Offseason Grades - Los Angeles Lakers

[bondom34]

OK, posting this early today before I get a chance to forget (and in case I miss one tomorrow), but in an eventful offseason the Lakers.

K_Chile22's Grade:
Los Angeles Lakers transactions

Front office
Extended coach Frank Vogel.

Draft
none.

Trades
Traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and pick #22 for Russell Westbrook and two future 2nds.
eve
Free agency
Waived Alfonzo McKinnie.
Re-signed Talen Horton-Tucker, 3/$31M.
Signed Kendrick Nunn, 2/$10M.
Signed Malik Monk, 1/min.
Signed Dwight Howard, 1/min.
Signed Carmelo Anthony, 1/min.
Signed Wayne Ellington, 1/min.
Signed Kent Bazemore, 1/min.
Signed Trevor Ariza, 1/min.

Offseason Thoughts
So obviously the big thing here is the Russ trade, and I'm sure that will be very divisive. As someone who saw the 'Russ plays with high usage guy' experience up close recently, I have big concerns about this move. In the regular season I trust them to figure it out and be talented enough that the drawbacks aren't a huge deal. But this team should be focused on the playoffs, where Russ has been miserable for 4 years in a row. In the playoffs it's also
harder to successfully stagger your top guys, and I just think the spacing in a Russ-LeBron-AD lineup is going to be really bad unless you have the ball in Russ' hands, but if you do that you're minimizing your two best players to empower Russ. I also think this is bad for their defense but I'll come back to that. Did they really have to throw in a first given all the money the Wiz got off here???

Did well to keep THT and their minimum signings are all solid, Monk is above that. Not a Nunn believer in terms of being a playoff contributor but he's good value on that deal.

Unless AD just is so good he can cover for almost everyone else, they did not do anything to keep their top defense. Caruso was great on that end, KCP is a really good wing defender, Kuzma grew a lot in terms of guarding big wings. Almost everyone they went out and got is a negative defender. Russ, Nunn, Monk, Melo are all bad defenders. Ariza, Dwight and Baze have both lost a step there.

I'm sure this will be controversial, but I just don't like this offseason given their goals.

Grade
C-. If they didn't get good value on a couple guys in FA this would be worse.
2022 Prediction
Top 4 in the west
Offseason in gif form


Mamba4Goat's Grade:
Los Angeles Lakers transactions

Front office
Extended coach Frank Vogel.

Draft
none.

Trades
Traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and pick #22 for Russell Westbrook and two future 2nds.

Free agency
Waived Alfonzo McKinnie.
Re-signed Talen Horton-Tucker, 3/$31M.
Signed Kendrick Nunn, 2/$10M.
Signed Malik Monk, 1/min.
Signed Dwight Howard, 1/min.
Signed Carmelo Anthony, 1/min.
Signed Wayne Ellington, 1/min.
Signed Kent Bazemore, 1/min.
Signed Trevor Ariza, 1/min.

Offseason Thoughts
Well, they did a lot of flashy moves, landed big names in free agency/trades, and...got worse. Keeping THT was nice and one of Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn probably works out but...they're going to suffer against young teams like the Suns, they're "deep" but it's all older players who may get slapped by father time, and injuries are going to be a huge concern. On paper, they did very well for themselves all things considered in free agency. But again, Westbrook and the sum of it being all old players ruins a lot of it.

Grade
C-
Aside from Westbrook each move by itself is pretty good. But, when you pair them all together it becomes a lot less good and starts to become a problem even.
2022 Prediction
3-6 seed. A fully healthy Lakers team is a home court advantage team. But...AD is tough to rely on, Bron getting older likely means more time missed due to either injury or load management too.

Offseason in gif form



Bondom34's Grade:

Los Angeles Lakers transactions

Front office
Extended coach Frank Vogel.

Draft
none.

Trades
Traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and pick #22 for Russell Westbrook and two future 2nds.

Free agency
Waived Alfonzo McKinnie.
Re-signed Talen Horton-Tucker, 3/$31M.
Signed Kendrick Nunn, 2/$10M.
Signed Malik Monk, 1/min.
Signed Dwight Howard, 1/min.
Signed Carmelo Anthony, 1/min.
Signed Wayne Ellington, 1/min.
Signed Kent Bazemore, 1/min.
Signed Trevor Ariza, 1/min.
Signed Rondo 1/min
Signed Deandre Jordan, 1/min

Offseason Thoughts
Well this was eventful. And honestly the grade I feel absolutely zero confidence in.

OK, had this much longer and decided to shorten it after reading a bit and seeing other reviews as well as thinking. Basically there was stuff I liked and didn't, but bullet points version:

- The trade was the big move, they gave up basically nothing and ended up with a good player even if flawed. I also think it saved them from overpaying Schroder and gave them another ball handler/option to take a lot of pressure off Lebron. And I'm not sure any better alternatives were available (and even with postseason questions the guys they gave up didn't exactly perform well there last year either). The Lakers had no flexibility either way and ultimately are the Lakers so they'll attract other players in the future either way.

- They cleaned up on min contracts and UDFAs, this was largely good though I have questions on depth. And a few felt like they were just going for guys (more in the next bullet).

- A few signings (Jordan for one, Melo, Dwight to some extent if Gasol is gone) just feel iffy and make me wonder about how many minutes some guys get, so that was a slight demerit though I'm unsure how much they play. Would have loved an Otto Porter type here.

- Not bringing back Caruso hurts, I have a tough time knocking them too much for not signing wings who were 2 way guys on minimums but this felt more doable even if I understand ownership has different priorities.

- Think they overpaid THT a bit too.

- Extending Vogel was a good move and a reason I'm not entirely sure the defense still isn't fine.

Overall I see the chances and good and bad in this one, it was genuinely tough. I like the trade but question the depth of the team (granted this was a question beforehand a bit as well). It comes down to what Lebron and AD look like and health. And given what they did the bigger question is alternatives, so I graded similarly to GSW (though I like direction here more). They just feel like they're 1 wing short, or even just a Caruso type who they let walk which hurt.

Grade
B?/B-? I still have no idea. Unsure and don't know how strong I feel on the end of roster guys and losing Caruso. Due to questions above, I've read other reviews and changed this a few times but landed back here. Was the best talent they could add via trade even if fit is iffy and they mostly did well in free agency. Losing Caruso bumped this down and every time I think of a plus I think of a small minus, so right in that range but they got exactly who they wanted and they had a direction.


2022 Prediction

Top 3 in the West, maybe this is the year Lebron falls off but I stopped expecting that at this point.

Offseason in gif form

[Texas Chuck]

For me this off-season comes down to the choice between Buddy Hield and Westbrook and I think you choose Westbrook 100x out of 100. He's another player we love to only focus on what he doesn't do and do everything possible to minimize what he can do. And what he can do is let Lebron play at 60-70% and let AD sit 20+ games while he carries the team some nights. Lakers made the calculation that Lebron/AD won us a title once and can do it again, but we have to get there healthy and last year showed them that their 2 stars aren't ideally suited to get you through a RS any longer. Westbrook's job is to get them there.

As to the barrage of free agents? Mostly meh. I get there are a lot of names there either in former all-stars, or young players who are more hype than substance, but of that group who do you honestly have a great deal of confidence in? Maybe none of them, right? Now 1 or more of them is going to work out, but again it just shows how critical the Westbrook addition was.

Grade C. Westbrook will do his part and get them to the playoffs without having to deal with the play-in. Then does Lebron have one more great playoff run left in him? Wish he had more teammates I trusted in a playoff series. They got beat out for the best min guys this year and that hurts.

[HornetJail]

I'm giving the Lakers an A, and they might be the only team to get one. They turned a bunch of trash into Russell Westbrook, who for his flaws, is still an incredibly impactful player when healthy and adds an entire new dimension to the team. Then they replaced just about everything they lost in the Westbrook trade with minimum salary players. Picking up guys like Monk and Nunn on the minimum is just ridiculous value, even for only 1 year.

This team is old as hell, but they should be able to stay fresh during the regular season- this is where the Westbrook trade really shines- they don't have to rely on LeBron to run the show at all times when you have one of the games best floor generals next to him (or instead of him). I foresee a lot of rest days for everyone, maybe just a 3-4 seed in the west, and probably some career low numbers from both LeBron and Westbrook, but they'll be fresh when it matters.

The only thing missing (and the only reason I'm not giving an A+) is their perimeter defense. If Bazemore, THT, or Monk (underrated as hell but just decent on defense) is your best perimeter defender, you are putting a lot of strain on Anthony Davis or DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard (good lord have I mentioned this team is deep?) to protect the rim stopping all the drives that your swiss cheese perimeter defense allows. I'm sure they'll find some miracle answer midseason for this too.

A.

[bondom34]

For me this off-season comes down to the choice between Buddy Hield and Westbrook and I think you choose Westbrook 100x out of 100. He's another player we love to only focus on what he doesn't do and do everything possible to minimize what he can do. And what he can do is let Lebron play at 60-70% and let AD sit 20+ games while he carries the team some nights. Lakers made the calculation that Lebron/AD won us a title once and can do it again, but we have to get there healthy and last year showed them that their 2 stars aren't ideally suited to get you through a RS any longer. Westbrook's job is to get them there.

As to the barrage of free agents? Mostly meh. I get there are a lot of names there either in former all-stars, or young players who are more hype than substance, but of that group who do you honestly have a great deal of confidence in? Maybe none of them, right? Now 1 or more of them is going to work out, but again it just shows how critical the Westbrook addition was.

Grade C. Westbrook will do his part and get them to the playoffs without having to deal with the play-in. Then does Lebron have one more great playoff run left in him? Wish he had more teammates I trusted in a playoff series. They got beat out for the best min guys this year and that hurts.

Yeah I think this is pretty much how I felt with regards to it, just landed at a different grade. Some questions on a few of the signings, but feel similarly on the end product.

[LightTheBeam]

Even if you don't like Westbrook this off-season was an easy A+++.

They replaced

Dennis, Kuzma, KCP, Harrell, Caruso, Matthews with Westbrook, Nunn, Monk, Rondo, Ariza, Howard, Bazemore, Ellington, Carmelo.

Yes they are old. No they don't fit the best. But that is an incredible talent upgrade, and they got rid of 2 boneheads. Losing Caruso hurt, but replacing him with Nunn and Monk is an upgrade.

This team is poised to get back to the finals and battle it out with Brooklyn.

Its honestly a travesty they were able to get some of these guys this cheap.

[Rapcity_11]

D.

Westbrook in the playoffs last 3 years: 46% TS on 30.5% usage, with awful defense. That's incredibly hard to overcome.

I think they got pretty clearly worse as a playoff team.

[5paceman]

A+

They didn't have money to spend or anything to trade anybody really wanted and were able to get Westbrook. And then they loaded up on good min contracts, old guys and young.

I really like Ariza and Baze on the wing.

THT and Nunn will be trade chips if anyone better becomes available or wants out. Otherwise they help carry the season with Westbrook.

[pacers33granger]

They had an outstanding offseason given what they went into it with. There are fit issues all around, but luckily their best two guys can fit with nearly anyone. I'm not entirely sold on Vogel being able to manage it all, but it's not like they were going to replace him.

I have their offseason as an A- and really only marred by the return of Rondo, but I know I'm alone on that island.

[giberish]

For me this off-season comes down to the choice between Buddy Hield and Westbrook and I think you choose Westbrook 100x out of 100. He's another player we love to only focus on what he doesn't do and do everything possible to minimize what he can do. And what he can do is let Lebron play at 60-70% and let AD sit 20+ games while he carries the team some nights. Lakers made the calculation that Lebron/AD won us a title once and can do it again, but we have to get there healthy and last year showed them that their 2 stars aren't ideally suited to get you through a RS any longer. Westbrook's job is to get them there.

I don't see it as just Hield for Westbrook. I see it has Hield, KCP and Caruso for Westbrook and 2 min salary guys. (I figure without Westbrooks' extra large contract on the books they can afford to resign Caruso). Is the Westbrook option really a win? IMO it's a loss for the regular season on a team with major depth questions. It has a better chance of working in the playoffs where depth is less important but is also iffy there.

[bondom34]

I have their offseason as an A- and really only marred by the return of Rondo, but I know I'm alone on that island.

Oh you're not alone . I think I have more faith in him than Jordan and maybe Melo (maybe) but that was part of the demerit that got it to the B/B- range. Think I'm leaning B more now after hearing more thoughts, but the end of the roster stuff was weird. I'm back and forth now thinking on it but its right there.

Edited: And now again I'm not sure . B?/B?- feels about right, the depth includes a few iffy signings but still is depth and about as well as they probably could do as you said even if I have questions. That's why these guys were cheap (well some at least). But yeah somewhere in that range, could go either. And losing Caruso hurt too.

[Texas Chuck]

For me this off-season comes down to the choice between Buddy Hield and Westbrook and I think you choose Westbrook 100x out of 100. He's another player we love to only focus on what he doesn't do and do everything possible to minimize what he can do. And what he can do is let Lebron play at 60-70% and let AD sit 20+ games while he carries the team some nights. Lakers made the calculation that Lebron/AD won us a title once and can do it again, but we have to get there healthy and last year showed them that their 2 stars aren't ideally suited to get you through a RS any longer. Westbrook's job is to get them there.

I don't see it as just Hield for Westbrook. I see it has Hield, KCP and Caruso for Westbrook and 2 min salary guys. (I figure without Westbrooks' extra large contract on the books they can afford to resign Caruso). Is the Westbrook option really a win? IMO it's a loss for the regular season on a team with major depth questions. It has a better chance of working in the playoffs where depth is less important but is also iffy there.

I have it the opposite. I like Caruso/KCP as guys who know and play their role and complement the stars on offense and defend hard. Buddy works on offense as long as he accept he can't dominate the ball basically ever, but I'm wondering how playable his defense makes him.

Westbrook I have some real playoff concerns about at this point. In the playoffs everything essentially needs to go through Lebron and we saw how Houston struggled to make Westbrook effective when Harden had the ball. But in the RS his ability to really ramp up his usage and allow Lebron mainly but also AD to take it easy will really help. None of Caruso/KCP/Buddy really offer much of that.

But I think they can't take it for granted they are a slam dunk playoff team. 2 of the three years Lebron has been a Laker have been a real struggle just to get into the playoffs and that first year they didn't make it. Westbrook should alleviate that.

[Mamba4Goat]

If there would’ve been a way to get in on the Horford for Kemba trade I would’ve preferred either player to Westbrook.

[giberish]

For me this off-season comes down to the choice between Buddy Hield and Westbrook and I think you choose Westbrook 100x out of 100. He's another player we love to only focus on what he doesn't do and do everything possible to minimize what he can do. And what he can do is let Lebron play at 60-70% and let AD sit 20+ games while he carries the team some nights. Lakers made the calculation that Lebron/AD won us a title once and can do it again, but we have to get there healthy and last year showed them that their 2 stars aren't ideally suited to get you through a RS any longer. Westbrook's job is to get them there.

I don't see it as just Hield for Westbrook. I see it has Hield, KCP and Caruso for Westbrook and 2 min salary guys. (I figure without Westbrooks' extra large contract on the books they can afford to resign Caruso). Is the Westbrook option really a win? IMO it's a loss for the regular season on a team with major depth questions. It has a better chance of working in the playoffs where depth is less important but is also iffy there.

I have it the opposite. I like Caruso/KCP as guys who know and play their role and complement the stars on offense and defend hard. Buddy works on offense as long as he accept he can't dominate the ball basically ever, but I'm wondering how playable his defense makes him.

Westbrook I have some real playoff concerns about at this point. In the playoffs everything essentially needs to go through Lebron and we saw how Houston struggled to make Westbrook effective when Harden had the ball. But in the RS his ability to really ramp up his usage and allow Lebron mainly but also AD to take it easy will really help. None of Caruso/KCP/Buddy really offer much of that.

But I think they can't take it for granted they are a slam dunk playoff team. 2 of the three years Lebron has been a Laker have been a real struggle just to get into the playoffs and that first year they didn't make it. Westbrook should alleviate that.

The first half of last season Westbrook was the driving force pushing Washington to the bottom of the league. I wouldn't guarantee he's a regular season savior. Just having more solid players to soak up minutes at solidly above replacement level is probably more important (and I don't see why Buddy's defense would be a regular season problem at long as he's defending guards and not forwards like he has to for the Kings).

IMO it's really the playoffs where you need the extra offense-creation in general. The teams that have 'just enough' offense creation are usually the ones that underachieve in the playoffs.

[Texas Chuck]

The first half of last season Westbrook was the driving force pushing Washington to the bottom of the league. I wouldn't guarantee he's a regular season savior. Just having more solid players to soak up minutes at solidly above replacement level is probably more important (and I don't see why Buddy's defense would be a regular season problem at long as he's defending guards and not forwards like he has to for the Kings).

IMO it's really the playoffs where you need the extra offense-creation in general. The teams that have 'just enough' offense creation are usually the ones that underachieve in the playoffs.

Westbrook was hurt to start the year. When he got healthy he definitely was the guy who drove them back into the playoffs. And I agree he's not a savior. IF he is your best player, you probably aren't a playoff team. But he gives you a puncher's chance in those games Lebron coasts or AD misses.

[zimpy27]

GSW ignited the appreciation of team spacing with a tall playmaker but they came up with that by simply having great defensive/offensive talents and working on a system that made the most of their talents.

I feel like teams have tried to replicate aspects of this without understanding what precipitated it: talent and finding a fit.

In the case of Westbrook, LeBron and Davis, their success together may highlight the flaw in trying to replicate what GSW did rather than trying to replicate the line of thinking that led to what they did.

I'm keen to see the experiment unfold. I don't think spacing and 3 point shooters are as important as we think they are. Strong defensive foundation and great offensive talents may continue to win the day, as it has since the beginning

[Ballerhogger]

I will go with soild B. We addressed our guard playing making issues in Westbrook . He’s one the best ever as play maker . Getting the ball to AD a center /power foward he never played with before . He made Capela look great in Houston. You pick him over buddy who does one thing shoot the ball but without another play maker that doesn’t matter as much . I mean thank our lucky stars Deniss did not sign that deal.
Moving onto other FA ; melo can still score and has become a decent rebounder . Scoring off the bench 15-17 pts. Nice to have . We signed 2 centers this for match up purposes . Ayton , jokic do not like bigs like Dwight . This has been proven. Wayne Ellington will be nice shot off the bench or he will be cut. Nunn will be nice spark plug for us . Tht is only growing see what we have with him this year. 3rd year is important year for a player typically. Monk is shooter he will produce or he will be gone , buyout market could be fun this year.

Losing Kumza is fine . I’m sure we tried get buddy but he’s not enough …. Lossing Morris is alright he’s bonehead at times but he hussled. I hope cacuk can make the roster hes a young Center. Losing caurso kinda sucks but the deal he got he’s not worth that . Had issue all over with us , couldn’t shoot well and TOs all over for us recently caught with drug charge. Losing KCP eh…. He was nice guard defender but lord his shot went to hell in hand basket.
Top seed in the west . Ad has gained muscle mass .

[Ballerhogger]

If there would’ve been a way to get in on the Horford for Kemba trade I would’ve preferred either player to Westbrook.

Why ? Horford is much older . Not close to Westbrook . Kemba can’t defend a goal post.

[psman2]

I will go with soild B. We addressed our guard playing making issues in Westbrook . He’s one the best ever as play maker . Getting the ball to AD a center /power foward he never played with before . He made Capela look great in Houston. You pick him over buddy who does one thing shoot the ball but without another play maker that doesn’t matter as much . I mean thank our lucky stars Deniss did not sign that deal.
Moving onto other FA ; melo can still score and has become a decent rebounder . Scoring off the bench 15-17 pts. Nice to have . We signed 2 centers this for match up purposes . Ayton , jokic do not like bigs like Dwight . This has been proven. Wayne Ellington will be nice shot off the bench or he will be cut. Nunn will be nice spark plug for us . Tht is only growing see what we have with him this year. 3rd year is important year for a player typically. Monk is shooter he will produce or he will be gone , buyout market could be fun this year.

Losing Kumza is fine . I’m sure we tried get buddy but he’s not enough …. Lossing Morris is alright he’s bonehead at times but he hussled. I hope cacuk can make the roster hes a young Center.
Top seed in the west . Ad has gained muscle mass .

Harden is the one that made Capela look good. There was a belief after the trade that Westbrook and Capela would be a dunk fest but that never really materialized and was a bad pairing overall only a +1.8 pairing. CP3 played much better with Capela compared to Westbrook. That is why Houston traded Capela and tried their small center experiment to try to maximize Westbrook and unclog the lane for him. It is a reason why I don't think Westbrook is going to find much success for the LAL. Westbrook needs open lanes and shooters, LAL has clogged lanes and some shooting on the bench mostly.

I think a healthy Lebron/AD is enough talent to get home court the 1st round but I struggle seeing them making much further than the 2nd round in the playoff without some player really breaking out that is unexpected.

[Ballerhogger]

I will go with soild B. We addressed our guard playing making issues in Westbrook . He’s one the best ever as play maker . Getting the ball to AD a center /power foward he never played with before . He made Capela look great in Houston. You pick him over buddy who does one thing shoot the ball but without another play maker that doesn’t matter as much . I mean thank our lucky stars Deniss did not sign that deal.
Moving onto other FA ; melo can still score and has become a decent rebounder . Scoring off the bench 15-17 pts. Nice to have . We signed 2 centers this for match up purposes . Ayton , jokic do not like bigs like Dwight . This has been proven. Wayne Ellington will be nice shot off the bench or he will be cut. Nunn will be nice spark plug for us . Tht is only growing see what we have with him this year. 3rd year is important year for a player typically. Monk is shooter he will produce or he will be gone , buyout market could be fun this year.

Losing Kumza is fine . I’m sure we tried get buddy but he’s not enough …. Lossing Morris is alright he’s bonehead at times but he hussled. I hope cacuk can make the roster hes a young Center.
Top seed in the west . Ad has gained muscle mass .

Harden is the one that made Capela look good. There was a belief after the trade that Westbrook and Capela would be a dunk fest but that never really materialized and was a bad pairing overall only a +1.8 pairing. CP3 play much better with Capela compared to Westbrook. That is why Houston traded Capela and tried their small center experiment to try to maximize Westbrook and unclog the lane for him. It is a reason why I don't think Westbrook is going to find much success for the LAL. Westbrook needs open lanes and shooters, LAL has clogged lanes and some shooting on the bench mostly.

I think a healthy Lebron/AD is enough talent to get home court the 1st round but I struggle seeing them making much further than the 2nd round in the playoff without some player really breaking out that is unexpected.

https://www.nba.com/rockets/video/wsc/teams/1a09fdc5a88dbecfb1fd9135bade47e10eca4ac4 this what i remember from the two. You have AD who can shoot from the outside as well. which helps 2nd round exit doesn't make sense to me if we healthy. Time will tell how it goes. For refernce we had 2-1 on the wcf champs before ad went down and just improved the team.

Would you take deniss over westbrook? no.
Would you take Kumza over Melo to win playoff games? no.
Dwight was not there last year we tried with AD but hes not the defender dwight is.

[psman2]

I will go with soild B. We addressed our guard playing making issues in Westbrook . He’s one the best ever as play maker . Getting the ball to AD a center /power foward he never played with before . He made Capela look great in Houston. You pick him over buddy who does one thing shoot the ball but without another play maker that doesn’t matter as much . I mean thank our lucky stars Deniss did not sign that deal.
Moving onto other FA ; melo can still score and has become a decent rebounder . Scoring off the bench 15-17 pts. Nice to have . We signed 2 centers this for match up purposes . Ayton , jokic do not like bigs like Dwight . This has been proven. Wayne Ellington will be nice shot off the bench or he will be cut. Nunn will be nice spark plug for us . Tht is only growing see what we have with him this year. 3rd year is important year for a player typically. Monk is shooter he will produce or he will be gone , buyout market could be fun this year.

Losing Kumza is fine . I’m sure we tried get buddy but he’s not enough …. Lossing Morris is alright he’s bonehead at times but he hussled. I hope cacuk can make the roster hes a young Center.
Top seed in the west . Ad has gained muscle mass .

Harden is the one that made Capela look good. There was a belief after the trade that Westbrook and Capela would be a dunk fest but that never really materialized and was a bad pairing overall only a +1.8 pairing. CP3 play much better with Capela compared to Westbrook. That is why Houston traded Capela and tried their small center experiment to try to maximize Westbrook and unclog the lane for him. It is a reason why I don't think Westbrook is going to find much success for the LAL. Westbrook needs open lanes and shooters, LAL has clogged lanes and some shooting on the bench mostly.

I think a healthy Lebron/AD is enough talent to get home court the 1st round but I struggle seeing them making much further than the 2nd round in the playoff without some player really breaking out that is unexpected.

https://www.nba.com/rockets/video/wsc/teams/1a09fdc5a88dbecfb1fd9135bade47e10eca4ac4 this what i remember from the two. You have AD who can shoot from the outside as well. which helps 2nd round exit doesn't make sense to me if we healthy. Time will tell how it goes. For refernce we had 2-1 on the wcf champs before ad went down and just improved the team.

Would you take deniss over westbrook? no.
Would you take Kumza over Melo to win playoff games? no.
Dwight was not there last year we tried with AD but hes not the defender dwight is.

So you remembered a dunk in transition? I can find clips of Westbrook draining 3's, does that make him Reggie Miller. I watched every game they played together, it was very disappointing and the stats back it up. After the trade Westbrook started playing well again with Covington playing a lot of center that pairing was a +4.9.