Lakers In a Solid Place?

[jehosafats]

Westbrook laid layers of bricks, so yes they are on a solid place.

[ShazamDaShiznt]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Western conference is in a tight bunch from 13th seed Lakers to 4th seed Clippers.
13th seed Lakers are only a few games behind the 4th seed Clippers. All the Lakers have to do to get 6th seed is be slightly better than mediocre but can the Lakers be slightly better than mediocre?

[JN61]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood. Lebron is just interested in his scoring record and Davis gets hurt crossing the painted lines on the court...

[schnakenpopanz]

Yes 13th is exactly where I like them to be. Very solid!

[Onlytimewilltel]

Absolutely, they’re in a perfect place for the Pels to get a great pick !

[Lockdown504090]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood. Lebron is just interested in his scoring record and Davis gets hurt crossing the painted lines on the court...

russ has been supressing his minutes and missing b2b for years.

[jazzfan1971]

The Lakers are truly interesting. They could miss the play in or have home court in the first round. It's really weird for this point of the season. I'll bet Lebron like the play in system a bit more than he used to.

This is fun. I think it's good for the league to have the West like this. Tanking truly seems to be tamed. Not stopped, but if you aren't taking this year, you probably are never tanking.

I think it's interesting that everyone still assumes a Jazz tank. I have seen little to lead me to believe they are going to do that. Yes, all their guys are available, but nobody seems to want our guys. Makes zero sense to me to throw them away for worthless 2nds at this point. Better to fight for the playoffs and get that experience. (of course if teams decide to up the ante a bit our guys can be had, but, it just doesn't feel like the interest is there to me)

It's going to be a fun, fun, fun 2nd half of the season as we watch teams fight for the playoffs. I'm loving it.

[Dan Z]

The Lakers are truly interesting. They could miss the play in or have home court in the first round. It's really weird for this point of the season. I'll bet Lebron like the play in system a bit more than he used to.

This is fun. I think it's good for the league to have the West like this. Tanking truly seems to be tamed. Not stopped, but if you aren't taking this year, you probably are never tanking.

I think it's interesting that everyone still assumes a Jazz tank. I have seen little to lead me to believe they are going to do that. Yes, all their guys are available, but nobody seems to want our guys. Makes zero sense to me to throw them away for worthless 2nds at this point. Better to fight for the playoffs and get that experience. (of course if teams decide to up the ante a bit our guys can be had, but, it just doesn't feel like the interest is there to me)

It's going to be a fun, fun, fun 2nd half of the season as we watch teams fight for the playoffs. I'm loving it.

The Jazz have been a fun surprise this season and if they tank it'll be a bit sad (especially with good seasons from players like Markkanen). But I understand...having the chance at a top pick in the upcoming draft would be a boost to the team going forward.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood. Lebron is just interested in his scoring record and Davis gets hurt crossing the painted lines on the court...

This doesn't make any sense. Not only has LeBron played in about the same percentage of his team's games as Westbrook has at this point in his career, but Westbrook has also been on minutes restrictions, never playing more than 36.4 mpg. LeBron didn't play less than 36.4 until his 12th season. He has 14 seasons averaging more mpg than Westbrook's highest season, and he's played far more playoff games.

Westbrook will be as durable as LeBron at his current only in so much as hell be out of the league by then, and rec league durability is a different metric.

[MaxZaslofskyJr]

They are presently 2 1/2 away from a play-in. If they were 11th and that 2 1/2 separated them from 10th, then I'd say maybe there in an o.k. place. But it's not only the games behind, it's how many teams you are chasing. Utah and others could go cold and dip out of the picture but you then need to worry about the other teams ahead of them still eluding them. So, overall, I don't like their chances.

[JN61]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood. Lebron is just interested in his scoring record and Davis gets hurt crossing the painted lines on the court...

russ has been supressing his minutes and missing b2b for years.

No he haven't. He only missed first few months of back to backs with wizards when he had crotch injury and played through it.

[ILOVEIT]

They are presently 2 1/2 away from a play-in. If they were 11th and that 2 1/2 separated them from 10th, then I'd say maybe there in an o.k. place. But it's not only the games behind, it's how many teams you are chasing. Utah and others could go cold and dip out of the picture but you then need to worry about the other teams ahead of them still eluding them. So, overall, I don't like their chances.

https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/so-youre-saying-theres-a-chance-gif-.gif

[NyKnicks1714]

It's over. They still have to sit out AD and Bron in various random games with a tough remaining schedule. They might not even sniff a 10th place in the standings unless Blazers decided to tank and OKC/Jazz shut down their players for a draft pick again, and they are too good to tank right now.

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood.

The Lakers would also be in a better place if Westbrook had AD's durability.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Truly. If Lebron and Davis had even fraction of Westbrook's durability and pain tolerance and want to win and be on the court every game they would be 4-5th seed currently. All those missed games hurt them a ton to the point of missing the playoffs as majority likelihood. Lebron is just interested in his scoring record and Davis gets hurt crossing the painted lines on the court...

russ has been supressing his minutes and missing b2b for years.

No he haven't. He only missed first few months of back to backs with wizards when he had crotch injury and played through it.

Yes, Westbrook has always played fewer mpg than most other stars. He's only led his own team in mpg 3 times in his entire career.

[dautjazz]

If healthy odds are they are in the playoffs. That's obviously a huge if, and I would never want to have a healthy Lebron and AD. Hachimura is looking like a very nice addition.

[PedroFlu]

Rui looked good tonight. A frontcourt of Hachimura-LBJ-AD is top3 in the league.

Now they desperately need to let Russ go, and, at the same time, find a better SG who can really shoot the ball - like Gary Trent Jr. or Hield.

So you'd have the following team: Schro - GTJ - LeBron - Hachimura - AD - that's a respectable team.

The bench is actually interesting: PatBev - Reaves - Skywalker/Troy Brown Jr/Christie - Wenyen - T Bryant

PEACE (no Russ)