Lakers Competing with better players/ Lebron & Luka

[thomas1897]

Playing with Lebron & Luka will be a tough call. 1. Who does the management believe is the right fit at center. 2. Balancing the team with correct chemistry to develop a winning team. 3. The Lakers duplicate players with similar skills. 4. Luka, can he get in shape and play better defense. 5. Lebron limiting the minutes he plays. 6.JJ Reddick more structure for Luka to play being a ball dominate player. 7.Correct these problems with good players before September and assemble a good 12-man squad with some additional players for injured reserves. 8. Good defenders - the Lakers looked bad against Minnesota due to defensive missteps and lacking any type of defensive strategy to keep Minnesota out of the middle. Is Jaxson Hayes a starter or reserve. Who are the Lakers considering for their starting center. Starting point guard and help at point guard (Malcolm Brogdon) backup possibility. Starting center is a concern: here are some suggestions/ Ayton, Capela, maybe Mark Williams? Robert Williams? & Porzingis?? players with question marks are injury prone. So anyone out there in Laker land can provide more options please respond.

[Liam_Gallagher]

They'll be fine lol. They won 50 games with a disaster of a supporting cast, no center or point guard, and a bunch of transition periods within the season.

Lob-threat centers are going to be lining up at the door.

[JustBuzzin]

Unless the Lakers put a defensive team around Luka and LeBron they aren't winning anything.

Luka plays no defense at all.
LeBron is not far behind and he's aging.

Lakers need to trade Reaves for a real center. That team needs defense in the worst way.

[Apz]

Thats bs. Luka does play defense, but never will be perimeter stopper. U think mavs having the best defense last year with luka was a coincidence or something? But without 2 centers there really isnt much u can do. Nowhere to steer opposition, and cant have lebron and luka foul out since today the attacjer just need to throw their head back and defender get a foul.

Problem is lakers not having assets to fill all holes

[Landsberger]

LeBron has cheated Father Time a year or two longer than most. His value is going to start to drop quickly as a player. As a cost however it will be the same.

[tamaraw08]

They'll be fine lol. They won 50 games with a disaster of a supporting cast, no center or point guard, and a bunch of transition periods within the season.

Lob-threat centers are going to be lining up at the door.

I thought Hayes was a legit lob threat...then it became non existent vs the TWolves.
I think smarter teams have figured out how to stop those lobs.

[tamaraw08]

Unless the Lakers put a defensive team around Luka and LeBron they aren't winning anything.

Luka plays no defense at all.
LeBron is not far behind and he's aging.

Lakers need to trade Reaves for a real center. That team needs defense in the worst way.

But that's the thing though, it's not just trading assets for a center but I really think they badly need to resign DFS plus 2 more 3&D players.
Vando is a really good defender but JJ doesn't know how to hide him, same with Goodwin. So they just don't need defenders but players who can hit 3's.
Luka thrived with PJ Washington and DJJ was able to hit 3's 2 playoffs ago.

[thomas1897]

Can the Lakers do a trade with Utah Jazz for Alec Kessler, John Collins and Jordan Clarkson? A combination of players from the Lakers would involve Vincent, Knecht, Reeves, Smith and Keibler. No draft picks from future years would be involved. This would strength the front court tremendously. To finish this reloading the roster with better quality of players that fit with the Luka & Lebron team. Team chemistry is important and purchasing second picks and the Lakers own the second round pick a big man and free agent wing signings such as: Doug Mc Dermont and some talent from overseas, the un-drafted players. This deal could check off a lot of needs.

[thomas1897]

Good morning, Laker Nation over the last 24 hours the situation to find a center could be solved or? Ayton now has entered the sweepstakes; are the Lakers seriously interested or being cheap/cost effective or considering Ayton's behavior issues? Does management desire another option? Which possibility will Management playout? Here is the paradox. 1. Dorian Finney Smith ops out replaced by Thiero and Jarad Vanderbilt. 2.Jaxson Hayes what are the Lakers considering? 3.Can a new combination of Ayton and Capela be a possibility. 3. Lopez will remain with the Bucks if Giannis stays. 4.Could Chris Paul be headed to the Lakers? 5.Does new ownership have money to spend? Laker Nation what are your thoughts? Do we roll the dice and hope for the best?

[danfantastk32]

Good morning, Laker Nation over the last 24 hours the situation to find a center could be solved or? Ayton now has entered the sweepstakes; are the Lakers seriously interested or being cheap/cost effective or considering Ayton's behavior issues? Does management desire another option? Which possibility will Management playout? Here is the paradox. 1. Dorian Finney Smith ops out replaced by Thiero and Jarad Vanderbilt. 2.Jaxson Hayes what are the Lakers considering? 3.Can a new combination of Ayton and Capela be a possibility. 3. Lopez will remain with the Bucks if Giannis stays. 4.Could Chris Paul be headed to the Lakers? 5.Does new ownership have money to spend? Laker Nation what are your thoughts? Do we roll the dice and hope for the best?

It's not about being cheap or "cost effective"...we are in the first apron of the salary cap. That restricts what we can do. And we're inches from the 2nd apron....which in effect acts as a hard-cap. You can resign players you already have, but it's basically impossible to trade, buy. And the taxes are insane. I just read last night about a team who moved a decent player....I forget but I think he was making like $40mil...something like that. Anyhow, by moving him, and getting out of the 2nd apron, they were saving something like $260 mil in taxes for his contract. If that's cheap, then I guess you can call me cheap too....I'm not paying $260mil in taxes, and neither would anyone, frankly. I read several articles yesterday, so perhaps I have some of the details wrong, but whatever....the 2nd apron is not about being cheap.

Would be just like the Lakers if Finney-Smith leaves. We only just spent 3 2nd round picks on him (and DLo's expiring). Good work by our front office...totally makes sense to leverage big junks of our future for a 'decent' (and I think that't being kind) player who's contract expires at end of season. Not to mention that it got us nowhere. It was just another desperation move by a FO that refuses to come to grips with the fact that we aren't a contender right now.

Lebron and Luka need the ball. No point in a PG type player here. Maybe for the min...play the guy a few minutes when they are resting....but why? Just give the minutes to someone young. It's not like CP is gonna takes us somewhere. I'm sure the new ownership would love to throw $$ at our issue...but that was the NBA of 20-ish years ago. You simply cannot trade or sign guys into the 2nd apron. So we're stuck with what we have. It's time for all Laker fans, and Laker management to understand the new landscape. What would best serve the Lakers is to make any trades possible that bring picks, or players under 22 years old. Next year when Lebron's contract comes up...we can try and start building around Luka.

[thomas1897]

2025 Free Agency: The Lakers have done some things to help the team but taking an approach of caution and it is surprising. However, this is the modern NBA and money talks but who is spending. The ownership has changed, and the philosophy has changed because Lebron's career is coming to an end. What happens next is questionable. No answer and I am not guessing. Management is looking at the rest of the league, their spending habits. The Laker's have a budget and considering their tax aprons. Houston has retooled and is the top contender to take down OKC. Do the Lakers have that type of team no. The question is what is Lebron going to do now? The Focus is now pointed to the future. Luka is the man. This season is going to be controversial.

[Liam_Gallagher]

Current rotation:

G - Luka [36] | Gabe [16]
G - Austin [36] | Goodwin [12] | Shake
F - LeBron [34] | Jake [18] | Dalton
F - Rui [30]| Vando [14] | Kleber
C - Ayton [28] | Hayes [14]

I see a lot of small-ball lineups with Rui/LeBron at C and Jake at the 4. Or Gabe at the 1 with Austin, Luka, LBJ, Rui/Vando.

[Vae Victus]

Roster still needs defenders who can hit open 3s. I’m still rather peeved that Rob didn’t want to retain DFS for 2 years guaranteed which is all it took for HOU to steal him. I’m willing to bet that Ayton woulda taken the TPMLE due to the ideal fit.

Not sure what we can get for the expirings of Vincent, Kleber plus any combo of Knect and draft capital, but hopefully something useful comes along. Personally I don’t want to pay Reaves 25+ mil on his next deal. Scoring guards who can’t defend is becoming known league wide to not be worth big money and have little to no trade value. It’s crazy to see how Norm Powell at less salary than John Collins still required a SRP to balance out value.

[thomas1897]

Reconstruction of the roster has been good. However, Gabe Vincent and Max Kleiber are questions that could provide good results. Having both players enter training camp ready heathy and focused on making contributions to the team. Management needs to make evaluations when and how these players can make contributions. The Lakers should take a second or third opinion on Thomas Bryant. He could help the Lakers if an emergency happens at the number five and four positions. These players are familiar with the Lakers. The usage can be determined by the outcome of training camp and pre-season games. There are many possibilities of injuries, fatigue, disqualifications and fouling during a long season. He knows the Lakers' system and culture. Trading players for salary or upgrades is reasonable, but the importance of any trade is does the team get better and win more games. There is time to do all the evaluations and the homework necessary to build a better team. Patience