Welcome Back Wesley Johnson

[Kilroy]

Well miles is sure happy

Now we only need to let kelly out of the closet!

If he comes out, does he get an Espy?

[Levity]

I like the move. Gives the Lakers a guy to guard Kevin Durant at least

Physically he looks like he would be a good defender but nothing was shown last year. He's athletic and can shoot the three, that's it. When he wasn't shooting the ball he looked useless out there.

Outside of bringing depth this is a 'meh' move.

you had a coach who put no emphasis on defense aside from the "30 minutes" they supposedly spent working on it, yet, wes still put 110% effort on D, even with the rest of the team being late on defensive rotations, or missing them entirely.

insert a coach who puts focus on defense, and wes will instantly become a favorite of said coach.

[jigga_man]

I like the move. Gives the Lakers a guy to guard Kevin Durant at least

Physically he looks like he would be a good defender but nothing was shown last year. He's athletic and can shoot the three, that's it. When he wasn't shooting the ball he looked useless out there.

Outside of bringing depth this is a 'meh' move.

you had a coach who put no emphasis on defense aside from the "30 minutes" they supposedly spent working on it, yet, wes still put 110% effort on D, even with the rest of the team being late on defensive rotations, or missing them entirely.

insert a coach who puts focus on defense, and wes will instantly become a favorite of said coach.

I don't how a coach is suddenly going to make an individual player become naturally quicker laterally or develop shot blocking instincts. Going with this logic, Johnson's career shooting last year is going to plummet without D'antoni. A coach can focus on defensive schemes and put as much purpose on defense as they want, at the end of the day personnel has the determining factor.

How much did Tom Thibodeau effect Carlos Boozer's defense other than benching him in the fourth quarter?

[Levity]

Physically he looks like he would be a good defender but nothing was shown last year. He's athletic and can shoot the three, that's it. When he wasn't shooting the ball he looked useless out there.

Outside of bringing depth this is a 'meh' move.

you had a coach who put no emphasis on defense aside from the "30 minutes" they supposedly spent working on it, yet, wes still put 110% effort on D, even with the rest of the team being late on defensive rotations, or missing them entirely.

insert a coach who puts focus on defense, and wes will instantly become a favorite of said coach.

I don't how a coach is suddenly going to make an individual player become naturally quicker laterally or develop shot blocking instincts. Going with this logic, Johnson's career shooting last year is going to plummet without D'antoni. A coach can focus on defensive schemes and put as much purpose on defense as they want, at the end of the day personnel has the determining factor.

How much did Tom Thibodeau effect Carlos Boozer's defense other than benching him in the fourth quarter?

i guess its a matter of opinion, but wes has good shot blocking instincts for a perimeter player. hes not a stretch 4, and probably wont see much time guarding bigs or patrolling the paint.

to answer your other questions, a coach can implement defensive schemes that put/teach players to be in the proper places for help defenses. this in turn puts less pressure on 1v1 defense, which is what thibbs did for boozer to mask his short comings. but i dont see how youre citing boozer when were talking about wes, who unlike boozer, has defensive tenacity/instincts

you may not like the guy, but he has length and speed to guard or at least, stay in front of most perimeter players in the league.

[gts1]

Not sure where the Johnson can't defend tag comes from, of all the players that actually played meaningful amount of games last season Johnson was the Lakers best non big man defender last year night in and night out...

For a team that played zero defense he was one of the few who actually seemed to relish the role and give the effort

[Dr Aki]

So was Wes' and X's deals coming from $2M of the room exception?

if they're vet min deals, we used vet min exceptions instead and we still have the room exception

[Marionettetc]

We have now brought back every single guy I wanted back, minus Bazemore. I just hope we get something out of the center position. Every other position is serviceable to good.

[kinein]

Love the idea of starting Wes at the SF position and allowing him to guard the best perimeter player of every team. Wes is a player who probably plays best with players who command the double team or players who can attack the paint with Lin and Kobe. A lineup of

Lin
Kobe
Wes
Randle
Hill

Swaggy
Boozer
Davis
Henry
Nash
Clarkson

Doesnt look bad at all to me at all fellas. Thoughts?

I think its a pretty solid roster, the rest will just depend on how quickly they build that chemistry. Chemistry is important and I hope Kobe Nash Boozer and the other vets of several years can accelerate that aspect. The faster you come together, the faster you win together.

[what would jack bauer do?]

HELL YEAH! Love the potential of what Wes can do playing on a team that has great closers like Kobe and Lin. All we need him to do is focus on being our safety net on defense. Some guys just need the right situation and I think this is it for Wes.

We're one player away from being a complete roster. We just need a big back up center to guard the 280lb centers. I like the idea of going with a three headed monster at center much like the nuggets did a couple years ago with Koufos/Mcgee/Mozgov.

How many 280 centers do you know in the NBA?

Well roughly speaking, I'm talking about the big boys like Dwight, Drummond, Cousins, Pekovic. Even Deandre Jordan even though he looks a bit lighter than those guys.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Mitch is quietly picking up some solid players with virtually no money to offer....yes, we struck out on the big time FA's but you can't blame those players for passing on a team that isn't a lock to be contenders....if this team stays healthy, however, we could make a run at the 5-8 seed for sure.

G - Lin (30)/Nash (18)/Clarkson
G - Bryant (31)/Henry (17)
F - Johnson (20)/Young (28)
F - Randle (29)/Booze (24)/Kelly
C - Hill (27)/Davis (16)/Sacre

A good mix of athleticism and rebounding...only issue so far is scoring out of the first unit...Lin and Kobe should score a ton but it's yet to be seen if Randle can score 15+ ppg as a rookie (which we'll need IMO).

Also a very solid bench at every position..but like I said...a couple key injuries and this team will probably crumble.

[DEEP3CL]

How much did Tom Thibodeau effect Carlos Boozer's defense other than benching him in the fourth quarter?

I think too much is made of Boozer's defense, it tells me guys really don't understand what his strong suit was for years. Carlos is better suited being a position defender and only helping off in his area of rotation. That's why his rebounding is always decent for a guy who's not a brute force rebounder.

This is what is going over everybody's head when discussing Boozer. Boozer can physically check any low post 4 in the league, it's the so called stretch 4's that give him trouble if they move out on the perimeter.

Let's take LaMarcus Aldridge here....his game is multi facet, he can post on the mid block but turn and face. Boozer can guard LA like this all day and he's still in rebounding position if the shot is anywhere near the paint area.

Now when LA is spotted on the perimeter say 17-18 feet out, now Boozer is susceptible to all types of stuff happening to him. He could be caught in a switch if they want to run that, or he's forced to cover LA and is in no rebounding position at all.

This is where defensive systems and principles come in, say we run a front line of Hill, Booz and Wes. We can switch on that perimeter with Wes if it's an iso situation out there and Booz can slide to Wes man who would most likely drop below the free throw line to space the perimeter for LA to operate. Now Booz is back in his area of strength, while having a defender at least long enough and quick enough to cover LA if he drives.

It's like Levity said it's about schemes and what the coaches teach.

The reason Boozer didn't quite fit the Bulls defensive scheme is because they like to blitz the P&R and they do the best job of any team in the league of rotation on switches. This is where Gasol is going to hurt them just like Boozer. That's the reason Taj Gibson moved in front of Carlos in the 4th quarters, he was quick enough to cover on the perimeter and interior. Boozer is a interior defender only, and keeping it to Wes here we have to play him only at the 3 and maybe he can cover 2's on defense but that's it.

Schemes are at their best when coaches play those player in their areas of strength. MDA certainly didn't do that.

[Mamba Mentality]

For the price, above average defense, and elite athleticism that Wes brings to the table.....well played Mitch. I still think the dude has a ton of potential, Kobe could do wonders for his career.

[JohnVancouver]

I wonder fi we cloud afford someone like Fesenko for the minimum - he and Sacre are big, solid guys and I liked KF when he was in utah

yes to Shaw2n M for the exception

[Slava]

Well miles is sure happy

Now we only need to let kelly out of the closet!

If he comes out, does he get an Espy?

They've been giving espys to cock suckers for a long time man, see: Boston Celtics, 2008.

[KobeKenobi]

Probably need to be realistic here...Boozer should start over Randle initially. Randle is going to have to prove himself at this stage in his career.

[Indy2LA]

I thought Wes Johnson was going to be a force in the NBA coming out of Syracuse. He seemed like a man among boys at the college level. I would love to see him finally reach his potential in LA.