**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

[grittyman]

Beasley and D Lo should be starting … think they will be the ones to benefit the most from playing along side Bron and AD.

As far as the 5th starter, that’s a tough one. Vandy has the defensive ability to guard wings, but offensively seems like his shooting deficiency will force AD out on the perimeter…so if Bron (or AD) are up to defending wings then just start Bamba. If Ham isn’t going to stagger AD/Lebron minutes well you can end up with a second unit of Dennis/Austin/Lonnie/Rui/Vandy which looks pretty good IMO

 

[noblekane]

im telling yall ham is not going to start mo bamba next to ad lol

now that he has guards that can shoot hes gonna go scorched earth on his 3 maybe 4 guard line ups

 

[sohi 23]

I would start Dlo & Reaves.
The question is should the final starter be Vando or Rui. I’d go with Vando.

 

[pmatic]

Don't think Ham is gonna wanna throw the baby out with the bathwater.

It's gonna be Schroder and D'Lo.

 

[CP1708]

Bruh I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Let the record show I’m team AD forever.

Dude came to the Lakers and helped get us a ring after a terrible decade and cats are talking about let’s get rid of him

News flash: the only avenue the Lakers have towards winning a title is with a healthy Lebron & AD at 100%. There is no trading any of those dudes and still competing for a title. You trade one and it’s back to the projects.

I’m really disappointed in how fickle some of y’all are. Literally the only thing holding AD back is health. He just had a month long mvp like stretch before that freak stress fracture. You guys say “oh he can’t stay healthy”… bruh look around the league. KD, Steph, Booker, KAT, Kawhi, PG, Zion all have been injured this year. There is no superstar level player that doesn’t get injured.

The question is how to optimize the roster to get the best out of AD and decrease how much he has to do until the playoffs. Y’all boys talking about trade him have no type of loyalty. I want AD to finish his career as a Laker. Don’t care how many times he gets injured. I’m team AD forever.

I hear you. I truly do.

We traded Shaq, man. We traded Pau. And they damn sure did more than AD.

This could be the 3rd straight year his fragile health keeps us from doin something. And that was in his 20's. We can't expect him to suddenly start playin 75+ games in his 30's.

As Bron nears 39-40 and a team offers me 2 young pieces + 3-4 1st rounders for AD, I'm supposed to turn that down? Iono man.

Seein these PG, Harden, Mitchell, Gobert, Kyrie, KD trade packages.........

 

[Brosizzlew30.23]

Bruh I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Let the record show I’m team AD forever.

Dude came to the Lakers and helped get us a ring after a terrible decade and cats are talking about let’s get rid of him

News flash: the only avenue the Lakers have towards winning a title is with a healthy Lebron & AD at 100%. There is no trading any of those dudes and still competing for a title. You trade one and it’s back to the projects.

I’m really disappointed in how fickle some of y’all are. Literally the only thing holding AD back is health. He just had a month long mvp like stretch before that freak stress fracture. You guys say “oh he can’t stay healthy”… bruh look around the league. KD, Steph, Booker, KAT, Kawhi, PG, Zion all have been injured this year. There is no superstar level player that doesn’t get injured.

The question is how to optimize the roster to get the best out of AD and decrease how much he has to do until the playoffs. Y’all boys talking about trade him have no type of loyalty. I want AD to finish his career as a Laker. Don’t care how many times he gets injured. I’m team AD forever.

I'd trade AD for a healthy AD

 

[sohi 23]

As Bron nears 39-40 and a team offers me 2 young pieces + 3-4 1st rounders for AD, I'm supposed to turn that down? Iono man.

Seein these PG, Harden, Mitchell, Gobert, Kyrie, KD trade packages.........

The only package worth a damn is SGA and that only happened because the Clippers were desperate to get Kawhi.

You’re going to trade our only chance at a ring for some 1st rounders that won’t be valuable because AD is dominating for the next team?

Who’s the best non-SGA player in any of those packages? Lauri? Walker Kessler? Mikal Bridges?

I’m not trading our only chance at a ring for a “young piece” and multiple picks ranging from 20-30.

 

[grittyman]

I would start Dlo & Reaves.
The question is should the final starter be Vando or Rui. I’d go with Vando.

Why trade for a guy who’s such an elite volume 3pt shooter just to bring him off the bench?

 

[sohi 23]

Why trade for a guy who’s such an elite volume 3pt shooter just to bring him off the bench?

I’m down to lean all the way in to offense. I just don’t see a Dlo/Beasley backcourt being good defensively.

 

[trynafeelmink]

I agree that the D’lo , Beasley backcourt is trash defensively, but if ham starts Vando I think that’s minimized by a lot… him & AD helping & rotating should make for a league average defense at best… Offensively tho, Bron & AD with two high volume good 3pt shooters is to good to pass up.

 

[DLF]

What about Justin Holiday off the buy out market? Long, 3&Dish wing. Kinda streaky but could serve useful.

Honestly I think the starting 5 is simple:

Davis
Vando
Bron
AR
Dlo

this guy ****s. This guy def ****s.

I like it

 

[DLF]

I would start Dlo & Reaves.
The question is should the final starter be Vando or Rui. I’d go with Vando.

Vando not a shooting threat. Couple that with AD and how moody he is with his 3 point shot.

I don’t trust Ham

 

[tupac003]

 

[theregothatman]

baffles me how people keep relying on AD when the only time he finished out a season there was a three month break in between

 

[darthska]

KD, Steph, Booker, KAT, Kawhi, PG, Zion all have been injured this year.

Only 3 of 7 have rings: 1st guy, 2nd guy, 5th guy.
- For the 1st guy, his rings only came when he joined the 2nd guy.
- For the 5th guy, rings came before he was injured and load managing all the time.

Bet none of them win the chip this year. If I'm wrong, it will be because the 1st guy joined the 3rd guy and their injuries offset, so you gotta deal with at least Book or KD every night, but both most nights.

 

[darthska]

DLF , I completely forgot about Kiwi the first time. ‍♂ Is that what you were laughing at?

 

[essential1]

Silver Screen & Roll reminded me of this

Russell, frankly, disagrees. Scott didn’t handle sophomore forward Julius Randle with the same kids gloves. “He’s an idiot,” Russell says of his coach.

Russell felt Scott often yanked him from close contests purely to spark controversy and attention for his postgame media availability. “I just think he was malicious for no reason,” Russell says. “He’s a solid man. But as a coach, he was bad. He was just bad at his job.”

 

[DLF]

DLF , I completely forgot about Kiwi the first time. ‍♂ Is that what you were laughing at?

Nope

not sure why I did laughing emoji. Post was brilliant. I was laughing WITH you I guess.

 

[DLF]

essential1

 

[DLF]

Lakers have 4 straight “MUST WIN” games upcoming. Will make or break their play in chances.

 

[essential1]

Sign him!

 

[pmatic]

Beasley, Walker and Ross seems too redundant.

 

[essential1]

Beasley, Walker and Ross seems too redundant.

Shooters shoot.

 

[Brosizzlew30.23]

DRuss has matured and should help the team tremendously. Excited to have him back.

Spoiler

"I mean, a lot has happened since I've been here, right?" Russell said as part of an introductory news conference Friday before the team flew to San Francisco. "I was an All-Star, went to the playoffs. I've done a lot of things individually. So to come back with that resume, I feel like it helps the team."
The Lakers acquired Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday as part of a three-team deal that also netted Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley from the Utah Jazz. In exchange, the Lakers sent Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a protected first-round draft pick to Utah and a future second-round pick to Minnesota.
The Lakers are hoping Russell can help them make a playoff push.
He was selected by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft out of Ohio State. Los Angeles went 43-121 in his two seasons there before he was traded, alongside Timofey Mozgov, to the Brooklyn Nets in a salary cap measure by the Lakers.
He was named an All-Star in his second season with the Nets as Brooklyn made the postseason, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. He was traded from the Nets to the Golden State Warriors as part of the Kevin Durant deal.
Midway through his first season with the Warriors, Russell again was traded to the Timberwolves as part of the Andrew Wiggins deal. In his second season with the Wolves, Minnesota made the playoffs, losing to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
Now back in L.A. for his second stint, the team's mandate is to get back into the playoffs this spring. The Lakers have lost six of their past nine games to fall to 25-31, and they are 2.5 games out of the final play-in spot with 26 games remaining.
"I never hoped to be back here because I didn't understand if I could be ready for it and be a part of what they were doing for the future, because you never know what the team's going to look like, so it's hard to find stability in that," said Russell, who averaged 17.9 points and 6.2 assists for the Wolves on 46.5% from the field and 39.1% from 3 this season.
"But I'm here now, and I really appreciate being back, because I feel like I'm ready for everything that's about to come for the team and whatever comes my way."
Russell's rookie season coincided with Kobe Bryant's 20th and final season with the Lakers.
"When I reflect on my time in the past, it's all Kobe. All Kobe," Russell said. "Appreciating Kobe when I was here wasn't really something I did because I was young and I was figuring it out. But as soon as I left, I appreciated him more. Now that he's gone, I appreciate him even more. So when I reflect on that Lakers tenure when I was here, it's all a reflection of him."
Now he'll team with LeBron James, who happens to be in his 20th season, with some more seasoning as a professional and as a man.
"I can only imagine being out on the floor and how easy the game could be with a player like that, that much gravity around him," Russell said of playing with James. "[Anthony Davis] as well."
Davis told reporters that he wants the Lakers' new faces to step in and be ready to assert themselves right away, which doesn't sound like it will be a problem for Russell.
"I always feel like I'm an alpha, too," Russell said. "So whatever room I'm in, whoever I'm around, I'm going to feel like that, I'm going to walk like that. And when I get out on the floor, we're going to figure that out as well. ... I'm going to try to fit into what they got going on, and then try to figure it out from that.
"I trust my craft, too. So I know whatever position I'm in, I'm going to thrive."
Russell said his familiarity with Beasley and Vanderbilt should help in the transition. Davon Reed, who was acquired with three second-round picks from the Denver Nuggets in a deal for Thomas Bryant, is expected to suit up along with them Saturday at Golden State. Center Mo Bamba, acquired from the Orlando Magic in a trade for Patrick Beverley, will be on the trip as well but has two more games left on his suspension stemming from an on-court altercation with Austin Rivers.
While all of the new players will need to adjust to whatever roles are assigned to them by Lakers coach Darvin Ham, Russell is ready to show how he's adjusted since leaving L.A.

"I'm a grown man, now, I'm not a child," he said. "I'm just excited to showcase it."

 

[DLF]

Sign him!

They said “contender” as in for a title, not play in game.