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dcarter4kobe
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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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Of course bringing Schroder back at a decent number would be my first option (7M>) but Dennis Smith could be a solid back up option at the vets min. Had a very strong year defensively at the POA.
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tox
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
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gng930
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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| tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
It's funny right? In an alternate universe we play Denver first and then GSW afterwards. In that universe, DLO's stock doesn't go down and Rui's does. Or even that in a universe where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round.
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Last edited by gng930 on Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:43 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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gng930
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Hanging from Rafters wrote: | | gng930 wrote: | | I'm sure someone already brought up his name but I think Divincenzo is a potentially good value signing. Plus defender, good 3-point shooting on 5+ attempts, and I don't think he'll warrant the entire NTMLE. Definitely felt his presence in that Warriors series. A non-liability at the very least from what I could tell. |
I can see him as an upgrade over LWIV with better 3pt shooting, rebounding, playmaking, and defense. Lonnie scores slightly more with slightly more overall efficiency but I’ll take Divinceno over LWIV as an overall better contributor, especially with the much better defense…and they may end up costing about the same.
We would likely need Dlo to take 20m and Rui to take 12m however if we want to add him to Dlo/Schro/AR/Vandi/LBJ/Rui/Mo/AD and stay under the tax but that is the same situation for LWIV. Other options are there too like Dlo18m and Rui14 or perhaps moving the draft picks for future drafts…could also use him as a replacement for both Schro and LWIV since AR can play PG and the pay Dlo22m and Rui15m. We’d be thinner in the backcourt tho. Interesting to consider.
Of course another option would be to just go slightly over the apron and pay the darn tax…signing Dlo22m, Rui15m, Divi7m…can do that if we sign AR last for 12m. |
I was thinking more DDV instead of, not in addition to, Schro. I think they're both $7-10 million dollar players and thus we won't be able to have both. Once/if we use up most of that NTMLE and are left with a few million here and there, I think you start talking more about regular-season rotation-level and/or situational players as opposed to players you rely on regularly in playoff crunch time.
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hydrohead
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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Bulls has a log jam at the wing. Lavine, DRoz, and Patrick Williams who see himself as a SF.
Have to think at 34, DRoz is the trade chip here. They also could use a ball handling guard.
A Dlo for DRoz may make some sense here. They get a point guard who age is inline with there star who can fill the basket. Lakers get a dependable scorer alongside AD, LBJ and Reaves who can play at SG or SF.
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ocho
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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| gng930 wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
It's funny right? In an alternate universe we play Denver first and then GSW afterwards. In that universe, DLO's stock doesn't go down and Rui's does. Or even that in a universe where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round. |
It’s the danger of overreacting to the very last thing you saw and ignoring everything before it. Same mentality that bit us the summer of the Russ trade.
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jodeke
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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Find a way to bring Brook Lopez back. He's a UFA. His salary last season was $13,906,976. I think we should go after him even though he's 35. He'd be a great relief for AD and would free him up to roam when they're in the lineup together.
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ahaider
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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I’m surprised Gabe Vincent hasn’t been mentioned much here as an option at PG. His skill set complements a lot of what we’re doing.
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Kobetan
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Ok so with the Lakers having the tradition of signing the best bigs in the league, when are we getting Jokic? |
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Hanging from Rafters
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| jodeke wrote: | | Find a way to bring Brook Lopez back. He's a UFA. His salary last season was $13,906,976. I think we should go after him even though he's 35. He'd be a great relief for AD and would free him up to roam when they're in the lineup together. |
Do you believe we could pry Lopez away from the Bucks? We Dumped on him by letting him walk for close to vet min when we needed a center after he had a decent season with us. He then won a title with the team he has been with since we shunned him and improved his defense even more this year.
It would be nice tho if we could pull it off with enough of last year’s team left to still win. I just can’t imagine how we could “somehow find a way”.
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Japago
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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If the Heat don't give the Nuggets a challenge, the top-heavy Suns would be the team that gave the Nuggets their toughest challenge. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Depth is needed. But, depth reaches it's limits in effectiveness and the top-end talent starts to factor into who wins at the end of the season.
I've said it a lot since the Lakers were eliminated, but I want the Lakers to combine some of that depth into a more reliable option to go alongside LeBron and AD.
There's plenty of space between how much depth the Lakers have right now and how top-heavy the Lakers were with Westbrook. Keep in mind that not only were the Lakers top-heavy, Westbrook wasn't even a good 3rd option. |
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Bron2AD
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-09-at-11.40.46-PM.jpg?resize=1536,1177
18-20m for a guy to sit on bench when he is targeted 😂 |
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Hanging from Rafters
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Japago wrote: | If the Heat don't give the Nuggets a challenge, the top-heavy Suns would be the team that gave the Nuggets their toughest challenge. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Depth is needed. But, depth reaches it's limits in effectiveness and the top-end talent starts to factor into who wins at the end of the season.
I've said it a lot since the Lakers were eliminated, but I want the Lakers to combine some of that depth into a more reliable option to go alongside LeBron and AD.
There's plenty of space between how much depth the Lakers have right now and how top-heavy the Lakers were with Westbrook. Keep in mind that not only were the Lakers top-heavy, Westbrook wasn't even a good 3rd option. |
Only 8 players got minutes for the Lakers in the last WCF game. A 3rd option for the Lakers that fits would have worked better than this collection of DNP CD players - Mo/Vandi/Beasley.
It’s been said, use 8, play 7, rotate 6, trust 5.
Use 8 - guess we used LWIV for 6 minutes
Play 7 - does it count as played for TT 9 minutes
Rotate 6 - can consider rotation for Dlo’s 14 minutes
The trusted 5 were AD/LBJ/Rui/AR/Schro. It sure would have been nice to have had another player among them for an upgrade.
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Last edited by Hanging from Rafters on Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:52 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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1995Lakers
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| ahaider wrote: | | I’m surprised Gabe Vincent hasn’t been mentioned much here as an option at PG. His skill set complements a lot of what we’re doing. |
Too limited an upside. He reminds me exactly of Eddie House - the same pros and cons and style. |
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Cutheon
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| gng930 wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
It's funny right? In an alternate universe we play Denver first and then GSW afterwards. In that universe, DLO's stock doesn't go down and Rui's does. Or even that in a universe where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round. |
This doesn’t make sense to me. In that universe we get cooked in the first round and everyone hates DLO even more because they don’t see him play well against Memphis and Golden State. |
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jodeke
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Hanging from Rafters wrote: | | jodeke wrote: | | Find a way to bring Brook Lopez back. He's a UFA. His salary last season was $13,906,976. I think we should go after him even though he's 35. He'd be a great relief for AD and would free him up to roam when they're in the lineup together. |
Do you believe we could pry Lopez away from the Bucks? We Dumped on him by letting him walk for close to vet min when we needed a center after he had a decent season with us. He then won a title with the team he has been with since we shunned him and improved his defense even more this year.
It would be nice tho if we could pull it off with enough of last year’s team left to still win. I just can’t imagine how we could “somehow find a way”. |
I think that was Jeanie, Linda, and Kurt. I also think Jeanie learned her lesson and Rob has the reigns. There's some shuffling of the deck going in in Milwaukee. Giannis wasn't happy with the firing of Budenholzer. Brook was born in North Hollywood. He's 35, has a ring, and might want to retire at home. Allow me to have my pipe dream. 
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gng930
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Cutheon wrote: | | gng930 wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
It's funny right? In an alternate universe we play Denver first and then GSW afterwards. In that universe, DLO's stock doesn't go down and Rui's does. Or even that in a universe where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round. |
This doesn’t make sense to me. In that universe we get cooked in the first round and everyone hates DLO even more because they don’t see him play well against Memphis and Golden State. |
Fair enough...how about the one where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round after advancing past Memphis? The point is that you don't put much too much weight on the last 4 games against a bigger body of work especially when a large portion of that is also the playoffs. We don't get into round 3 without DLO and we arguably don't even get past the play-in due to less favorable seeding. His value is obviously limited due to the potential of being unplayable against certain matchups but it should also account for the vast majority of the time where he is absolutely playable. I've even argued that DLO sans shooting slump probably doesn't even get benched against Denver.
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ahaider
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| 1995Lakers wrote: | | ahaider wrote: | | I’m surprised Gabe Vincent hasn’t been mentioned much here as an option at PG. His skill set complements a lot of what we’re doing. |
Too limited an upside. He reminds me exactly of Eddie House - the same pros and cons and style. |
I think he’s a noticeable upgrade over Schroeder. I’m not sure how his next contract will compare to D-lo’s but he may be a better value.
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tox
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-09-at-11.40.46-PM.jpg?resize=1536,1177
18-20m for a guy to sit on bench when he is targeted 😂 |
Rui was targeted by the Warriors, he played 17 mpg. Fewer minutes than LW4 who by the way only played 5 games. But you don't talk about Rui the same way. Is it because he's only going to get paid $14M (does the $4M per year matter that much?). Or are you just discounting that series?
You run the risk of overcorrecting after one poor series. Russell, with more confidence on offense, is absolutely playable against the Nuggets. Maybe as a 6th man and you want a more physical defender to try to disrupt Murray's rhythm. But the 82 game regular season, and facing other teams, matters too. It's very much possible Denver loses to another team, or someone gets injured etc.
Of course if you can upgrade on Russell you do it, no one is suggesting otherwise. But to scoff at paying him $18-20M is short-sighted. |
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1995Lakers
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-09-at-11.40.46-PM.jpg?resize=1536,1177
18-20m for a guy to sit on bench when he is targeted 😂 |
Rui was targeted by the Warriors, he played 17 mpg. Fewer minutes than LW4 who by the way only played 5 games. But you don't talk about Rui the same way. Is it because he's only going to get paid $14M (does the $4M per year matter that much?). Or are you just discounting that series?
You run the risk of overcorrecting after one poor series. Russell, with more confidence on offense, is absolutely playable against the Nuggets. Maybe as a 6th man and you want a more physical defender to try to disrupt Murray's rhythm. But the 82 game regular season, and facing other teams, matters too. It's very much possible Denver loses to another team, or someone gets injured etc.
Of course if you can upgrade on Russell you do it, no one is suggesting otherwise. But to scoff at paying him $18-20M is short-sighted. |
A D'Lo with an attitude adjustment of really wanting/craving to win a chip is a D'Lo I would invest in. But the D'Lo that I saw in the exit interview made me know why he underperformed in the playoffs again. This playoffs run was essentially a test trial for him to gain fun experience but not one where he really felt he had to win - other words, he didnt really crave the chip. None of these things happen by fluke. Hypothetically, lets say D'Lo gets in the lab and says to himself, "Im going to improve my game so the offense runs through me more and this (bleep) will never happen again." That D'Lo is our starting point guard for the next 5 years.
Im just skeptical its going to happen. And if the me-me-me Im cool with everything that happened this season D'Lo you saw in the exit interview shows up again next season, you will get this same result at some point in the playoffs next season where he doesnt truly grind and he mentally falls apart, except Bron will now be even more pissed because its a recurring pattern under his watch. |
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tox
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| Japago wrote: | If the Heat don't give the Nuggets a challenge, the top-heavy Suns would be the team that gave the Nuggets their toughest challenge. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Depth is needed. But, depth reaches it's limits in effectiveness and the top-end talent starts to factor into who wins at the end of the season.
I've said it a lot since the Lakers were eliminated, but I want the Lakers to combine some of that depth into a more reliable option to go alongside LeBron and AD.
There's plenty of space between how much depth the Lakers have right now and how top-heavy the Lakers were with Westbrook. Keep in mind that not only were the Lakers top-heavy, Westbrook wasn't even a good 3rd option. |
This is a good post. I'm not sure I totally agree, but I think there's a case for this.
However, I think the real problem with the Lakers wasn't depth vs. star power. It was a hole in our roster -- specifically, above average wings with size and good feet who can shoot. If instead of LW4 we had DDV on our roster, and we could start Reaves/DDV/Rui/Bron/AD, with Schroder/Russell/Vanderbilt/TT(?) as depth pieces, those close losses could've been close wins. Hell, if Vanderbilt could shoot 3s and we start with a bizarro lineup with Vanderbilt at the 2, same thing applies. |
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tox
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| 1995Lakers wrote: |
A D'Lo with an attitude adjustment of really wanting/craving to win a chip is a D'Lo I would invest in. But the D'Lo that I saw in the exit interview made me know why he underperformed in the playoffs again. This playoffs run was essentially a test trial for him to gain fun experience but not one where he really felt he had to win - other words, he didnt really crave the chip. None of these things happen by fluke. Hypothetically, lets say D'Lo gets in the lab and says to himself, "Im going to improve my game so the offense runs through me more and this (bleep) will never happen again." That D'Lo is our starting point guard for the next 5 years.
Im just skeptical its going to happen. And if the me-me-me Im cool with everything that happened this season D'Lo you saw in the exit interview shows up again next season, you will get this same result at some point in the playoffs next season where he doesnt truly grind and he mentally falls apart, except Bron will now be even more pissed because its a recurring pattern under his watch. |
I didn't watch his exit interview but I can imagine what he said, and I understand your argument. That's reasonable tbh. My counterpoint is I think a complacent Russell is still a competent and valuable player. At $25M-30M? No way. But under $20M? Yeah. That should leave you the ability to pay a guy like DDV or Bruce Brown to cover for him when he doesn't have it.
I also get a little hesitant when people forecast based on psychoanalysis. I mean, I don't have much confidence in his drive/ desire either, but I'm not sure I believe it necessarily means he'll fold again next year? IDK. I guess I can just totally imagine a universe in which we run it back, DLO plays like a co-3rd option (with AR), and we win #18. |
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wolfpaclaker
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 1:30 am Post subject: |
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| ocho wrote: | | gng930 wrote: | | tox wrote: | | Bron2AD wrote: | | tox wrote: | DDV is a good call out. If a series is too physical and Russell is being targeted, start DDV instead and have LeBron/AR play point. We probably need a fourth guard (Christie?) especially in the regular season (assuming Schro is gone) but finding someone off the bargain bin should be doable.
If the rest of the ntMLE can go towards a passable center (Plumlee?), then that just leaves a wing with length as the weak link in the roster. Which... well we pray Vando learns to hit 3s or Christie has a breakout season (as 3&D) |
so how much are we paying for DLO to come off the bench when it really matters? |
"When it really matters" -- he played and was effective in two playoff series. Rui also basically was a bench player against the Warriors with limited minutes and responsibility. I see DLO making more but I think $14M for Rui and $18-20M for Russell seems reasonable. |
It's funny right? In an alternate universe we play Denver first and then GSW afterwards. In that universe, DLO's stock doesn't go down and Rui's does. Or even that in a universe where we lose to GSW in the 2nd round. |
It’s the danger of overreacting to the very last thing you saw and ignoring everything before it. Same mentality that bit us the summer of the Russ trade. |
If we play Denver in round 1, we are not even talking about playing anyone in round 2. This is not a valid argument.
The reason the Lakers traded for WB was relayed by Pelinka. He felt Lebron was at an age where he needed a 3rd star, particularly an all-star PG that can push him off the ball. Even now, this current roster, is built with the same vision. Reaves and DLO do a lot more creating than Lebron did in the championship season (led league in assists). I don't agree they overreacted to the Suns series of 2021. They (Pelinka) 1) Always wanted a 3rd star next to AD/Bron, and 2) Continue to feel Lebron should be playing next to a lot of creating guards. 3) Wouldn't shock me if they star chase a bit this summer. |
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| wolfpaclaker wrote: | | ocho wrote: | | It’s the danger of overreacting to the very last thing you saw and ignoring everything before it. Same mentality that bit us the summer of the Russ trade. |
If we play Denver in round 1, we are not even talking about playing anyone in round 2. This is not a valid argument.
The reason the Lakers traded for WB was relayed by Pelinka. He felt Lebron was at an age where he needed a 3rd star, particularly an all-star PG that can push him off the ball. Even now, this current roster, is built with the same vision. Reaves and DLO do a lot more creating than Lebron did in the championship season (led league in assists). I don't agree they overreacted to the Suns series of 2021. They (Pelinka) 1) Always wanted a 3rd star next to AD/Bron, and 2) Continue to feel Lebron should be playing next to a lot of creating guards. 3) Wouldn't shock me if they star chase a bit this summer. |
What? Overreacting to playoff performances/results is almost a tradition in sports. Russell was bad against the Nuggets, therefore he is a garbage player who we can never rely on. We crashed out against the Suns, so we needed to blow it up and get Westbrook. The Lebron window was closing, so we were absolutely in panic mode. Of course Pelinka says it was a calm, rational decision. What do you expect him to say?
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yinoma2001
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| Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2023 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| Japago wrote: | If the Heat don't give the Nuggets a challenge, the top-heavy Suns would be the team that gave the Nuggets their toughest challenge. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Depth is needed. But, depth reaches it's limits in effectiveness and the top-end talent starts to factor into who wins at the end of the season.
I've said it a lot since the Lakers were eliminated, but I want the Lakers to combine some of that depth into a more reliable option to go alongside LeBron and AD.
There's plenty of space between how much depth the Lakers have right now and how top-heavy the Lakers were with Westbrook. Keep in mind that not only were the Lakers top-heavy, Westbrook wasn't even a good 3rd option. |
The issue our two top players are more likely to play 55-56 games a season, so depth is essential to making the playoffs. That was the kind of hubris we played with in trading for Russ. We thought 3 max players could make up for the rest of the deficient roster and they were wrong. I don't want that experiment at all for AD/LBJ.
It's an oversimplification to assume we even make the playoffs before we think about how we perform in the playoffs.
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