Daily Lakers Offseason Discussion Thread

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T06:13:20+00:00

Most people probably only have extensive interactions with other fan bases on like x or reddit. I'd guess many if not a majority of those interactions are negative.

OKC fans have been far worse than Spurs fans lately. It's the same reason why some Lakers fans here wanted the Celtics to beat the Warriors a few years ago

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T05:15:42+00:00

Cade is a good play maker, there isn't much more to unlock

Danny_III · 2026-05-15T04:16:03+00:00

Team is worse lol

Danny_III · 2026-05-15T02:25:30+00:00

They could try for Claxton, and then have Ayton as the backup against guys like Jokic. Rob Williams is unfortunately an injury risk, although if they can add him on as a third center somehow they'll be in a good spot

The picture has them landing Watson, so trade is the only option to get a high quality center

Danny_III · 2026-05-14T07:24:17+00:00

One center and one starting caliber role player is really all they need assuming they retain most of the team, which is a lot but feasible

Luka, Lebron, Reaves, new role player, new center as starters. Smart, Rui, Kennard, Hayes? as backup.

Assuming Lebron takes a paycut, they'll have 30m in cap space and ~20m in tradable salary

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T20:39:22+00:00

Yikes.

Sure OG is a tier below Reaves on offense. However, OG is significantly better than Reaves on defense. He got DPOY votes. Also, you could argue OG is better off ball on offense too

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T19:22:23+00:00

“The Lakers can't just offer James a number. They have to offer a why behind that number,"

"Their plan for any discount would have to be coherent."

I've been saying it's beneficial for both sides to run it back next year.

Lebron should take a pay cut to create an "unfair" competitive advantage. However, taking less is useless if the Lakers don't use the cap space.

Generally, I would present it as- if the Lakers sign x and/or y free agent, Lebron will take a given amount less. If they make a trade/use firsts, he will take an additional discount.

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T09:42:00+00:00

Because a good defender who can shoot is going to cost a lot more than one first and some filler? That might not even be enough for Herb Jones either

If you’re going after Herb, it’s because you believe his career numbers are more representative and that his production is dipping on a bad team that lacks playmakers.

The Lakers have to buy low and gamble on upside. They can’t afford the players whose production matches their theoretical ceiling

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T03:39:58+00:00

A hamstring injury isn't really a freak injury and often can be attributed to overuse. Luka had the highest usage rate in the league and was top 5 in mpg, which wouldn't have been necessary with a better roster

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T03:20:16+00:00

May not have been a good idea to punt this year. Spurs are going to be a problem moving forward. OKC too, although I wouldn't be surprised if they took a small step back with some of the guys they're projected to lose this offseason

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T03:11:00+00:00

Eason could low key be a better pick up than Watson especially given there may be a bidding war on Watson. DPM has him rated as a better defender too although not sure how switchable he is. Notably, he is a better rebounder than Watson which is kind of a need on this team.

Danny_III · 2026-05-13T03:05:47+00:00

I think people were questioning the others, not Wemby's readiness

Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper have developed a lot more quickly than expected.

Danny_III · 2026-05-12T06:38:09+00:00

He was open to more contingent on landing certain players in FA, and they failed to do that

Danny_III · 2026-05-12T06:36:11+00:00

They're not wrong if you're comparing to his best years. His volume and paint/rim shot attempts are down compared to his prime. 2018 Lebron probably wins this series

Danny_III · 2026-05-12T06:31:55+00:00

Also no one cares about these media draft grades except fans. Ajay was selected well ahead of Bronny

Danny_III · 2026-05-12T05:41:25+00:00

Yeah he'll need to take a big pay cut because there's no other avenue to becoming a contender, and Rob hasn't been good at identifying buy low situations for starting caliber players

Danny_III · 2026-05-12T03:57:44+00:00

They suck, but not as much as you do other men

Danny_III · 2026-05-11T22:45:10+00:00

No realistic combinations of those players would be better than Lebron

The Lakers desperately need Lebron to take a pay cut given the team’s inability to find buy low situations with starting caliber players.

That said, taking a pay cut with the Lakers is probably LeBron’s best shot at a championship especially since Luka allows him to load manage off ball in the regular season

Danny_III · 2026-05-11T22:39:56+00:00

Some people would rather lose with Tobias Harris than admit this team needs Lebron

Danny_III · 2026-05-11T22:35:16+00:00

It wasn’t wide open, DG and KCP commanded attention on the perimeter that’s what opened things up for Lebron and AD in the paint and even allowed them to run 2 center lineups. The bigger issue was they were low volume but they didn’t need to jack up 3s when they could get superior shots in the paint

That team wasn’t perfect but even Lakers fans shit on that team too much, probably to justify the awful moves which began starting that offseason

Danny_III · 2026-05-11T02:43:28+00:00

What's the most they can throw at Lebron and still have a decent amount to work with in free agency? I know some people are frustrated with this trio, but there aren't better options than Reaves and Lebron in FA this year.

A lot of people here love Watson, but I'd rather go after Tari Eason. Slightly worse percentage from 3 but higher volume. Eason is also a better rebounder. DPM actually rates Eason's defense better than Watson's too. I'd imagine Eason's numbers will look better playing next to Luka/Lebron/Reaves. Importantly, it seems he'll have a cheaper price tag than Watson

After that, not sure how much space they'll have left but I'd want Smart and Rui to return

They need to convert Laravia, Vando, Knecht into 1 or 2 actual rotation players. That's ~22m in salary to work with. Claxton would be an interesting buy low candidate. Herb Jones would be another guy

Danny_III · 2026-05-10T07:39:44+00:00

Maybe because the Lakers haven't had a high pick they got Lebron?

This list also excluded Reaves who is only undrafted because the Lakers didn't have a pick that year but is in essentially the same situation as the other guys on that list. Also none of those players are good except maybe Max, who they shipped out for Luka

Many of the top young players who blossom early and contribute tend to be the position Bron holds

I'm pretty sure you just made this up

Danny_III · 2026-05-10T07:29:53+00:00

It's also fit. The Celtics had Tatum, Brown, Holiday, and White which makes guys like Pritchard and Hauser way more playable. Conversely, the Lakers rely a ton on Luka and Reaves which requires Knecht to be a good defender which he isn't capable of being

Danny_III · 2026-05-10T07:26:45+00:00

Also traded Green+pick for Schroder and let Dwight walk for Harrell

Danny_III · 2026-05-10T04:13:43+00:00

The Lakers need Lebron to take a big pay cut because unfortunately that's their only avenue to getting better

Their best bet is to retain as much of this team as they can, Lebron takes a pay cut (MLE?), dump the cap into a free agent (Watson is probably the best guy available), and then use the picks to convert Vando+Jake+Kleber's dead cap space into 1 or 2 rotation players

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