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5 Things: Lakers go 4-0 in preseason

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Well that was fun. The short preseason and training camp were a bona fide success with every Laker of note seeing some floor time. With a few days before the start of the regular season and the Lakers not having many questions in terms of how this team defends or where our points come from there were few surprises. Having said that, THT certainly did turn some heads. Now for the real thing.

  1. Best thing about preseason and the Lakers going 4-0? Nobody got hurt. Outside your standard NBA bumps and bruises, ankle turns and such the team got to see what everyone could do without seeing any serious injuries. Shout out to Mikal Bridges who looks like he suffered no ill-effects from his fall last night. Nothing dirty about the play but I have a standing rule of wishing good health on professional athletes, regardless of the team, play hard, compete well and stay healthy. No injuries.
  2. Anthony Davis looks ready to bring the rain. That third quarter was a thing of beauty and Davis has been leading with his defense as always. I think that, if LeBron ends up missing a dozen or so games this season due to load management, you will see a stronger and more assertive Anthony Davis as result. I think he could make a big push on both the MVP and DPOY goals, as well. While there is no doubt that LeBron James is the engineer that drives the Laker train there is also no doubt that Davis is the locomotive driving it forward on both ends.
  3. The Two-Step career of one Kyle Kuzma. I want to preface all this by first saying I thought Kyle had s pretty good preseason showing. His shot has been smooth, he plays under control and he knows his game. The fact that he and the Lakers couldn’t come to terms on an extension isn’t too surprising to me for a few different reasons. Primarily Kuzma and his agent likely feel like he’s buried in the rotation here in LA. Professional athletes don’t train hours and hours a day, practice, workout some more, watch film and then maybe train some more just to be pegged into a hole that the rest of the world sees them in. they are so good at what they do because they bet on themselves and the ones that don’t usually don’t last. Kyle is betting on himself, either during the season by proving he’s worth more than being a 7-10 million dollar player. Or the following offseason where he will be an unrestricted free agent and will test the market in a summer when a lot of teams will have cash to spend. The true question regarding Kyle is: does he finish the season in purple and gold. My sense is a pretty firm ‘yes’. While you don’t want to use him for nothing you would still have the option of signing and trading him in the summer and recouping some loss that way. For the cap-strapped Lakers it also wouldn’t be the worst thing on Earth if we lost him for nothing, as well.
  4. The G-Leaguers getting some burn. With the active roster expanding to the full fifteen every night there will be some interest in which G-leaguers, if any, make the cut. I don’t see any of them sticking with the big club except for maybe, maaaaaayyyyyybeeeeee Cacock. We need some size and Kostas is a major product who will benefit more from getting up snd down in the development league. I think we keep Quinn Cook (non-guaranteed deal) and so my guess is the roster will look something like:
    STARTERS: Schroder, KCP, James, AD, Gasol
    BENCH: Caruo, Kuzma, THT, Harrell, Morris, Matthews, Dudley, Cook, McKinnie, Cacock
    That’s a solid 15 there. There will be nights where we call upon the likes of Kuz and Tucker to take on larger roles and show their leadership qualities. That group may not have the decisive position/responsibility assignments traditionally seen in the NBA (no true back up PG, for instance) and we may lack for quality size after Gasol and AD, but there are a lot of guys who can make plays for others and play big.
  5. Speaking of which, welcome to the Lakers Alfonzo McKinnie! Got his Laker debut in last night, grabbed a board and got a foul in. Enjoy being a Laker!

All in all, a fairly meaningless preseason. The highlight of course being Talen doing all he could to make a case for himself in terms of having a role and getting some minutes. I’m excited to se what kind of adjustments he can make going forward. Go lakers.

Lakers Fast Break- Preseason Game Four Wrap Up with the Lakerholics!

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We wrap up the Lakers’ fourth preseason game against the Suns with the guys from the Lakerholics! For the best in daily fantasy sports betting, check out ThriveFantasy, the leader for Daily Fantasy Sports for the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, and E-Sports Player Props!

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How Rob Pelinka Has Weaponized the Los Angeles Lakers Offensive Arsenal

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Last season, the Lakers proved the axiom that defense wins championships. This season Rob Pelinka has given the Lakers an arsenal of weapons so their high powered offense could be as good as their championship defense.

While the Lakers clearly gave up some rim protection by not bringing back McGee and Howard, they still have their best shot blocker and rim protector in Anthony Davis, who will be playing the five when they close out games. Meanwhile, the objective in basketball is still to put the ball in the basket more times than your opponent and the four players the Lakers added this offseason were dramatic offensive upgrades over the four they replaced.

1. Marc Gasol for JaVale McGee

While the individual stats don’t show it, the biggest move to transform the Lakers offense this offseason was replacing traditional center JaVale McGee with modern 3-point shooting and elite playmaking center Marc Gasol. Gasol’s ability to shoot and pass the ball from the top of the key will open the floor for Laker superstars James and Davis to attack the rim and create opportunities for cutters like Caldwell-Pope and Kuzma to get easy baskets.

While Gasol only averaged 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 26.4 minutes per game vs. McGee’s 6.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 16.6 minutes per game, Marc shot 38.5% on 3.4 attempted threes per game. While Marc Gasol won’t personally add many points, his ability to stretch defenses and pass to cutters will transform the Lakers offensively and give teammates better spacing and opportunities to score than last season.

2. Dennis Schroder for Rajon Rondo

The second biggest offseason move Pelinka made was trading for Dennis Schroder to replace Rajon Rondo and give the Lakers a legitimate starting point guard in his prime to take the playmaking load off of LeBron James. While Schroder is not the elite playmaker Rondo was, he’s a much better scorer, 3-point shooter, and on ball defender. He also adds an element of speed at both ends of the court the Lakers did not have last season.

Finishing second in the 6MOY competition, Schroder averaged 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 30.8 minutes per game last season vs. Rondo’s 7.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in 20.5 minutes per game. While the Lakers may miss Playoff Rondo’s clutch savvy, Schroder is 7 years younger, will give the Lakers the third scorer they’ve been missing, make life easier for LeBron in the starting lineup, and run the team when he rests.

3. Wesley Matthews for Danny Green

Like Gasol for McGee, Matthews for Green was more about saving money and cap space and replacing a player whose productivity declined for a player who brought more offensive potential and versatility to the Lakers. By replacing Danny Green with Wesley Matthews, Rob Pelinka was able to exchange an expensive veteran shooting guard for one on a minimum contract and to steal a starting player from the rival Milwaukee Bucks.

Matthews averaged 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 24.4 minutes per game last season for the Bucks while Green posted 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 24.8 minutes per game for the Lakers. While Matthews’ 36.4% on 4.4 threes per game is almost identical to Green’s 36.7% on 4.8 threes per game, Wes was the better and quicker defender against big wing scorers like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

4. Montrezl Harrell for Dwight Howard

Replacing veteran backup center Dwight Howard with the 26-year old explosive, high scoring reigning 6MOY Montrezl Harrell could turn out to be Rob Pelinka’s crowning achievement of the offseason for the Lakers. While the Lakers will miss Howard’s elite rim protection, the opportunity to steal Trezz from the rival Clippers was just too tempting to pass and gives the team’s bench a needed boost in energy and scoring when LeBron rests.

Harrell averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per game with the Clippers last season while Howard averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 18.9 minutes per game with the Lakers. While Trezz is not the defender Dwight was, he will be playing alongside an elite defender and shot blocker in Anthony Davis and should continue being a high powered bench scorer who regularly dominates reserve centers.

Comparing the offensive productivity of the four players Rob added to that of the players they replaced is revealing. Gasol, Schroder, Matthews, and Harrell averaged a combined 52.4 points, 19.5 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per game. Meanwhile, McGee, Rondo, Green, and Howard averaged 29.2 points, 19.3 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. The four new players Rob Pelinka added to the Lakers posted 79% more points and 39% more assists.

That added offense from these four players translates into 23.2 more points and 2.9 more assists per game for a Lakers team that ranked 11th in the league with 113.4 points per game and 10th with 25.4 assists per game. Adding those numbers to last year’s averages would give the Lakers 136.6 points and 28.3 assist per game, both of which would rank first in the league and show how Rob Pelinka has weaponized the team’s offensive arsenal.