Lineup and Depth Chart Now--Some Thoughts

[TrueLAfan]

So I figure our lineup/depth chart looks like this

C—Harrell, Zubac
PF—Gallo, Green, Motley
SF—Chandler, Beasley, Luc,
SG—SGA, Shamet, Rome
PG—Bev, Lou

Also— Thornwell, Wallace, Temple, Teodosic
Available: Delgado

Problem now is injuries … but only kinda. With Gallo, Chandler, and Luc out, we play Beasley and Motley. Sindarius will get some minutes at SF when we go small.

My guess? We waive Temple. We may release Milos; that, or send Tyrone to AC.

Still—here’s the weird thing. If Gallo comes back and Chandler comes back and is the player he was—not he was in 2010 or 2011, but in 2017 with Denver, which is a real possibility—then we’re actually a pretty capable team. Losing Tobias hurts; he was a really good player. Gortat and Scott did a lot of little things well. But JaMychal Green is better than Scott, and Beasley and Chandler could realistically combine to give us 75% of Tobias’s value/output. Giving up Bradley is bad in a way—but it opens up playing time for Rome…except Landry Shamet is having a (much) better year. Hopefully they can both get 14-18 mpg with Bradley gone. We lose on D, maybe—but Green is a better defender than Scott (or Tobias).

Zubac is going to be the fun wild card. The guy can play. I put this in another thread; he splits the difference between Gortat and Boban. He smaller than Boban—but, c’mon, everybody in the league is smaller than Boban. Zubac is a big dude at 7’1” 250. He’s bigger than Gortat; not as physical, but still plenty physical. He’s a decent rim protector. And he’s 21; he’s two weeks younger than Rome. Damn, throw the guy out there for 15 mpg. That’s what the Lakers were doing, and he was averaging 8.5 and 5 and nearly a block a game and being a net plus on defense. He started 12 games and averaged 12 and 7 and 1.3 blocks in 24 mpg.

I don’t think we’ll make the playoffs now. But what’s cool, at least in a way, is that this isn’t a dumpster fire of a team that’s built to tank. We're clearly setting up for free agency, but did it without wrecking the team. FAs don’t want to go to teams like that. We’ve got players that play hard over all 94 feet (Beverly, Harrell, Green) and a core of young developing players (SGA and Rome and Harrell…and now we add Shamet and Zubac to that) and some quality vets (Lou, Gallo, Chandler) that are good character guys. And we added a bunch of picks. IMO, we’ve managed to improve our future in virtually every way.

[illastrate]

Beasley and Milos were waived.

[TrueLAfan]

Beasley and Milos were waived.

Doesn't really surprise me. Milos wanted out I think it's good that we let him go. Right now, SGA is our #2 PG, with Lou and, I guess, Wallace backing him up. I can live with that.

I didn't mention Beasley in the player breakdown because--well, he's a stupid player that I don't like. He can be useful if utilized correctly, but he's not going to help a team much. Thing is, he could have helped us for a week or two until Gallo gets back (or gets hurt again) and Chandler gets back (whenever that is). Temple has played at SF, so maybe we'll keep him and play him there a little bit. Sindarius will probably get some burn there. Luc anyone? Hello? Luc?

The biggest hole is at C--I bet Angel Delgado is looking at today's moves and waiting for a phone call. I bet he's called up in the next week or two.

[madmaxmedia]

I don’t think we’ll make the playoffs now. But what’s cool, at least in a way, is that this isn’t a dumpster fire of a team that’s built to tank. We're clearly setting up for free agency, but did it without wrecking the team. FAs don’t want to go to teams like that. We’ve got players that play hard over all 94 feet (Beverly, Harrell, Green) and a core of young developing players (SGA and Rome and Harrell…and now we add Shamet and Zubac to that) and some quality vets (Lou, Gallo, Chandler) that are good character guys. And we added a bunch of picks. IMO, we’ve managed to improve our future in virtually every way.

I think we largely made only positive value trades the entire way- of course not in terms of who's going to be on the floor the rest of this season, but in terms of +/- assets overall each trade. The goal of each trade was not to tank, but to actually get better overall- not just create cap space to go after whatever FA, or to drop in the standings. Slash-and-burn is not Jerry's MO. And yet we'll still have plenty of cap space in the offseason!

The only other thing I was waiting for was possibly trading Gallo. But West wasn't going to give stuff away just to trade away his contract either. That's the sort of stuff that gets depressing for a franchise in the here and now.

We had such a great trade deadline, most all of it very surprising.

[mkwest]

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[Galloisdaman]

I don’t think we’ll make the playoffs now. But what’s cool, at least in a way, is that this isn’t a dumpster fire of a team that’s built to tank. We're clearly setting up for free agency, but did it without wrecking the team. FAs don’t want to go to teams like that. We’ve got players that play hard over all 94 feet (Beverly, Harrell, Green) and a core of young developing players (SGA and Rome and Harrell…and now we add Shamet and Zubac to that) and some quality vets (Lou, Gallo, Chandler) that are good character guys. And we added a bunch of picks. IMO, we’ve managed to improve our future in virtually every way.

I think we largely made only positive value trades the entire way- of course not in terms of who's going to be on the floor the rest of this season, but in terms of +/- assets overall each trade. The goal of each trade was not to tank, but to actually get better overall- not just create cap space to go after whatever FA, or to drop in the standings. Slash-and-burn is not Jerry's MO. And yet we'll still have plenty of cap space in the offseason!

The only other thing I was waiting for was possibly trading Gallo. But West wasn't going to give stuff away just to trade away his contract either. That's the sort of stuff that gets depressing for a franchise in the here and now.

We had such a great trade deadline, most all of it very surprising.

I do not think the team wanted to trade Gallo (or Lou) unless they got blown away with an offer. I think they want a legit team in place not a dumpster fire like some other teams. If they decide to trade Gallo or Lou in the future they know there will be plenty of teams ready to take them.

[esqtvd]

yup, that's how Doc rolls

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[QRich3]

I swear we are not just in a better position for the future after this deadline, but we're a better team now, even without Tobi. Playoffs here we come.

Temple is a good 3&D player that will fulfill a role we needed, Gallo if he remains healthy can do most of what Tobi did, Green will insert himself into a valuable bench role, and we have tons of shooters in the backcourt now. Zubac will probably do a better job than Gortat as the token starting C, and we don't have Bradley anymore. I'm telling you, this team is better now than it was two weeks ago, unless Lebron goes bonkers the rest of the season, we're going to Oakland.

[madmaxmedia]

I swear we are not just in a better position for the future after this deadline, but we're a better team now, even without Tobi. Playoffs here we come.

Temple is a good 3&D player that will fulfill a role we needed, Gallo if he remains healthy can do most of what Tobi did, Green will insert himself into a valuable bench role, and we have tons of shooters in the backcourt now. Zubac will probably do a better job than Gortat as the token starting C, and we don't have Bradley anymore. I'm telling you, this team is better now than it was two weeks ago, unless Lebron goes bonkers the rest of the season, we're going to Oakland.

LOL I could see that happening. I do think either Lakers or Kings will pass us in the end, although health is probably the big wild card.

I only say that because we were hot at first (don’t remember our record in that initial burst), and have been basically a .500 team since.

I’m not gonna worry about it too much. If we win our last 2-3 games of the season to squeak in because guys like SGA, Shamet, and Zubac step up and have big games, it would still be cool to watch.

[esqtvd]

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[mkwest]

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