Official Whine, Moan, Complain Thread 19/20-CLOSED "WE CHAMPS!"

The draft in general a crapshoot but, as I noted, the Lakers have actually been pretty good in recent years with picks that aren't in the lottery. Plus even if the pick is simply "fodder" for their first one or two years, that is fine on this Lakers team where depth isn't the issue. I actually get annoyed that Walton goes 10 deep. They can afford to take a flier on a long-term project. The Lakers need to gun for talent and upside, not short-term production anyways. That's what 19 year old Zubac was drafted to be. That he is this good this early has been a pleasant surprise.

 

I agree that if anyone is gonna be moved, it's Rondo and not Butler. I don't think the Bulls will trade Butler, even if there are obvious reasons to do so. Those reasons existed this past offseason as well and they held on to him. They aren't going to trade a prime talent like Butler just because people think it makes sense. People will say the team needs to rebuild - the proverbial step backward. I don't disagree but I think they can do so while keeping Butler. Wade can and probably will opt out this summer. Rondo only has 3M of his contract guaranteed next season. Mirotic, Gibson, Carter-Williams are free agents. The Bulls have their own 1st rounder and could have the Kings' 1st rounder if it falls outside the Top 10 (right now the Kings are #10 but only 1 game from #12 - granted losing Gay isn't going to help their chances). So barring an amazing offer they can't refuse, probably best to stick with Butler/Wade and Co. for this season. Then go into this offseason with Butler, a capable starting C in Robin Lopez, some young talent (McDermott, Valentine, Grant, Portis, Canaan, Zipser) and then 1 or 2 1st round picks and a boatload of cap space. Sounds like a rebuilding spot to me and having Butler will help in convincing free agents to sign there. Trading Butler, which inevitably would piss off Wade who signed there as a FA last offseason, certainly isn't going to do them favors in the free agent market.

 

Ok but you cant honestly say you're encourage with what we've been seeing from him lately

 

last night it was like he wasn't even there

NO2:

 

"They’ll be the worst team in the West and bottom-three overall with Brooklyn and Philadelphia. … The best-case scenario for them is that Russell becomes a high-level starter, Ingram is in the Rookie of the Year mix, and they get a clear sense for how Randle fits into their long-term plans. All of those things could happen and they still might not win 25 games. … Keeping their pick again would be huge for turning this around into a playoff team again. … From a style perspective, the Lakers should change more than any other team with Kobe retiring and Walton taking over for Scott. They’ll play fast, move the ball, take more threes, less isolation plays and a lot more opportunity for their young prospects. … Russell is their most important player. The style shift will work if he makes it work and it will fail if he’s not quite ready. I think he’s ready for a breakout. He is an electric player when he’s playing well: he can score, shoot and set others up. He has the talent and confidence to be an All-Star, but that’s a long way off. He’s like a redshirt freshman because Bryant dominated everything. … Clarkson is only a starter if you’re a lottery team. He’s a one-trick pony scorer. He has blinders on and isn’t much of a passer. He’ll take bad shots. Playing him and Russell together defensively is a mess. … I’m not a Randle fan so I would just start Ingram and Deng together and see what happens. Throw Ingram into the fire. He’s the No. 2 pick. Why baby him? … The Kevin Durant comparisons are unfair to Ingram and I would have taken both Ben Simmons and Kris Dunn over Ingram. He will float a lot this year, his lack of strength will hurt him, and he needs to tighten up his handle. … Maybe Walton sees Randle as a Draymond Green type. He can dribble but can he make the reads? Randle definitely plays hard, which is a skill, but otherwise there’s a lot of work to do. He can’t really shoot it and he’s not the best finisher. He’s easy to guard. … Randle looks like a sixth man to me. … I love Deng. He’s really good. They should make Deng a stretch four role and clear things out for Ingram. Down the road, maybe they can trade him to a playoff team or shift him into a reserve role. He might only spend half of his contract with them. … Mozgov wasn’t the best center out there but beggars can’t be choosers. I think the Lakers saw him as attainable and an upgrade over Hibbert so they rushed to pay him. They had a huge hole. Going from Kareem and Shaq to Mozgov is the type of thing that will make Lakers fans roll their eyes. … Even with Mozgov and Deng, they’ll be the worst defensive team in the league."

From SI published on October 19, 2016. Of course I wouldn't take Dunn over Ingram, but the rest isn't too far off...

 

Wow, good stuff




if it weren't all so negative and depressing lol

 

thanks, rrofy. interesting to see now. and i agree: dunn's clearly not better than ingram, but otherwise, that's right on. and russell is vital here. we go as he goes, and when he's out, we're basically unwatchable.

 

Yeah, I think DAR brings balance to the forc...err first five most of the time and not get blown out early until the 2nd unit comes in and makes it competitive. Without him, the 2nd unit becomes overburdened to catch up. Of course he throws it all away with his ill timed turnovers in crunch time.

 

DAR
Post AS break last season: 15.1ppg 3.1rpg 3.3apg 1.1spg 40.1 fg% 38.9 3fg% 2.5 topg in 30.6 minutes per
This season: 14.3ppg 3.7rpg 4.4apg 1.2spg 39.6fg% 34.6 3fg% 2.6 topg in 26.3 minutes per
(Worth noting is injuries have impacted minutes in some of his games, including playing 1 minute versus Indy last week)

I was very encouraged after his 2nd half production in his rookie year and attitude concerns aside, I am encouraged now. The shooting percentages are disappointing but per minute, he's doing better and he has improved his A/TO ratio.

I'd like to see him out there healthy and hopefully Luke can stop with this 10 man rotation nonsense and give Russell 33 to 35 minutes per game.

 

Here are our guys by MPG this year.

1) Julius Randle........29.2
2) Brandon Ingram....27.9
3) Jordan Clarkson....27.7
4) Luol Deng............27.3
5) Nick Young...........26.5
6) D'Angelo Russell...26.3
7) Lou Williams........24.4
8) Larry Nance, Jr.....21.8
9) Timofey Mozgov...20.9
10) Tarik Black.........15.8

Crédit given to Lakers Film Room

 

IMO the only untouchable on the team is ingram. I would package anyone else for a stud, Clarkson, DAR, Zubac for D.Cousins?

 

Others teams aren't high on DAR/Julius/BI enough to the point they would trade a top10-15 talent for them and rightfully so ...

 

if there was risk of losing them in FA, i think they would. but the new cba's really putting that to rest, i think.

 

We have two of the top 10 worst free-agent contracts that are untradable for 16-17

http://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/244728/10-Least-Tradable-Contracts-Of-2017

 

:MozgovYell:

 

1. Mosgov
2. Deng

By miles.