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Lakers 2018 Off-Season Thread

wildturkey

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Your forgetting, the problem with Cleveland was the defense the lakers are trying to give LBJ defensive players. You need defense. That was clevelands problem.

I'm not forgetting at all. You're being a prisoner of the moment and only thinking of the most recent Lebron team. This goes beyond whatever happened with the 2018 Cavs and its being really shortsighted to just look at that and say "They failed so do the opposite". Lebron has been in the league what, 15 years? We have a book on him by now where we all know what works and what doesn't. When he's at his best, when he's won titles, he has versatile shooters around him because he's the supreme PG. He attracts so much attention that it makes it impossible to guard the entire floor if there's guys parked all along the floor that can knock it down from anywhere. Doesn't matter if it Korver, Frye, Richard Jefferson, Ray Allen, JR Smith, Shane Battier, etc. They're all guys that can shoot and are good team defenders. Those are the types of players you sign when you have a player like Lebron, not defensive specialist that struggle putting the ball in the net. You need guys that can do both.
 

tomodach10

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I'm not forgetting at all. You're being a prisoner of the moment and only thinking of the most recent Lebron team. This goes beyond whatever happened with the 2018 Cavs and its being really shortsighted to just look at that and say "They failed so do the opposite". Lebron has been in the league what, 15 years? We have a book on him by now where we all know what works and what doesn't. When he's at his best, when he's won titles, he has versatile shooters around him because he's the supreme PG. He attracts so much attention that it makes it impossible to guard the entire floor if there's guys parked all along the floor that can knock it down from anywhere. Doesn't matter if it Korver, Frye, Richard Jefferson, Ray Allen, JR Smith, Shane Battier, etc. They're all guys that can shoot and are good team defenders. Those are the types of players you sign when you have a player like Lebron, not defensive specialist that struggle putting the ball in the net. You need guys that can do both.

The lakers drafted outside shooters plus you have kuzma and hart. You need defensive stoppers as well. I have no problem with having Rondo or Lance. You have to defense GS and other west coast team. Also, like you said, Lebron has been in the league 15 years. What worked before wont work now. LEBRON is older and cannot be the supreme PG anymore. I think you are a prisoner of the past.
 

wildturkey

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The lakers drafted outside shooters plus you have kuzma and hart. You need defensive stoppers as well. I have no problem with having Rondo or Lance. You have to defense GS and other west coast team. Also, like you said, Lebron has been in the league 15 years. What worked before wont work now. LEBRON is older and cannot be the supreme PG anymore. I think you are a prisoner of the past.

It worked just two years ago and probably could have kept going had Cleveland not been stupid and traded away Kyrie Irving which lead to the mess of a roster you saw last season. And Lebron literally just had one of the best season performances ever but now he's old and can't do it any more? Stop with that nonsense. You don't need defensive stoppers. They get schemed off the floor because its far too easy to take them out of a play on offense and you're left playing 3 on 5 or 4 on 5. Whatever gains you make on defense with them are negated. Specialists are being phased out of the league and have been for quite some time now. It's why you don't see many traditional big men anymore. It's why you don't see hardly any enforcer wing types. You need guys that can do BOTH of shooting and defending. That's why the Lakers signing post-Lebron are getting questioned and examined by every rational pundit and fan that isn't just a blind homer. The players they have signed don't fit that description
 

shopson67

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It worked just two years ago and probably could have kept going had Cleveland not been stupid and traded away Kyrie Irving which lead to the mess of a roster you saw last season. And Lebron literally just had one of the best season performances ever but now he's old and can't do it any more? Stop with that nonsense. You don't need defensive stoppers. They get schemed off the floor because its far too easy to take them out of a play on offense and you're left playing 3 on 5 or 4 on 5. Whatever gains you make on defense with them are negated. Specialists are being phased out of the league and have been for quite some time now. It's why you don't see many traditional big men anymore. It's why you don't see hardly any enforcer wing types. You need guys that can do BOTH of shooting and defending. That's why the Lakers signing post-Lebron are getting questioned and examined by every rational pundit and fan that isn't just a blind homer. The players they have signed don't fit that description

Who should the Lakers have signed that were available 3&D players then? There were precious few available anyway, and they weren't in the Lakers' price range. The Lakers signed the next best things to 1 year contracts and pushed the cap flexibility to next year.
 

wildturkey

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Who should the Lakers have signed that were available 3&D players then? There were precious few available anyway, and they weren't in the Lakers' price range. The Lakers signed the next best things to 1 year contracts and pushed the cap flexibility to next year.

JJ Redick, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah A Moute, Avery Bradley, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Tolliver, the list goes on. Plenty of them signed 1 year deals in the same ballpark the Lakers got their free agents as well. It wasn't a barren wasteland. Don't play dumb. I know you're smarter than that. There were a lot of guys out there that complemented Lebron James better than the ones we got. Not just backcourt/wings either, centers too. Guys like Kyle O'Quinn or Bjelica have more versatility than McGee. A couple of them are still out there (Ellington and Mbah A Moute) and they will be really foolish if they don't use what they have left cap wise to take a stab at them
 

tomodach10

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JJ Redick, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah A Moute, Avery Bradley, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Tolliver, the list goes on. Plenty of them signed 1 year deals in the same ballpark the Lakers got their free agents as well. It wasn't a barren wasteland. Don't play dumb. I know you're smarter than that. There were a lot of guys out there that complemented Lebron James better than the ones we got. Not just backcourt/wings either, centers too. Guys like Kyle O'Quinn or Bjelica have more versatility than McGee. A couple of them are still out there (Ellington and Mbah A Moute) and they will be really foolish if they don't use what they have left cap wise to take a stab at them
You are so argumentative and condescending sometimes when some dont agree with you.
 

wildturkey

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You are so argumentative and condescending sometimes when some dont agree with you.

Ridiculous! How dare you make such an accusation. ;)


Seriously though, if you think that's bad, you might want to steer clear of the politics forum.
 

Retroram52

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tomodach10

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I know it is only summer league, but Josh Hart is such a draft steal and his outside shot is back to what I saw at Villanova. He was a great outside shooter and defender. By getting valuable playing time last year due to injuries, he progressing nicely. Great draft 2017!!
 

Retroram52

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Yea, Tomodach. That summer league is displaying some pretty good draft talent and showcasing some guys that have not played as much due to various circumstances of whom is Josh Hart. Magic/Pelinka have somewhat assemble a pretty stout team at least on paper. Hopefully it becomes the beast we all are hoping for anyways.
 

tomodach10

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Yea, Tomodach. That summer league is displaying some pretty good draft talent and showcasing some guys that have not played as much due to various circumstances of whom is Josh Hart. Magic/Pelinka have somewhat assemble a pretty stout team at least on paper. Hopefully it becomes the beast we all are hoping for anyways.


Can you say Playoffs!!!!! Boy that sounds so good after the last 5+ years.
 

tomodach10

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It worked just two years ago and probably could have kept going had Cleveland not been stupid and traded away Kyrie Irving which lead to the mess of a roster you saw last season. And Lebron literally just had one of the best season performances ever but now he's old and can't do it any more? Stop with that nonsense. You don't need defensive stoppers. They get schemed off the floor because its far too easy to take them out of a play on offense and you're left playing 3 on 5 or 4 on 5. Whatever gains you make on defense with them are negated. Specialists are being phased out of the league and have been for quite some time now. It's why you don't see many traditional big men anymore. It's why you don't see hardly any enforcer wing types. You need guys that can do BOTH of shooting and defending. That's why the Lakers signing post-Lebron are getting questioned and examined by every rational pundit and fan that isn't just a blind homer. The players they have signed don't fit that description
Here you go. This is the Lakers plan:

Pelinka: Lakers designed to combat Warriors
 

ANGELAKERAMS

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I know it's only summer league games, but the Ayers kid has some game as well.

Lakers probably don't have a spot for him, but maybe some other team will pick him up and give him a shot.

He had a really good game against the Knicks
 

DJ Fieri

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shopson67

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JJ Redick, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah A Moute, Avery Bradley, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Tolliver, the list goes on. Plenty of them signed 1 year deals in the same ballpark the Lakers got their free agents as well. It wasn't a barren wasteland. Don't play dumb. I know you're smarter than that. There were a lot of guys out there that complemented Lebron James better than the ones we got. Not just backcourt/wings either, centers too. Guys like Kyle O'Quinn or Bjelica have more versatility than McGee. A couple of them are still out there (Ellington and Mbah A Moute) and they will be really foolish if they don't use what they have left cap wise to take a stab at them

Redick wasn't leaving. Ariza got $15M and left as soon as he saw that offer. Mbah isn't much of a shooter (career .336 from 3). Bradley got $13M. Evans got $12M. Tolliver is a PF, so not really in the discussion here, but could've been a nice addition. I did want O'Quinn, didn't appear that the Lakers were considering him.

Those guys were out of the range the Lakers were looking to spend, and a few of them got more than a 1 year deal. They were in the range of KCP's contract, but well beyond Rondo's 9m or Stephenson's 4.5m (or McGee's vet min). Lakers weren't looking for versatility from McGee; they wanted a rim-running shot blocker.

Lakers have only their space exception left ($4.5M); they have effectively used up their cap space. They need PF/C depth more than anything else at this point (if they choose to use that 15th spot, they haven't always done so in the past).
 

wildturkey

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Redick wasn't leaving. Ariza got $15M and left as soon as he saw that offer. Mbah isn't much of a shooter (career .336 from 3). Bradley got $13M. Evans got $12M. Tolliver is a PF, so not really in the discussion here, but could've been a nice addition. I did want O'Quinn, didn't appear that the Lakers were considering him.

Those guys were out of the range the Lakers were looking to spend, and a few of them got more than a 1 year deal. They were in the range of KCP's contract, but well beyond Rondo's 9m or Stephenson's 4.5m (or McGee's vet min). Lakers weren't looking for versatility from McGee; they wanted a rim-running shot blocker.

Lakers have only their space exception left ($4.5M); they have effectively used up their cap space. They need PF/C depth more than anything else at this point (if they choose to use that 15th spot, they haven't always done so in the past).

You're really stretching yourself to say all of those players were out of the Lakers range considering the amount of cap room they started with (and some other stretches as well*). They're all better players and better fits because they can provide shooting and defense. They can talk about defensive toughness and depth all they want but it doesn't change that Rondo has been a shell of himself for years and that Lance has never been good to begin with (only been competent in Indy, a disaster everywhere else). The better players out there weren't out of the Lakers range. The Lakers chose not to go for them. That's a mistake if you're actually trying to win this year.

The fact that those players are what we came back with tells me they aren't that serious about competing this year. They're just getting players to fill a slot for one year, ride the younger guys (or have something in place if they trade the younger guys this season), and put something better together next year. They can't outright say that because no team ever admits to punting a year (unless your the Sixers, TRUST THE PROCESS). That's fine in a vacuum. But when you have Lebron, you should go for it every year, imo, especially given his age. They could have still gotten some of those other players on one year deals with the cap space they had, kept the younger guys, and been in a better position this year and down the road.

I just have a really hard time seeing how Rondo, Stephensen, and McGee are the best the team can come up with.

*Quick couple of points: Mbah A Moute has shot better the last couple of years and is really good from corner spots. His last year with the Clippers and in Houston they were better with him on the floor. Also, Tolliver can play either forward spot and in a real crunch wouldn't be the worst smallball center. He's got some versatility. Not sure why you think him being a PF takes him out of the discussion unless you're talking exclusively about guard pick ups.
 
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