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

[CP1708]

If we had a balanced roster around AD & Bron, they would look like Jokic & Murray.

Jokic + Murray = 80 mil
Bron + AD = 88 mil

Jokic is 29. Murray is 27.

Bron is 39. AD is 31.

Our guys are older AND more expensive.

 

[darthska]

Jokic + Murray = 80 mil
Bron + AD = 88 mil

Jokic is 29. Murray is 27.

Bron is 39. AD is 31.

Our guys are older AND more expensive.

Simple question: Is Lebron playing like the definition of what you have in mind for a 39-year-old NBA player?
You can just casually say no without any drama or whatever and we can understand that he is not the typical 39-year-old, or you can sarcastically say no and then sarcastically presume that I'm going to respond that Lebron is an alien and hs defeated Father Time, but the bottom line is super simple: he's not 39, not by the definition of what you have in mind for a 39 year old.
Any assessment that doesn't acknowledge that is incomplete.

 

[CHAOSE57]

Man imagine if we got OKC instead. They're so green out there

 

[mrdieselfuel09]

 

[tupac003]

Home teams 8-0 this weekend

 

[darthska]

Man imagine if we got OKC instead. They're so green out there

Agreed, but the road goes through DEN.

 

[Dhizzle]

i’d rather go through Denver in the WCF than the first round. Gives me more lakeshow to watch. Damn i wish we’re playing OKC instead. Woulda taken gm1

 

[noblekane]

not me.

these guys will be way fresher in first round than wcf

by guys i mean lebron cuz we all know sadly hes the best player on the team still

 

[Lizakers]

Really gonna be interesting what we do this offseason

Actually we already know. Run it back with AD, Bron and Ham and make changes around the margins. SMH

it’s all about business. All about the farewell tour. Lebron is #2 in jersey sales. Lakers are always on national TV because of Lebron. Jeanie doesn’t care about winning

 

[CHAOSE57]

Agreed, but the road goes through DEN.

Yes it does, just wish we could have built some momentum before we meet them.

 

[mrdieselfuel09]

i’d rather go through Denver in the WCF than the first round. Gives me more lakeshow to watch. Damn i wish we’re playing OKC instead. Woulda taken gm1

You go through OKC let’s say in 6 games
Team ends up facing Clips/Mavs. Let’s say they get through them in 5 games.
13 games deep considering they played 2 play in games to be 8th seed and another 11 games before flying to Denver. WCF games are every other night. I rather see them face Denver in first round with some “fresh” legs and extra day or two off in between games depending how far they push the series.

Only reason I would want this team to be 8th is if Denver somehow got knocked out before the Lakers play them. That’s a double edge sword itself, you’ll have the naysayers saying Lakers got through the easy route.

 

[Brosizzlew30.23]

Lakers need someone to set the tone

If they not going to be more physical than the Nuggets, kiss the series goodbye

 

[CP1708]

Simple question: Is Lebron playing like the definition of what you have in mind for a 39-year-old NBA player?
You can just casually say no without any drama or whatever and we can understand that he is not the typical 39-year-old, or you can sarcastically say no and then sarcastically presume that I'm going to respond that Lebron is an alien and hs defeated Father Time, but the bottom line is super simple: he's not 39, not by the definition of what you have in mind for a 39 year old.
Any assessment that doesn't acknowledge that is incomplete.

He is undoubtedly thee best 39 year old in NBA History. Full stop. Absolutely incredible what he's doing at this age. Been awesome to watch.

Zero, 39 year olds have led their teams to titles. Entire league history. And while he's been great, as we have seen, he doesn't play defense like he used to. He isn't able to play 46 minutes like he used to, play a dominant full 4 quarters like he used to. There IS dropoff. That too, needs to be considered.

Zero question he is the best 39 ever. No argument from me.

Duncan won a title at 37, with 3 HOFers around him. Kawhi, Parker, Manu. (+ a HOF coach)
And then on top of that Diaw and Danny Green.

Do we have THAT sort of roster around Bron?

Bron is throwing some really solid jabs, but father time is undefeated. Keeping him and AD as a pairing is a business decision. Generate revenue. NOT pursue chips, which is all we should be caring about. I don't give af about Jeanie's pockets.

 

[darthska]

Zero, 39 year olds have led their teams to titles.

That's how 'unprecedented territory' works.

Duncan won a title at 37, with 3 HOFers around him. Kawhi, Parker, Manu. (+ a HOF coach)
And then on top of that Diaw and Danny Green.

Do we have THAT sort of roster around Bron?

Soooo... 'roster.' The solution wouldn't be be trading him, it would be focusing on the roster.

 

[CP1708]

That's how 'unprecedented territory' works.

Soooo... 'roster.' The solution wouldn't be be trading him, it would be focusing on the roster.

Tim Duncan was taking 10 million dollar a year deals........

Bron is taking Max dollar contracts.

If they want to keep Bron (for dollars) then trading AD is the play.
If they want to honor Bron and send him to his choice and build around AD, fine.

If they want to keep both, they no longer care about getting more banners.

The inevitable Ham firing + Trading for Trae Young should help illuminate my point even further in two months.

 

[CP1708]

Before you ask, his option next year is 51 million dollars.

At age 40.


Duncan was getting 10 million, and beating Bron in his prime.

Jeanie, Rob, Bron, AD, Klutch, they are ALL part of the problem.

But Ham is going to take the fall (like Vogel, like Russ) and the same 5 folks in charge will remain in charge and we will fight for the play-in again next year, a year older for each, and their salaries will go up even further..........

And younger guys (in their prime) are going to win the chip this year, and next year, same as every other year, in history. Which is what we used to do, before we hitched our wagon to a 35 year old instead of a younger superstar which is what Jerry Buss would do. (Magic, Shaq, Kobe)

Kareem got to go out winning because Magic, Worthy, Scott, Cooper, Green, Rambis were all set.

When Shaq got old(er) and more expensive, Jerry went with Kobe.

IF, I say IFFFFFFFF they could have added Kawhi along with Bron/AD, and kept Caruso, Kuzma, future picks etc, we might have had a shot at a similar effort. (Or insert Jimmy Butler if they cast a wider 3rd star search etc etc etc)

AD alone isn't enough.

 

[darthska]

Duncan wasn't beating Bron.
1. It wasn't 1 on 1.
2. Duncan wasn't anywhere close to.... *looks at this past Lebron season*... THAT.

Take away his age and call him Laker SF.
Do you think Laker SF, with those stats, what you see on the court, do you think that's worth just $10mil, like this Duncan you're referencing?

When Shaq got old(er) and more expensive, Jerry went with Kobe.

Well, and more injured, and less dominant.

Kareem got to go out winning because Magic, Worthy, Scott, Cooper, Green, Rambis were all set.

Again: roster.
Not 'Trade Captain & Magic.'

 

[atlsfinest]

Really gonna be interesting what we do this offseason

Actually we already know. Run it back with AD, Bron and Ham and make changes around the margins. SMH

it’s all about business. All about the farewell tour. Lebron is #2 in jersey sales. Lakers are always on national TV because of Lebron. Jeanie doesn’t care about winning

I know you're frustrated with the current state of the team but I'm interested to hear what you would like the Lakers to do this offseason. Jeannie is paying well into the luxury tax so you can't say that she cheap or doesn't care about winning, she's putting her money where her mouth is.

We can trade for Trae Young but we would need to gut the roster and I'm not sure if this would move the needle. Short of our young players making a big leap there isn't a move the Lakers can make that will put them on Denver's level. Denver has a younger, more athletic team with one of the greatest players ever in his prime. Does not much anyone can do.

I'm as critical of Ham as anyone but firing him and getting a new coach isn't a magic bullet, this roster has structural issues and we have a lot of one-way players.

 

[pmatic]

Anytime you can get smaller, give up depth, and more defensively challenged, you have to do it.

 

[essential1]

Every direction of a Trae trade is a disaster.

And it is exactly something Rob would do.

And the price on Spida will be even higher than Trae. Luckily easier to match salaries. But Cavs can have some patience due to success.

 

[grittyman]

Keeping him and AD as a pairing is a business decision. Generate revenue. NOT pursue chips, which is all we should be caring about.

I think saying keeping those two are all about generating revenue is a bit of an extreme take on the situation, but I get what you’re saying.

If I owned the team and realized my main dudes aren’t good enough to win it all but they’re still pretty damn good I think it’s a tough decision whether to blow things up and start over OR spending enough to field a competitive team until they can figure out the next move.

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Is Schroder/KCP/Caruso/Bron/AD + Kuzma better than this current team?

 

[pmatic]

Schroder, Caruso, KCP, Hield (Kuz+Trezz), Bron and AD would've had this team in a better spot. And they still could've had Reaves and probably Rui.

 

[pmatic]

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Yeah, another active body for him to score on/over/through.