Great points, Micheal. The Lakers are clearly working on a portrait that is at this stage incomplete but promising. I think they’ve done a great job working on the second and third string of the roster but the key to the rebuild being a success is what they do with respect to the other two starters besides LeBron, AD, and Russ. Who’s going to play the two and three?

Those positions are still up in the air because the Lakers best assets for filling those two starting positions are still up in the air, which means the success or failure of the Lakers’ rebuild is up in the air. I still believe Buddy Hield and Patty Mills are the the Lakers best options but I’m intrigued on what the Lakers might be able to pull off via the expanded Westbrook trade. Multi-team trades are notorious on making it easier to match salaries.

I still think Rob has something up his sleeve. Trade exceptions for Caruso and Schroder could open up some great trade opportunities for the Lakers. We should be able to get at least one of the two starters we need via Caruso or Schroder. The second starter would come from the mini MLE which we still have not used. Still today, Wednesday, and Thursday to work out the details before finalizing everything on Friday.

Lakers have a lot riding on whether they’re able to get Patty Mills for the mini MLE. If they land Mills, then I think they may have gotten the shooting they needed as Patty and Wayne both take over 6 threes per game.

Is there still a chance to get Buddy or another non-vet shooter? Depends on whether they can pull off a S&T for Dennis and Alex. That’s two shots at non-veteran shooters that could be as much as the mini MLE, which is why the Lakers aren’t filling up the roster with vet minimum contracts. There could also be some switches as to which player gets signed to what extension, etc.

Losing Caruso was a bummer. I would have gone with the win now move and kept Alex and moved THT but obviously the luxury tax is a force the Lakers are struggling with. I think they’ve left open the chance that they could get Buddy but like Pincus said, they may have decided that’s too expensive too.

Still a long way to go until Friday so I’m still hoping Rob will pull off getting Patty and Buddy or another big time shooter. Reminds me when everybody was saying Rob had screwed up on the AD trade and not cleared enough cap space to sign Kawhi. Let’s hope Rob knows what he’s doing and will still pull this off.

Good news that Kings haven’t traded Buddy to anybody.
No team has been connectd with Dennis Schroder.
And the money seems to be drying up rapidly.
Keep your fingers, toes, and eyes crossed.

Has to be Dennis Schroder and his agent.

Wow less then a minute after I hit post I get an update that Iggy has been released. Welcome to the Lakers Iggy.

Aloha, Michael,

Were having a live Lakers Fast Break Podcast tomorrow at 2:30 pm PT in case you were interesting in joining the conversation. Let me know if you are and I will have Gerald send you a link. Should be a fun show that will last a couple of hours and be live on Facebook. Love to have you join us.

While the Big 3 does make it tough to fill out the rest of the roster, I prefer to focus on the benefits, especially since the Westbrook deal has been committed to and that part of it is not going to change. We now have a Big 3 and the challenge is to turn the roster into a super team. What we need to do that is players who are volume 3-point shooters. Guys who shoot 2 to 4 threes per game are not going to solve the problem. The Lakers need shooter who take 6 to 10 threes per game. That’s the only way they can create the spacing to make the Westbrook trade a success. Otherwise, teams are going to pack the paint mercilessly.

I would love to keep Alex and THT but not at the cost of not being able to add a volume 3-point shooter like Buddy. Much as both contributes, neither is a starter and neither even averages a single made three per game. My greatest worry after calculating how much it would cost the Lakers in taxes to trade for Buddy in addition to Russ is that the Lakers will make the same judgement mistake you made and believe keeping THT and Caruso is more important than adding Buddy. If that happens, you will be correct that the Westbrook trade was a mistake. There is no way in the win now world of the Lakers that the Lakers will win if they keep THT and Caruso instead of adding Buddy.

When it comes to the vet minimum players, we’re in agreement. Wes and Keef are essential to re-sign. The other guys on your list also make great sense for the Lakers. I also love the idea of Bullock, Porter Jr., or Batum for the mini MLE.

I’m even willing to take Dwight back as a backup center although I’m concerned that most of the pundits somehow still seem to be ignoring the news about AD playing the five and are presuming that Gasol or maybe even Dwight would start at center.

Let me be clear. Only an idiot of a coach would start a center like McGee or Howard who cannot shoot alongside a point guard like Westbrook who cannot shoot. What does it take for these idiots to understand you cannot have only one shooter on the floor with LeBron, AD, and Russ. You must have two shooters on the floor and they should be the shooting guard and small forward. Russ only works if you start AD at the five. Starting guys who average less than one made three per game is not going create any spacing. Russ at the one, LeBron at the four, and AD at the five requires shooters at the two and three. Period.

It’s an interesting idea, Michael, but there are four reasons why it won’t happen imo:

(1) I think the Lakers will likely stagger LeBron and Russ so one of them is running the offense at all times.

(2) Dennis does not want to come off the bench,

(3) We need his slot for a volume 3-point shooter.

(4) Even $16M for him would end up costing $50 in luxury taxes. Lakers trade him or let him walk.

Dennis’ agent is not going to burn bridges with the Lakers as he may need us to get paid. Even if Dennis decides to sign with a team with cap space, the Lakers will have an opportunity to offer then a second round pick to do a S&T to get a Trade Exception. I doubt Dennis is going to get an offer over $19.2M.

I think Russ will get alotta run with the 2nd unit. Don’t see a realistic path to Schroder remaining a Laker..

Frankly, there’s a good chance Dennis is not going to be able to find a team with cap space willing to pay him what he wants. There’s a glut of point guards on the market and a half dozen at least who are better players than Dennis. When the music stops, there’s a good chance Dennis is going to need the Lakers’ help to get paid. That’s more likely than not.

It makes sense if they can get back a quality shooter. The Lakers really need shooters to make the Westbrook trade work. Maybe we can find one with the mini MLE but we will need more then one. If the Lakers were worried about their tax bill they probably would have went with Buddy.

Thanks, Michael. I actually believe this is going to be a multiple team deal just like the AD acquisition were. Pelinka is copying the same framework but updating it with what happened to the Bucks, which is why the whole deal can’t be revealed until after August 2nd when players can be approached about sign-and-trades. At the deadline, the Bucks announced a trade that could not have happened without they violating the tampering rules.

The perfect tell to their being a deal is the Wizards saying they don’t plan to keep Kuzma or Harrell, basically telling their fans that these guys are going to be moving on for other players so don’t get attached into thinking these guys are going to Wizards or criticizing the trade when it is not done. Anyway, we really need volume 3-point shooters and Buddy is hopefully ours.

We’re in total agreement that OPJ would be perfect for the Lakers at the taxpayer MLE. He may be willing to settle for less than the full MLE on a 1-year deal to set himself up for next season.

The good news here is it gives us leverage with both teams. The Kings held all the cards. Now it’s a 3 way card game now.

Plan B was always to re-sign Schroder unless the Lakers were able to get a deal for Lowry or Lonzo and were going to be hard capped. One of the reasons I was so angry about the Lakers not making the Lowry trade is I knew it would leave us with too few trading chips heading into the offseason, when it is easier to make big moves than at the trade deadline.

I still have hopes that the Lakers can pull of great moves this summer, partly because their trading chips are better than what Lakers fans think, especially Kuzma, and there are too many good point guards and not enough cap space to sign them all. I would even consider DeMar DeRozan as meeting the description of a ‘difference-making playmaker.’ We just need more shooting and LeBron and AD to play the 4 and 5 to make it work. But add Buddy and another high volume/percentage 3-point shooter and it would be a great lineup. DeRozan could be our point guard.

I totally agree Michael. Been saying similar things for a spell. Coukld be that we keep the whole team.

Solid and realistic post Michael. We often get caught up looking at the Maserati and Lambo’s when what we really need is a sturdy pick up and an economy sedan. Guys like Barnes and Sexton can definitely help the Lakers and there won’t be the same kind of “how can we fit all these alphas on one squad?” I love the idea of adding Barnes because he’s in a very similar timeline as AD and is good enough to man the three. His defense fits in with what we do and he’s improved his playmaking. I’d be quite happy with any of the players mentioned

Mahalo for the kind words Bubba. I’ve tried but Rob never returns my calls 🙂

Well thought out and reasoned post, Michael. There’s definitely a strong argument to be made that the role players we surrounded LeBron and AD with last season were not a great fit. Schroder could score but not shoot and make plays but not without turning the ball over too much. Harrell became more and more unplayable as the season went on. KCP became afraid to shoot and Kuzma afraid to score. And Drummond was a disaster. Etc.

Barnes and Sexton would cleasrly be major upgrades but I’m going to have to disagree with your Maserati and Lamborghini vs sturdy pick up and economy sedan analogy because the Lakers need more than additional role players to compete with the Brooklyn Nets Superstar Big Three next season.

I think Barnes would be an excellent addition, especially if LeBron is going to move to the 4 and AD to the 5 to open up a starting spot at the three. Sexton is intriguing as a scorer but his low salary, horrible assists to turnover ratio (1.57 to 1), and subpar defense make it hard for me to see the Lakers pursuing him. I think there are better options for a point guard who is a better 3-point shooter, playmaker, and defender. If I were going to gamble on a 22-year old, I would keep THT rather than trade for Sexton.

Finally, it’s naive to think the Lakers can build a championship team for Anthony Davis reign at the same time as trying to optimize LeBron James dwindling championship window. Lakers should have only one focus right now and that is to win another championship. Sorry but we need proven championship caliber players to go with LeBron and AD, not 22-year old kids putting up big numbers on one of the worst teams in the league.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prioritize players in their mid to late 20’s instead of 35 and 36-year old veterans who might be on their last leg, assuming everything else is equal. For example, I could see a S&T for Lonzo Ball as having some advantages (and disadvantages) compared to a S&T for Chris Paul. Lonzo is younger, shoots more threes, and is a better defender. CP3 is older but a better playmaker and proven winner. In some ways going younger in this case might make sense as Lonzo is not some 22-year old kid scoring big numbers for a losing team.

Anyway, give me a Maserati or Lamborghini or Porsche over a sturdy pick up and economy sedan any day of the week. That beat up old picking and Hondo is what we have right now. We need a third star to mactch up with the Nets more than we need slightly better role players.

I mean who doesn’t like to walk through the show room? But in the end you look at the price of the Hot Rod and choose something sensible that fits into your budget.

No I’m not saying that your line up couldn’t win sure it could. I’m just saying I like mine better. It has enough offense and a better defense which is key to another ring. Plus I worry about guys like Lowery in their mid thirties. His body has already been breaking down. Also I think you need to develop some young talent. Sexton and THT will both make some young player mistake but they are both talented and will be a net positive for the team. I don’t know what Harrell will do but assuming he opts out I ran some numbers and even paying THT and Alex 10 mil and adding a one 2nd round buy in player or undrafted player for the end of the bench you could do it with only go over the tax apron by about 6 or 7 mil which isn’t terrible.

It’s definitely the ‘the Days of Smoke,’ Michael.

I’m actually surprised there has not been more stories since we all know everybody is talking behind the scenes already regardless of the rules about tampering.

I still believe the Lakers will go big but will be interested to see what they actually do. Will they go the hard cap or luxury tax route? They will add a third star if at all possible.

Next week should be great fun with the draft and free agency hitting. Have my toes, fingers, and eyes crossed.