The loss last night dropped us a game and a half behind Denver for 5th and 14-19 against teams above .500. We’re a worse team at this point than we were last season with not too many signs of turning it around. The same old same did us in.

1) Too much whining. If I could have the coach do one thing it would be to fine any player that stops to talk to a ref during a live ball. You can yell, you can shake your head, but it better be while your a$$ is running back down the court on defense. You stop to whine? $5,000.

2) Not all that much sustainable intensity. The intense guys aren’t very good and the good guys aren’t very intense. Everyone says the right things and, if you watch post game interviews, they seem contrite and comprehend that there is an effort and focus issue. The effort being on defense being physical and matching the opponent’s aggression. The focus on just being active and present in the moment. Catch the ball, make the solid pass, finish the layup. Play the game.

3) The blame game. We have a lot of excuses as to why we have lost this season. Injuries, lack of chemistry, inherent moodiness, bad officiating, and on and on. The leadership in this team, from the locker room on up, doesn’t feel up to the task of winning a banner. Too many self-inflicted wounds have established a pattern and appearance, if not true, dysfunction. I hope that we can either discover a winning mojo like yesterday or dig deep into what is missing from the team and organization and replace it. Be it player, coach, GM or whatever.

4) LeBron passed Cap in all
Time made field goals and will probably pass Lance Parrish for All Time regular season games played. Crazy. Still, and not diminish any aspect of his accomplishment because I think the modern NBA accounts for a lot more wear and tear, he started his career at 18. All the same, historic dude, that LeBron James. No denying that.

5) Reaves looks off. Just not able to get past his man. Also not shooting great from three. He, along with half the team, has awful body language. The early season joy and verve had been replaced by a dour vibe. If he’s hurt and gutting it out he should consider sitting. Whatever chance we have in any playoff series will come down to having a mostly healthy team.

Another under-manned opponent, another Laker loss. The team looks very dispassionate, moody and like they want the season to be over. Hustle seems like it’s optional. This has gotten hard to watch.

1) Too much Luka. It’s a fine line to walk. Too many shots and you’re not passing enough, hogging the ball. Don’t shoot enough, you quit on the team. In this case I think that there’s a problem with our lack of play calling. Can’t have Ayton getting only a handful of shots, or he’s going on the banana boat in his brain.

2) Reaves too passive. Might still not have his legs back yet, probably still knocking off some rust, but he’s not really driving and attacking like we know he can. As a result he’s become more of a release valve than creator.

3) So many dumb turnovers. Whether it was one of our guards dribbling the ball off their foot, Marcus Smart not getting the ball across the timeline when absolutely nobody was guarding him, or the listless passes that were easily picked off, this game was not a pretty one in terms of execution.

4) Too many offensive rebounds surrendered. At some point you have to look inside and say “I need to put some effort into this, those other guys are actually jumping for the ball and stuff!”. Inexplicably we lost the rebounding battle despite Mark Williams being in foul trouble and Jordan Goodwin not playing.

5) Time is running out. Nobody cares that we haven’t had the time to develop wonderful and beautiful chemistry as a team, that Luka, Reaves and LeBron nigh not play 30 games together this entire season or any other excuse one might care to cobble together. It’s either important to you and worth sacrificing for or it’s not. Petty issues with refs, teammates, coaches or your role won’t help right now. Reddick has to figure out how to get this team to play harder. He may also want to consider putting the league’s leading three pointer shooter by percentage in when you need a game tying three…I’m sure Maxi Kleber was hot, though…while Kennard sat.

I can think of several words to describe last nights woeful outing against the under-manned Celtics but I’ll settle on one: pathetic. Not worth the watching but I did anyway. Only thing to take away from this loss: we aren’t a contender.

1) Too much whining. Sure, the Celtics got away with 2 obvious goaltends and 2 obvious offensive fouls. Evidently that was enough to take the team and coaching staff out of the game. Luka is going to complain, LeBron has earned the right to complain. Marcus Smart flapping his yap for 3 minutes just to get a tech doesn’t need to stay in the game plan. Any player who just lays on the floor and whines should be benched next time…except our coach whines as much as the players do. Weak.

2) Speaking of Marcus Smart, fine time for a donut against the team that once called him
it’s heart and soul right before shipping him out and winning a title. So much for getting revenge or playing for pride… At this point I hope he opts out, the negatives aren’t outweighed by the positives, IMO. He’s clearly a step slow on D, takes it out on the officials, and shoots far too often based on his ability to actually make shots. Play Kennard more if you need buckets or Vando if you need stops. Have him slide into a mentor role or whatever.

3) Same goes for Ayton. Please, please opt out. We don’t need your skillset on this team and we need someone whose head is in the game for more than 7 minutes. It’s a 48 minute game, dude, show up for more of them or just go away.

4) Reddick got vastly out-coached. The Celtics pressured us full court all game long and we let them, they outhustled us and we stuck with our slowest, most myopic players in the 2nd half. Pat Riley could have done a better job coaching these guys, not 80’s Pat Riley, the near fossilized one that showed more pep than our entire team last night during his speech.

5) Reaves checked out early. Evidently he just can’t keep up with Payton Pritchard. Dude got outplayed by Payton for the full 48 and whined a lot while it happened. Reaves might get paid a lot of money this coming summer but games like this make me wonder if it should be us…

Games like this make me wish our record reflected the effort this team puts forth. Honestly, this is a playin team riding on the coattails of early season success and injuries to key players on other teams. It’s sad that this is how LeBron will go out as a Laker because I’m not seeing a lot of reasons for him to put himself through this ever again. I fucking hate losing to the Celtics but I really hate the way we no-showed a big game last night. Just proves what a lot of us have seen in this team since last summer. Which is to say not much. I suppose there’s time to turn it around but this feels like what the team it is now. Weak, slow, and no heart.

As the vapid and useless All Star weekend passes us by I take this time to look at the state of the team.

(1) The offense, in general, isn’t the problem. Sure, we’re not a top 5 offense but we’re a top ten-ish offense. Seeing how we’ve been shuffling line ups, players being out and 3/5’s of the current starting 5 weren’t on the team last season that’s not bad. The major issues I’d like us to cleanup are turnovers and focusing more on quality shots, too often it seems like we try for home run passes when a simple swing pass will do or jacking up early shots.

(2) The defense is awful. Sure, injuries, a common and well-trod excuse. but one of our best defenders, Jarred Vanderbilt was benched for a stretch and we stuck with the same, incredibly ineffective, switch everything scheme for the first few months of the season. Our zone generally performs better and I’m not sure we ever play in anything close to a man-to-man. We switched small onto big with Embiid and Wemby, for example, for the entire game when we weren’t in a zone. That’s absurd. This one is on the coaches more than anyone else.

(3) Injuries. We got ‘em. So does every team. We’re not even in the top ten of teams that have players due to injury. Whereas the Thunder are. Last I looked, they were leading the west. So, sure, injuries have certainly played a factor in our overall team performance. The extent of that comes down to how much grit and heart the team has.

(4) Speaking of which, the game against the Spurs showed us all the quality of that heart and grit. Outside of Vando and Kleber it looked like everyone else showed up to lose. Nobody hit Wemby, nobody bumped Wemby, nobody tried at all in D except those 2. One would imagine that, for a lot of the guys who played in that game, that having the opportunity to showcase a skill set beyond the one perceived would be welcome. Clearly not with this team.

(5) Don’t worry, Jamie, the summer signings will fix everything. Not sure I buy into that, not while Rob is in charge. We need young impact players, ideally in rookie deals. Our current rookie has barely played because he has a history of knee injuries since before he was drafted. Before that the 1st round rookie we drafted is now completely out of the NBA with no team even offering him a two way deal and we broke the other one. We let our other, cheap impact player, Jordan Goodwin, go so we could sign an older version of the same thing. Feels like we could have kept Goodwin and signed Smart if we had a better GM who maybe could have moved Gabe over the summer instead of another mostly wasted year of him being ineffective.

Clearly I have issues with both the composition and direction of the team. Maybe some of you feel differently, maybe not. I see us maybe making it to the 2nd round and bowing out then in the playoffs. That won’t cut it for anyone.

A Lakers team without Luka failed to muster enough firepower to win. While disappointing it should also come as no surprise. The defense couldn’t find a groove and we lost to the champs again.

1) Jake LaRavia finally made some baskets! Started cold, finished cold, but in the middle, when we pulled ahead, he scored 8 points on FG’s and hit the majority of his free throws. It’s not easy finding a groove playing next 2-3 high usage players and your job is to bail them out when they pass you the ball, just ask Rui, but I still like Jake sticking in the starting 5.

2) Reaves got in his own head. He was a shadow of himself after that tech for arguing the non-call. Dude knows better but sometimes it’s hard when you feel like it’s 8 on 5.

3) Not enough of LeBron down the stretch: Reddick copped to this post game and I agree. LeBron was exploiting the defense in the 3rd and in the 4th we went…everywhere else. 3 total FGAs for James, he made 2, but this one had all the ingredients for a “turn back the clock” game. We just didn’t impose our will hard enough.

4) Know your enemy. It’s not just a catch phrase or a Rage Against the Machine tune, it ought to be in the notes for the coaches. Going to Maxi Kleber against the Lilliputian Warriors or the slow of foot and small besides Embiid 76ers was a good move. Watching him get out-gazelle’d by Thunder big men was quite easy to see coming. For my money I even thought we played Ayton too much (and him sitting out another game means he could have used some more R&R and gone with the key guys who sparked us in the 3rd: Vando, LaRavia snd Hayes. Jake got 4th quarter minutes. The other guys…not so much. We failed to learn the matchup lesson.

5) Make your free throws fellers. What good is whining about the refs if you don’t take advantage of the ones you were given? C’mon man….

Curious move, plenty of players that can help now available and we rush to secure…a G Leaguer?! If we’re gonna do that why not lock up Nick Smith Jr. or Drew Timme? Weird.

I don’t mind when the team wins ugly. This was another fairly ugly 1st half. A stellar 3rd quarter propelled us to a back-to-back home win and we need to grind out 3 more before the All Star break.

1) Welcome Luke Kennard. 6-7, 2-4 from three with the first shot being a nifty quick flick release on a close out. More impressive was how he adapted to the defense quickly with drives to the rim. He got blown by a few times on D but it’s his first game. We’ll chalk it up to that.

2) LBJ and sloppy excellence. Back to back double-doubles for the this season. Far too many unforced turnovers in some of the worst passes I’ve seen him throw: the ASB is coming soon, though. We’ll chalk it up to that.

3) That 3 man defensive unit of Smart, Vando, and Kleber has been getting after it. Add in Rui and Reaves and you wonder if there’s a world where Reaves can see his way to playing off the bench. I think he would have to ask for it to happen and it would have to be very personally organic because Reaves off the bench truly does solve a lot of problems. It’s a contract year and I’m not sure Coach has that level in him, yet. Wish he did or would figure out how.

4) Speaking of Maxi, release the Kraken! Dude is all over the place and moving as smoothly as I’ve ever seen him. Back to back solid outings where the box score doesn’t show you the true level of his impact.

5) Three games to go, close it out solid. No SGA? Don’t show any mercy. If Luka is out until after the break (my personal hope) come hard at the Spurs with this grind then down energy we’ve been showing of late. Smart and Vando have been a big impact on D. This team needs to get the TO’s under control and continue to embrace this level of defense. There’s enough scoring to win if they can.

Not really expecting the Lakers to make much noise. Not for lack of desire or need, far from it. We clearly have needs on both ends of the court. But there are built in and self-inflicted reasons why I expect there the deadline to come and go without much action on our end.

1) Not much grease for the wheels. 1first round pick 5+ years out when Luka will still be on the team and we ought to be contending isn’t really worth much. Packaged with other picks it’d be better but all in it’s lonesome it’s not a trade needle mover.

2) Lack of coveted young players. We’d be covering them if we had them. As it is it’s Reaves and then a loooong gap between Hachimura. Neither is really all that young, either. Nobody wants Knecht, even if someone did why pay now when you can simply wait until he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer when his option goes unclaimed? Their o has been underwhelming when he’s even available to play. This concludes the list of young assets.

3) Everyone had the same needs as we do but also have more to work with. The Lakers clearly have needs at the 1, 3, & 5. Guess what? So does the majority of the league! As such the competition for those players is steep. Based on our war chest, or lack thereof, it’s hard to see us beating offers from other interested teams.

4) Rob is inept. Old “Master Class” couldn’t shit or get off the pot I terms of making a move for DeAndre Hunter perfectly encapsulates the Rob Pelinka era as GM. He was savvy enough not to blow the Luka trade and after that his signature move was the Russ trade which really just hacked him out of his own mess he made. Hunter would have been a slight upgrade over Rui, IMO, but it’s even more of a bummer we couldn’t be in in the Ellis move. Some of this isn’t Rob’s Fault, per se, although he is the one who has traded first round picks for subpar players or players we simply let walk multiple times. It’s why I’m not too optimistic that Rob can be the GM we need during the Luka era.

5) Nobody wants to help the Lakers. We generally seem to overpay in these scenarios or don’t get invited to the party at all. That’s the way it is when you’re one on the most iconic brands on the planet.

All in all, if we can trade our unprotected FRP 5+ years out for a couple OKC picks (lightly protected) that would feel like a win. I hoping/expecting for a more exciting summer for us, anyhow, and adding fuel to that prospect seems savvy.

Still unable to get to the site at work, evidently it’s being blocked. So I gots to use the phone lol. Anyhoo, as we pass the halfway point on the road trip and near the trade deadline there are some things to get into.

1) Jake LaRavia is the best starter. Of the 3 candidates to start at the 3 (Rui, Vando and Jake) LaRavia has been the best fit. While it could be argued that Vanderbilt hasn’t been given a shot at the starting spot his impact off the bench remains steady: LaRavia off the bench isn’t as impactful as it is as starter. So, despite Rui’s superior shooting, I feel like Jake impacts the game on both ends more.

2) LeBron decision won’t be made in-season. Lotta fuss being made over a dude who has earned the right to end his career when he’s ready. He got emotional during a tribute, no big whoop. He’s not pulling a CP3.

3) Dalton Knecht is HILARIOUS!!! Dude…you don’t need to demand a trade. Writings been on the wall since last season. You might not even get a deal next season man.

4) Lakers defense isn’t up to playoff standards. We can shuffle guys, make tweaks, but this group of guys and this coach need 3 things to work if they’re going to win; make threes, get to the free throw line, and have the other team miss open shots. That’s how we’ve been winning a lot of games lately and it’s not sustainable in the playoffs.

5) Sea Change Summer. At this point I’m just hoping that we see a massive amount of change around the roster this summer. I have zero faith in Rob and never had much in Reddick. I’m personally convinced neither has what it takes to succeed at a high level in the NBA consistently. Reddick can’t coach an NBA level defense and Rob can’t build a complete roster. Is it possible a different GM could better align with the coach on staff? I suppose…but the basic issue seems to me to be a lack of focus on that end. Basic stuff like “guy who wants to right is allowed to go right…all…game…long” have been issues since Reddick Day 1. I’m willing to give JJ another shot with a different GM but neither the coach or GM has inspired much confidence in me.

5) Threatening to be a playin team. Which is inexcusable given the talent currently on the roster. We’ve had injuries, sure, and so has Denver that didn’t miss a beat without Jokic and Gordon. Or Boston that actually blew up their roster because effort and execution will defeat talent every time. Or the fucking Clippers who, once they bought into Lue’s vision, have rocketed up the standing despite injuries to key players. The issues with this team are, by snd large, top down driven. There are some roster weaknesses, especially with our drafted players, but those are small compared to the issues with the front office and how we play defense on a philosophical level. Don’t see a tweak trade changing that.

At the halfway point we’ve seen a lot of different looks from the Lakers. Multiple starting lineups, multiple rotations off the bench, all sorts of injuries and lots more questions than answers. Let’s start with at least one solid answer.

1) Luka is the future. For all my issues with Luka’s defense and carping to the refs I still make the trade for him 10 out of 10 times. He needs to keep discovering when to empower his teammates vs. getting himself going. He tries on D and needs roster help on that end. There is no over stating his ability to impact the game. He needs players that better compliment him on both ends.

2) LeBron James is a wonder and also a huge question mark over the next season or two. The last 3-4 games James has looked himself on both ends, making smart athletic plays, timely scoring all while continuing to blaze trails in every NBA record book. The problem here is there is no future for the team with his salary on the roster, at least at this amount. The LeBron question will look over and dominate the summer but now that’s he’s gotten his legs under him he is right back to playing at an All NBA level.

3) The front office needs to figure out a vision and an identity they’re striving to build. They have a roster built more for Darvin Ham, they have a coach that is more wonky with concepts than charismatic managing personalities and team built for neither of its superstars while mulling retaining a future 3rd superstar. None of it works very well together. The front office needs to truly start building a Luka or Luka/Resves team. If there are current players that don’t fit that mold they need to be aggressively moved simply to open up the space needed to try other players out. I don’t see much action for us on the trade front but if you can move any of these guys simply for some second round picks that needs to strongly be considered. The league is getting younger, we are not. It’s a problem we don’t have an obvious answer to.

4) If Reaves is the future we can’t keep Rui. I like Rui but he lacks aggression and is too content to lay back and simply do what’s asked. However, if there is indeed a ceiling at which the Lakers aren’t willing to go past to keep Austin then they need to trade him. Losing Rui for cap space to keep Reaves is acceptable, losing both for nothing would be an unmitigated disaster.

5) We could use some health luck. If guys are sitting with minor aches and bruises they need to stop. We’re on the verge of loaf managing (not a typo, I straight wrote loaf managing) our way into the playin and a difficult summer. Get tough, Lakers, that starts with Luka.

Still can’t get to the site at work, something in our security is blocking it.

Anyhoo, some thoughts on the last 2 games and Rich “Clickbait” Paul.

1) It might not be “fair” to Rui but Jake LaRavia is better in the starting 5 as currently constructed. When Reaves comes back and Smart goes back to the bench, Jake should stay in the starting 5. Our energy picks up, our toughness picks up, and it’s clear that Jake is at least Rui’s equal and has more ceiling. Jake has plenty to work on (passing and his handle come right to the front) but his fit with Luka, Ayton and LeBron is legit.

2) Smart, Vincent, Vando, Rui and Hayes make up a solid bench. Thiero is hurt a lot already, Knecht can’t connect, and the talent drop off is vast after that. That’s a serviceable bench for the season until we get some off-season clarity on exactly what LeBron is doing (likely it mostly depends on how he and the team finish). There’s a lot to be said for the bench being gritty snd tough to compensate for the formula one vibe the starters have.

3) Rich Paul needs to stop flapping his yapper. He’s not doing LeBron any favors and seems intent on pulling a Diddy: throwing the folks he reps under the bus in lieu of pushing his own agenda, no matter how silly or petty. The Grizz would need a monster haul to trade JJJ, less so for Ja (who is an AWFUL fit here in LA). We don’t have a monster haul. You can put the Nets, Heat, Portland and maybe even Milwaukee before the Lakers in terms of what they can put into a trade. The Thunder, too, just hard to see them move on from either Chet or IH in their respective roles. Regardless, Rich Paul needs to find a better hobby.

4) Ayton needs to be a little more of a focal point, he’s too much of a threat to just be left to finish broken plays or missed shots. When engaged he’s a monster. It’s the keeping him engaged part.

5) This is your Lakers team. We have a decent stretch of games against middling/low end team. Time to regain some momentum and swagger. LeBron looks better every game, LaRavia as a starter really works, adding Smart, Rui and a healthy Gabe give the bench some pop. Maybe we end up a 3rd team as part of a larger deal but my gut tells me we’re finishing the season with this squad. Time to just make it work.

Milwaukee needs a statement game, let’s not give it to them.

Still having issues, depending on the device, logging in or even loading the page.

Anyhoo, hoping to see some toughness tonight and turnovers under 14. That feels reasonable…

The problems with this team are all upstairs and inside of their chest’s. Their sense of urgency and passion to compete have to be questioned after yet another double-digit loss to a contender.

1) We beat mediocre and bad teams and we can hang with older teams, sometimes, but young talented teams have our number. OKC, Phoenix, Houston and now Detroit. The Lakers seemingly expect young teams to succumb to their age and experience. It’s not happening.

2) Points off of turnovers is where we lost the game. 30-12 advantage to Detroit.

3) No easy buckets in transition while giving up a ton. The 31-12 Fastbreak point differential was the other key. A lot of that is our live ball turnovers off of lazy passes from Luka. This is on him and it’s probably the 3rd or 4th game we’ve given up because Luka just gets into trouble and tries a ridiculous play. LeBron had his share of bad passes and gaffes and add that in with a decent amount of TO’s from other players and we’re giving up too many easy baskets to overcome.

4) Bench needs a better backup guard. This is where the loss of Reaves hurts a lot. When Austin, LeBron and Luka are all available we have 3 solid playmakers. Nick Smith Jr. is too streaky to be relied on, sometimes if that comes down to lack of reps but in general guys like him run real hot and cold. A general lack of strength for us is consistent guard play, especially when we don’t have Austin.

5) Just fucking compete. Every team, every player and coach can come up with a reason why they lost. Everyone’s got something to work on and improve. Hustle and heart come from effort. You either give it or you don’t. The results generally indicate which choice was made.

4 weeks, 15 games until the grade 2 calf strain is re-evaluated. That will remove Austin from post season award consideration, likely from being voted in as an All Star and basically marring what had been shaping up to be a career defining season into one defined by availability or lack thereof.

As a result, the Lakers that can play need to pivot and find a new set of rotations that will allow them to be more competitive than they’ve been in the last 3 games.

1) Starting 5: Luka, Smart, Vando, LBJ, Ayton. The LBJ/Ayton/Rui minutes are slaughtering us these days. There’s only one position that can really be tweaked. You could argue that Nick Smith Jr. could start but I’m not sure why you would. He’s streaky and not a good defender. Smart is streaky and an above average, potentially elite defender. Same goes for Vando. You could swap LaRavia for Vando and hope starting jump starts his offense.

2) Nick Smith Jr., Bronny (or Smart), Rui, LaRavia, LBJ. LeBron is gonna have to play some center. The Lakers should look to put him at the top of the key with the ball and let him pick the defense apart and have guys moving all the time.

Honestly, there’s not a good, clear way to replace Austin Reave’s production and skill set. He had become that essential to what we do and need. There’s not a guy on the bench threatening to break through, we don’t have many other guys who can score and make plays. This is a challenge for the coaching staff.

The solution won’t, and honestly can’t based on available resources, be from the outside. This group of men currently wearing a Lakers uniform need to look within and find the solutions to this dilemma of lethargy. Here are 5 ideas to turn this around right now.

1. Start Jarred Vanderbilt over Rui Hachimura. I love the potential of Rui, when he’s involved, getting 10+ shots and engaged on D he’s a difference-maker. Unfortunately, neither he nor the coaching staff seem able to figure out a way to make that happen consistently. As a result he ends up an after thought in the starting lineup. Seeing as the bench needs a scoring punch and Jarred Vanderbilt is a better defender, it makes sense to swap the two. JV has upped his 3 point accuracy to a respectable 33% as a 4th option which is exactly what the starting 5 needs and since it would also infuse the starting 5 with energy snd defense it’s a win-win.
2. Run more sets specifically for DeAndre Ayton. We don’t get Ayton involved early or often enough. Getting him some early scoring touches, and I’m not talking about the 8,098th lob bail out play, will help the overall offense and defense. Ayton is a moody dude and has always functioned better when he feels involved. It’s on the ball handlers and coaches to get him the ball in areas where he can go to work a little and feel engaged.
3. Ditch the switch everything defense. It’s overly simplistic, we lack the players to execute it and it’s stopping exactly zero. You have 2, possibly 3 if you count Bronny, decent to elite on-ball defenders in Vando and Smart. To willfully neuter them by allowing the offense to dictate what defender they want to expose is truly a silly and stupid choice by Reddick. You either need to add actions on D that allow for audibles to be called and switch to man within a possession or be better about mixing up coverages snd schemes like Darvin Ham was able to do with a lot of the same players we have now. It’s been clear the JJ is more of an offensive minded coach but there’s a lot of brain power in his staff and between them all they need to revisit this. Quickly.
4. Less LeBron. This one is delicate. You can’t bench LeBron, you can’t trust him to have the juice to score and defend for 35-40 minutes. When he shares the floor with Luka and Reaves we get nuked on D. So those minutes have to decrease. I think pairing LBJ with the most athletic Lakers makes the most sense now. Trying a lineup of LBJ, Hayes, Vando, Smart and Bronny or Hachimura makes a lot of sense to me. LaRavia might work in place of Rui but a lot of shine has come off of his play, of late. He plays hard but not smart, his shot from the outside has fallen off, and he’s not a great rebounder. When he and Rui share the floor our rebounding vanishes. It’s hard to play those 2 and win right now. LeBron and those 2 just means any team with an active, athletic roster gets to kicking our ass. 25-30 minutes of LeBron can hopefully be better and more impactful than 30-35 minutes. Save him for the playoffs when the game slows down.
5. Look for youth and athleticism in a trade. Top need now? Young, long defenders that can also slash to the rim. If they can shoot, great. Unlikely we can get a player that does all 4 with what we have to offer in a trade but carrying LeBron, Rui and LaRavia is a real hit to our speed and athletics. Rui and Jake seem like they could be a positive on that end but something in their mental makeup prevents it on a consistent basis.

The good news is I believe the solutions for success can, for the most part, be found within. The question is whether the coaches can make the right adjustments and the players execute them. If not this will go south real quick.