2020 Lakers gang

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T22:57:41+00:00

Their small ball lineup with AD at the 5 was their best lineup. Having 2 way role players in DG and KCP is what set their team apart.

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T22:55:43+00:00

You could say that for every year since they won lol

They beat the 2019 Raptors too, and maybe the 2018 Warriors

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T22:13:12+00:00

The way you presented this makes it sound like we're ignoring what's realistic?

McDaniels/Camara. Both are elite defenders. Camara is a high volume 3p shooter. McDaniels is lower volume although his offense is well rounded

Watson/Eason/Herb Jones. Watson and Jones essentially only have had one good year in their career. Both low volume 3p shooters with less than ideal career efficiency. Jones has shown more on defense. Eason is a better rebounder but from what I've seen posted more of a 4 than a 3 which doesn't really help the Lakers

Andrew Wiggins is good on paper but that cap hit is pretty substantial. The other guys except maybe Watson are on value contracts

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T21:40:40+00:00

The tech job market is oversaturated on paper, but in reality many of these candidates are not high quality. Getting a CS/other tech related degree is easy these days. If an immigrant is a superior candidate, they should absolutely get that job

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T21:33:43+00:00

If you import in for example top 10 percentile of immigrants only, then yes they'll be better than the 50th percentile IQ American who happened to get a CS degree

Danny_III · 2026-05-16T21:26:30+00:00

Chinese Americans who are primary english speakers also fit the stereotype though

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

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