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

[drewsone]

they not trading russ

simmons would help with the defense tho lol
but i think russ is more dynamic on offense

 

[Zo gif]

AD for bradley beal and a box of mano puff bars.

 

[trynafeelmink]

So hold on, ya'll been *****ing about Spacing & What Russ is gonna do come playoff time........... and ya'll are interested in BEN SIMMONS

 

[MVP]

Not a Simmons fan at all but he would be better fit than Russ

Better fit for what exactly?

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Better fit for what exactly?

Defense and less turnovers

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Yall see how good Philly is without Simmons right? Didn't even replace him with anything legit just subtracted him

 

[DLF]

0.500 team

lakers without Russ would be first in west

 

[moonman818]

So hold on, ya'll been *****ing about Spacing & What Russ is gonna do come playoff time........... and ya'll are interested in BEN SIMMONS

Yeah, honestly I don't understand the logic at all. Often, we already have a hard enough time at scoring... and guys is really in here salivating over Benjamin Simmons.

 

[moonman818]

Seriously he's been in the league for 5 years and he hasn't really gotten better since his rookie season... and you guys really talking about YEEEAAAARRRRSSSS of this guy

 

[Hijo Del Promo]

Ive come to realize, The story of Lebron James is actually the story of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ranger... The Green Ranger.

But instead of a Green Candle dictating how long he last, this time, Tom Brady represents that candle.

So my theory is, as long as Tom Brady is good, Lebron will be good too.

 

[DLF]

Those that want Simmons for Russ are doing so bc that’s the best we can get for Russ. We know he ain’t the great fit. But beggars can’t be choosers.
Losing Russ is addition by subtraction.
In return you get a great defender at least. Plus less turnovers and airball 3 pointers with 20 seconds on the clock

 

[sohi 23]

I view Ben as making an impact in the Draymond role. He can play center for us honestly.

Moot point tho because we don’t have the salary to match up for a trade.

 

[MVP]

Those that want Simmons for Russ are doing so bc that’s the best we can get for Russ.
Losing Russ is addition by subtraction.
In return you get a great defender at least. Plus less turnovers and airball 3 pointers with 20 seconds on the clock

So one less turnover per game and improved perimeter defense is not outweighed even more by the futility of the offense and even less spacing somehow when he'd be on the floor? It's even worse than the crowing about Buddy Hield.

 

[moonman818]

I view Ben as making an impact in the Draymond role. He can play center for us honestly.

Moot point tho because we don’t have the salary to match up for a trade.

Draymond was surrounded by literally the 3 best of shooters of all time... You think he'd be a quality player pretty much anywhere else?

 

[sohi 23]

Draymond was surrounded by literally the 3 best of shooters of all time... You think he'd be a quality player pretty much anywhere else?

Draymond is balling this season with just Steph so yeah I think Ben could be a high quality role player. Not worth a max contract obviously but he’s a great athlete, defender and passer + he’ll do all the little things.

The math doesn’t work because he makes too much bread though. This would’ve been a convo worth having if we were deciding between Ben and Russ in the summer.

 

[DLF]

So one less turnover per game and improved perimeter defense is not outweighed even more by the futility of the offense and even less spacing somehow when he'd be on the floor? It's even worse than the crowing about Buddy Hield.

Long term here.

if this iteration of the team doesn’t work we will be in same boat next summer. 3 max guys and rest of the roster being trash. At least with Simmons you can trade him this summer he plays decent

trust me. We all want Russ to work and Ariza needs to come back asap so we can hopefully get some run together but I’m less optimistic than most.

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

So if the Lakers trade their very last real trade chip THT for Grant they’d either have to extend him at the max this off-season or possibly risk losing him next summer for nothing. Dead that rumor asap

What? So you're not extending 28 y/o Jerami Grant? Or are you saying Jeanie Buss wouldn't?

 

[trynafeelmink]

Bruh Ben Simmons literally passed up an open dunk in a close playoff game before. It's not just him being a bad scorer, he simply refuses to score. I see the way ya'll talk about AD...... just the thought of what Ben would be hearing on this squad

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

EYE don't care about his offense tho. Offense is not the problem and never has been. Even tho everyone has always clamored for shooters. IF Bron/AD are healthy, team doesn't have problems scoring the ball. Simmons would theoretically find his spots and get to his usual 15 a game somehow. I've said it before. He's a 6'10" 2020 Alex Caruso. Bigger, more athletic and more dynamic tho. Only thing is Caruso was a terrible shooter then, but at least he would shoot it. Simmons hates Embiid and loves Bron. I would hope son would be willing to actually try shooting the ball if Bron tells him he believes in him.

It's always been about defense, especially if Vogel is your coach, and SImmons makes you #1 defense in the league again for the third straight year. Offense didn't win in 2020 perse. Defense, rebounding and rim pressure won the title in 2020. Once again, all things he excels at.

But I get it. Everyone has a terrible view of Ben after that playoff series and understandably so. He blew it. But I think it's moreso role and fit. In a vacuum, Russ is a better player, but it ain't that simple once you get to this point.



It ain't gon happen anyway. Cool to run trade machine scenarios. That's all.

 

[drewsone]

So one less turnover per game and improved perimeter defense is not outweighed even more by the futility of the offense and even less spacing somehow when he'd be on the floor? It's even worse than the crowing about Buddy Hield.

if simmons here and not russ tho when bron was out there prob no way we even close to hovering around .500 on those games lol

 

[tay1]

95% chance we won’t even be in close running to get Ben

 

[DLF]

NBA media and fandom is such a joke (I know I know. The irony)

Suns fans like: maybe we can get sabonis. Give them crowder saric and a 1st
Everyone: nice!

lakers fans: tht Nunn for an injured grant
Everyone: lakers are a joke and I can’t believe they think the pistons would even entertain that

 

[drewsone]

grant would be interesting. wonder that package is enough tho

i sort of like having one of THT or Nunn tho

myles turner is interesting too and i think he's gonna go for cheaper than most people think

 

[Lizakers]

No team will help us become the franchise with the most chips. They mostly hate/envy us

just look at the Russ trade. Teams are trying to make us worse

 

[grittyman]

Grant would be a solid pickup, no arguments from me there. My only pushback is that the Lakers aren’t committed to anyone next season except AD and THT…do you really want to attach yourself to Grant for the next 3-4 seasons?

Also, how committed is AD to playing center in the future? Because if he wants to start at the 4, Lebron is the SF so were does Grant fit in then? Definitely not playing him that much to come off the bench. Team would be really locked into that Grant/Bron/AD front court with a rookie or two and the rest minimum players around them

And if you say you can always trade Grant later, well if all it took was THT, a dude who hasn’t even played and a min player to get him as he gets older and has a smaller role on this team his value isn’t going to go up it’ll probably do the opposite.

I don’t have any names at the moment BUT if I was trying to trade THT it would have to be for a player who can theoretically play the 2/3 on both sides of the ball