2021 NBA Offseason

[trojanfan12]

James needs to step back and be the #3 option at his age.....wait till the 4th quarter. Let AD and RW ball out.

Best guess (what I'd want to see if I were the Lakers coach)...Lebron with the ball in his hands for most of the 1st quarter to get off to a good start. Lots of (a hopefully under control) Westbrook for the 2, 3rd and part of the 4th. Then the ball back in Lebron's hands to close the game.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Best guess (what I'd want to see if I were the Lakers coach...Lebron with the ball in his hands for most of the 1st quarter to get off to a good start. Lots of (a hopefully under control) Westbrook for the 2, 3rd and part of the 4th. Then the ball back in Lebron's hands to close the game.

Yep.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Monk made 40 last season and that was on Charlotte.....he'll benefit from playing on the Lakers and is also able of playing some backup PG.

DJ.

Monk shot 40 in a contract year.

He's been awful in the NBA.

I loved him in College and he's young enough to turn it around.

Maybe the change in scenery and talent helps.

But, I'm sceptical.

The fricking Hornets let him walk for nothing.

 

[DJ Fieri]

And RW isn't a good outside shooter but with AD and James......he'll also see some wide open looks.....

Basically everybody on the Lakers is going to see the most wide open looks of their careers.......except for Howard.

 

[shopson67]

I mean, he 2 key parts of your post are JUST ABOUT and LAST YEAR.

Buddy is a career 40 % shooter from 3.

Nunn has not shot over 38 % in his 2 seasons.

Melo is a career 35% shooter.

Base more career 35% shooter.

Monk barely shoots 40% OVERALL for his career and is absolutely PUTRID from 3 , 33% career, outside of last year at 40%.

So, Ellington is your sniper if we go by career stats?

Yeah, you should have traded for Buddy.

Do you honestly think Buddy is a better player than Russ? The trade would've required essentially the same pieces. If they had traded for Hield, they would likely be almost forced to bring back Schroder to start at PG (who didn't shoot much better than Russ last year from 3).

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Best guess (what I'd want to see if I were the Lakers coach...Lebron with the ball in his hands for most of the 1st quarter to get off to a good start. Lots of (a hopefully under control) Westbrook for the 2, 3rd and part of the 4th. Then the ball back in Lebron's hands to close the game.

Yep.

Let Westbrook be Westbrook when the game isn't on the line.

 

[shopson67]

And RW isn't a good outside shooter but with AD and James......he'll also see some wide open looks.....

Basically everybody on the Lakers is going to see the most wide open looks of their careers.......except for Howard.

If Howard gets outside the arc, I guarantee he'll be wide open.

 

[DJ Fieri]

If Howard gets outside the arc, I guarantee he'll be wide open.

He doesn't shoot the 3 was kinda my point.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

And RW isn't a good outside shooter but with AD and James......he'll also see some wide open looks.....

Basically everybody on the Lakers is going to see the most wide open looks of their careers.......except for Howard.

DJ, he's always gotten wide open looks. The oppositions game plan is to let him shoot because he can't.

He will eviscerate you in the open court and put you on a poster driving in the lane.

But, he can't shoot. These are facts.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Sure, if the 3's are falling.

I said that from the beginning.

I can't wait to see what your rotations look like.

Does THT start?

He's not a shooter.

Does Ellington offer enough shooting to justify starting over the youngsters?

I look at your roster and see a ton of question marks.

Beacause, you aren't coming out of the West if LeBron is your best shooter of the guys getting 28-35 minutes a night.

I see this as a Lakers from two years ago 2.0. They get hot or stay cold, could be a season made of streaks but this group is still much better than that group but still probably a mediocre outside group compared to the rest of the league imo.

 

[Wamu]

James needs to step back and be the #3 option at his age.....wait till the 4th quarter. Let AD and RW ball out.

With a healthy AD & Russ I can see LeBron leading the league in assists again.

 

[DJ Fieri]

With a healthy AD & Russ I can see LeBron leading the league in assists again.

Yep and RW's apg and rpg dropping.....

 

[shopson67]

He doesn't shoot the 3 was kinda my point.

Of course, lol. 5-20 last year.

 

[Wamu]

Yep and RW's apg and rpg dropping.....

With LeBron setting him up I'm thinking his FG% & 3 pt. % will go up. Last years he was .439 & .315.

 

[trojanfan12]

Sure, if the 3's are falling.

I said that from the beginning.

I can't wait to see what your rotations look like.

Does THT start?

He's not a shooter.

Does Ellington offer enough shooting to justify starting over the youngsters?

I look at your roster and see a ton of question marks.

Beacause, you aren't coming out of the West if LeBron is your best shooter of the guys getting 28-35 minutes a night.

My starting 5 would be Lebron, AD, Westbrook, Ariza and Nunn or Ellington.

Unless he's gotten a lot smarter over the off-season and/or shows he can hit the 3...I wouldn't start him. Last year, when Lebron and AD were healthy, he provided a great spark and some instant offense off the bench.

But when the injuries hit and he had to play more, there were some warts exposed. Plus, the opposing defenses figured him out a bit and a lot of his moves that were ending with buckets, turned into forced shots and turnovers.

I'm not worried about 28-35 minutes. With the depth this roster has, I would be a little surprised if anyone but Lebron, AD and Westbrook play more than 30 minutes a game. I think they'll do some "platooning" of the older guys and will play them in short-ish spurts. There may be games where it looks like a shift change in hockey. lol

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

If Howard gets outside the arc, I guarantee he'll be wide open.

Lol

Melo was pretty good the last 2 years on Portland. Don't think his trey numbers drop on the Lakers.....he may not play a lot with the big 3 but he'll see some time with them......and benefit with wide open looks.

Like, you have 2 guys that are like Nuclear weapons everywhere on the court and one midget who has zero fear in the paint.

I think Melo will give you some good minutes. He's never played with anywhere near the talent as the Lakers have.

Paul George is no LeBron/AD. But, Melo played with him and Westbrook, Dame and CJ, Chris Paul and Harden.

So, he's seen open looks. He's a capable 3 PT shooter. But, he's not a great one.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yep.

Let Westbrook be Westbrook when the game isn't on the line.

\Kind of always been the ticket with him. He's just never had someone like Lebron to keep him under control. The way he adjusted his game for Harden and Beal is encouraging, but I'm still a bit skeptical. I'll say I'm cautiously optimistic. lol

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Ariza.

Ugh.

My starting 5 would be Lebron, AD, Westbrook, Ariza and Nunn or Ellington.

Unless he's gotten a lot smarter over the off-season and/or shows he can hit the 3...I wouldn't start him. Last year, when Lebron and AD were healthy, he provided a great spark and some instant offense off the bench.

But when the injuries hit and he had to play more, there were some warts exposed. Plus, the opposing defenses figured him out a bit and a lot of his moves that were ending with buckets, turned into forced shots and turnovers.

I'm not worried about 28-35 minutes. With the depth this roster has, I would be a little surprised if anyone but Lebron, AD and Westbrook play more than 30 minutes a game. I think they'll do some "platooning" of the older guys and will play them in short-ish spurts. There may be games where it looks like a shift change in hockey. lol

Ariza, yeah.

He's not giving you much offensively. But, do you still see him as a plus defender?

I guess he and Melo are a good hint and hand for offense and defense.

Both those guys are bigger. But, I like Base ore more at this point in their careers. He can do a little bit of both.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

\Kind of always been the ticket with him. He's just never had someone like Lebron to keep him under control. The way he adjusted his game for Harden and Beal is encouraging, but I'm still a bit skeptical. I'll say I'm cautiously optimistic. lol

See, I'm talking shit. But, I honestly think he will adjust. Like you said the other day, this is his last BEST chance.

In fairness, Mayne things would have been different if Durant and Harden had better leadership styles. Durant seemed like he was terrified to tell him anything when they were in OKC.

LeBron is not that guy. So, that won't be a issue. I like what Pelinka did under the circumstances. Yes, I think Buddy would have been the better fit. But, Buddy isn't going to single handedly carry you, if one of your big 2 dont have it going.

Russ can.

I'd just like your roster more if you had a Joe Harris, Duncan Robinson type.

Someone mentioned JJ Redick. Dude is kinda tripping with his " I'm not going to anyone's training camp, I'll sign with a contender before the end of the season " stance. But, he'd work.

You also might want to kick the tires on Joe Ingles, Bogdonovich in Utah.

Looks like both are on the block.

 

[dtgold88]

He's a noob, so he probably doesn't.

Think he's probably gonna find out though.

I mean, this Cavs fan wouldn't be shocked. all depends if Mobley hits his ceiling and even then no lock we'd be a Finals' contender.