Lakers Imploding
- Thread starter BigVirg
- Start date
I can tell the tv experts think that they know the score. I watched one today and the discussion was will the Lakers catch the Clippers for the eighth spot. The unanimous vote was Lebron would lead them to the promised land.
What I found amazing is the Kings were never even mentioned. Personally I took it as we would have a better spot than 8th but I doubt that they are thinking the same thing.
What I found amazing is the Kings were never even mentioned. Personally I took it as we would have a better spot than 8th but I doubt that they are thinking the same thing.
That "cancer" dragged Boobie Gibson and Larry Hughes to the Finals. And, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love both injured, he dragged James Jones and Delly to the Finals.
And I'd wager that there's not a single person who's accusing James of "getting" Luke Walton fired who can make a salient case for Walton keeping his job.
And I'd wager that there's not a single person who's accusing James of "getting" Luke Walton fired who can make a salient case for Walton keeping his job.
.... LeBron may be annoying as all get out and a coach killer, but he’s not the problem with any team.
He dragged a team with 12 wins this year to the NBA Finals last year.
They were sitting comfortably in a playoff seed when he went down, right?
I love to hate on the Lakers... LeBron annoys the hell out of me, even more so now that he’s a Laker. He isn’t remotely the problem in LA.
He dragged a team with 12 wins this year to the NBA Finals last year.
They were sitting comfortably in a playoff seed when he went down, right?
I love to hate on the Lakers... LeBron annoys the hell out of me, even more so now that he’s a Laker. He isn’t remotely the problem in LA.
You’re acting like they were terrible last year they were on an upward turn decent record for a rebuilding team with injuries.
Insert Lebron and the drama he brings everywhere he goes all I a sudden Walton isn’t a good coach. Hell they were the 4th seed to injuries hit again and the drama king started the bs drama and now there here
Insert Lebron and the drama he brings everywhere he goes all I a sudden Walton isn’t a good coach. Hell they were the 4th seed to injuries hit again and the drama king started the bs drama and now there here
Their best player from the 2017-18 season went to New Orleans as a free agent, and their three-point shooting, floor-spacing, rim-protecting center signed with Milwaukee as a free agent. Let's not pretend that the team that LeBron signed with bears any resemblance to the team that won thirty-five games last year.
They were the fourth seed until LeBron got injured.
They were the fourth seed until LeBron got injured.
Maybe. Walton is going to have to resurrect his career someplace else. Magic insinuated his disbelief in him earlier in the year, thus protecting himself politically if the bottom fell out on the season. I don't think Walton will have a problem finding a new job, though.
The negative ramification for the Lakers could be pretty profound. They already tried to trade their whole team sans LBJ; they can't keep them for next year even if they wanted to because of the stench. And then with LBJ not making the playoffs it provides a big fat red flag for any FA target the Lakers may have. The potential FA has got to wonder if the 34 year old LBJ is on the downhill slide, and if that's the case would the FA be holding the bag if next season also turns out to be a failure? It's one thing when you're attached to the coattails of the rising star. It's quite another when you're attached to a star that is in the process of flaming out. Not the best situation, that's for sure.
The negative ramification for the Lakers could be pretty profound. They already tried to trade their whole team sans LBJ; they can't keep them for next year even if they wanted to because of the stench. And then with LBJ not making the playoffs it provides a big fat red flag for any FA target the Lakers may have. The potential FA has got to wonder if the 34 year old LBJ is on the downhill slide, and if that's the case would the FA be holding the bag if next season also turns out to be a failure? It's one thing when you're attached to the coattails of the rising star. It's quite another when you're attached to a star that is in the process of flaming out. Not the best situation, that's for sure.
The main cause for this implosion is two-fold. For one, the Lakers' young core is nowhere as good as Magic and the entirety of the Lakers fanbase convinced itself it was.
-Ingram has a lot of talent. He's also horribly inconsistent, can't play defense, can't particularly shoot, and can't play next to Lebron and Kuzma because all three dudes are pretty much most effective with the ball in their hands.
-Lonzo is far from a bust but is also nowhere near the franchise-altering talent that Magic proclaimed him to be during the draft process (De'Aaron, Mitchell, and Tatum would have by far been better picks).
-Kuzma is a fantastic scorer. He is also bad at defense and gets tunnel vision and kinda refuses to make his teammates better. He's pretty much tall Kevin Martin in terms of impact.
-Hart is a solid third guard. I think he'll eventually be great in a Derek Fisher-esque role.
All four dudes have yet to show that they have consistent star potential and yet the Lakers and Magic and their dumb fans have built their argument from the perspective that all their young guys are future stars.
The other big problem the #Lakurz have is that Magic appears to have no sales pitch for free agents beyond "We're the Lakers" and consistently aims for home runs with every swing and strikes out so hard that he keeps falling on his ass.
Magic seemingly had absolutely no Plan B once Paul George opted to stay with the Thunder rather than move to LA with Lebron, which led him to put together the legendary Rondo/Beasly/Lance/Javale free agent haul.
Seriously, firing Mitch Kupchak was a great idea. Replacing him with Magic was not, especially when they have one of the smallest scouting/player development departments in the league.
The problems start at the top and I love it. Turns out we have the better ex-Laker player GM.
-Ingram has a lot of talent. He's also horribly inconsistent, can't play defense, can't particularly shoot, and can't play next to Lebron and Kuzma because all three dudes are pretty much most effective with the ball in their hands.
-Lonzo is far from a bust but is also nowhere near the franchise-altering talent that Magic proclaimed him to be during the draft process (De'Aaron, Mitchell, and Tatum would have by far been better picks).
-Kuzma is a fantastic scorer. He is also bad at defense and gets tunnel vision and kinda refuses to make his teammates better. He's pretty much tall Kevin Martin in terms of impact.
-Hart is a solid third guard. I think he'll eventually be great in a Derek Fisher-esque role.
All four dudes have yet to show that they have consistent star potential and yet the Lakers and Magic and their dumb fans have built their argument from the perspective that all their young guys are future stars.
The other big problem the #Lakurz have is that Magic appears to have no sales pitch for free agents beyond "We're the Lakers" and consistently aims for home runs with every swing and strikes out so hard that he keeps falling on his ass.
Magic seemingly had absolutely no Plan B once Paul George opted to stay with the Thunder rather than move to LA with Lebron, which led him to put together the legendary Rondo/Beasly/Lance/Javale free agent haul.
Seriously, firing Mitch Kupchak was a great idea. Replacing him with Magic was not, especially when they have one of the smallest scouting/player development departments in the league.
The problems start at the top and I love it. Turns out we have the better ex-Laker player GM.
This Laker team just isn't good enough for Lebron to "coast" in the regular season and make it into the playoffs. Putting that in quotation marks because he's averaging 27ppg 8.1apg 8.7rpg 1.4spg. I think Lebron might have to go into **** it mode and drag them into the playoffs. However, is it worth it for 34 yearold Lebron to put his entire body on the line just for Rondo-Kuzma-Ingram-Ball-McGee-Chandler-Stephenson? I don't think so... especially if all he'll get is a 1st or 2nd round exit if he's lucky.
However, people shouldn't seriously underrate the Laker's playoff run. Lebron has carried much worse...
However, people shouldn't seriously underrate the Laker's playoff run. Lebron has carried much worse...