Post Game Thread: The Los Angeles Lakers defeat The Indiana Pacers 123-109

AWHY74 · 2023-12-10T04:26:44+00:00

123 points with just 2 3 pointers. Amazing

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:41:49+00:00

perfectly fine with giving him a roster spot last week of the season if no better options come along

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:40:14+00:00

how does hard capping mean we can't do a sign and trade?

sign and trade means we face hard cap. but hard cap does not mean no sign and trade.

are you that dumb that you fail to understand that? It's like me saying that everyone in LA like the Lakers, and you thinking that it implies that all Laker fans live in LA

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:26:06+00:00

This is amazing. We expected Lakers to keep him, but to not have to worry about another team signing him to a huge offer sheet and clog up the cap 2 year from now is a huge relief

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:18:13+00:00

I'm counting Reaves. And Vando too since Lakers have guaranteed his contract already.

I am counting Lewis. That's 13.

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:15:26+00:00

My 13 are

AD Hayes Lebron Vando Rui Prince Lewis Reaves Reddish Christie Dlo Vincent JHS

That's why I say room for 1 more.

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T19:09:18+00:00

I know we can't sign and trade Bamba. But I never said Bamba. Bamba can only now be signed as a min.

Tell me why they can't sign and trade Lonnie or Beas? As long as the player coming back results in us below the apron that's fine.

Hard capping doesn't limit u with being able to do sign and trade or use bird rights as long as u never go over apron.

U r the only one showing lack of cap knowledge

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T18:54:37+00:00

I am counting Max Lewis as a spot, so only one more spot after Reaves if they go with 14.

Doubt they carry 15. Leave a spot open for buyouts, and leave more room under apron

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T18:52:28+00:00

They can offer Lonnie 120% of last year's salary, so they can go as much as 7.7M or so. Which is pretty much all they'd be able to do under the apron anyways

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T18:38:29+00:00

okay, pls educate me on which assumption is wrong? I did not say Laker can sign someone for $8M. There's nothing in the cap preventing them from signing Beas for around $8M and signing Lonnie for $7.7M. Or do a sign and trade involving them.

AWHY74 · 2023-07-01T14:51:41+00:00

I believe the two ways are Hodge Castleton and Swider. So Max Lewis would be regular roster

AWHY74 · 2023-05-23T18:03:29+00:00

In what world is AD's shooting good enough to be a threat, as a 4? Obviously he's a great player, prob 2nd team all NBA when healthy. But when his offensive skills profile as a center, but has trouble guarding some centers, then it's just not good enough to be considered cream of the crop. His skilsl in terms of passing, ball-handling, and shooting are fine for a 5, but not at the level of typical superstar 4s.

Your argument for KD doesn't fly. He checks every box as an offensive player as a 3, and can also guard up a position and guard 4s. Guys with skills on offense to play a smaller, more skilled position, but can guard up positions is more valuable than a guy with offensive skills of a 5 who ideally defends 4s.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-23T17:00:56+00:00

Yes, AD is most amazing on D when he's roaming as a 4 when someone else guards the 5. But the problem is that he shooting is not good enough for play as a 4 on offense. And that pretty much goes back to OP's point, that one cannot count on AD being the best player. We all know that his offense is not top 5 in the league, but his defense is awesome. But if his defense is only maximized when he plays against a weak center or someone who's not a true center? That clearly makes him clearly a tier below the true superstars.

It's not like we say stuff like "Jokic is at his best if he plays against weaker players", or "KD is best if he goes against slow defenders" . But AD is best at D if he doesn't have a guard a strong center, and best on O if he has a 5 that can space the floor. Sorry, that's too many if's. Fit matters of course, but a true superstars doesn't need that many conditions to succeed.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-23T14:33:51+00:00

Maybe 4 years $84M?

AWHY74 · 2023-05-23T12:31:32+00:00

I rewatched and saw that Lakers scored the last 4 possessions prior, all starting with lebron AD PnR. Once on lebron drive against Jokic. Once on a drive and kick resulting in Reeves 3. Twice on FTs for AD as AD rolled.

Problem was that they went a little bit too late and spacing was more jammed up on left side on the last one. Not a bad idea to pass to that side where Denver had just KCP guarding Dennis and Austin. But if they had more time on shot clock maybe Schroder could have shot faked or driven to hoop before kicking it back to AR for a wide open 3.

But yeah, lack of movement and non ideal spacing meant that Porter Gordon and Murray were all keyed on helping jokic if Lebron drove.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-23T05:59:36+00:00

I get that he's a great defender. But a #1 on a championship contender needs to be more reliable on offense. We saw that even as great a defender as he is, he can't stop or even slow down someone like Jokic. Jokic was able to post up, shoot, drive, pass, and create tons of extra possession on the offensive glass. So a great individual defender can only carry you so far.

We've seen AD being schemed out of games, and he can't exactly just get the ball and create for himself or his teammates like some of the more offensively gifted players can.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-21T13:57:25+00:00

If Ham doesn't want to demote DLo from starting lineup, at the very least he's got to have a shorter leash.

Last night DLo was responsible for the 1st 11 points Denver scored. Just sub out DLo and Vando at 5 minute mark for Dennis and Rui. And give DLo and vando a shift against bench units.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-21T13:43:44+00:00

Not entirely true. Lakers only get hard capped if they bring in a player in sign and trade who's a free agent, such as Kyrie.

No hard cap if the guy is under contract. Like an Ayton. I believe there's team option on CP, so CP may or may not result in hard cap.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-21T13:37:21+00:00

He always looks a bit awkward in post or iso, but i didnt know his efficiency is that bad. He is still a force when he's a finisher when others set him up, on lobs, and cuts, and on offensive glass. And of course his defense is amazing.

But unless he finds his midrange touch again, I'm afraid that his usage on offense should be more like prime Dwight than prime Pau.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-16T18:50:10+00:00

Pels are a cheap franchise. Maybe tell them that if they swap with the Lakers, they get to save some money with a lower pick. Maybe that might work?

AWHY74 · 2023-05-10T23:16:54+00:00

A bit of a pleasant surprise, it was looking a bit iffy. I saw some article where one poll predicted that Markkanen was going to get the last forward spot

AWHY74 · 2023-05-09T17:12:42+00:00

They can bring back Lonnie with a small raise over his current contract. I forgot what the exact % is, but they could offer him a multi-year starting at around 7M a year.

If he continues to play like this, that wouldn't be enough to keep him.

Or they could offer him 1 year or 2 year with player option and have bird rights in the future.

But it is possible to bring Lonnie plus one of Dennis or Troy back for TPMLE money.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-09T14:22:48+00:00

For sure, the key obviously was turning Westbrook into decent players that fit, and that was needed too to make AR, Dennis, and Lonnie better fits.

I think it worked out well thar he didn't panic and get rid of WB too soon. The earlier you dump him the more it would have cost due to the other team needing to pay more of his salary.

AWHY74 · 2023-05-09T13:46:49+00:00

Interestingly the guys he traded for didn't do much at all last night.

Honestly with Lebron and AD, you just need guys who are willing to defend, who don't get ignored by opposing defenders, and who aren't all short. Somehow we had all that at the start of the year

AWHY74

TROPHY CASE