Aloha,

I’m not sure if I want Kyrie. Chaos has followed him every where he has gone. And he has missed considerable time due to injury starting in college all the way through his pro career. He has also missed considerable amount of playing time because he is a flake.

Beyond that we would again be filling out a roster next year with minimum salary guys. There are other routes that would give us a shot and give us quality players for next year. We have been talking to both the Jazz and the Hornets. They have something in common that may not require unprotected firsts. They both have salaries they want to dump. I’m also looking at the Raptors.

The Lakers could send Russ and a protected to the Jazz for Conley, Beasley and olynyk. The Raptors are in desperate need of a center. We could send Olynyk, a protected first and Lonnie to the Raptors for Trent Jr. Lonnie is a good young player that would help their rotation considering they need 3 point shooting. That would give us two solid young players for the present as well as the future. And Conley still is pretty good. We have no point guards under contract next year. We could keep him or use his salary in a trade.

A similar deal could be worked out with the Hornets with some combination of Rozier, Plumlee, Washington or Ubre. Although sending Plumlee to the Raptors might require an unprotected first. And we would still have PatBev and 2nds to use for one more upgrade.

I would much rather see a deal like this as opposed to a Kyrie deal. I would prefer the Jazz deal because I’m not sold on Rozier for 3 more years. Our rotation would look like this

Conley PG
Trent Jr SG
AD C
LeBron PF
Rui SF

Bench
Beasley
Austin
Dennis
Troy
Thomas
Gabriel

I think that line up could make as much noise in the playoffs as a Kyrie, Harris combo would if not more, and without the risk. Heck do we know if Kyrie would even resign with us? You just can’t count on anything from him. Trent Jr is a Klutch client so I’m sure he would. Anyway I hope the Lakers are treating all options equally and not fixated on Kyrie. We could end up with nothing if they are.

Aloha,

Well we played one good quarter last night and fortunately it was enough as we squeezed out a win. One of the biggest reasons this game was that close was our 3 point shooting. The Pacers made 10 more 3’s and that was with Buddy pretty much being a non factor.

Everyone would love to land a 3 point shooter in a trade and I would too. But the question is, would we utilize them. LeBron is shooting 31% from 3. Russ is shooting 28% and AD is shooting 26%. They took half of our 3 point shots last night.

A perfect example of our failure to generate 3’s occurred at the end of the first half. Russ was dribbling down for the last shot. Lonnie was wide open behind the arc to his right. Yet Russ took the last shot and missed. After the shot, Lonnie lowered his eyes, smiled to himself and shook his head. A teammate patted him on the back as they walked off.

Lonnie shoots 38% from 3. He got one shot. Thomas shoots well over 40%. He got one look. Troy shoots over 40% from the corner and got one look. PatBev has been shooting well over 40% in the new year. He got two looks.

Our 3 point shots are generated by drive and kicks, to the open man. And it doesn’t matter who that open man is. If this team wants to improve their 3 point shooting they need to run some plays for guys that can make 3 point shots. Trading for a shooter will do little good if the team doesn’t utilize that shooter.

Aloha,

PatBev won the game for us before he didn’t. Another missed free throw against the Celtics and then a stupid foul. 4 seconds left. Concede the basket.

We took 42 3’s, way too many for this team.

We had a size advantage and didn’t exploit it. I mean Thomas got one shot. And they didn’t get the ball into AD nearly enough.

Still we were jobbed again by yet another obvious foul that was called. Yet they called PatBevs fouls. That’s now 4 games this year. And it wasn’t just that call, the Celtics took 19 more free throws and there were way too many missed called on the Celtics.

Yes we blew this game but we should have won this once despite our mistakes. Tomorrow there will be yet another 2 minute report and it will again say LeBron was fouled and again it won’t matter.

Aloha,

We definitely looked like a team on the back end of a back to back. And we’re playing a bad team that we probably were overlooking. Which you can’t do in the NBA. We pulled it out with a 11-0 burst in about a minute.

It was great to see AD out there. He looked a bit rusty but 21, 12 and 4 blocks in 26 minutes is something most centers would love to do.

LeBron was tired. 20 points on 20 shots. But he went into play maker mode with 11 assists. Still wished he wouldn’t take a lot of 3’s. 1-6. Russ was 0-3. That’s 11%. The rest of the team shot 37%. Wish others got more of those 3’s.

Loved Russ throwing Collins to the ground. Obviously he remembered the last game when Collins bloodied him with a flagrant 2.

Rui looked really good for not even having a practice. 12 points, 6 boards and a team high +17 in just 22 minutes. He was a little nervous at first but he settled in and he looks like he really will help this team.

Shout out to PatBev. 18 points. His offense carried the team early.

Dennis’s offense can be inconsistent but he is always locked in on defense. 4 steals, 2 blocks and a +15.

I really like Max. He is becoming a good defender, especially for a 19 year old. He can knock down a 3 as well.

Interesting thing in the standings. The Lakers are only 3 games behind the Pels. They have lost 6 in a row and Zion is not even going to be re-evaluated. For two more weeks. It would be crazy if we caught them. Even if we don’t catch them the more they lose the better our pick will be.

Aloha,

Last night was a glaring example of our biggest problem we have had this year. Lack of size. We had Dennis and PatBev trying to guard PG and Kawahi a lot. When we sent a double team they found the open man for a 3. When we didn’t, they took our puny guys inside and shot over them. Hopefully we won’t see those kind of mismatches often moving forward.

Signing Rui was a big step in the right direction. He is 6’ 8” with a 7’ 2” wing span that will definitely be harder to shoot over. While it’s hard to stop a super star you can make it more difficult.

AD coming back will also be huge, besides being a premier rim protector he also excels at switching on D. And with TB playing well it just adds more size to the rotation. Whether TB starts with AD or comes off the bench and plays with him there will be a domino effect all the way down the rotation. Add in minutes for Gabriel and now Troy can guard wing 3’s again instead of 4’s. Lonnie and Austin can play more 2 and less 3 and PatBev hopefully will no longer have to guard the KD’s and PG’s of the league.

If there is another trade to be made I hope they can find another defender. While 3 point snipers are nice, they will be wasted in this offense. We just don’t run a lot of plays for 3 point shots. It’s a drive and kick style of offense and the open man takes the shot, even if it’s Westbrook. As I have written before, take out LeBron and Russ and our 3 point shooting as a team is 36%. That in the upper half of the league. The problem is LeBron and Russ take over a 3rd of our 3’s. Even with Lebron’s 9 for 14 night, it elevated him all the way up to…30%. Russ sits at 28%. My question to those that want to trade for sniper is always this, in this offense how many looks will they get a game? 5? Maybe 6? Lonnie shoots 38% and gets 5. Thomas shoots 44% and gets a couple.

If there is another trade to be made I would like it to be for another defender, with some size. And if he can shoot 35% from 3. That would be better than a 40% shooter that doesn’t defend. You want to surround LeBron with shooters but they don’t have to be snipers. 35/36% is just fine if they can defend.

We currently are 5th in the league in scoring at 117 points a game. That’s enough to win a championship. But we are 27th in points allowed at 118. That will never win a championship.

I’m looking forward to having everyone back. Even without AD we would have one a few more games with just Austin and Lonnie. I am eager to see how Rui fits over the next few weeks and how they use TB and AD together. I have a good feeling about this team. Maybe not as good as Pat Riley saying they could win it all but I do think they will make some noise. And I would love to eliminate the Clippers in the playoffs. We can beat them at full strength.

Aloha,
Trade details (expected to be done this afternoon):

Lakers receive:
– Rui Hachimura

Wizards receive:
– Kendrick Nunn
– 3 second round picks.

This is a good trade. Rui is a young combo forward with size. He can score and rebound. Defensively he is a work in progress but we have a great development staff. I like him much better than Cam because he actually plays.

Aloha,

When I looked at the schedule I thought that the Griz were the team that we had the worst chance of beating with our injury issues. After all they were finally healthy and they were the hottest team in the NBA. Up to the steal by Dennis I thought we were going to lose. But we pulled it out.

This team plays incredibly hard. And that is a testimony to coach Hamm. Sure he’s made some mistakes but he has held this team together through all the adversity. If we had been even reasonably healthy, along with decent refereeing, our record would be reversed and we would be one of the top 6 seeds.

With the trade season in full swing, all the click bait posters have a variety of players for us to consider. And they generally are all geared towards the offensive side of the ball. Yet we are 7th in the NBA in scoring. Many of these articles have 3 point shooters as targets, as we are 27th in the league.

But there are reasons for that. First we were shooting around 22% over our first 15 games. Now we are up to 33%. Our biggest problem is who is shooting the 3. LeBron and Russ take 11 of our 30 threes a game. And they are combined 29%. LeBron is actually last in the NBA. Yes even worse than Russ. Take out those 2 and the rest of the team is shooting 36%. Good enough.

When you consider how we run our offense, would adding a 3 point sniper help that much. We rarely set up plays for a 3 point shot. Our 3’s are generated through drive and kicks and the open man takes the shot, regardless of how well they shoot 3’s.

Our biggest need was on full display against the Griz. We desperately need a wing with size that can defend and rebound. We generally get crushed on the offensive boards with our small line ups. And if that wing can hit a 3, that is a bonus. Bogdanovic is a popular name. But how many shots would he actually get with the way we play. Defensively his on only fair and is getting a mere 3 boards a game.

For me the wing with size and rebounding should be our goal. The only question will that guy become available. My feeling is, if one doesn’t surface, I would hold onto my assets because there will be a few available in free agency this summer. While if we were healthy I feel we would be pretty good, I don’t see a realistic game changing trade in this sellers market. The worst thing this team could do is make a trade that could keep us mediocre for years to come.

Aloha,

The news coming out of the Lakers camp is sound. It makes perfect sense to look for trades that will make them competitive for the next 3 years. Unfortunately it’s for the wrong reason. First, thinking we can land a super star this summer for what we have to offer is boneheaded. If LeBron falls for that he isn’t as bright as I think he is.

Now let’s assume Robb does pull a rabbit out of hat and secures a superstar. Will that make us true contenders? Hardly. Three superstars and a collection of minimum contract guys year in and year out won’t cut it. A team needs a strong supporting cast and some semblance of continuity to win a championship. Especially if your superstars are as fragile as AD and LeBron. Oh by the way the article mentioned Lillard and Beal, both of which are as fragile as our stars.

For me the perfect trade would be for a 3 and D wing with size under a reasonable contract. Kuz would be a good example of that. His cap hold would still allow us to add around 20 mil in free agents.

My perfect trade would be for OG Anunoby. His salary will be around 18 mil next year, allowing us to add a couple of decent free agents. Although the way he is playing he is probably out of our price range, even with both picks, which I would give up for him.

We could added several quality free agents this summer with our cap space. The worst thing we could do from a team building standpoint would be to bring back contracts for players that wouldn’t really make a difference. I would love to win another ring before LeBron leaves but the wrong trade could end any chance of that.

Aloha,

Yes we lost another game we should have won at the free throw line. But tomorrow when the NBA two minute report comes out it will say that Troy was fouled at the end of regulation. What really upset me it was blatant and the ref was 5 feet away. The report will also say that LeBron was fouled at the end of overtime. It’s shame to lose because two obvious fouls were not called.

I do like the way this team plays. It gives me hope that if we ever are healthy we may be able to put a run together. I particularly liked Gabriel’s game. 14 pts 7 boards and 2 blocks plus some really good defense. The guy can guard the 3. I would rather see him starting over JTA.

Aloha,

Saw a report today that besides Boogey the Lakers are also working out Myers’s Leonard. WTF? I have watched several G league games this year. And Jay Huff of the South Bay Lakers has impressed each time. He blocked 6 shots Las night. His season high is 7. He once blocked 10 for U Virginia. He also shoots the 3. I would like to give him a shot over a guy like Myers’s.

Aloha,

With so few players currently on the trade block I think the main reason you are not seeing any movement is price. The question for the Lakers and every other team looking to upgrade is how much are you willing to over pay for a player. Frankly the asking price for any available player is currently outrageous. And with so many teams clinging to playoff hope it will probably remain outrageous until the deadline. The Lakers need to hope they can get healthy and hang in there until prices drop, or a useful player lands on the buy out market. Our best bet for our play off hopes until February 7th is if role players continue to play at a high level.

Aloha,

The Lakers won today while not playing as the Clippers, Suns, Mav’s, Trailblazers, and Jazz all lost.

Aloha,

When Russ and LeBron play together they are a plus 7.5. When Thomas joins them it jumps to their plus 19.4. When AD plays with them it’s a plus 1.8.

Aloha,

Like I posted before, I never believed this team was not as bad as their early record. We competed even when losing. I thought the ceiling for this team was perhaps playin or 6th seed tops, with a first round exit. Then a funny thing happened, even with all the injuries we have went 17-11 since the bad start. And we have went toe to toe with some of the best teams in the league.

Could this stretch change the front offices mind about giving up a 1st round pick? Yes, I think it could. But not the huge block buster trade that everyone was looking for. Because honestly we don’t need that.

First I have went from trade Russ to keep Russ. And I think they will now. He is playing again at an all star level. He is one of the reasons we are where we are. Will he turn in an occasional bone head play? Absolutely. But he has been a driving force in this run. If you have noticed, LeBron and Russ have finally learned to play with each other. LeBron defers to Russ a lot now and their pick and roll has been deadly.

Thomas Bryant is also playing at an all star level. Once AD returns, they have to find this guy 25 minutes or more a game. This can happen by playing them together when LeBron rests. LeBron mused about the 3 playing together and maybe they should try it if they can’t find a trade for a sF but Lebrons defense has not been great. If LeBron could defend the 3 in 5 to 7 minute bursts. Maybe.

Dennis has also been playing at an all star level. I had heard the rave reviews of of his Euro championship tournament and now we are seeing why. His numbers will go down some if we ever get healthy but he needs to maintain his aggressive play and it’s better then trading for someone else. It’s a shame he missed the first month, we might have a few more wins.

Once everyone is back we could have a solid rotation. Still we are one guy away from making some real noise in the playoffs. Unfortunately that one guy is a wing with size, that’s something everyone covets. But there are targets.

If you have read my posts you know I’m a big OG Anunoby fan. Of all the players rumored to be available, he is the only one I would give up both 1st round picks for. And that’s what it would take. He is playing all NBA level defense and he is a good shooter as well. The bonus is he is under contract at 18 mil for 2 more years. And at 25 he would still be in his prime when that 2027 pick rolled around. It’s the old bird in the hand scenario. Unfortunately he would probably cost us Lonnie as well, but he’s worth it.

Bogdanovic 3 point shooting would go a long way in helping this team. While he isn’t a lock down defender, he is smart and is serviceable on that end. He would also cost a first and possibly Lonnie as well.

We all know and love Kuz. He would bring size and defense on the wing that we lack. My only problem with Kuz is that he is in a contract year. While I don’t believe he has any animosity towards the Lakers and I think he enjoyed being a Laker, he has talked glowingly about his expanded role with the Wizards. He likes being the number 2 option and showing what he can do. I’m not sure he would resign with the Lakers this summer but that would be a must if we were going to spend a first rounder on him.

With the way the others have been playing, and if we are healthy anyone of these 3 could give us a real chance of making some noise in the playoffs.