I Know It’s Only Preseason, But...

[jrask]

the Lakers are good and they'll be in the mix for a title, but it's definitely NOT "all said and done"

[donnieme]

They look good from the preseason highlights. Kawhi may have saved them from themselves. They would have been another stacked top heavy team. They actually look deep this way.

[Curmudgeon]

The Lakers aren't even the best team in Los Angeles.

[Mamba Mentality]

No rational Laker fan is celebrating a meaningless beatdown of the Warriors g league team, we know where the real challenges lie... Only takeaway I had from last nights game was the undeniable chemistry between AD and Lebron. Lebron is gonna be on the back end of a lot of hockey assists if AD can continue to make that right read off the roll (similar to what Draymond Green does for the Warriors offense). That p&r is virtually impossible to defend.

[homecourtloss]

Depends how well AD holds up and how much decline there is in LeBron in his 17th season. He’s already defied the aging gods, but can he do it one more year, his 17th?

—Green has to be the player he was last year; if he is, I think they’ve got a really good shot, but I don’t think he can have the defensive impact he did last year and shoot as well (minus the playoffs)
—Kuzma has to at the very least make open threes; his TS% wasn’t all that bad considering how miserably he shot on open and wide open threes
—Bradley has to have a veteran’s bounce back year. His shot has improved over the years but his defense has plummeted.
—Rondo has to be on the bench if LeBron is on court—no exceptions. Frankly, he shouldn’t e

Lebron ON court, Rondo OFF

Lakers’ ORtg: 113.2 (equivalent to 5th best offense)
Lakers’ DRtg: 107.5 (equivalent to 5th best defense)
NET: +5.8 (equivalent to 4th best rating)

LeBron and Rondo ON court

602 minutes, 1271 possessions
Lakers’ ORtg: 105.5 ORtg
Lakers’ DRtg: 110.9 DRtg
NET: (-5.4, equivalent to 5th worst rating)

Rondo ON court, LeBron OFF

766 minutes, 1,620 possessions
Lakers’ ORtg: 106.0 (equivalent to 27th best offense)
Lakers’ DRtg: 117.3 (equivalent to 29th best offense)
NET: -11.3 (equivalent to worst net rating)

—Rondo+ Zubac, +6.1
—Rondo + anyone else a negative https://stats.nba.com/team/1610612747/lineups-advanced/?Season=2018-19&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&GroupQuantity=2&sort=GROUP_NAME&dir=-1

—I think the Lakers are one good 3 & D player from fielding a monster, but don’t think that player is available.

[lakerz12]

Kuzma vs Harrell
McGee vs Lou
Green vs Beverley
Dwight vs Zubac
KCP vs Shamet
Caruso vs Harkless

I like the Lakers more than the clippers dude...and I hope you win it all. But which Lakers player is more talented? My order of talent level 3-8 on the roster. Comparing the rest of the roster is pointless.

If you swap the Harkless McGee match up around I give you one advantage. The rest the clippers. If as is... I give you none.

That's your opinion.

I would choose a majority of the Lakers in those matchups. It looks fairly equal.

So where does that leave us?

That's why I said "objective evidence".

If the Clippers are sooo much more talented 3-15 then you should be able to post some stats which demonstrate that definitively.

You shouldn't chose a majority of the Lakers in those matchups because only Dwight is the superior Laker over his Clipper rival.

These matchups have nothing to do with real life or actual team success.

For example, depending on the rest of the roster, McGee could easily be more valuable than Lou Williams. Would Beverley really be better than Green on last year's Raptors? Or this years Lakers? etc etc

If we are looking strictly at individual talent, I can make a strong case McGee is more talented than 33 year old Lou Williams. I could also argue Rondo is just as talented as Williams, if we factor in talents like passing and court vision.

But these arbitrary individual matchups don't tell us anything. At the end of the day I think you're lying if you look at either side and say its "way more talented" than the other.

Avery Bradley isn't even listed for the Lakers and he averaged more minutes per game on the Clippers last year than Beverley, Williams, Shamet, Zubac, and Harrell. How can they be sooo much more talented if Avery Bradley is playing more minutes than all of them? Makes no sense. I'm not saying Bradley is better than them. But the fact that Doc considered him comparable tells you they aren't the world beaters some of you pretend they are.

Just wait until PG13 and Kawhi are both out and the team struggles to put up 80 points. Same goes for the Lakers if AD and LeBron are out.

[cycl0nus]

lakers fans know best that preseason victories eventually lead to playoff victories!!!!!!!!!
all these so-called experts saying its just preseaeon... lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joerezz7]

This might be one of the greatest passes I’ve ever seen.. Legit.

Lebron and the Lakers are looking good right now. Dominating this Warriors Summer League roster as they should. Their length with AD, JaVale, Lebron, & Danny Green is going to give teams problems.

Read on Twitter

Besides Curry not playing that game you know that’s gonna be the Warriors lineup on opening night right? Their starting centers are injured. Those “summer league” players you are talking about will be playing heavy minutes when the season starts

[snaquille oatmeal]

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