Is running it back a sound option for the Lakers?

[DorianRo]

Dude.. Lebron is gonna be 39.. What kind of moron wants 40 year olds to lead their team if he wants a........ Great ready for it.. 'Ship

MJ only played at that age to help his team he owned out and sucker stars into there (which didn't work out obviously). He wasn't delusional like LeCarryMe to think hes still the best in the world

[MavsDirk41]

Yes they were competitive with Denver and didn’t have chemistry like other teams did

Phoenix didnt have chemistry and their starting point guard was injured. They beat Denver twice. Lakers were swept…

[MavsDirk41]

What do you mean they were largely healthy and had their guys at full strength? LeBron was playing through a Grade 2 torn tendon. Now, if you're going to argue that it was a cover-up, we'll just agree to disagree.

He was healthy enough to average 24/10/6 on .584TS - the injury wasn't so bad it compromised him unless you expected 55 year old Bron to average better than elite numbers. He played the most playoff mpg since 2017. I'm sure he was hurting but he gave an incredibly valiant performance for his age. The Lakers just aren't better than the Jokic's.

He absolutely gave a great effort, but the injury is what it is. Averaging numbers playing one way is not the same as averaging similar numbers while playing a different way and dominating the game differently.
Also, it prevented him from really dialing in for 48 minutes. Take Game 4 vs DEN for example, absolutely elite in the first half and in the second half ran out of gas. Sure, part of that has to do with age, but there is for sure a good portion of that chalked up to the injury.

In 5 years with the Lakers the only year he finished the season healthy was the bubble season when the league shut down for 4 months. 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 he has been hurt. Its age man. Gonna be the same thing next year.

[PistolPeteJR]

He was healthy enough to average 24/10/6 on .584TS - the injury wasn't so bad it compromised him unless you expected 55 year old Bron to average better than elite numbers. He played the most playoff mpg since 2017. I'm sure he was hurting but he gave an incredibly valiant performance for his age. The Lakers just aren't better than the Jokic's.

He absolutely gave a great effort, but the injury is what it is. Averaging numbers playing one way is not the same as averaging similar numbers while playing a different way and dominating the game differently.
Also, it prevented him from really dialing in for 48 minutes. Take Game 4 vs DEN for example, absolutely elite in the first half and in the second half ran out of gas. Sure, part of that has to do with age, but there is for sure a good portion of that chalked up to the injury.

In 5 years with the Lakers the only year he finished the season healthy was the bubble season when the league shut down for 4 months. 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 he has been hurt. Its age man. Gonna be the same thing next year.

Solomon Hill falling on his leg in 2021 had nothing to do with age. Some of it the last few seasons are definitely age, but some of it is also just random chance.

[Triple M]

The Lakers dont have anyone thats good enough to be a championship driver. AD should be that guy but hes going to be 31 next playoffs and has had extensive history with injuries in his 20s. When AD was dominant these playoffs you could see the Lakers were on an elite level, but for some reason or another that level was hard for him to sustain. Getting Ky helps take pressure off so if the Lakers gut their team for Kyrie i think they can find role specific players in the gleague, they did find Reaves after all.

[Lockdown504090]

I wouldn’t mind doing Malik beasly #17and bamba (non guarantee)for vanfleet. That sounds pretty good for a guy that’s leaving anyway given our cap situation


Can take leonard miller or someone like that

[Goomba3666]

Keep everyone but trade Lebron for another guard (plus fillers) that wants to be on a championship contender ... Lillard, Beale, Darius Garland, Kyrie, etc.... maybe even Ja if the Grizzlies want him out. Keep DLo as backup. He would be solid running the second unit ... just not starter material.

This is honestly not a bad idea. I think they should consider freeing up space and acquire assets predicated on their future. Again, they had some key runs throughout the playoffs without him on the floor or involved in the offense. They also need players to that will get AD more open opportunities at the rim. Not just alleyoops

[KrAzY3]

People who think this Lakers team will only get better with time to gel...

They are old. Their average age in the Nuggets series was 28.1 and that's including playing 19 year old Christie 1 minute. They got really lucky to be healthy come playoff time, is that likely to happen again?

They don't have any truly young emerging stars (I like Reaves but he's not that young and he's already emerged), they have two injury prone stars who have both likely seen their best days.

While I agree it's probably best just to try to hold things together, this team seems likely to get worse, not better and without the flexibility to improve down the road.

LeBron played 55 games last year and openly contemplated retirement. AD played 56 games. How is this team going to get one tiny bit better than it was playoff time this year? Very likely to get worse just based on the fact that AD and LeBron are not able to stay healthy.

[sfernald]

It might make sense to trade their #18 pick for a 2024 pick from a team likely to be picking in the 12-22 range. They can then wait until December 15th and package that pick with some combination of Beasley, Bomba and DLo for a good player paid in the $20-30M range.

Yeah I think they are just one more lopsided nba league office mandated trade deadline trade from being a true contender. Anything close to this last trade deadline should get it done.

[nate33]

It might make sense to trade their #18 pick for a 2024 pick from a team likely to be picking in the 12-22 range. They can then wait until December 15th and package that pick with some combination of Beasley, Bomba and DLo for a good player paid in the $20-30M range.

Yeah I think they are just one more lopsided nba league office mandated trade deadline trade from being a true contender. Anything close to this last trade deadline should get it done.

To be fair, the Westbrook + 2027 1st trade didn't really help them.

Vanderbilt, Beasley, DLo and Bamba haven't done anything. The trade that helped them was three 2RP's for Rui.

[NO-KG-AI]

It probably is, but they won't. They'll almost certainly do something drastic if they show any signs of struggling. It'll be fun watching who gets blamed for what moves, based on poster agenda, lol.

[sfernald]

It might make sense to trade their #18 pick for a 2024 pick from a team likely to be picking in the 12-22 range. They can then wait until December 15th and package that pick with some combination of Beasley, Bomba and DLo for a good player paid in the $20-30M range.

Yeah I think they are just one more lopsided nba league office mandated trade deadline trade from being a true contender. Anything close to this last trade deadline should get it done.

To be fair, the Westbrook + 2027 1st trade didn't really help them.

Vanderbilt, Beasley, DLo and Bamba haven't done anything. The trade that helped them was three 2RP's for Rui.

Oh, I think they all helped them just in different ways. I think unloading Westbrook helped them make it into the playoffs. I don’t see how they do that without him gone. And then some assets helped more than others in the actual playoffs. I mean DLO kind of turned into a negative but the idea was good. It was a good shot.

[Mike lorenzo]

I personally would try to change for a guard like FVV.. something like Beasley/Vandervilt+#17 for Fred.. I think that FVV opts to participate and then extends, if it has the possibility to go to LA. in this scenario try to work on an ST for Russell... maybe the Nets are interested... something like Russell ST for DFS?

[ConSarnit]

Yeah I think they are just one more lopsided nba league office mandated trade deadline trade from being a true contender. Anything close to this last trade deadline should get it done.

To be fair, the Westbrook + 2027 1st trade didn't really help them.

Vanderbilt, Beasley, DLo and Bamba haven't done anything. The trade that helped them was three 2RP's for Rui.

Oh, I think they all helped them just in different ways. I think unloading Westbrook helped them make it into the playoffs. I don’t see how they do that without him gone. And then some assets helped more than others in the actual playoffs. I mean DLO kind of turned into a negative but the idea was good. It was a good shot.

The guys from the Westbrook deal are a catch-22. They need them because they are solid rotation players who can take some of the regular season pressure off of Lebron and Davis. They probably don’t make the playoffs without them. The problem is all 3 sort of turn into pumpkins come playoff time. DLo and Beasley become big defensive liabilities and Vando an offensive liability.

I’d try to move Beasley and the 17th for a guy I think could actually play in the playoffs. Russell is a really hard decision. They need his playmaking/scoring in the regular season but can’t trust him in the playoffs. LA has limited assets but they absolutely need regular season depth because of Lebron’s age and AD’s unreliability.

[TheGeneral99]

No it's not a sound option.

AD, despite how impactful he is, is 30 years old and is always injured and unreliable. He's still great, but he's nearing the end of his prime in my opinion.

Lebron is still incredible, but he's no longer a top 5 NBA player, has regressed defensively and will lose another step next year being 39 years old. Can Lebron remain a top 10 player or will he slide into a top 20-25 player? I wouldn't be surprised if he further declines.

I really like Reeves, but is he really worth 25m?

Lakers don't really have much upside unless they are able to get another star that can shoot and is defensively great as well.

If I'm the Lakers I try to pivot and unload Lebron and AD. They both still have a ton of trade value and the Lakers can stockpile some picks and young prospects.

[jus a fan]

Yes they were competitive with Denver and didn’t have chemistry like other teams did

Phx had less chemistry and won 2 vs Den.

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[Pharmcat]

You run everyone back and then make trades during
Next season

[hoosierdaddy34]

People who think this Lakers team will only get better with time to gel...

They are old. Their average age in the Nuggets series was 28.1 and that's including playing 19 year old Christie 1 minute. They got really lucky to be healthy come playoff time, is that likely to happen again?

They don't have any truly young emerging stars (I like Reaves but he's not that young and he's already emerged), they have two injury prone stars who have both likely seen their best days.

While I agree it's probably best just to try to hold things together, this team seems likely to get worse, not better and without the flexibility to improve down the road.

LeBron played 55 games last year and openly contemplated retirement. AD played 56 games. How is this team going to get one tiny bit better than it was playoff time this year? Very likely to get worse just based on the fact that AD and LeBron are not able to stay healthy.

Ummm they aren’t old. LeBron is the only one that is old. AD just turned 30. Schroeder and D Lo are in the 28, 29 year old range. Everyone else is on n the 23 to 26 year old range.

You are looking at guys like Tristan Thompson and Shaq Harrison that is boosting up that age but are t real members of the rotation.

If you take the 12 guys that actually played a decent amount of minutes this year for them? That average is just 26.5. The 11 guys that aren’t LeBron? That is 25.4 years of age.

Not remotely an old team, you are using cooked data.

[MavsDirk41]

He absolutely gave a great effort, but the injury is what it is. Averaging numbers playing one way is not the same as averaging similar numbers while playing a different way and dominating the game differently.
Also, it prevented him from really dialing in for 48 minutes. Take Game 4 vs DEN for example, absolutely elite in the first half and in the second half ran out of gas. Sure, part of that has to do with age, but there is for sure a good portion of that chalked up to the injury.

In 5 years with the Lakers the only year he finished the season healthy was the bubble season when the league shut down for 4 months. 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 he has been hurt. Its age man. Gonna be the same thing next year.

Solomon Hill falling on his leg in 2021 had nothing to do with age. Some of it the last few seasons are definitely age, but some of it is also just random chance.

The injury against Atlanta happened in March 2021. He wasnt healthy from an ankle injury two months later? Thats age man.

[sfernald]

To be fair, the Westbrook + 2027 1st trade didn't really help them.

Vanderbilt, Beasley, DLo and Bamba haven't done anything. The trade that helped them was three 2RP's for Rui.

Oh, I think they all helped them just in different ways. I think unloading Westbrook helped them make it into the playoffs. I don’t see how they do that without him gone. And then some assets helped more than others in the actual playoffs. I mean DLO kind of turned into a negative but the idea was good. It was a good shot.

The guys from the Westbrook deal are a catch-22. They need them because they are solid rotation players who can take some of the regular season pressure off of Lebron and Davis. They probably don’t make the playoffs without them. The problem is all 3 sort of turn into pumpkins come playoff time. DLo and Beasley become big defensive liabilities and Vando an offensive liability.

I’d try to move Beasley and the 17th for a guy I think could actually play in the playoffs. Russell is a really hard decision. They need his playmaking/scoring in the regular season but can’t trust him in the playoffs. LA has limited assets but they absolutely need regular season depth because of Lebron’s age and AD’s unreliability.

Yep, what kind of player would you realistically think would help the Lakers that you could expect to get for 17th and Beasley. For example, there's teams like the Spurs that would be fine taking on salary and giving up someone on their roster for another pick in the draft. For example would a shooter like McRoberts help spacing or maybe center Zach Collins help AD?