That felt a lot harder than I thought it would be. You’d imagine that if a team goes on a 1-19 stretch that the game would be a blow out. Not so much in this case. Both teams brought plenty of bricks to the bone yard and together built a small structure. In the end the Lakers were the ones who came away with the win.

1. Ugly basketball. Last night’s game was ugly from start to finish. Lot of wide open looks boinked, bonked, clanged and clattered off the stingy rim at STAPLES it made me wish Andre Drummond had been available to play. He’d have had a field day nabbing boards. As it was we had 3 separate players pull down 11 rebounds: Kuzma, Morris and Montrezl. In a game that lacked any kind of flow we needed those guys to step up and clean the glass and their aggression in that department assuredly helped bring home the W.
2. Marc Gasol’s last game as a starter? We might have seen the last of consistent minutes for Marc Gasol last night. He turned in a familiar looking effort (2-7 shooting, 1-5 from three, 2 boards, 3 dimes and some D) but in general won’t really have much of a role on this team moving forward. If I were Gasol, since He’s under contract with us next season and we won’t have too many other options to fill out the roster at the 5, I would become a as good a mentor to guys like THT and even Trezz as possible. His high B-Ball IQ is still a bonus for the team. You can find other ways to contribute, and who knows? You may end up playing more than expected as Frank Vogel has often a predilection to keeping the status quo. But in reality it will be extremely hard to find productive minutes for Gasol once Drummond is active and ready to play.
3. Three players tuned in double-doubles and they’re exactly whom you think it is: Kuzma, Harrell and Morris. Oh, you thought I was going to say Schroder? Had anyone been able to throw it in the ocean consistently (and in reality Dennis was our 2nd most efficient player behind Trezz) we would have easily had 4 double-doubles but, alas, it t’was not to be. In the end it worked out OK.
4. What’s it going to take to get something resembling consistency from KCP? In reality, if there were a better option I think KCP would have been benched. Matthews can bring the D, THT the scoring but neither of those players offer the promise of both that KCP has. AT least not when Kentavious is playing well. That hasn’t happened much this season and it’s going to be an issue in a playoff series. We need to re-activate the version of Pope we had last year and I really don’t know what it will take. Some games we force feed the guy and he bricks shots, other games he seems like he’s on 15 minute break for the entire game. Just don’t know what’s going on there…
5. Matthews, Caruso and THT’s rough shooting night. We won’t win on Wednesday if we get the same performance as last night from our key guys off the bench. For Talen Horton-Tucker who was rumored to be the sticking point in the Kyle Lowry deal (but who knows what truly went down) one would have though he would come away with a jolt of bonus mojo. Notsomuch, at least not last night where he struggled to finish, but that was par for his fellow bench mates not named Montrezl Harrell. To a man Wes, Alex and Talen struggled to score or have much of a positive impact on the game. Like KCP we need to figure out a way to get the three them to equate average NBA input for the team to have any shot at treading water until James and Davis return. These are your moments to shine, gentlelemen. This is where you make teams consider spending more on you than would be advisable based on what you’ve shown yourselves able to do.

In theory we’re the trap once again when we play the Bucks and it’s bound to be a rough debut for Drummond. The reality is I expect us to get mildly annihilated by Milwaukee who has rounded into form and is playing excellent basketball right now. We are not.

Well it wasn’t beating Philly on what shall forever be known as ‘Vote of Confidence Day’ but it was a needed win nevertheless. All hands were on deck, every player either played their role to the fullest or stepped up their game in a manner becoming of their future desires. All in all we did the things that needed doing to get it done. While not the most epic of opponents perhaps a blueprint can be found in the victory?

1. Trezz. The dude is a beast when fully unleashed, as he has been since LeBron went down. I’m not sure we want to put this beast back in the bottle, either. I know that a lot of our success is created off of LeBron James driving to the basket and Anthony Davis’s superlative shooting. But there has to be a way to incorporate the different kind of gravity Harrell brings to the court. We got him at a bargain and are likely to lose him this summer (most we can offer is a 20% raise and I’ll be stupefied if he doesn’t get a better offer than that) so it’s on the team to maximize this year of Montrezl as best we can. He has defensive shortcomings, generally gives up half a foot to his defender and still finds a way. #unleashthebeast #monstrezz
2. Markieff Morris coming through. ‘Kieff has been taking a lot of flack for a dude making $2.3 mil. But he played so very well in the playoffs on both ends; hitting timely threes and playing excellent defense. This season he’s been more erratic than consistent. His three point shot, like many on the team, comes and goes, we’ve discovered he’s prone to incredibly bone-headed turnovers and he’s been off on defense more often than he’s been on. Last night he looked more like the Morris we all became enamored with in the playoffs last season. He led the team in +/-, canned 3-7 three pointers, and was active on defense making impact plays. Yes, he had 4 turnovers and that aspect of this team up and down the roster is certainly a major issue as the playoffs approach, but he staid the course and helped bring home the win.
3. Schroder pulling his weight. Being a point guard is akin to being a quarterback. While the end result may not come from your pass or you may not score the basket you are certainly the leader of the team. You have the ball the most, make reads as to who has it going and who doesn’t, and in general orchestrate victories. That’s exactly what Dennis did last night. He attacked the basket when the slimmest of seams presented itself. He dished a co-team high 7 assists and was a pest on defense yanking a co-team high 4 steals. Like many his turnovers were waaaaaay too high but we’ll have to live with it. As it is, it came along with a W.
4. The ever expanding game of Kyle Kuzma. We had seen a player more like the Kuz of old: the gunner, the soloist, a player trying to play his way into shoes he doesn’t fit in yet and perhaps never will. Not last night. He, along with Schroder, activated his teammates to the tune of seven dimes which matched his shot attempts. He nabbed 8 rebounds continuing a season-long trend of being aggressive on the glass. While he didn’t make too many of his 7 attempts if one of the aspects of the blueprint is to get the all-around game of Kyle at the sacrificing of some points you can sign me up for the fan club. But that’s the beauty of Kuz this season: we don’t need him to excel at any one thing, we just need him to compete at the level he did last night and play for the success of the team.
5. Talen Horton-Tucker finding his way. It’s been said before and will be said again but it’s going to be said now: this is essentially THT’s rookie campaign. The first time he’s been asked to contribute on a major level on a nightly basis at the NBA level. When he blew up preseason he generated overblown expectations in terms of what he could become. I’m less interested in what he could become but what can he do now. Like Kyle Kuzma before him, THT won’t be defined by this season and has a lot yet to prove. He gets to the rim well, he finishes well and he’s a willing passer. That’s not the end of the court where he struggles though. His defense is an issue that makes him unlikely to see big playoff minutes save for injury. It’s unfortunate that one of the players he has rapport with is Trezz because I don’t think they’ll play a lot at the same time in the playoffs. Not unless they can figure out how to defend better together. Which is certainly a possibility and one that the team overall could use. If any coach can unlock the defensive potential of THT and Montrezl Harrell I feel it would be coach Vogel.

At any rate, there’s still some time left in the season for some of the issues that plague the team to improve. The only thing that will give us any kind of shot in the playoffs is two healthy superstars. But we can keep pace in the west if we improve some of the little issues and compete like we did against Cleveland. In all reality, it’s imperative that we do.

Look it’s going to be easy to kick the team while it’s down 2 superstars. Put any basketball team in the same boat and watch it sink. You take Dame and CJ off Portland? Sunk. Tatum and Brown off Boston? More sunk than they are. And on and on. The Lakers are going to have to fight and scrap for every win they can get. Today’s fiver is how some key players can do just that. It’s a race a against time right now, we need to tread enough water to stay relevant until we get Davis and James back. But those clock-hands keep on spinning…

1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Dude, where to begin? You’re shooting has fallen off a cliff, you don’t do much with the basketball when you get it and you don’t really ever try to force your own action. In theory KCP is our 3rd option on the starting unit. In reality he’s now become almost an after-thought. If you listen to Bill and Stu on Spectrum they now routinely ask the question, flippantly but pointedly, when KCP will take his first shot. That has to stop and the team will be better for it, both now and on down the line. The drives to the rim off shoulder curls are gone. The side-step threes are gone. The pump and go’s are gone. They all need to come back. Otherwise I’d start giving his minutes to literally any other player on the roster.
2. Talen Horton-Tucker. We don’t need THT to replace what LeBron brings and it looked he was trying to do that last night. We need him to be the efficient scorer he’s shown he can be when he slows down on and focuses on each possession. What we really need for him is to diversify his offensive attack: he was 6-16 from the floor, but 0-2 from three. You gotta take threes to make threes. The good thing is he was able to get the kind of contact that generates trips to the stripe, which is another thing this team will need to excel at during this stretch. We need THT to better anchor the bench scoring if Kuzma is going to start.
3. Kyle Kuzma, same thing. We don’t need Kuz to become a superstar overnight but dig down and find the best execution you can deliver on a consistent basis. Kuzma didn’t have an accurate game last night but you have to give him credit for trying as hard as he did. Other vets didn’t put forth that amount of energy and it showed in the results. More on that in a second. Kyle just needs to do what he’s been doing which has been filling in the gaps. We don’t need you to drop 25 ppg out of nowhere, just stay steady and elevate the things you’re already doing well.
4. The starting 5. When 3 out of 5 starters amass a total of 9 points, 10 rebounds (thanks almost exclusively to ‘Kieff in that department) and 4 assists while going 1-9 from three…it’s a problem Kyle and Schroder can’t fix. The trio of Wes Matthews, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Markieff Morris are NBA veterans and should be better. They cannot turn in performances like this anymore if we are to have any hope at all of keeping pace in the west. Even when AD comes back if this is all we get it’s just not enough. Play with some *@%#ing pride gentlemen.
5. The bright spot? One Montrezl Harrell. Honestly he was it for me, I wasn’t overly pleased with Schroder or Caruso as the PGs but they at least performed up the baseline of their roles. Trezz shined and we’ll need him to keep shining. If he keeps at it he should be inline for a big payday from someone, if not us. In all honesty I would pay Trezz before I paid Schroder at this point. You know what you’re getting from Harrell night in and night out, he’s consistent in his energy and his effort. I can’t say the same for almost anyone else on the team. Pay the man, somebody, he’s earned it.

If the Lakers swing a big trade I’ll be surprised. The hard cap issues are going to make it nigh impossible to maintain the roster size required by the NBA. Just about every trade proposal I see here puts up against the hard cap and once there you cannot add salary. The NBA will not allow teams to carry fewer than 14 players. The best option I see to pull off a big trade is to trade a player like KCP, Schroder or Trezz into Boston’s room exception they have from the Hayward trade. That would free up the space to make a trade and fill the remaining roster spots w/ vet minimum deals. In all honesty, it may come to just that.

I vividly recall the Christmas Day game where LeBron injured his groin and feeling like the season was a balloon slowly deflating before my very eyes. Fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeephlphlphlppp… While there were very specific differences between that injury and this one (X-Mas was a noncontact injury, Solomon Hill toppled into James’ ankle) the timing of this injury, given the nature of the season and what’s at stake, feels about as damaging. Feels like the season is hanging by a thread.

1. The high-ankle sprain. Six to eight weeks feels like a best case scenario. Let’s say that LeBron exceeds all expectations and beats that by a week or so. That still sounds like over a month and with an already hobbled Anthony Davis who really wants to see LeBron do something that reaggravates an injury like this? A healthy LeBron and Anthony are the only things that make the Lakers an elite team, make no mistake, so having them ready to go in the playoffs is the highest priority. 5 weeks would mean a return on the road against Orlando which would likely mean a push back to April 30th, an at home against Sacramento. A few weeks before season’s end. If it falls within the normal range for the injury, 6-8, that means an at best return against Dame Time and Portland on May 7th. If it moves into the 8 week, or longer, range that essentially means the playoffs.
2. What does this mean for the playoffs? The Lakers are 28-14, 3rd in the west and a game and a half ahead of the Clippers. There are 30 games to go. The last play-in spot is currently held by Memphis (19-20), they’re 10 games behind us. While I don’t see the Lakers tumbling out of playoff contention the possibility must be entertained. This was already a brutal season schedule-wise given our team’s short turnaround due to the NBA Finals. Injuries to our superstar duo and some COVID issues have added even more obstacles to the quest to repeat. The Lakers are going to need improved contributions from across the board to mitigate the loss of LeBron although, if one is honest, there is no replacing the moxie and gravitas the King brings to the hardwood every night.
3. Who is going to step up? Well…there’s a Laker rumored to be looking for a deal in the 20+ million dollar range or more. He has the added benefit of having the ball in his hands a lot, and has wanted to assert himself to a greater level in the NBA. Dennis Schroder is my vote. Kyle Kuzma is a close second but he’s not looking for a new contract and isn’t the starting PG. Montrezl Harrell seems best suited to come off the bench and continue that role, KCP…uhm, yeeeaaahhh that ain’t happening. Talen Horton-Tucker? I mean, that would be cool, right? great story for the team, should he make a jump it’d also pretty much price him right off the team while simultaneously denying us one of our prime trading prospects. Marc Gasol?
4. What kind of trade could we pull off to stabilize us, add a 3rd superstar or something like that? The NBA rules on roster size are clear, here’s a link to an article that explains it in detail: https://www.slamonline.com/nba/cba-explained-nba-roster-size-limits/
   When we waived Quinn Cook we dropped to a roster of 14 active players. That’s the minimum roster an NBA team can carry although there is a rule that allows us a team to carry 13 for up to 2 weeks. The Lakers are also hard-capped with a roster salary of $136, 921, 446. For teams that are hard-capped this season they cannot exceed $138,928,000 total roster salary and cannot drop the roster voluntarily below 13. When we waived Quinn Cook we freed up the cap space that dropped us a little further under the hard cap apron (which is about 6m more than the normal cap apron…I think…) but also limited us to bringing back as many players as we trade out. The NBA will veto a trade that drops the Lakers roster to 13 and puts us up to the hard cap apron (which we cannot go over). Once we hit that apron we cannot add another cent in salary, no matter the need. There are a lot more than 2 weeks in the season. An odd quirk of the current CBA is that there are a lot fewer roster rules that apply to the postseason. Unfortunately the trade deadline is days away and the postseason over a month. I don’t see a trade that we can make that ships out the same number of players and brings back a talent that would come close to making a dent in the needs we face finishing the regular season without James and Davis.
5. So…what do we do? We compete. Waiving Cook was almost certainly a move designed to free up the roster space and cap space to offer a player like Drummond or even Isaiah Thomas the veteran minimum. I know the topic du jour with the deadline 69ish hours away (as of this sentence being written) is what big name can we land to improve our title fortunes. I’ve never really believed that was possible and once I dug into cap rules I find it nigh impossible we can do anything more than minor roster tweaks (as in THT for Devontae Graham or Marc Gasol for Dwight Howard or, well, you get the idea). Is it possible I’m misinterpreting the NBA hard cap rules? Sure, people who are paid to report on this topic often bungle the obscurities of it all. But the roster size isn’t confusing. 13 for 2 weeks, 14 otherwise. Health doesn’t matter, just that they’re on the payroll. The best solution is for the simplest one: dig down deep, compete at a higher level, and earn that million dollar paycheck regardless of how many millions it is. The alternative is depressing indeed.

Get well soon Mr. James, you will be sorely missed on the court.

The Timberwolves came in to STAPLES having beaten one of the NBA elites and feeling good. A young team riding high can be a dangerous thing in the regular season. Teams like the Lakers are built for the more structured and evenly paced style of the playoffs whereas the T’wolves want to run and gun, play loose and fast. It took a few quarters but the Lakers found the formula that allowed them to beat Minnesota. In so doing the Lakers remained unbeaten since the All Star break.

1. The King and Monstrezzl pick and roll. That’s not a typo, BTW, Trezz has been a monster of late hence the moniker. That pick and roll looks like it could be the new unstoppable Laker weapon, at least against defenses that don’t understand how to level Trezz off and stop him from hitting the paint in stride. Similar to how James and Caruso ran PnR last season, when they’re playing smart and the defense isn’t keyed into it there’s no stopping it. That play should be good for at least one bucket per game and one misdirection to the trigger man in the corner which also happened the last time they ran it. Wes missed the three but the play is a good one and bears repeating especially in our fairly one-dimensional offense.
2. Wes Matthews getting it done on D. With Caruso out we’ve been out one of our best defenders and it’s been really nice seeing Wes Matthews contributing on that end. he also canned a couple threes but it was his defense that helped stymie the Timberwolves, especially in the second half. Wes has not had a great season, had a scary collision early with Karl-Anthony Towns, but shook all that off to contribute to a gritty Laker win. Assuming the Lakers don’t make a big splashy move it’s imperative that we unlock some of our under-performing players. Seeing Wes contribute within the role he was brought here to perform was great to see.
3. Laker bench finding an identity. Injuries in the NBA happen, it’s just one of those things that every team has to overcome. The Lakers had really struggled with their identity since AD went down and especially when Schroder was out. The Laker bench rotation went through several iterations before landing on this current one where Morris replaces AD in the line up and everyone else pretty much sticks to their role. Bringing in Damien Jones further solidified that look once we lost Gasol. Wes has stepped into Caruso’s role well enough and the result has been a more balanced Laker attack post ASB. I’m sure getting in an actual practice helped as well (based on a recent ESPN article the Lakers have practiced 5 times since camp broke. 5. Let that sink in. Not sure if that reflected any work done over the break but, at best, that would make it 6 or 7 practices in total.) The bench has become a major stabilizer behind the stellar play of Trezz and Kuzma along with the emergence of THT.
4. Speaking of Talen Horton-Tucker… Kid was balling again last night. Stu Lantz has been pretty spot-on with his game-to-game analysis of THT and being pretty fair in his judgement of both his growth and areas he still needs work on. Defense is the biggest thing and that’s understandable, this is for all intents and purposes THT’s rookie season and he’s shouldering a large chunk of responsibility as the season goes along. He’s impressing his coaches and LeBron James, no small feat, and you can see the game slowing down for him on offense. The work he needs to put in on defense is legit but I think that he’s on the perfect team to get better on that end. My only critique of Talen on offense is to not always drive the ball to the rim. That is predictable and teams will start to bait him into it. Take those open threes a little more frequently, live with the results if they come organically and the floor will open up even more.
5. Speaking of three pointers… The Lakers made a bunch of them last night (13-26 good for exactly 50%). The Lakers, by design, are not going to be among the elite three point shooting teams in the NBA, we lack the personnel and the offense isn’t really designed to create those looks. They happen more organically off the quite traditional and old school inside-out methodology. In this case usually off of Schroder, James or THT collapsing the defense and kicking it out. We weren’t letting those shots fly early on but it feels like we’ve turned the corner on that issue and are taking the open three more consistently. Given the talent of our squad, when healthy, that ought to be enough. I don’t have a hard number I’m fixated on in terms of how many threes is appropriate for us to take per game. Let success by your guide and if they’re falling for you…well, shoot more. If they are not keep moving the ball and finding the open man. Old school hoops still has a place in the game. Even moreso when the playoffs role around.

All in all a decent win. Could have been a trap game but, since I didn’t call it (you’re welcome, Gerald) it would appear we didn’t fall in. LaMelo Ball returns to LA on Thursday, should be fun. The Rookie of the Year debate is essentially between LaMelo and Anthony Edwards so we’ll get to see both back-to-back. Good stuff.

With everything that has gone down in Laker Land lately, the injuries, the heavy load on LeBron, the sluggish looking team vibe, there was ample cause for concern coming into last night’s game. The Warriors, inconsistent as they are, beat us with a stellar effort a few weeks ago. Steph is looking great and any number of his teammates can go off and make life hard. Last night Steph went off but e kept the rest of the Warriors under wraps. That and a monster of a game by Trezz was all it took for a comfortable win.

1. Monstrezzl Harrel. That was epic. After getting T’d up for swinging his arm in a derogatory way at one of the officials Trezz took out his anger on the hapless Warriors. They didn’t have an answer. Like Godzilla rampaging through Tokyo Harrell annihilated whatever defense came his way. His activity on both ends created easy buckets for himself and the team, he shot 11-14, got to the line 6 times (making 5) and led a dominant Laker bench attack that Golden State had zero answer for. Game ball to Trezz.
2. Kuzma continues to do it all. You can find seasons where Kuzma scored more or shot better, his rookie season being among his best. This is better. Not because he’s pouring in points but because he’s fitting in perfectly with everything the Lakers are doing on the court on both ends. He’s learned the difficult to master skill of fitting in alongside LeBron James. He starts when asked, and now is playing with that same intensity he brought as a starter off the bench. His rebounding and defense are what is setting him apart this season. Had it not been fir Trezz’s monster Kuzma would be walking away with the game ball.
3. Oh yeah, LeBron had a triple-double. Which was actually big because we needed a little more from the King on a night Schroder never got out of first gear. The best stat in this triple-double? 30, thirty minutes played to secure the win and get a little down time on the bench.
4. KCP surfaces! Like a blue whale breaching Caldwell-Pope turned in a good game! Kentavious had some extra energy on D, canned a lot of his threes and in general more resembled the player we all would like to see on a more consistent basis. The defensive intensity has been my biggest issue. He’s not a sink hole or a matador but he just hasn’t been as…pesky. Last night I thought he played with a more recognizable feistiness and here’s hoping it’s here to stay.
5. THT getting some major burn. It’s been an up and down season role-wise for Talen. He broke onto the scene in “preseason”, saw a big role taken away altogether and then has had scant minutes more often than not since getting a more steady presence on the court. He scored at will in the paint, going 7-10 overall, but it was his playmaking that stood out to me. A career high 10 dimes paced the bench and helped blow the game wide open. Impressive considering how much LeBron and Dennis control the ball on most possessions.

No rest for the weary and it was good we won in the fashion we did: we got another one tonight. Go Lakers.

We’ll take ’em any way we can get ’em. W’s. The NBA’s favored mode of currency. Without AD these have been hard to come by nd the one’s we do come up with have been quite the struggle indeed. The Lakers are down multiple players, more after last night. But they still managed to kick off the season’s second half on the good foot.

1. Kyle’s big game. The Lakers looked stuck in second gear throughout most of the game, Down by as many as 12 well into the 3rd the Lakers turned to the last of the much-hyped but generally underwhelming (at least as Lakers) Young Laker Core. Kyle poured in 15 game-saving points in the 4th quarter helping the Lakers pull ahead and hold onto the lead down the stretch. Per usual he did that while grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds. Kyle could be in some serious 6th man of the year consideration if he keeps this up through the end of the season. Averaging double-digit rebounds is likely out of reach but he’s among the best rebounders and scorers off the bench in the league.
2. The injury bug. With the news that AD is out at least 2 more weeks without him seeing the court in 5-on-5 scenarios or full practices, Gasol out for H&SP (along with two-way player Kostas Antetokounmpo) losing Alex Caruso to a head injury 7 minutes into his playing time was another serious blow to the roster. The Lakers are struggling with the injury bug a lot more this season than in last and it’s showing in the record and in the standings. Where it’s showing the most is the constant flux of coach Vogel’s line up. Unlike last season where there was a groove to the team as a whole this season has seen multiple bench players moved in and out of the starting five. Hopefully that sort of flux won’t give us issues in the playoffs.
3. Wes Matthews where have you gone? I had high hopes that the break was going to allow some guys to reset and come back looking…well…better than before. The much maligned trio of Morris, Matthews and Kentavious combined for a total of 18 points on 12 FGA (not bad), 12 rebounds (not bad), 3 assists, 2 steals and a block to 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. Between three guys that’s OK. With AD out we need more. One of those three, if outside help is not riding over the hill, needs to step up every night and hit the double-digit mark, at least. Some of it is hesitation (each of those guys passed up open shots as they have been doing all season long which is the biggest issue, IMO) and had brain dead turnovers. This was highlighted by Wes Matthews literally passing the ball between LeBron’s legs without much pressure being applied to either player. That has to stop and it has to stop now.
4. If you had hoped that the break would allow the coaches to put together some practices and help the players lower their absurdly high turnover rate (for the type of team we have now, only one young player who isn’t the issue when it comes to the turnovers) you came away last night shaking your head like me. 15 turnovers allowed the Pacers 12 more FGA attempts which was mitigated by the gift the refs gave us in the absurd free throw differential we compiled. A lot of that was driving the rock into the extreme on-ball pressure Indy brings, an adjustment the Pacer coaches would be wise to make once the refs establish what is going to send someone to the line or not. Also Indy went cool from three or this game could have been a route nobody in purple and gold would have wanted to see.
5. If you listened to the post-gamer LakerTom, Gerald and myself dropped you will have heard Tom proclaim, multiple times, that this was a great win because it shows that the problems are still problems. We still give up a ton of paint points, we turn the ball over too often, and we can’t rely on anyone to hit from three. WHile it would be nice to say the solution lies solely in getting KCP going (we’ve seen several games where they force-feed him shots with nary to show for it), get Kuzma more involved (my favorite idea but I’m not sure it’s enough) or running more offense through player X (anyone of Schroder, Gasol or Kuzma) the truth is the Lakers need help in the paint. As such, in my opinion, we need to make a move for a center and the center that fits our style and could have instant impact would be the same one we just faced: Myles Turner. The Lakers should aggressively and annoyingly pursue Turner. The Pacers are clinging to the final play-in spot and trending in the wrong direction. They have a decent prospect at the 5 in Bitadze and with Caris LaVert coming over the hill in the next week or so we could see the minutes for guys like McConnel or McDermott vanish, as well. AN equitable trade (one Gerald has proposed awhile back) for some solid rotation-ready players feels like it could be made. While the Pacers hold Bird, or early Bird, rights on both Doug and TJ they’ll be hard-pressed to keep both, especially McDermott. The Lakers and Pacers could both use players on the opposite team. A deal of KCP, THT, Trezz and Jared Dudley gets it done for Turner and McDermott. Losing Trezz would hurt but you slide Kuzma into his minutes and maybe give Cacock or Kostas some spot minutes at the 4 (or in Kostas’ case the 3 or 4). Whether a trade like that one happens or not it’s hard to see the Lakers being content to stand pat with the team as is currently constructed. The help we need might have been the players we just saw.

At least we got the win, although this one won’t make many scrap books or highlight reels. As currently constructed the Lakers won’t go too far in the playoffs, especially if we don’t get something resembling a 100% ready to contribute Anthony Davis who, even prior to the leg injuries, was not producing to expectation on either end. While I am not the proponent of the three ball some are I also realize it is an essential part of the modern game. We have to close the three point gap and giv up fewer points in the paint. However that happens is cool with me.