Post Mortem #19: Los Angeles Lakers

Raps in 4 · Post #21 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:08 am

1993Playoffs wrote:So disappointed in Austin Reaves ,

Only because you overrated him.

Raps in 4 · Post #22 » by **Raps in 4** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:08 am

Rust_Cohle wrote:LeChoke

Steph would have won this game.

CKRT · Post #23 » by **CKRT** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:08 am

A lot of people are going to be surprised about this result and claim the Lakers disappointed but this was a real fear for anyone who had paid attention to the Lakers since the trade. They had an incredibly short rotation of playoff capable players and that run in March made a lot of people believe that the Lakers were for real but the combination of no size on the roster and a lack of depth are killers in the playoffs.

They should be fine after some moves in the off season to try to correct the roster after the Luka trade but one has to question whether or not Pelinka has the sauce to actually build a roster here based on his track record.

facothomas22 · Post #24 » by **facothomas22** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:09 am

I wonder if they should just go ahead and trade Luka Doncic this summer? I mean sure they won't get fair value due to his uncertain contract status, but would be for them than to lose him for nothing a year from now. This series has shown that they much more than a quality center away from being even being a fringe contender, let alone one of the favorites.I don't see Luka Donic being patient with them since he just went to the finals last year. As as bad of a look as may be for them, trading Luka likely will be the only option to prevent a disastrous 2026 off season where they have all of this cap space available due Lebron retiring and Luka leaving, but nobody that's worth spending it on that's actually willing to sign with them.

KGtabake · Post #25 » by **KGtabake** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:09 am

Pelinka gave them Anthony Davis 5 years ago.
5 years later he turned Davis to Luka Doncic.

The GM must definitely stay, he's delivering the stars needed.
Having Luka is the only thing that matters.
Getting him a big won't be a major problem.
Reaves, Hachimura are good pieces.

Redick will get better with experience, he knows basketball.

LeBron...i don't know. On a secondary role, he can definitely help i guess.

They will improve.

Post #26 » by **SuperDeluxe** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:09 am

As a Celtics fan, I sincerely hope they keep everything the same.

The_Ghost_of_JB · Post #27 » by **The_Ghost_of_JB** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:09 am

Los Angeles will be perfectly fine. They have teams lining up to help them get better.

I fully expect Kevin Durant and Giannis to be traded there for free

PierceFan4ever · Post #28 » by **PierceFan4ever** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:10 am

Lakers in 5

SkyHook · Post #29 » by **SkyHook** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:10 am

durden_tyler wrote:The Los Angeles Lakers are the 19th team eliminated from competition this year.

Time of death: May 1, 2025
Place of death: Hollywood
Cause of death: Rudy Gobert
Record at elimination: 50-32 (1-4 in playoffs)
Head coach: JJ Reddick

giberish · Post #30 » by **giberish** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:11 am

By SYS they were only +1.45. 14th in the NBA, 8th in the west. They finished 6 games above their 'Pythagorean record' - the biggest overachievement in the league. Which generally means that they were unusually good in close games during the regular season - but that rarely translates into the playoffs (in contrast Minny is 4th in SRS, 2nd in the west).

In summary, they weren't as close to a title contender as their media hype or playoff seeding would lead you to believe.

Overall that's reasonably to be expected. While LeBron is amazing for his age, he is no longer an elite player (he shouldn't make an all-NBA team). The Lakers did have a solid all-NBA quality player between AD and Luka but their overall talent really wasn't that great.

Their Vegas O/U line was 43.5 wins. Their 'Pythagorean record' was 44 wins. They overachieved in close games during the regular season to get to 50 wins but overall were about where they were expected to be.

The big Luka trade was a huge win - for the long term. Before the season felt they should try to win as much as possible this year without dealing future picks, then send out AD in a rebuilding deal. Luka is a better long-term guy than any rebuilding package they were going to get for AD. They now need to build a title contender around Luka, which won't be easy but a guy playing at an MVP tier level makes it plausible even without great assets (and they at least have some).

KapitanKloze · Post #31 » by **KapitanKloze** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:11 am

Trade LeBalco or keep this mediocrity forever.

Rust_Cohle · Post #32 » by **Rust_Cohle** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:12 am

giberish wrote:By SYS they were only +1.45. 14th in the NBA, 8th in the west. They finished 6 games above their 'Pythagorean record' - the biggest overachievement in the league. Which generally means that they were unusually good in close games during the regular season - but that rarely translates into the playoffs (in contrast Minny is 4th in SRS, 2nd in the west).

In summary, they weren't as close to a title contender as their media hype or playoff seeding would lead you to believe.

Overall that's reasonably to be expected. While LeBron is amazing for his age, he is no longer an elite player (he shouldn't make an all-NBA team). The Lakers did have a solid all-NBA quality player between AD and Luka but their overall talent really wasn't that great.

Their Vegas O/U line was 43.5 wins. Their 'Pythagorean record' was 44 wins. They overachieved in close games during the regular season to get to 50 wins but overall were about where they were expected to be.

The big Luka trade was a huge win - for the long term. Before the season felt they should try to win as much as possible this year without dealing future picks, then send out AD in a rebuilding deal. Luka is a better long-term guy than any rebuilding package they were going to get for AD. They now need to build a title contender around Luka, which won't be easy but a guy playing at an MVP tier level makes it plausible even without great assets (and they at least have some).

What was their SYS after the Luka trade?

Post #33 » by **Clav** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:12 am

The Lakers fell to the Wolves 1-4, and are our 19th team eliminated.

Previous Threads:

Spoiler:

Time of death: April 30, 2025
Record at elimination: 50-32 (1-4 in playoffs)
Head coach: JJ Redick

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/yearly
Contract summary:
LeBron – 52M PO
Doncic – Max extension eligible, or 2yr/100M remain (final year 48M PO)
Hachimura - extension eligible or 18M expiring
DFS - extension eligible or 15M PO
Reaves - extension eligible or 2yr/28M remain (final year 15M PO)
Maxi Kleber - extension eligible or 11M expiring (injured)
Gabe Vincent - extension eligible or 11M expiring
Jarred Vanderbilt - 3yr/34M remain (final year 13M PO)
Shake Milton – 2yr/6M remain, though non-guaranteed total
Jaxson Hayes – UFA
Markeiff Morris – UFA
Alex Len – UFA

Rookie Scale/minimums (varies on 2-4 years remaining):
Jordan Goodwin – 2.3M TO
Dalton Knecht – 3yr remain
Bronny James – 3yr remain

TW
Trey Jemison
Christian Koloko

Dead-cap – $6M off the books this season, NONE retained next season.

Cap room: 2nd Apron, extensions and free agents to negotiate

PICKS for 2025 draft:
LAL 2nd

A SMALL SEASON REVIEW:
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers

What a year to be a Lakers fan honestly. You all must be thrilled but also conflicted because the team’s result in this year’s playoffs was a struggle. We can safely assume LA will be in the playoff conversation for years to come because, guess what, Luka Doncic was traded to your team. It was one of the most shocking trades of all time as an NBA fan for nearly three decades now. Especially in the modern age, news breaks and reactions fly. Anthony Davis goes to Dallas as we’ve discussed at length already.

When a generational player chooses the City of Angels in free agency, we as supporters of other teams understand the allure, it is kind of expected in the US sports market. It has to be said that rarely do division opponents trade stars to LA mid-season. This was a monumental trade, and it results in Season 1 as a compelling series loss to Minnesota. It's evident this team can improve, but must pursue depth outside of the players that didn't perform this offseason. New head coach JJ Redick seemed to make positive efforts in the regular season but we should consider his playoff performance a bit lacking.

So anyway, No. 3 seed Lakers lost to a very tough No. 6 Wolves, but that seeding is suspicious as the records were separated by one game and decided on the final day of the RS. The Wolves' on-court size gave LA problems, and I think is a primary area LA needs to improve. Further down the road, the Lakers need defensive identity, and PnR threats to allow Luka’s best version of himself to flourish as LeBron winds his incredible career down.

With the 55th pick in the draft (last time, selecting Bronny James at #55), who will be the next LA Laker ? After this season of not reaching the top echelon, much of the peripheral roster should be on the trade block, who suits up in the purple and gold next season, and how do you rate the Lakers performance this year ?

Post #34 » by **Clav** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:13 am

Merge the threads, please. Thank you! sorry was writing before he posted before me lol

HotRocks34 · Post #35 » by **HotRocks34** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:13 am

They need two real big men.

Hayes is gone.

Try to get a bench scorer with length who can defend.

A Rui upgrade would be nice but that may not be possible this summer.

The bigs are the obvious hole.

Astaluego · Post #36 » by **Astaluego** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:15 am

LeBron will do what he wants, so I assume he'll continue (I hope at least he takes a discount... just for show...). Austin has to go, nothing against him, just the best trade card. Keep DFS/Hachimura and trade everyone else.

Reaves for Herb Jones.

Vando+Maxi+Knecht+FRP 31 (unprotected) + Swap 30 for Claxton + worse FRP 25 (Knicks)

Vincent+Milton+SRP for Clarkson

Claxton
LeBron/DFS
Hachimura
Herb Jones/Clarksson
Luka/Goodwin/Bronny

SlimShady83 · Post #37 » by **SlimShady83** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:15 am

Why was Kyrie Irving at the game, Isn't that tampering? LOL

GG all.

durden_tyler · Post #38 » by **durden_tyler** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:16 am

LeBron did not sign a 1 + 1 right? So he can’t take a cut yet for next season?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

KapitanKloze · Post #39 » by **KapitanKloze** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:16 am

I think LeBalco needs more help. Lets get him Giannis and Antman, will that do?

Post #40 » by **G R E Y** » Thu May 1, 2025 5:16 am

You know it's bad when Chuck calls out a player for not being in shape.

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