I don't get the notion that Lakers are absolutely stacked

[Marrrcuss]

As a huge laker fan, Im happy.

Id take a defensive wing forward if he came for free, but thats about it. And i feel like asking for that is being greedy.

I feel we have few holes and are dependent on health, like everyone else.

[jazzfan1971]

I think it largely depends on how you view Westbrook.

And this division is almost as bad as liberal vs. Conservative.

Some folks see his raw stats and see a superstar. I can't blame them, his stats are otherworldly. The raw ones anyway.

Other folks don't care about raw stats, they are looking at how he uses a ton of possessions at low efficiency on offense and is a poor contributor on the defensive end.

Some see the glass half full, others half empty.

Some see him hurting LA by turning good possessions into bad ones. Others see him shining in a reserve role or filling in during injury providing much needed scoring punch.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle,. Where exactly will depend a lot on circumstances, coaching and mostly Westbrook's willingness to adapt his game. Something he has never done in the past.

I think he is going to hurt the Lakers when forced to play with Davis and Bron. But he will probably help when either of those guys are out. I think he will lower the ceiling and raise the floor for LA at the same time. Sort of a buffer reaction keeping LA in that 4 to 7 seed range.

[lakerz12]

I think it largely depends on how you view Westbrook.

And this division is almost as bad as liberal vs. Conservative.

Some folks see his raw stats and see a superstar. I can't blame them, his stats are otherworldly. The raw ones anyway.

Other folks don't care about raw stats, they are looking at how he uses a ton of possessions at low efficiency on offense and is a poor contributor on the defensive end.

Some see the glass half full, others half empty.

Some see him hurting LA by turning good possessions into bad ones. Others see him shining in a reserve role or filling in during injury providing much needed scoring punch.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle,. Where exactly will depend a lot on circumstances, coaching and mostly Westbrook's willingness to adapt his game. Something he has never done in the past.

I think he is going to hurt the Lakers when forced to play with Davis and Bron. But he will probably help when either of those guys are out. I think he will lower the ceiling and raise the floor for LA at the same time. Sort of a buffer reaction keeping LA in that 4 to 7 seed range.

If you watched a lot of Laker games last year, a big problem was too much iso dribbling and LeBron having to try to create something out of nothing in the half court.

If AD is out of the game, it was just LeBron having to try to manufacture something.

Westbrook, for all of his faults, draws a lot of attention. When he sees an opening he goes to the rim with force and it's going to be a bucket for him (most of the time) or he's going to draw 2+ defenders.

And, Westbrook is a good enough passer to find the open man.

I think this is invaluable for LeBron/AD. They will be able to feed off of another elite playmaker. They will receive the ball in open space/1 defender.

They will get to react to a weak defense instead of a defense that is completely keyed in on them only.

4-7 range? Come on man that would require significant injuries. They are a top 3 seed if healthy. The roster is better than the 2020 championship roster...

Keeping LA in that 4-7 range? The only reason they weren't a top 3 seed last year is because AD missed 36 games and LeBron missed 27 games.

[KrAzY3]

I think he is going to hurt the Lakers when forced to play with Davis and Bron. But he will probably help when either of those guys are out.

The interesting thing here is we all know Westbrook is a stad padder, but he's also a talented player. It's like the Wilt vs. Russel debate I had elsewhere, where I pointed out Russel would actually forgo getting a stat if it wasn't beneficial and Wilt would chase stats even if it wasn't. They of course countered by posting Wilt's stats... It's those types that consider Westbrook deserving of multiple MVPs.

Objectively I'd still prefer Westbrook over Draymond for example, however... if you have a team that has the things it needs on offense already, adding Westbrook could be counterproductive while adding Draymond could improve on defense. It's not one size fits all. Obviously if you compare the stats there's no comparison, but I don't think you can really understand certain players (Ben Wallace on one end of the spectrum, Westbrook on the other) simply by looking at stats. Wallace was arguably the best player on a championship team, however those stats guys are going to have a really hard time appreciating that.

The real part I'm curious about is how LeBron and Westbrook work together. LeBron stat pads a little himself, and he's clearly worried about legacy. However, if Westbrook completely changes and gives up rebounds, assists and points he's still harming his legacy. He's basically saying look, all those stats I had were worthless. However, if he comes off as the MVP of the team by racking up stats, what does that do to LeBron's legacy? So I'm going to be keeping an eye on this one, it seems like either LeBron or Westbrook are going to have their numbers go down. There's only so many assists and rebounds to go around. With the same numbers as last year, Westbrook would have been first on the Lakers in total points, rebounds, and assists. This will be interesting...

[The_Hater]

I think this is the worst Laker team of the past 3 seasons. So no, they’re far from stacked.

That said, the WC looks weaker this season with the Kawii and Murray injuries, I personally think those would have been the top 2 teams, so the Lakers could still come out of the west If they stay healthy during the playoffs.

[PistolPeteJR]

LBJ - top 5 player
AD - Top 10 player
WB - Top 12 player

And then you have an all time cast of role guys and defenders. Seems pretty stacked to me.

Ok let see your list

No particular order:

LeBron
AD
Durant
Harden
Kyrie
Giannis
Jokic
Embiid
Curry
Lillard
Beal
Leonard
George
Paul
Doncic

Need I continue?

[Spens1]

I agree actually, we're a good team for sure but the notion that we're somehow unfairly stacked is pretty ridiculous. We're basically living and dying by our older vets and our depth. Sure we do have depth but like any other team if Lebron or A.D go down we're screwed.

One thing that I do like about us this season though is our makeup and construction of this roster is so much better than last year, the pieces we have this year are far better to fit around our (now) three stars is just a lot better. Granted we could have used someone like Buddy Hield.

[The_Hater]

LBJ - top 5 player
AD - Top 10 player
WB - Top 12 player

And then you have an all time cast of role guys and defenders. Seems pretty stacked to me.

Ok let see your list

I’m not convinced that RWB will be a top 12 player on the Lakers this season let alone the league….and that ‘all-time cast of role players and defenders’ certainly brought out a chuckle.

But some people still think it’s 2017 apparently…..

[The_Hater]

Honesty can't wait for the first monster dunk at staple center by Westbrook. It's going to be crazy!!!!!

Sure, but you should also brace yourself for a lot of moments where you’ll be pulling your hair out due to his shot selection and decision making. And he quite often does it with the game on the line. Lebron generally likes playing with high IQ players so I’m interested to see how this relationship goes. I don’t completely dismiss the possibility that could work out great for the Lakers, but I’m definitely skeptical.

[RHODEY]

LBJ - top 5 player
AD - Top 10 player
WB - Top 12 player

And then you have an all time cast of role guys and defenders. Seems pretty stacked to me.

Ok let see your list

How about we see your's? I could use a good laugh.

[SaveTheHens]

Westbrook can help them get some wins in the regular season with his motor, but playoffs? Honestly Lebron in the past had guys that just fell in line, Wade let him be the man (starting in the 2nd season anyway), Bosh never pretended he wanted to carry the team, Kyrie was too young to really try & lead the team & really they had a nice 1A 1B thing going on. Lebron let AD do his thing but AD had the respect to let Lebron do his too. I don't really see it with Westbrook. I recently rewatched some of the games of the OKC Finals, I think KD would win that series if not Westbrook looking off him all the time. It was ridiculous seeing KD calling for the ball after making a bunch in a row & Westbrook taking a clunker or passing to someone else instead. Russells got ego issues, he's paid his life off & good on him but championship players are a different breed and it'll be amusing to see whether Lebron gets him to fall in line or whether Lebron ends up trashing Westbrook if he messes up their championship. He's older now & should have the wisdom to trust Lebron to the promised land, but I just think the ego's gonna take over again.

[Hobo4President]

They're pretty damn stacked but we'll have to see how their players work together. I'd rather have the Nets big 3.

[SaveTheHens]

Ok let see your list

No particular order:

LeBron
AD
Durant
Harden
Kyrie
Giannis
Jokic
Embiid
Curry
Lillard
Beal
Leonard
George
Paul
Doncic

Need I continue?

I think there's probably another 15 players you could list that would actually complement the Lakers more than Westbrook will. The ego's a thing, of course he was chasing the triple doubles & can he let it slide & trust Lebron to get him a ring? Lakers would be better off with Pascal, Klay, Donovan Mitchell, Booker, CP3, Tatum, Butler, Zion, Gobert, Trae and even more guys over Russell. It'll be entertaining if they can get it together but it's almost like taking a step back with him, sure there's starpower but not sure if he'll step up in doing the little things and let his stats slide.

[trickshot]

They aren't yet. Way too early to say. Some media figures have me wondering if they have even seen the guy play a fullgame. The nuances don't flatter him as much as the stat totals. I definitely loved how he played the 2nd half of last season only for him to come back to earth in the play in/playoffs but this time there was no covid to blame. I'd actually love to be proven wrong by Westbrook this year. Seems a good guy if a bit headstrong.

[lakerz12]

I think this is the worst Laker team of the past 3 seasons. So no, they’re far from stacked.

That said, the WC looks weaker this season with the Kawii and Murray injuries, I personally think those would have been the top 2 teams, so the Lakers could still come out of the west If they stay healthy during the playoffs.

Not buying this Nuggets hype. They lost 1-4 to the Lakers in 2020 when Murray played well and the Lakers third leading scorer was KCP...

It seems more like the Nuggets do well in the regular season when other teams aren’t trying/are injured. Then they inevitably get eliminated in the Playoffs.

[DCasey91]

lol...they have 3 MVP caliber players on the roster, and are 10+ deep with vets.

they are not Brooklyn or 17 Warriors, but this team is absolutely stacked by almost every other measure.

Which one is MVP caliber? Westbrook is not MVP caliber, AD isn’t durable and Lebron hasn’t won an MVP in ages. I think you are confusing the name with their age and production at this point in time.

This screams Heat 13’ all over again lol and they were all younger but as a superteam? Not quite especially in the playoffs with Wade.

Or better yet that old Rockets “super” trio team pre 2000’s.

[The_Hater]

"

lol...they have 3 MVP caliber players on the roster, and are 10+ deep with vets.

they are not Brooklyn or 17 Warriors, but this team is absolutely stacked by almost every other measure.

Clyde, you’re way to smart a poster to be listing RWB as an MVP caliber player. Those days are long over. He wasn’t even an EC all-star last season.

AD could win one, he’s still in his prime and has finished in the top 5 twice, but most people consider Bron the superior player so that really limits his chances in the current season. Tough to win one was a clear #2 or even as a 1B. As it is,

And the the depth isn’t very good at all iMO. Lots of big names with not much left on the talent meter. They’re much weaker from 4-12 as the past 2 additions of the Lakers were. KCP, Kuzma, Harrell, Green, Schroder, even Caruso. These were all solid rotation level players who they’ve lost. They will undoubtedly have the worst #4-5 starters in the league this season, and after that it’s a steady mix of one-dimensional, aging players. Many of whom barely played or didn’t play very well in 2020-21.

[DCasey91]

I think the Lakers 2020 iteration was the best they’ve had.

[monopoman]

I mean, it's also pretty well known that Westbrook is heavily reliant on his athleticism and that is slowly going from him year by year.

Even if you think Westbrook is good, he is nowhere near the player he was 5 years ago, 5 year ago Westbrook would destroy current Westbrook in a 1v1 battle. ****, Westbrook might be one of the most reliant on his athleticism guys in the entire NBA when he was at his best he was doing it with pure speed and power.

[John Murdoch]

As a huge laker fan, Im happy.

Id take a defensive wing forward if he came for free, but thats about it. And i feel like asking for that is being greedy.

I feel we have few holes and are dependent on health, like everyone else.

I think TLC might get cut , id hold out for him over Ennis