Is Luka's lack of movement killing the Lakers?

TheBallsDeeper · Post #1 » by **TheBallsDeeper** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 5:17 am

Luka has almost zero movement on each end of the floor. He is a statue off-ball, he dribbles the air out of the ball standing still when he has it. He defends in a box about 3 feet square.

Has his lack of movement forced the team to adapt to his play and negated their strengths? Lebron standing on the wing waiting for Luka as the clock winds down is a waste of his skills. Austin Reeves has to slow right down and loses his high-energy advantage. With no slow plodding big man, playing slow doesn't help the Lakers.
We saw it today - Lebron taking a really poor three point attempt with a stationary offence. I watched Luka make players worse in Dallas, and seems he is doing the same in LA.

Has trading for Luka killed the Lakers' chances?

Andri · Post #2 » by **Andri** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:19 am

TheBallsDeeper wrote:Luka has almost zero movement on each end of the floor. He is a statue off-ball, he dribbles the air out of the ball standing still when he has it. He defends in a box about 3 feet square.

Has his lack of movement forced the team to adapt to his play and negated their strengths? Lebron standing on the wing waiting for Luka as the clock winds down is a waste of his skills. Austin Reeves has to slow right down and loses his high-energy advantage. With no slow plodding big man, playing slow doesn't help the Lakers.
We saw it today - Lebron taking a really poor three point attempt with a stationary offence. I watched Luka make players worse in Dallas, and seems he is doing the same in LA.

Has trading for Luka killed the Lakers' chances?

Yes, Lakers were heading towards the ring full steam before Doncic’s trade

stan francisco · Post #3 » by **stan francisco** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 12:54 pm

/thread

danfantastk32 · Post #4 » by **danfantastk32** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:08 pm

TheBallsDeeper wrote:Luka has almost zero movement on each end of the floor. He is a statue off-ball, he dribbles the air out of the ball standing still when he has it. He defends in a box about 3 feet square.

Has his lack of movement forced the team to adapt to his play and negated their strengths? Lebron standing on the wing waiting for Luka as the clock winds down is a waste of his skills. Austin Reeves has to slow right down and loses his high-energy advantage. With no slow plodding big man, playing slow doesn't help the Lakers.
We saw it today - Lebron taking a really poor three point attempt with a stationary offence. I watched Luka make players worse in Dallas, and seems he is doing the same in LA.

Has trading for Luka killed the Lakers' chances?

Not at all. The Lakers were going nowhere as they were built 5 months ago. Nowhere.

The Luka trade is part one of what is essentially a "rebuild". Call it "passing the torch"...whatever is more palatable. It's the same thing in the end. The Lebron era is over. It's been over for about 3-4 years. His ability to take over games has evaporated. No slight...the guy's freakin 40. But it is what it is. AD was never going to take that torch. He's a 'Robbin'. Always will be. Lebron would never have gotten you much in the trade world. At 40...he's basically a side-story now. Yeah...he'll sell jerseys, and there will be an uptick in attendance....but your not going anywhere with him anymore. Not as the main guy. So the Lakers had to move AD to get that new "face". And the Luka deal fell in their lap.

But it's gonna take a couple years. Luka has his faults...and may ultimately end up not being that guy. But I think he's certainly a guy you can build around, and compete with. But there's been zero building around Luka to date. This team was built around AD and Lebron.

So your gonna have to be patient for the next season or two, while they get the pieces they need. Until Lebron retires....we're stuck with no 'Robin' to Luka's Batman. We essentially have no bigs. Just wastes of space (one that we moved 3 picks, and and an expiring contract that coulda/shoulda got us something valuable for) and really no depth anywhere. Just Luka, and this 40-year old Lebron.

I think JJ made a mistake not playing the bench at all. Dumb mistake. For one....if your getting into gimmicks like that in the first round??..then just forget it. Play your team, and bow out with dignity.

We need bigs...we need a partner for Luka...and we need some depth. Till then, I'm not passing grades on anything. This team has dug a hole, and poured concrete for the foundation.....and your calling the house ugly.

We're not winning squat this season....but we were never going to with AD either...so it's a wash.