While it’s never fun to look back at defeat and so much of what went wrong can be chalked up to so many missed games by our Big 2 there can,
I believe, be some lessons learned. Rather than assign every player a grade I’m breaking this up into squads the content of which shall be revealed below. Let’s dig in.

1. LeBron and Anthony. The place where all things Lakers start and end. The most eye-pooping stat these 2 put up this year is obviously games missed. Between the 2 of them they missed 63 games. In the shortened and compressed 2020-21 season Davis played exactly half of it (36) and James not much more (45). The fact that those games came on the back half of the schedule only added to the miasma of issues that plagued the team. When they played they generally played well although Davis never really looked right for any real stretch of either the regular season or the playoffs. While the sheer volume of games missed should cause a few bells to go off in alarm it’s not the end of the dream for Laker Nation. With a long summer ahead of them and what should be a normal slate of games next season (82, more spaced out, even more space if they end up keeping it at 72) the duo has ample time to heal, train and get set to challenge for another NBA title. Grade: B for both because you can’t impact the game if you’re not playing. It would have been lower but LeBron’s injury was not of his own doing, he needed help.
2. The rest of the OG starters. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marc Gasol and Dennis Schroder all were slotted as a part of the opening day starting five. From the beginning there were some issues in terms of fit. KCP started off his season like he finished last: on fire and having a large impact on the game. That quickly evaporated and he never became a consistent force after the first quarter or so of the season. Schroder had not one but two lengthy stints on the league’s Health & Safety protocols the second of which was particularly devastating as it came at a time when we were trying to integrate several new pieces. Marc Gasol ended up having about the level of impact expected, not much. All in all the trio of players that filled out the OG starting five had an underwhelming campaign. Grade: C+
3. The OG Bench. The Laker bench started off fine, after all, they’re bench players for a reason. Montrezl Harrel did not have the level of impact he had on the other LA team but that is kind of to be expected as his usage and role were vastly different on this squad. Alex Caruso had a what would appear to be solid season shooting from three point land but in my opinion Alex took a bit of a step back this season. I would trade a few % points of three point shooting for the higher level of overall imp[act he had on basket ball games last season when he led the team in +/- and had terrific synergy with LeBron. He took a long time to adjust his attack to compensate for team’s playing him to pass, as well. Talen Horton-Tucker wowed the NBA with a stellar preseason and started hot off the gate but also struggled to adjust when defenses started sitting on his drives. Wesley Matthews had a really streaky year in terms of his shooting but was fairly solid on defense which earned him solid playoff minutes. Markieff Morris was most effective as a starter which led me to wonder why he didn’t ever get the starting nod in the playoffs but likely that was due as much to his broken three point shot as anything else. 2 way players Devontae Cacock and Kostas Antetokounmpo did not have much impact. The main issue I had with our bench, this applies to the OG starter group as well, was that as a whole they seemed unable to step up and win basketball games in the regular season. They treaded just enough water to squeeze into the playoffs and fell a pretty long way in the standings. This will, likely, affect some of their value in their various upcoming free agency negotiations. Grade: C+ after all, they are reserves.
4. The new additions. Drummond and McLemore weren’t brought in to watch games, they were brought in to have an instant impact on a team that, at the time, was sorely in need of some fresh wattage. Of the 2 I would argue that McLemore offered the most potential to alter the outcome of our season. While not a great defender his shooting was sorely needed as guys like KCP and Caruso shot fewer and fewer threes down the stretch to preserve %s and, in Caruso’s case, reflected a return to the mean (if you’re hoping for Alex Caruso: Microwave Scorer you will be disappointed for a loooooong time). McLemore has a quick release, isn’t shy about shooting and does solid work to get open for his shots unlike what we ended up getting from KCP. Andre’ Drummond faced an uphill bvattle from the moment he signed here. I’ll forever feel his better fit would have been the Knicks but he ended up here. After bumping Gasol and eventually Harrell out of the rotation, playing to form and not being able to make an impact on the playoffs it’s hard for some fans to see why the noise coming from the Lakers camp is so positive. If you factor in AD’s desire to play alongside a bonafide banger (one reason that, despite their success in NOLA that Boogie’s services were not retained due to his myriad of injuries), Drummond’s elite rebounding (which is legit) and the fact that he was expected to make an immediate impact without the benefit of camp there is hope that Dre’ can be a solid addition to the squad. The price point of said services being of course a serious issue for a team as cap strapped as we are.
5. Coaches and front office. I’ll start off saying it’s easy for fans to cherry pick things like this. We get the benefit of hindsight. We get to make repercussion free observations, these guys do not. So to that end all of this should be taken with that grain of salt in mind. I think we all gave high marks to the front office early on, no grades lower than maybe a B/B+ by yours truly. I thought Gasol would have been a great add like 5 years ago. I was very high on Schroder. I though Wes would be more consistent with his shooting but he showed me a lot on D. I wouldn’t really change Rob’s grade and that includes not making a knee-jerk trade at midseason. I never saw Lowry as a savior, would have loved for us to get Normal Powell and I don’t think guys like Turner were available for a fair price and we’d have gutted the team to get him. It’s neither here nor there as the Lakers didn’t make a move to trade anyone and were content to improve via the buyout market. While we will never know how healthy Kyle Lowry truly was, if Powell was attainable or what reasons there were for the Lakers standing pat I can honestly say I would have liked to see us be more competitive in terms of signing some of the guards that came onto the buyout market (I’m looking at you, Reggie Jackson). In terms of our coach…I have to say I thought this was also a step-back season for Frank Vogel. Plenty of other teams sustained injuries to key players and they made adjustments or squeezed more out of role-players. I don’t want to lay this all at coach Vogel’s feet, we suffered ridiculously long injuries to our 2 best players which cannot be over-emphasized. But this was the 2nd season where more than one of the blog contributors openly wondered what offense we were running. If I could hope for one area of improvement from Vogel it would be in working on specific sets to get guys specific shots. We have shooters who I’m sure the staff has data on where they shoot best from. Let’s get better at maximizing those shots next season. The defensive side is solid, we need to juice the offense a little more since The King ain’t getting any younger. Grade: C+

Overall, B-/C+ kinda season. Any season that doesn’t end with another banner is a season where expectations were not met but I would hardly characterize this as a lost season. We discovered that THT is NBA ready, that the Laker defense can be elite without AD and LBJ, that we need some more oompf in the scoring department. Above all we’re getting ample rest time for our best players. Reload and come out ready to rock.

If he opts in it means nobody wants a 15-20 ppg threat off the bench who plays with heart and energy. Nah, nobody wants that in the NBA… Feels extremely likely that he was who ‘Kieff was talking about in his exit interview and this is Trezz (not so) subtly firing back.

Sorry DJ, feels like he’s on his way out.

The end has, mercifully, arrived. What started out as hope-filled title defense ended as a broken, beat up wheezing struggle to cross the finish line. The final 2 games of this season aren’t really great indicators of what is to come as the roster will quite likely have a very different look come training camp. Rather than critique the game, which was not a fun one in all honesty, I’d rather take a look back at the 5 key things that, in my opinion, led to this sour season. Above all, to echo magicman’s post of thanks I would also like to express my gratitude to all of you for being a part of the blog, Gerald for his open invite to his wonderful podcasts and especially to LakerTom for keeping the spirit and vibe of that old timey LAT Laker Blog alive and well.

1. The Dwight Howard debacle. I felt that, when we let Dwight walk (or as LakerTom likes to say we “dumped” him…), that it was a mistake. Howard had sacrificed a lot for the team last season, had put his sizable pride to the side and was a key contributor to the new banner up on the wall. His ability to defend out to the perimeter, effect shots at the rim and as a premier lob threat out of the pick and roll were all tools we missed all season long. In the playoffs Howard would have fared better against Ayton than either Gasol Drummond or Trezz were able to muster. Athletic, mobile big men at his size are rare in a league that now wants a center like that who can also shoot the three. That list is a short one and most of those guys aren’t as mobile and fleet of foot as Dwight is. Lastly, had Dwight been on the roster, it would have likely taken us out of the Drummond sweepstakes and kept whatever chemistry we had going at that point in a more stable place.
2. The Schroeder saga. It would be hard to find an article or an opinion that ran contrary to the opinion that when we signed Dennis Schroeder it was a Laker coup. In theory we had found a defensive, gritty, able-enough scorer to play alongside AD and LeBron and not need too high of a usage rate. Over the course of the season that narrative didn’t stand up. When healthy and the three point shots were falling for the team we had a great record with Dennis and LeBron in the line up. When the King went down, so did Schroeder for all intents and purposes. Add in his very public contract negotiations (that ultimately went nowhere), his two extended stints in the league health and safety protocols due to COVID-19 exposure or contraction (not sure if we ever heard one way or the other) and his extreme variation in playoff performances has led to a fan falling out with the mercurial PG from Germany. He may be back and he may not but if he returns we need to discover a way to keep Dennis more consistent.
3. The injuries. So many injuries. Much has been made of the injury issues this season after the quick turnaround and I don’t think there’s another team besides the Miami Heat that has suffered so many injuries to key players up and down the roster. Whether it was KCP’s ankle sprain he suffered early on that seemed to linger all season, Caruso’s calf, ankle and groin, Anthony Davis and his death by 1,00 bumps and bruises or LeBron getting rolled by Solomon Hill we just never caught a break injury wise after the first few weeks of the season. I was surprised to see Davis on the court and felt it was a bad idea. The last thing we wanted was for him to suffer a Durant-like setback. Better that he get himself right as rain for next season. To that end I’m actually glad the playoffs are over for us, no more reasons to gut it out or make a bad choice in terms of our player’s health.
4. Our vanishing three point shooting. We started off so hot that it almost seemed impossible to believe. Well, it was. If one is honest with one’s self there is no way that Alex Caruso is a 40+ percent three point marksman. I think he tops out between 35-40%, at best. Same for KCP although he could crack 40% if his focus was more consistent, I believe. Guys we brought in who had decent stats from the previous season like Schroeder and Wes Matthews were wholly incapable of replicating that success on this team. Whether it was the pressure of a title defense, playing for the Lakers or a reflection of who they truly are as shooters the point is a moot one. They couldn’t sustain the hot start from beyond the arc and the defensive schemes of he NBA adapted to tat reality very quickly by clogging the paint and making life harder and harder for our offense. Which was not elite to begin with unless James and Davis are on the floor, healthy and producing at elite levels.
5. Speaking of coach Vogel. What a difference a season makes. We again had a top notch defense but what had been an above average offense last season with playoff vets like Danny Green, Rajon Rondo and JaVight McHoward was unable to find it’s strong points this season. A lot of this is on our coach who seems to over-rely on the skill, talent and will of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to score points. That works when they are healthy and productive but it doesn’t when they’re not on the floor as was the case for huge chunk of the season. As The King ages I think we’ll see a lot more of the version of LeBron we saw in the playoffs: fewer drives, more threes and a slow yet steady relinquishing of the reigns to players like Schroeder, THT and even Alex Caruso to initiate the offense. We’re going to need Frank to bring more to the table, should he remain the head coach (as I expect him to be with one more season on his contract and a banner he helped hang in the rafters), if that’s the case. Perhaps, if one of the many coaches who could be fired this season becomes available, we can bring in somebody with more offensive chops than Vogel has it might help.

There will be plenty of time for grades, trades and things of that nature as summer rolls in. For now, looking back on this season, I just want to express how much this has helped me personally move through the pandemic. Chatting Lakers has always been a passion and this blog has helped me stay as sane as I ever was (agreed, not much). So thank you, Lakerholics and fellow blog contributors. This is but a bump in the road for one of the great sport franchises on planet Earth. We’re going to reload and get rocking soon. So let’s hope for good health, some luck in the draft and we’ll see you on down the line.

Words like pathetic, half-hearted and sad came to mind whilst watching last night’s one-sided affair. To put it simply: Phoenix kicked our collective ass but good and the Lakers are on the brink of seeing their title defense end in the first round, something a LeBron James-led playoff team has never had happen (losing in the 1st round, that is). While I believe the Lakers do have the pieces to win game 6 and swing momentum back our way it’s going to take a sea change for that to happen.

1. Dennis Schroeder and a bucket full of regret. That $22+ million dollar contract Schroeder had hoped to play into is dwindling by the playoff game. I have consistently been of the opinion that Schroeder is not worth that much, that he would have been smart to take the 20+ million dollar deal the Lakers offered him. I am now of the opinion that the Lakers need to simply move on. If we can move him without triggering the hard cap than great. Schroeder set Laker records for futility in game 5 by going 0-9 (joining him in donut land was KCP as the starting back court put up a big fat z-e-r-o in terms of points). In my opinion the Lakers are sunk if Schroeder plays this poorly and he plays this poorly pretty frequently. Dennis still has control of his narrative for the season but it’s quickly slipping from his grasp. If he flames out in game 6 like he did last night he’ll be on the MLE train with Trezz and Caruso this summer.
2. Bench KCP. LRob said it on the podcast and I agree 100%: KCP is hurt and shouldn’t be playing. He’s a liability on defense, not shooting open shots and basically sucking it up all over the place. In 15 minutes KCP was a -19 meaning we sieved more than a point per minute he was on the court. Start Wes, start Ben, start Alex, start THT…anyone else. He got his money from last season’s heroics, looked good for about a month and a half and then fell off a cliff for the rest of the season. If it’s injuries than sit and admit. If it’s personal issues, go home and handle. If you’re blowing it then by Loki’s moustache step it up, man. This team cannot win when the starting back court puts up Chuck Nevitt-level stats (actually, that’s not even fair to Chuck, he always averaged at least 1/2 point in all of his NBA seasons). If you’re not going to score, defend or grease the offense than sit the *&%$ down and like it.
3. Frank’s rotation madness continues. I just don’t get it. Morris started but played a whopping 10 minutes and even was one of the Lakers not named LeBron James that made a three. He never saw the floor again. THT played for the first time in a couple games because…who knows, maybe Frank is doing rotations by tea leaves at this point? My point is that, even with the injuries, the head coach has not been able to cobble together rotations that can defend and score at the same time. Not a starting five, not a bench…nothing. Coach Vogel went with Gasol and Caruso to start the second half and it accomplished nothing as we were already down 30 plus points, Phoenix was already rolling and the arena was rocking. Coach has pulled a total 180 from last season when he pushed the right button at the right time every single time. This season, not so much. He hasn’t done himself any favors by being so incredibly inconsistent with his playing time for mercurial players like Harrell and Morris, an on then off again role for Wes and McLemore garnering DNP then thrust into a huge role. I get the credo: always be ready but sometimes you can’t be ready for literally any and everything. Frank could have done himself a lot more favors in this series if he had a grip on what the team was capable of, feels like he’s over-estimated that at every turn.
4. Drummond doing what he can. It’s not really fair to dump as much as we do on Andre’ as he is doing his level-best. It’s just that his skill set is fairly one-dimensional and our problems are coming at us from all directions. Drummond was actually one of our most effective starters but is getting severely out-played due to the pick and roll doomsday machine they’ve built around CP3 and Booker. With Ayton at the eye of the hurricane it puts Drummond in the impossible (at least for him) situation of either coming out to guard a shooter (who either shoots over the late close or blows by the over played close with elite speed) or dumps it off to Ayton who often finds himself mismatched onto smaller guys and he is abusing them just like he should. That’s just one more situation when Monty is out-coaching Vogel. What we cannot continue to absorb from Drummond is the plethora of turnovers he continues to cough up with poor passing, bringing the ball down low for defenders to swipe at or when he loses his balance. Is he getting hit? Sure, of course. it’s the playoffs though and big men always have to absorb more contact in the NBA, that ain’t anything new. They put it perfectly on the TNT broadcast when they said that the NBA punishes strength and gives speed and quickness all the advantages. Drummond, like the rest of the team, needs to stop thinking and just play.
5. Adjustments? Honestly, Frank started his adjustments way too late. In every game the Suns have come up with a new wrinkle to a thing they already do well that flummoxes our coaching staff. In game one it was using DA as a primary option when we were playing to stop Booker and CP3, last night it was switching the onus back to Booker and focusing on getting him going and, while I applaud the defensive effort of the Suns, the Lakers aren’t trying anything different or new to get certain players going. Frank seemingly leaves it up to the individual to figure out why the ball isn’t going into the basket and it’s not going into the basket for oh so very many Lakers right now. This goes well beyond poor shooting or a regression to the mean this goes into what kind of sets does it even look olike the Lakers run? I’ve been asking this question for 2 years running and am nowhere near an answer because the offense is player-driven. That’s great for LeBron James at his best, news flash Frank: he’s not at his best. Frank went with Caruso and Gasol in the starting five after the first half last night and he would be wise to start game 6 that way. We need offense and defense and Caruso is at least trying on D and seems more willing to shoot open shots than either KCP or Schroeder. Gasol can hit the three an should open the paint up a bit. We need energy which is why I’m mystified Trezz has played as sparingly as he has. Not a lot of daylight left to find a winning combo before the sun sets on our season, literally.

I won’t get into off season stuff until the off season is officially here. Needless to say our prospects to easily improve the team are few and limited in scope. So best to win tomorrow and try to wrest control of our season, fellahs.