2017 strategy ideas thread

1. KCP will not play for the first 2 games, I really want to see Josh Hart to play the bulk of those minutes because I feel he is disciplined and matured enough to read and react. I think he has a chance to be an accurate perimeter shooter and I've been impressed that he just don't rely from the 3pt area, that he has a nice pull up from 15 feet.
2. Yes, I like Kuzma too but for me its not whether he starts or not, the important thing for me is that he plays more minutes.
3. Put Brook and Ingram in the same side. Lopez pulls his defender out of the paint bec of his ability to shoot, this creates enough space for Ingram to operate. It's foolish for Brandon to simply wait for the ball in the perimeter and do iso's. He needs to flash from the weakside, use some picks from the PF etc.
4. Take advantage of Clarkson's motor At times, he should leak out and get quick outlet passes from Ball for easy baskets
5. Trade Brewer for a future 2nd rounder. There is huge log jam for wing players that Cory is the odd man out, esp bec of inability to shoot and he's a mimic role of their 19 Million player.

Ball/KCP/Ingram/Nance Jr/Lopez
Ennis/Clarkson/Brewer/Kuzma/Randle
Caruso/Hart/Deng/Bryant/Zubac

Bogut - player/coach

I would try to trade Randle for a 1st rounder or trade Randle/brewer/Clarkson together for an upgrade elsewhere. Randle is expendable all of a sudden with the team we have. Nance will be better backup with what he brings to the table. I don't want Randle as a backup. I would try to sell high Randle for someone else we can use at the 2. KCP is just a 1yr rental. Clarkson is not long term answer at the 2 position.

We will need someone viable at the 2 so why not shop Randle to upgrade the 2? Clears a lockjam at the 4 and upgrades the 2 - 2 birds with 1 stone.

[QUOTE=bladefd]I would try to trade Randle for a 1st rounder or trade Randle/brewer/Clarkson together for an upgrade elsewhere. Randle is expendable all of a sudden with the team we have. Nance will be better backup with what he brings to the table. I don't want Randle as a backup. [U][B]I would try to sell high Randle for someone else we can use at the 2. [/B][/U]KCP is just a 1yr rental. Clarkson is not long term answer at the 2 position.

[U][B]We will need someone viable at the 2 so why not shop Randle to upgrade the 2? Clears a lockjam at the 4 and upgrades the 2 - 2 birds with 1 stone[/B][/U].[/QUOTE]

I really want to know the name of the SG that you have in mind because they are like gold right now because of their ability to space the floor.
Is it Devin Booker? I just don't see Phoenix doing it because a player of that caliber is very hard to replace. Who else? and why would their teams part with them?
In contrast, Lopez, Nurkic, Howard etc, wouldn't have been traded if they played in the 80's-90's, because back then they were the prized ones, scoring a high % demanding double teams etc.
If you don't like Randle, JC etc, there's a huge chance teams wouldn't want them too, esp now with advanced stat are easy to procure

[QUOTE=tamaraw08]I really want to know the name of the SG that you have in mind because they are like gold right now because of their ability to space the floor.
Is it Devin Booker? I just don't see Phoenix doing it because a player of that caliber is very hard to replace. Who else? and why would their teams part with them?
In contrast, Lopez, Nurkic, Howard etc, wouldn't have been traded if they played in the 80's-90's, because back then they were the prized ones, scoring a high % demanding double teams etc.
If you don't like Randle, JC etc, there's a huge chance teams wouldn't want them too, esp now with advanced stat are easy to procure[/QUOTE]

You are probably right on that. Nobody is going to just hand us a. 2-guard who can spread the floor for someone like Randle who is playing a position no longer valued as it once was. PG13 is too much to bet on even though he would be perfect fit for this team.

Our best bet is to trade for a 1st rounder. Maybe 20th pick or so range and find the best 2-guard around there in draft. We can find some takers willing to give us an early 2nd rounder for JC and a late first rounder for Randle. Then we could trade both picks to a rebuilding team to move up in draft 5-6 slots in 1st round. That is a viable way to landing a fairly solid 2. I was badly hoping that guy would be Josh Hart, but I don't see him being the answer so far from what I have seen from him.

[QUOTE=bladefd]You are probably right on that. Nobody is going to just hand us a. 2-guard who can spread the floor for someone like Randle who is playing a position no longer valued as it once was. PG13 is too much to bet on even though he would be perfect fit for this team.

Our best bet is to trade for a 1st rounder. Maybe 20th pick or so range and find the best 2-guard around there in draft. We can find some takers willing to give us an early 2nd rounder for JC and a late first rounder for Randle. Then we could trade both picks to a rebuilding team to move up in draft 5-6 slots in 1st round. That is a viable way to landing a fairly solid 2. [U][B]I was badly hoping that guy would be Josh Hart, but I don't see him being the answer so far from what I have seen from him.[/B][/U][/QUOTE]

Are just messing with me?:eek:
That was one of my main points, to play Josh Hart and give him enough minutes esp with Lonzo and Brook. He has played ZERO regular season minutes and very limited time with their best PG and arguably the best shooter in Lopez. No, I don't think he's the next Klay or Devin Booker but if he can shoot in the 36-37% range from the 3pt area and play solid defense with minimal mistakes, I think he has a chance to be a good rotational piece like Danny Green.

[QUOTE=tamaraw08]Are just messing with me?:eek:
That was one of my main points, to play Josh Hart and give him enough minutes esp with Lonzo and Brook. He has played ZERO regular season minutes and very limited time with their best PG and arguably the best shooter in Lopez. No, I don't think he's the next Klay or Devin Booker but if he can shoot in the 36-37% range from the 3pt area and play solid defense with minimal mistakes, I think he has a chance to be a good rotational piece like Danny Green.[/QUOTE]

Can he be better than JC though? He would need to be an upgrade over JC.. I mean sure he can be a rotational player but I don't know if he is a starter type of player in the nba. Still have to see him in regular season.

One good thing is that he would make JC expendable if he is at least as good as JC. I would definitely look to trade Clarkson for a late 1st rounder or at least early 2nd rounder (preferably try to deal him like we dealt Lou for a huge 1st round pick we turned into Kuzma).

[QUOTE=bladefd]Can he be better than JC though? He would need to be an upgrade over JC.. I mean sure he can be a rotational player but I don't know if he is a starter type of player in the nba. Still have to see him in regular season.

One good thing is that he would make JC expendable if he is at least as good as JC. I would definitely look to trade Clarkson for a late 1st rounder or at least early 2nd rounder (preferably try to deal him like we dealt Lou for a huge 1st round pick we turned into Kuzma).[/QUOTE]

They have different strengths. If Ingram have the fast motor and vertical leap of Clarkson, he would be a much better player right now.
Clarkson however have failed the past 3 years in proving that he is a reliable 3pt shooter which is a MUST for a SG right now. Although he has a very good work ethic and shows a lot of respect for his coaches, I think he has a hard time properly executing defensive schemes.
Hart is obviously a slower and less athletic guard but this allows him to be less wild and be more deliberate esp on offense. Time will tell if he can really drill those perimeter jumpers. In College, he showed he can play good defense but yes, he is against much better competition now.
It would be great if the scouts/Pelinka can find the next Jonathan Simmons from the G league anytime soon.

First game notes..

-waaaay too many turnovers. I saw lots of sloppy passes. I am surprised we only had 19 turnovers. I felt like we had 30 turnovers tbh. Sloppy careless passes MUST stop.
-we gave waaaay too many 2nd chance opportunities, which shot us in the foot. We kept giving them 2nd chance after 2nd chance
-missed too many wide open shots. I found it discouraging to miss as many open shots as we did
-only shot around 60% from freethrow line as a team. Can we at least get it up to 70%? It's freethrows, men! Freethrows..
-guys like Lonzo/kuzma need to calm down and not get lost in the moment. I think they will be better going forward. Ball seemed bit rattled by Beverly but hard to say from body language
-what happened to Randle? Did he take a step back or is it the injury or what? I am very much baffled with how much he looks like last year. Same with Ingram.
-Lopez needs to be used just like he was today. His offense looks like he can provide some semblance of consistency offensively. Clarkson showed too
-kcp is returning soon from suspension and we badly need a solid perimeter defender. I hope he can provide some halfway decent defense playing the 2.

I think having KCP out there last night really helped them. He's going to get a lot of opportunities this season. Seeing him play well kind of softens the blow from the Russell trade trade (since he's putting up pretty decent numbers thus far). They need to keep playing KCP and Lonzo together. Let them try to get some chemistry. While KCP is kind of a one year rental, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility that the Lakers could resign him next off season. If they don't land the players that they want he is an option.

Luke needs to make sure to keep giving Kuzma minutes too. He's just played too well and is clearly one of the better scorers on the team. He's the future. It's pretty obvious it's not Nance or Randle at this point. Next season Randle will be on another team and Nance will be the backup PF.

Clarkson seems to do really well in that 6th man spot. I like what they're doing with him so far.

Ingram has been a complete bust so far. He's had one good game this month. The preseason was terrible and the other two regular season games were terrible. They're going to have to give him a bit of a chance because if he can't get better then they're going to have to really consider trading him before he's not worth anything. I'm not quite ready to give up on him yet since the season is early, but he's really going to have to pick it up.

[QUOTE=dd24]I think having KCP out there last night really helped them. He's going to get a lot of opportunities this season. Seeing him play well kind of softens the blow from the Russell trade trade (since he's putting up pretty decent numbers thus far). They need to keep playing KCP and Lonzo together. Let them try to get some chemistry. While KCP is kind of a one year rental, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility that the Lakers could resign him next off season. If they don't land the players that they want he is an option.

Luke needs to make sure to keep giving Kuzma minutes too. He's just played too well and is clearly one of the better scorers on the team. He's the future. It's pretty obvious it's not Nance or Randle at this point. Next season Randle will be on another team and [B]Nance will be the backup PF. [/B]

Clarkson seems to do really well in that 6th man spot. I like what they're doing with him so far.

Ingram has been a complete bust so far. He's had one good game this month. The preseason was terrible and the other two regular season games were terrible. They're going to have to give him a bit of a chance because if he can't get better then they're going to have to really consider trading him before he's not worth anything. I'm not quite ready to give up on him yet since the season is early, but he's really going to have to pick it up.[/QUOTE]

Nance can be starting PF next season for Lakers IMO. He has to improve further offensively and develop some consistency in the scoring department - defensively he is good enough to start.

Kuzma is more of a 3. I don't see Ingram ever moving up to 4 so his development will determine whether he or Kuzma will start at the 3 going forward.. I'm already thinking Kuzma should start over Ingram for now and Ingram can come off the bench.

At this point, Ingram will surely never become a superstar. If he could be, he would have shown it by now. I'm still leaving open the window to potentiality become a star, but if he is still like this next season then I'm starting to consider him a bust. I think it's fair to give him until the 3rd year to figure it out.

As for Randle, I don't know how that will go down.. Nobody will trade pieces for a 1yr rental so I'm afraid we will have to wait until off-season and let him walk. He won't sign for cheap with Lakers and I wouldn't expect him to. It irritates me that we couldn't find a suitor for him over the summer. I would have gladly taken future late-1st rounder for him, but it might be too late now unless if he is part of a package deal..

I would have much rather moved Randle than Russell. If Kuzma starts at SF that leaves no room for Ingram. I don't think Ingram will ever be able to play PF. I think it's a mistake having him play SG like they did some too. I agree though, if Ingram was going to be a superstar he would have shown a lot more already. Look at what Ben Simmons did today. Triple double. Made it look easy. You can tell he's going to be very good right away. If he develops his outside shot he's going to dominate. I haven't seen much of that from Ingram.

[QUOTE=bladefd]Nance can be starting PF next season for Lakers IMO. He has to improve further offensively and develop some consistency in the scoring department - defensively he is good enough to start.

Kuzma is more of a 3. I don't see Ingram ever moving up to 4 so his development will determine whether he or Kuzma will start at the 3 going forward.. I'm already thinking Kuzma should start over Ingram for now and Ingram can come off the bench.

At this point, Ingram will surely never become a superstar. If he could be, he would have shown it by now. I'm still leaving open the window to potentiality become a star, but if he is still like this next season then I'm starting to consider him a bust. I think it's fair to give him until the 3rd year to figure it out.

As for Randle, I don't know how that will go down.. Nobody will trade pieces for a 1yr rental so I'm afraid we will have to wait until off-season and let him walk. He won't sign for cheap with Lakers and I wouldn't expect him to. It irritates me that we couldn't find a suitor for him over the summer. I would have gladly taken future late-1st rounder for him, but it might be too late now unless if he is part of a package deal..[/QUOTE]

I love Nance's hustle but I am very disappointed with his lack of growth esp when he said worked very hard in improving his shooting in the summer.

It doesn't matter to me if Kuzma starts or not. He is playing great coming from the bench developing good chemistry with JC, out playing the oppositions bench guys so I'm not sure breaking that trend is a good idea. On the other hand, he can now develop that chemistry with Ball and the other starters but what really matters to me is that Kuzma plays atleast 30 mins per game.
The most ironic thing is that I was the biggest Brandon Ingram critic last season and I am quite confused over the lack of patience over this 20 yr old kid. Most of fans are going crazy over Kuzma, well, Kyle is TWO YEARS OLDER than Ingram. :rant If you can go in a time machine travel back to 2015 and teleport Kuzma at 20 yrs old ask him to play now with the Lakers, he will SUCK guaranteed!!!Scouts were down on KD for failing to bench press his body weight at 19.. google Kobe when he was 19-20 and you will see a boy....
No, I don't bet on Ingram becoming a superstar too but I still think he has a good chance to produce like 18 pts, 5 rebs/5 assist guy after 2 yrs. His FT % is up which tells me his stroke has improve. He is just a bit too weak finishing around the rim IMO.
It's unfortunate that Randle is caught in a numbers game. He is decent and can still help.

Kevin Durant averaged 20ppg as a rookie. We all knew right away he was going to be very good. Kobe barely played but remember he also came from high school. His 2nd year (which was more like his rookie year), everyone could tell he was going to be really good. I haven't seen that with Ingram yet. Usually you can tell pretty early on if someone is going to be a potential all-star. Can you not see it with Ben Simmons right now? He's only played a few games. He can't even shoot outside well yet and the entire league knows it yet he is still a match up problem. Devin Booker, could tell pretty early on he's going to be a solid player in this league. There's some guys who were kind of late bloomers because they didn't have a chance. Ingram is getting chances. He's going to have to capitalize on them pretty quick.

[QUOTE=dd24]Kevin Durant averaged 20ppg as a rookie. We all knew right away he was going to be very good. Kobe barely played but remember he also came from high school. His 2nd year (which was more like his rookie year), everyone could tell he was going to be really good. I haven't seen that with Ingram yet. Usually you can tell pretty early on if someone is going to be a potential all-star. Can you not see it with Ben Simmons right now? He's only played a few games. He can't even shoot outside well yet and the entire league knows it yet he is still a match up problem. Devin Booker, could tell pretty early on he's going to be a solid player in this league. There's some guys who were kind of late bloomers because they didn't have a chance. Ingram is getting chances. He's going to have to capitalize on them pretty quick.[/QUOTE]

KD was the focal point averaging 17 shots per game and only averaged 43% FG and 28% from the 3pt area (lower than Ingram). Ingram was the PT Forward for the Lakers facilitating most of the time.
No I am not saying Brandon will every become near Durant nor he'll become a superstar but it's not like he's got some glaring weaknesses.
He's not undersized for his position unlike Beasley and Derrick Williams.
He's not that slow, has pretty good handles and BB IQ and I like his work ethic and demeanor, not arguing with his coach etc.
Other college kids will wow you with their athletism like Gerald Green. You see him soar over defenders etc averaged 50EFG%, actually higher than KD but where is he now?:confusedshrug:
Ingram have missed several lay ups against teams with really good shot blockers like De'Andre Jordan, Anthony Davis and Cousins. I imagine him adjusting and developing that upper body strength in the next several months.
You mentioned Simmons, well he is 21 years and 3 months old and he should be better. Brandon barely turned 20 last September. After 1 year and you still think Ingram is a bust, then I think you might have enough basis.

We are losing winnable games like tonight. We were playing so well first 3 quarters and then we get a dumb Lopez turnover followed by a terrible off the dribble 3 by Lonzo followed by another garbage turnover elsewhere (was it also Lopez again? Can't remember) and another bad Lonzo shot. Then we go 4 minutes without a point by anyone. Ingram comes in a bit too late imo into 4th quarter. Couple more turnovers, which prompted Luke to bench all our starters. Our bench brings us back but a bit too late to matter.

These turnovers are killing us. Horrendous. We need to stop passing so much directly into traffic. That is just dangerous, reckless and absolutely unnecessary. Elite teams like the Warriors don't do this. The potential benefits of dangerous passes are simply not worth the risks. The Lopez turnover attempt to Nance (or was it Randle?) was so damn bad in 4th quarter, killing the momentum we had.

Lonzo needs to stop with the heat checks late in games. This has to stop unless if it's an open shot. Don't force the issue and continue to play the facilitator role. I think Lakers truly need to work with Ball and tweak the jumper. It looks scary enough to take us out of rhythm and gives opponents extra possessions to capitalize on.. Jumper isn't completely broken and neither is the jumping motion - just the angle of the release being across the left is an issue. I don't know how to fix it but a shooting coach should have some good ideas.

Clarkson is streaky shooter. I don't think he is our long term backup 2. Josh Hart seems to provide same stuff as Clarkson based on what I saw today. We need a 3pt shooter off the bench. I think we should try to move JC for a mid first rounder. We need that badly to become a shooter.

I really like what Kuzma has been doing so far though. I'm not that concerned about Ball. It's not like he's taking a ton of shots. Rookie PG's are always going to have a few turnovers and make some bad decisions. I think it's good they are in these games. Ingram is still not impressive. Very disappointed there. KCP didn't get as involved as he should have I think too. He needs to step it up on nights like tonight.

[QUOTE=bladefd]We are losing winnable games like tonight. We were playing so well first 3 quarters and then we get a dumb Lopez turnover followed by a terrible off the dribble 3 by Lonzo followed by another garbage turnover elsewhere (was it also Lopez again? Can't remember) and another bad Lonzo shot. Then we go 4 minutes without a point by anyone. Ingram comes in a bit too late imo into 4th quarter. Couple more turnovers, which prompted Luke to bench all our starters. Our bench brings us back but a bit too late to matter.

[B][U]These turnovers are killing us. Horrendous[/U][/B]. We need to stop passing so much directly into traffic. That is just dangerous, reckless and absolutely unnecessary. Elite teams like the Warriors don't do this. The potential benefits of dangerous passes are simply not worth the risks. The Lopez turnover attempt to Nance (or was it Randle?) was so damn bad in 4th quarter, killing the momentum we had.

Lonzo needs to stop with the heat checks late in games. This has to stop unless if it's an open shot. Don't force the issue and continue to play the facilitator role. I think Lakers truly need to work with Ball and tweak the jumper. It looks scary enough to take us out of rhythm and gives opponents extra possessions to capitalize on.. Jumper isn't completely broken and neither is the jumping motion - just the angle of the release being across the left is an issue. I don't know how to fix it but a shooting coach should have some good ideas.

Clarkson is streaky shooter. I don't think he is our long term backup 2. Josh Hart seems to provide same stuff as Clarkson based on what I saw today. We need a 3pt shooter off the bench. I think we should try to move JC for a mid first rounder. We need that badly to become a shooter.[/QUOTE]
It just seems to me that Luke's team was last in defensive rating last year that he was so embarrassed and that he is REALLY FOCUSING on defense this year. My guess is they spend so much time watching extensive film sessions and doing a ton of defensive drills, less focus on offense= more confusion on where to go and when to pass etc. They seemed to have slowed down the pace which led to lesser 3pt attempts (from 26 to now 22) the past 2 games. When this happens, the opponents' defense is set and it's harder to get open shots, less shots=less rhythm. This team is dead last in 3ptFG% at under 28%. and28th in turnovers per game at 19.2.
On the bright side, They are currently 11th in defensive rating despite playing kids like Ball, Kuzma and Ingram.
It's an uphill climb when you have a very young core. There's going to be a ton of mistakes unlike veteran teams. Look at the Clips, they lost CP3, Redick and Crawford but they are still there among the top right now bec of few turnovers, currently ranked 4th, while the Grizz with not much firepower too has the fewest at 13.8
You mentioned the need for 3pt shooting. BOTH KCP AND Lopez are really struggling right now. I was skeptical at KCP bec he's been up and down every year..:(

Mehh, Lakers had too many chances to take the lead vs Celtics, but they didn't want this enough. I saw pretty good defense tonight against the top team so far in the league.

-Bogut playing in first half made no sense to me. Waste of turnovers and minutes that should have gone to Randle. Wish Nance was around - Bogut wouldn't have played at all if Nance was here. Nance is one of our best defenders, pretty good rebounder and good at blocking out, which is what we needed tonight
-Lakers need to play more team ball. More ball movement. Had so many opportunities to take this game but we failed..
-ingram was balling - I wish we went to him more
-Ball played solid defense. I won't comment on his shooting because we already know his deficiencies in shooting
-Randle should have played more minutes.. He was playing pretty good tonight. I think Luke dropped the ball there. Randle only played 21 minutes??.......
-way too many turnovers in 1st half. We were better in 2nd half from turnover perspective but stuck playing catch up the rest of the game.

Looked promising overall though for a team nobody expected to win over 35 games (haters have Lakers winning same number of games as last year). Not bad against the best team so far and the best defensive team this season. I didn't expect us to win this game. Lakers looking good moving forward!

There's one simple thing that not only puts the Lakers in a good position to win this game but the other ones lately as well. It's Lonzo's shooting. It's been terrible. He knocks down shots and it changes everything. He's a rookie so I'm not freaking out like some. He has a ton of pressure on him and his father put a gargantuan bulls-eye on him. He'll get through it. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

Larry Nance Jr. I don't worry about being gone too much. I think Kuzma should be the starter. I agree about Randle's minutes though. He does deserve more. He's been playing well. He's been one of the Lakers most efficient players. He keeps putting up good numbers and some games he's not even playing 20 minutes. The same goes for Clarkson. He's been scoring the ball very efficiently. He just has a lot of games he doesn't get much for minutes.

Posted this on general boards but too many trolls...

I don't like the idea of having 2 completely separate lineups.. No other teams do it like that. We have Ball, KCP, Ingram, Nance, Lopez and then Clarkson, Hart, Brewer, Kuzma, Randle. Don't need to be that deep. I would look to upgrade to 9 deep over the summer from 10 deep tbh.. Don't need 2 separate lineups playing because you don't establish stability that way.

This summer, I would let Lopez walk. I would trade Clarkson for a late 1st rounder. I would keep Randle for off the bench for the right price. We badly need to hope OKC doesn't work out and can get PG13 on max deal. I would let Brewer walk along with Ennis and Bogut unless if we can get a 2nd rounder for those expiring contracts together.

I only want the following to return.. Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Nance, Hart, KCP+Randle for the right money.. We are sadly stuck with Deng for 1 more year next year. Everyone else can go.

I would say maybe the Lakers are stuck with Deng. There's a possibility there's a team out there that likes Randle and would do a trade in a package for him. I've seen those rumors out there. I actually think Randle is a lot better than people give him credit for. He just gets so little playing time that he doesn't have the numbers that make people realize it. He'd nearly put up a double double if he was getting more minutes.

[QUOTE=dd24]I would say maybe the Lakers are stuck with Deng. There's a possibility there's a team out there that likes Randle and would do a trade in a package for him. I've seen those rumors out there. I actually think Randle is a lot better than people give him credit for. He just gets so little playing time that he doesn't have the numbers that make people realize it. He'd nearly put up a double double if he was getting more minutes.[/QUOTE]

I think someone will take Deng as an expiring contract in his last season, but that's not until the end of next season.

I really didn't like what I saw yesterday. Player rotations were questionable. Clarkson was out there too late into the game not doing much, Ingram was brought back out too late, Randle should have been brought out sooner - did he even play in the first half? Why do we have to play the entire bench squad together?

Why don't we have a lot of ball movement? Why do we force things? Randle especially forces plays, which end up becoming offensive fouls or turnovers too often. Usually Ingram is good in that department but not yesterday. Huge turnovers by Ingram yesterday due to forcing things. Ball had back to back bad fouls at key moments in last 3 mins of the game yesterday - horrendous costly plays.

We are too deep tbh.. I would rather have 9 better players than 10 deep. Multiple bench players shouldn't be averaging almost as many minutes as our starters -- Clarkson and Randle average under 1 min less than Lopez and Nance, Kuzma is around there too since Nance returned. 3 bench guys averaging as many minutes as 2 of our starters :confusedshrug:

I'm over it.

I'd rather the Lakers sign Smush Parker, Sasha Vujecic, and Slava Medvedenko to play the rest of the season, than to have the Lonzo Ball debacle continue.

And, I'd be willing to let Jim Buss play GM for a month if I have to spice up the deal.

D-Lo was a far better PG than Lonzo will ever be.

He will never lead this team anywhere near a championship, and will only serve to make the Lakers continue to be a team that no one wants anything to do with.

Let's just admit that we were fooled, got caught up in the putrid hype, and made a big mistake. The sooner the Lakers move on from Lonzo Ball, the sooner they can seek to rebuild the respect and trust the team once had.

[QUOTE=EllEffEll]I'm over it.

I'd rather the Lakers sign Smush Parker, Sasha Vujecic, and Slava Medvedenko to play the rest of the season, than to have the Lonzo Ball debacle continue.

And, I'd be willing to let Jim Buss play GM for a month if I have to spice up the deal.

D-Lo was a far better PG than Lonzo will ever be.

He will never lead this team anywhere near a championship, and will only serve to make the Lakers continue to be a team that no one wants anything to do with.

Let's just admit that we were fooled, got caught up in the putrid hype, and made a big mistake. The sooner the Lakers move on from Lonzo Ball, the sooner they can seek to rebuild the respect and trust the team once had.[/QUOTE]

Nah, that's overreaction man lol.

Lonzo does everything right except shoot and occasional boneheaded plays. The latter is just a rookie thing I am not concerned about. It's the shooting that makes me nervous. It's more than a slump in his shooting as we were all hoping.

It makes me very nervous moving forward if he can't improve his shooting. Even his freethrow shooting is abysmal, which shows the issue is not on any opponent playing good defense or slow release being easy to block or Lonzo's confidence. It's the shooting style. He shot 67% in college from FT line too.

How the heck did he shoot 41% from 3pt line and 73% from 2pt line for 55% overall but only 67% from FTs?? with that shooting style too :confusedshrug:

I was concerned about moving Russell a bit too. He was playing very good in Brooklyn before the injury. Looks like he could end up being an all-star caliber player as well. I'm not as down on Ball as some though. We were worried about Russell as a rookie too. Ball is rebounding and passing better right now. PG is one of the hardest spots to adjust to in the NBA. I didn't expect him to come in and light it up. Right now it seems like most of it is a mental thing too. It seems like it will work itself out. I never viewed him as the guy that would get a ton of points when they really needed them. I don't know if he will ever average 20. But if he can get 15 to 18 he's going to end up with a ton of double/double's and even triple/double's. Not to mention he gets so much negative attention because of his father.....

What I am liking right now is Ingram is scoring the ball better. His shot is still concerning, but he's finishing at the rim much better now.

Here's a strategy.. Hope for OKC to fail big time with a quick 1st round exit. That gives us a perfect chance of landing Paul George! :P

[url]https://youtu.be/z_-OH5YQamM[/url]

Let's add this guy to our backcourt. Mike James would fit well with Clarkson and the rest of our reserve guards.

I like what I'm seeing so far! Even though it's against average and scrub teams. Still some dangerous streakiness to our offense and risky tendencies we must get over, but I like us getting defensive stops. Defense hides some of our offensive blunders and mistakes leading to dumb turnovers, but that's kind of positive imo. Defense is what we lacked last season, and we fixed that at the detriment of our offense. I'm okay with that. We are a better team this year mainly due to our defense being better.

Everything positive can be further solidified this summer and our weaknesses can be bolster. I don't know how our chances of landing PG13 look as the season progresses, but we just have to be patient to see how OKC perform in playoffs. Cousins' injury was a huge blow - it will cost him some money, and I don't see the Lakers going after him as hard as healthy Cousins. It looks like Randle may be back in the Lakers long-term planning with his spectacular performance of late. Lopez is gone, KCP is hard to say at this point, I'm still hoping we can trade Clarkson after his recent play.

Cousins will still get a max deal. The injury isn't going to make that not happen. It's a terrible set back, but he will get paid. A lot of us have said that we don't necessarily want to see Randle go. It kind of sounds like the Lakers front office thinks the same. It could just be they are setting up the fan base for a major let down chasing the top free agents again though. If they can't sign superstars they will be forced to resign the same guys and hope for different results (which won't really happen). It could be they see things where it doesn't matter who they sign, they aren't getting past Golden State so they may as well build through the draft.