yeah, kuzma was never going to play like that consistently as a laker. especially with lebron here. he needed to get away from the bright lights and the wizards are a perfect team for him since no one cares about them it's no surprise at all to see him balling out
Kuz hasn’t even been consistent for the wizards, he had a 6 point game on 3-11 shooting, 12 point game on 4-11, that’s who he is. I have no issue with those guys being gone, Trez was unplayable in the playoffs as well, his style just did not fit. But Caruso, man that’s gonna sting for years if we don’t win it all and defense is a big reason why.
We’ve had a lot of good young guys. Ingram, Ball, Nance and Caruso are my favourites. I’d take any of them back!
i mean--can we know that? we barely played him. dude has a legitimate beef with us, imo. did we ever even put him in a pick and roll? you know? his whole offensive skillset? as you said, he was a key part of our best defensive units, and we haven't replaced him with anyone who does those things. more importantly, kuz for melo ended up being defense for offense, too. we've hit on most of our picks. i'd add hart to the list of guys that could definitely come back, too. but on that list, only caruso absolutely did NOT have to go (i'd argue we could have retained nance and we'd have been glad for it, too). caruso's absence is solely about cash.
nance would be such a good fit for this current group speaks volumes as to how good this team is at scouting when you look at how well those guys are all playing. randle, ingram, lonzo, clarkson, even russell. patience is key with young players
Trading Westbrook vs trading KCP/Kuz/Caruso is also on a different level. Basically the Lakers are stuck with Westbrook this year good or bad with options only in the buyout market. Maybe next year he becomes sort of valuable as a huge expiring but it's not like any team would want him: it would have to be for another type of player like him: disgruntled guy not playing up to his contract that is making teams with assets sigh away
I think he has legitimate beef with us and i actually liked Harrell. I liked most of our young guys to be honest but I never felt like any of them were untradeable. That's why my only real issue with the front office is we just let Caruso walk to save money or whatever. I was always okay with moves as long as we got a good return. We will see if Westbrook ends up being the guy I tend to give Vogel and the staff the benefit of the doubt on playing Harrell. I feel like if they thought he could help they would've put him out there. I would've been fine giving it a shot.
I'm convinced he hit on someone's wife or something. What a trade (in all the bad sense of that phrase).
feel like the russ gambit was viewed as part of the bridge to whatever's next. he's definitely (and rightfully, imo) going to get a chance to be a big part of things this year. if things go south, remember that year after next only AD and THT are on the books. assuming lebron is still able to play at all, i wonder if he'll take a paycut of some sort and use his agency/connections to try and bring another big name on board. we'll also have a bunch of expiring salary to move if we're willing to eat longer deals on guys who are being paid too much to lose in small markets (or as i sometimes call it: the harrison barnes or gallinari designation).
Boy, this loss sucked the life out of Lakers fans everywhere!!!! The Lakers web world has gone silent!
Totally agree on the Nance point. Would be nice to have him as another big. I also left out Hart, Randle and Clarkson off my list before but I was a fan of those guys as well. I think the only one I didn’t like was D’Angelo Russell - his attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. Came off very entitled.
