Preseason: Game 3 l Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Lakers l Sunday l 7:00pm l ESPN

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Not a single comment on Ayton's three? 1 for 1 babyyy!

I think what I liked most about it was how unorthodox it looked - which tells me that it's HIS shot, one that he's practiced a ton and could get consistent with.

He needs a little more space to get it off because he pushes it forward quite a bit, but it's not like he lacks for space out there. It's that standard center three point specialty that we've seen for years from guys like Marc Gasol.

And yeah, I echo the enthusiasm about guys like Stix and Shamet.

Gonna be a fun year. Wish Sarver would just sell the team so we could get extensions and watch this team compete for years on end. Would be a shame to watch this Phoenix turn to ashes in our hands over contracts.

P.S. Chasson Randle looked good, too. I think he's got a better chance of sticking than Hutch. We should look elsewhere for that third-string wing.

[Barkley6]

Not a single comment on Ayton's three? 1 for 1 babyyy!

I think what I liked most about it was how unorthodox it looked - which tells me that it's HIS shot, one that he's practiced a ton and could get consistent with.

He needs a little more space to get it off because he pushes it forward quite a bit, but it's not like he lacks for space out there. It's that standard center three point specialty that we've seen for years from guys like Marc Gasol.

And yeah, I echo the enthusiasm about guys like Stix and Shamet.

Gonna be a fun year. Wish Sarver would just sell the team so we could get extensions and watch this team compete for years on end. Would be a shame to watch this Phoenix turn to ashes in our hands over contracts.

P.S. Chasson Randle looked good, too. I think he's got a better chance of sticking than Hutch. We should look elsewhere for that third-string wing.

I agree that Hutch has shown essentially nothing in his time, but he plays a more valuable position. We really have plenty of guard cover with Shamet, Payton and Payne. Carrying a 4th guy with no positional versatility doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly because we moved on from Moore, Galloway and Carter (who are all better than Randle) because they were too one dimensional positionally.

[nevetsov]

Carrying a 4th guy with no positional versatility doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly because we moved on from Moore, Galloway and Carter (who are all better than Randle) because they were too one dimensional positionally.

Why I would love a Saric for Satoransky deal. We get that elusive expiring for Saric which helps when the extensions kick in next year. Sato can play 1-3 and while he doesn't bring the talent in a 7-8th man role that Saric does, we wouldn't need that given he'd be a utility, end of bench guy.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Not a single comment on Ayton's three? 1 for 1 babyyy!

I think what I liked most about it was how unorthodox it looked - which tells me that it's HIS shot, one that he's practiced a ton and could get consistent with.

He needs a little more space to get it off because he pushes it forward quite a bit, but it's not like he lacks for space out there. It's that standard center three point specialty that we've seen for years from guys like Marc Gasol.

And yeah, I echo the enthusiasm about guys like Stix and Shamet.

Gonna be a fun year. Wish Sarver would just sell the team so we could get extensions and watch this team compete for years on end. Would be a shame to watch this Phoenix turn to ashes in our hands over contracts.

P.S. Chasson Randle looked good, too. I think he's got a better chance of sticking than Hutch. We should look elsewhere for that third-string wing.

I agree that Hutch has shown essentially nothing in his time, but he plays a more valuable position. We really have plenty of guard cover with Shamet, Payton and Payne. Carrying a 4th guy with no positional versatility doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly because we moved on from Moore, Galloway and Carter (who are all better than Randle) because they were too one dimensional positionally.

I don't know about the positional versatility thing. We've been running a lot of two small guard lineups - exclusively, in fact, if you consider Shamet to be a small guard. I think Monty/Jones value the additional playmaking and shooting in the backcourt, given our lack of playmaking generally from the forward spots. Randle and Payton are 6'3" and 6'4" respectively. Payne is 6'3" as well. Paul is the only guy who really truly can't guard anyone but the opposing PG spot (though admittedly, I think Payne struggles the most on defense - in large part, it seems, because refs don't let him play!).

I mean, last year we had Galloway as our third-string SG, and he's 6'1". So as long as Randle keeps knocking down threes (2/2 last night), I don't see him losing that roster spot.

I agree Hutch plays a more valuable position, but if he can't do anything out there, he doesn't really play any position. I'm sure we can do better.

[darealjuice]

The range of expectations for the Lakers is huge. I’m really curious to see where they end up. Having 3 stars like LeBron, AD, and Westbrook together should make them a top team, although their fit together will be interesting. Their supporting cast is terrible though. Outside of Nunn and Monk it’s all guys playing journeyman at the end of their career. Nunn should be prettt solid off the bench, but Monk is very inconsistent and can’t guard anyone.

It's such a weird roster and you can tell the lack of continuity hurts them. As much as this is a star power league, having solid bench pieces like Caruso and KCP were really critical to the Lakers being a playoff team last season. This year, if LeBron or AD miss time, it's going to get ugly.

I really am just floored at how they built this team. So many redundant pieces. Ariza and Melo are basically redundant. Jordan and Howard are redundant. All their shooters carry basically the same flaws (all 3 and no D). And Kent Bazemore is their only real wing player, in a league that has been increasingly dominated by wings. It really feels like they put together a 2K roster where they just added the best pieces they could afford and didn't bother to work out playing time, fit, chemistry etc.,

I'm not going to doubt them because with as much top end talent as they have they should definitely be a playoff team, but suffice it to say I have way more questions about them than answers.

Yeah it's a strange roster. Bazemore is awful, Melo is washed up, Ariza is washed up and awful, Ellington is a 34 year old career journeyman, Howard and Jordan are aging traditional centers when they're supposedly planning to play AD at center more. What will minutes look like for Nunn, Monk, THT, and Rondo?

It'd be shocking if a team with LeBron, AD, and Westbrook didn't make the playoffs, but I'm still really curious to see what this looks like.

[sunsbg]

Ayton hit an awkward 3, but the middies are gone. I would bet on him averaging no more than 15-16pts this season based on what I have seen in preseason. Nothing wrong with it as long as he's playing good D.

Mikal was handling the ball more in this game. More confident in it, but still mostly trying to pass it to someone else than finish on drives.

CJ should take all of Crowder's minutes in games he's not feeling it from 3.

There will be a lot of floaters and lob passes with Payne and McGee on the court.

[bwgood77]

Carrying a 4th guy with no positional versatility doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly because we moved on from Moore, Galloway and Carter (who are all better than Randle) because they were too one dimensional positionally.

Why I would love a Saric for Satoransky deal. We get that elusive expiring for Saric which helps when the extensions kick in next year. Sato can play 1-3 and while he doesn't bring the talent in a 7-8th man role that Saric does, we wouldn't need that given he'd be a utility, end of bench guy.

Is Satoransky on the block? I know they have a lot of guards, but no real vets. They traded for him. Why do you think they'd take on more salary for a player that won't play, while giving up a vet guard?

[lilfishi22]

The range of expectations for the Lakers is huge. I’m really curious to see where they end up. Having 3 stars like LeBron, AD, and Westbrook together should make them a top team, although their fit together will be interesting. Their supporting cast is terrible though. Outside of Nunn and Monk it’s all guys playing journeyman at the end of their career. Nunn should be prettt solid off the bench, but Monk is very inconsistent and can’t guard anyone.

It's such a weird roster and you can tell the lack of continuity hurts them. As much as this is a star power league, having solid bench pieces like Caruso and KCP were really critical to the Lakers being a playoff team last season. This year, if LeBron or AD miss time, it's going to get ugly.

I really am just floored at how they built this team. So many redundant pieces. Ariza and Melo are basically redundant. Jordan and Howard are redundant. All their shooters carry basically the same flaws (all 3 and no D). And Kent Bazemore is their only real wing player, in a league that has been increasingly dominated by wings. It really feels like they put together a 2K roster where they just added the best pieces they could afford and didn't bother to work out playing time, fit, chemistry etc.,

I'm not going to doubt them because with as much top end talent as they have they should definitely be a playoff team, but suffice it to say I have way more questions about them than answers.

Yeah I agree

I would be orders of magnitudes more afraid of them if they actually pulled off that Buddy Hield trade instead of bringing in Westbrook. Westbrook does more but at what cost? The Westbrook trade only made sense if their thought was that they will rest Lebron more or expect some injury and Westbrook is the kinda guy who can carry a team on his back or at least keep it afloat. I don't know how well it'll work in practice. Hield would've been such a natural fit and likely would've taken his game to the next level playing next to Lebron and AD. But it's such an LA thing to do to stack your team with as many "stars" as possible and hoping they are not just "stars" in name only.

[lilfishi22]

Ayton hit an awkward 3, but the middies are gone. I would bet on him averaging no more than 15-16pts this season based on what I have seen in preseason. Nothing wrong with it as long as he's playing good D.

Mikal was handling the ball more in this game. More confident in it, but still mostly trying to pass it to someone else than finish on drives.

CJ should take all of Crowder's minutes in games he's not feeling it from 3.

There will be a lot of floaters and lob passes with Payne and McGee on the court.

I can see the improvement in Mikal's handles and I do like that he seems to have more confident in attacking off the dribble but it's not quite *there* yet. When he drives and passes to someone else rather than finish, he's looking for an outlet pass rather than actually trying to create an assist pass. I don't think his intent is to be creating plays for others but his handles just isn't quite there yet to turn it into a shot for himself consistently.

On the Crowder note, totally agree but it's just not a very Crowder thing to pass up shots. And as much as it sucks to see him brick back to back 3's, I think he still has value stretching the floor because teams still respect his shot. He misses a lot because he takes tough, sometimes ill-advised shots but he's also usually defended pretty well on those 3's and that pulls a defender all the way out of the paint.

[spanishninja]

Ayton hit an awkward 3, but the middies are gone. I would bet on him averaging no more than 15-16pts this season based on what I have seen in preseason. Nothing wrong with it as long as he's playing good D.

Mikal was handling the ball more in this game. More confident in it, but still mostly trying to pass it to someone else than finish on drives.

CJ should take all of Crowder's minutes in games he's not feeling it from 3.

There will be a lot of floaters and lob passes with Payne and McGee on the court.

I can see the improvement in Mikal's handles and I do like that he seems to have more confident in attacking off the dribble but it's not quite *there* yet. When he drives and passes to someone else rather than finish, he's looking for an outlet pass rather than actually trying to create an assist pass. I don't think his intent is to be creating plays for others but his handles just isn't quite there yet to turn it into a shot for himself consistently.

On the Crowder note, totally agree but it's just not a very Crowder thing to pass up shots. And as much as it sucks to see him brick back to back 3's, I think he still has value stretching the floor because teams still respect his shot. He misses a lot because he takes tough, sometimes ill-advised shots but he's also usually defended pretty well on those 3's and that pulls a defender all the way out of the paint.

overall they really need to revisit how early young guys are eligible for max extensions. we're talking barely 3 seasons for guys straight out of college

[suns12345]

Ayton hit an awkward 3, but the middies are gone. I would bet on him averaging no more than 15-16pts this season based on what I have seen in preseason. Nothing wrong with it as long as he's playing good D.

Mikal was handling the ball more in this game. More confident in it, but still mostly trying to pass it to someone else than finish on drives.

CJ should take all of Crowder's minutes in games he's not feeling it from 3.

There will be a lot of floaters and lob passes with Payne and McGee on the court.

I can see the improvement in Mikal's handles and I do like that he seems to have more confident in attacking off the dribble but it's not quite *there* yet. When he drives and passes to someone else rather than finish, he's looking for an outlet pass rather than actually trying to create an assist pass. I don't think his intent is to be creating plays for others but his handles just isn't quite there yet to turn it into a shot for himself consistently.

On the Crowder note, totally agree but it's just not a very Crowder thing to pass up shots. And as much as it sucks to see him brick back to back 3's, I think he still has value stretching the floor because teams still respect his shot. He misses a lot because he takes tough, sometimes ill-advised shots but he's also usually defended pretty well on those 3's and that pulls a defender all the way out of the paint.

overall they really need to revisit how early young guys are eligible for max extensions. we're talking barely 3 seasons for guys straight out of college

Agree, it screws small market teams just as much as it saves them. They end up being cornered into offering average players the max just to keep them around.

[bwgood77]

Ayton hit an awkward 3, but the middies are gone. I would bet on him averaging no more than 15-16pts this season based on what I have seen in preseason. Nothing wrong with it as long as he's playing good D.

Mikal was handling the ball more in this game. More confident in it, but still mostly trying to pass it to someone else than finish on drives.

CJ should take all of Crowder's minutes in games he's not feeling it from 3.

There will be a lot of floaters and lob passes with Payne and McGee on the court.

I can see the improvement in Mikal's handles and I do like that he seems to have more confident in attacking off the dribble but it's not quite *there* yet. When he drives and passes to someone else rather than finish, he's looking for an outlet pass rather than actually trying to create an assist pass. I don't think his intent is to be creating plays for others but his handles just isn't quite there yet to turn it into a shot for himself consistently.

On the Crowder note, totally agree but it's just not a very Crowder thing to pass up shots. And as much as it sucks to see him brick back to back 3's, I think he still has value stretching the floor because teams still respect his shot. He misses a lot because he takes tough, sometimes ill-advised shots but he's also usually defended pretty well on those 3's and that pulls a defender all the way out of the paint.

overall they really need to revisit how early young guys are eligible for max extensions. we're talking barely 3 seasons for guys straight out of college

Max contracts are limited though based on how long you've been in the league. I think it's 25% if less than 6 years, 30% if 7-9 years, and 35% if 10+ years.

[oddity]

This is a real reason to worry if you're a Lakers fan
https://www.nba.com/news/continuity-rankings-2021-22-season
The Lakers have by far the lowest percentage of rotations returning from last season. The 2020 championship team is completely different aside from their 2 stars, and as others have explored more deeply, it's highly questionable these middling role players will fill the defense-focused needs of modern nba teams.
The Suns on the other hand, have the highest percentage of continuity returning from last year. Given how well last season was for us, and our focus on developing the players we do have, I think this is a great sign.

[bwgood77]

This is a real reason to worry if you're a Lakers fan
https://www.nba.com/news/continuity-rankings-2021-22-season
The Lakers have by far the lowest percentage of rotations returning from last season. The 2020 championship team is completely different aside from their 2 stars, and as others have explored more deeply, it's highly questionable these middling role players will fill the defense-focused needs of modern nba teams.
The Suns on the other hand, have the highest percentage of continuity returning from last year. Given how well last season was for us, and our focus on developing the players we do have, I think this is a great sign.

Their depth blows, unless you like fringe nba players and stars from 5+ years ago. Aside from their big 3, two of which don't complement each well, they have Nunn and THT who are decent and Monk who was decent last year so he could be ok. That's really about it. Bazemore is ok. The ex all stars are all washed except Howard can be decent...and we all know about Ariza.

Unless a guy like Joel Ayayi who I really liked emerges, but you can't expect much. I think people underestimate the defense and 3 pt shooting Caruso and KCP brought...and then at least Harrell could be good and Kuzma, who I'm not really a fan of was at least a scorer from the bench who could get hot...and Schroder was an energy scorer. That's a lot of fairly solid guys to lose for what they added outside of Westbrook.

[RunDogGun]

Payton is probably one of the best third-string back-up PGs in the league. He typically will not see any playing time aside from blow-outs and injuries.

That is good for us though, right? I think he knows he will have to make the most of his minutes when he gets them. 3 for 3 tonight with one steal and block in 10 minutes.

Yeah that's what I mean, he's a back-up to the back-up signed for the absolute minimum. Payton is an 8 year veteran who's averaged 10 and 6 in 28 minutes a game for his career. Yes he has his flaws, and that's why we were able to get him cheap in a non-regular rotation spot.

Most team's third string PG is a lot worse than Payton. Hell, there's a few reams in the league who's primary backup PG is worse than our third stringer.

I agree. What I like the best is he could be our second string point guard, and if needed, could start. I am still shocked by how many triple doubles he has had in such a short period of time in his career. Not a good shooter, but the shots he takes are more floaters. If Frank could shoot, Payton could have had 3-4 assists last night in ten minutes.