Even the superstars have an off night. For the Lakers, this was the case for both Reaves and Luka as both players had an off night scoring the basketball. They did keep the ball moving and it was to their benefit because on a night that both Doncic and Reaves will quickly put behind them, their teammates stepped up. That’s why you trust in the team, the stronger the team, the easier the road.

1. Jake LaRavia finding his place. With the injuries, games missed and overall rotational chaos to kcik off the season it was kind of easy to overlook Jake’s arrival as a Laker. Luka’s extension and LeBron’s mood dominated headlines all summer long. So, while everyone acknowledged the signing was a positive one for thew Lakers, I don’t think anyone saw this level of potential impact. To put it plainly, Jake’s on a solid little 2 game tear right now. He’s hitting from three, he’s scoring at the rim, and you generally count on him to make the right play. He was 10-13 from the floor, 2-3 from three point land, and grabbed 8 boards. Jake’s role is largely undefined and his skill set fits that perfectly. Dude just plays hard and plays smart. That’s a solid combo and, while the league is filled with specialists, it’s worth noting that guys who, in Coach Reddick’s words “can just play”, are good at everything has it’s upside. I don’t expect Jake to score or have statistical impact high enough to be considered a sixth man of the year candidate, but he was the Lakers best player off the bench last night by a country mile.
2. Hayes stepped up. With Ayton a late scrub due to back spasms, Hayes showed he can be a pro and was ready to step in and fill the void. He even hit a 3! There’s a world Jaxson Hayes is a better defender, and I hope he becomes one in this world, but the lack of defensive timing and footwork is what’s holding him back more than anything else. He can pass well, has a decent handle for a big man, is athletic as the day is long and has a great attitude. He just fouls too much instead of properly contesting shots. I’ll add he almost never gets the benefit of the doubt from the whistle but that’s a reflection of how often he gets caught reaching and leaning.
3. Marcus Smart winning me over. I’ll admit, Marcus Smart was my least favorite pick-up of the summer. He looked over-the-hill and burnt out in Memphis (although that now looks like a culture issue as much as anything else which tracks) and he’s getting up there for a modern NBA guard. Marcus set the tone early and was a solid contributor throughout the game. Other than the tech he caught for taunting the Miami bench (which I actually didn’t mind much since it seemed like they were the one’s chirping), he was a force for good all game long.
4. Bronny’s great 4th quarter. With injuries to many key players, Dalton not being able to keep up with the pace the Heat played at (although he did make a three and is looking more like last season’s early version of DK4) it was Bronny James who was playing late into the 4th quarter and was a key contributor on defense. His stat line won’t jump off the page: 18 minutes, 1-4 , 0-2 from three with 2 assists and no turnovers. But his 3 steals were clutch, especially since 2 of them came during a stretch in the 4th when Miami was making a push. He passed up some open looks I’d just as soon see him take (one an open 3 and the other when he drove across the lane and nobody really picked him up…those are the shots you have to take when the defense gives them to you), but overall Bronny showed why his defense could be his calling card in his young NBA career.
5. Coach Reddick and his growth and regression. One of the things that irked me about Darvin ham was how slow to adjust he could be. Reddick was the same, last season, when it would take 2-3 games to make an adjustment to what were clearly tactics to take us out of our comfort zones as a team. Fast forward to last night and the pressure the Heat applied to our guards in the back court was easily released by having screeners in the backcourt, having a 3rd player come back for a pass ahead to break the pressure and it was very pleasing to me to see us quickly adapt to teams that want to switch up the coverage in the backcourt. We didn’t deal with Portland’s full court press well at all 4 games ago (a good test for that will be tonight) and since then we’ve see 2 teams try and emulate that pressure but the Lakers being a lot better prepared to counter it. That’s the primary function of the coaching staff: having the players prepared for unexpected scenarios. Where Reddick regressed was losing his shit on national TV…again…and stomping all over the court, yelling at his team on the sideline, and looking like an angry teenager. Dude. Learn the ways of the Zen Master, Mr. Phil Jackson, and take a page from his book of cool. I get it, Hayes wasn’t rotating properly and nobody picked up cutters for like 3 plays in a row on defense late in the game. Just do your job without the hysterics and the drama, nobody reacts well to that. If Jaxson Hayes came to the sideline screaming, yelling, flailing his arms like a bratty kid you’d send him to the locker room and rightly so. You really think grown men are going to take your tantrum well? If there’s major knock against Reddick is that it’s known fact that he will lose his cool. Whether it will cost us games or not is the question. Last night it did not.

First off, I don’t have, nor will I ever pay for, Amazon Prime. I think it really stinks that the league is putting games on that platform. I do not give money to Amazon, if it can be avoided, and as such won’t have anything to say about those games. But last night’s game, that I got plenty to say.

1. Reaves. If you’ve been paying attention ’round these parts you will know that I’ve been pretty consistent in my stance on Reaves as a Laker. They’re all in, he’s all in and the rest will get sorted this summer. His “worth” is a curious question because a lot of lakers fans act as if he’s the first player to be better on offense than he is on defense. News flash: that’s a good 65-70% of NBA players. Where Reaves is different is that he can go get 50 in a solo act or seamlessly mesh into the background as the 3rd option and he plays the exact same way. No carping like Kuminga about his minutes or role, he just goes out and plays hard. I even think he tries his best on defense it’s just that he doesn’t have much in his back pocket and can get moved around by bigger players quite easily. Again, news flash: that’s a lot of guards in the NBA. Point is, the Lakers have long publicly stated that it would take a “can’t say no” offer. Heck, the Lakers even managed to keep Reaves AND trade for Luka. If that doesn’t tell you what he’s worth to Rob and Jeannie I’m not sure what will. At any rate, Austin was masterful last night but my favorite moment was during his post game interview on Spectrum Sports Net right after the game when they informed him of the elite company he had just joined in the 50 As A Laker club and the even smaller 50 points/10 rebounds club. One assist would have meant creating a club unto himself. His reaction? “Oh, I don’t deserve all that. It’s a team game.” Dude…get-the-fawk-outta-here. If that’s not the perfect response I don’t know what is. To top it he listed, multiple times that he had to step up his game with “Luka, LeBron and Jax” missing. Everyone would have put the first 2 on the list, adding Hayes shows what caliber of teammate Reaves is. A most excellent one, indeed.
2. A tale of 2 Rui’s. I was as pumped as anyone watching Hachimura dissect the Kings defense like a surgeon in the first quarter. Three ball, post moves, midrange, open dunks: all of it was working like a Swiss watch. Then came the rest of the game and Rui vanished for just about all of it until he woke again to help close it out. It’s the aggression in his game for 48 that Rui needs to work on more than anything else. Especially with Luka and LeBron out, we cannot afford Hachimura to ghost the 2nd and 3rd quarters and then re-appear in the 4th. We need 48 strong minutes from the dude.
3. DeAndre Ayton’s best game yet. Ayton seems to play better off of Reaves and Vincent than he does Luka and I think I know why. Luka makes plays and passes nobody else sees, including his teammates. So, if you’re not mentally ready for the pass it takes a second to recognize what’s happening around you at a quicker pace than you’re ready for. Vincent and Reaves set things up a little more normally. Luka is almost too good for Ayton. I love how hard Ayton is playing, he’s running up and down the court like a G-Leaguer, he’s playing stout defense, and if we can work out the kinks between his scoring and Luka’s elite passing we have something to build on for a couple of years. Ayton is also likely just finding a level of comfort in an offense that, in all honesty, still hasn’t been fully fleshed because of the LeBron-sized hole in it. So, keeping all of that in mind, I have been very pleased on Ayton’s performance thus far.
4. The Old Guard(s). Vincent left with a badly rolled ankle (left the arena in a walking boot which is never a good sign, X-rays were negative though so hoping for the bets) which means I’d normally type “which means Marcus Smart will likely slide into his role” except we saw Marcus Smart getting his knee checked out, went back to the locker room, but returned to play in the 4th although he didn’t do much. A lot is riding on the health of these 2 dudes, especially with Luka and LeBron being out. I won’t be one bit surprised if both Smart and Vincent were already scheduled for rest days for today’s back-to-back but that just ends up putting a ton of pressure on Reaves and the pressed into duty last night Chis Manan. I hope Smart is OK but this was a big reason why I wasn’t as stoked about picking him up for the price we paid as a lot of other Lakers fans. After a rough first game he’s even out and blended his hustle and grit better but if he can’t play none of that really matters.
5. Jake LaRavia’s big game. Jake is going to get some time to shine for at least a couple more games. I like his overall level of play. I don’t like his inbounds passing and, overall, he needs to find better passing angles. Flat passes led to quite a few transition buckets off of steals for the Kings last night. The good news: that’s an easy to fix error. Jake is a real potential gem we can develop for a couple seasons, so I think it’s good he’s in the mix of the rotation. His first goal should be to work the passing angles better and not back down from his man. Learn where the contact is being applied from and use it against your defender and you’ll open a whole new level to your game.

There were other positives or things to critique. I feel like Reddick is still moody as the day is long in losses, that Vando needs to really apply himself when he attacks the rim (and just keep shooting those open 3’s man) and that we’re a good guard short based on what it looks like Vincent’s and Smart’s availability will be early on but that there are a lot of really solid pieces on the team right now that look like good building blocks.

That’s not even close to the haul they’ll get. Should read “Best Trade the Lakers Can Make In-Season” lol. They’re going to get better than that, should he ask out now, guaranteed.

According to ESPN (so dubious, at best) the Knicks were the team he’d go to this summer. Evidently that is no longer the case and you’d have to expect Milwaukee will do their utmost to get enough draft assets to hit the reset button now. That’s not our offer, which is admittedly the “kitchen sink” offer we could put out there.

Honestly, for the Lakers, it would be better for him to have waited until the summer when we’d have 3 more picks to add outright along with the kitchen sink. Could have balanced the contracts better by signing and trading Rui and Reaves.

Top 5 in-season suitors:
-Bulls
-Heat
-Clippers
-Raptors
-Pistons

Top 5 summer suitors:
-Bulls
-Heat
-Raptors
-Pelicans
-Celtics

All of those teams can trade more draft picks outright and also cobble together the $$$ to make it work.

1) As always Health takes every slot but, for the sake of making any kind of point, we’ll keep it at #1. As such, the Lakers (other than LeBron) seem to be in decent shape. They’re resting guys, not over-taxing key players, and have thus far avoided injuries.

2) LeBron’s injury opens the door to other things. We saw one version of the non-LeBron lineup last night. We’ll see another tonight, without Luka and Reaves I would guess. But the month or so we’ll be without LeBron for could be a big thing for Reaves to get the shine to be selected to his first All Star game. Could help with Luka being more strongly considered as an MVP candidate. Most of all, it opens the door to minutes for guys that likely would have been left out of the rotation most nights and give them a shot to grow their games.

3) Reaves looks great. Hoping he and Luka can really make this work because, if they can, it will mean the Lakers can lock down their back court for the foreseeable future as soon as next summer.

4) Luka looked amazing! He was having more fun than I ever saw him have at any point last year. He made ridiculous shots from everywhere, just super fun and happy for the dude that he got his head back on straight. His timing with DeAndre will come, in time, and those lobs will work better. It’s fair to say that the Lakers can deploy more of a power post game using either Ayton or Hachimura when they need a bucket, both are solid players off the elbow.

5) Earlier this summer I posted that I was afraid we let the better player in Goodwin go when we signed Smart. Nothing I’ve seen thus far has made me question that observation. Goodwin looked solid dropping 24 points on 50% shooting (3-7 from three) to Smart’s almost perfect donut only made me double-down that choosing Smart over Goodwin was a short-sighted choice. Akin to choosing THT over Caruso. I’m sure that won’t be a popular opinion, for obvious reasons, and if I’m being 100% honest both players have very different roles but the Suns got a solid player for the vet minimum while we used money on Smart that could have ben used for a plethora of still out there now free agents. I’m rooting for Smart to prove me wrong…but I’m not hopeful he will…

Back-to-back…WTF NBA?!?!?

How Many Rob Pelinka Quotes Can You Guess In Advance?

“We’re going to turn over every stone looking for ways to improve the roster.”

“We have a championship mentality here”

“We’re going to work with LeBron and Rich to make sure LeBron has the end of his career he wants and deserves.”

“We want to defend at a high level.”

“We’re committed to Luka, I think the trip to see him play in Euro League showed that.”

“We believe in Austin Reaves but we need to be diligent on our end and make sure we’re in a position to build the right team around Luka.”

Those are my first 6 off the top of my head.

Euro League!!!! The Great Caruso Failure is now complete. (sigh)

There’s so much outside noise around Wiggins to the Lakers for 3 capable players (generally Rui, Gabe and Dalton) AND a 1st round pick that I felt it was time for a true comparison to the alleged primary pieces in the trade. Those players being Rui Hachimura and Andrew Wiggins. We’ll get into hard data and then get into more intangible aspects and expected roles.

Looking at the numbers:

In all honesty both players bring a very similar level of impact. Wiggins, who generally has a larger role on his teams, produces more raw ppg, albeit less efficiently. Rui, who plays his specific role very well for us, is the better three point marksman albeit on fewer attempts (Wiggins attempted 9.5 making 3.8 to Rui’s 4.8 attempts and 2.0 makes). Wiggins defensive rating is better, Rui’s offense is better (significantly, I would say) and more efficient across the board. Where Wiggins is superior is in getting to the free throw line (6.8 FTA/game to Rui’s 2.2, both shoot about 77% with Rui having a slight advantage there by .4%). So if they were making the same amount of money you could argue that it would be a decent lateral move.

They’re not making the same amount of money, though. Not even close:
Rui Hachimura: $18, 259, 259 (expires in the summer)
Andrew Wiggins: $28, 223, 215 (player option for $30, 169, 644 for 2025-26 season)

So when you factor that in, along with having to add two players that were mainstays in the rotation last season in Vincent and Knecht AND a first round pick, it starts to get confusing as to why so many fans are really into this idea. If you add just Gabe Vincent’s impact to our roster this deal gets worse for LA:

I’m not saying Gabe tore it up, it was definitely a down year for him, especially in the playoffs. The same can be said for Wiggins, though, who dropped off a cliff as his first playoff series as a member of the Heat. But just combination of Rui and Vincent is more than what Wiggins would potentially bring to the table. With the addition of Smart, Vincent is also our 3rd guard on a team short on guards (Reaves, Smart, Vincent…that’s it). So including him in a potential deal makes it even more of a priority that Smart plays in 70-80% of the games. Not very realistic given his career and injury history. You can pencil Marcus in for roughly 55-60 games, I’d say, as a best case scenario. That, subsequently, puts a ton of pressure on Reaves. Which may or may not be a good thing given his own limitations.

Furthermore, with Luka and LeBron on the team, you need some guards to play defense on the perimeter. It’s unrealistic, especially in the regular season, to say you’re playing 2 guards all year long. Yes, I know we have Bronny…c’mon man. Dude isn’t ready for a significant NBA role. That’s where Gabe comes in. Again, are there better guards out there? Sure, but this is who we have now. Trading 3 players for 1 given the current roster construction, might not be the smartest move we could make.

The main sticking point, for me, is the first round pick. We have 1 we can trade this season and, if we exercise discipline, 3 on draft day next summer when we could be looking to replace LeBron and/or Reaves, potentially. Not having that pick next summer means we’ll be settling further and further down the talent ladder. 3 picks and matching contracts/cap relief gets you in the door for almost any player. 2 picks…notsomuch. Not when guys like Bridges and Gobert netted 4 FRPs (albeit with protections). Make them unprotected, add a swap and a 2nd rounder and that’s something that a Denver or a Milwaukee can theoretically live with if their superstar demands to be sent to play with Luka.

Lastly, you have to wonder how invested in basketball Wiggins is these days. Nobody should begrudge someone who grows apart or away from something. It happens all the time. I think it’s safe to say, however, that there’s no way in Hell Golden State would have traded him for Jimmy Buckets if they thought his head was 100% in the game. For the past two, two and a half season, it clearly was not and that is supported by drop offs across the board in both efficiency and raw numbers.

I’d feel a lot differently if the deal was for Kleber, Vincent, Knecht and a FRP or no pick and Rui…although that’s my least favorite version. I mainly think that, given what his role on our team would be, it’s an overpay because Rui and he are slightly different versions of the same player. When you don’t have a ton of assets you can’t afford to be cavalier. Otherwise you end up in a Russel Westbrook type situation. One ball, too many dudes that need it.

In conclusion, Miami has all but said Wiggins is off the market because they want to see how this all works. The sweetener we have is the sweetener we got: one first round pick we can trade in 2030. Oh and our 2nd round pick in 2025, I believe. Other than that the cupboard is bare, my friends. If you look at what the other teams in contention are doing they’re definitely not burning picks for duplicative players already on the roster. Lakers need to be smart, not foolhardy.

The Lakers have been walking a tightrope for so long when it comes to developing talent and retaining/acquiring top-tier talent they could give as Ted Talk on it. Some seasons have seen us go too far towards the vet side (the AARP Lakers squad of 2021-22) and of course, post Kobe, we were too young (the Baby Lakers who eventually moved on or became AD who became Luka). So you’ll have to forgive me if I wasn’t floored when it was announced we signed Jake LaRavia. I didn’t know the guy, not sure I’ve seen him play more than a handful of times, and wouldn’t have put him on a list. So let’s get into why this signing might be the steal of the summer.

1. Jake’s strengths as a player. I compare Jake to a more athletic version of Luka Walton. The do-everything glue man that played a pivotal role in 2 banners hung on the wall at Crypto. Jake, like Luke, does a littler bit of everything but none of it at an elite level. He’s a below league average shooter at 42.9% (league average last season was 46%) and a slightly above-average three point shooter (37.1% and the league average was 36%). His career averages in points (6.9), rebounds (3.3) and assists (1.7) certainly don’t scream “future All Star!!!” but they do show us a player who fits into the cracks and can help smooth out the rough edges in a bench role. All of that should be considered against the backdrop of his minutes per game (18.9 for his career) and how that number has tracked up every season to a career high 20.9 in Memphis prior to being traded to the floundering Sacramento Kings last season where he got hurt after 19 games and missed the remainder of the season. It can be said that there aren’t many weaknesses to Jake’s game. He competes on D, is capable scoring the rock, and seems to fit in well with a largely undefined role.
2. Jake’s only weakness seems to be a lack of overall aggression and excellence at any one thing. This makes his role on the Lakers more of a riddle because, with Luka, LeBron and Reaves, you need to be a plus defender and a solid three point shooter. Jake trends towards the bottom half of league average in terms of his overall defensive rating but he averages 1.4 steals/game for his career. That’s something to build off of and work around, especially in a bench role because it’s pretty certain he’ll be sharing time with Smart, Vando and a starter or two. The Lakers bench likely won’t win many scoring accolades but if they can be a lockdown, gritty defensive unit that could go a long way to finding some success this season. Jake can contribute to that kind of identity well, I believe.
3. A building block for the future? The first thing that jumped out at me when we signed Jake was that we were able to land a 23 year old with upside for a measly $6 million/year for 2 years. While he hasn’t started many games and missed the end of last season with an injury, you can see the ingredients in Jake’s game to be a solid 3rd or 4th option as a starter or a key contributor off the bench. What’s great about this signing, in my opinion, is the low risk/high reward factor. 23 years old, has a valued skill set, solid size on a very team-friendly deal. No options means we’re getting a solid player on a bargain deal who could very easily become a solid rotation player in the coming season, if not beyond. With the 2 year deal we get a great window where we can ascertain how he fits in alongside the future core of Luka and Austin.
4. Role on the Lakers this season. With guys like Austin, Rui, and LeBron James being eligible to become unrestricted free agents next season, it’s not hard to see a starting small forward spot opening up after this upcoming season. Cracking the starting five would take something of a miracle, at least for the 2025-26 season, however. After that? It’s anyone’s guess. Clearly the first thing you need to do as a Laker is fit in alongside Luka and, to a much lesser degree, Reaves. With his career shooting percentage 42.9% (not great) and his 3 point shooting percentage being 37.1% (decent, approaching solid) Jake has some work to do inside the arc to be a no-brainer fit in the starting five. I expect Jake to be the 2nd or third player off the bench, depending on whether Smart is available to play and how Vando’s role is shaped in camp. If Jarred Vanderbilt has gotten his hops back after two foot surgeries and two summers of rehabbing injuries, that bodes well for him. If he can hit the corner three at a 35-38% clip and provide his excellent hustle and defense and timely offensive rebounding Jake’s role gets even murkier. If Vando looks like he did last season there is a door open for Jake to walk through into a larger role on a world famous franchise.
5. All in all, it feels like the Lakers scored another bargain in terms of a young player with some decent upside left who could fill a position in the event that we make a late season trade or see a player or two sign elsewhere for more money in the summer of 2026. Reaves is all but guaranteed to return after the upcoming season because the return on the dollar for his skillset is in the garbage this year. It’s not good business to trade a $30+ million dollar talent when he’s on a $13.9 million dollar deal. You’re getting less than 50% of his estimated value back in a trade, that’s a really crappy return on the investment. Rui Hachimura, on the other hand, could see his role on the Lakers priced above his value and have to look elsewhere next summer. Time will tell. I’m always hard on the GM, they don’t take enough flak for building bad rosters and getting their coaches fired as a result. But for the money and draft capital available to us, Rob did a solid job securing solid talent for very team-friendly price points.