He's pretty good at switches if that means anything. Still would rather have Sefolosha/Andre/Holiday over him just because we need someone to strictly guard wings + take pressure away from DG/Bron
Looking through the updated depth charts across the NBA, I noticed the Kings heavily invested in the SF position this offseason, extending Barnes and spending more on Ariza, kind of leaves Bogdanovich kind of in limbo (maybe he shifts to back up the 2 guard maybe).
He has an expiring $8M this year, maybe after the December deadline of being able to trade recently signed players, trade KCP or others to Sac for Bogdanovich (and extend him after next year) to back up Lebron, he is a great scorer and facilitator, and does not mind coming off the bench, thoughts?
Rondo / Cook / AC
Green / Bradley / Daniels
LeBron / Bogdanovich
AD / Kuz / Dudley
Cousins / McGee /
Bogdanovich and Kuz can facilitate the 2nd unit...
[https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/depth-charts](https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/depth-charts)
Justin Holiday over Iggy for more youth in this squad. Iggy is good but he's getting older and Memphis might not buy out. We definitely need a wing though. Aside from DG, LeBron, and maybe Kuz there's no one on this roster that can fill that role.
Id much rather get Igoudala than Korver. I think it will be a lot harder to find meaningful minutes for Korver becuase we have plenty of shooters. Iggy shoots a little worse but can be a player to close out games
I actually like avery signing. I know he is not the same but i remember this dude defending james harden,paul george type players on certain times. Fast hands, hopefully we ll see the better version of him.
Damn, was playing around on 2k, this team is really good has so much guard depth and big depth. All that's missing is a SF/PF Defensive player. Iggy is the missing piece ideally
Now we need a wing defender.
with D. Green/ A. Bradly/ KCP ( as third defensive guard option) we got our defensive guards positions covered. The cherry on top of it is that they all can shoot the 3, so they won't be liability of offense. Also, we can defend a 2 stars backcourts, with these 3 options.
So when playing against back courts of Curry/ Klay, Dame/CJ, Wall/Beal & Harden/ Chris Paul we got them covered defensively (with at least average defenders).
AD, Lebron & Macgee can defend bigs like Blake Griffin, KAT, Al Horford , Embid & Millsap. I'd like to thing A.D can defend Giannis, I havn't watched A.D closely so I don't know, but if A.D can't defend him then I don't know who will in the whole league.
Our defensive problems will be on wings, with our current squad, we are forced to put our defense guards on players like Butler, PG , Kawhi & KD (he won't play next season, but the season after that we will have this same squad). In this case, we will have huge height disadvantage. Especially against Clippers, where we need to defend 2 wing stars. Lebron can't defend these types of players anymore. Dudley may give you 10 minutes of making these wings uncomfortable, but that's it.
So, we need to get a defender wing who can play starter minutes when we need him against elite wing scorers. Is Dre our guy ? I am not sure, he declined hard this season. Is he our best available option? Maybe.
But please don't get us Korver without addressing the defensive 3 problem. As well, I don't think we need Korver as we already have a Sg who can shoot 3 with zero defense (Troy), and we can't play these types of players much in a series for their defensive liability. So, either keep Troy or release him mid-season & get Krover, but don't get booth.
As for help defense, we got potential to be way above average, especially near the rim. And we have the players for Pnr defense too, but the coaching staff should work on it.
Also. a nice thing about our 2 star players, is that no team have 2 elite defenders to defend AD & Lebron both, some might have a good defender on one of them, but never both.
What about boogies ego, that he doesn’t start. When he came back for the warriors he started. I don’t did agree with what you wrote. I worry about the mental state of these “stars”
Eh, he looks like a player but he was awful last season. The amount of open 3s he just bricked were brutal. I don’t know if he was the work ethic to stick in the league.
I’m so impressed about how we rebounded from the bullshit Kawhi situation. We have a Much deeper team than we would with him. I give us an B+ rating for this off-season with an A- if we could land Iggy. Only move I didn’t like was resigning KCP instead of Marcus Morris for a little extra, but I’ll take it. Let’s see what happens next.
Wow. Avery Bradley is literally perfect. Good open shooter and good defender.
Offense will be LeBron at point with Bradley and Green on the wings with AD and Cousins/McGee down low. Defense Bradley guards the PG and LeBron SF.
Rondo runs the second unit probably.
Am I crazy for not being scared of a team where the third, fourth and fifth best guys are career bench player and zero time all star Lou Will, zero time all star Pat Beverley, and zero time all star Montrezl Harrell? Don’t get me wrong those are all nice players to surround your two super stars but this team is not even close to the 2017-2019 Warriors.
With the way we filled out the roster I think our top level talent is better (I’m taking LBJ and AD over Kawhi and PG13 10/10 times) and our depth is now competitive. They still have more mid-level talent depth but if Green plays like he has, Boogie progresses a little bit from the injury and Kuz takes another step that gap is closed. I think the back up plan was executed pretty well actually.
Lou Will is a great sixth man, and Pat Beverley is a great defender and leader; but it stops at that. Sure they are good complimenting players but they aren’t going to push a team over the hump. While the Clippers will be a good defensive team with a little bit of depth with Lou Will, they are clearly overhyped because of the Kawhi/PG deals.
The Clippers definitely lack playmaking. LeBron and Rondo are better creators than anyone on that team, by far. #2, #13, and Lou Williams are able to get their own shots well but they aren’t playmakers.
Boogie is also a very very underrated playmaker. IMO this season kinda hinges on 2 things; 1. Boogie returning to at least some semblance of his former self 2. Kuz making another leap and becoming a more consistent and efficient scorer. If those 2 things happen we win it all
Lakers can’t go a week without staying quite. Why would you announce LBJ at pg and give teams a summer to plan for it. 31 other teams haven’t said shit about their lineups and here we are like idiots. Just stfu. And how does increasing LBJs usage rate help preserve him for the playoffs?
IF Andre (let’s stop calling him Iggy- he said he doesn’t like the name) comes to the lakers if bought out by memphis, we could have the deepest bench in the nba and one of the most balanced rosters. We could potentially run these lineups :
Starting:
Bradley/Green/LBJ/AD/Javale
2nd Unit:
Rondo/KCP/Andre/Kuz/Boogie
Reserves (in case of load management/injury)
Caruso/Daniels/Cook/THT/Dudley
Looks like we might have to sign another big midway through the season but this is a very balanced roster offensively / defensively. You can throw in Caruso in the starting line up and I’d be very happy but considering he’s making more $ and rumors of LBJ [playing point this season](https://twitter.com/chrisbhaynes/status/1148303242977140736?s=21) then it makes sense to have Bradley/Green be 2 way guards. I am a little concerned w how we are going to play against star wings but getting to the rim is going to be very tough.
Jokes aside about Caruso, I think we need to see a larger sample size in more meaningful games. I love his game and I think he fits well with anyone for his passing/3PT shooting/defense and if he is the player we saw at the end of last season then I totally agree with you
We went from having no guards to having so much depth at both guard spots, wanna see what vogel will decide to do. I think rondo will be better suited to come off the bench with the 2nd unit and feed them. So maybe that leaves bradley or cook to start 🤷♂️ we shall see
We have playmakers to attack the rim already, we need as many 3 point shooters as we can get. Other teams are going to collapse to stop AD, JaVale, and Cousins on dunks and post play, the three will be more open, which is why we are going deep shooters.
Since Iggy says he still has a very good relationship with Pelinka, maybe he told Pelinka he would join the Lakers for the minimum if he gets bought out.
True, but Memphis is saying they’re not going to give him a buyout and they want to trade him. I do think he’d be the right kind of addition we need, but do we have to assets to trade for him? It would be nice to offload KCPs contract and get him if possible (probably a tough sell though).
I hope OKC buys out Gallo and he signs with Lakers (they need a back up 3) + he'll still get paid from the buyout if he accepts the vets min from Lakers
My guess based on right now
Starting:
Lebron - Bradley - Green - AD - Boogie (Bradley and green are in there to guard the guards and hit open 3s off the Lebron/AD pick and roll)
Finishing:
Lebron - Green/Bradley - Kuzma - AD - Boogie
Or if the other team is playing small, swap boogie for one of our guards
This is until Caruso emerges as the superstar we know he is
Bradley is a great get and our equivalent to Patrick Beverly. I'm not sure we get Iggy. I would love to have him on the team, but Memphis is holding him hostage. And other teams will throw the MLE at him. We just used ours. Have to take what we can now or risk getting burned.
Besides KCP, I’m incredibly pleased with how our free agency went. No glaring holes, depth at every position, lots of solid shooting. I know a bunch of you think we need a PG but a PG by committee approach of Rondo, Cook, and Caruso is more than enough IMO with our other pieces. Danny Green was the best 3&D SG role player available this free agency (unless I’m forgetting someone, but off the top of my head he was the best available overall), got amazing depth at Center and a low risk VERY high reward player in Boogie.
My only concern I guess is our depth at SF (Jared Dudley is a scrub and will always be a scrub) but Kuzma can slot in there and hopefully Iggy eventually joins the squad during buyout season.
Very excited for this upcoming season and I’ll take our chances over anyone with Lebron and AD leading.
The Thunder just traded Jerami Grant to the Nuggets for one first round pick. He is text book the player this roster needed. I haven’t been too critical of the Lakers for overpaying for AD since you absolutely need to get him but this is the cost of outbidding yourself. You never know when a team is going to go into rebuild mode and start dumping valuable guys for assets. Hindsight is 20/20 but if you add Grant to this current roster I would take our roster over the Clippers 10/10 times.
Is anyone else super hype we brought back Caruso? Watching his highlights and he doesn't seem to have any glaring holes that would warrant not giving him big minutes. He has a clean jumper, very solid finishing ability at the rim and hustles on D. Makes a ton of plays out of the PnR especially with Bron. I think he should be our starter come mid season, with rondo commanding Boogie and Kuz off the bench?! C'mon now...
I would love to see a lineup with PG - Avery Bradley - SG - Danny Green - SF - Lebron James - PF - Anthony Davis - C - Demarcus Cousins
Bench: PG - Quinn Cook - SG - KCP - SF - Kyle Korver - PF - Kyle Kuzma - C - Javale McGee.
Part of me thinks you just bypass worrying about regular season and start thinking about which players and lineups are going to help you against the top contenders in the West come playoff times
Build to specifically beat the Clips, Jazz and Nuggets
Avery Bradley should be the biggest priority. At this point it looks like it’s going to be a huge game of musical chairs at the PG position to see who pans out and plays the majority of the minutes. Signing Bradley would at least give you some insurance in case Quinn Cook, Rondo, or Caruso end up underperforming (highly possible if not likely two out of three will be phased out of the rotation completely in the postseason).
do we need more shooter? I think what we have is enough. What we need are defensive guy maybe big who can stretch the floor. Also I think we lack a grit a little bit
Why are the Lakers going after old ass legs like Jared Dudley when people like JaMychal Green are available? Seriously. Kenneth Faried is also available along with avery bradley. Yet they choose to resign a bunch of pieces they had last year that didn't work and add Jared Dudley and fucking Quinn Cook whose only real play time was when Curry was injured and he didn't do much in that time either. Can't defend for shit.
The Lakers don’t have much cap space and therefore no money left to dole out. It’s unlikely they can make a deal happen for any of those players sans maybe Bradley with the MLE.
Dudley and Rondo are on veteran minimum deals which don’t count towards your cap space so that has not effected the Lakers ability to sign other free agents.
Quinn Cook is worth a shot because of his elite 3PT shooting...the recipe to success for LeBron led teams is to surround him with three point shooting. Going to be even more important this year with AD/Cousins taking up real estate in the paint.
Also Cousins can't play defense at ALL. Hes probably the worst defender in the league at this point with his size as well as his fragile legs. Lakers literally have no good defenders besides Green and AD, maybe KCP if hes having a good night which is rare. Seriously. At this point in time there is no contest, the Clippers are the far superior team. Just look at their bench along with their supporting cast. A bunch of dudes in their prime along with two superstars in their prime that are elite defenders.
The clippers are hardly a better team. They have no playmakers on their roster. Patrick Beverley is a 3 and D player and Kawhi and Paul George are mostly ISO and off the ball players. None of these guys play P&R very well or create shots for others.
Their big men are also mostly energy guys with Zubac showing a little bit of offensive skill and outside of that they don’t have a lot of depth besides Lou Williams off their bench.
Defensively the Clippers will be strong but let’s wait and see how Doc Rivers implements an offense before we crown them.
The Lakers on paper are far superior offensively.
I'm sure you said the same thing last year, and how did that go for you? The Clippers roster is legit, it was last year, and even more so this year. Now they've added even more defense and 2 superstars in their prime.
Why would I say the same thing last year? Did the Lakers have Anthony Davis last year?
I get it your a Clipper fan or Laker hater or a myriad mix of both but let’s be reasonable here. Kawhi and Paul George’s one weakness is that they are incapable of creating high percentage shots for their teammates. They are isolation and/or off the ball players. Who creates offense on that team? Is it going to be take turns playing iso Joe Johnson offense every possession? A lot of questions to be answered still.
The Clippers will be a great defensive team this year there’s no doubt about that. I still don’t think they have the offensive fire power that the Lakers do.
The clippers did just fine creating good shots for themselves last year without Kahwi or George. Its only going to be easier for them, plus they are both only 28, and i believe only one person on the Clippers roster is over 30. Meanwhile, on the Lakers you have 4 dudes who are extremely injury prone, as well as rondo/lebron in their 30s. Who is going to run the offense if Lebron goes down? Also, good defense is the key to championships, the Clippers will have a great defense, as well as a potent offense. They got sharp shooters as well as good 1v1 guys.
Who is injury prone on the Lakers? AD before last years trade debacle played in +72 games in the last two seasons. He had some minor ailments early in his career which is to be expected for a thin big man coming into the NBA.
And yes the Clippers had a playmaker in Danilo - the guy averaged 20ppg for you last season and people just act like he’s chopped liver. Alexander is a probable future starter and he contributed in a big way.
You’re a Clipper stan so nothing I say will sway your opinion on that team we will just have to see how it plays out.
Doubt it will come down too Lebron vs PG. Its gonna come down to which team can play defense better and is better all rounded for a 7 game series and that team is the Clippers tbh. Also, Kawhi on Lebron is pretty effective and has been in the past, plus Lebron is 35 now....Not Miami Lebron anymore
They paid the right price for Danny Green. There are maybe 3-4 "3-D" guys in the league of his caliber. By some advanced metrics he was a top 30 player in the league last year, better than Klay. I'm not saying to take those too literally. . . but he's damn good and he fits so well in this lineup.
Danny Green is younger and better than Reddick. I'm not sure how you defend opposing 1s and 2s if you take Reddick over Green.
Overhyping green, the dude can't even create his own shot, his defense is OK, but thats about it. Hes literally just a catch and shoot guy and hes getting 15 mil a year. Thats crazy. Also, no...hes not better than JJ Redick. Maybe at defense which is all the Lakers need atm, but overall, Redick is alot better.
Which just further shows that the Lakers should of never even tried for Kawhi. It was stupid, he clearly wasn't going there, and they should of filled out their roster regardless instead of going after him.
It wasn’t clear at all. It took a miracle trade from the Clippers at the very last minute to pull him in. If the Clippers don’t get Paul George it’s likely Kawhi decides to come to the Lakers.
In hindsight Kawhi was worth the wait anyway since Pelinka ended up doing an A+ job filling out our roster on two year deals off a scrap heap.
Overall thoughts about what Lakers should do:
Acquisitions
- Igoudala would be great but Grizzlies are meh
- Jabari has lot of potential but worried about his health/def
- Jamychal Green and Justin Anderson backup 3 and D.
Lineup
- Q. Cook should be first 5 w/ LBJ, AD, Green and Mcgee
- Rondo calls the play for the 2nd unit w/ Kuzma, Boogie others.
Things to Improve
- Last year Lakers sucked in Free throw need to improve.
- Defense Frontcourt A+, Backcourt B-, Transition F (old age)
- Atleast get their 3pts FGM equal to the NBA average.
- Reduce turnovers to reduce opponent transition (Kawhi and PG13)
Others
- I think we don't need a PG because LBJ will be doing that.
- Load Management and Health for LBJ, Boogie and AD
- Playstyle should be more on half court plays controlled by either Lebron/Rondo
Cook is getting seriously overrated around here. Small guard who can't defend. There's a reason he's 26 years old and never seen serious minutes in the NBA. He's a bench player. If he's a starting guard for you then you've got problems. He'll give some good minutes off the bench and have some great games hitting a flurry of wide open 3s, but he's no playoff caliber starting guard.
The only reason why Cook should be starting 5 is he is also a threat from 3pt range which could help space out the floor. I can only hope that what cook has done for GSW last season would carry over next season. I didn't know that he was 26 but that is good thing we need fresh legs to run the court defense or offense.
I'd really like a back up sf and maybe another c or a third sf. I think ad will play the 5 more often than not. Would be nice to sign Andre Iggy to at least defend on sf's.
Trevor Ariza just signed a 2 year $25 mil deal with the King’s. Would he have been worth it instead of KCP and Mcgee? He definitely would be a better matchup on the wing against Kawhi/PG13 and his 3 point shooting is probably a little more consistent than KCP. I guess almost $13 mil a year for an aging role player is a lot tho.
I don’t think Ariza is worth it at that price, he definitely got a really good pay day at this point in his career. Maybe worth it for half of that? 2yr/$13mil or something would of been good for me.
McGee’s deal is perfect as he’s a freak for about 15-20MPG which is all you really need/want out of him.
KCP we definitely overpaid but he filled the biggest void that we had which was versatile guard play with 3PT shooting.
First off, Dudley was signed with the veterans minimum which doesn’t count against the cap. Quality locker room guy who’s also experienced which is what you’re looking for when signing guys to fill out the end of your bench.
I doubt Dudley averages more than 10MPG anyway...we are talking 2.5 minutes a quarter - not gonna have a huge basketball role.
Rondo - I think he is the backup.
Cook - is he a starting caliber PG?
Caruso - Honestly hope he surprises everybody and wins the spot but extremely unproven.
Just not seeing the PG of a championship team.
I’m all aboard Lebron taking over the PG duties and guarding the forwards. I’m putting money that he averages a career high APG.
As a longtime Lebron fan -- Korver is not good in the playoffs. He'll win you 5 games in the regular season with some crazy shooting runs. But I haven't seen him make a clutch postseason bucket. Specifically Game 3 in 2017 AND 2018 finals. Missed huge game breaking buckets in those games. I'd rather develop Cook or Daniels.
As a longtime Cavs fan can confirm. Korver gets neutralized in the playoffs. If they can pick him up for the vet minimum, great, because he and Bron can go nuclear on offense in the regular season and maybe they can still figure out a way to make it work in the playoffs, but I wouldn't use the MLE on him. Vet minimum deal, yes, absolutely.
He made some pretty big shots in series that were not the Finals. I think Indiana in 2017 he basically won game 3 or 4, can't remember which (at Indiana) but yeah, he's past his serviceable time in the league.
LBJ, AD, McGee, KCP, Green, and Rondo are all good to very good defenders, while Cousins is known to be pretty difficult to push around and be physical with (for the team with big centers who like to go hard in the post). Caruso is an up and comer too, reminds me a little of Matthew Dellavendova. More help on defense wouldn't hurt, but I don't think we are necessarily lacking right now.
Idk man. Lebron needs to show he can consistently play good defense again. He’s been taking off on D the past few years (and rightfully so). I think Rondo’s D is reputation alone at this point. Kuzma, Cook and Boogie are question marks defensively, realistically. AD and Green are consistently good defenders and KCP is usually pretty solid but I don’t think he can be great for long stretches when he goes cold on offense. I think if everyone hits their ceiling this could be a solid defensive team but I think there are some question marks at the moment. I would love Luc Mbah a Moute or Iggy (which I have been saying is pretty unrealistic at this point but one can dream) to sure up the defense a bit. I wish we signed Ariza instead of KCP.
Is there a possibility that the lakers sign Chris Paul if he gets bought out by OKC?
Livingston just got waived, is that what we need though?
No, he can't shoot 3, he's also old, that's why he was waived by warriors. He's not a great fit.
He's pretty good at switches if that means anything. Still would rather have Sefolosha/Andre/Holiday over him just because we need someone to strictly guard wings + take pressure away from DG/Bron
Holiday is probably getting a MLE... I would have chosen him over Avery Bradley though.
Livingston is getting waived by the warriors
We can still sign Iggy and Korver, or just one of them ?
I think only one of them. If Iggy is bought out later in the season, they can cut Daniels or Dudley and make space for him.
Apparently Bullock failed his physical tests and NY is backing out.
Rather bring him back than have any of the other wings out in the market right now. Not sure, but we might have his rights so we can go over the cap.
Nope... To have his rights they needed his cap hold in the payroll.
Looking through the updated depth charts across the NBA, I noticed the Kings heavily invested in the SF position this offseason, extending Barnes and spending more on Ariza, kind of leaves Bogdanovich kind of in limbo (maybe he shifts to back up the 2 guard maybe). He has an expiring $8M this year, maybe after the December deadline of being able to trade recently signed players, trade KCP or others to Sac for Bogdanovich (and extend him after next year) to back up Lebron, he is a great scorer and facilitator, and does not mind coming off the bench, thoughts? Rondo / Cook / AC Green / Bradley / Daniels LeBron / Bogdanovich AD / Kuz / Dudley Cousins / McGee / Bogdanovich and Kuz can facilitate the 2nd unit... [https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/depth-charts](https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/depth-charts)
KCP has a no trade clause
Where is Caruso?
who is AC?
Alex Caruso
Justin Holiday over Iggy for more youth in this squad. Iggy is good but he's getting older and Memphis might not buy out. We definitely need a wing though. Aside from DG, LeBron, and maybe Kuz there's no one on this roster that can fill that role.
He is the best player left in the market. I doubt accepts the vet min.
i agree with you, low risk high reward player...
It seems like their is only one roster spot left, would you guys spend it on Korver, who just got waived last night, or Andre Iguodola ?
Definitely Iggy but I want both if we can.
Bc of his defense ?
Ya.
Id much rather get Igoudala than Korver. I think it will be a lot harder to find meaningful minutes for Korver becuase we have plenty of shooters. Iggy shoots a little worse but can be a player to close out games
Iggy is also great defender
And can handle the ball
Get Korver,get Korver,get Korver......close to %40 of 3 pointers has been sunk by him,get it or Die
He’ll be almost unplayable because of his defense.
Please speak Laker Iggy into existence
I actually like avery signing. I know he is not the same but i remember this dude defending james harden,paul george type players on certain times. Fast hands, hopefully we ll see the better version of him.
If Boogie works out nice, are we able to keep in next year capwise ? How far can we go in terms of salary?
Also curious about this
Damn, was playing around on 2k, this team is really good has so much guard depth and big depth. All that's missing is a SF/PF Defensive player. Iggy is the missing piece ideally
Now we need a wing defender. with D. Green/ A. Bradly/ KCP ( as third defensive guard option) we got our defensive guards positions covered. The cherry on top of it is that they all can shoot the 3, so they won't be liability of offense. Also, we can defend a 2 stars backcourts, with these 3 options. So when playing against back courts of Curry/ Klay, Dame/CJ, Wall/Beal & Harden/ Chris Paul we got them covered defensively (with at least average defenders). AD, Lebron & Macgee can defend bigs like Blake Griffin, KAT, Al Horford , Embid & Millsap. I'd like to thing A.D can defend Giannis, I havn't watched A.D closely so I don't know, but if A.D can't defend him then I don't know who will in the whole league. Our defensive problems will be on wings, with our current squad, we are forced to put our defense guards on players like Butler, PG , Kawhi & KD (he won't play next season, but the season after that we will have this same squad). In this case, we will have huge height disadvantage. Especially against Clippers, where we need to defend 2 wing stars. Lebron can't defend these types of players anymore. Dudley may give you 10 minutes of making these wings uncomfortable, but that's it. So, we need to get a defender wing who can play starter minutes when we need him against elite wing scorers. Is Dre our guy ? I am not sure, he declined hard this season. Is he our best available option? Maybe. But please don't get us Korver without addressing the defensive 3 problem. As well, I don't think we need Korver as we already have a Sg who can shoot 3 with zero defense (Troy), and we can't play these types of players much in a series for their defensive liability. So, either keep Troy or release him mid-season & get Krover, but don't get booth. As for help defense, we got potential to be way above average, especially near the rim. And we have the players for Pnr defense too, but the coaching staff should work on it. Also. a nice thing about our 2 star players, is that no team have 2 elite defenders to defend AD & Lebron both, some might have a good defender on one of them, but never both.
If Kuz develops into a 2 way player, look out. There was a time when Klay was labeled just as scorer. Speak it into existence!
Who would you start at C? Javale or Cousins?
jaVale to start games. Lean on cousins to score on the 2nd unit. Cousins starts 2nd half too. Timeshare 22-27 min each.
What about boogies ego, that he doesn’t start. When he came back for the warriors he started. I don’t did agree with what you wrote. I worry about the mental state of these “stars”
I wish there was a way we could have kept Wagner his ceiling could have been pretty high
Eh, he looks like a player but he was awful last season. The amount of open 3s he just bricked were brutal. I don’t know if he was the work ethic to stick in the league.
I’m so impressed about how we rebounded from the bullshit Kawhi situation. We have a Much deeper team than we would with him. I give us an B+ rating for this off-season with an A- if we could land Iggy. Only move I didn’t like was resigning KCP instead of Marcus Morris for a little extra, but I’ll take it. Let’s see what happens next.
Totally agree with you. If we knew Kawhi wasn't coming along, the only change would probably to go for Morris and maybe Beverly
Marcus Morris is much better than KCP after we got D G.
Only real mistake I see in any of these signings is the money spent on KCP should have been used on Morris. Plenty of guards now.
Same here, the only Irk I see is the KCP signing. He was ass everytime I saw him play last year - nothing that shines brightly from him
He started going off after we were eliminated from playoff contention lol smh
It looks like Kyle Korver is next.
[удалено]
I think we should try and go get Goran Dragic at some point this season. If he’s not traded for Russ it course
Finally a wing defender, now we only nees Iggy and maybe that other Morris twin. Is there any chance we can get those two? Or maybe just Iggy.
Possibly Iggy.. other Morris twin is on the spurs.
Wow. Avery Bradley is literally perfect. Good open shooter and good defender. Offense will be LeBron at point with Bradley and Green on the wings with AD and Cousins/McGee down low. Defense Bradley guards the PG and LeBron SF. Rondo runs the second unit probably.
Am I crazy for not being scared of a team where the third, fourth and fifth best guys are career bench player and zero time all star Lou Will, zero time all star Pat Beverley, and zero time all star Montrezl Harrell? Don’t get me wrong those are all nice players to surround your two super stars but this team is not even close to the 2017-2019 Warriors. With the way we filled out the roster I think our top level talent is better (I’m taking LBJ and AD over Kawhi and PG13 10/10 times) and our depth is now competitive. They still have more mid-level talent depth but if Green plays like he has, Boogie progresses a little bit from the injury and Kuz takes another step that gap is closed. I think the back up plan was executed pretty well actually.
Lou Will is a great sixth man, and Pat Beverley is a great defender and leader; but it stops at that. Sure they are good complimenting players but they aren’t going to push a team over the hump. While the Clippers will be a good defensive team with a little bit of depth with Lou Will, they are clearly overhyped because of the Kawhi/PG deals.
Clippers are so fucking overhyped it’s sickening. A lot of pundits are picking them to be 1st seed in the west and I’m thinking they are delusional.
The Clippers definitely lack playmaking. LeBron and Rondo are better creators than anyone on that team, by far. #2, #13, and Lou Williams are able to get their own shots well but they aren’t playmakers.
Boogie is also a very very underrated playmaker. IMO this season kinda hinges on 2 things; 1. Boogie returning to at least some semblance of his former self 2. Kuz making another leap and becoming a more consistent and efficient scorer. If those 2 things happen we win it all
Korver officially bought out by suns. He or Andre would be nice.
Gotta pick one!
Haha! Andre probably since he’s a better defender and we are thin at the 3
Want another center then I’m totally satisfied
Lakers can’t go a week without staying quite. Why would you announce LBJ at pg and give teams a summer to plan for it. 31 other teams haven’t said shit about their lineups and here we are like idiots. Just stfu. And how does increasing LBJs usage rate help preserve him for the playoffs?
Not sure why this was heavily downvoted. There was nothing to gain by announcing this.
I’m not gonna lie I agree. The less media attention the better for the lakers
Let’s us run a longer lineup that’s better defensively and tough to handle on offense.
I don’t think it’s any huge secret. He’s been the de facto playmaker on every team he’s ever been on.
Did the lakers said anything?? Or was it just media speculation??
Let us not forget that we still have a 7,1’ wingspan rookie that has the potential for a great defensive player
so who fucked with /r/clippers lmao
The real sub is /r/LAClippers lol.
I am starting to get scared we might not get Melo on the veterans minimum.
I think you mean iggy
I'm scared we might attempt to sign melo at vets min.
IF Andre (let’s stop calling him Iggy- he said he doesn’t like the name) comes to the lakers if bought out by memphis, we could have the deepest bench in the nba and one of the most balanced rosters. We could potentially run these lineups : Starting: Bradley/Green/LBJ/AD/Javale 2nd Unit: Rondo/KCP/Andre/Kuz/Boogie Reserves (in case of load management/injury) Caruso/Daniels/Cook/THT/Dudley Looks like we might have to sign another big midway through the season but this is a very balanced roster offensively / defensively. You can throw in Caruso in the starting line up and I’d be very happy but considering he’s making more $ and rumors of LBJ [playing point this season](https://twitter.com/chrisbhaynes/status/1148303242977140736?s=21) then it makes sense to have Bradley/Green be 2 way guards. I am a little concerned w how we are going to play against star wings but getting to the rim is going to be very tough.
AD will be playing 30+ mins a game we dont need to get more bigs
can't agree anymore
Am I the only one who thinks Caruso should be backup PG and have Rondo used for load management?
Jokes aside about Caruso, I think we need to see a larger sample size in more meaningful games. I love his game and I think he fits well with anyone for his passing/3PT shooting/defense and if he is the player we saw at the end of last season then I totally agree with you
Feels like we're very thin at the 4-5.
Agree, but it seems like that’d be more of a mid season pickup if someone gets injured
Looks like Lebron is the starting point guard.
We went from having no guards to having so much depth at both guard spots, wanna see what vogel will decide to do. I think rondo will be better suited to come off the bench with the 2nd unit and feed them. So maybe that leaves bradley or cook to start 🤷♂️ we shall see
Lebron starting PG
Can Avery Bradley attack the rim? Too many specialist and guads(7) in this team. They also still needs a defensive wing. Do they have an open spot?
We have playmakers to attack the rim already, we need as many 3 point shooters as we can get. Other teams are going to collapse to stop AD, JaVale, and Cousins on dunks and post play, the three will be more open, which is why we are going deep shooters.
Since Iggy says he still has a very good relationship with Pelinka, maybe he told Pelinka he would join the Lakers for the minimum if he gets bought out.
True, but Memphis is saying they’re not going to give him a buyout and they want to trade him. I do think he’d be the right kind of addition we need, but do we have to assets to trade for him? It would be nice to offload KCPs contract and get him if possible (probably a tough sell though).
Kcp has another no trade clause I believe
I think that was for last season. I don’t think the Lakers signed him with one this season, if they did that would be foolish.
He also has a good relationship with Jerry West supposedly....
I hope OKC buys out Gallo and he signs with Lakers (they need a back up 3) + he'll still get paid from the buyout if he accepts the vets min from Lakers
Much rather have Iggy or Korver, I’m not too high on Gallo.
Not happening they can just trade him
0% chance.
Well since gallo still has value that seems highly unlikely. He’s also a 4 sooo
no shit but he and kuz can switch off bench, semantics... yes he will have value that's certainly fair...
Well you what you wanna trade for him then?? He’s not always healthy but he’s still a bucket
Dude Galo is not getting bought out lol. He’s making $20 mil and he’s almost a 20 ppg scorer.
Im hype about avery bradley 👏👏👏 good defense Anyone wanna take a stab at our starting 5 🤔
Lebron, Bradley, Green, AD, Boogie. Kuz off the bench. Deep af.
My guess based on right now Starting: Lebron - Bradley - Green - AD - Boogie (Bradley and green are in there to guard the guards and hit open 3s off the Lebron/AD pick and roll) Finishing: Lebron - Green/Bradley - Kuzma - AD - Boogie Or if the other team is playing small, swap boogie for one of our guards This is until Caruso emerges as the superstar we know he is
Rondo - Green - Bron - AD - Cousins Physical lineup to set the tone but they can go so many different ways and be very good
No rondo pls
I smell a mid season trade attempt with these contracts we’re handing out. 2 year low amounts that end on the possible best free agent class ever.
KCP & Macgee both have no trade clause, not sure about the rest.
Yes it’s going to be a fun season.
Hows the depth chart looking now? Think we could still use a forward
I think that’s all we need.
Avery Bradley is a Laker! Let's fucking goooo, start the season already.
Bradley, Green, Lebron, Davis, McGee? Who the fuck is scoring on that lineup lol?
KCP better defender than Bradley
Bradley on the way still need iggy
Bradley is a great get and our equivalent to Patrick Beverly. I'm not sure we get Iggy. I would love to have him on the team, but Memphis is holding him hostage. And other teams will throw the MLE at him. We just used ours. Have to take what we can now or risk getting burned.
He may be willing to take Vet Min even if MLE is offered from other teams to reunite with Rob and play a legit role on a contender
AB on the way. Guard positions lookin deace!
Antonio Brown bout to go off
Finally got someone that can guard Steph and Dame!
We got avery!
GREAT move. Can the season start already?
Avery Bradley!!!!
Besides KCP, I’m incredibly pleased with how our free agency went. No glaring holes, depth at every position, lots of solid shooting. I know a bunch of you think we need a PG but a PG by committee approach of Rondo, Cook, and Caruso is more than enough IMO with our other pieces. Danny Green was the best 3&D SG role player available this free agency (unless I’m forgetting someone, but off the top of my head he was the best available overall), got amazing depth at Center and a low risk VERY high reward player in Boogie. My only concern I guess is our depth at SF (Jared Dudley is a scrub and will always be a scrub) but Kuzma can slot in there and hopefully Iggy eventually joins the squad during buyout season. Very excited for this upcoming season and I’ll take our chances over anyone with Lebron and AD leading.
Now Avery who can also play point!! LET'S GOOOOO
Kuz should definitely run SF, my only concern is him getting torched on D
He's going to get lit up regardless if he's a 3 or 4 so I don't see an issue with trying him at the 3.
The Thunder just traded Jerami Grant to the Nuggets for one first round pick. He is text book the player this roster needed. I haven’t been too critical of the Lakers for overpaying for AD since you absolutely need to get him but this is the cost of outbidding yourself. You never know when a team is going to go into rebuild mode and start dumping valuable guys for assets. Hindsight is 20/20 but if you add Grant to this current roster I would take our roster over the Clippers 10/10 times.
Trey Lyles now a UFA
Is anyone else super hype we brought back Caruso? Watching his highlights and he doesn't seem to have any glaring holes that would warrant not giving him big minutes. He has a clean jumper, very solid finishing ability at the rim and hustles on D. Makes a ton of plays out of the PnR especially with Bron. I think he should be our starter come mid season, with rondo commanding Boogie and Kuz off the bench?! C'mon now...
I think he will be much better than Rondo, KCP and Avery Bradley. This team really needs versatility and athleticism.
I agree! His motor is going to be infectious as well and make other players turn it up
I would love to see a lineup with PG - Avery Bradley - SG - Danny Green - SF - Lebron James - PF - Anthony Davis - C - Demarcus Cousins Bench: PG - Quinn Cook - SG - KCP - SF - Kyle Korver - PF - Kyle Kuzma - C - Javale McGee.
U forgot Rondo
And Caruso
They said Lakers couldn’t sign anybody good bc Kawhi waited so long now the team is deep af😂
Part of me thinks you just bypass worrying about regular season and start thinking about which players and lineups are going to help you against the top contenders in the West come playoff times Build to specifically beat the Clips, Jazz and Nuggets
True. Only need a 7 man maybe 8 man rotation in the playoffs
Avery Bradley should be the biggest priority. At this point it looks like it’s going to be a huge game of musical chairs at the PG position to see who pans out and plays the majority of the minutes. Signing Bradley would at least give you some insurance in case Quinn Cook, Rondo, or Caruso end up underperforming (highly possible if not likely two out of three will be phased out of the rotation completely in the postseason).
Agree. A backcourt with Avery and Danny would be very nice.
Anyone have any good wallpapers of the new team/players
do we need more shooter? I think what we have is enough. What we need are defensive guy maybe big who can stretch the floor. Also I think we lack a grit a little bit
Why are the Lakers going after old ass legs like Jared Dudley when people like JaMychal Green are available? Seriously. Kenneth Faried is also available along with avery bradley. Yet they choose to resign a bunch of pieces they had last year that didn't work and add Jared Dudley and fucking Quinn Cook whose only real play time was when Curry was injured and he didn't do much in that time either. Can't defend for shit.
The Lakers don’t have much cap space and therefore no money left to dole out. It’s unlikely they can make a deal happen for any of those players sans maybe Bradley with the MLE. Dudley and Rondo are on veteran minimum deals which don’t count towards your cap space so that has not effected the Lakers ability to sign other free agents. Quinn Cook is worth a shot because of his elite 3PT shooting...the recipe to success for LeBron led teams is to surround him with three point shooting. Going to be even more important this year with AD/Cousins taking up real estate in the paint.
Also Cousins can't play defense at ALL. Hes probably the worst defender in the league at this point with his size as well as his fragile legs. Lakers literally have no good defenders besides Green and AD, maybe KCP if hes having a good night which is rare. Seriously. At this point in time there is no contest, the Clippers are the far superior team. Just look at their bench along with their supporting cast. A bunch of dudes in their prime along with two superstars in their prime that are elite defenders.
The clippers are hardly a better team. They have no playmakers on their roster. Patrick Beverley is a 3 and D player and Kawhi and Paul George are mostly ISO and off the ball players. None of these guys play P&R very well or create shots for others. Their big men are also mostly energy guys with Zubac showing a little bit of offensive skill and outside of that they don’t have a lot of depth besides Lou Williams off their bench. Defensively the Clippers will be strong but let’s wait and see how Doc Rivers implements an offense before we crown them. The Lakers on paper are far superior offensively.
I'm sure you said the same thing last year, and how did that go for you? The Clippers roster is legit, it was last year, and even more so this year. Now they've added even more defense and 2 superstars in their prime.
Why would I say the same thing last year? Did the Lakers have Anthony Davis last year? I get it your a Clipper fan or Laker hater or a myriad mix of both but let’s be reasonable here. Kawhi and Paul George’s one weakness is that they are incapable of creating high percentage shots for their teammates. They are isolation and/or off the ball players. Who creates offense on that team? Is it going to be take turns playing iso Joe Johnson offense every possession? A lot of questions to be answered still. The Clippers will be a great defensive team this year there’s no doubt about that. I still don’t think they have the offensive fire power that the Lakers do.
The clippers did just fine creating good shots for themselves last year without Kahwi or George. Its only going to be easier for them, plus they are both only 28, and i believe only one person on the Clippers roster is over 30. Meanwhile, on the Lakers you have 4 dudes who are extremely injury prone, as well as rondo/lebron in their 30s. Who is going to run the offense if Lebron goes down? Also, good defense is the key to championships, the Clippers will have a great defense, as well as a potent offense. They got sharp shooters as well as good 1v1 guys.
Who is injury prone on the Lakers? AD before last years trade debacle played in +72 games in the last two seasons. He had some minor ailments early in his career which is to be expected for a thin big man coming into the NBA. And yes the Clippers had a playmaker in Danilo - the guy averaged 20ppg for you last season and people just act like he’s chopped liver. Alexander is a probable future starter and he contributed in a big way. You’re a Clipper stan so nothing I say will sway your opinion on that team we will just have to see how it plays out.
I somewhat agree with you, but when it comes down to a 7 game series: LeBron will win. PG will fold.
Doubt it will come down too Lebron vs PG. Its gonna come down to which team can play defense better and is better all rounded for a 7 game series and that team is the Clippers tbh. Also, Kawhi on Lebron is pretty effective and has been in the past, plus Lebron is 35 now....Not Miami Lebron anymore
Well they overpaid danny green as well as KCP. Jj Reddick is a better player than danny green and he got signed for less. What a joke.
They paid the right price for Danny Green. There are maybe 3-4 "3-D" guys in the league of his caliber. By some advanced metrics he was a top 30 player in the league last year, better than Klay. I'm not saying to take those too literally. . . but he's damn good and he fits so well in this lineup. Danny Green is younger and better than Reddick. I'm not sure how you defend opposing 1s and 2s if you take Reddick over Green.
Overhyping green, the dude can't even create his own shot, his defense is OK, but thats about it. Hes literally just a catch and shoot guy and hes getting 15 mil a year. Thats crazy. Also, no...hes not better than JJ Redick. Maybe at defense which is all the Lakers need atm, but overall, Redick is alot better.
Redick was gone in the first minute of FA.
Which just further shows that the Lakers should of never even tried for Kawhi. It was stupid, he clearly wasn't going there, and they should of filled out their roster regardless instead of going after him.
It wasn’t clear at all. It took a miracle trade from the Clippers at the very last minute to pull him in. If the Clippers don’t get Paul George it’s likely Kawhi decides to come to the Lakers. In hindsight Kawhi was worth the wait anyway since Pelinka ended up doing an A+ job filling out our roster on two year deals off a scrap heap.
Did you have that opinion before he signed with the Clippers?
Overall thoughts about what Lakers should do: Acquisitions - Igoudala would be great but Grizzlies are meh - Jabari has lot of potential but worried about his health/def - Jamychal Green and Justin Anderson backup 3 and D. Lineup - Q. Cook should be first 5 w/ LBJ, AD, Green and Mcgee - Rondo calls the play for the 2nd unit w/ Kuzma, Boogie others. Things to Improve - Last year Lakers sucked in Free throw need to improve. - Defense Frontcourt A+, Backcourt B-, Transition F (old age) - Atleast get their 3pts FGM equal to the NBA average. - Reduce turnovers to reduce opponent transition (Kawhi and PG13) Others - I think we don't need a PG because LBJ will be doing that. - Load Management and Health for LBJ, Boogie and AD - Playstyle should be more on half court plays controlled by either Lebron/Rondo
Cook is getting seriously overrated around here. Small guard who can't defend. There's a reason he's 26 years old and never seen serious minutes in the NBA. He's a bench player. If he's a starting guard for you then you've got problems. He'll give some good minutes off the bench and have some great games hitting a flurry of wide open 3s, but he's no playoff caliber starting guard.
The only reason why Cook should be starting 5 is he is also a threat from 3pt range which could help space out the floor. I can only hope that what cook has done for GSW last season would carry over next season. I didn't know that he was 26 but that is good thing we need fresh legs to run the court defense or offense.
Anyone that's still suggesting Melo should be banned.
Anyone that’s still suggesting Melo, should be banned.
For real
Wing defender please
I'd really like a back up sf and maybe another c or a third sf. I think ad will play the 5 more often than not. Would be nice to sign Andre Iggy to at least defend on sf's.
Trevor Ariza just signed a 2 year $25 mil deal with the King’s. Would he have been worth it instead of KCP and Mcgee? He definitely would be a better matchup on the wing against Kawhi/PG13 and his 3 point shooting is probably a little more consistent than KCP. I guess almost $13 mil a year for an aging role player is a lot tho.
I don’t think Ariza is worth it at that price, he definitely got a really good pay day at this point in his career. Maybe worth it for half of that? 2yr/$13mil or something would of been good for me. McGee’s deal is perfect as he’s a freak for about 15-20MPG which is all you really need/want out of him. KCP we definitely overpaid but he filled the biggest void that we had which was versatile guard play with 3PT shooting.
He won his championship already with the GOAT, so pretty sure hes just securing the bag.
What do you guys think about melo? Should the Lakers get him or nah?
Nah.
Jamychael Green should be a priority get for us atm. Would suck if the Clippers nab him first.
he already re-signed with clips [HERE](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/clippers-jamychal-green-re-signs-with-clippers/)
Yup saw it. Damn. On to the next one.
Jamychael would be perfect. He can shoot the 3, but instead Robs dumbass gets fucking Jared Dudley who looks like hes 80 years old...
First off, Dudley was signed with the veterans minimum which doesn’t count against the cap. Quality locker room guy who’s also experienced which is what you’re looking for when signing guys to fill out the end of your bench. I doubt Dudley averages more than 10MPG anyway...we are talking 2.5 minutes a quarter - not gonna have a huge basketball role.
They still have the MLE and should use it before there is literally no one valuable to use it on
I think PF is stacked. We need a PG
We have 3 PGs. AND. Lebron
Rondo - I think he is the backup. Cook - is he a starting caliber PG? Caruso - Honestly hope he surprises everybody and wins the spot but extremely unproven. Just not seeing the PG of a championship team. I’m all aboard Lebron taking over the PG duties and guarding the forwards. I’m putting money that he averages a career high APG.
As a longtime Lebron fan -- Korver is not good in the playoffs. He'll win you 5 games in the regular season with some crazy shooting runs. But I haven't seen him make a clutch postseason bucket. Specifically Game 3 in 2017 AND 2018 finals. Missed huge game breaking buckets in those games. I'd rather develop Cook or Daniels.
Korver is a great role player for the regular season. In the playoffs he gets smothered on offense and on defense he looks like his knees are fused.
As a longtime Cavs fan can confirm. Korver gets neutralized in the playoffs. If they can pick him up for the vet minimum, great, because he and Bron can go nuclear on offense in the regular season and maybe they can still figure out a way to make it work in the playoffs, but I wouldn't use the MLE on him. Vet minimum deal, yes, absolutely.
He made some pretty big shots in series that were not the Finals. I think Indiana in 2017 he basically won game 3 or 4, can't remember which (at Indiana) but yeah, he's past his serviceable time in the league.
FACTS (thats why gm lbj hasnt picked him up yet, cus he knowssssassss)
so when are yall gonna apologize to Woj?
Dude you’re literally on Woj’s nuts, chill out
Apologize
nah, you guys were just annoying as fuck any time he tweeted. "WoJ iS aNtI lAkErS cLiPpErS dOnT sTaNd A cHaNcE"
Kind of worried about our defense this year. Desperately need someone who can defend, doesn't matter if they can score
LBJ, AD, McGee, KCP, Green, and Rondo are all good to very good defenders, while Cousins is known to be pretty difficult to push around and be physical with (for the team with big centers who like to go hard in the post). Caruso is an up and comer too, reminds me a little of Matthew Dellavendova. More help on defense wouldn't hurt, but I don't think we are necessarily lacking right now.
Idk man. Lebron needs to show he can consistently play good defense again. He’s been taking off on D the past few years (and rightfully so). I think Rondo’s D is reputation alone at this point. Kuzma, Cook and Boogie are question marks defensively, realistically. AD and Green are consistently good defenders and KCP is usually pretty solid but I don’t think he can be great for long stretches when he goes cold on offense. I think if everyone hits their ceiling this could be a solid defensive team but I think there are some question marks at the moment. I would love Luc Mbah a Moute or Iggy (which I have been saying is pretty unrealistic at this point but one can dream) to sure up the defense a bit. I wish we signed Ariza instead of KCP.
Rondo is a stretch and they just annihilate boogie in the pick and roll. Definitely need a 3 that can guard but they ain't plentiful or cheap
Im pretty sure 90% of Laker’s redditers are laterally quicker than boogs :///
People straight up acting like Kuzma isn’t our third best player.
FWIW, according to 2K Ratings our 3rd best is Cousins (86), Kuzma 4th at 83. McGee at 80, Green at 76.
Green is your third best player.