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Where do the Lakers go from here...?

tlance

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Except Pop and Kawhi haven't been talking for some time and Pop publicly shamed Kawhi. So that relationship needs to be fixed.

The reports about Kawhi wanting the Supermax have been floating for a while now. As have been the rumors that the Spurs have been reluctant to give it to him.

I also think we have to consider the possibility that Kawhi's camp is being run by incompetent people who think they know what they are doing, particularly Uncle Dennis.

He isn't angling for a supermax.

If that is all he wanted, he would have come back and played (hurt or not) in the playoffs. He has already proven worthy of that contract. He is clearly unhappy with the Spurs. STill possible it gets resolved, but again, no chance this is a stunt when he is 1 of about 6 or 7 players in the entire league actually worth that money.
 

OutlawImmortal

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Warriors better be worried about how much they will win by

The Lakers have drafted well so far even without a #1. The Lakers have been bad for maybe a handful of years, nothing compared to Philly who has been tanking for what feels like forever. Even Ainge missed on his fair share of picks. Luckily he had a stockpile of them. The Lakers have done more with less.

2014: Randle #7, Clarkson #46
2015: Russell #2, Nance Jr. #27, Brown #34
2016: Ingram #2, Zubac #32
2017: Ball #2, Kuzma #27

Worst case scenario, no one signs and you just give up on the playoffs for another year and try again next free agency while getting those guys another year of experience and improvement. You brought on Pelinka and Magic specifically to negotiate with free agents, and were confident enough to clear space for 2 max slots in a slim free agency class to go after the biggest of fish in LeBron. I don't believe they will go the Jim Buss route and settle for plan B. Take a shot at Kawhi next season.
 
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Shanemansj13

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The Lakers have drafted well so far even without a #1. The Lakers have been bad for maybe a handful of years, nothing compared to Philly who has been tanking for what feels like forever. Even Ainge missed on his fair share of picks. Luckily he had a stockpile of them. The Lakers have done more with less.

2014: Randle #7, Clarkson #46
2015: Russell #2, Nance Jr. #27, Brown #34
2016: Ingram #2, Zubac #32
2017: Ball #2, Kuzma #27

Worst case scenario, no one signs and you just give up on the playoffs for another year and try again next free agency while getting those guys another year of experience and improvement. You brought on Pelinka and Magic specifically to negotiate with free agents, and were confident enough to clear space for 2 max slots in a slim free agency class to go after the biggest of fish in LeBron. I don't believe they will go the Jim Buss route and settle for plan B. Take a shot at Kawhi next season.

They have assets but they haven’t won, not sure how you can say they have done more YET. Lonzo had an awful rookie year and nobody wants him from reports at least. But they have a lot of cap space and some nice young assets. It also helps it’s a destination where FA’s would love yo go to
 

shopson67

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Warriors better be worried about how much they will win by

Who is this source, Jimmy Buss? That would be such a short bus move. Yeah, lets buy into a cancer of a player coming off an achilles tear, how about NO.
 

shopson67

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They have assets but they haven’t won, not sure how you can say they have done more YET. Lonzo had an awful rookie year and nobody wants him from reports at least. But they have a lot of cap space and some nice young assets. It also helps it’s a destination where FA’s would love yo go to

Lonzo had awful SHOOTING rookie year. He was excellent in all other aspects; rebounding, assists, defense, running the offense, etc. Go take a look and see how many NBA players had his averages or more in rebounds and assists. I'll give you a hint; it's a pretty short list populated by elite players and a fellow rookie from the 76ers.
 

Kold

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The Lakers have drafted well so far even without a #1. The Lakers have been bad for maybe a handful of years, nothing compared to Philly who has been tanking for what feels like forever. Even Ainge missed on his fair share of picks. Luckily he had a stockpile of them. The Lakers have done more with less.

2014: Randle #7, Clarkson #46
2015: Russell #2, Nance Jr. #27, Brown #34
2016: Ingram #2, Zubac #32
2017: Ball #2, Kuzma #27

Worst case scenario, no one signs and you just give up on the playoffs for another year and try again next free agency while getting those guys another year of experience and improvement. You brought on Pelinka and Magic specifically to negotiate with free agents, and were confident enough to clear space for 2 max slots in a slim free agency class to go after the biggest of fish in LeBron. I don't believe they will go the Jim Buss route and settle for plan B. Take a shot at Kawhi next season.
Partly why I'm not on edge about any of this. I've seen growth from all 4 youngins(even though we may lose Randle)...so next year, worse come to worse, I'll watch in excitement of seeing how they grow from last year to this year
 

shopson67

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Partly why I'm not on edge about any of this. I've seen growth from all 4 youngins(even though we may lose Randle)...so next year, worse come to worse, I'll watch in excitement of seeing how they grow from last year to this year

Exactly. As great as it would be to add the big 3, it would be at the expense of all the young talent we've watched grow over the past few years. I don't need the Lakers to be a "super team". I would be fine with adding one of the three (or trading for a similar talent) and augmenting this young core. Re-sign Randle and continue on with the build.
 

Kold

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Exactly. As great as it would be to add the big 3, it would be at the expense of all the young talent we've watched grow over the past few years. I don't need the Lakers to be a "super team". I would be fine with adding one of the three (or trading for a similar talent) and augmenting this young core. Re-sign Randle and continue on with the build.
Well, if the superteam option is availabe then you roll with it...I mean, the oppurtune situation for that imo, would be if George/James attracts each other, Kawhi leonard's trade value goes down, and he goes to a team where he won't stay past a year. That of course would cost us randle, which would suck, but it is what it is at this point. But, I'm good with whatever happens...Magic/Rob won't pull a panic move, and we'll have young guys to enjoy if we reach a situation to where we let the build continue
 

ANGELAKERAMS

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I think even those with the Purple and Gold goggles would take those off for a second and really question why someone would say that. Ingram *may* turn out to be an all star level player down the road. But Kawhi is without a doubt the best two-way player in the game and alters any franchise he's on.

Only if he's healthy and can still be the same player

That is still yet to be seen
 

shopson67

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Well, if the superteam option is availabe then you roll with it...I mean, the oppurtune situation for that imo, would be if George/James attracts each other, Kawhi leonard's trade value goes down, and he goes to a team where he won't stay past a year. That of course would cost us randle, which would suck, but it is what it is at this point. But, I'm good with whatever happens...Magic/Rob won't pull a panic move, and we'll have young guys to enjoy if we reach a situation to where we let the build continue

If the Lakers already have George/Lebron, they would need a trade to get Kawhi next summer (and would need to shed just about everyone else, depending on their cap status).
 

tlance

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The Lakers have drafted well so far even without a #1. The Lakers have been bad for maybe a handful of years, nothing compared to Philly who has been tanking for what feels like forever. Even Ainge missed on his fair share of picks. Luckily he had a stockpile of them. The Lakers have done more with less.

2014: Randle #7, Clarkson #46
2015: Russell #2, Nance Jr. #27, Brown #34
2016: Ingram #2, Zubac #32
2017: Ball #2, Kuzma #27

Worst case scenario, no one signs and you just give up on the playoffs for another year and try again next free agency while getting those guys another year of experience and improvement. You brought on Pelinka and Magic specifically to negotiate with free agents, and were confident enough to clear space for 2 max slots in a slim free agency class to go after the biggest of fish in LeBron. I don't believe they will go the Jim Buss route and settle for plan B. Take a shot at Kawhi next season.

More with less?

No, they haven't.

First off, the Lakers have drafted ahead of the Celtics every single year except 2014 where the Lakers chose 1 spot behind Boston. Yes, the Celtics have had more picks, but nobody outside of LA is taking:

Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Randle, Hart

Over

Tatum, Brown, Rozier, Smart, and Ojele
 

shopson67

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More with less?

No, they haven't.

First off, the Lakers have drafted ahead of the Celtics every single year except 2014 where the Lakers chose 1 spot behind Boston. Yes, the Celtics have had more picks, but nobody outside of LA is taking:

Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Randle, Hart

Over

Tatum, Brown, Rozier, Smart, and Ojele

Ball (#2), Ingram (#2), Kuzma (#27), Randle (#7), Hart (#30) total 68


Tatum (#3), Brown (#3), Rozier (#16), Smart (#6), and Ojeleye (#37) total 65

Lakers by a nose, lol.

Individually, obviously Tatum is the best of the bunch thus far (although I would argue Kuzma is a very similar player), but I would take Randle over Smart (from the smae draft) and Ingram/Brown is pretty close. Ball had a much better year than most will admit (since they focus on shooting first, last, and in between), but if you're going to prop up Smart, you have to accept Ball's well rounded game. Hart and Ojeleye are nice pieces, but aren't really on the same tier as the others.
 

tlance

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Ball (#2), Ingram (#2), Kuzma (#27), Randle (#7), Hart (#30) total 68


Tatum (#3), Brown (#3), Rozier (#16), Smart (#6), and Ojeleye (#37) total 65

Lakers by a nose, lol.

Individually, obviously Tatum is the best of the bunch thus far (although I would argue Kuzma is a very similar player), but I would take Randle over Smart (from the smae draft) and Ingram/Brown is pretty close. Ball had a much better year than most will admit (since they focus on shooting first, last, and in between), but if you're going to prop up Smart, you have to accept Ball's well rounded game. Hart and Ojeleye are nice pieces, but aren't really on the same tier as the others.

Kuzma is not similar to Tatum. Stop it.

Here is how I rank the players as prospects, with contract considerations included:

1) Tatum- hands down best prospect

Significant gap

2) Brown
3) Ingram
4) Ball

Smaller gap

5) Rozier
6) Kuzma
7) Randle- because he is about to get paid
8) Smart- same as above

Big gap again

9) Hart
10) Ojele
 

flyerhawk

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Ball had a much better year than most will admit (since they focus on shooting first, last, and in between), but if you're going to prop up Smart, you have to accept Ball's well rounded game. Hart and Ojeleye are nice pieces, but aren't really on the same tier as the others.

Ball was just a rookie so we should be cautious in judging him too early. But you are going too far in hand waving away his scoring issues. He was arguably the worst shooter in basketball last year. If the Lakers were actually chasing a playoff spot it would have been a real problem keeping him on the floor, as they did pull him in several 4th quarters earlier in the season.

Marcus Smart is not a very good shooter. In fact he is pretty bad as well. But he is an exceptional defender.
 

Shanemansj13

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If they can get a great trio in LA they need to do all they can do to shed cap to be able to hold on to Randle but it would still be close. He would be a huge piece.

If they can get rid of Deng in a 3 team trade then Ball, Ingram and Kuzma are included they would only have 6,234,445 not counting the Kawhi contract or whoever they take back.

Lebron $35M
CP3 $35M (give or take)
Kawhi $20
 

shopson67

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Ball was just a rookie so we should be cautious in judging him too early. But you are going too far in hand waving away his scoring issues. He was arguably the worst shooter in basketball last year. If the Lakers were actually chasing a playoff spot it would have been a real problem keeping him on the floor, as they did pull him in several 4th quarters earlier in the season.

Marcus Smart is not a very good shooter. In fact he is pretty bad as well. But he is an exceptional defender.

Smart's shooting percentages last year are nearly identical to Ball's. Ball got off to a horrible start, but improved a bit as the year progressed. Good to see he's working out this summer, as he should be able to absorb more contact (although most of his attempts were on the perimeter if my memory serves). However, Ball doubles Smart's rebounds and out-assisted him 7.2-4.8 pg. Ball may not be the flashy defender that Smart is, but did get more steals, blocks, and defensive win shares than Smart. Again, were talking about a 19 year old rookie vs a 24 year old vet supposedly known for defense.
 

shopson67

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Kuzma is not similar to Tatum. Stop it.

How is he not similar?

Kuzma: 6'9, 220, 77 games, 16.1 ppg, 6.3 reb, 1.8 ast, 45/37/70%, 52.7% eFG, 14.2 PER, 3.8 win shares
Tatum: 6'8, 205, 80 games, 13.9 ppg, 5.0 reb, 1.6 ast, 47/43/82%, 53.8% eFG, 15.3 PER, 7.1 win shares

Tatum shot a bit better and is the better defender. I never said equal, I said similar.
 
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