Lakers @ Phoenix, Playoffs GM6, 6/3

[Saciid11]

Denver is going to kill these guys.

Nuggets are not beating the Suns ... Suns actually play defense and they have a very good big man who can at least give Jokic some resistance.

[Kilroy]

After the way everything has gone since the bubble to now, I really only stayed engaged because of my love of the P&G...
I like AD, and I hope he comes back stronger than ever... I like THT and hope we can keep him and he keeps developing... And I'm excited to see what we do in the off season... But as for this post season, I couldn't care less... I'm on to the Dodgers...

[ROballer]

After the way everything has gone since the bubble to now, I really only stayed engaged because of my love of the P&G...
I like AD, and I hope he comes back stronger than ever... I like THT and hope we can keep him and he keeps developing... And I'm excited to see what we do in the off season... But as for this post season, I couldn't care less... I'm on to the Dodgers...

At this point if you want to pay and keep him, you got to start him and try to groom him into that 3rd guy. 30+ minutes a game, I don't want to hear anything else or care who falls down the pecking order. If you want to turn him into a role player like everyone else and still go all in on the AD/Lebron + 3D's plan, that's doing him a disservice and I rather see him somewhere else.


So if you don't want to go that route with him, just S&T him to somebody for something.

[LAKESHOW]

We Champions! After a long hiatus from relevancy. It was a great run boys! If we don't hear from any of you guys this off-season, best of luck in all you do. Till we meet again and lace em up for a run to the 18th Championship!

[JVL]

It's the best scenario for us. Losing sucks, first round exits suck even more, but this team is done. Lebron is hobbled and old, AD has a new injury every other week, our role players are garbage level players and chemistry was non-existent.

We have enough time to get it right next year even if the potential moves we can make aren't exciting. Rest & recovery just matters too much for Lebron and especially AD. Let's hope there's no Solomon Hill next year to take out one of our stars.

I expect AD to rise up next year. We cannot expect 36-37 year old Lebron to be the number one option, AD has to lead. I expect a dominant season.

I'm glad I found my way to this board this year. I've been more of a lurker on RealGM the past few years. Looking forward to rooting for the team together with you guys next season.

[kblo247]

I got to watch the whole game because I was at work tonight but here’s my overall thoughts

LeBron - This doesn’t impact his overall legacy, knocks him away from mj but to me he was never catching him as the GOAT and he’s wasn’t catching Kobe as the GLOAT. I think this will be intriguing for him as he gets a summer of rest without a finals run on him. I do think the question becomes what does he look to be though the point guard or the scorer from this point out compared to being both.

AD - He gets to rest and get right and gets a true break and layoff. He’s never played as much as he did last year and that run and the shortest layoff from title to new season did him in. That and the fact he played knicked up which he never did as a pelican so he compounded injuries over and over. He’s our best defender and scorer by far as he showed or his lack of being there showed these last games

KCP - Keep him, he showed up late and for some damn reason he is one of the few who can hit a three in the damn uniform. I will never understand how every shooter sucks at shooting with us for some reason. I mean Pope, Fisher, and who ?? Rice lost his money ball, Payton could not hit, Green could not hit, Radmanovic couldn’t hit, and so on.

Tucker - Develop him as a sixth man like a mini Harden in okc. Keep him at the right price and develop him especially since yours sacrificed a year of Bron and AD to keep him when Lowry was there.

Kuzma - love ya buddy but now you are a trade chip because you have actual salary behind you when you were dirt cheap all these other years and you couldn’t trade that away. Now at 13 mil trade him to a team where he can go start and flourish like Randle, Ingram, and Zo. He’s won already too so he can chuck and be a scorer somewhere else. With picks, cash, and something he can get us a piece.

Harrell - he’s flawed and he capped himself salary wise but I do think he can fit the mold of what a team like Charlotte needs

Drummond - Please let him go somewhere like Washington where he can number hunt with Russ and Beal. He’s not a guy I want long term. I would easily take Dwight, Javale back.

Caruso - Got to let him go. I think he gets that Delladova pay, just a gut feeling and he’s not worth it. Hell I would deal his ass to the clippers for rondo so we have an actual backup 1.

Dennis - A real question becomes do you sign and trade him for another signed and traded guy like Lowry hard capping you to hell. Or can you work out a way to get in the ear of Lavine and get you a scrorer and guy who can get you 50 on a night and spread the floor.

Dudley - coaching staff

Wes - think he ring chases elsewhere

Markieff - Goes to the clippers I think

Marc - Think he retires with Pau overseas



Now what I wonder is if they go for a Lavine or Turner this summer. I mean I just just those being the most likely places they can deal with of anyone. You can get Young with Lavine if Dennis is willing to go there and you attach Kuzma, picks, or let Tucker walk there. You can do something in Indy if they are set on Levert and Sabonis as the pieces for their team, but they have to sort their coaching mess out too.

[kblo247]

**** it, Nets in 4 all the way from here. Let’s burn the whole thing down.

I’m cheering for Luka just because I want to see the Dirk story again

[Slava]

Spoiler:

I got to watch the whole game because I was at work tonight but here’s my overall thoughts

LeBron - This doesn’t impact his overall legacy, knocks him away from mj but to me he was never catching him as the GOAT and he’s wasn’t catching Kobe as the GLOAT. I think this will be intriguing for him as he gets a summer of rest without a finals run on him. I do think the question becomes what does he look to be though the point guard or the scorer from this point out compared to being both.

AD - He gets to rest and get right and gets a true break and layoff. He’s never played as much as he did last year and that run and the shortest layoff from title to new season did him in. That and the fact he played knicked up which he never did as a pelican so he compounded injuries over and over. He’s our best defender and scorer by far as he showed or his lack of being there showed these last games

KCP - Keep him, he showed up late and for some damn reason he is one of the few who can hit a three in the damn uniform. I will never understand how every shooter sucks at shooting with us for some reason. I mean Pope, Fisher, and who ?? Rice lost his money ball, Payton could not hit, Green could not hit, Radmanovic couldn’t hit, and so on.

Tucker - Develop him as a sixth man like a mini Harden in okc. Keep him at the right price and develop him especially since yours sacrificed a year of Bron and AD to keep him when Lowry was there.

Kuzma - love ya buddy but now you are a trade chip because you have actual salary behind you when you were dirt cheap all these other years and you couldn’t trade that away. Now at 13 mil trade him to a team where he can go start and flourish like Randle, Ingram, and Zo. He’s won already too so he can chuck and be a scorer somewhere else. With picks, cash, and something he can get us a piece.

Harrell - he’s flawed and he capped himself salary wise but I do think he can fit the mold of what a team like Charlotte needs

Drummond - Please let him go somewhere like Washington where he can number hunt with Russ and Beal. He’s not a guy I want long term. I would easily take Dwight, Javale back.

Caruso - Got to let him go. I think he gets that Delladova pay, just a gut feeling and he’s not worth it. Hell I would deal his ass to the clippers for rondo so we have an actual backup 1.

Dennis - A real question becomes do you sign and trade him for another signed and traded guy like Lowry hard capping you to hell. Or can you work out a way to get in the ear of Lavine and get you a scrorer and guy who can get you 50 on a night and spread the floor.

Dudley - coaching staff

Wes - think he ring chases elsewhere

Markieff - Goes to the clippers I think

Marc - Think he retires with Pau overseas



Now what I wonder is if they go for a Lavine or Turner this summer. I mean I just just those being the most likely places they can deal with of anyone. You can get Young with Lavine if Dennis is willing to go there and you attach Kuzma, picks, or let Tucker walk there. You can do something in Indy if they are set on Levert and Sabonis as the pieces for their team, but they have to sort their coaching mess out too.

Agree on most things except Caruso. He's an all defence caliber player and I'd happily pay around the MLE money to keep him. Hell he might even make the 2nd or 3d all defence team this season. He's nothing like Dellavadova.

[JVL]

And Caruso is an easy guy to be around, I guess. No locker room cancer, he seems to get along with everyone and when he's playing out of his mind, like we've seen him do a handful times last year, the entire bench is hyped.

Caruso is a good Laker, we need guys like that going forward.

**** it, Nets in 4 all the way from here. Let’s burn the whole thing down.

I’m cheering for Luka just because I want to see the Dirk story again

Same here. Luka all the way for me now. Love seeing him play.

I'm also a little bit curious how far Phoenix can get.

[tamaraw08]

I got to watch the whole game because I was at work tonight but here’s my overall thoughts

LeBron - This doesn’t impact his overall legacy, knocks him away from mj but to me he was never catching him as the GOAT and he’s wasn’t catching Kobe as the GLOAT. I think this will be intriguing for him as he gets a summer of rest without a finals run on him. I do think the question becomes what does he look to be though the point guard or the scorer from this point out compared to being both.

AD - He gets to rest and get right and gets a true break and layoff. He’s never played as much as he did last year and that run and the shortest layoff from title to new season did him in. That and the fact he played knicked up which he never did as a pelican so he compounded injuries over and over. He’s our best defender and scorer by far as he showed or his lack of being there showed these last games

KCP - Keep him, he showed up late and for some damn reason he is one of the few who can hit a three in the damn uniform. I will never understand how every shooter sucks at shooting with us for some reason. I mean Pope, Fisher, and who ?? Rice lost his money ball, Payton could not hit, Green could not hit, Radmanovic couldn’t hit, and so on.

Tucker - Develop him as a sixth man like a mini Harden in okc. Keep him at the right price and develop him especially since yours sacrificed a year of Bron and AD to keep him when Lowry was there.

Kuzma - love ya buddy but now you are a trade chip because you have actual salary behind you when you were dirt cheap all these other years and you couldn’t trade that away. Now at 13 mil trade him to a team where he can go start and flourish like Randle, Ingram, and Zo. He’s won already too so he can chuck and be a scorer somewhere else. With picks, cash, and something he can get us a piece.

Harrell - he’s flawed and he capped himself salary wise but I do think he can fit the mold of what a team like Charlotte needs

Drummond - Please let him go somewhere like Washington where he can number hunt with Russ and Beal. He’s not a guy I want long term. I would easily take Dwight, Javale back.

Caruso - Got to let him go. I think he gets that Delladova pay, just a gut feeling and he’s not worth it. Hell I would deal his ass to the clippers for rondo so we have an actual backup 1.

Dennis - A real question becomes do you sign and trade him for another signed and traded guy like Lowry hard capping you to hell. Or can you work out a way to get in the ear of Lavine and get you a scrorer and guy who can get you 50 on a night and spread the floor.

Dudley - coaching staff

Wes - think he ring chases elsewhere

Markieff - Goes to the clippers I think

Marc - Think he retires with Pau overseas



Now what I wonder is if they go for a Lavine or Turner this summer. I mean I just just those being the most likely places they can deal with of anyone. You can get Young with Lavine if Dennis is willing to go there and you attach Kuzma, picks, or let Tucker walk there. You can do something in Indy if they are set on Levert and Sabonis as the pieces for their team, but they have to sort their coaching mess out too.

I understand your love for Lavine. No more narrative that Lebron is unbeatable in the first round and that he always comes back strong after blowouts. He badly needs a dynamic scorer from the perimeter but I just don't see the Bulls letting Zach go.
I can imagine Lebron calling Bradley Beal convincing him to demand a trade to the Lakers ala AD.
I like both Caruso and Wes bec I don't think the Lakers would have to break the bank to retain these good defenders, same with Kieff.
I pray that the Celtics hire away Kidd and Lionel Hollins retire and replace them with young innovative tacticians who will draw up smart offensive sets bec the Lakers' offensive schemes are so anemic IMO.

[Hans1984]

What a frustrating season.

[kblo247]

Spoiler:

I got to watch the whole game because I was at work tonight but here’s my overall thoughts

LeBron - This doesn’t impact his overall legacy, knocks him away from mj but to me he was never catching him as the GOAT and he’s wasn’t catching Kobe as the GLOAT. I think this will be intriguing for him as he gets a summer of rest without a finals run on him. I do think the question becomes what does he look to be though the point guard or the scorer from this point out compared to being both.

AD - He gets to rest and get right and gets a true break and layoff. He’s never played as much as he did last year and that run and the shortest layoff from title to new season did him in. That and the fact he played knicked up which he never did as a pelican so he compounded injuries over and over. He’s our best defender and scorer by far as he showed or his lack of being there showed these last games

KCP - Keep him, he showed up late and for some damn reason he is one of the few who can hit a three in the damn uniform. I will never understand how every shooter sucks at shooting with us for some reason. I mean Pope, Fisher, and who ?? Rice lost his money ball, Payton could not hit, Green could not hit, Radmanovic couldn’t hit, and so on.

Tucker - Develop him as a sixth man like a mini Harden in okc. Keep him at the right price and develop him especially since yours sacrificed a year of Bron and AD to keep him when Lowry was there.

Kuzma - love ya buddy but now you are a trade chip because you have actual salary behind you when you were dirt cheap all these other years and you couldn’t trade that away. Now at 13 mil trade him to a team where he can go start and flourish like Randle, Ingram, and Zo. He’s won already too so he can chuck and be a scorer somewhere else. With picks, cash, and something he can get us a piece.

Harrell - he’s flawed and he capped himself salary wise but I do think he can fit the mold of what a team like Charlotte needs

Drummond - Please let him go somewhere like Washington where he can number hunt with Russ and Beal. He’s not a guy I want long term. I would easily take Dwight, Javale back.

Caruso - Got to let him go. I think he gets that Delladova pay, just a gut feeling and he’s not worth it. Hell I would deal his ass to the clippers for rondo so we have an actual backup 1.

Dennis - A real question becomes do you sign and trade him for another signed and traded guy like Lowry hard capping you to hell. Or can you work out a way to get in the ear of Lavine and get you a scrorer and guy who can get you 50 on a night and spread the floor.

Dudley - coaching staff

Wes - think he ring chases elsewhere

Markieff - Goes to the clippers I think

Marc - Think he retires with Pau overseas



Now what I wonder is if they go for a Lavine or Turner this summer. I mean I just just those being the most likely places they can deal with of anyone. You can get Young with Lavine if Dennis is willing to go there and you attach Kuzma, picks, or let Tucker walk there. You can do something in Indy if they are set on Levert and Sabonis as the pieces for their team, but they have to sort their coaching mess out too.

Agree on most things except Caruso. He's an all defence caliber player and I'd happily pay around the MLE money to keep him. Hell he might even make the 2nd or 3d all defence team this season. He's nothing like Dellavadova.

I would pay the mle for him. I’m saying I think much like Delly got over the mle off of playing with Bron, I think Caruso going to get over the mle and add market inflation. I would not be shocked him getting 8 digits per year is my point

[kblo247]

I got to watch the whole game because I was at work tonight but here’s my overall thoughts

LeBron - This doesn’t impact his overall legacy, knocks him away from mj but to me he was never catching him as the GOAT and he’s wasn’t catching Kobe as the GLOAT. I think this will be intriguing for him as he gets a summer of rest without a finals run on him. I do think the question becomes what does he look to be though the point guard or the scorer from this point out compared to being both.

AD - He gets to rest and get right and gets a true break and layoff. He’s never played as much as he did last year and that run and the shortest layoff from title to new season did him in. That and the fact he played knicked up which he never did as a pelican so he compounded injuries over and over. He’s our best defender and scorer by far as he showed or his lack of being there showed these last games

KCP - Keep him, he showed up late and for some damn reason he is one of the few who can hit a three in the damn uniform. I will never understand how every shooter sucks at shooting with us for some reason. I mean Pope, Fisher, and who ?? Rice lost his money ball, Payton could not hit, Green could not hit, Radmanovic couldn’t hit, and so on.

Tucker - Develop him as a sixth man like a mini Harden in okc. Keep him at the right price and develop him especially since yours sacrificed a year of Bron and AD to keep him when Lowry was there.

Kuzma - love ya buddy but now you are a trade chip because you have actual salary behind you when you were dirt cheap all these other years and you couldn’t trade that away. Now at 13 mil trade him to a team where he can go start and flourish like Randle, Ingram, and Zo. He’s won already too so he can chuck and be a scorer somewhere else. With picks, cash, and something he can get us a piece.

Harrell - he’s flawed and he capped himself salary wise but I do think he can fit the mold of what a team like Charlotte needs

Drummond - Please let him go somewhere like Washington where he can number hunt with Russ and Beal. He’s not a guy I want long term. I would easily take Dwight, Javale back.

Caruso - Got to let him go. I think he gets that Delladova pay, just a gut feeling and he’s not worth it. Hell I would deal his ass to the clippers for rondo so we have an actual backup 1.

Dennis - A real question becomes do you sign and trade him for another signed and traded guy like Lowry hard capping you to hell. Or can you work out a way to get in the ear of Lavine and get you a scrorer and guy who can get you 50 on a night and spread the floor.

Dudley - coaching staff

Wes - think he ring chases elsewhere

Markieff - Goes to the clippers I think

Marc - Think he retires with Pau overseas



Now what I wonder is if they go for a Lavine or Turner this summer. I mean I just just those being the most likely places they can deal with of anyone. You can get Young with Lavine if Dennis is willing to go there and you attach Kuzma, picks, or let Tucker walk there. You can do something in Indy if they are set on Levert and Sabonis as the pieces for their team, but they have to sort their coaching mess out too.

I understand your love for Lavine. No more narrative that Lebron is unbeatable in the first round and that he always comes back strong after blowouts. He badly needs a dynamic scorer from the perimeter but I just don't see the Bulls letting Zach go.
I can imagine Lebron calling Bradley Beal convincing him to demand a trade to the Lakers ala AD.
I like both Caruso and Wes bec I don't think the Lakers would have to break the bank to retain these good defenders, same with Kieff.
I pray that the Celtics hire away Kidd and Lionel Hollins retire and replace them with young innovative tacticians who will draw up smart offensive sets bec the Lakers' offensive schemes are so anemic IMO.

Bulls are intriguing because Lavine has to either opt out or they have to renegotiate their own cap space to pay him more. They can’t just extend Lavine because he makes less unless they rearrange their cap balance or they let him become a free agent. His deal is different so he won’t just extend outright.

I think they are the one team you can maybe say hey let’s do 2 of Tucker or Dennis or Kuz for. They get a better team. Lavine comes home and we get his bird rights and AD / Bron get a guy who can get 30 on his own vs anyone

[Eric Bieniemy]

Caruso isn't worth the MLE. He's a wonderful 20 minute-a-game role-player, but at MLE money the Lakers can do much better.