Is Luka for AD the most shocking trade of all time

[tc1]

Mark Williams can move. His problem is effort.

That, and Williams' injury history, makes him a spot-on match for Andrew Bynum at 23. Bynum played only 1 more season.

I'm sure that few Laker fans want to see a repeat of that particular story.

 

[tc1]

I did not write this article, but I agree with most it: It took exactly 96 hours for Rob Pelinka to remind Lakers fans he's a terrible GM

Couple bits of interest:
"The Hornets are not a good defensive team to begin with, but they are even worse when Williams takes the court. They allow 5.3 more points per 100 possessions when he plays than when he doesn't, in the 13th percentile leaguewide per Cleaning the Glass. When Mark Williams is the closest defender within six feet of the rim, opposing players shoot a whopping 67.6 percent, 2.4 percent better than average."

 

[tlance]

That, and Williams' injury history, makes him a spot-on match for Andrew Bynum at 23. Bynum played only 1 more season.

I'm sure that few Laker fans want to see a repeat of that particular story.

No doubt.

And I would still much rather bet on Williams than a guy who is already cooked like JoVal or Nurk

Could absolutely go wrong.

But if it goes right you have Luka’s rim runner for the next 6-7 years.

In those cheap options, you get what you paid for.

Not a whole lot.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

No doubt.

And I would still much rather bet on Williams than a guy who is already cooked like JoVal or Nurk

Could absolutely go wrong.

But if it goes right you have Luka’s rim runner for the next 6-7 years.

In those cheap options, you get what you paid for.

Not a whole lot.

Both Luka and Williams are really young - That is the reason Phil Jackson didn't like to give a lot of minutes to younger players - Like Andrew Bynum His mind set was that their bodies needed to mature and get stronger - With the correct conditioning program - Luka and Williams have the potential to really be good - Hopefully LeBron can mentor them -

 

[trojanfan12]

Both Luka and Williams are really young - That is the reason Phil Jackson didn't like to give a lot of minutes to younger players - Like Andrew Bynum His mind set was that their bodies needed to mature and get stronger - With the correct conditioning program - Luka and Williams have the potential to really be good - Hopefully LeBron can mentor them -

You know Luka is a 5 time All NBA player, right?

 

[True Lakers Fan]

You know Luka is a 5 time All NBA player, right?

There are some small concerns - but he is only 25- with the right conditioning program - I think he will be fine - The concern can't be that big - considering his record - I have watching him and wishing we could get him - Williams is the bigger concern - but again - conditioning and training and they should be fine - I am thinking that setting a system on the court to avoid injuries as much as possible would be the best if possible

 

[tc1]

No doubt.

And I would still much rather bet on Williams than a guy who is already cooked like JoVal or Nurk

Could absolutely go wrong.

But if it goes right you have Luka’s rim runner for the next 6-7 years.

In those cheap options, you get what you paid for.

Not a whole lot.

Can you think of a player, especially one 7' tall, who was constantly injured in his first 3 years, and who later became a reliable contributor until age 30?

I cannot.

At best, that scenario is exceedingly unlikely. Williams recently sat out multiple consecutive games (not a back-to-back) for load management. At 23. With just 80 career games under his belt.

It will frankly be a miracle if he's in the league at 30.

Blake Griffin was smaller, had less injury history, and was still largely done by age 29 -- certainly with respect to rim running and dunking.

Even Grant Hill was healthy for his first four seasons.

Andrew Bogut was healthy for his first couple seasons.

DeMarcus Cousins was 26 before he started racking up his injury history.

There's probably a 50/50 chance that James plays more games from here out than Williams does.

 

[tc1]

That is the reason Phil Jackson didn't like to give a lot of minutes to younger playerss. His mind set was that their bodies needed to mature and get stronger

This is commonly stated, but not well-supported by facts. Jackson's teams rarely had high-quality young players because they were always very good, and didn't draft high. But when Jackson did have quality young players, he played them. (Note that "young" differs a little by era, 30 years ago it was far less common to see 19 year-olds in the League, than it is today.)

Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant both played huge minutes at age 24.

Stacey King played 22 minutes a night for 82 games as a rookie.

BJ Armstrong played 16 every game as a 22 year-old rookie, while still built like a high school kid.

Scott Williams played 20 in 71 games at age 24, after getting about 700 minutes as a rookie (on a 67 win team ).

Dickey Simpkins averaged 11 over 60 at just 23 (on a 72 win team ) in his second year.

Jackson played the wheels off Bryant from their first season together when Bryant was only 21.

Devean George was a rotation regular at 23, and averaged 22 a game, every game, at age 24.

Kareem Rush averaged 12 over 76 games at just 22 years-old, despite being fairly raw and a rookie.

Medvedenko and Pargo both played very regularly as 23 year olds and averaged about 11 minutes.

Jackson gave Kwame Brown 28 minutes a game over 72, at age 23 (!).

Sasha Vujacic played 18 for 82 games at age 21.

Even Bynum played 22 minutes per game for 82 games, at the tender age of 19 -- which was all his body could ever handle.

Jordan Farmar played 21 for 82 games at age 21.

Etcetera, etcetera. It is actually far easier to find examples of Jackson playing young guys than it is to find the latter. If you could play, Jackson played you. He was way too excellent of a coach to let talent sit on the bench.

 

[tlance]

Can you think of a player, especially one 7' tall, who was constantly injured in his first 3 years, and who later became a reliable contributor until age 30?

I cannot.

At best, that scenario is exceedingly unlikely. Williams recently sat out multiple consecutive games (not a back-to-back) for load management. At 23. With just 80 career games under his belt.

It will frankly be a miracle if he's in the league at 30.

Blake Griffin was smaller, had less injury history, and was still largely done by age 29 -- certainly with respect to rim running and dunking.

Even Grant Hill was healthy for his first four seasons.

Andrew Bogut was healthy for his first couple seasons.

DeMarcus Cousins was 26 before he started racking up his injury history.

There's probably a 50/50 chance that James plays more games from here out than Williams does.

Embiid

 

[shopson67]

There are some small concerns - but he is only 25- with the right conditioning program - I think he will be fine - The concern can't be that big - considering his record - I have watching him and wishing we could get him - Williams is the bigger concern - but again - conditioning and training and they should be fine - I am thinking that setting a system on the court to avoid injuries as much as possible would be the best if possible

The only concern would whether or not Doncic signs the extension, and I don't see any signs he wouldn't. Even if he does, they'll flip him and probably get a bigger haul back than the Mavs did.

I'm not concerned about Williams, other than he needs to improve defensively. Of his injuries, only the back issue from last year is of some concern, but the Lakers are confident he is past that. Everyone sprains ankles, breaks a finger, etc.

 

[tc1]

Embiid

"Reliable"?

On exactly which planet?

 

[True Lakers Fan]

The only concern would whether or not Doncic signs the extension, and I don't see any signs he wouldn't. Even if he does, they'll flip him and probably get a bigger haul back than the Mavs did.

I'm not concerned about Williams, other than he needs to improve defensively. Of his injuries, only the back issue from last year is of some concern, but the Lakers are confident he is past that. Everyone sprains ankles, breaks a finger, etc.

They are both young - so I think additional training and conditioning is in order - I know when my mother passed away back in 2015 - I was in horrible shape - Taking care of her nearly killed me - I was 276 pounds, but with hard work, dieting I am now 217 pounds and am working on losing at least another 30 pounds - I look better in the mirror too - That's what it will take - besides this year, Doncic has one more year and a player option. - Williams locked in for two or three more years - so by then Lebron will be gone and they will be the combo

 

[tlance]

"Reliable"?

On exactly which planet?

He was reliable enough to win an MVP award.

I’m sure the Lakers would take that level of production along with the games missed.

 

[thunderc]

Absolutely, the risk is real and he’s taking the fall if it doesn’t work

I think the talk of this is overblown. No way this trade happened without ownership approval, and that’s at a minimum. For all we know it was ownership involvement.

 

[trojanfan12]

I think the talk of this is overblown. No way this trade happened without ownership approval, and that’s at a minimum. For all we know it was ownership involvement.

From what has been reported, ownership did not want to pay Luka that supermax.

So, while we may not know (and may never know) if ownership approved the final deal, it seems that, at the least, they were onboard with trading Luka.

Also, as we all know, the Mavs were never going to get equal value...but as far as a player coming back, AD is probably as close to equal value as they were going to get.

 

[tc1]

He was reliable enough to win an MVP award.

And there is almost no chance that he will ever even be eligible again. "Reliable" means having more than 1 or 2 great seasons. Bill Walton had 1 or 2 great seasons.

I’m sure the Lakers would take that level of production along with the games missed.

$266M for 448 games, and zero for 5 in the second round? I'm very unsure that the Lakers would want to take that. Fans certainly would not -- certain members of their FO, who are not good at judging what is required to win basketball games, might, unfortunately.

 

[tlance]

And there is almost no chance that he will ever even be eligible again. "Reliable" means having more than 1 or 2 great seasons. Bill Walton had 1 or 2 great seasons.



$266M for 448 games, and zero for 5 in the second round? I'm very unsure that the Lakers would want to take that. Fans certainly would not -- certain members of their FO, who are not good at judging what is required to win basketball games, might, unfortunately.

Embiid had more than 1 or 2 great seasons.

MVP runner up twice, 5 all NBA teams and 7 time all star.

Yes, the Lakers would be thrilled with that.

And if Williams is 80% of that, they will get past the 2nd round for sure.

 

[tc1]

Embiid had more than 1 or 2 great seasons.

MVP runner up twice, 5 all NBA teams and 7 time all star.

Most of those were not "seasons", they were 40 to 50 games.

Embiid is largely the reason that those awards will no longer consider players who miss so many games.

 

[UK Cowboy]

There are some small concerns - but he is only 25- with the right conditioning program - I think he will be fine - The concern can't be that big - considering his record - I have watching him and wishing we could get him - Williams is the bigger concern - but again - conditioning and training and they should be fine - I am thinking that setting a system on the court to avoid injuries as much as possible would be the best if possible

The conditioning thing is way overblown. Luka led the NBA in minutes and played till the Finals. Go back and watch Luka lighting up the TWolves and watch him and Antman go at it. Antman looked like he was in the 15th round of a scheduled 12 round fight

 

[tc1]

Least shocking news of the day: Davis is now out for around a month.

Sources: Mavs new star Davis out multiple weeks

Mavericks star Anthony Davis was expected to sit out multiple weeks because of a left adductor strain, sources told ESPN.

www.espn.com

Welcome to the Anthony Davis experience, MFFLs.