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AD for Luka 
**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by licensed to ball,
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20/21 is a wash to me. Only way a run was happening is if they had strict load management for Bron and AD after the quick turnaround. This is the only time AD has gotten injured in the playoffs.
Track record isn't great on that so far.
21/22 was over before it started with the Russ trade. Team was DOA after the depth was nuked.
Now we have 22/23. Make or break season. No excuses
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Season opener was fun last night boys!
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Jovan:
The Lakers, with new look and at full strength, bring emotion entering All-Star break
D’Angelo Russell took two dribbles and pulled up for an uncontested 3-pointer from 27 feet in transition.
As the ball swished through, Russell turned around and skipped and bounced toward the opposite baseline. The 3-pointer capped a 6-0 personal run by Russell, which helped the Lakers turn a six-point lead into a 12-point lead and forced a New Orleans Pelicans timeout with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
Russell, who played for the Lakers from 2015 through 2017, was overflowing with emotion in his first home game as a Laker since April 9, 2017. On his way down the floor, he yelled to the Crypto.com Arena crowd, “Like I never left!” He repeated himself, yelling louder and pointing to the Lakers logo on his chest, “Like I never left!”
“Just embracing all those emotions,” Russell said of the moment. “… Just kind of embracing it with my own persona, and I love those moments. I play for the fans that are fans of me. I always appreciate them, and when I have an opportunity to embrace it and go out of my way and do something like that, I always think of the fans when I’m doing that, for sure.”
Russell was one of five newcomers — along with Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed — making their home Lakers debut on Wednesday. More importantly, LeBron James returned after missing the previous three games because of a sore left ankle.
The collective energy, spirit and complementary skills the additions provided, as well as James’ scoring and playmaking, helped the Lakers go into the All-Star break on a high note, blowing out the Pelicans 120-102 to improve to 27-32. Los Angeles is now two games out of the No. 10 spot and 3 1/2 games out of the No. 6 spot in the West.
At full strength, the new-look Lakers were impressive, posting one of their few wire-to-wire wins of the season.
“It was good,” Anthony Davis said of the win. “One, for us to get on the winning side of things going into the break, to feel good about ourselves and not let a loss kind of linger over the next six, seven days. … And two, just standing purposes.”
While the win was certainly important — head coach Davin Ham labeled it a “QOL win” aka “quality of life win” — it was the manner in which the Lakers won that was most notable.
In a season that has been largely bereft of fun, joy and happiness, the Lakers played with all three for nearly 48 minutes Wednesday. Whenever the Pelicans made their inevitable run to make things competitive, the Lakers always had a swift response, often followed by smiles and high-fives and interactions to hype up the crowd. They were happy, which has been rare during this dispiriting campaign.
“When your mind and spirit is right, the body usually follows,” Ham said. “… We are playing for the best franchise in the world, so it’s like the excitement of stepping out there on that stage under the lights, representing what we are representing.
“And the new guys coming in, bringing that positive energy, the excitement of being a Laker. Just having that being rubbed back off on us. We’ve been here all year, and sometimes we had some tough moments, some tough losses. But those new guys, they’re bouncing off the walls with excitement just to be here and have the opportunity to play with these Hall of Fame guys in LeBron and AD.”
Ham teased pregame that he had “a few surprises” up his sleeve with the starting lineup and rotation given the team was finally whole with its new group.
The Lakers deployed their league-leading 30th starting lineup, with Vanderbilt and Beasley joining James, Davis and Russell. Rui Hachimura and Dennis Schröder moved to the bench, joining Austin Reaves, Troy Brown Jr. and Bamba.
The new lineup placed three former Timberwolves around James and Davis, allowing the group to jell immediately despite having never played together before. As a result, the Lakers jumped out to a commanding 12-2 lead and were in control of the game, leading by as many as 20 points.
“I think it was just about trying to create as much balance as we possibly could,” Ham said of the lineup change. “… I think just moving Dennis to that second unit along with Troy and Rui, those guys have a great symmetry together. Our new guys that have come in, particularly Beas, D-Lo and Vando, and putting those guys with ‘Bron and A, and it worked out. I thought we had a well-balanced attack. Different guys had different moments. And we were great defensively. I expect it just to get better and better and better.”
James added: “I think we’re going to continue to build off tonight, and I think our skill set all kind of fit each other. With Vando and D-Lo and Beas, three guys that just know how to play the game. We all just tried to get the ball popping, get the ball moving, have equal opportunity and everybody is just trying to play to their advantage out on the floor.”
Davis (28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), James (21 points, six rebounds and six assists) and Russell (21 points and seven assists) combined for 70 points and flashed a synergy that Davis and James never quite had with Russell Westbrook. Russell is a more natural offensive fit with his off-the-dribble shooting and crafty pick-and-roll navigation.
Russell found Davis for multiple alley-oops and struck the proper balance between pushing the pace and running the Lakers’ offense. He scored at all three levels and was often the catalyst during the Lakers’ runs. He played with a sense of joy and freedom that rubbed off on his teammates and ignited the crowd.
Vanderbilt enveloped Brandon Ingram on the perimeter and combined with Davis and James to form a long, physically imposing frontline defensively. Vanderbilt was everywhere — tipping out offensive rebounds, rotating and scrambling, running the lane in transition.
Beasley only made two of his seven 3-point attempts, but the Lakers used him off pindowns and flare screens — with the Pelicans needing to defend him — opening up driving lanes, post-up opportunities and cuts. He held up fine defensively.
Bamba struggled to find his rhythm after his four-game suspension, ceding offensive rebounds and put-backs to Jonas Valančiūnas and Willie Hernangomez. He fouled out in 16 minutes but had an emphatic block on Ingram and began to look more comfortable as the game progressed. His penchant for spacing the floor in the corners also added a new wrinkle to the offense.
With James back and Bamba the new backup center, Wenyen Gabriel and Lonnie Walker IV were outside of the 10-man rotation, only logging minutes in garbage time.
In his first comments since the trade deadline, James addressed the team’s activity. He thanked his former teammates — Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant — who were traded last week.
“First of all, I shout out and salute the guys that left,” James said. “Russ, Pat, JTA, DJ and Thomas. Those five guys. We all started the season together and tried to work to make some things happen and be the best that we could be out on the floor. So I salute those guys and their commitment to us trying to be as good as we could be on the floor.”
James then put on his basketball analysis hat, providing the scouting report for each of his new teammates.
“I like the guys that we have coming in,” James said. “I mean, it’s going to take some time for us to get to know one another, but I know that they play the game at a high level. I know D-Lo is a really good, shifty point guard. He can space the floor. Very crafty. Very deceiving with his quickness, the way he plays the game. Obviously we got a laser in Malik that we just never had this season. A guy, whenever he’s on the floor, no matter if he’s making it or not, you have to respect him because of his ability to shoot the ball. …
“Vando is a Swiss Army knife. He can do a little bit of everything. His defensive ability, his offensive rebounding ability you saw tonight. … And then Mo, I think Mo is going to give us a lot of presence as well. You saw his shot-blocking ability and his ability to shoot the 3. … I just love what we were able to pick up. And Davon as well, if his opportunity is called. His length, his ability to play multiple positions helps as well. So, I thought we did a really good job in the activity bracket on Thursday.”
Considering the Lakers were in control of the game, Ham was able to play James a season-low 29 minutes — a welcomed development ahead of the Lakers’ eight-day break.
James is participating in Sunday’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City but will otherwise be resting and gearing up for the final third of the season.
“That was a goal to hold him at a hard stop at 30,” Ham said. “And the more balanced your lineup is and the more pieces you have, it allows him to do that. Not only him, but AD as well. You don’t have to run those guys into the ground. You can kind of manage them a little bit better and they’re fresher down the stretch, they’re fresher in key moments of the game.”
The Lakers are off until Wednesday, when they will practice before hosting the Golden State Warriors Thursday. Aside from James, no one else has any obligations in Utah. The team is exhausted and ready for a break.
When they get back, the Lakers have 23 games to jump at least three teams in the congested Western Conference standings. But the joy and fun the Lakers played with on Wednesday could be the key to saving their season. That’s not enough by itself — they still need to execute and play with the energy, effort and urgency they did against the Pelicans. But if they can find a way to generate and sustain that spirit consistently, they’ll have a reasonable shot at reeling off enough wins to achieve their postseason goal.
“We got a lot of work to do still,” James said. “And every game is going to be tough for us, especially going down the stretch, knowing the type of push that we need to make. … I feel really good about what we have brewing, but it’s going to take a lot of commitment from us going down the stretch, so I’m looking forward to that.”
D’Angelo Russell took two dribbles and pulled up for an uncontested 3-pointer from 27 feet in transition.
As the ball swished through, Russell turned around and skipped and bounced toward the opposite baseline. The 3-pointer capped a 6-0 personal run by Russell, which helped the Lakers turn a six-point lead into a 12-point lead and forced a New Orleans Pelicans timeout with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
Russell, who played for the Lakers from 2015 through 2017, was overflowing with emotion in his first home game as a Laker since April 9, 2017. On his way down the floor, he yelled to the Crypto.com Arena crowd, “Like I never left!” He repeated himself, yelling louder and pointing to the Lakers logo on his chest, “Like I never left!”
“Just embracing all those emotions,” Russell said of the moment. “… Just kind of embracing it with my own persona, and I love those moments. I play for the fans that are fans of me. I always appreciate them, and when I have an opportunity to embrace it and go out of my way and do something like that, I always think of the fans when I’m doing that, for sure.”
Russell was one of five newcomers — along with Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed — making their home Lakers debut on Wednesday. More importantly, LeBron James returned after missing the previous three games because of a sore left ankle.
The collective energy, spirit and complementary skills the additions provided, as well as James’ scoring and playmaking, helped the Lakers go into the All-Star break on a high note, blowing out the Pelicans 120-102 to improve to 27-32. Los Angeles is now two games out of the No. 10 spot and 3 1/2 games out of the No. 6 spot in the West.
At full strength, the new-look Lakers were impressive, posting one of their few wire-to-wire wins of the season.
“It was good,” Anthony Davis said of the win. “One, for us to get on the winning side of things going into the break, to feel good about ourselves and not let a loss kind of linger over the next six, seven days. … And two, just standing purposes.”
While the win was certainly important — head coach Davin Ham labeled it a “QOL win” aka “quality of life win” — it was the manner in which the Lakers won that was most notable.
In a season that has been largely bereft of fun, joy and happiness, the Lakers played with all three for nearly 48 minutes Wednesday. Whenever the Pelicans made their inevitable run to make things competitive, the Lakers always had a swift response, often followed by smiles and high-fives and interactions to hype up the crowd. They were happy, which has been rare during this dispiriting campaign.
“When your mind and spirit is right, the body usually follows,” Ham said. “… We are playing for the best franchise in the world, so it’s like the excitement of stepping out there on that stage under the lights, representing what we are representing.
“And the new guys coming in, bringing that positive energy, the excitement of being a Laker. Just having that being rubbed back off on us. We’ve been here all year, and sometimes we had some tough moments, some tough losses. But those new guys, they’re bouncing off the walls with excitement just to be here and have the opportunity to play with these Hall of Fame guys in LeBron and AD.”
Ham teased pregame that he had “a few surprises” up his sleeve with the starting lineup and rotation given the team was finally whole with its new group.
The Lakers deployed their league-leading 30th starting lineup, with Vanderbilt and Beasley joining James, Davis and Russell. Rui Hachimura and Dennis Schröder moved to the bench, joining Austin Reaves, Troy Brown Jr. and Bamba.
The new lineup placed three former Timberwolves around James and Davis, allowing the group to jell immediately despite having never played together before. As a result, the Lakers jumped out to a commanding 12-2 lead and were in control of the game, leading by as many as 20 points.
“I think it was just about trying to create as much balance as we possibly could,” Ham said of the lineup change. “… I think just moving Dennis to that second unit along with Troy and Rui, those guys have a great symmetry together. Our new guys that have come in, particularly Beas, D-Lo and Vando, and putting those guys with ‘Bron and A, and it worked out. I thought we had a well-balanced attack. Different guys had different moments. And we were great defensively. I expect it just to get better and better and better.”
James added: “I think we’re going to continue to build off tonight, and I think our skill set all kind of fit each other. With Vando and D-Lo and Beas, three guys that just know how to play the game. We all just tried to get the ball popping, get the ball moving, have equal opportunity and everybody is just trying to play to their advantage out on the floor.”
Davis (28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), James (21 points, six rebounds and six assists) and Russell (21 points and seven assists) combined for 70 points and flashed a synergy that Davis and James never quite had with Russell Westbrook. Russell is a more natural offensive fit with his off-the-dribble shooting and crafty pick-and-roll navigation.
Russell found Davis for multiple alley-oops and struck the proper balance between pushing the pace and running the Lakers’ offense. He scored at all three levels and was often the catalyst during the Lakers’ runs. He played with a sense of joy and freedom that rubbed off on his teammates and ignited the crowd.
Vanderbilt enveloped Brandon Ingram on the perimeter and combined with Davis and James to form a long, physically imposing frontline defensively. Vanderbilt was everywhere — tipping out offensive rebounds, rotating and scrambling, running the lane in transition.
Beasley only made two of his seven 3-point attempts, but the Lakers used him off pindowns and flare screens — with the Pelicans needing to defend him — opening up driving lanes, post-up opportunities and cuts. He held up fine defensively.
Bamba struggled to find his rhythm after his four-game suspension, ceding offensive rebounds and put-backs to Jonas Valančiūnas and Willie Hernangomez. He fouled out in 16 minutes but had an emphatic block on Ingram and began to look more comfortable as the game progressed. His penchant for spacing the floor in the corners also added a new wrinkle to the offense.
With James back and Bamba the new backup center, Wenyen Gabriel and Lonnie Walker IV were outside of the 10-man rotation, only logging minutes in garbage time.
In his first comments since the trade deadline, James addressed the team’s activity. He thanked his former teammates — Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant — who were traded last week.
“First of all, I shout out and salute the guys that left,” James said. “Russ, Pat, JTA, DJ and Thomas. Those five guys. We all started the season together and tried to work to make some things happen and be the best that we could be out on the floor. So I salute those guys and their commitment to us trying to be as good as we could be on the floor.”
James then put on his basketball analysis hat, providing the scouting report for each of his new teammates.
“I like the guys that we have coming in,” James said. “I mean, it’s going to take some time for us to get to know one another, but I know that they play the game at a high level. I know D-Lo is a really good, shifty point guard. He can space the floor. Very crafty. Very deceiving with his quickness, the way he plays the game. Obviously we got a laser in Malik that we just never had this season. A guy, whenever he’s on the floor, no matter if he’s making it or not, you have to respect him because of his ability to shoot the ball. …
“Vando is a Swiss Army knife. He can do a little bit of everything. His defensive ability, his offensive rebounding ability you saw tonight. … And then Mo, I think Mo is going to give us a lot of presence as well. You saw his shot-blocking ability and his ability to shoot the 3. … I just love what we were able to pick up. And Davon as well, if his opportunity is called. His length, his ability to play multiple positions helps as well. So, I thought we did a really good job in the activity bracket on Thursday.”
Considering the Lakers were in control of the game, Ham was able to play James a season-low 29 minutes — a welcomed development ahead of the Lakers’ eight-day break.
James is participating in Sunday’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City but will otherwise be resting and gearing up for the final third of the season.
“That was a goal to hold him at a hard stop at 30,” Ham said. “And the more balanced your lineup is and the more pieces you have, it allows him to do that. Not only him, but AD as well. You don’t have to run those guys into the ground. You can kind of manage them a little bit better and they’re fresher down the stretch, they’re fresher in key moments of the game.”
The Lakers are off until Wednesday, when they will practice before hosting the Golden State Warriors Thursday. Aside from James, no one else has any obligations in Utah. The team is exhausted and ready for a break.
When they get back, the Lakers have 23 games to jump at least three teams in the congested Western Conference standings. But the joy and fun the Lakers played with on Wednesday could be the key to saving their season. That’s not enough by itself — they still need to execute and play with the energy, effort and urgency they did against the Pelicans. But if they can find a way to generate and sustain that spirit consistently, they’ll have a reasonable shot at reeling off enough wins to achieve their postseason goal.
“We got a lot of work to do still,” James said. “And every game is going to be tough for us, especially going down the stretch, knowing the type of push that we need to make. … I feel really good about what we have brewing, but it’s going to take a lot of commitment from us going down the stretch, so I’m looking forward to that.”
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Summer of 2019 there was a brief moment when Dlo to LA was rumored, obv he was quickly traded to GSW in the Durant deal and we all wanted Kawhi, but I was always intrigued at the idea, pretty dope to see it finally materialize on the court.
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dlo poise and pace as pnr handler / playmaker is nice man
very refreshing lol
he was able to operate and make very little errors. going to be helpful for sure. and its nice to have a pg who can take a pull up 3 and its a good shot
very refreshing lol
he was able to operate and make very little errors. going to be helpful for sure. and its nice to have a pg who can take a pull up 3 and its a good shot
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In addition to his skillset, he’s never gonna be the 1A guy on a contender, but you can tell he’s one them dudes that embrace and perform better in the spotlight, he was just too immature back then. The current situation/role is tailor made for him
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IDK how far this team can get this year considering so many new & vital pieces were added so late. But this is a skeloton of a really really good team around AD & Bron
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amazing what spacing can do
We have a backcourt of shooters now
We have a backcourt of shooters now
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Anyone know the contract situations with the new pickups?
Who's likely to return next season and whos not?
Who's likely to return next season and whos not?
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got no ego and he embracing being the '3rd' w/bron and ad
he's def matured lol
darthska
Staff member
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I feel like he has PLAYED 85 games in the last 3 years.
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Best case scenario the Lakers finish in the 6th spot (they are 3.5 back so it isn't that unrealistic of a goal. My thing is that it's very likely the Suns finish up the season as the 3 seed & i don't think this team is beating them in a 7 game series.
Now assuming they make the play in & get in to the playoffs, am i the only one who would much rather play the Nuggets/Memphis than the Suns in the first round. I've been saying for years i'm never going to be sold on the Nuggets & we beat them in 5 while Jamal Murray had his cinderella series putting up 25/7 on 52% shooting.
I just saw Memphis last year have troubles with the Wolves. Neither one of those teams possess the mismatches & issues that the Suns would give us
Now assuming they make the play in & get in to the playoffs, am i the only one who would much rather play the Nuggets/Memphis than the Suns in the first round. I've been saying for years i'm never going to be sold on the Nuggets & we beat them in 5 while Jamal Murray had his cinderella series putting up 25/7 on 52% shooting.
I just saw Memphis last year have troubles with the Wolves. Neither one of those teams possess the mismatches & issues that the Suns would give us
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yeah id rather see mem/den as well
phx has no bench but i'd rather avoid them until later
******* kd man
phx has no bench but i'd rather avoid them until later
******* kd man
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I don't realistically see the team being good enough to get the 6-7-8 seeds. It'll be the Nuggets if they can win the play-in games.
Edit:
And if this team is good enough to get into the play-in, win the play-in games then at that point no one would want to play them because it means they would've played good ball for the last 23 games.
Edit:
And if this team is good enough to get into the play-in, win the play-in games then at that point no one would want to play them because it means they would've played good ball for the last 23 games.
Last edited:
darthska
Staff member
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darthska
Staff member
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I vehemently disagree with this.
MVP
Supporter
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Y'all drinking the Kool-Aid huh...
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Savannah 
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Wait for them to Make it to play in first before starts talking about facing suns
Hijo Del Promo
formerly xxhu5sl1npnoyxx
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Wait for them to Make it to play in first before starts talking about facing suns
Its the Lakers and its Lebron, its already destined to happen.
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All of them are likely to be Lakers next year.
Beasley has a $16mil team option
Vando is under contract for $4mil
Bamba under contract for $10mil
DLo is a FA. But the likelihood he’s not a Laker next year are the slimmest of slim.
Some team would have to offer him a max for that to happen.
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Bamba has a non-guaranteed contract for next season.
