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I was thinking... This team really was all basically brand new this season... What if we just kept it together and let the guys have another year at it... How good would we be?
Not that I think we will stand pat... Nor can we... But just thinking... Generally teams that stay the course don't really achieve their full potential for a year or 2... It's really kind of remarkable we won the chip with this all new team.

I think we'd certainly be a WCF team at least...

I think we’d be really good if we stood pat.
If we could get a wing defender we’d be even better.

We're losing rondo.
We're losing kcp.
Dwight as well I'm sure.
If we stand pat we would still be behind in 3pt shooting and ability in half court offense. Losing rondo will really hurt there in the latter.

We'd be top contenders again, but we could get better with a few tweaks. Avery Bradley can go. He's proven himself to be dispensable. Kuzma could be traded for a solid vet. McGee is weak. Vegan diet is killing his athleticism. He can go. Quinn Cook could free up 3 million. I'm torn on Green. His shot wasn't falling, but he's a smart player. Winning follows him. I'd like to see Rondo back. He's the perfect back-up to spell Lebron. KCP was awesome all playoffs. Hope he opts in.

Teams are going to study the Lakers extensively. With that said, they'll find ways to counter our bigs and our lack of efficient shooting.
We won't get back to the Finals if we just stand pat and other teams like the Nuggets and Warriors improve.

mcscotty wrote:We'd be top contenders again, but we could get better with a few tweaks. Avery Bradley can go. He's proven himself to be dispensable. Kuzma could be traded for a solid vet. McGee is weak. Vegan diet is killing his athleticism. He can go. Quinn Cook could free up 3 million. I'm torn on Green. His shot wasn't falling, but he's a smart player. Winning follows him. I'd like to see Rondo back. He's the perfect back-up to spell Lebron. KCP was awesome all playoffs. Hope he opts in.

KCP opted out already.

Kilroy wrote:I was thinking... This team really was all basically brand new this season... What if we just kept it together and let the guys have another year at it... How good would we be?
Not that I think we will stand pat... Nor can we... But just thinking... Generally teams that stay the course don't really achieve their full potential for a year or 2... It's really kind of remarkable we won the chip with this all new team.

I think we'd certainly be a WCF team at least...

With Rondo opting out and a lot of guys having player options, it may not be possible. But if we rolled it back for one year i think we should be better next season.

Better chemistry and guys like Caruso, THT and Kuzma should improve, Bradley should be back and we also have the 28th pick to give us some depth. In addition we'd be able to address a few needs along the way too.

Lets we replaced Dwight with Boogie. Used the MLE to bring back Rondo+Morris. Probabaly waive Cook. Resigned KCP using Bird Rights and then used BAE on a shooter i think we'd be right there.

It’s hard to say to you see the cap because if it goes down players are better off staying where they are at and then
Exemptions may not be used by everyone

In slapping together the team at the last second, Pelinka said Vogels only request was defensive guys. Players who can guard multiple positions. Defenders for varying game plans. And we were that. Small ball rockets, we had a answer. Big Man in the middle Nuggets, we had an answer. Bunch of tweeners runnin around, we had an answer for that as well. How our defensive pieces fit for next season is big key. To be adaptable for any new challenges

I’d favor us to repeat, but wouldn’t be super confident. Just an upgrade to some measure of consistent 3rd scorer. Basically what I wanted Kuz to be

Kilroy wrote:I was thinking... This team really was all basically brand new this season... What if we just kept it together and let the guys have another year at it... How good would we be?
Not that I think we will stand pat... Nor can we... But just thinking... Generally teams that stay the course don't really achieve their full potential for a year or 2... It's really kind of remarkable we won the chip with this all new team.

I think we'd certainly be a WCF team at least...

This team was not very good whenever their 35 year old leader sits on the bench for like 14 minutes per game. Rondo was not exactly healthy the whole season, missing a good chunk of games. Green was inconsistent while Bradley is not exactly fully committed to this team and JMG and Cook were useless. Young teams like Denver would be wiser, GSW would be a lot healthier and it’s possible the Clips will solve their problems.
Having said that, yes I like them to keep the core esp Morris, KCP etc and it would be nice if they can get a playmaker who can carry the team’s offense when Lebron sits.
Their half court sets needs to get better so they don’t need to rely so much on transition baskets.

Beethoven wrote:We're losing rondo.
We're losing kcp.
Dwight as well I'm sure.
If we stand pat we would still be behind in 3pt shooting and ability in half court offense. Losing rondo will really hurt there in the latter.

Those are not guaranteed loses, Rondo and DH have mutual interest with the Lakers, they just want to get paid so it is not a given that they will walk. Plus there is always the sign and trade possibility so it wouldn’t be a total loss if the y did walk.

^ ok hope so

Weve seen what repeating looks like. And its NOT overhaul. Its keeping the Bond and Chemistry tight. Cant tell you how long many were wanting to dump a Dfish, Fox, Walton, Sasha, etc. But those guys paid off somewhere down the line, a late game situation, playoffs etc..

Pivotal season for Lakers front office. More so than previous seasons I think they’ll be put to the test and we get to find out what Pelinka is made of.

They got Dwight and Markieff last year and that paid off, let’s hope they are able to pull out the crystal ball again.

Beethoven wrote:We're losing rondo.
We're losing kcp.
Dwight as well I'm sure.
If we stand pat we would still be behind in 3pt shooting and ability in half court offense. Losing rondo will really hurt there in the latter.

Rondo probably wants to come back and i think that was his initial plan. But given his market value might have increased by a whole lot quite unexpectedly i think he's testing the market. Good for him.

Dwight might go. Its ok. He helped a lot during the regular season, but was unplayable in the finals. McGee fills in for Dwight if he goes and i'm sure we're getting Boogie as well.

We wont lose KCP. LA own his full bird rights and since we are over the cap we can pay him whatever he wants.

Assuming some magical world where we keep the exact same team: I think we would be a great team, and be in the playoffs. But I think we got a little benefit from that long break in the middle of the season. Literally months off. Great for an elder team. This year will prob be the opposite. It will start in Jan...be really packed in (although a little shorter) and then right into playoffs. I think we'd have too many guys gassed / hurt.

Now that said....I am curious to see how much AD changes now that he's "the man". A year with Lebron has taught him what you need to do, and where you need to be, mentally, to compete for a title. Will we get a 110% AD, or same guy? It never really rubbed off on Pau (Pau is a Laker great, no insult...but 4-5 years with Kobe never really sharpened his 'edge') so who knows. That could go a long way in helping us win again.

I see Rondo, Green, Dwight, Lebron, all aging a year. I see Dwight sorta getting bored with this 'hard work, no glory' role on the team. Caruso, and AD may take steps forward....hell, maybe Kuz does too?

Lot's of interesting possibilities...but in the end, the schedule grinds us down. That's my theory

IAMRANDYMARSH wrote:

Beethoven wrote:We're losing rondo.
We're losing kcp.
Dwight as well I'm sure.
If we stand pat we would still be behind in 3pt shooting and ability in half court offense. Losing rondo will really hurt there in the latter.

Rondo probably wants to come back and i think that was his initial plan. But given his market value might have increased by a whole lot quite unexpectedly i think he's testing the market. Good for him.

Dwight might go. Its ok. He helped a lot during the regular season, but was unplayable in the finals. McGee fills in for Dwight if he goes and i'm sure we're getting Boogie as well.

We wont lose KCP. LA own his full bird rights and since we are over the cap we can pay him whatever he wants.

You sound so positive here it brought a tear to my eye.

^ good point about the long break we had this season.

Beethoven wrote:

IAMRANDYMARSH wrote:

Beethoven wrote:We're losing rondo.
We're losing kcp.
Dwight as well I'm sure.
If we stand pat we would still be behind in 3pt shooting and ability in half court offense. Losing rondo will really hurt there in the latter.

Rondo probably wants to come back and i think that was his initial plan. But given his market value might have increased by a whole lot quite unexpectedly i think he's testing the market. Good for him.

Dwight might go. Its ok. He helped a lot during the regular season, but was unplayable in the finals. McGee fills in for Dwight if he goes and i'm sure we're getting Boogie as well.

We wont lose KCP. LA own his full bird rights and since we are over the cap we can pay him whatever he wants.

You sound so positive here it brought a tear to my eye.

LOL. Good to hear. And it's the truth.

Also the Lakers should now by now whether Giannis is an actual option or not because 1) they have access to his brother and 2) they have access to Lebron, who is required to take a paycut in such a situation. If they aren't going for Giannis they could, in theory because they're over the cap, use the full MLE, take on additional salary in a trade and then re-tain KCP on a long-term deal.