Aloha,

Just read an article by Chris Haynes that the Lakers have been receiving calls about Russ While he pointed out there have not been any serious conversations yet, it interesting that with a Russ playing well, it has generated some interest. We will see if there are any offers made.

Aloha,

I hear the howls for a trade all the way hear in Hawaii. And I am all for a trade if I thought it could elevate us beyond a possible 6th seed and a first round exit. Based upon what we have seen from the supporting cast so far, I don’t see a realistic trade that will do that.

I didn’t come into this season with very high hopes. I thought we would struggle out of the gate with pretty much a brand new squad. I thought we would be maybe 4 and 6 at this point. And if we had shot even 30% from 3 earlier we would be at least that maybe even 5 and 5.

But we haven’t been able to overcome our schedule. Through 10 games the Lakers have played the hardest schedule in the league. I was hoping to pick up some wins against the Jazz but they currently sit at the top of the west. Playing that second game without 3 starters including LeBron didn’t help. We also lost to the Trailblazer in a game we should have won. They are number two in the West. We lost to the Cav’s, number one in the east. We spit with the Nuggets, number 4 in the West. We lost to the Clippers before they lost Kawahi again. By the way everyone is always talking about AD but never about Kawahi missing games. I don’t get it. We also lost a game to a very large TWolves team without AD. Plus LeBron played sick a couple of games.

Now the talk is that the Lakers are reluctant to trade picks unless they think it can turn them into contenders. I whole heartedly agree. You really need to see if some of the other guys can improve. PatBevs offense has been MIA but we really missed his perimeter defense the last two games. Can he find his shot? Nunn had a decent first game and lost his offense. He seemed to find it again yesterday. Will he regain his confidence and score better moving forward? Walker has been very good except from 3 point land. Can he begin to hit a few more. Brown has been pretty good. Can he keep it up? What will the addition of Dennis and Bryant mean to the team.? I think we signed Dennis just because he was a value signing after his stellar Euro league. And Bryant had a very good preseason. He should offer a little relief to AD.

Until we can answer a few of these questions it doesn’t make sense to me, to make a trade and give up picks if it’s not going to get us out of the first round. And even worse would be adding contracts that would keep us mediocre, when we have the cap space to potential add a little quality depth to the roster.

So the Lakers have stated they will give this roster 20 games. I hope they do. I want to win another championship as soon as possible. So for me there is no difference between a terrible record and a first round exit in the playoffs. And if we keep Rob in charge, we are going to need every draft pick we can get.

Aloha,

While Westbrook is the big trade name, he may or may not get moved. So I’ve been looking around at other teams needs for perhaps smaller trades that could help the Lakers.

Question: Who has more long wings then just about any other team but are in desperate need of guards. Answer: The Raptors.

Question: What team has an abundance of guards but are in desperate need of a long wing. Answer: The Lakers.

This is a match made in heaven. The Raptors are running Van Fleet and Trent Jr into the ground. Both are logging over 38 minutes a game while the most any bench guard has gotten is 8 minutes a game.

My dream trade would be Nunn and PatBev for OG Anunoby a true 3 and D wing who is averaging 15 a game on 40% 3 point shooting. I would most definitely give up a protected 1st for him. He’s 25 and under a reasonable 17 mil contract for the next couple of years. And the fact he’s been unhappy with the Raptors helps. A smaller trade, Nunn and a 2nd for Otto Porter Jr would be helpful but Otto can’t be trade until December 15th.

As the season plays out there will be opportunities for many other deals beyond Russ. Hopefully a good one will materialize for the Lakers.

Aloha

Here is one big reason I’m not in favor of a panic trade right now. Yes 3 point shooting has been miserable but let’s look at what they have done in their career and what they are shooting this year from 3.

LeBron .344 now .244
Nunn .361 now .238
PatBev .376 now .176
Walker .338 now .148
JTA .352 now .125
Russ .304 now.125

Currently I believe the teams as a whole is pressing. Thinking too much. I am confident that guys will begin to relax. Troy broke out of his slump with a 4 for 7 night from 3.

With the kind of defense we have been playing even if the team shot a poor 30% we would probably be 3-2 right now. And that’s with some quality opponents.

I hope we can get a few break outs today. Although if AD is out it probably won’t matter.

Aloha,

In the media and the blogs people are doing Chicken Little in mass. But the sky isn’t falling. It crashed two years ago and it actually began its decent a few years before that. The Lakers demise is squarely on the shoulders of The front office and our brilliant newly extended GM. I have little faith that this mess will be turned around because Jeanie doesn’t trust anyone other then her friends and that’s been a disaster.

The more I watch this team, the more I’m convinced that we should not waste our future on a trade that won’t do much more then possibly get us into the play in. But the more I watch the more convinced that we will make a panic trade, dooming the team to mediocrity or worse for years to come.

For this team to win we need both LeBron and AD playing at a high level. Against Denver AD was decent but LeBron was mediocre at best. His 8 turnovers and 2 for nine 3 point shooting was a big reason for the 30+ fast break points Denver laid on us. In this game AD sat out for the first of what will probably be many games and LeBron proved that he just isn’t the force he once was. We got another good defensive effort but LeBron couldn’t carry the team as he has in the past. Yes he had 28 points but on 10 for 24 shooting and another dismal game from 3. 1 for 6 to be exact.

Now I came into the year with little hope for a fast start. With a new squad and a tough schedule I thought we would be 1 and 4, with an outside chance at 2 and 3. But Ofer isn’t really surprising.

I’m still convinced that we will be better then our start as long as the defense holds up. No one is shooting their career average yet from 3 so that should pick up. And I think Russ is useful when coming off the bench. He’s allowed to play his game when LeBron sits. Still unless LeBron and AD are dominant it will be hard to win. I mean even with a trade it’s hard for me to see us in the play in unless both those guys are playing at a high level.

I do hope they follow through on their commitment to hold off on a trade for awhile. At least wait until we see what we have when the team has played enough together to jell. The longer we wait the better the odds are of more favorable deals materializing.

Next summer we would have enough cap space to put a better supporting cast on the floor. Currently we are the only non rebuilding team with projected cap space which would be an advantage. But I fear the allure of a potential 8th seed will be too great and we will make another bad trade and have another year of mediocrity at best. We will make a trade that will eat up that cap space and we will be going up against teams with deeper, better rosters. But that seems to be the Lakers way now.

Aloha,

I don’t believe I have ever seen an entire teams shooting collapse like this team. We shot poorly in 5 of 6 preseason games and all 3 regular season games so far.

No one believed this would be a good shooting team. But it was hard to envision it would be this bad. For the most part most of the players are not even close to their career averages. Even Russ is bad for Russ from 3.

Russ seems to be taking a lot of heat for this. And there is no mistake his offense has sucked the last two games, but if we even shot in the high 20’s from 3 we would be 3 and O.

Now the defense has been better then I expected. And the team plays extremely hard, but unless the team can start making a few 3’s it’s not going to matter who we trade for. If the others can’t at least shoot their career averages, we are in big trouble.

I believe collectively it’s become a psychological thing. Even guys like Nunn and PatBev that have been proven shooters cant shoot. I don’t believe coaching or reps is going to solve this problem because as a team I think we are thinking too much. We need a shrink or perhaps Phil can come in with a few zen sessions. We need something.
Hopefully we can maintain this defensive intensity and guys will begin to drift up to their career averages. If not, it’s going to be an ugly season.

Aloha,

Well we saw the way will have to play to win last night. We had a great defensive effort, played with energy and had this never give up attitude, while this team doesn’t have great shooters, the guys we do have are not this bad. I doubt we will see many games where, PatBev, Westbrook and Nunn go for a combined 1 for 17. Our first unit won again by 17. Although Kawhi came off the bench, which helped our first unit and helped the Clippers second unit.

Our first two games have come against arguably the two best teams in the west and the effort we have displayed will lead to wins against lesser squads. That said, it also demonstrated how far away from true contenders this team is. You just had to look at the stream of long forwards with size that the Clippers trotted out there to understand that we have a size issue on the wing.

I’m hoping AD is okay. Again he had another tumble. Yes it was something that happens in basketball but the guy seems to draw these mishaps like a magnet. If there is a definition of typical basketball injury, AD’s picture is next to it. He does look ready to dominate at the five. But can he stay on the floor.

Westbrook could not make anything. The only thing that gave me some hope is, this is the most effort I have seen him give on the defensive end since he became a Laker. He is not a good shooter but again he is not that bad.

Walker IV was really good on both ends of the floor. We saw the upside that the Lakers see in him and perhaps they were right in giving him the MLE. Still he has flashed potential his entire career so far, can he be consistent.

Wish Austin would look to score some. We need him to shoot.

I am so impressed with coach Ham. He certainly was the right hire. Still, After watching these first two games our lack of shooting and size on the wing is glaring. I knew those would be issues but these games have underlined them in red. I believe any trade should focus on those deficiencies. I still would not give up two unprotected picks in a trade. It really would need to be for a star player to even consider it. Simply stated. There could be trades out there, but it’s hard for me to imagine a trade that would elevate this group into the top 4 or 5 in the west and certainly not up to the level where the Warriors and Clippers reside. Trading away those unprotected picks would be a waste. I had us losing the first too, let’s see what happens next.

Aloha,

Highlights from tonight.

The Pels crushed the Nets Brandon Ingram 28, 7 and 5

Portland beat the Kings
Josh Hart 19, 7 and 5

The Wizards beat The Pacers Kuzma 22 13 and 2 blocks.

Myles Turner sprained his ankle in warmups and did not play.

Aloha,

Well it’s that time again, and as I look at the road ahead, like last year, I’m not optimistic. It’s a pretty dark road indeed. Last year After the front off shed the key members of our number 1 ranked defense my main concern was defense. This year the defense should be improved after they have a chance to gel but now I’m concerned with the offense.

Like I have written before, everything will fall on the shoulders of the other guys. Regardless of whether there is a trade or not, several of the new guys will have to step up in order for this team to even make the play in.
Even if a star were to shake loose and we landed him, the supporting cast would have play above their perceived ceilings.

But we are at a cross roads at this stage what I see is a couple years of mediocrity followed by another painful rebuild. I hope I am wrong. I would love to eat a big plate of roasted crow but I’m not optimistic. When you look at our options it’s not really encouraging. Why? Because the way the front office has bungled the roster, next year there will be another new roster.

Now next year if we don’t make a trade we will have about 35 mil in cap space, and if done right we could possibly have the full MLE available as well as the bi annual exception. That’s 49 mil in spending power. Currently there is only 8 teams with projected cap space and the Lakers are the only team that’s not rebuilding. While 35 mil won’t get you a super star there is a number of quality players that we could sign. Jamari Grant, Trent Jr and Kuz come to mind. But there will probably be a trade and that cap space will disappear.

There is a lot of talk about a Turner/Heild trade. I personally think this would be a bad trade at the Pacers current asking price. While Turner is an upgrade over Bryant and Jones, he doesn’t address our biggest needs. A 3 and D wing with size is our number one need. Because AD is one of the 3 best centers in the NBA I look at Turner as a luxury. His trouble defending defending the wing will result with AD playing a lot of center and like with the Pacers reduce his minutes like with the Pacers. A unprotected first is a lot to pay for what he brings to the table. As for Buddy, he is a great shooter but he completely one dimensional and probably would be coming off the bench as well. He is over paid at 20 mil. While there are a few teams that could use both of them. I think it’s telling that nobody has been rumored to be talking with the spacers. That’s because of the asking price. If the Pacers want to move they will have to lower their asking price.

I’m glad that Rob is finally taking his time . It’s important to see see how this group does before making a trade. Why even make a trade if the supporting cast isn’t performing. Like I stated earlier, even landing a super star will not matter if the other can’t support the stars at a championship level.

So I will be watching hoping for the best. We have a tough opening schedule. The only good news, is it seems like the biggest upsets seem to happen early. Every year there are bad teams that have decent starts. So I’m rooting that several of these young guys have breakouts like Malik had, because that’s what it will take.

Aloha,

Now that was ugly. Overall the preseason was a bust. Injuries, and holding guys out for precautions? Anyway, again we were unable to really see what this team is going to look like in the real season.

AD dominated at center but what’s up with the back? I’m leaning towards precautions but with his history it’s unsettling to see him out this early.

LeBron also looked good at the 4 doing LeBron things. But after that we saw some good things at times from a few other guy, but little consistency. Waiting for you PatBev to show up.

Now of course in the regular season it will be different. If healthy, big if, either AD or LeBron will be on the court most of the time and there will be much tighter rotations but this roster is screaming for help.

And there is the rub. This teams biggest need is a wing with size that can defend and knock down a 3. Unfortunately with the exception of Crowder who we don’t have means to trade for, there isn’t another guy out there. At least publicly. Of course we could also use another guy, that can, you know, shoot.

I think it would be easy for Rob to overreact and swing a trade that may not address our biggest need. I think the smart play is to wait and see how the season unfolds and if any useful player comes on the market. At this point I feel the worst thing we could do is to give up those picks on players that are not going to make us contenders. And as far as I can see, those players are not on the market yet.

Aloha,

It’s just preseason but it was a nice to get a W. I have seen a lot to be encouraged by so far. I don’t know how good this team will be, but they will play hard. The level of hustle has been so encouraging. The big difference from last years squad is like night. It’s amazing what difference young legs make. They make but they are giving 110% on the court.

Right now it’s obvious that coach Ham is in the lab, experimenting with different players and combinations. I think we will see more of what the rotations will look like.

There were a few standouts for me. It start at Center. AD has looked in mid season form. I am curious to see how much center AD plays this year. Up to this point he has played a lot at the 5. I’m completely okay with that. He’s only a top 3 center in the league.

Does anyone still want to trade Nunn? After AD he’s been the our most impressive player. Like Malik he’s a 3 level scorer but he also can defend. I’m thinking he will come off the bench. We will need a corer for the 2nd until. Now if he can only stay healthy.

Matt Ryan sizzled tonight. 20 points in 20 minutes. He hadn’t shot well until today. If that’s sustainable we could really use a sharp shooter off the bench.

Walker Jr took another step forward. 14 points and 3 for 6 from 3. He also flashed some quality defense. It’s early but if he keeps it up, giving him their mid level will look pretty good.

Aloha,

When I saw that the Lakers were not playing any of their top players I didn’t have any illusions as to the outcome of the game. Most of the guys that played will either spend most of the season in the G league or will not be with the Lakers at all.

It was hard to watch the brick fest at times but there were a few silver linings of merit.

I thought JTA looked good again until he left the game with that contusion. Hopefully it won’t linger long.

Walker looked decent for the first game back from that ankle injury. He looked incredibly quick and athletic. Hopefully he will look better as he gets more run.

Thomas Bryant was the player that stood out the most. 18 points, 7 boards and a block in 24 minutes was a very good result. He has a reputation as one of the best bigs in the game at running the floor, and that was on full display as he often was one of the first guys down the court. This was his first extended run of the preseason and I was impressed. I have a feeling that he will win the starting spot at center if they keep AD at the 4 to start games.

I have believe the rotation players will get most of the run in the remaining games and we won’t see much of most of the guys that played last night. And that’s a good thing.