Is Luka for AD the most shocking trade of all time

[tc1]

So far, he's been a AAAA player to use a baseball reference. He has been showing out at the G-league level of late, but is not a good pro at this juncture. He's also a 19 year old kid that missed a sizable portion of his only collegiate year. Does he ever become something? Tough to lock that in. Fully worth it from a Lakers perspective with a late 2nd pick. Enormous jersey sales and the fanbase has embraced him (and keeping Lebron happy is not a bad thing).

I tried to tell other Laker fans before the draft that if James Jr was on the board, the Lakers would absolutely select him -- just to prevent his father from getting any goofy ideas about demanding a trade to whoever owned his son's rights. That alone made the pick worthwhile. People were harping on him not being good enough to be drafted -- and he wasn't, but that didn't matter.

But look around the league -- there are not many 6'2" players, and they are all much quicker than James Jr, much better ball handlers, and much, much better shooters. Except Gabe Vincent, but he also should be playing in the G League as he has zero redeeming value as an NBA player.

 

[tc1]

Bigger than Kareem.

Fun fact about that trade: the Bucks have retired 9 jersey numbers in their history. One-third of them were involved in that trade, with Abdul-Jabbar leaving and Winters and Bridgeman coming in. And it might've been 4 of 10, had Dave Meyers not gone crazy.

 

[shopson67]

I tried to tell other Laker fans before the draft that if James Jr was on the board, the Lakers would absolutely select him -- just to prevent his father from getting any goofy ideas about demanding a trade to whoever owned his son's rights. That alone made the pick worthwhile. People were harping on him not being good enough to be drafted -- and he wasn't, but that didn't matter.

But look around the league -- there are not many 6'2" players, and they are all much quicker than James Jr, much better ball handlers, and much, much better shooters. Except Gabe Vincent, but he also should be playing in the G League as he has zero redeeming value as an NBA player.

Much too harsh on Gabe, who has been playing well of late.

Bronny has the defensive acumen to become a player like Payton Jr eventually (who is also 6'2). He took a lot of time to get there himself.

It is amazing that people were up in arms over a "wasted" pick at the tail end of the 2nd round. Can anyone list players that have made an impact at his draft slot? There aren't many, and certainly not in their first season. Who did they miss by drafting him? The couple of guys picked after him have done nothing yet. Anyone undrafted they had equal shot to land anyway.

 

[DJ Fieri]

I tried to tell other Laker fans before the draft that if James Jr was on the board, the Lakers would absolutely select him -- just to prevent his father from getting any goofy ideas about demanding a trade to whoever owned his son's rights. That alone made the pick worthwhile. People were harping on him not being good enough to be drafted -- and he wasn't, but that didn't matter.

But look around the league -- there are not many 6'2" players, and they are all much quicker than James Jr, much better ball handlers, and much, much better shooters. Except Gabe Vincent, but he also should be playing in the G League as he has zero redeeming value as an NBA player.

Vincent is a good defender and his offense has been coming around this season after a slow start returning from his injury. You are a sure fire troll, if not idiot.

LOL.

 

[DJ Fieri]

There's very little chance that he ever becomes an NBA caliber player, at all. Most late second-round picks do not, especially ones who leave school too early, and damage their development. And the only reason that James Jr was drafted at all was because of his name. The odds of him becoming a useful NBA player are 10,000:1 against.

He almost died a little while back....that slowed his development at USC.

He is already showing signs in the G-League of finding his offensive game (several 30 point games this season) and he has some defensive skill...he could become a good backup as a defensive player and may be able to develop his outside shot. Lonzo was an awful shooter when he came into the League but eventually turned into a good outside shooter.

 

[tlance]

Much too harsh on Gabe, who has been playing well of late.

Bronny has the defensive acumen to become a player like Payton Jr eventually (who is also 6'2). He took a lot of time to get there himself.

It is amazing that people were up in arms over a "wasted" pick at the tail end of the 2nd round. Can anyone list players that have made an impact at his draft slot? There aren't many, and certainly not in their first season. Who did they miss by drafting him? The couple of guys picked after him have done nothing yet. Anyone undrafted they had equal shot to land anyway.

No such thing as a wasted pick in the 2nd round.

I thought somebody might take him a lot sooner as an attempt to lure LeBron.

Jersey sales alone make it worthwhile.

 

[trojanfan12]

I don't see Kyrie going anywhere after this. I'm sure they're telling him 'you're the man' and 'we got AD for you' right now. At the end of the day Kyrie is still Kyrie and AD is still AD and having them together makes a lot of sense as far as running the offense vs two guys who are subtraction by addition. But the Lakers get what they always want which is a superstar to be the face of the franchise. I'd say it's stupid but you've guys won a vault full of trophies with that model. But this guy needs work. I think he's awesome but I don't think he's much better at 25 than he was at like 17. Too bad that there isn't a guy like Jerry West to set him straight for the Lakers to throw at him.

The players, even Lebron seem to listen to JJ and they seem to respect him. Hopefully JJ can help him with that.

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

Fun fact about that trade: the Bucks have retired 9 jersey numbers in their history. One-third of them were involved in that trade, with Abdul-Jabbar leaving and Winters and Bridgeman coming in. And it might've been 4 of 10, had Dave Meyers not gone crazy.

Yep. And I remember it (the trade) well. Kareem wanted out and made no bones about and the Bucks did as well as they probably could have with the deal. Stayed competitive but didn't sniff the playoffs for a few years. And even then, it wasn’t until they brought in Lanier that they were a regular playoff team.

 

[DJ Fieri]

The players, even Lebron seem to listen to JJ and they seem to respect him. Hopefully JJ can help him with that.

Pretty sure Reddick ended his career playing in Dallas with Luka.

 

[tc1]

Much too harsh on Gabe, who has been playing well of late.

There are good reasons why he was undrafted, and has only ever resembled an NBA player for a few weeks, while playing for Spoelstra, who has literally made a career out of utilizing undrafted guys who should not be in the NBA.

No one else even offered Vincent a contract.

Bronny has the defensive acumen to become a player like Payton Jr eventually (who is also 6'2). He took a lot of time to get there himself.

It is amazing that people were up in arms over a "wasted" pick at the tail end of the 2nd round. Can anyone list players that have made an impact at his draft slot? There aren't many, and certainly not in their first season. Who did they miss by drafting him? The couple of guys picked after him have done nothing yet. Anyone undrafted they had equal shot to land anyway.

I'm not up in anything over the pick -- I specifically said that it was worthwhile just to control his rights, so that his father did not acquire any crazy ideas. I don't even mind playing him on opening night, for sentiment. But the kid should be in the G League, working on his game, not getting humiliated playing in the NBA, and not costing the Lakers games, like he did in Philadelphia.

This isn't summer camp, or it isn't supposed to be, anyway. Father-son bonding can happen elsewhere. I'm sure they can both afford a couple fishing rods, or something.

That said, there are undrafted players who routinely make impacts in the NBA. Like, oh say, Austin Reaves. Is there another kid out of there like Reaves, or Caruso, who the Lakers could have drafted instead of James Jr? Probably. Did he wind up signing with some other team? Probably.
I mean, just look at Scottie Pippen Junior. He's been killing it for Memphis. With a little better personnel management, he could be playing the minutes that the Lakers are currently wasting on Vincent and James Jr.

 

[trojanfan12]

Or, take a shot at answering the quiz which you declined. Which Laker free-agent signing won the second-most titles in Purple-and-Gold?

Off the top of my head...Jerry West, Magic, James Worthy and Kobe (although Kobe was technically traded for because it was a draft day trade).

 

[tc1]

Yep. And I remember it (the trade) well. Kareem wanted out and made no bones about

If you mean publicly, then no, that is not accurate. Abdul-Jabbar informed the Bucks that he could not continue to live in Milwaukee, but he told no one else, explicitly to preserve Milwaukee's leverage.

“When I was leaving Milwaukee, I let them know before the season started and I kept my mouth shut. Just to give them an opportunity to make the best deal they could behind closed doors.”

When Kareem wanted out

“They always seem to make the wrong deal.

tsa.substack.com

On of many things Abdul-Jabbar did in his career that would be completely unrecognizable to any modern player. Another was refusing to allow a bidding war (!!!!) for his services between the NBA and ABA. Virtually every athlete since has done everything possible to create bidding wars, and Abdul-Jabbar did the opposite.

and the Bucks did as well as they probably could have with the deal.

One of the best trade-hauls in history for an impending free agent, although dampened by Meyers' early retirement.

 

[tc1]

Off the top of my head...Jerry West, Magic, James Worthy and Kobe (although Kobe was technically traded for because it was a draft day trade).

Do you understand the term "free agent"?

 

[DJ Fieri]

People bitching about conditioning.....I don't see many bitching about Jokic and his conditioning.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not sure what I think of this trade yet. Mostly because I love AD's game and hate losing him.

It was definitely the correct move though. As others have pointed out, this gives the Lakers their "anchor star" and he's just entering his prime.

As @tlance suggested, now it's time to see what the Lakers do with the rest of the roster...not so much this season...but going forward.

As for who "won" the trade... depending on what else they do...this likely ends the "punchers chance" that the Lakers had at a title this season but sets them up to be contenders for the next several years.

For the Mavs, AD would seem to be a great fit for Kyrie and he's been playing at darn near and MVP level this season. So that probably increases their chances this year.

So...a draw (for now)?

It's going to be interesting to see how the Lakers handle the "playmaker/point guard" roles. Obviously, Luka will be the PG, but Lebron and Reaves have been doing well sharing that duty, so they'll have to adjust.

 

[tlance]

People bitching about conditioning.....I don't see many bitching about Jokic and his conditioning.

Jokic doesn’t miss 15 games a year and hasn’t dealt with soft tissue injuries.

Being overweight and having an injury history like Luka’s isn’t reason by itself not to want him, but it is a concern.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Jokic doesn’t miss 15 games a year and hasn’t dealt with soft tissue injuries.

Being overweight and having an injury history like Luka’s isn’t reason by itself not to want him, but it is a concern.

Sure, but he can always get into conditioning as he ages....most superstars do.

Just pointing out he and Jokic have similar body types.

 

[trojanfan12]

Do you understand the term "free agent"?

lol

My bad...got a wake and bake going on and mixed it up with a question about which Lakers stars were drafted by the Lakers.

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

If you mean publicly, then no, that is not accurate. Abdul-Jabbar informed the Bucks that he could not continue to live in Milwaukee, but he told no one else, explicitly to preserve Milwaukee's leverage.

Once again… it was WELL known. Anyone who was around then with an interest in sports was aware that he preferred to be elsewhere... including this 19 year old (at the time) sports junkie.

I don’t do revisionist history, bro.

 

[tc1]

Vincent is a good defender and his offense has been coming around this season after a slow start returning from his injury.

No, he is not a good defender. People call him a good defender because he cannot shoot, nor do anything else at an NBA level, so they figure that must be how snuck onto the court.

More to the point, he's a career 40% shooter -- not from the arc, from everywhere -- and completely useless handling the ball, so he'd have to be Gary Payton Senior defensively to be playable in the NBA, and he very much is not The Glove.