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He's playing good basketball as of late. However his contract is still 4 yrs and everybody and their mothers know that by the 3rd or 4th years hell be done pretty much.

Do you guys still want him to be the first one traded now, or can he stay a Laker for a bit longer?

You must not have taken a peak in the trade thread or otherwise have Mr. Waffles on ignore.

My big issue with the Deng contract is that I assumed he'd play 75%+ of his mins at the PF slot, with maybe only starting at SF for less than 25% of his mins. If that was so, I think he'd be having a season at most of the contribution he's been giving recently.

I figured Nance had made strides at C or SF to warrant Deng being signed for that amount. Instead we're here, so im not mad at Deng at all, everyone and their mom knew his SF days were behind him so it feels like putting your hand on a hot stove and then being surprised it burns.

So if we can't put most of his time at PF, i really think we should make him look the best we can and hope Thibs will want him for Pek + Rush to find a better fit player, we need a defensive and more athletic/younger player at the 3.

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he a'ight

miggs wrote:My big issue with the Deng contract is that I assumed he'd play 75%+ of his mins at the PF slot, with maybe only starting at SF for less than 25% of his mins. If that was so, I think he'd be having a season at most of the contribution he's been giving recently.

I figured Nance had made strides at C or SF to warrant Deng being signed for that amount. Instead we're here, so im not mad at Deng at all, everyone and their mom knew his SF days were behind him so it feels like putting your hand on a hot stove and then being surprised it burns.

So if we can't put most of his time at PF, i really think we should make him look the best we can and hope Thibs will want him for Pek + Rush to find a better fit player, we need a defensive and more athletic/younger player at the 3.

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100% yes my dude. Right on the money. I'd only add that, one, the (slightly) more pressing need at the moment is a backcourt defender, and, two, what exactly were the FO's plans for Deng?

Did they, actually and in fact, think he was a SF? That'd be troubling.

Especially when 80% of this board knew upon him signing that he needed to be played at defensive PF.

Deng is rounding into shape. The contract is what it is. To me it's what it is because we have to over pay to get a decent vet on a bad team. I'm sure he had 2 year offers elsewhere and we went to 4 to land him.

Deng played well when Randle was out imo.

Him and Ingram match better

When the contract gets to the 3rd and 4th years, it will be less of an amount to stretch him which will probably be the course of action we take. On the court wise, by the 3rd and 4th years, the Lakers hope is that Ingram will be physically ready to step in and take over. What he needs to do is play well in the first two years of the deal while also being a good locker room guy and veteran for Ingram and the other younger players to lean on.

I think the biggest thing that's changed is we're now using him better. I still cringe every time I see him take a dribble hand off around the three point line, but other than that, I see him doing a lot of other things he's more of a natural fit at. Things like cutting off the ball, setting screens and popping, or setting screens and him diving towards the basket. I've seen him spend a lot more time in the corners doing more catch and shoot. If he has the ball in his hands longer than 2 seconds, it's a complete fail. If he catches and penetrates or catches and shoots, he can be very effective.

His rebounding has also been pretty solid all year long.

It almost seems like he came into the season not properly conditioned to play, hence why he didn't seem to have any power in his legs on his jump shots.

TylersLakers wrote:If he has the ball in his hands longer than 2 seconds, it's a complete fail.

This could be said about the majority of our roster.

Michael Lucky wrote:It almost seems like he came into the season not properly conditioned to play, hence why he didn't seem to have any power in his legs on his jump shots.

I agree.
He was out of shape.
His jump shots were always short. Even now when he misses, he usually misses short. He didn't have his legs.
He's getting back into shape now and playing better on both ends of the floor.

crazyeights wrote:

TylersLakers wrote:If he has the ball in his hands longer than 2 seconds, it's a complete fail.

This could be said about the majority of our roster.

sounds like it's time to go full triangle

do it mitch

TylersLakers wrote:If he has the ball in his hands longer than 2 seconds, it's a complete fail. If he catches and penetrates or catches and shoots, he can be very effective.

Eh...Your post would've been fine had you not mentioned this. Deng isn't the type to hold the ball for a while since he's not an ISO type of player. He's generally a solid vet who makes solid decisions.

Deng initiates action through pin downs, screens, and cutting. These aren't actions that lead to holding the ball long. The problem with Deng on this team is that he can't really do those things given the space issues with him in the starting line-up. He's a small ball 4 at this point in his career (that he has acknowledged), and it was fine when he had Goran, Wade, and Stoudemire all in a small ball line-up with him when Bosh left for injury. That was how he was able to find his footing with the Heat and doing well in the 2nd half/playoff. But he can't do such a thing with Mosgov and Randle around especially when he's slow for wing now since in this type of line-up, he's gotta stand out of the way where he's not even a good 3pt shooter. The guy wanted to stay with the Heat but came to the Lakers because he got overpaid.

Deng is a fish out of water now, and it's not his fault. I don't see a reason to start the guy where he can have a far more effective role which would mean Tarik Black would get dropped from the rotation as Nance would be the 2nd string center. But there's an obvious hole at the back-up SF spot...which then brings us to why Walton is starting Deng in the 1st place.

Is it possible that maybe the PF next to Deng may be better at guarding SFs than Deng is? Plyrs like Randle, Nance & Robinson.

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miggs wrote:Is it possible that maybe the PF next to Deng may be better at guarding SFs than Deng is? Plyrs like Randle, Nance & Robinson.

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I thought about this also but Nance when switched on the quicker players fails miserably sometimes, Randle when switched usually commits more and slides his feet much better. I'm not sure about Robinson but he has quick feet too. Can be helpful on some situations for sure.