Los Angeles Lakers 2018-2019 Season Thread

[trojanfan12]

Working this evening, so I'll have to watch the replay. Hopefully, I'll have a reason to want to. lol

 

[DJ]

We suck. We may not win another game all season.

 

[DJ]

Working this evening, so I'll have to watch the replay. Hopefully, I'll have a reason to want to. lol

No.

 

[DJ]

Does this team even want to win 40 games this year?

No chance at that, we may not even equal last season's win total.

 

[DJ]

Caruso has been a nice player the last few games.

 

[Retroram52]

And we leave Detroit pretty much sealing the fact that we ain't going to the playoffs this year and may not equal last year's win total.

 

[tomodach10]

And we leave Detroit pretty much sealing the fact that we ain't going to the playoffs this year and may not equal last year's win total.

Yea, let that sink in. Wish we could rewind back to the day we signed LBJ. Most optimism I had in six years. I damn sure wont make that mistake again. I will keep my expectation low until they show me different.

 

[Retroram52]

Well, James maybe one of the top players in the NBA, but as I have stated all along, the Icon's model for building a championship team still includes drafting a foundational group of great young talent and then developing that talent while adding a piece or two or even a FA like James later.

Now hindsight is always 20-10 but James is at the downside of his career and the pieces just are not there to help him like he had in Cleveland and Miami. Thus, this move is being viewed by many in the biz as a colossal mistake and suggestions of a summer trade involving James and say the Clippers are now becoming commonplace.

The premise that many believed would occur with the Lakers is that if we signed a big name, more big names would want to come to join James in the "winning" and when we did sign James, the opposite occurred. Magic and Pelinka managed to miss on the possibility of George signing, we lost the Leonard possibility, we lost the AD possibility, and we may lose the KD possibility and maybe even Thompson.

All the while this was happening, both Magic and Pelinka (whether it was intentional or not) managed to alienate the very young and talented core to the point where they have decided to work on how they look on twitter and Instagram rather than focus on being developed into a winner as Dirk Nowitzke recently stated. James didn't help matters when he went public with his distaste for young players who don't know what it is like to make a run for the playoffs.

Meanwhile Magic and Pelinka signed also-rans like Rondo, Beasely, Stephenson, and KCP while eschewing other better FAs players to fill in the pieces as the fix for helping the only superstar they had. The result: We are worse now than when Kupchack was around. In fact there are articles now bemoaning the path Magic and Pelinka have taken that have resulted in a worse team than the one they had with guys like DeAngelo Russell (who has become an all-star), Lopez, and Randle, who Luke himself begged for Magic to resign.

These same articles that have chronicled the mess that Magic and Pelinka have created also state that perhaps Kupchack should have been retained to work with Magic and show him the ropes. As has been pointed-out by TJF12, the AD debacle alone would probably not have occurred with Kupchak hanging around and regulating a few things.

Granted, there have been a ton of injuries that has not helped the cause of a return to greatness but the fact remains that when a set of young players are always looking over their shoulders for their "traded" notice to be issued, they aren't in the best of mind-sets to want to come out every night and give a full-blown, balls-out effort or focus on any sort of push-to-the-playoffs mentality.

So essentially, we are back to Square One in some respects. And If I were Jeannie Buss, I would star over, by firing Magic and Pelinka, move Luke, trade James for whatever I could get, and then I would then call the Icon and ask him to come in and be a consultant and repair the damage they did to him when he offered his services before they hired Magic and Pelinka and emphatically told him NO.

 

[wildturkey]

We suck. We may not win another game all season.

Good. Need that top 10 pick

 

[trojanfan12]

Caruso has been a nice player the last few games.

He has been before too. Problem is, he eventually shows why he splits time between the G-League and the NBA.

 

[trojanfan12]

Well, James maybe one of the top players in the NBA, but as I have stated all along, the Icon's model for building a championship team still includes drafting a foundational group of great young talent and then developing that talent while adding a piece or two or even a FA like James later.

Lebron was available when he was available and Kobe wasn't exactly developed when The Logo brought in Shaq. When you have a chance to add an all time great who is still the best player in the game, or at least top 2-5, you do it...Every. Single. Time.

For the Shaq/Kobe era, we got the top FA in the game and added 2 of the "foundational parts" that same off-season by drafting Kobe and D-Fish.

The Lakers getting Ingram, Kuz, Ball and Hart before signing Lebron is actually a lot closer to what you describe here than what The Logo actually did when he built the Shaq/Kobe Lakers.

Now hindsight is always 20-10 but James is at the downside of his career and the pieces just are not there to help him like he had in Cleveland and Miami. Thus, this move is being viewed by many in the biz as a colossal mistake and suggestions of a summer trade involving James and say the Clippers are now becoming commonplace.

I have yet to hear one person say that signing Lebron was a colossal mistake. Lebron may not be "prime Lebron" anymore, but he is still, at worst, a top 2-5 player in the league. He's averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game.

Talk of trading Lebron, especially to the Clippers, is just fodder for internet clicks and talk show interest. No one is seriously suggesting that the Lakers trade Lebron after one injury riddled season.

The premise that many believed would occur with the Lakers is that if we signed a big name, more big names would want to come to join James in the "winning" and when we did sign James, the opposite occurred. Magic and Pelinka managed to miss on the possibility of George signing, we lost the Leonard possibility, we lost the AD possibility, and we may lose the KD possibility and maybe even Thompson.

Actually, the opposite didn't really occur, but it may. PG, who was the main focus other than Lebron, signed at 12:01 am on the first day he of free agency. Based on reports that Magic was sitting in Lebron's driveway waiting for it to be midnight, PG was agreeing to terms with OKC while Magic was walking up to Lebron's door. PG staying in OKC had nothing to do with Lebron. As he said himself, he didn't feel that the Lakers tried hard enough to trade for him and that he was overwhelmed by the reception he got from OKC fans, the organization and Westbrook himself. KD was never going to do anything but re-sign with the Warriors for another season, they had just won their 2nd title in a row.

Having said that, because of the AD debacle and his obvious role in it, Lebron has some serious work to do the rest of this season and in the off-season if the Lakers are to sign a top level FA. He is going to have to recruit his ass off with some of the better players and he's going to have to try to mend things with the Lakers kids. In short, he and Rich Paul made a mess and they are the only ones who can clean it up. Magic can talk to players and turn on his charm, but at the end of the day, those players aren't going to be on the floor with him, they are going to be on the floor with Lebron and that's who they are going to need to hear from.

All the while this was happening, both Magic and Pelinka (whether it was intentional or not) managed to alienate the very young and talented core to the point where they have decided to work on how they look on twitter and Instagram rather than focus on being developed into a winner as Dirk Nowitzke recently stated. James didn't help matters when he went public with his distaste for young players who don't know what it is like to make a run for the playoffs.

I don't believe Magic and Pelinka alienated anyone. That was Lebron and Rich Paul. Before all of the injuries started, this team was playing good basketball and was actually ahead of schedule. This was even after the supposed "dressing down/heated exchange" between Magic and Luke.

The problem for Magic and Pelinka has been their inexperience. When the AD debacle started spinning out of control, they didn't know how to stop it and the Pels (especially Demps), who were butthurt and petty over AD wanting out, decided to get revenge by embarrassing the Lakers. It's since come out that many of the "leaks" that were attributed to the Lakers, actually came from the Pels and some of them weren't even true.

Demps got fired shortly afterwards, but he got revenge on the Lakers, so he has that going for him. Which is nice. lol

Meanwhile Magic and Pelinka signed also-rans like Rondo, Beasely, Stephenson, and KCP while eschewing other better FAs players to fill in the pieces as the fix for helping the only superstar they had. The result: We are worse now than when Kupchack was around. In fact there are articles now bemoaning the path Magic and Pelinka have taken that have resulted in a worse team than the one they had with guys like DeAngelo Russell (who has become an all-star), Lopez, and Randle, who Luke himself begged for Magic to resign.

Injuries are the reason this team is worse. While some of the signings were of the head scratching variety, the fact is that, when everyone was healthy, it was working. None of those guys are/were intended to be anything but 1 year place holders. I actually find it hilarious that people are so focused on that. I mean, at the time they were signed, how many of those guys do they honestly think was going to be around for more than just this season.

D-Lo has to go for 2 reasons. First, he had lost the trust of his teammates because of the incident with Swaggy P. Second, in order to create the space to be able to sign 2 max players, they had to unload Mozgov or Deng. They were able to unload Mozgov, but the cost of that was D-Lo.

As for Lopez and Randle...everyone here knows that I was hoping that they would find a way to keep Randle. They even made a qualifying offer to him. However, when he realized that they didn't have the plans for him that he wanted, he asked for them to rescind their rights so that he could be a UFA and the Lakers were gracious enough to grant him that.

Lopez was a bit of an oversight, imo. He wasn't going to be the difference in making the playoffs or not, but he's a solid 3 point shooter and the Lakers could have used that. Plus, he had said that he'd consider coming back if the Lakers got Lebron. Really not sure why other than McGee is a much better defender and rebounder than Lopez and the Lakers were looking for defense. Imo, they should have signed both. McGee for his defense/rebounding and Lopez for his offense.

These same articles that have chronicled the mess that Magic and Pelinka have created also state that perhaps Kupchack should have been retained to work with Magic and show him the ropes. As has been pointed-out by TJF12, the AD debacle alone would probably not have occurred with Kupchak hanging around and regulating a few things.

They definitely should have found a way to retain Mitch. That much is clear. But they didn't and you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Granted, there have been a ton of injuries that has not helped the cause of a return to greatness but the fact remains that when a set of young players are always looking over their shoulders for their "traded" notice to be issued, they aren't in the best of mind-sets to want to come out every night and give a full-blown, balls-out effort or focus on any sort of push-to-the-playoffs mentality.

So essentially, we are back to Square One in some respects. And If I were Jeannie Buss, I would star over, by firing Magic and Pelinka, move Luke, trade James for whatever I could get, and then I would then call the Icon and ask him to come in and be a consultant and repair the damage they did to him when he offered his services before they hired Magic and Pelinka and emphatically told him NO.

Firing Magic and Pelinka would be a panic move and would signal that the Lakers still have no consistency in the FO. The appearance of lacking consistency in the FO would, imo, actually be worse than what has happened this year. Trading Lebron would also be a panic move since the teams that the Lakers could get the best return from are likely to be teams that would likely result in Lebron retiring than actually playing for them.

As for Luke, he doesn't deserve to be fired, but he probably will be. I hope that Jeanie steps in and stops him being fired or that Magic and Pelinka look at the injuries, the AD debacle and their own mistakes and realize that Luke isn't the problem.

Let's not forget the mess that Short Buss made that Magic and Pelinka have had to try to clean up.

When they took over, the Lakers had little to no cap space, very few picks and had what? 4 coaching changes in 6 years? From that, they have been able to bring in a nice young core of Ball, Ingram, Kuzma and Hart. Created cap space for 2 max level players and signed, at the time, the best player in the game.

No doubt they have made some "rookie mistakes" that they need to learn from and do better going forward, but at this point, after one injury riddled season, firing them would be a mistake and send the wrong message to the team and the league.

 

[tomodach10]

Well, James maybe one of the top players in the NBA, but as I have stated all along, the Icon's model for building a championship team still includes drafting a foundational group of great young talent and then developing that talent while adding a piece or two or even a FA like James later.

Now hindsight is always 20-10 but James is at the downside of his career and the pieces just are not there to help him like he had in Cleveland and Miami. Thus, this move is being viewed by many in the biz as a colossal mistake and suggestions of a summer trade involving James and say the Clippers are now becoming commonplace.

The premise that many believed would occur with the Lakers is that if we signed a big name, more big names would want to come to join James in the "winning" and when we did sign James, the opposite occurred. Magic and Pelinka managed to miss on the possibility of George signing, we lost the Leonard possibility, we lost the AD possibility, and we may lose the KD possibility and maybe even Thompson.

All the while this was happening, both Magic and Pelinka (whether it was intentional or not) managed to alienate the very young and talented core to the point where they have decided to work on how they look on twitter and Instagram rather than focus on being developed into a winner as Dirk Nowitzke recently stated. James didn't help matters when he went public with his distaste for young players who don't know what it is like to make a run for the playoffs.

Meanwhile Magic and Pelinka signed also-rans like Rondo, Beasely, Stephenson, and KCP while eschewing other better FAs players to fill in the pieces as the fix for helping the only superstar they had. The result: We are worse now than when Kupchack was around. In fact there are articles now bemoaning the path Magic and Pelinka have taken that have resulted in a worse team than the one they had with guys like DeAngelo Russell (who has become an all-star), Lopez, and Randle, who Luke himself begged for Magic to resign.

These same articles that have chronicled the mess that Magic and Pelinka have created also state that perhaps Kupchack should have been retained to work with Magic and show him the ropes. As has been pointed-out by TJF12, the AD debacle alone would probably not have occurred with Kupchak hanging around and regulating a few things.

Granted, there have been a ton of injuries that has not helped the cause of a return to greatness but the fact remains that when a set of young players are always looking over their shoulders for their "traded" notice to be issued, they aren't in the best of mind-sets to want to come out every night and give a full-blown, balls-out effort or focus on any sort of push-to-the-playoffs mentality.

So essentially, we are back to Square One in some respects. And If I were Jeannie Buss, I would star over, by firing Magic and Pelinka, move Luke, trade James for whatever I could get, and then I would then call the Icon and ask him to come in and be a consultant and repair the damage they did to him when he offered his services before they hired Magic and Pelinka and emphatically told him NO.

Hindsight is 20-20

I agree mistakes have been made. But do you think if any team in the league had a chance to get an all time great who is not passed his prime, they would not jump at the chance?? And if Buss panicked and traded james, and fired Magic and Rod, that would be one of the dumbest moves in Laker history. You don't gut everything and start over beacuse of one bad season. What free agent n their right mind would want to come here??? Improvements to the team and managment have to be made, but not like that.

 

[DJ]

Kuz expanding his game, folks.....10 assists on Friday vs the Pistons.

 

[DJ]

Love Andre Ingram, great feel good story at this point in the season.

 

[DJ]

It's an early game and James opens up with the scoring.

 

[DJ]

I think James goes for 45-50 today.

 

[DJ]

There are no easy games lately...

 

[DJ]

James is averaging 27, 9, and 9 since returning from his injury....

 

[DJ]

@Retroram52 you working or over this season?

 

[DJ]

With the 43 million we have available this summer.....I don't even know if we need a star.

Maybe a player like Redick and Jordan......gives us shooting, rebounding, and defense. Redick could score 16-17ppg and Jordan can chip in with 12-13ppg in addition to his rebounding and defense.

Plus the kids will be a year older and continue to mature.