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the lakers
Who would be dumb enough to trade for DJ or Baze?
but also anybody who wants to shed salary next year.
**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by licensed to ball,
- Start date
but also anybody who wants to shed salary next year.
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Is TT playing tonight?
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He might start. Kings starting center is out.
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Thought he might sit this 1 out cause of the new baby and drama
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Thought he might sit this 1 out cause of the new baby and drama
"Thompson DNP "Personal Reasons"
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Actually they got Damian Jones listed as the starter for C.
Yeah Dwight gotta get some burn tonight.
Yeah Dwight gotta get some burn tonight.
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Nah TT plays gains fuel from disrespecting Khloe. Don't be surprised if he gets a double double.
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Doubt Dwight plays today.
Vogel is in data collection mode. Wants to see how team will do vs a super tall lob catcher. Let’s see how long it lasts.
Kind of fascinating time for lakers. They are basically in off-season free agency mode I think. They are completely changing their style of play mid season a la Houston in 2020.
Dj
Ellington
Baze (bc he sucks not bc of style of play)
Tht
Nunn (for contract sake)
Likely all on the block (left Howard out bc you’ll need him vs Jokic) I think to play new style, they will need 6’7-6’9 wings that can play up a position That’s the only way you can play with lebron at center. No more 3 guard lineups. Won’t work
Vogel is in data collection mode. Wants to see how team will do vs a super tall lob catcher. Let’s see how long it lasts.
Kind of fascinating time for lakers. They are basically in off-season free agency mode I think. They are completely changing their style of play mid season a la Houston in 2020.
Dj
Ellington
Baze (bc he sucks not bc of style of play)
Tht
Nunn (for contract sake)
Likely all on the block (left Howard out bc you’ll need him vs Jokic) I think to play new style, they will need 6’7-6’9 wings that can play up a position That’s the only way you can play with lebron at center. No more 3 guard lineups. Won’t work
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With his daughterIf she sat courtside tonight....
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Nah he can’t do that some chick might catch it and use that DNA to prove he’s her baby daddy tooHe might do this if that happens
Too risky
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20 years ago and since the Lakers are playing the Queens tonight:
The last NBA team to 3peat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To bad the NBA don't have rivalries like this anymore !
The last NBA team to 3peat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To bad the NBA don't have rivalries like this anymore !
dontsteponmyshoes
Supporter
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Watched The beginning of a dynasty about Shaq and Beans first chip on spectrum last night . Still can't wrap my head around Bean being gone 
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talentless horton ****er is shooting so poorly even stanley johnson is shooting better than him.
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The Rajon Rondo trade opens up roster flexibility for the Lakers during an important week
The Lakers traded Rajon Rondo to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team deal with the New York Knicks on Monday, clearing millions off their cap sheet and giving them greater roster flexibility.
The official deal: Rondo to the Cavaliers; Denzel Valentine (who was later waived), Los Angeles’ draft rights to Brad Newley (the No. 54 pick in 2007) and Wang Zhelin (the No. 57 pick in 2016) and cash to the Knicks; and New York’s draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (No. 57 pick in 2014) to the Lakers.
Rondo was expendable, as he had become a seldom-used backup in a rotation loaded with ball-dominant playmakers and scorers. With Kendrick Nunn potentially returning soon, Rondo’s role and playing time were going to be nonexistent. Though the 35-year-old has a history of performing better in the postseason — including with the Lakers on their path to a championship in 2020 — the team couldn’t afford to put its faith in Playoff Rondo helping later on.
At 19-19, the Lakers need to win now to make up for their No. 8 place in the West standings. Prioritizing signing Stanley Johnson, whose 10-day contract expired Monday, or another better-fitting player would fill a need for the Lakers in the short term — and likely the long term. The Lakers were just 5-13 in the 18 games Rondo played this season.
The Rondo trade opens up the 15th and final spot on the Lakers’ roster — Labeyrie is not joining the team — which means they have an opening to sign Johnson. Per coach Frank Vogel, Johnson and Darren Collison, who was also on a 10-day contract, were not at practice Monday.
Nearly as critical, with Rondo making the $2.6 million veteran’s minimum (his cap hit was only $1.7 million, though), the Lakers created a $1.7 million trade exception and could save roughly $4 to $6 million depending on how they handle their open roster spot.
The week ahead is important, with key decisions to make on Johnson’s future, as well as Avery Bradley’s.
“In terms of what is next, we still don’t know,” Vogel said. “Rob (Pelinka) and Kurt (Rambis) are going to make those decisions as they see fit, and that will all play out in the next few days.”
Stanley Johnson’s contract
First and foremost, there is the matter of Johnson’s contract. The most likely scenario appears to be the Lakers using their 15th roster spot to re-sign him, as Johnson has started three of the five games he’s played and emerged as integral part of their small-ball lineups sans Anthony Davis.
The key date is Jan. 5, which is the first day teams can sign players to 10-day contracts that aren’t 10-day hardship exemptions. Johnson will miss the Lakers’ Jan. 4 matchup against the Kings due to that stipulation. The Lakers could technically sign him outright, but all indications are that they prefer signing him to another 10-day contract first, to save money.
The Lakers have three options if they want to keep Johnson for the rest of 2021-22: They can sign him for the rest of the season, sign him to another 10-day contract Jan. 5 and then for the rest of the season, or sign him to two consecutive 10-day contracts and then for the rest of the season.
“We still hope to have (Johnson) back for some more games,” Vogel said. “All those answers will reveal themselves over the next few days.”
Avery Bradley’s non-guaranteed contract
After getting cut by the Golden State Warriors before the season, Bradley landed in Los Angeles on a non-guaranteed contract. His contract guarantees Jan. 7, giving the Lakers until Friday to determine if they want to retain his $2.6 million veteran’s minimum deal.
Vogel has publicly backed Bradley, stating that his statistics don’t accurately portray his on-court impact (a common refrain shared by Doc Rivers, Bradley’s coach in Boston and with the Clippers, among others).
Considering Bradley has started 25 of the 30 games he’s played for the Lakers, providing valuable on-ball defense and 40 percent 3-point shooting, it’s likely his contract is guaranteed (barring the front office disagreeing with the coaching staff’s perception of Bradley and deciding to intervene). This situation is even more straightforward than Johnson’s.
Future roster flexibility
The primary benefit of the Rondo trade is the flexibility it provides the Lakers — both from a roster-building perspective and financially.
Had the Lakers not moved Rondo at this time, it would have cost them Johnson once his 10-day contract expired. The alternative option to keep Johnson would have been waiving Bradley before his contract guaranteed. But Bradley has been better than Rondo this season. Trading Rondo to a point guard-hungry team like the Cavaliers was probably the best realistic pathway to creating some roster flexibility.
“Obviously, the ability to have flexibility with the roster spot for what we have coming forward, which is still unknown … I think Rob (Pelinka) just saw value in that,” Vogel said.
The Lakers aren’t done making moves, of course. Even in a season ravaged by injuries and health and safety protocols, it’s clear there are holes in and flaws with the roster. They almost certainly need to improve around the fringes to truly contend.
They can flip Talen Horton-Tucker or Nunn — their only non-stars making more than the veteran’s minimum — at the deadline. They can also use one of their trade exceptions. They can try to package DeAndre Jordan and/or Kent Bazemore with cash or a future pick to create another roster opening to take back an extra player in a separate trade or to sign a player off the buyout market.
The Lakers also could waive Jordan or Bazemore, though that would be a hit to their cap sheet and goes against their spending tendencies. Both former opening-night starters have fallen out of favor and are no longer in the rotation. It’s difficult to envision a scenario in which Jordan, in particular, re-emerges into the rotation after Dwight Howard undeniably leapfrogged him from the coaching staff’s viewpoint and the Lakers committed to playing smaller with James and Davis as their two centers.
Similar to the Rondo situation, perhaps the Lakers would look to move Jordan or Bazemore to a situation in which he would play more.
“The opportunity presented where we’re partners with all these guys,” Vogel said of the Rondo deal. “You want to do what’s best for the player, as well.”
A subplot to all of this is the Lakers have undergone a considerable identity shift recently, fully leaning into centerless basketball without Davis. There will likely be moments in which they return to a more traditional rotation, with Howard factoring in as a conventional center. But the Lakers’ roster remains under evaluation as they determine what current pieces fit and don’t fit with their new approach. That process could lead to further changes ahead of the Feb. 10 trade deadline.
“It’s just the way the first part of the season has played out,” Vogel said. “It appears that we’re gonna need the whole season to be looking at different lineups and different combinations and different spots to put our players in. We’ve got a lot of different circumstances that force us to try certain things, and I don’t think we’ve quite settled into who we’re going to be come playoff time, especially with Anthony (Davis) being out right now.
“But, there are lessons to be learned every time we take the floor, every time we’re in a film session or in a practice. And we’re evaluating constantly. We still haven’t seen Kendrick Nunn. Trevor Ariza is still very new to our team. Stanley Johnson has potentially become a factor for us. And we’re going to continue to look at all these players and the way they fit and the style of play.
“We’re playing smaller lineups. It’s going to be an evaluation process throughout the season. But the key is to build the strongest unit that we can going into the playoffs and win as many games as you can along the way.”
The Lakers traded Rajon Rondo to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team deal with the New York Knicks on Monday, clearing millions off their cap sheet and giving them greater roster flexibility.
The official deal: Rondo to the Cavaliers; Denzel Valentine (who was later waived), Los Angeles’ draft rights to Brad Newley (the No. 54 pick in 2007) and Wang Zhelin (the No. 57 pick in 2016) and cash to the Knicks; and New York’s draft rights to Louis Labeyrie (No. 57 pick in 2014) to the Lakers.
Rondo was expendable, as he had become a seldom-used backup in a rotation loaded with ball-dominant playmakers and scorers. With Kendrick Nunn potentially returning soon, Rondo’s role and playing time were going to be nonexistent. Though the 35-year-old has a history of performing better in the postseason — including with the Lakers on their path to a championship in 2020 — the team couldn’t afford to put its faith in Playoff Rondo helping later on.
At 19-19, the Lakers need to win now to make up for their No. 8 place in the West standings. Prioritizing signing Stanley Johnson, whose 10-day contract expired Monday, or another better-fitting player would fill a need for the Lakers in the short term — and likely the long term. The Lakers were just 5-13 in the 18 games Rondo played this season.
The Rondo trade opens up the 15th and final spot on the Lakers’ roster — Labeyrie is not joining the team — which means they have an opening to sign Johnson. Per coach Frank Vogel, Johnson and Darren Collison, who was also on a 10-day contract, were not at practice Monday.
Nearly as critical, with Rondo making the $2.6 million veteran’s minimum (his cap hit was only $1.7 million, though), the Lakers created a $1.7 million trade exception and could save roughly $4 to $6 million depending on how they handle their open roster spot.
The week ahead is important, with key decisions to make on Johnson’s future, as well as Avery Bradley’s.
“In terms of what is next, we still don’t know,” Vogel said. “Rob (Pelinka) and Kurt (Rambis) are going to make those decisions as they see fit, and that will all play out in the next few days.”
Stanley Johnson’s contract
First and foremost, there is the matter of Johnson’s contract. The most likely scenario appears to be the Lakers using their 15th roster spot to re-sign him, as Johnson has started three of the five games he’s played and emerged as integral part of their small-ball lineups sans Anthony Davis.
The key date is Jan. 5, which is the first day teams can sign players to 10-day contracts that aren’t 10-day hardship exemptions. Johnson will miss the Lakers’ Jan. 4 matchup against the Kings due to that stipulation. The Lakers could technically sign him outright, but all indications are that they prefer signing him to another 10-day contract first, to save money.
The Lakers have three options if they want to keep Johnson for the rest of 2021-22: They can sign him for the rest of the season, sign him to another 10-day contract Jan. 5 and then for the rest of the season, or sign him to two consecutive 10-day contracts and then for the rest of the season.
“We still hope to have (Johnson) back for some more games,” Vogel said. “All those answers will reveal themselves over the next few days.”
Avery Bradley’s non-guaranteed contract
After getting cut by the Golden State Warriors before the season, Bradley landed in Los Angeles on a non-guaranteed contract. His contract guarantees Jan. 7, giving the Lakers until Friday to determine if they want to retain his $2.6 million veteran’s minimum deal.
Vogel has publicly backed Bradley, stating that his statistics don’t accurately portray his on-court impact (a common refrain shared by Doc Rivers, Bradley’s coach in Boston and with the Clippers, among others).
Considering Bradley has started 25 of the 30 games he’s played for the Lakers, providing valuable on-ball defense and 40 percent 3-point shooting, it’s likely his contract is guaranteed (barring the front office disagreeing with the coaching staff’s perception of Bradley and deciding to intervene). This situation is even more straightforward than Johnson’s.
Future roster flexibility
The primary benefit of the Rondo trade is the flexibility it provides the Lakers — both from a roster-building perspective and financially.
Had the Lakers not moved Rondo at this time, it would have cost them Johnson once his 10-day contract expired. The alternative option to keep Johnson would have been waiving Bradley before his contract guaranteed. But Bradley has been better than Rondo this season. Trading Rondo to a point guard-hungry team like the Cavaliers was probably the best realistic pathway to creating some roster flexibility.
“Obviously, the ability to have flexibility with the roster spot for what we have coming forward, which is still unknown … I think Rob (Pelinka) just saw value in that,” Vogel said.
The Lakers aren’t done making moves, of course. Even in a season ravaged by injuries and health and safety protocols, it’s clear there are holes in and flaws with the roster. They almost certainly need to improve around the fringes to truly contend.
They can flip Talen Horton-Tucker or Nunn — their only non-stars making more than the veteran’s minimum — at the deadline. They can also use one of their trade exceptions. They can try to package DeAndre Jordan and/or Kent Bazemore with cash or a future pick to create another roster opening to take back an extra player in a separate trade or to sign a player off the buyout market.
The Lakers also could waive Jordan or Bazemore, though that would be a hit to their cap sheet and goes against their spending tendencies. Both former opening-night starters have fallen out of favor and are no longer in the rotation. It’s difficult to envision a scenario in which Jordan, in particular, re-emerges into the rotation after Dwight Howard undeniably leapfrogged him from the coaching staff’s viewpoint and the Lakers committed to playing smaller with James and Davis as their two centers.
Similar to the Rondo situation, perhaps the Lakers would look to move Jordan or Bazemore to a situation in which he would play more.
“The opportunity presented where we’re partners with all these guys,” Vogel said of the Rondo deal. “You want to do what’s best for the player, as well.”
A subplot to all of this is the Lakers have undergone a considerable identity shift recently, fully leaning into centerless basketball without Davis. There will likely be moments in which they return to a more traditional rotation, with Howard factoring in as a conventional center. But the Lakers’ roster remains under evaluation as they determine what current pieces fit and don’t fit with their new approach. That process could lead to further changes ahead of the Feb. 10 trade deadline.
“It’s just the way the first part of the season has played out,” Vogel said. “It appears that we’re gonna need the whole season to be looking at different lineups and different combinations and different spots to put our players in. We’ve got a lot of different circumstances that force us to try certain things, and I don’t think we’ve quite settled into who we’re going to be come playoff time, especially with Anthony (Davis) being out right now.
“But, there are lessons to be learned every time we take the floor, every time we’re in a film session or in a practice. And we’re evaluating constantly. We still haven’t seen Kendrick Nunn. Trevor Ariza is still very new to our team. Stanley Johnson has potentially become a factor for us. And we’re going to continue to look at all these players and the way they fit and the style of play.
“We’re playing smaller lineups. It’s going to be an evaluation process throughout the season. But the key is to build the strongest unit that we can going into the playoffs and win as many games as you can along the way.”
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THT gonna be sick.
Edit:
It gets better:
Last edited:
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THT gonna be sick.
Edit:
It gets better:
Simple role
Off the bench. Give him keys to drive in in small spurts. Don’t play him with Russ. Don’t make him spot up shooter
Raise his stock and trade o
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we giving up offensive boards again.
MIKE LOWERY
formerly chuck finster
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So confused by the coaching decisions and direction of the team.
Ok here's Dwight now finally.
Ok here's Dwight now finally.
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Vogel decided to rest all of our scorers at the wrong time. His decision making has been questionable for a season and a half at this point.
