but he is skilled and we have him already. There just isn't much out there and hasn't been. I like Christian but not at the five. Jaxson, I just haven't seen enough to really know what he can do.
