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

[pmatic]

Lakers face key stretch of games over next month

http://www.nba.com/article/2016/12/...brandon-ingram?cid=nbacomsocial_tw_sf48687149

12 of the next 14 games are at home.

 

[whiplashtw03]

Ain't gonna happen, sorry. Magic was a number one pick, DLo was a #2, Larry Bird was #6. DLo will be compared to All-Stars because of his draft position. Expectations are HIGH no matter what anybody says.

And the way DLo acts, the way he loves to be Hollywood 100% of the time, the way he loves to flaunt his "ice in my veins" bravado, this dude better back it up and play like a star.

What would people say if the colorful and flamboyant Dennis Rodman did all those crazy things to get attention but only averaged 5 boards?

 

[Lizakers]

The blasphemy of even putting D'Lo's name anywhere in the same universe as Magic in any capacity.

QFT

Dlo 6'5 scrawny with chicken legs
Magic 6'9 would put that weight on you, and he had that killer mentality

 

[whiplashtw03]

Lakers face key stretch of games over next month

http://www.nba.com/article/2016/12/...brandon-ingram?cid=nbacomsocial_tw_sf48687149

12 of the next 14 games are at home.

Good article, but one full of excuses for this team and one which implies that it's okay to wait 3-4 years for this team to grow and develop. Yet the author writes, "but is there a budding superstar in the mold of Magic and Kobe currently on this roster? We’d probably know by now."

The problem Kupchak and Buss face by not making moves to bring in a superstar is this: by the time this team "develops" in 3-4 years, there will STILL be no superstar to lead them and the Lakers will merely be one of those teams on the periphery of the 8-seed. And at that point, you either allow DLo, Randle, Ingram, etc to leave via free agency and get nothing in return or you try and trade them in 2019 and what little value they have will only net you another Luol Deng-type or best case scenario an aging and slow Brook Lopez or a worn out Evan Fournier/Marcus Morris lol. 

Having said this...Lakers will most likely go 2-12 in their next 14.

 

[pmatic]

It's a full rebuild; These things take time. It sucks, but three or four years is appropriate.

 

[whiplashtw03]

It's a full rebuild; These things take time. It sucks, but three or four years is appropriate.

Call me impatient but we've been rebuilding since Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, D-Fish, and Andrew Bynum left town. By 2020, it will be a full 8 years since we've made the playoffs. 

At least in the 90s, during the down years in between Magic and Shaq/Kobe, when he had Van Exel, Threatt, Divac, Campbell, Ceballos, Jones, Peeler, etc we still made the playoffs and were super competitive.

 

[Lizakers]

Let's wait until Dlo turns 25 before we criticize the way he plays. His lack of hustle is because he's 20. He can't blow by Diaw because he's 20. He can't get more than 4 pts against Mack/Neto because he's 20.

Nevermind that he won't be a Laker by then

 

[pmatic]

It's a full rebuild; These things take time. It sucks, but three or four years is appropriate.

Call me impatient but we've been rebuilding since Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, D-Fish, and Andrew Bynum left town. By 2020, it will be a full 8 years since we've made the playoffs. 

At least in the 90s, during the down years in between Magic and Shaq/Kobe, when he had Van Exel, Threatt, Divac, Campbell, Ceballos, Jones, Peeler, etc we still made the playoffs and were super competitive.

If you want to blame Mitch, Jim, Jeanie and Kobe, then go ahead. I'm right there with you. But this needed to happen. The well ran dry. It happens to everyone (besides the Spurs).

 

[MVP]

Even with all those home games, looks good for the tank. We're really only better than Dallas. So if we drop one of those 2...yikes.

 

[whiplashtw03]

Let's wait until Dlo turns 25 before we criticize the way he plays. His lack of hustle is because he's 20. He can't blow by Diaw because he's 20. He can't get more than 4 pts against Mack/Neto because he's 20.

Nevermind that he won't be a Laker by then

23 is more reasonable. That's less than 3 years from now. By the time he's 23, he'd have been in the league 4 years, which is like an entire college career. Of course, I doubt he'll still be a Laker by then.

Nevertheless, next year Ingram will face similar criticism from me if he doesn't show strides. But right now, DLo gets the most criticism on the team because he's our number 2 pick and because he's got too much Swaggy too little hustle. Just like last couple years when I couldn't stand Nick Young for all his shenanigans and lack of effort on the court. This year, I've come to have a ton of respect for Young for the simple fact he's made a concerted effort to improve his game and lead by example. 

 

[halcyon]

23 is more reasonable. That's less than 3 years from now. By the time he's 23, he'd have been in the league 4 years, which is like an entire college career. Of course, I doubt he'll still be a Laker by then.

Nevertheless, next year Ingram will face similar criticism from me if he doesn't show strides. But right now, DLo gets the most criticism on the team because he's our number 2 pick and because he's got too much Swaggy too little hustle. Just like last couple years when I couldn't stand Nick Young for all his shenanigans and lack of effort on the court. This year, I've come to have a ton of respect for Young for the simple fact he's made a concerted effort to improve his game and lead by example. 

Do you think Ingram will meet your expectations next season in terms of development?

 

[whiplashtw03]

 

 

It's a full rebuild; These things take time. It sucks, but three or four years is appropriate.

Call me impatient but we've been rebuilding since Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, D-Fish, and Andrew Bynum left town. By 2020, it will be a full 8 years since we've made the playoffs. 

At least in the 90s, during the down years in between Magic and Shaq/Kobe, when he had Van Exel, Threatt, Divac, Campbell, Ceballos, Jones, Peeler, etc we still made the playoffs and were super competitive.

If you want to blame Mitch, Jim, Jeanie and Kobe, then go ahead. I'm right there with you. But this needed to happen. The well ran dry. It happens to everyone (besides the Spurs).

I blame them as well. Mostly for bringing in sorry *** coaches MDA and Mike Brown. And although hindsight is 20-20, Kupchak and Buss should've known better and drafted Porzingis instead of Russell. But oh well, that's the state of our less-than-stellar scouting team.

Thanks for bringing up the Spurs....because something ain't right when the Lakers, who are the class of the NBA, are upstaged by the Spurs. The Lakers SHOULD BE doing it better than the Spurs. 

Heck, we can't even top the Celtics, who have done better overall since 2010 (the last time both LAL and BOS were at the top). Since then, they've at least signed an All-Star Center in Horford and found a way to acquire the best little guard in the league in Isaiah Thomas, who will be an All-Star this year. 

 

[whiplashtw03]

 

23 is more reasonable. That's less than 3 years from now. By the time he's 23, he'd have been in the league 4 years, which is like an entire college career. Of course, I doubt he'll still be a Laker by then.

Nevertheless, next year Ingram will face similar criticism from me if he doesn't show strides. But right now, DLo gets the most criticism on the team because he's our number 2 pick and because he's got too much Swaggy too little hustle. Just like last couple years when I couldn't stand Nick Young for all his shenanigans and lack of effort on the court. This year, I've come to have a ton of respect for Young for the simple fact he's made a concerted effort to improve his game and lead by example. 

Do you think Ingram will meet your expectations next season in terms of development?

Most likely, as long as he gets consistent minutes and he doesn't suffer a major injury. And I think Luke has given him a vote of supreme confidence by playing/trusting him at the point.

What I like about Ingram (and what I've seen from him thus far) is that, to borrow the baseball term, he's a 5-tool player. He can play multiple positions and his versatility allows him to be a potential mismatch. He just has to put on some weight and get stronger while learning the speed of the game. Once he does this, he'll be a bonafide contributor.

In addition, I like that he seems humble, he's not flashy whatsoever, he seems to have solid fundamentals and makes good plays when he's out there on the court. Not to mention I've seen flashes of aggressiveness and assertiveness on the court, which tells me he has some fire in him as well as a sense of fearlessness. When I see him get mad and frustrated on the court when he makes mistakes and misses shots he's supposed to make, it shows he's got that competitive zeal.

 

[Lizakers]

23 is more reasonable. That's less than 3 years from now. By the time he's 23, he'd have been in the league 4 years, which is like an entire college career. Of course, I doubt he'll still be a Laker by then.

Nevertheless, next year Ingram will face similar criticism from me if he doesn't show strides. But right now, DLo gets the most criticism on the team because he's our number 2 pick and because he's got too much Swaggy too little hustle. Just like last couple years when I couldn't stand Nick Young for all his shenanigans and lack of effort on the court. This year, I've come to have a ton of respect for Young for the simple fact he's made a concerted effort to improve his game and lead by example. 

By that logic, Dlo can turn it around too. We're just waiting to see some hustle. Some defense. Some getting after it, playing HARD

Just waiting for him to finish "loading", if you will

 

[tupac003]

I'm not here to make excuses...

But I feel as if we have forgetten how far basketball reasons set us back.

But really, talking about the past is not going to change the future. We have had many discussions on the misteps of the front office.

If they all went, it would be fair. Right now I don't know who you put in that is going to fit the expectations of this fan base.

It's a very different NBA. The CBA was sst up to stop us from what we used to do.

I like where we are and I know it will get better but I reading some of the comments some of you guys will never be satisfied unless we win a title every year....

 

[whiplashtw03]

 

23 is more reasonable. That's less than 3 years from now. By the time he's 23, he'd have been in the league 4 years, which is like an entire college career. Of course, I doubt he'll still be a Laker by then.

Nevertheless, next year Ingram will face similar criticism from me if he doesn't show strides. But right now, DLo gets the most criticism on the team because he's our number 2 pick and because he's got too much Swaggy too little hustle. Just like last couple years when I couldn't stand Nick Young for all his shenanigans and lack of effort on the court. This year, I've come to have a ton of respect for Young for the simple fact he's made a concerted effort to improve his game and lead by example. 

By that logic, Dlo can turn it around too. We're just waiting to see some hustle. Some defense. Some getting after it, playing HARD

He can, but I just don't think he's got it in him. That's my opinion of course.

At least in the past, Young had already proven he was legit so we already knew what we had. It became plainly obvious that Young's shenanigans stemmed from Byron Scott being the coach because Young obviously played well for us when MDA was here and in prior years with other teams. So it's not like Young never had it to begin with, dude just took a vacation when he hooked up with Iggy.

 

[tupac003]

By that logic, Dlo can turn it around too. We're just waiting to see some hustle. Some defense. Some getting after it, playing HARD

Just waiting for him to finish "loading", if you will

Something I hope we can all agree on. We have to give him time to devlop.(load)

 

[whiplashtw03]

I'm not here to make excuses...

But I feel as if we have forgetten how far basketball reasons set us back.

But really, talking about the past is not going to change the future. We have had many discussions on the misteps of the front office.

If they all went, it would be fair. Right now I don't know who you put in that is going to fit the expectations of this fan base.

It's a very different NBA. The CBA was sst up to stop us from what we used to do.

I like where we are and I know it will get better but I reading some of the comments some of you guys will never be satisfied unless we win a title every year....

While I agree with you here, I don't want y'all to get it twisted. It's not that I won't be satisfied unless we win a title every year, it's more like I'm disgusted that we're heading straight to another tank season. For what? To get another lottery pick and stockpile "assets" yet we all know the chances are closer to slim that our FO ain't gonna do nothing about those assets to acquire us a superstar.

My problem is that we're playing ugly basketball, it seems like we're regressing, and there's no continuity and communication both offensively and defensively. What the heck are they doing in practice??

I also don't see any fire out there on the court. When we're losing, their body language says it all.

They teased us with the 7-5 start and we all got our fancies tickled, thinking we were all of a sudden going to compete for the 8-seed. Then we imploded. Yes, we had some injuries but the rest of the players are supposed to step up and take their games to a higher level when starters are out. Perfect example is Lou Williams, he took the scoring load by the horns and gave us a taste of Prime Lou Williams. Slowly but surely, Deng is doing the same thing as his play has improved the last few games. They're LEADING BY EXAMPLE.

But what about Moz? What about TRob? What about Young, who suddenly has become inconsistent the last couple games? 

Guys like Russell and Randle and BI are supposed to follow Lou and Deng's lead and elevate their play so that the team has some semblance of uniformity and consistency.

I don't see it yet. Hopefully, the veterans start to earn their keep and continue leading by example so the young guns can follow. 

I'm totally against tanking yet another season. This team has to MAN THE F UP and FIGHT and start playing like they're capable. If not and they tank again, I sure as hell hope Kupchak and Buss have something up their sleeve to get us a superstar or two in the next couple years.

 

[whiplashtw03]

On another note, any developments with the possible DMo acquisition?

If I'm the Lakers, I have nothing to lose. Go get him.

 

[Lizakers]

I've said it before, our young core right now is not good enough to net us a "superstar " and rarely are those elite players traded

Our best hope is they develop and become great but from what I see, at least for Dlo/JC/Randle , they're not good enough in terms of skill set at this point. Some skills can be developed some cannot

 

[whiplashtw03]

I've said it before, our young core right now is not good enough to net us a "superstar " and rarely are those elite players traded

Our best hope is they develop and become great but from what I see, at least for Dlo/JC/Randle , they're not good enough in terms of skill set at this point. Some skills can be developed some cannot

The unproven Andrew Wiggins and  Anthony Bennett we're not yet "good enough" in 2014 yet the Cavs were still able to acquire "superstar" Kevin Love for both of them.

At the time that trade was made, Wiggins and Bennett were not nearly as good as Russell/JC/Randle are now, yet Minnesota decided to deal away their franchise player hoping that the potential of Wiggins and Bennett would pan out.

Never say never. All it takes is the right trade partner and the right situation for both teams. As the old cliche goes..."timing is everything." And imo, NOW is the right time to be shopping guys like DLo, Randle, JC.

But the problem is...I just don't think Kupchak and Jim Buss are that savvy, sharp, and aggressive a salesman as Jerry West and Dr. Buss were. That, imo, is the main issue for the Lakers lack of ability to generate any significant trades or FA acquisitions.

 

[Lizakers]

The unproven Andrew Wiggins and  Anthony Bennett we're not yet "good enough" in 2014 yet the Cavs were still able to acquire "superstar" Kevin Love for both of them.

At the time that trade was made, Wiggins and Bennett were not nearly as good as Russell/JC/Randle are now, yet Minnesota decided to deal away their franchise player hoping that the potential of Wiggins and Bennett would pan out.

Never say never. All it takes is the right trade partner and the right situation for both teams. As the old cliche goes..."timing is everything." And imo, NOW is the right time to be shopping guys like DLo, Randle, JC.

But the problem is...I just don't think Kupchak and Jim Buss are that savvy, sharp, and aggressive a salesman as Jerry West and Dr. Buss were. That, imo, is the main issue for the Lakers lack of ability to generate any significant trades or FA acquisitions.

Wiggins was the consensus top pick, much like KAT, everyone knew he'd be good

The problem is GMs are all now well aware of the flaws in JC Randle Dlo's games

Plus, Love was a goner everyone knew it

 

[MVP]

Yea an unknown pick is much more valuable than an actual player who you've seen play.

 

[tupac003]

While I agree with you here, I don't want y'all to get it twisted. It's not that I won't be satisfied unless we win a title every year, it's more like I'm disgusted that we're heading straight to another tank season. For what? To get another lottery pick and stockpile "assets" yet we all know the chances are closer to slim that our FO ain't gonna do nothing about those assets to acquire us a superstar.

My problem is that we're playing ugly basketball, it seems like we're regressing, and there's no continuity and communication both offensively and defensively. What the heck are they doing in practice??

I also don't see any fire out there on the court. When we're losing, their body language says it all.

They teased us with the 7-5 start and we all got our fancies tickled, thinking we were all of a sudden going to compete for the 8-seed. Then we imploded. Yes, we had some injuries but the rest of the players are supposed to step up and take their games to a higher level when starters are out. Perfect example is Lou Williams, he took the scoring load by the horns and gave us a taste of Prime Lou Williams. Slowly but surely, Deng is doing the same thing as his play has improved the last few games. They're LEADING BY EXAMPLE.

But what about Moz? What about TRob? What about Young, who suddenly has become inconsistent the last couple games? 

Guys like Russell and Randle and BI are supposed to follow Lou and Deng's lead and elevate their play so that the team has some semblance of uniformity and consistency.

I don't see it yet. Hopefully, the veterans start to earn their keep and continue leading by example so the young guns can follow. 

I'm totally against tanking yet another season. This team has to MAN THE F UP and FIGHT and start playing like they're capable. If not and they tank again, I sure as hell hope Kupchak and Buss have something up their sleeve to get us a superstar or two in the next couple years.

It is a very long season. We started pretty good, we had some injuries and haven't been able to find our way since.

With the new CBA, you can't just make trades unless you know you are going to get a franchise piece. At this point if you trade for cousins, what are you going to put next to him?

While the last 15 games have been frustrating, I honestly don't know what you guys expected. They are a super young team. Looking at the talnet Minny has, you would think they would be better and they are currently behind us in the standings.

I don't known if being demonstrative on the court is going to solve the issue. Don't know if showing fire is going to solve the issues. What we do know is these guys are a work in progress.

We have to give them a chance to grow. That's all.

 

[Lizakers]

I've learned that it's really too much to ask for a young 20 year old #2 pick to attack Boris freaking Diaw. Apparently he needs years of development to acquire this elusive skill.