Kuzma is a tough call. He's 24 years old and his career average from three is 33% Clarkson is 27 years old and his career average from three is 33% Kuzma will give you 21 points per 36 minutes Clarkson will give you 23 points per 36 minutes. KCP shoots 34% from three but he only will give you 14 points per 36 minutes. LouWill shoots 35% from three and gives you 21 points per 36. The Kuzma we saw last night is what all of us hope to see the rest of year... the problem with keeping him is whether you can sign him for a reasonable amount. KCP rejected 4 years for 80 million if I recall correctly and is making 2/16.58 million Clarkson is on the last year of a 4yr /50 million contract LouWill is making 3yr/21 million If you can sign him for a LouWill price, he seems like good value. If you have to pay him say 4yr/80 million like the contract KCP rejected... then it's a much more difficult question. Maybe you trade him for someone slightly worse but who will play for less... someone who won't look for a huge pay day. Would you pay him the Clarkson contract? Would you pay him the original KCP contract? Would he accept a Lou Williams size deal? The problem is knowing what his market value is and whether you can sign him for that fair market value. If you can't then maybe it's better to trade him for someone who you can sign for fair market value or who is already priced correctly.
Kuz will answer all those questions this season with his play. Up to him to prove his value. He knows that.
Much better outing against the Suns. Didn't settle for only 3s and jumpers, even though it was falling at a higher rate. He was attacking and cutting. The more he does that, the more space he'll get on his 3 ball too cause they'll fear him rim running. Not expecting those numbers every night, but I do expect that level of effort. If he can do that, I like our odds.
All jokes aside, pretty embarrassing that many wanted to trade him after 5 games and on a team that has almost no return players execpt for a few. I guess 82-0 didnt happen, let's gut the team. This is also for the Anthony Davis complainers. This is why athletes hate you....
I don't have enough words to explain how much I disagree. Kuz, even as it is, is DPOY, compared to Lou.
Well Kuz is now officially back! Phenomenal scoring punch off the bench last night - maybe more red hot than usual, but still that aggression is what we need, not just settling for threes but taking rhythm ones and attacking the hoop. Great to see Kuz getting back to being Kuz as he said in the post game interview.
.What are you talking about... we gut the team like few teams have been gutted before. We literally traded or gave away everyone we had plus future picks to sign a 35 year old super star and another injury prone superstar who never won anything. I agree my comment about IT as a creator is looking stupid today... but you can't say you're glad we gave up everyone for LBJ and AD and then in the same sentence advise patience. I said in the group chat that I thought Kuzma would come good... I also said the same about KCP... but having a playmaker/shot creator would be helpful and Kuzma is our ONLY tradeable asset
Having a versatile offensive weapon off the bench is also helpful. Seems to me we need that more than the additional playmaking. Injury prone superstar who never won anything is really your best description of freaking Anthony Davis? You make it seem like he’s only a superstar by reputation.
I think AD is a fantastic player, but I think his ceiling is being the best Robin (number two option) in the league. He's like a supercharged version of Bosh or Pau and would have been great with LBJ or Kobe in their primes The only reason I worry is because he's proven he can't carry the team himself. I was excited when we had that tiny chance of signing Kawhi because it would mean we could rebuild with AD and Kawhi once LBJ was too old. If LBJ was younger, I can see it being worth losing everything. So yes I respect him, but unless he has another gear I'm unaware of, I don't think he can lead us by himself... so I'm worried about the post LBJ era becoming Pelicans West with no picks or young tradeable assets on the horizon.
there's opportunities in 21' to get another star to help AD, just dont mess it up by using the $ on "role players"...I know mgmt. failed on that end several times most recently with Kawahi but AD and a bunch of good-great "role players" isn't going to get it done, we need another legit STAR to pair with AD otherwise this will be a treadmill team like AD had with his prior team
Post LeBron era we have like 38 million per year off our books. You don’t think we can find an additional superstar for that?
We'll be fine - think of it this way - Kawhi probably ends up here if LeBron wasn't here. I think there will be plenty of guys that will wanna play with AD at age 28 in his prime...
Back to Kuz - solid ggame from him. The confidence is slowly coming back - now if he can keep that up and lock down on defense, he'll be exactly what we're missing. I'm rooting for Kuz - him and the Lakers also hyped his value up a lot so he has a ton of pressure to deliver, but he's from Flint, nothing should phase him.
I guess everybody has his own definition of a Robin, but according to mine, AD is certainly not one. As others have mentioned, he has led a team filled with mediocre - to - average players to the play-offs twice in the ridiculously stacked western conference, at a very young age, and then actually stepped up his game. If he's no batman, I want a robin to lead my team. And I can't wait to experience play-off AD first person. Noone can carry the team by himself in todays NBA. Hasn't happened in the entire histoy of the league, or at the very least since the 60's. I am also somewhat worried of the post LBJ era, I was actually one of the few around here against bringing him over. I was also not completely sold on trading the entire farm for AD. But then the FO actually built a respectable team around the two of them. Barring injuries, we should be in the hunt for the championship and if the past 6 years have taught me anything it is that it's incredibly hard to build a championship team, or even a very good one. If there's a chance, you have to go and grab it. We are still the Lakers, this is still LA, and as much as many people would like to tell you otherwise, other stars will join AD with pleasure once LBJ is retired. I have only two worries - injuries and AD's potential departure. Out of curiosity - what other player(s) would you prefer the Lakers to build the future around, if you could choose anybody in the NBA right now?
Giannis, Kawhi, PG would have been my first choices because their low key style would attract other agents. Again, I like AD a lot, I simply don't trust Klutch's impartial judgment when it comes to selecting the best players. If we were rebuilding around AD without Klutch, I'd feel more optimistic that the team would choose the best available candidate as opposed to what might be mutually beneficial to Klutch. This isn't a knock against Rich Paul by the way... I think if you are a player he seems to be a good agent... this is merely pointing out that his clients interest will supersede that of the Lakers while our two main pillars are his clients. It feels like a conflict of interest and when we have such a weak, unproven group of executives running the team, I feel like they will probably run the show against such weak management. If Rich and LBJ end up owning the team, I'd feel better about them running the team at that stage because then their interests wouldn't be conflicting with running a sports agency. But while their interests of Klutch comes first... I will continue to feel nervous whether we are truly signing the best value for the Lakers or what is more beneficial to Klutch.
