Aloha,

Another fun game to watch. So how do win without AD, Austin, Lonnie and Troy? Well you have 3 guys in Thomas, Dennis and Russ are playing like all stars to add to LeBron’s stellar play. No defense but it was the 2nd of a back to back.

It will be interesting to see how they use Thomas when AD comes back. I don’t know if I would want to start him with AD, primarily because LeBron not great defending the wing anymore. But they definitely should play them together when LeBron rests. And of course he will give AD plenty of rest as well.

And Dennis is just scorching hot right. I never saw any of the Euro tournament but he was tearing it up and he’s playing like it again. It’s a shame he missed the first month. We may have a few more wins.

Now if we can just keep it going until we can start getting guys back, this can be a pretty good squad.

Aloha,

The last couple of games have been a pleasure to watch. It kind of reminds me of watching the baby Lakers before LeBron. This team is playing incredibly hard from the vets down to 19 year old Max they are a joy to watch.

I never believed this team was as bad as its record. It took a perfect storm of this being a brand new team, a tough opening schedule, LeBron missing time early and an inexplicable team wide shooting slump to land us at 2-10. We are more like our record since then.

I have said all along that would be up to the others to determine how far this team could go and the others have been stepping up. And you knew the shooting would improve. While no one is a sniper they were much better career shooters than they demonstrated early.

You have to start with Thomas Bryant. Since he stepped in for AD in that Denver game he has been averaging 16.25 points, 9.9 rebounds. He is shooting over 50% from 3 and over 70% from the field. In only 28 minutes. That’s better than all but a few starting center in the league. This team needs to run to be successful. There are not many centers that run the floor better than AD. Thomas is one of them. Maybe the only one.

Then look at Austin who is the kind of glue guy every successful team needs. Lonnie has had more ups than downs. He had been playing hurt for awhile and they are finally resting him, which is smart.

Dennis is now playing how Rob hoped he would. Russ is a leading 6th man candidate and guys like Gabriel, Brown Jr and JTA play with a ton of energy. We have even seen the Heat version of Nunn the last few games and the T-Wolves version of PatBev.

This has led me to believe if we could solve our small forward problem and with reasonable health we could be pretty good. Now maybe not championship good, the parity in the west is an illusion, created by more key injuries to important players than I can remember. There are several teams if healthy would beat us, even with an upgrade at the 3. And a miracle block buster trade is not going to happen.

Still my wish is to build a contender as soon as possible and if we play our cards right it could be next year. Money will be a problem but if we found a 3 and D wing on a reasonable contract would go a long way in that direction. OG Anunoby would be the perfect guy and I would give up both 1st round picks for him and Lonnie for himZ He is an elite 3 and D guy. While as late as last year he was on the block, he had been playing so well that they may not trade him. And he is under contract for 18 mil. Plus he would actually still be in his prime when the 2027 pick is due. As they say a bird in the hand…

This next year might be the year it’s worth staying under the tax apron that being estimated to be around 162 mil. If we did that not only would we have 35 mil in cap space but a full MLE and a bi annual exception to use. That’s why I’m against bring back long term salary except for a guy like OG.

While we will not be able to keep everyone we have bird rights on Austin, early bird rights on both Gabriel and Nunn. I would love to keep several players. There is Thomas, Dennis, Lonnie, and Troy all would be great to keep. We have bird right with Russ as well but he is playing well and will probably receive better offers then I would be willing to give him.

The rest of the year will give us a better idea of the guys we should try to keep. And if they all play their way out of our budget at least we might make a little noise in the playoffs.

Aloha

LeBron had one of his best games as a Laker and it’s been well documented in the press. Thomas and Russ both had great games and that was praised to. But there was one little thing I noticed that didn’t receive much mention. With Austin struggling coach Ham went away from him and PatBev, especially in the 4th and turned to Troy and JTA both 6’ 6” wings and it really worked on the defensive end. And it helped that JTA hit a couple of shots as well. PatBev is a pesky defender but JTA and Troys size really helped us on defense and the boards. They got boards 8 between them but just as important kept the ball alive for Thomas to snag. 17 rebounds to be exact. I am really hoping we see more of them going forward because our 3 and guard line ups are just too small.

Aloha,

I just read another article about unhappy LeBron. I have zero sympathy for him. He is a billionaire that makes around a 100 mil in endorsements a year. If he is truly the winner and that’s what he’s about he could have signed a new deal in the 30 mil range. That would have given us about 53 mil in cap space. And if wanted to be traded? It’s a lot easier to trade 30 mil than nearly 50 mil. You can sign several quality players with 53 mil. He also is partially responsible for the Russ fiasco as well. No sympathy and I tire from his whining.

Aloha,

The saddest part of this whole season for me is the what could have been. The Lakers front office is taking a lot of heat right now for not making a deal, but there currently isn’t any game changing deals to be made. That might not even surface. LeBron is complaining but I wonder how much of the Russ deal was on LeBron. He maybe one of the greatest of all time but as a shadow GM he has been a total bust. I believe the front office is smart in insisting that any trade they make giving up picks must significantly improve our chances. After all we tore a good roster apart in an attempt to take the burden off LeBron without realizing that a ball dominate PG will never work.

Of course we had the perfect PG for LeBron in Alex. He had an amazing chemistry with LeBron, could play off the ball, and was a hard nosed defender. I think our chances would be much better if we had Alex, Kuz and KCP on the roster. Plus their combined salaries are 13 mil less then Russ.

Oh and that first round pick we gave up for Dennis? That was used on Jaden McDaniels, a 6’ 9” combo forward know for lock down defense plus he’s shooting 36% from 3. Or perhaps you would prefer the pick after him. Desmond Bane. 6’ 5” 3 and D wing. Known for defense and shooting 43% from 3. This year he’s only shooting 39% on 8 attempts a game. He came in and played like an all star his rookie year. Things like this is where the misery comes from.

I actually do believe the Lakers will look for a trade but I doubt it will be of the trade machine driven blockbuster variety because those never happen. What I’m hoping for is a player on a reasonable contract that we could add to the roster for the future. I think that would be a win. I doubt that we will see a home run.

Aloha,

Anytime you turn the ball over 26 times for 31 points you deserve to lose. And to top it off 2 starters, Austin and Lonnie didn’t even score but we still had a shot, which maybe says more about the Heat than us.

I’m keeping this short, not much to talk about here. Still, JTA’s defense and work on the boards was great to see. It was a big part of the comeback. I feel for him because he’s either been injured or playing hurt most of the year. I’m hoping he can stay healthy moving forward.

The other reason we were still in the game was Troy Brown. 4 straight 3 pointers. He seems to have rediscovered his range the last two. My biggest problem down the stretch was Ham taking Troy out. Basketball 101 states, ride the hot hand. While we continued to get stops we couldn’t score ourselves. Why take someone that is red hot out? Especially when you can’t score. He was playing decent defense as well but he brought back PatBev. Too me this smacked of going with your preset rotation, instead of staying with what’s working. I have seen that a lot with various coaches and it always drives me crazy. Like I said, we didn’t deserve to win, still I wish Coach Ham had stuck with Troy. You never know in the NBA.

Aloha,

Another winnable game down the drain. We have left so many wins on the table that if we don’t make even the play in, it will be as much on the team as as the broken roster Rob assembled.

It’s clear that the league has caught up to our defense. We are so undersized now that teams just take our tiny guys into the paint and shoot over them. This actually started before AD went down. I think it started when Darvin went to the small two PG line up. This moves Lonnie who is only 6’ 4” to SF. PatBev does a good job of staying in front of guys but it doesn’t help when they shoot over him. And the worst part is our tiny guys shield the shooters from our bigs so they can’t even challenge.

As good as LeBron has been on offense, he is equally bad on defense. He doesn’t close out and leaves his man wide open. And he doesn’t rotate when Bryant or Gabriel leave their man to challenge. This results in a lot of inside baskets and offensive rebounds.

While Troys offense has not been good, we were better defensively when he started because he is bigger. I would love it if we at least started Austin , he is a little bigger. Although that in turn hurts our 2nd unit. All I know is if we do make a trade it better be for a wing player with size or it won’t matter.

Aloha,

In the 4 Since AD got hurt Thomas has averaged:
17.5 pts
7.75 rebounds
2 assists
7 for 11 from 3 and one of the misses was a half court heave to beat the clock.

This has been done in 28 minutes a game. Not bad for a back up center.

Aloha,

There is really something weird going on here. The MRI has been done and evidently he has received 2nd opinion done. I don’t understand the mystery. Either it’s serious or not.

I believe that all of his injuries can be traced to his growth spurt. Evidently he went from 6’ 3” to 6’ 10” in less then a year. Perhaps his body just isn’t structurally sound because of it. And that’s not unusual. Both KD and BI had similar growth spurts and both have had injury issues throughout their careers.

Aloha,

I wrote at the beginning of the year that after health, it was going to be the other guys that would determine how far this team could go, even with trades.

Last night the others stepped up. Once in a while we get a complete team effort. But it has usually happened when LeBron or AD wasn’t playing. We had several team games when LeBron was out. Just a couple of observations.

LeBron had a very efficient game and thankfully he only attempted 4 threes. One of the major reasons we won was because LeBron didn’t try and play hero ball. He played in the flow of the game. It’s a major reason why we won.

Russ was the engine that drove the win. The dude is relentless. On both sides of the ball. It’s actually been his defensive effort that’s been the biggest surprise for me. He had 12 assists to 4 turnovers. But all the turnovers were in the first half. And what was interesting was LeBron let Russ drive the team, he basically stepped aside and let Russ be Russ. And it worked. Yes you have to live with a few WTF moments with him but overall he was the biggest reason we won.

Now the others. Thomas Bryant was huge. He had missed the better part of the last 2 years because of a knee injury and it wasn’t fair to expect him to come in and be the guy he was before he got. Hurt. It takes time to rediscover your game a long with the mental aspect after a serious injury. We have seen flashes of his old self when he’s been given the chance but last night he truly put it all together. We got too see why he is considered one of the best rim running bigs in the game. And not just on the offensive side. He was down the court fast on defense as well. He out played the Joker in the 2nd half with 16 point but I thought he also defended him well. He was in good position and his 7’ 6” wingspan created havoc and the Joker threw the ball away a couple of times. And he is relentless on the offensive boards as well. Game ball to Thomas.

I watched a g league game a few days ago and Watched Max Christy nail 6 three pointers. I always thought he looked ahead of the curve on defense for a 19 year old but his shooting had been spotty. Last night not only was his defense on point, I love the blocked 3 on the close out, but he nailed a couple of big 3’s. While he is not as big as I would like on the wing, he is 6’ 6” with long arms so it does help. Has Jesse Buss found another hidden gem? It’s looking like he might have.

We finally saw what Robb was probably hoping for when he brought in PatBev and Dennis. They both played well on the defensive side of the ball but they both hit shots. Both of these guys are capable of these kind of games every night. Basketball is as much about the mental game and confidence as it is about skill. Obviously both of these guys have lacked confidence. Hopefully this game can help them regain that confidence. Perhaps they could even go from salary filler in a trade to trade targets for teams needing guard help.

There really isn’t much left to say about Austin. He plays like a crafty 10 year vet. He does so many little things on both sides of the ball that you keep forgetting that this is just his 2nd year. And he never forces anything. That’s key. He knows who he is and stays inside his box. While he may never quite be the defender Alex is because he’s not as athletic, he is still very good and makes up for it with his crafty offensive game.

Just a little shout out for Troy Brown, he has been playing very well without scoring. Last night he was a plus 12 without scoring at all. He is doing it on defense.

I heard it mentioned last night that Gabriel is about ready to come back. Which is great news. We really have missed his size and energy. With AD possibly missing sometime we will need all the size we can get. I would love to see Gabriel and Thomas running together with Russ. It would be a track meet.

If we play team ball like we did last night against a quality opponent we still should win a few with AD out. And moving forward with AD this needs to be the template for this team. We tend to rely to much on our stars. It’s up to the coaches and stars themselves to make our approach a team approach.

Aloha,

The eyes of the league are on the Raptors and what they are going to do. Will they blow it up? Or will they look fix their roster. If they decide to blow it up I doubt that Russ and our picks could land multiple high end players. But what if they look to fix their Roster?
If that’s the case perhaps the Lakers could help.

It’s no secret that I love OG Anunoby. It’s also no secret that I love Lonnie Walker. But our biggest need is size on the wing. And the Raptors biggest need is at guard. They literally have no back up point guard playing. I wonder if a package of Lonnie, Nunn, Damien and a protected pick would interest them. While I would hate to lose Lonnie’s 3 point shooting but OG fills a bigger need. Nunn gives them a playable reserve point guard and Jones gives them depth at center which they also lack. They can put Scottie Barnes back at his natural SF position and either play Trent Jr at the starting 2.

The deal is we may lose Lonnie anyway this summer, while OG is only a year older and is under a reasonable contract for a couple more years. I doubt any combination of Beverly and Nunn would be appealing to the Raptors but getting an athletic young player averaging 16 a game and shooting 39% might intrigue them.

Aloha,

Christmas and the trade season is upon us. But unlike Christmas, we may have to wait several weeks for the presents under our basketball tree.

I had been thinking that it could be a while before any trade materializes. Then I saw an interview with Jovon Buha, the best reporter for the Athletic and he shares the same opinion.

This is a strange year in the NBA. If you look at the standings only 5 to maybe 6 teams can look at their rosters and conclude they have no chance for the playoffs. With the standings so tightly bunched together, there are 25 teams that feel they have a chance. While it’s always championship or bust for the Lakers, there are plenty of squads that just making the playoffs is a huge win. The Kings are a perfect example.

This creates a real problem for the Lakers, they may desperately want to make a trade but there are 24 other buyers looking to upgrade their squad for a playoff run and only 5 sellers. This gives teams like the Pistons a great deal of leverage. They can wait for the bids to roll in. Unfortunately our distant 1st round picks isn’t as valuable to them. They are building around 20 to 22 year olds. Those players will be 25 to 27 when the first pick can be spent and 27 to 29 when the 2nd can be used. It will make sense for them to hold out for more immediate help.

Now there will be buyers willing to trade for players that elevate their playoff chances. Again our firsts will not do them any good this year. As for teams blowing it up to rebuild. That could happen but I think these teams can do better then our 1st for high end players. There will probably be better offers for even mid level players like Kuz.

Jamie has predicted trades will be happening closer to the trade deadline and with the current unusual playoff race that very well could be the case. The only trade I believe could actually be on the table is the Fournier/Reddish deal. The sticking point was reported that the Lakers wanted a first to do that deal. Which makes sense, considering the Knicks would probably have to pay to move Fournier with anyone else. For the Knicks , Reddish seems to be the compensation.

As I have stated before I am hoping to find a Forward with size. That is my wish. That maybe realistic. I just don’t believe we can find a trade for a star with what we have or add several high end role players with what we have to offer. Hopefully opportunities open up sooner then later. And who knows, perhaps new names pop up on the trade market. The more players on the market, the better for the Lakers chances are of landing someone that can truly help.

Aloha,

We lost the game on the 3 point line. It is one of the major themes of this year. Now the chatter is that the Lakers need to trade for shooting. And I whole heartedly agree. But here is my question. Will we utilize shooters if we can land them?

We have not utilized our shooters since LeBron arrived. Shooters need to shoot and the guys we have brought in have not gotten many shots. I remember last year when Ellington would come in, play 8 minutes and not get a shot. It drove me crazy.

Last night we took 28 3’s. Lebron, a 30% 3 point shooter was 3 for 11. Russ who is even worse was 1-6 from 3, including a couple of soul crushing misses in OT. Thats 17 of our 28 taken by two of our worst 3 point shooters. Lebron let the clock run down at the end of regulation and hoisted up a 3 when all we needed was one point.

Now Lonnie is our best 3 point shooter. 39% on 5 shots a game. He was 1-1 last night. Austin is pretty good too. He got two attempts last night.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful while we search for that magical 3 point shooter. We actually create shots for the guys on our roster that can actually make them now? If we do finally bring in a shooter or two, we better find a way to use them.

Aloha

Down 15 at the half. PatBev 2 missed layups. Russ 2 missed lay ups. LeBron 1 missed lay up. That’s 10 points right there. Is there a stat for missed lay ups because the Lakers would be at the top. By the way, Lonnie is our best 3 point shooter. Zero attempts. 2 shot total. While Russ is 1 for 6. Again, WTF!