Welcome back Xavier

[BEazy]

Got a good feeling about Henry this year. Good singing Mitch! Next up re-signing Ryan Kelly!

[ALL HAIL]

Aminu is not a good fit.

In the last starting spot, the Lakers need someone who can hit threes at a minimum 37% clip and effectively defend 1s, 2s, and 3s.

Although he's a soild player, Aminu can't do either. He's a combo forward, a 3/4 who can't shoot well and cannot defend backcourt guys.

Barring him asking for some irrational price, Wesley Johnson is the clear choice.

Marion at the room o's the clear choice. He can hit the 3, board, defend, and is a vet leader with title experience who played most his minutes at sf last year ... He is still better than Aminu, Wes, and the like with ease.

I hear you.

Marion is a way better fit than Aminu, but other than his veteran intangibles, which you can't put a price on by the way, he's not going to offer much floor spacing or ability to check Kobe's man (at SG) or Lin's man (at PG).

I wouldn't have a problem with Marion, as I would with Aminu, but Johnson seems like a guy who has the ability to do what this team needs in a more succinct manner ... albeit without the intelligence and veteran-guile of a guy like Marion.

Don't get me wrong, if we were playing one game against a beast SF (pick anyone you'd like), I'd take Marion all day to defend that guy, but for the season, I believe that we will encounter many situations where our starting SF will have to check 2s and 1s ... which means I'd still prefer Johnson for the long haul.

[kblo247]

Wes just had too many which way did he go moments for me, and I haven't heard a word about him training to improve. If he came sure, but he's not a 3 and d guy to me. He has too many Casper games, and I don't expect all star, but I so expect matt Barnes like consistency

[ALL HAIL]

Wes just had too many which way did he go moments for me, and I haven't heard a word about him training to improve. If he came sure, but he's not a 3 and d guy to me. He has too many Casper games, and I don't expect all star, but I so expect matt Barnes like consistency

Yeah, I could care less what we've heard about his training. I'm old-school. That's irrelevant to me. Just because he's not posting pics of his arms in the gym doesn't mean he isn't fulfilling his responsibilities.

Your right, however, about his inconsistency.

Johnson reminds me so much of Ariza though -- when he first arrived form Orlando. At this stage of Johnson's growth, he needs to be on a team with an alpha to learn how to be the best role player he can be --- no one should be expecting an all-star.

He is very inconsistent, but I'd be willing to roll the dice based on his talent as a shooter and versatile defender, and also because with Henry in tow, we have another guy on the squad with somewhat equal potential who could conceivably gobble up all of Johnson's minutes if he does in fact struggle.

Johnson would be my role-playing starter (think Danny Green), Young would get substantial minutes, and Henry would be in the background waiting for one of those two guys to falter.

Just my two cents.

[milesfides]

You guys have to view Wes' performances within the context of "we never practice defense" D'Antoni. Our team defense was non-existent.

Yet his individual opponent PER was still excellent and better than the names being bandied about here.

I'll take all his tools, attitude, under a defensive coach with better teammates and set rotations, and expect him to be a lot better.

He was pretty much the only guy who tried to play defense last year. He was guarding point guards to centers.

Of course he got burned some times, like all players do, but a lot of it was due to playing under the worst circumstances for a specialist.

[kblo247]

I think he has the natural ability, I just question the hunger. Say whatever about Trevor, but when its a contract year, ariza balls out to be paid, he wants to eat. Wes didn't bring that same fire guys like Young, Meeks, Bazemore, Hill, and even X before the injuries did with his contract on the line. Maybe he has it in him, maybe he doesn't.

[Exodus]

Lakers need a defensive wing.

[junot111]

I didn't see too many Lakers games last year, can you guys tell me what was special enough about Henry to bring him back? Is it just because he's willing to sign for the minimum and there aren't that many better options out there for that price?

Because to me it seems like he's nothing special... some poster dunks and a few high scoring games but other than that he really didn't take advantage of the Lakers lack of talent at the wing positions... Not tryna hate.

[Slava]

I didn't see too many Lakers games last year, can you guys tell me what was special enough about Henry to bring him back? Is it just because he's willing to sign for the minimum and there aren't that many better options out there for that price?

Because to me it seems like he's nothing special... some poster dunks and a few high scoring games but other than that he really didn't take advantage of the Lakers lack of talent at the wing positions... Not tryna hate.

Think of him as Harden lite with better effort on defense and not as much play making. He draws 7 FTAs per 36, which is why he is highly rated, good physique and can shoot the ball.

[ALL HAIL]

I think he has the natural ability, I just question the hunger. Say whatever about Trevor, but when its a contract year, ariza balls out to be paid, he wants to eat. Wes didn't bring that same fire guys like Young, Meeks, Bazemore, Hill, and even X before the injuries did with his contract on the line. Maybe he has it in him, maybe he doesn't.

Ariza had special players with him in his contract years ( Odom, Wall, Kobe, Gasol).

In Young's contract year, he had Young, Meeks, Marshall, and a very disgruntled Gasol.

He's a role player. I give him credit for not trying to go out and get his, ala Summer League ball. He proved to me that he is a quintessential team player that is very unselfish.

This is no knock on Ariza, but I shutter to think what Ariza would do in a contract year on a team like the Lakers had last year, especially the Ariza that was fresh off the Orlando boat.

Johnson is a keeper dude.

[milesfides]

People need to get off the Wes isn't this or that.

Fire? Hunger? Just do the job. Tim Duncan looks like he doesn't have a pulse.

A few years ago, I remember hearing about Mike James when he got noticed late in his career. So much passion, so much heart. I shed a tear. I posted on realgm about how we should go for him (a lot of others did too). Then he disappeared because he wasn't good enough.

I liked Ariza. But some people have an unreliable memory of him. He shot 32% from three. His opponent PER was 16.

Wes, even on the absolute disaster of a team last year, was a better three-point shooter and a better defender. And is younger and a superior athlete (if he's not top 10 I'd be shocked).

And Ariza is looking for a 10m a year contract. Wes? I'm guess far, far, far below that.

Wes is not Andre Iguodala. Wes shouldn't put the ball on the floor. He shouldn't do pull-up j's. There are many things he can't do.

But what he can do is play great defense and spread that floor. And that is a well-established role in the NBA, especially those who have championship aspirations. And it is a team need.

[JohnVancouver]

You guys have to view Wes' performances within the context of "we never practice defense" D'Antoni. Our team defense was non-existent.

Yet his individual opponent PER was still excellent and better than the names being bandied about here.

I'll take all his tools, attitude, under a defensive coach with better teammates and set rotations, and expect him to be a lot better.

He was pretty much the only guy who tried to play defense last year. He was guarding point guards to centers.

Of course he got burned some times, like all players do, but a lot of it was due to playing under the worst circumstances for a specialist.

I got called out here for calling him a defensive player on this board - funny how that works

[junot111]

I didn't see too many Lakers games last year, can you guys tell me what was special enough about Henry to bring him back? Is it just because he's willing to sign for the minimum and there aren't that many better options out there for that price?

Because to me it seems like he's nothing special... some poster dunks and a few high scoring games but other than that he really didn't take advantage of the Lakers lack of talent at the wing positions... Not tryna hate.

Think of him as Harden lite with better effort on defense and not as much play making. He draws 7 FTAs per 36, which is why he is highly rated, good physique and can shoot the ball.

But having better effort on defense than Harden is nothing to write home about... it just means you're average in that regard. I can see the fta's being a good skill to have but he shot poorly from the field and from the line, and his 3pt % was very average as well... so I don't think you can really classify him as a shooter. And that makes him less ideal as a role player, which is all he can be at this point.

I guess you can give him time to let him develop and see where he goes, and if he's still the same player in a year(or two) then it's time to move on. I'm not criticizing this move at all because it's just for the minimum, I'm just wondering if there weren't better options out there to fill up the roster spot.

[JohnVancouver]

Also, Wes showed some real skill at finishing the break last year. defensive, athletic three's are nice to have

[Danny Darko]

can we funnel the non X talk back to the SF thread please?

[BEazy]

Xavier is aggressive from start to end. That's why we like him. He draws fouls and he is fearless when driving into the paint. He takes contact very well for a guy his size. Unfortunately sometimes he hurts himself while driving but you can't knock on a guy that plays that aggressive. He's a good bench player for sure.

[semi-sentient]

Would have definitely preferred Wes over Henry. Better spacer and definitely a better defender.

Henry showed some good things though, so hopefully he continues to improve on that. He needs to be more consistent defensively though.

[milesfides]

X should be the sixth man scorer off the bench, not Nick Young.

Yeah, we're gambling a bit with his health, but we're also gambling with Kobe and Jordan Hill's as well. A lot of things have to go right for us to be good this season.

I love Nick Young's love for P&G, he'd be one of my favorite players if I didn't want to win games.

X is the much better all around player, he's super young, and he's cheap.

Nick Young is a ballstopper and all he really does is shoot jumpers. Not exactly a dynamic sixth man. It's like he's allergic to everything else except shooting the ball.

X just needs to be healthy and he's going to be good for us.

[ArC_man]

I like it but I would've liked to lock him up on a longer term minimum deal like with Sacre.

[Slava]

I didn't see too many Lakers games last year, can you guys tell me what was special enough about Henry to bring him back? Is it just because he's willing to sign for the minimum and there aren't that many better options out there for that price?

Because to me it seems like he's nothing special... some poster dunks and a few high scoring games but other than that he really didn't take advantage of the Lakers lack of talent at the wing positions... Not tryna hate.

Think of him as Harden lite with better effort on defense and not as much play making. He draws 7 FTAs per 36, which is why he is highly rated, good physique and can shoot the ball.

But having better effort on defense than Harden is nothing to write home about... it just means you're average in that regard. I can see the fta's being a good skill to have but he shot poorly from the field and from the line, and his 3pt % was very average as well... so I don't think you can really classify him as a shooter. And that makes him less ideal as a role player, which is all he can be at this point.

I guess you can give him time to let him develop and see where he goes, and if he's still the same player in a year(or two) then it's time to move on. I'm not criticizing this move at all because it's just for the minimum, I'm just wondering if there weren't better options out there to fill up the roster spot.

He played half a season with torn ligaments in his shooting wrist so of course his shooting numbers would be down and he had to play PG for a while before we signed Marshall. Now you got to look at him as a rookie last season because he never really received any playing time since getting drafted. He's better than average really as a defender, he has size, strength and skill to play SG position which is kind of rare in today's league.