Aloha,
As I have expressed i really love our team. Of course you can always improve it. I really doubt we have the assets required to swing a block buster trade. For instance my favorite star trade target was Jrue Holiday. well the Hawks and Pels are in serious talks about a Holiday trade. i dont know what players are being discussed but the Hawks #6 pick is on the table. this is going to be a problem, beecause not only do several contenders have more assets than us but there will be a few teams like the Hawks who feel they are a player away from the playoffs.

The good news for the Lakers is free agent money will be tight this year and with the Covid uncertainty teams may also be reluctant to hand out large contracts. Here is some of my free agency targets. keep in mind to play for the Lakers you will have to be able to defend at least at a good level. its the teams identity and i don’t see that changing. with the Clippers and Warriors around, perimeter defense will remain a top priority.

Full MLE Canditates.
Chritian Wood. He may or may not get this. He Looked great at the end of last year but the sample size is small and the league is littered with half year wonders that never came through.

Joe Harris. 44% from 3 and an under rated defender. If the Nets don’t resign him, he could slip into MLE territory.

Mo Harkless. great defender snd competent 3 point shooter. Would be a serious upgrade over Morris.

Partial MLE Candidates. You could split the MLE for 2 of these guys.
Derek Favors
Aron Baynes
Serge Ibaka

Bi Annual Exception. They also could be added with a apartial MLE
Paul Milsap
Boogie
Dwight
Markief
Jeff Green.

Vet Min. Whether Rondo returns or not either of these guys would make sense to have on the squad.
Jeff Teague
DJ Augustine.

While never say never to a blockbuster trade. Remember Pau? I think this year we improve around the edges and go big game hunting in the future.

Aloha

I was thinking of different roster moves that could be the least painful while upgrading the team and keeping most of the team together. So I came up with this.

Everyone knows that Christian Wood wants to leave. I would offer Danny Green and our 1st round pick for him in a sign and trade. I’m pretty sure Wood wouldn’t mind playing for the Lakers. At least the Pistons get something for him. Great thing about sign and trades is the player gets to pick the destination.

I would then go after Mo Harkless with the MLE. with the few teams that do have cap space out there he will probably still get the MLE or close to it in offers. He is an upgrade over Morris. We could keep Morris with the Vet min. Free agent money is going to dry up quickly so who knows. He could be available.

Finally I would add Jeff Teague even if we bring Rondo back. While Rondo was great in the playoffs, he has missed a lot of time with injuries. Teague would be a great insurance policy.

With this we are a better team and we keep all of our developing younger players. Danny’s defense would be missed but i believe KCP will be back and Alex is ready for a bigger role.

Aloha,

The video Tom posted of what Rob is planning is most revealing. Looking to find players that fit AD’s timeline seems to eliminate a lot of potential free agents and trades. It also seems like he’s looking more to just improve a little this season. Like me I am sure he believes baring injury that LeBron probably has at least 2 more years at the level he displayed this year.

Christian wood would be a move that would fit into AD’s window. But you still need a solid supporting cast if we are able to land a younger free agent. Currently these are the guys that fit AD’s window.
KCP
Kuz
Alex
Avery
THT

That is a nice supporting core. And one thing that is not discussed much is next years cap. KCP is the only one that needs to be paid this year. Next year both Kuz and Alex will have low cap holds and Avery will only be a little over 5 mil. And they all will have bird rights. So we can sign someone and resign them and go over the cap. If the young guys continue to improve this could be huge.

You read all this wild trade scenarios but For me there isn’t a REALISTIC trade out there that would be worth giving up our young core for. And I look at the top teams, none of them have much more to work with than us. I believe ever one of our young guys will be next year. Unless something unexpected drops out of the blue like Pau Gasol did, I don’t see us making any big trades.

Aloha,

Well the NBA 2nd season has begun, also known as the arm chair GM season. We just won a ring but you always want to do what you can to improve your. While we don’t have a lot of amo to work with, either does our major competitors.

First I want to say, I love this team, it’s the best defensive team in the league, with two of the best offensive players in the NBA. It’s deep and versatile. We can play any style of basketball. I believe if we brought back the exact team we would be even better and win it all again.

Continuity is very important. And it’s easy to forget how many new players we added. One of the big surprises for me was how much we won early. We were winning ugly, but still winning. As the season went on, we just got better and better as a team. With a year under our belts, I can’t see a reason why we wouldn’t continue to improve. I watched Kuz after the early injuries begin to develop into a very good defender and play maker. All he really needs to do is correct his 3 point shot. If he can get it back to where it was as a rookie he is going to be a terrific player, and he will continue to improve. He could develop into a guy that can guard the big wings in the league and at 6’ 9” he taller than most of them. He actually showed that ability multiple times in the playoffs.

Alex also grew tremendously over the course of the season, with his defense and hustle he could actually grow into a star. I actually like him better now than Lonzo. He became better at running the offense as the season progressed and he has an undeniable chemistry with LeBron. Again, if he improves his 3 point shot the sky’s the limit. I would actually like to see Alex and KCP start with Avery and Danny coming off the bench. That’s a terrific rotation.

I’m also excited by THT. The kid showed me a lot and he doesn’t turn 20 until next month. He is only 6’ 4” but plays bigger with his fullback body and huge wing span.

But you can always improve the roster. A lot will depend on what Rob wants to do. Chase a 3rd star next year or keep a 2 star system, with a deep roster of quality role players. Personally I like the later. So if we stay the course, who could we bring in? Like Tom my vote goes with Christian Wood. His youth and upside is intriguing. It would be nice to have a little more youth on the roster. He can learn from AD and LeBron and from our secret weapon. Phil Handy, the best player development coach in the NBA. In a tight money market we might be able to land him with the MLE. And worst case he would still be better than Javelle. If we can’t get him, I would make a play for Joe Harris and his 44% 3 point shooting. He’s also a decent defender. In this market he also might be had for the MLE. I would then try and Land Boogie for the minimum or bi annual at center.

Speaking of the bi annual exception I hope we could keep Morris with that. Now we have bird rights on KCP, Rondo and Avery so we can go over and sign them. I still kind of think McGee will opt in. Even if we resign Rondo, I would look at Teague or Augustine for a veteran minimum contract. With Rondos injuries it would be a nice insurance policy. If Rondo leaves I definitely think we need one of those two.

I don’t think we need to do a lot to repeat. So we will have to wait to see what Rob thinks.

Aloha,

Well we won number 17!!!. I think this year will go down as the greatest Championship run in NBA history. While very good teams like the Bucks and Clippers wilted in the bubble, the Lakers seemed to get stronger with every round.

First I love this team. The old adage if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it applies to this team. I remember the Lakers let most of their supporting cast walk after the 2010 championship. That left them with a thin roster. And it seemed like we ran out of gas in the 4th quarter of ever game in the Dallas series. By the way Dallas blew up their roster that year and haven’t played for another championship since. A move Cuban still regrets to this day. So I’m hoping we can bring most of these guys back. We don’t have a lot to work with so I believe most of the moves will be around the edges. But here are a few things I believe we won’t see.

1. Trading for a star.
First we lack the assets to do that. While Kuz is developing into a nice all around role player, I’m not sure of how other teams view his upside. Alex is a guy every team would want on their team but not worthy of trading a star for. Beside their combined salaries are only around 5 mil, which brings up the 2nd problem. Salary matching. Both KCP and Rondo are opting out. Avery out played his 5 mil and will probably follow. What we have left in tradable contracts won’t add up to a star. Especially someone like CP3 and his 40mil. Which is a blessing because trading half a championship team for one guy would have been a disaster. Plus our 27th pick in the draft isn’t much better then a high 2nd rounder.

2. If we do make a trade it won’t be for a point guard like some of articles I read. Besides LBJ is the best point guard in the world. And led us to a ring. If we do make a trade it will be for a position of need. If Rondo decides not to resign we might take a look at guys like Augustine or Teague on vet minimums.

3. Whether it’s through a trade or free agency whoever we bring in will have to be able to defend at a high level. This team was built with a defense first blue print. We hired a defense first coach and we won a championship. If you are going to play for Frank you better defend. Tom posted an article and I have read others on trading for Buddy Heild. There is a reason he lost his starting job with the Kings. If you recall Luke is a defense first coach. The first two weeks of training camp is all defensive drills. He shares this philosophy with Frank. Buddy is a flat out bad defender. Again, defense wins Championships.

4. The myth of the 3rd option. My question is this. Where are shots coming from for a consistent 3rd scorer. The offense runs through AD, one of the most potent scorers in the league. And will be even better. LeBron is our 2nd option, again one of the best scorers in the league. LBJ isn’t going to hunt for that 3rd guy. He looks for the open man. And when AD plays the 5 we have 5 guys on the floor capable of knocking down a shot. Now we aren’t always consistent but they are good enough to be honored at all times. We did set a record for made 3’s in a finals. Many wanted to see Kuz become that 3rd guy. But he just doesn’t get enough shots. Most of his points are based on cutting and running the floor.

One last time, defense win rings!!!! For next year I would like to see us keep as much of our back court rotation as possible. It was the best defensive rotation in the playoffs and that was with out Avery. He brings an additional element with his ability to guard the small quick guards of the league. I think we might of only lost one playoff game with Avery. I would also like to retain Morris and I think it’s important to keep at least one banging big on the team to get past Denver and a couple of other teams with physical centers.

We are positioned to repeat next year. We finished the season 3rd in defense. But we played in the west. If we had been in the East playing all those weak teams for times a year we would be number one. It would not have been close. Why Fix what ain’t broke?

Aloha,

I have been thinking about who will start at center for the Lakers. If Frank stays true to form it will be one of our centers. I am hoping it will be Howard. He has the strength and athleticism to play with Bam.

But what Howard also does is he forces the Heat out of the starting unit that won the East. The Heat would almost certainly have to start Olynyk or Leonard at the 5, putting Robinson on the bench. The Heat can not win this series if Bam is not guarding AD. While both Crowder and Iggy are both fine defenders neither could guard Dwight in the post and both are undersized to take on AD all game long. And oh ya, someone has to guard that LeBron guy.

While we will have AD at the 5 for stretches like usual, I think the Heat would love us going small with AD starting at the 5. Then they could have their best unit start as well. It’s our versatility that allows us to play any style of basketball and it’s why we will win number 17!

Aloha,

I am pretty pumped up about the coming finals. I have been thinking about what got us to this point.

1. Defensive wins championships. It always has and always will. And this team was built around defense. We are number 1 in the playoffs and this is without our best perimeter defender. I know some grumble about some inconsistent scoring with guys not named LeBron or AD but we are here because of our defense that the other guys are playing. I understand that 3 is greater than 2 And that we are not A great 3 point shooter team. But 3>2 only works if you are getting the 3’s. We dominate paint scoring while contesting 3 point shots and running guys off the 3 point line. While I would love to have guys that were as good at defense as our current group and were very good 3 point shooters. But those guys are few and far between and they are expensive. We will not have the cap space or realistic trade chips to land them. So give me defense first. Beside we have guys that do hit 3’s enough to make our offense work.

2. Our star duo. There are a lot of star duos in the playoffs. But the Lakers are still standing is because of the consistency our stars have played with. While other teams stars have had off nights, the Lakers stars haven’t. Our stars games have ranged from very good to great. When very good is your worst games, you have something special.

3. The myth of the 3rd option. Coach Vogel said it best when he said the 3rd option is the open man. Our offense runs through LeBron and AD. Many want Kuz to be that 3rd option. But he doesn’t get the shots to be a 3rd options. Most of his points comes from activity. Running the floor, cutting to the basket and put backs. He gets very Few plays run for him.

When you have LeBron or Rondo running the offense, they search out the open man. What makes this offense click is several guys can score so teams have to defend everyone. I think that’s better having a 3rd guy. You never were the points are coming from. KCP had been the closest to a 3rd scorer we had but last game he only took 2 shots, while points came from several other players.

4. Depth and versatility. it still amazes me how We can play so many different ways with so many different line up combinations. In today’s NBA I feel that 2 stars and a deep versatile line up is now the winning formula. While we maybe able to do a few small upgrade this off season, I believe the two stars and a deep team will be the road map for the team going forward.

Aloha

Jamie does his 5 things. Tonight I’m going to offer up my big 3.

AD coming out with aggression hitting his first 7 shots was huge. He played with the fire and energy he lacked in the last game. While his 5 boards is still troubling the all came it the 2nd half and he had a couple of big offensive boards.

I have wanted to Dwight start the entire series. He came out with an abundance of energy. 12 points and 11 boards in 23 minutes. But what I thought was as important was he made the Joker uncomfortable and he wasn’t able to find an early rhythm. He ended up with 16, 7 and 4. If we hold him to that on Saturday we will close them.

Lebron’s D on Murray down the stretch. It was “I’ve had enough of you youngster.”

Now they have us right where they want us, still I’m sticking with my inn5 prediction and I think we close them out Saturday.

Aloha,

Mike D has informed the Rockets that he will not return. It’s understandable. The Rockets ceiling is the 2nd round and most of their salary cap is devoted to 3 players, so there is not much they can do.

The Lakers front line featured 6’ 10” two 6’ 9 and a 6’ 8” players. The back court rotation feature 3 players 6’ 5” or taller. The Rockets had no chance against a small ball line up with that kind of size.

This is why I am baffled by all the articles that want to create a big 3 in LA. Like the Rockets 3 stars would leave us with very little for a supporting cast. Now I don’t see it happening next year. We won’t have the cap space and went all in for AD and won’t have the trade assets that other teams have to land a star. But why would we even want to? We clearly Had the best team in the NBA with Avery and even without him, we are still the favorites to win it all.

I think our off season should be subtle changes and not an overhaul. After resigning AD, Our priorities should be bringing back Avery and Morris. I don’t KCP or McGee can do better in free agency, so I expect both of them to opt in. Rondo is interesting. I think he may retire if we win the championship. I think he will begin his coaching career with the Lakers. I don’t feel that Howard will be back.

With our emerging younger players, I don’t see a lot we need to do.
Considering AD doesn’t want to play center we should look at bringing Cousins back. He won’t demand a big salary, if we can’t land him, a guy like Joe Harris from the Nets and his 44% 3 point shooting might fit into the MLE. He’s also a decent defender. While Alex is beginning to emerge as playmaker, I would look at Teague or Augustine as vet minimum PG additions.
Beyond that, I don’t really feel like we need to do much more.

Aloha,

I am amused by the notion that the Lakers went small to win this game. AD, Lebron, Morris and Kuz are not small players. And we beat them up inside like we should have with our size advantage.

But our true advantage is on the defensive end because our big guys can guard their little guys. And when you add in solid defenders like Green, KCP and Alex to the mix, it really takes a small team like the Rockets out of their game. I don’t think the Rockets will ever win a ring until they can add a couple of tall guys that can play in their system. I think size still matters in the NBA and our ability to play small, while staying tall is our advantage here.

Aloha,

Well it got a little tense in the 3rd but overall the Lakers played the way they need to for most of the game. Frank made the proper line up adjustments and the Lakers played Laker basketball. I wasn’t worried in the 3rd because of the Rockets hot streak. They went 9 for 11 from 3 and while they are a good shooting team, 81% from 3 is not sustainable. My worry was the Lakers began to stumble on offense. I would have been happy trading 2’s for 3’s because again 81% is not sustainable. And in the 4th the Rockets came back to earth. And the Lakers began to impose their will inside. This is what they need every game. While Lebron and AD dominated it was Morris, Kuz and Rondo, who were the difference in the game. If they continue to step up the Lakers will win it all.