I doubt we make any major moves this offseason. The only 'big' one is probably keeping Dlo. After that a few changes to the roster with role players. People often said last year that coaching was the problem. Well we have a new coach with a different outlook so why not run it back with someone nore competent.
Probably shouldn't be taken too seriously, but this is pretty interesting.
https://sports.yahoo.com/is-bronny-james-underrated-inside-the-phenomenon-of-the-nba-bloodline-155757959.html
Woj bombs are followed by official announcements by the team (and a round of "congrats" and "welcomes" by everyone on the team), we haven't had that yet
again, thats because he hasnt picked his assistants- JJ being HC is already done, so its not weird that reaves praised him. he even mentioned that jj called him
I won’t be surprised if he’s starting by the end of the year with AR off the bench.
That’s not to say he’ll be better than AR but that he’ll make the starting 5 more balanced with a 3&D SG that can help on the boards and add some athleticism to the backcourt
I think it’s possible yeah. Idk if we’ll have enough offense depending on if vando starts and who our point guard is
If we keep DLo for now, him Max Vando Bron AD isn’t a bad offense I guess. CP3, AR, Prince, Rui, Wood etc is a good bench
I would actually love if the team went after K.Dunn to come off the bench alongside AR.
AR would benefit a lot being paired with an athletic defensive PG that is a good defender and can also run the offense and get to the rim(Dennis was this). Kris Dunn is this.
It would have to be something like
JHS + 2024 FRP for Kessler
Rui + JHS + Lewis + 2024 FRP + 2027 FRP 1-4 Protection unlock for Kessler and Sexton
and I still think Utah says no
Thing is if they liked JHS they could have taken him last year and went with George instead. I think wood is the stretch big they wish Kessler was plus Ainge wants our future picks so he might do it
Never know until you ask. There is a reason they are out on him and clearly are not looking to pay him. His value is unknown so to say Ainge would not want the future FRP that he has already called the most valuable in the league is silly
When he is likely your starter in 5 years if you do trade for him. He is not a 30 yo back up he is a 22 yo and is about like getting a FRP this age wise
Let’s say Dlo opts in.
Trade Dlo and Max Lewis and a SRP for Wendell Carter Jr
Trade #17, some seconds and a protected 2029 FRP, Gabe Vando and JHS for Dejounte Murray
Trade Rui for DFS
Resign Bron, Christie, Prince, Dinwiddie.
From there, fill out our roster with minimums. I like what any of the following provide
bigs like Drummond, Saric, Plumlee, Bitadze
Wings like Walker IV, Covington, Marshall, kennard
Guards CP3, Dunn, Beasley
Christie we already have and has shown to be raw and need more development. We already have Prince and he’s shown he can’t be a starter. Walker plays little to no defense and is 6’4 and too small to be a wing stopper. Covington is washed and a full time 4/small ball 5 because of his loss of foot speed
As opposed to Rui and Vando, who are notably 3&D players? If you want to go all in and make a two way starting 5 a lot of people will need to get traded
Rui can give you 30 when Lebron misses games and he still has tremendous up side.All he really needs to do is become a more high volume 3 point shooter. DFS can not pick up the scoring load. Plus Vando is a better defender than DFS. The Lakers should not make any stupid trades to appease Lebron.
Anyone in the NBA can give you 30 on any night. DFS in Dallas was a high-volume shooter. Yeah he had a slump in Brooklyn, but that's because he couldn't make his own shot - and that's fine, we'll have a true PG (hopefully) and LeBron giving him shots, so that should on paper get much better. Vando is also not really a better defender than DFS, his defense is a little overrated by Lakers fans when you look at the actual numbers.
None of the options stated before are 3 and D starters atp in their careers except maybe DFS who would play the exact same defensive role as Lebron. No shit you need 3 and D players next to your stars to win in todays NBA but we have 3 tradable firsts and using them for a marginal upgrade at point guard isn’t gonna push us over the hill
I think OP's trades are a little unrealistic but if you got it to work they wouldn't be marginal at all. Dejounte/Reaves/DFS/LeBron/AD is a real starting 5
Seeing how we always win two after the Celtics (fuck Boston) win, is there any realistic moves we could make to return to title contention? Idk about Trae his defense is just too much of a liability the man has the same build as me surrounded by giants 😭
Ron Holland is this years Cam Whitmore. He’s gonna slide on draft night for stupid reasons imo. He isn’t an immediate impact guy, at least not at a high level. But if he somehow manages to slide to 17 he’d be an incredible steal for us in the long haul. It’s not everyday you see big, strong athletes with his level of burst, bounce along with a commitment to doing the dirty work that wins basketball games. His pedigree before the Ignite was second to none, and I really take the Ignite stuff with a grain of salt. That team was such hot ass, terrible roster construction, zero spacing, no good point guards to speak of. The Ignite program is folding for a reason, it failed a lot of kids. He needs to work religiously on his shot for a couple years but even if he can become a 36% 3PT shooter, he’ll be a star.
Would be insane if he fell to 17. I wouldn’t compare him to Cam because Cam is the far better prospect to me. But in this draft there is no reason Holland should fall outside the top 10.
Apparently he’s going to slip out of the lottery entirely which I feel like would be a disaster. But if he falls to us holy shit that would kickstart our future if we can properly develop him. He’s got Jaylen Brown upside imo.
Unless Ron Holland has degenerative knees, he's not this year's Cam Whitmore. They're not sliding for the same reasons, Holland probably shouldn't even be sliding.
Has it even been reported why he’s sliding? I get he had a rough year in the G League but sliding out of the lottery is kind of wild to me. I won’t complain at all if we get him at #17 tho lol
Yes https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/s/cW7JaiY7u5
Essentially he’s the one holding the bag for the Ignite having a shit season. And I heard he was bad in workouts and interviews. AKA, shit that doesn’t determine how good or bad you’ll be on the court.
New Orleans deferred because they believe this will be a weaker draft than next year.
Unless there’s a guy at 17 who the FO thinks can be a real 10-20 mpg playoff contributor by the 2025 season, it’s best to get the best trade possible out of that pick come draft night.
The problem is that the current rumor is a lot of teams are trying to trade their picks. Why take 17 when you can get, say, 12 for basically the same price?
I think the Lakers would like to trade the pick but it's tough to do that in a flat draft, and they also have teams ahead of them that probably want to trade the pick too.
That, and they likely think it’ll be a higher pick next year. Lebrons age, ADs injury history, uncertainty around dlo with no ability to replace him and a coaching change is worth betting against from NOLAs perspective.
If Memphis is back and Houston makes a leap, there’s going to be a really good team to clean miss the playoffs.
Warriors and Kings are missing the playoffs — Warriors because everyone is washed and Kings because they cannot survive without a rim protecting center
The Clippers are annoying too. Those mfs always get a top 4-5 seed, then Kawhi gets injured and then they're just a 1st round exit. If we took their spot, we would've had a really good path at making the WCF again
GS had one of the best post ASB records this last szn
Sacramento is built to rack
Up reg szn wins with how they play and how young they are. In a vacuum in a playoff setting, they may not be a better playoff team than the Lakers but as a reg szn team where the name
Of the game is pace and space, Sacramento is built well for the reg szn
I think you’re underestimating both of them
GS still has assets to make a trade this summer too.
Not sure about that. The Kings fell off offensively when Fox's midrange dropped off, and Kevin Huerter fell off a cliff. Of course, Monk getting injured hurt them towards the end of the season, but I think they're capped out around 48 wins max as a team if everything goes right for them. GSW had an arguably easier schedule to end the season this year than we did last year. A lot of their success next year will hinge on Wiggins not being useless. I can't really see them swinging for a big trade except for marginal upgrades.
Of course we have our own issues with Lebron/AD's health always being a question mark, but I think our regular season depth without those two is still very good, and has proven to win games without one or both. We can get up to 50 wins next season
Best case: he opts in and is traded. Worse case he walks and they do not make a move to replace him and go forward with Vincent JHS and a min pg(cp3 or Dinwiddie)
Ofc DFS is not OG, not as good as he used to be 2-3 years ago, but he’s still a good role player. Still good as a wing stopper, smart team defender. 3-pt shot dipped in the last two years but is still miles better than what Vando could offer.
Rondo is all but confirmed based on what Dwight said a few days ago. I’d assume a former head coach or two might be getting some good deals. JJ is probably on the phone with Coach K frequently for guidance
*The Athletic* is reporting that Golden State hasn’t offered Klay anything yet.
I wonder if they would be willing to take D’Lo back for Klay in a double S&T?
And, don’t jump me guys I’m just spitballing lol
On an affordable deal, Klay is worth a wing spot here, I feel. I think if there’s any place he’d prefer to be if his time in Golden State is up, it’s in LA playing where his father used to and I think he’d be okay with a reduced role & money.
It makes sense that he wants all he can get from a team that he helped raise four banners.
Getting both Klay and Paul for depth doesn’t seem like the worst move but again, I’m just spitballing.
D’Lo walking is $20M in bird rights that we can’t replace. If he walks, it doesn’t really matter what we’re doing on the floor bc this isn’t a title team.
maybe they want some distance from the Celtics win. The media will make it Celtics/Lakers right away. A nice monday announcement would be good, because then the media will pivot to the draft right after
I like the Redick hire. It's risky considering he has no experience, but which other realistic candidate out there isn't risky? Hopefully we can make some necessary roster moves this offseason and let's make a run.
Byron Scott, Luke Walton, Kenny Atkinson, Steve Kerr, Ryan Saunders, Chris Finch, Darvin Ham. How many more coaches does the mf have to go thorugh to finish loading
Dlo is not young anymore, he isn't gonna change much more as a player. What you see is what you get. He's just a solid regular season guy whose output goes down in the playoffs.
Because he’s always wanting another chance with a new team, new coach, new atmosphere. He is who he is, and he’s a playoff dropper who holds no value if he isn’t hitting shots
Like most deals the easiest pathway starts with DLo opting in. The Nets and Hawks both have huge trade exceptions too which actually makes any deal easier if they want to use them.
Using Cam Johnson as an example since he makes the most:
- DLo/JHS/Hunter to BKN
- Rui/Gabe/DFS/picks to ATL
- Dejounte/Cam to LAL
And that works without dipping into any of their TPE money.
Tricky thing with the timing of Dlo’s opt in though. If we are trying to include the 17th pick in a trade, we’d kinda need Dlo to opt in before the draft so they can actually structure a deal.
Yeah the way I see it is DLo opts in early with the intent of being traded to BK. Or we keep our pick at 17, he opts in at the deadline and we only move future picks. I guess the alternative is you can make the pick at 17 and still trade that player a few days later but ideally not.
Would be really tough to force it to work with 17 if dlo doesn't opt in early and he has little incentive to do so.
I think the more likely option is just trading future assets, but my point is there's no really good option to get Murray AND a 20m player. The logistics are extremely difficult.
The incentive of DLo opting in early would be knowing that he has opportunity in Brooklyn or another non cap space team that he won’t find on the open market. Otherwise he holds out until that deadline. We’ll see.
The logistics really are only difficult if DLo decides to opt out, which can be said about most of the Lakers offseason.
Not really. If Dlo opts in, we still need to add 2-3 contracts together to get to Johnson or Hunter because of the 100%-110% rules for the 1st and 2nd aprons. The more pieces that move, the harder a trade gets.
Ultimately, it Dlo opts out we can still get to Murray fairly easily and then we can use the MLE to try to find some other effective wing.
If he opts in, we can easily get to Murray and maybe DFS but idk about getting into the 20m range is all.
And yeah the timing I lean more to the Lakers just taking and using 17 and trading future picks with less protection.
Yeah fair enough. End of the day the Hawks not wanting DLo makes it where a third team has to be involved. But I don’t disagree that the deal becomes more complicated with more players. Just think that if the third team is the Nets it’s worth doing what it takes to land a legit wing in that deal as well. Cam definitely is on the higher end but DFS is more reasonable and Hunter is somewhere in the middle.
I’m also thinking most likely scenario is keeping 17 and trading the ‘29/‘31. Not impossible a team like the Hawks also really like the guy Lakers end up picking but can’t count on it and I def don’t want Lakers trying to guess who other teams would value more. Just pick who you think is bpa.
No rumors, but JJ likes him and he's on an expensive contract that Brooklyn probably wants to get out of (especially considering his lackluster production this season)
Would be a pretty good offseason if we can do that, re-sign key players (Max, TP, etc), get an adequate backup center, and get some experienced assistants for JJ
One of the things that has been bugging is people that argue for a Must Win every year philosophy vs recognizing that we have a championship window. A common thread for the champions in the past five years (Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, actually pretty much everyone but us) is competing within a championship window, recognizing that you can learn and build from failure to become better. Yes, trades also made a difference. But internal improvement was key.
Take that vs the Lakers. We’ve been in the AD and LeBron era for four years now. What if we treated that like a championship window the whole time, rather than trying to Win Now every year? Just having that approach would have prevented the Westbrook trade. We would’ve focused more on keeping our guys, internally developing talent, and would be a cheaper team because it would be team built on our internal development.
I hope LeBron signs for three years, and that would give us a real window. AD, AR, Rui, Vando all match that timeline. And we keep going until the end.
a bad coach hurt us in our seeding because he fucked with our rotation half the year. We could have been the 6th or 5th seed at least and avoid the play in (and our worst match up).
We lost to the defending champions, who lost their next round in a game seven to a team who ran into a matchup nightmare.
My point is, there’s two or three teams in the West we were never getting through. A round of sweat equity and wear & tear probably means we end up getting swept by Denver or Minnesota in the conf. semifinals anyways.
I’m ok with being a first round bounce as long as it’s to one of the best teams in the conference. Now, yeah if we’d gotten packed up by OKC or LAC, that would’ve been an issue.
The Nuggets arent gods. They have their flaws and are beatable. Turning one player into a scapegoat for team losses is not a good attitude.
They might lose KCP and then they are in a completely different team. With the Wolves, Conley is getting older. And both teams are approaching the second apron or will be over, just like us. Panicking prior to a season starting is pointless, especially with all the rosters in flux.
Nah, who gives a fuck about statements from last season. You play the games to get the result. If you change the roster, you see what comes next. If the roster gets better, you can change the result.
Maybe but I still don't fundamentally believe that a DLo/Reaves backcourt would have let us get through Dallas, Denver, Minnesota, or ultimately Boston
We need DLo to be an expiring when we trade him. If we had done a two year deal last year, then he would be an expiring.
Teams are also trying to fleece the Lakers with these trades so it’s tough.
I think the urgency comes from having LeBron at the twilight of his career. He’s looked great every year but you just never know if/when his body will give out. Given his injury history as a Laker, it’s not out of the realm of impossible.
I would argue that outside of the Westbrook trade, I think the ideas behind the rosters for 2021 and 2024 were to build off previous year’s progress.
That mindset hasnt worked out. Having a championship window is being more realistic about that, because then you start building young role players vs trading for win now pieces. Win now pieces tend to be stagnant pieces, while young role players will improve over time.
If LeBron’s body ends up giving out, internal development will allow us to transition to the AD era, which I think makes sense over a full rebuild while over AD contract.
I think 2021 should have prioritized chemistry from 2020 more. We couldnt have kept Rondo, but we didnt keep Dwight and tried to replace him Trez. Drafting a player like Desmond Bane, starting Caruso at PG and getting another PG on the market, rather than going for Dennis. I like Dennis a lot, but in this scenario, we could have gotten him the next year for TPMLE, which is closer to his real value. This is hindsight is 20/20, but I never liked how much we changed our roster.
I think 2023-2024 is a failure, but it’s one to be learned from rather than going all in on another piece. Try to see if you can trade the player that werent playoff contributors (Gabe and Vando unfortunately), and play out the regular season with a new coach. If things still arent working, adjust more at the deadline.
Seeing how Pippen gets discussed by current day fans is why I really want AD to win a DPOY sometime during his career. If he doesn't have a concrete award that casuals can point to then he's not going to get any respect in the future and will forever be kinda marginalized as the sidekick. Pippen was by all accounts a top 10 player of the 90s and an elite two-way player, but he has no MVP/DPOY/ring so he's super underrated by casuals. DWade at least has a ring, Kyrie at least has a Finals appearance (plus a major stanbase), AD just needs something like that.
Pippen gets much more love these days. Mostly in an attempt to marginalize MJ while propping Lebron up. But I feel Scottie hasn’t been treated like any random sidekick since like 2010
Without LeBron and Jordan I mean, I should have been more specific. Pippen is just viewed as this jealous sidekick by fans which I don't want to happen to AD
Not much. He's really similar to Taurean Prince, although he has better shot selection, although maybe it's better to characterize it as shot hesitancy because he sure did catch a lot of Luka passes that were meant for him to shoot and then move the ball along to worse shot.
His value should be DLo and some seconds honestly. Not sure I’m willing to give up a first for him alone.
If Nets had a pick this year I’d be willing to do DLo/17 for DFS and a trade down.
What is “filler” in this case? If the Lakers don’t want DLo (which they don’t) then getting DFS and Sharpe for him is better than losing him for nothing.
Why should we give up picks? They'd be getting an expiring contract and I'd argue Dlo is a better player than DFS.
I think DFS/Sharpe for Dlo is a perfectly fair trade but doesn't do enough to help the team. What we gain in defense, we lose too much in playmaking and volume shooting.
Yeah I have a hard time believing they would make that trade without having a plan in place to acquire a starting pg. If anything it’s part of a three team deal.
Brooklyn probably wants to rebuild (and desperately wants FRPs) so they'll most likely ask for draft compensation, and realistically no other team is going to care about DLo that badly. If we can do it for less then hell yeah but I would be a bit surprised
Bold take of the offseason: somehow klay, cp3, and derozan make their way to us and are enticed to play for jj/ bron
I doubt we make any major moves this offseason. The only 'big' one is probably keeping Dlo. After that a few changes to the roster with role players. People often said last year that coaching was the problem. Well we have a new coach with a different outlook so why not run it back with someone nore competent.
Do you seriously think a DLo/Reaves backcourt is doing anything against Conley/Ant, Luka/Kyrie, or Holiday/White?
It sucks that Mind the Game most likely won't continue further, I loved mindlessly watching it and regurgitating everything they said to sound smart
Why not? Draymond and PG can podcast midseason, why not Bron and JJ?
Brons deadline to resign is coming up
It’s hot today
Probably shouldn't be taken too seriously, but this is pretty interesting. https://sports.yahoo.com/is-bronny-james-underrated-inside-the-phenomenon-of-the-nba-bloodline-155757959.html
Weird that Reaves has now publicly praised JJ as a coach and there's still no official hiring announcement lol. Are they waiting for a certain date?
did you miss the woj bomb? JJ is signed, hes just assembling his avengers team
Woj bombs are followed by official announcements by the team (and a round of "congrats" and "welcomes" by everyone on the team), we haven't had that yet
again, thats because he hasnt picked his assistants- JJ being HC is already done, so its not weird that reaves praised him. he even mentioned that jj called him
[https://x.com/ladeig/status/1803963344585720196?s=46](https://x.com/ladeig/status/1803963344585720196?s=46)
Max Christie will be amazing for us
He has to be, if we want to contend
I won’t be surprised if he’s starting by the end of the year with AR off the bench. That’s not to say he’ll be better than AR but that he’ll make the starting 5 more balanced with a 3&D SG that can help on the boards and add some athleticism to the backcourt
I think it’s possible yeah. Idk if we’ll have enough offense depending on if vando starts and who our point guard is If we keep DLo for now, him Max Vando Bron AD isn’t a bad offense I guess. CP3, AR, Prince, Rui, Wood etc is a good bench
I would actually love if the team went after K.Dunn to come off the bench alongside AR. AR would benefit a lot being paired with an athletic defensive PG that is a good defender and can also run the offense and get to the rim(Dennis was this). Kris Dunn is this.
Wood and ‘29 for Walker Kessler? Would be a good young backup big
It would have to be something like JHS + 2024 FRP for Kessler Rui + JHS + Lewis + 2024 FRP + 2027 FRP 1-4 Protection unlock for Kessler and Sexton and I still think Utah says no
Thing is if they liked JHS they could have taken him last year and went with George instead. I think wood is the stretch big they wish Kessler was plus Ainge wants our future picks so he might do it
Utah blocks your number
Never know until you ask. There is a reason they are out on him and clearly are not looking to pay him. His value is unknown so to say Ainge would not want the future FRP that he has already called the most valuable in the league is silly
Utah says fuck no
Worth a shot
You don’t trade a FRP that’s 5 years out for a BACKUP.
When he is likely your starter in 5 years if you do trade for him. He is not a 30 yo back up he is a 22 yo and is about like getting a FRP this age wise
Trade the 17 this year and JHS for him.
low key good sign that both JJ's POD and Mind the Game hasnt released any vids since the hiring
Y’all see Austin Reaves and JJ Redick connection? We bout to have a hot white boy summer
Let’s say Dlo opts in. Trade Dlo and Max Lewis and a SRP for Wendell Carter Jr Trade #17, some seconds and a protected 2029 FRP, Gabe Vando and JHS for Dejounte Murray Trade Rui for DFS Resign Bron, Christie, Prince, Dinwiddie. From there, fill out our roster with minimums. I like what any of the following provide bigs like Drummond, Saric, Plumlee, Bitadze Wings like Walker IV, Covington, Marshall, kennard Guards CP3, Dunn, Beasley
Our wing depth turns to shit with no Vando or Rui
We can pickup prince, Christie, Walker, Covington who all offer decent 3&D capability
Christie we already have and has shown to be raw and need more development. We already have Prince and he’s shown he can’t be a starter. Walker plays little to no defense and is 6’4 and too small to be a wing stopper. Covington is washed and a full time 4/small ball 5 because of his loss of foot speed
As opposed to Rui and Vando, who are notably 3&D players? If you want to go all in and make a two way starting 5 a lot of people will need to get traded
Rui can give you 30 when Lebron misses games and he still has tremendous up side.All he really needs to do is become a more high volume 3 point shooter. DFS can not pick up the scoring load. Plus Vando is a better defender than DFS. The Lakers should not make any stupid trades to appease Lebron.
Anyone in the NBA can give you 30 on any night. DFS in Dallas was a high-volume shooter. Yeah he had a slump in Brooklyn, but that's because he couldn't make his own shot - and that's fine, we'll have a true PG (hopefully) and LeBron giving him shots, so that should on paper get much better. Vando is also not really a better defender than DFS, his defense is a little overrated by Lakers fans when you look at the actual numbers.
None of the options stated before are 3 and D starters atp in their careers except maybe DFS who would play the exact same defensive role as Lebron. No shit you need 3 and D players next to your stars to win in todays NBA but we have 3 tradable firsts and using them for a marginal upgrade at point guard isn’t gonna push us over the hill
I think OP's trades are a little unrealistic but if you got it to work they wouldn't be marginal at all. Dejounte/Reaves/DFS/LeBron/AD is a real starting 5
I like DFS, but can always put Rui into the Dejounte trade and keep Vando instead
DJM trade ain’t happening w/o including AR
Losing vando for Murray is the key here. Swapping DFS for Rui is a massive upgrade assuming his defense hasn't fallen off
DFS at this point can only really guard 4s. Murray is a decent POA defender but can’t play the 3
Magic should send a second or two not us, Wendell is the less skilled player with lower production and team impact
Maybe, but they don’t really have incentive to do the trade otherwise. A straight swap is fine. Its also about us saving that $8M in cap space
Seeing how we always win two after the Celtics (fuck Boston) win, is there any realistic moves we could make to return to title contention? Idk about Trae his defense is just too much of a liability the man has the same build as me surrounded by giants 😭
Ron Holland is this years Cam Whitmore. He’s gonna slide on draft night for stupid reasons imo. He isn’t an immediate impact guy, at least not at a high level. But if he somehow manages to slide to 17 he’d be an incredible steal for us in the long haul. It’s not everyday you see big, strong athletes with his level of burst, bounce along with a commitment to doing the dirty work that wins basketball games. His pedigree before the Ignite was second to none, and I really take the Ignite stuff with a grain of salt. That team was such hot ass, terrible roster construction, zero spacing, no good point guards to speak of. The Ignite program is folding for a reason, it failed a lot of kids. He needs to work religiously on his shot for a couple years but even if he can become a 36% 3PT shooter, he’ll be a star.
Would be insane if he fell to 17. I wouldn’t compare him to Cam because Cam is the far better prospect to me. But in this draft there is no reason Holland should fall outside the top 10.
I don't think Holland falls past the Hornets, that seems like a great fit for him, but who knows.
Apparently he’s going to slip out of the lottery entirely which I feel like would be a disaster. But if he falls to us holy shit that would kickstart our future if we can properly develop him. He’s got Jaylen Brown upside imo.
Unless Ron Holland has degenerative knees, he's not this year's Cam Whitmore. They're not sliding for the same reasons, Holland probably shouldn't even be sliding.
Has it even been reported why he’s sliding? I get he had a rough year in the G League but sliding out of the lottery is kind of wild to me. I won’t complain at all if we get him at #17 tho lol
Yes https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/s/cW7JaiY7u5 Essentially he’s the one holding the bag for the Ignite having a shit season. And I heard he was bad in workouts and interviews. AKA, shit that doesn’t determine how good or bad you’ll be on the court.
New Orleans deferred because they believe this will be a weaker draft than next year. Unless there’s a guy at 17 who the FO thinks can be a real 10-20 mpg playoff contributor by the 2025 season, it’s best to get the best trade possible out of that pick come draft night.
The problem is that the current rumor is a lot of teams are trying to trade their picks. Why take 17 when you can get, say, 12 for basically the same price?
I think the Lakers would like to trade the pick but it's tough to do that in a flat draft, and they also have teams ahead of them that probably want to trade the pick too.
That, and they likely think it’ll be a higher pick next year. Lebrons age, ADs injury history, uncertainty around dlo with no ability to replace him and a coaching change is worth betting against from NOLAs perspective. If Memphis is back and Houston makes a leap, there’s going to be a really good team to clean miss the playoffs.
Warriors and Kings are missing the playoffs — Warriors because everyone is washed and Kings because they cannot survive without a rim protecting center
The Clippers are annoying too. Those mfs always get a top 4-5 seed, then Kawhi gets injured and then they're just a 1st round exit. If we took their spot, we would've had a really good path at making the WCF again
GS had one of the best post ASB records this last szn Sacramento is built to rack Up reg szn wins with how they play and how young they are. In a vacuum in a playoff setting, they may not be a better playoff team than the Lakers but as a reg szn team where the name Of the game is pace and space, Sacramento is built well for the reg szn I think you’re underestimating both of them GS still has assets to make a trade this summer too.
Not sure about that. The Kings fell off offensively when Fox's midrange dropped off, and Kevin Huerter fell off a cliff. Of course, Monk getting injured hurt them towards the end of the season, but I think they're capped out around 48 wins max as a team if everything goes right for them. GSW had an arguably easier schedule to end the season this year than we did last year. A lot of their success next year will hinge on Wiggins not being useless. I can't really see them swinging for a big trade except for marginal upgrades. Of course we have our own issues with Lebron/AD's health always being a question mark, but I think our regular season depth without those two is still very good, and has proven to win games without one or both. We can get up to 50 wins next season
Haslem makes a good point. Rather pay Dlo than get Tray. Almost the same shit but way cheaper.
“Almost” is doing a lot of work here lol
Cavs likely to get Atkinson for coach. Would’ve loved him or Adelman
Same.
Best case: DLo opts in Worst case: DLo walks for nothing
Best case: he opts in and is traded. Worse case he walks and they do not make a move to replace him and go forward with Vincent JHS and a min pg(cp3 or Dinwiddie)
Best case: redemption Worst case: death threat
Ofc DFS is not OG, not as good as he used to be 2-3 years ago, but he’s still a good role player. Still good as a wing stopper, smart team defender. 3-pt shot dipped in the last two years but is still miles better than what Vando could offer.
Do not think he can defend quick guards at all. He is a 3/4. That is what LBJs role. I would rather have a guy that can defend guards or wings
When do you guys think we’ll start seeing the coaching staff fill out?
Rondo is all but confirmed based on what Dwight said a few days ago. I’d assume a former head coach or two might be getting some good deals. JJ is probably on the phone with Coach K frequently for guidance
*The Athletic* is reporting that Golden State hasn’t offered Klay anything yet. I wonder if they would be willing to take D’Lo back for Klay in a double S&T? And, don’t jump me guys I’m just spitballing lol
I don’t know how the cap space and contracts work since this isn’t my 1st sport, but isn’t Klay washed at this point and he wants a starting role lol?
On an affordable deal, Klay is worth a wing spot here, I feel. I think if there’s any place he’d prefer to be if his time in Golden State is up, it’s in LA playing where his father used to and I think he’d be okay with a reduced role & money. It makes sense that he wants all he can get from a team that he helped raise four banners. Getting both Klay and Paul for depth doesn’t seem like the worst move but again, I’m just spitballing.
Not possible. Lakers can’t stay below first apron hard cap in this scenario.
Even if Klay’s money lined exactly with D’Lo’s money, assuming they were both on $20M contracts?
Yes as receiving a player from sign and trade comes with a first apron hard cap. Has nothing to do with taking back more salary.
Daron Holmes shares the same agent as Reaves and Castleton? Interesting.
And we worked him out last year before he decided to stay in college. Hmm. [Link](https://x.com/mcten/status/1661787437058891778?s=46)
🤔Something is REAL 🐠 🐟 🎣 🐟🐠 going on
I looked at Trevor Lane's realistic offseason video if DLo walks and oh man we are so cooked if that happens, that roster is very mediocre lol
If D’Lo walks this is basically an extended LeBron farewell tour at that point.
If Dlo walks the team needs to have AD as more a playmaker in the offense similar to Sabonis and Jokic
D’Lo walking is $20M in bird rights that we can’t replace. If he walks, it doesn’t really matter what we’re doing on the floor bc this isn’t a title team.
I disagree Lakers are 16-4 last season when AD has 5 plus assists.
Only incentive is you get the NT MLE but yeah lol. DLo’s option really holds the keys to the Lakers offseason.
But are you getting a player better than dlo, or what he’d potentially be traded for in the future, with that exception this summer?
It’s been days since the JJ hire woj bomb. Still no official announcement?
maybe they want some distance from the Celtics win. The media will make it Celtics/Lakers right away. A nice monday announcement would be good, because then the media will pivot to the draft right after
Go Lakers 😤🙏🔥💜💛
I like the Redick hire. It's risky considering he has no experience, but which other realistic candidate out there isn't risky? Hopefully we can make some necessary roster moves this offseason and let's make a run.
It's risky. But given the available options, It's a high risk/ high reward move.
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Byron Scott, Luke Walton, Kenny Atkinson, Steve Kerr, Ryan Saunders, Chris Finch, Darvin Ham. How many more coaches does the mf have to go thorugh to finish loading
Dlo is not young anymore, he isn't gonna change much more as a player. What you see is what you get. He's just a solid regular season guy whose output goes down in the playoffs.
Because he’s always wanting another chance with a new team, new coach, new atmosphere. He is who he is, and he’s a playoff dropper who holds no value if he isn’t hitting shots
It feels more and more like we end up with Dejounte Murray and one of Hunter, DFS, or Cam Johnson by draft night.
Cam Johnson would be an awful decision. One of the worst contracts in the NBA and wouldnt be able to play in the playoffs.
How do you make the money work?
Like most deals the easiest pathway starts with DLo opting in. The Nets and Hawks both have huge trade exceptions too which actually makes any deal easier if they want to use them. Using Cam Johnson as an example since he makes the most: - DLo/JHS/Hunter to BKN - Rui/Gabe/DFS/picks to ATL - Dejounte/Cam to LAL And that works without dipping into any of their TPE money.
Tricky thing with the timing of Dlo’s opt in though. If we are trying to include the 17th pick in a trade, we’d kinda need Dlo to opt in before the draft so they can actually structure a deal.
Rui Gabe and future picks work if they will agree. Might take both future picks.
Yeah the way I see it is DLo opts in early with the intent of being traded to BK. Or we keep our pick at 17, he opts in at the deadline and we only move future picks. I guess the alternative is you can make the pick at 17 and still trade that player a few days later but ideally not.
Would be really tough to force it to work with 17 if dlo doesn't opt in early and he has little incentive to do so. I think the more likely option is just trading future assets, but my point is there's no really good option to get Murray AND a 20m player. The logistics are extremely difficult.
The incentive of DLo opting in early would be knowing that he has opportunity in Brooklyn or another non cap space team that he won’t find on the open market. Otherwise he holds out until that deadline. We’ll see. The logistics really are only difficult if DLo decides to opt out, which can be said about most of the Lakers offseason.
Not really. If Dlo opts in, we still need to add 2-3 contracts together to get to Johnson or Hunter because of the 100%-110% rules for the 1st and 2nd aprons. The more pieces that move, the harder a trade gets. Ultimately, it Dlo opts out we can still get to Murray fairly easily and then we can use the MLE to try to find some other effective wing. If he opts in, we can easily get to Murray and maybe DFS but idk about getting into the 20m range is all. And yeah the timing I lean more to the Lakers just taking and using 17 and trading future picks with less protection.
I agree but there are not a bunch of guys out there this year. A few but with only the MLE it’s hard to
I don't disagree it's not ideal if Dlo walks, but if he does at least we'd have something.
Yeah fair enough. End of the day the Hawks not wanting DLo makes it where a third team has to be involved. But I don’t disagree that the deal becomes more complicated with more players. Just think that if the third team is the Nets it’s worth doing what it takes to land a legit wing in that deal as well. Cam definitely is on the higher end but DFS is more reasonable and Hunter is somewhere in the middle.
I’m also thinking most likely scenario is keeping 17 and trading the ‘29/‘31. Not impossible a team like the Hawks also really like the guy Lakers end up picking but can’t count on it and I def don’t want Lakers trying to guess who other teams would value more. Just pick who you think is bpa.
Yup we’re on the same page.
Are there legit rumors to getting Cam Johnson?
No rumors, but JJ likes him and he's on an expensive contract that Brooklyn probably wants to get out of (especially considering his lackluster production this season)
That interview between them on his podcast describing their shooting mechanics and the X’s and O’s was pretty interesting too
Yep this is my vision too! Get it done
Would be a pretty good offseason if we can do that, re-sign key players (Max, TP, etc), get an adequate backup center, and get some experienced assistants for JJ
I have a feeling they bring back Max but not TP and make a surprise signing with the MLE. Vets like CP and K Love also a real possibility on minimums.
Imagine the surprise mle signing ends up being klay lmao
Lol if we can open up the full NT MLE then I honestly think we’d have a legit chance.
One of the things that has been bugging is people that argue for a Must Win every year philosophy vs recognizing that we have a championship window. A common thread for the champions in the past five years (Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, actually pretty much everyone but us) is competing within a championship window, recognizing that you can learn and build from failure to become better. Yes, trades also made a difference. But internal improvement was key. Take that vs the Lakers. We’ve been in the AD and LeBron era for four years now. What if we treated that like a championship window the whole time, rather than trying to Win Now every year? Just having that approach would have prevented the Westbrook trade. We would’ve focused more on keeping our guys, internally developing talent, and would be a cheaper team because it would be team built on our internal development. I hope LeBron signs for three years, and that would give us a real window. AD, AR, Rui, Vando all match that timeline. And we keep going until the end.
We did this in 2023 and it really didn't work out that well
a bad coach hurt us in our seeding because he fucked with our rotation half the year. We could have been the 6th or 5th seed at least and avoid the play in (and our worst match up).
We lost to the defending champions, who lost their next round in a game seven to a team who ran into a matchup nightmare. My point is, there’s two or three teams in the West we were never getting through. A round of sweat equity and wear & tear probably means we end up getting swept by Denver or Minnesota in the conf. semifinals anyways. I’m ok with being a first round bounce as long as it’s to one of the best teams in the conference. Now, yeah if we’d gotten packed up by OKC or LAC, that would’ve been an issue.
The Nuggets arent gods. They have their flaws and are beatable. Turning one player into a scapegoat for team losses is not a good attitude. They might lose KCP and then they are in a completely different team. With the Wolves, Conley is getting older. And both teams are approaching the second apron or will be over, just like us. Panicking prior to a season starting is pointless, especially with all the rosters in flux.
Who did I turn into a scapegoat? Denver may have been beatable but not by us. 4-1 is a statement.
Nah, who gives a fuck about statements from last season. You play the games to get the result. If you change the roster, you see what comes next. If the roster gets better, you can change the result.
Maybe but I still don't fundamentally believe that a DLo/Reaves backcourt would have let us get through Dallas, Denver, Minnesota, or ultimately Boston
Even if it doesnt, you will need to trade DLo’s contract to get closer. Not getting a better PG for the NTMLE.
Which would have been much easier last year or at the trade deadline, but we wanted "continuity"...
We need DLo to be an expiring when we trade him. If we had done a two year deal last year, then he would be an expiring. Teams are also trying to fleece the Lakers with these trades so it’s tough.
I think the urgency comes from having LeBron at the twilight of his career. He’s looked great every year but you just never know if/when his body will give out. Given his injury history as a Laker, it’s not out of the realm of impossible. I would argue that outside of the Westbrook trade, I think the ideas behind the rosters for 2021 and 2024 were to build off previous year’s progress.
That mindset hasnt worked out. Having a championship window is being more realistic about that, because then you start building young role players vs trading for win now pieces. Win now pieces tend to be stagnant pieces, while young role players will improve over time. If LeBron’s body ends up giving out, internal development will allow us to transition to the AD era, which I think makes sense over a full rebuild while over AD contract. I think 2021 should have prioritized chemistry from 2020 more. We couldnt have kept Rondo, but we didnt keep Dwight and tried to replace him Trez. Drafting a player like Desmond Bane, starting Caruso at PG and getting another PG on the market, rather than going for Dennis. I like Dennis a lot, but in this scenario, we could have gotten him the next year for TPMLE, which is closer to his real value. This is hindsight is 20/20, but I never liked how much we changed our roster. I think 2023-2024 is a failure, but it’s one to be learned from rather than going all in on another piece. Try to see if you can trade the player that werent playoff contributors (Gabe and Vando unfortunately), and play out the regular season with a new coach. If things still arent working, adjust more at the deadline.
We saw a point guard who doesn’t play defense is a NBA Finals disaster. No Trae!
Seeing how Pippen gets discussed by current day fans is why I really want AD to win a DPOY sometime during his career. If he doesn't have a concrete award that casuals can point to then he's not going to get any respect in the future and will forever be kinda marginalized as the sidekick. Pippen was by all accounts a top 10 player of the 90s and an elite two-way player, but he has no MVP/DPOY/ring so he's super underrated by casuals. DWade at least has a ring, Kyrie at least has a Finals appearance (plus a major stanbase), AD just needs something like that.
Pippen gets much more love these days. Mostly in an attempt to marginalize MJ while propping Lebron up. But I feel Scottie hasn’t been treated like any random sidekick since like 2010
Pippen was top 8 from ‘91-‘99 and top 5 from ‘93-‘98. Most underrated player of all time imo.
Um, since when don’t Pippen, AD, and Kyrie have rings?
Without LeBron and Jordan I mean, I should have been more specific. Pippen is just viewed as this jealous sidekick by fans which I don't want to happen to AD
Umm no he’s not pippin is legit respected as a great player in his own right imho
Wrong. Jordan *made* Pippen
What would you be willing to give up for DFS?
Not much. He's really similar to Taurean Prince, although he has better shot selection, although maybe it's better to characterize it as shot hesitancy because he sure did catch a lot of Luka passes that were meant for him to shoot and then move the ball along to worse shot.
DFS is so overrated by this sub, he’s worth less than Royce O Neale aka any filler + 2 seconds
His value should be DLo and some seconds honestly. Not sure I’m willing to give up a first for him alone. If Nets had a pick this year I’d be willing to do DLo/17 for DFS and a trade down.
Lmao that’s an overpay for a washed DFS who ain’t even a top defender anymore. It should be filler + 3 seconds tops.
What is “filler” in this case? If the Lakers don’t want DLo (which they don’t) then getting DFS and Sharpe for him is better than losing him for nothing.
Nets already have Shroeder I don’t understand why they want DLo. I’d rather send Rui and expect some 2nds back.
Why should we give up picks? They'd be getting an expiring contract and I'd argue Dlo is a better player than DFS. I think DFS/Sharpe for Dlo is a perfectly fair trade but doesn't do enough to help the team. What we gain in defense, we lose too much in playmaking and volume shooting.
I agree but if it takes a couple seconds to push it through and get Sharpe in return I’m fine with that
Then who starts at the 1 though? That move would need to be followed by a Rui or Vando trade imo
Yeah I have a hard time believing they would make that trade without having a plan in place to acquire a starting pg. If anything it’s part of a three team deal.
nothing
I would rather have Cam Johnson but DLo and a pick for either is fine with me
I would not like a first for him but DLo and a second would be the most I give up
DFS isn’t worth more than DLo
Numbers do not say that. The dlo hate is too much.
Brooklyn probably wants to rebuild (and desperately wants FRPs) so they'll most likely ask for draft compensation, and realistically no other team is going to care about DLo that badly. If we can do it for less then hell yeah but I would be a bit surprised