POLL How far will these misfit Lakers go?

[True Lakers Fan]

No everything I said was factually correct.

You just don’t like the facts.

LMAO, you're funny

 

[True Lakers Fan]

After signing Kawhi and resigning Beverley and trading for George they only had their exception. If we’re complainint about just bringing back jamychal green, I think we’re nitpicking.

The Clippers are more than good enough to be in the top four teams in the conference, but they are not as deep as the Lakers.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Yes I did. He hurt the Clippers by dragging it out. Had he signed quicker and faster, they could have been looking and talking to better role players to go with Leonard.

They had enough cap to bring in two max contracts. The Clippers did.

The Lakers were only able to hand that money to the leftovers because they weren’t able to convince another max player to join LeBron and AD.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

They had enough cap to bring in two max contracts. The Clippers did.

The Lakers were only able to hand that money to the leftovers because they weren’t able to convince another max player to join LeBron and AD.

They were considering that route to begin with and they chose well

 

[trojanfan12]

I like a lot of what the lakers have done.

I would’ve kept Hart over kuzma, and I would’ve found a better fit at PG, but I think pelinka did much better this summer.

Danny green is a great get. Perfect fit.

Disagree on Hart vs. Kuzma. Hart is a nice player, but Kuzma is better, imo.

Pelinka did a nice job.

It's obvious that he had a "Plan B" if they didn't get Kawhi and he wasted no time in executing it.

End result is that, while the Lakers roster isn't ideal, it's much better than anyone thought they would be able to put together when Kawhi chose the Clippers.

I'm still not convinced that he should be the GM long term, but I feel a little better about it than I did when FA started.

 

[The Q]

The Clippers are more than good enough to be in the top four teams in the conference, but they are not as deep as the Lakers.

Maybe.

But Kawhi wasn't the reason. Who cares if they have more depth than the Lakers if they don't have the stars to lead them?

After using all their cap space on Kawhi and Beverly, and their trade assets on George. They were kind of limited with what they could get. The room exception isnt probably going to get you a huge depth piece. Maybe they could've gotten better than Green. But they didn't need to wait to use the room exception.

 

[trojanfan12]

After signing Kawhi and resigning Beverley and trading for George they only had their exception. If we’re complainint about just bringing back jamychal green, I think we’re nitpicking.

Agree. The Clips were a bunch of solid role players with no stars to lead them.

After the AD trade, the Lakers were 2 stars with no role players to lead except Kuzma.

Kawhi dragging out his FA waiting for the Clips to get PG, hurt the Lakers, not the Clippers. Fortunately, Pelinka was smart enough to have a solid Plan B and he executed it well.

Having said that, had the Clips not pulled off the PG trade, Kawhi likely goes to the Lakers which would have ruined the Clips, imo.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Agree. The Clips were a bunch of solid role players with no stars to lead them.

After the AD trade, the Lakers were 2 stars with no role players to lead except Kuzma.

Kawhi dragging out his FA waiting for the Clips to get PG, hurt the Lakers, not the Clippers. Fortunately, Pelinka was smart enough to have a solid Plan B and he executed it well.

Having said that, had the Clips not pulled off the PG trade, Kawhi likely goes to the Lakers which would have ruined the Clips, imo.

I really doubt that the Lakers could have done much better if any at all then if they had went straight to the role players. We couldn't afford an injured KD and he as well as Irving had their plans already, Butler was traded as I recall. I think the Lakers did better than expected.

 

[Shanemansj13]

with a look at that injury list, they literally EXploded...

I know all about injuries. Love has been on that list since he has been in CLE. It's rough

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Maybe.

But Kawhi wasn't the reason. Who cares if they have more depth than the Lakers if they don't have the stars to lead them?

After using all their cap space on Kawhi and Beverly, and their trade assets on George. They were kind of limited with what they could get. The room exception isnt probably going to get you a huge depth piece. Maybe they could've gotten better than Green. But they didn't need to wait to use the room exception.

Depth matters a lot - granted that most teams can shorten the rotation in the playoffs, but those role players do matter

 

[Montalban]

None of the above: This team should win the NBA title. Anything short of that will be a disaster for them.

 

[Montalban]

More than likely Kawhi took as long as he did because they had to get the Paul George thing worked out before he could officially commit. Why would he want to hurt the team he's signing with?

Gee, ya think?

 

[The Q]

Depth matters a lot - granted that most teams can shorten the rotation in the playoffs, but those role players do matter

Yes.

My point was that they could've had depth or Kawhi and PG.

They're not contenders without them.

they still have harrell, Beverly, Lou Will etc.

they may be a player short. But the're still a viable contender.

 

[The Q]

I really doubt that the Lakers could have done much better if any at all then if they had went straight to the role players. We couldn't afford an injured KD and he as well as Irving had their plans already, Butler was traded as I recall. I think the Lakers did better than expected.

Better fit at PG is the biggest one.

Love getting McGee back.

Love Love LOVE Danny Green for Lebron.

CLE cutting Danny Green and Joe Harris is just brutal.

 

[msgkings322]

Gee, ya think?

Yes, yes I do.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Yes.

My point was that they could've had depth or Kawhi and PG.

They're not contenders without them.

they still have harrell, Beverly, Lou Will etc.

they may be a player short. But the're still a viable contender.

That might be true and honestly I had concerns about trying to get Leonard

I figured he lied about wanting to sign with the Lakers and never had any intention to begin with which is the reason I would have been looking at other options. Looks like to me they did that. Personally I think the Lakers did better than if they had got Leonard.

My concerns besides him being temperamental is him wanting the Lakers to wait. In business, I wait for a reasonable amount of time, but send my audits on companies I am trying to audit and I Document that the company was uncooperative. Perhaps that's an occupational hazard, but I would have been talking to other top players and considered Leonard to be awash.

 

[lebron23james]

The Clippers are more than good enough to be in the top four teams in the conference, but they are not as deep as the Lakers.

If depth mattered the Lakers wouldn't have held out for Leanord. Depth doesn't matter is the lesson. That is why all the teams waited for Kawhi to make his decision before adding players. If depth was more important they would have done that before Kawhi made his decision, you big dumb moron!

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

They were considering that route to begin with and they chose well

I sure hope you are joking. No team in NBA history said — I think I will sign a few guys off the scrap heap instead of signing a superstar.

The Lakers put all their eggs into the Kawhi Leonard basket and they got left at the altar.

 

[trojanfan12]

If depth mattered the Lakers wouldn't have held out for Leanord. Depth doesn't matter is the lesson. That is why all the teams waited for Kawhi to make his decision before adding players. If depth was more important they would have done that before Kawhi made his decision, you big dumb moron!

Depth does matter though.

The Lakers held out for Kawhi for the same reason anyone else in the same position would...the same reason that the Warriors added KD. When you can add a player of that caliber, you do it and worry about the rest later. The idea is that, if you can put together 3 players of that caliber, you can get guys who will take less for a shot at a ring.

The key though, is that you have to stay healthy.

You can make a case that a lack of depth was part of what hurt the Warriors in the 2 finals that they lost.

There was some serious discussion as to whether or not the Lakers would have been better off if they had stayed out of the Kawhi hunt and just went after better role players.

They have managed to put together what looks to be a better roster than most thought they could. But you can make a solid argument that it could have been even better had they not waited on Kawhi.

 

[trojanfan12]

I sure hope you are joking. No team in NBA history said — I think I will sign a few guys off the scrap heap instead of signing a superstar.

Exactly. As I posted above, when you have a shot at landing a player of Kawhi's caliber, you take that shot and deal with the ramifications, whatever they are, after the fact.

Could you imagine the blow back from fans and media if a team decided not to pursue a star player and that star player said later that they would have gone to that team, but they didn't make him an offer?

The Lakers put all their eggs into the Kawhi Leonard basket and they got left at the altar.

Basically, yep. The Raptors, Clippers and Lakers were the only teams in the mix. He could only go to 1 team...so there were always going to be 2 that ended up disappointed.

Fortunately for the Lakers, Pelinka had a solid plan B and executed it well. Had they sat out on the Kawhi sweepstakes, they may have been able to sign even better role players. But the only way that was going to happen would be if they were out of the Kawhi sweepstakes from the start.