The All-Purpose LOL Lakers thread
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
True that.
If someone was gonna help them, I figured it would be a team from the East.
I mean, Wagner might be a good player. He’s got upside and skill. But I just hoped teams would buy into the idea of not helping your opponent out more than you’re helping yourselves. But since the Wiz don’t compete in the West — it appears they really don’t care or subscribe to that.
If someone was gonna help them, I figured it would be a team from the East.
I mean, Wagner might be a good player. He’s got upside and skill. But I just hoped teams would buy into the idea of not helping your opponent out more than you’re helping yourselves. But since the Wiz don’t compete in the West — it appears they really don’t care or subscribe to that.
They wouldn’t have any guards worth a damn and 100% of their cap space committed to three dudes who naturally play the same position (AD, Kuzma, and older spends-defensive-possesions-dreaming-up-stuff-for-Space-Jam-2 Lebron are all PFs though AD can play 5) and a great SF who has injury concerns. It should be noted that while AD is a naturally passive guy who can play off the ball and is best as a finisher, those other three guys would all have issues sharing the ball (Kuzma and Lebron would take turns not passing the ball to each other last season and Kawhi would sorta be wasted as a third option)
I think people are getting so caught up in the idea of having three top 5 players together that they’re not seeing the forest for the albeit very good trees.
AD
Lebron
Kawhi
Random scrub 1
Random scrub 2
———
Kuzma
Random scrubs 3-10
would feature three of the best players of their generations (one of whom is potentially the greatest player of all time) and a good scoring big man off the bench but also would be so incredibly interior oriented (fitting for a Vogel team of course) with a complete and utter lack of good perimeter play aside from Kawhi who despite the godly playoff run is still just one man in a league increasingly governed by perimeter action. And with all their picks effectively gone for the next seven or eight seasons, they’d have no way to cheaply fill in their perimeter gaps.
The Warriors superteam worked because they were a balanced roster with two of the greatest shooters of all time, and two star forwards.
The Heat worked because Lebron was in his peak and an all world perimeter defender at the time coupled with a star interior player in Bosh and a two-way perimeter stud in Wade.
The Lakers are currently three big men and potential a stud SF who can give you 60 regular season games before the playoffs and absolutely no guards.
So in conclusion, yes Lakers, please do sign Kawhi to a max deal.
I think people are getting so caught up in the idea of having three top 5 players together that they’re not seeing the forest for the albeit very good trees.
AD
Lebron
Kawhi
Random scrub 1
Random scrub 2
———
Kuzma
Random scrubs 3-10
would feature three of the best players of their generations (one of whom is potentially the greatest player of all time) and a good scoring big man off the bench but also would be so incredibly interior oriented (fitting for a Vogel team of course) with a complete and utter lack of good perimeter play aside from Kawhi who despite the godly playoff run is still just one man in a league increasingly governed by perimeter action. And with all their picks effectively gone for the next seven or eight seasons, they’d have no way to cheaply fill in their perimeter gaps.
The Warriors superteam worked because they were a balanced roster with two of the greatest shooters of all time, and two star forwards.
The Heat worked because Lebron was in his peak and an all world perimeter defender at the time coupled with a star interior player in Bosh and a two-way perimeter stud in Wade.
The Lakers are currently three big men and potential a stud SF who can give you 60 regular season games before the playoffs and absolutely no guards.
So in conclusion, yes Lakers, please do sign Kawhi to a max deal.
Vet minimum guys are still vet minimum guys and with Collison retiring, Kyrie heading towards one of the NY teams, and Kemba probably on his way to Boston now, there is a surprisingly lack of depth on the guard market right now which is going to drive up their prices once FA begins. What good FA vet PG is going to take a one year minimum deal to play off the ball in LA and get their stats deflated by Lebron and Kawhi and AD? (Rondo got 9 million dollars last year, to give you an idea of how the market could look) maybe they could get Lin or old and bad Wes Matthews on a vet minimum deal but that’s probably the best of it.
Yeah he was a stretch big before stretch bigs were cool. The fact of the matter is that I’m still not sure the Lakers are going to have enough guard depth to actually make much noise and acquiring Kawhi, who played a lot of the playoffs posting up like a small 4, probably isn’t going to help matters.
I hate the Lakers as much as the next kings fan but your hatred is blinding you and making your wishful thinking seem like reality. People are worried about a Lakers big 3 and have good reason. Your scenario of the heat for example, you point out the difference but they in fact are similar. LeBron isn't at his peak but still better than 90-95% of the league today. AD is better than bosh and kawhi is a better defender and shooter than dwade. That heat team won it all with them and a bunch of scrubs so it's not like it can't be done. I know it sounds bad after the KD/Toronto thing but my only hope if they get another max is that injuries limit them from winning it all or even stops then from getting to the playoffs.
They won't have a single guard in a guard driven league. The Warriors became a dominant team through their mix of balance and pace and the rest of the league has followed suit. Frank Vogel's concepts worked well enough with the Pacers because the league was still inside-out dominated but we saw that change the second he got to Orlando. I honestly don't think he's a creative enough coach to make things work for the heavily interior dominated roster the Lakers seem intent on putting together. Kawhi and AD are great defenders but neither of them can be depended on to defend guards consistently which is a must in a league where Steph/Harden/Dame/etc. supreme.
Lebron's Cavs and Heat teams worked great because the rest of the roster was pretty much designed to let him pound the ball away in the paint before dishing it to one of a variety of safety valves on offense while also doing enough on defense that he wouldn't have to kill himself on that end to stay in games. Having a great shot blocking presence and one great wing defender is a start, I guess but anonymous 30-something PG getting toasted by the Mitchells/Foxes/Dames of the world isn't going to help matters at all.
I understand the appeal of the big three concept but we just got done seeing a Toronto team built on depth obliterate a Warriors team built around a Big three with pretty much no depth behind it. The Warriors and Heat at their peaks BTW had way more depth than this Lakers squad is going to have and much better coaching staffs with much better owners and more assets to work with. And given AD and Kawhi's propensity for getting injured during the season, we may just see Lebron and even more scrubbier scrubs throughout the season.
Lebron's Cavs and Heat teams worked great because the rest of the roster was pretty much designed to let him pound the ball away in the paint before dishing it to one of a variety of safety valves on offense while also doing enough on defense that he wouldn't have to kill himself on that end to stay in games. Having a great shot blocking presence and one great wing defender is a start, I guess but anonymous 30-something PG getting toasted by the Mitchells/Foxes/Dames of the world isn't going to help matters at all.
I understand the appeal of the big three concept but we just got done seeing a Toronto team built on depth obliterate a Warriors team built around a Big three with pretty much no depth behind it. The Warriors and Heat at their peaks BTW had way more depth than this Lakers squad is going to have and much better coaching staffs with much better owners and more assets to work with. And given AD and Kawhi's propensity for getting injured during the season, we may just see Lebron and even more scrubbier scrubs throughout the season.
He could defend his title or go be the third guy on an otherwise very thin Lakers team. I think the fact that so many affordable guys are signing contracts right out of the bat means that whoever LA gets to complete their roster are going to be true scrap heap guys. And if they whiff on Kawhi it's gonna get real good.
Not sure it's likely to happen but I'd be really disappointed if Kawhi signed with the Lakers. If he stayed in Toronto I think he'd erase a lot of bad will from whatever happened in San Antonio and if he went to the Clippers he'd at least be making a statement that he's trying to establish his own thing. If he went to the Lakers he'd be KD with the Warriors part Deux. I think he knows it's a bad look so really the only thing is how much LeBron can offer to sweeten the deal (bags of money from Space Jam 2???)
I don't see how he could. The Lakers have 4 players who pretty much play the same position. Is Kawhi gonna be the shooting guard? Or are they gonna trot out Kawhi/Lebron/AD and have Kuzma come off the bench and fill out the rest of their 8 players with d leaguers? And how do they plan to pay AD next year? Kawhi's max this year would leave them hurting trying to max AD next year. And if they max AD next year you can figure they will be at the local YMCA trying to fill out their roster.
I will never understand their thinking on maxing 3 superstars.
I will never understand their thinking on maxing 3 superstars.
It works if you have the talent beneath them and can afford billions in luxury tax when they come due (Warriors model). It doesn't really work when your max guys are all you have. The Celtics had complementary talent to their Big 3 (Rondo first and foremost), the Heat were able to add complementary wing guys before complementary wing guys became the most sought after commodity behind superstars in the league.
I think the billion dollar question is how many players actually want to play with LeBron, especially at his age.
I think the billion dollar question is how many players actually want to play with LeBron, especially at his age.
Lakers are sitting on their gun powder as they wait for Kawhi to make a decision. It's a risky move, as free agents are flying off the board faster than any offseason I've ever seen. If Leonard decides to go anywhere but the Lakers, what is their recourse? There are some useful players still on the market, but it would seem like a waste of all that cap space to sign the likes of Oubre or Kanter or even Cauley-Stein. Pelinka's a gambling man, it seems.
Well I'd be disappointed too, but I also wouldn't compare it exactly to KD with Warriors. That Warriors team had just beat OKC in WCF, coming off a championship etc. Lakers on the other hand haven't made the playoffs in a while. While they have gotten AD, it's not like the team was already a lock for the finals.
If the Lakers wiff on Kawi they're just going to have to go all in on a risk project. They traded their future for a win now so suddenly a DeMarcus cousins contract makes a whole lot of sense if he's more or less your best available free agent that has the capacity to really contribute to a big three. otherwise I'd be tempted to sit on my cap space and wait for midseason and somebody's hurting and needs to make a trade so they can position themselves for next season making the Lakers stronger for this one. I can't believe LBJ and the Brow are not playoff team regardless of who they're with oh, so it's really about positioning yourself for the playoffs.
