AD is Wasting his Most Valuable Years

[ryguy613]

An AD + Lebron + roleplayers team cannot work anymore because of Lebron's declining impact.

The problem is Lakers don't have role players after Westbrook trade.

They long term exchanged Caruso, Kuzma, KCP, and 2 first rounders for ... Finney Smith (THT was traded for Beverley who was traded for Bamba; Westbrook was traded for Beasley and Russell; Beasley's TO was rescinded; Russell was traded for DFS). Oh, and Vanderbilt hasn't played in a year.

Maybe it wouldn't be enough for championship, but with decent depth (they're pretty great in finding role players in the 2nd rounds/undrafted players like Christie, Caruso or Reaves) they would be still a tier better team than right now.

But AD was as much on board with trading for Russ as LeBron and, most importantly, Lakers' FO.

Yeah. After they missed out on Kawhi they kind of stumbled into the perfect roster build for the next era of the NBA. Two stars and a bunch of two-way, high energy guys that allow you to play a variety of different styles. They thought they needed to bring in more dynamic ballhandling as LeBron got older, but what they actually needed was to move LeBron to full time point guard mode and surround him with guys that would do the dirty work he's not able to do every night in his late 30s.

ironically, Rob accidentally cooked when he had to scramble to create a roster from scratch after Kawhi pulled a fast one. The problem, in my opinion, is that he heard all the chatter all year from the media about how the roster was trash, and after they won the title, he let his ego lead the way, thinking he would show what he could really do without having to cobble something together. This resulted in a worse roster in 2021 with guys like Montrez and a 90 year old Marc Gasol taking on large roles, while Schroeder, who shouldve been their best addition, quickly soured on the team for not starting him. Still, the 2021 team couldve won a title if healthy. Im firmly in the camp that they were well on their way to beating the suns before AD went down... but thats the game for you.

So they already weakened their lineup enough, but then they absolutely obliterated it with the Westbrook trade in conjunction with telling Caruso, who literally wanted to take a pay cut to come back, to take a hike. Now you've lost your entire defensive identity outside of one single player... AD. KCP ends up as a key piece in Denver's title run. Caruso ends up being one of the most coveted defensive guards in the league and the Lakers end up with the worst possible version of Russell Westrbook, a player whose very best version isnt even a home run. After that, it really hasnt mattered what the Lakers have tried to do to fix it. The roster is broken beyond repair. Just gotta give up the ghost and move on to something new.

[SK21209]

The problem is Lakers don't have role players after Westbrook trade.

They long term exchanged Caruso, Kuzma, KCP, and 2 first rounders for ... Finney Smith (THT was traded for Beverley who was traded for Bamba; Westbrook was traded for Beasley and Russell; Beasley's TO was rescinded; Russell was traded for DFS). Oh, and Vanderbilt hasn't played in a year.

Maybe it wouldn't be enough for championship, but with decent depth (they're pretty great in finding role players in the 2nd rounds/undrafted players like Christie, Caruso or Reaves) they would be still a tier better team than right now.

But AD was as much on board with trading for Russ as LeBron and, most importantly, Lakers' FO.

Yeah. After they missed out on Kawhi they kind of stumbled into the perfect roster build for the next era of the NBA. Two stars and a bunch of two-way, high energy guys that allow you to play a variety of different styles. They thought they needed to bring in more dynamic ballhandling as LeBron got older, but what they actually needed was to move LeBron to full time point guard mode and surround him with guys that would do the dirty work he's not able to do every night in his late 30s.

ironically, Rob accidentally cooked when he had to scramble to create a roster from scratch after Kawhi pulled a fast one. The problem, in my opinion, is that he heard all the chatter all year from the media about how the roster was trash, and after they won the title, he let his ego lead the way, thinking he would show what he could really do without having to cobble something together. This resulted in a worse roster in 2021 with guys like Montrez and a 90 year old Marc Gasol taking on large roles, while Schroeder, who shouldve been their best addition, quickly soured on the team for not starting him. Still, the 2021 team couldve won a title if healthy. Im firmly in the camp that they were well on their way to beating the suns before AD went down... but thats the game for you.

So they already weakened their lineup enough, but then they absolutely obliterated it with the Westbrook trade in conjunction with telling Caruso, who literally wanted to take a pay cut to come back, to take a hike. Now you've lost your entire defensive identity outside of one single player... AD. KCP ends up as a key piece in Denver's title run. Caruso ends up being one of the most coveted defensive guards in the league and the Lakers end up with the worst possible version of Russell Westrbook, a player whose very best version isnt even a home run. After that, it really hasnt mattered what the Lakers have tried to do to fix it. The roster is broken beyond repair. Just gotta give up the ghost and move on to something new.

I disagree because I think the 2020 offseason was good, even in hindsight. Trading Green for Schroder was a good move, KCP and Caruso were better options at his position and we did need a little more perimeter ballhandling. Pre-covid Marc was a really nice fit with that starting lineup passing and shooting at the top of the arc. The problem was that he was pretty bad for a while after he got covid. But I thought that team looked as good or better than the 2020 team during that 21-6 start. Montrezl was ehh and part of the reason why they thought they needed to bring in Drummond and promise him playing time, but he did help keep them afloat when that team got ravaged by injury. That 2021 team was really good but got wrecked by injury. LeBron has never looked the same athletically since Solomon Hill fell on his leg.

Its the 2021 offseason that was completely devastating. The most frustrating part was that they blew up the supporting cast to get Russ and keep THT because they thought they needed more playmaking, but that summer the got Reaves as an UDFA and Monk for the minimum. They could have just run the same team back with those two guys and been awesome.

[LarsV8]

Trade to Houston plz.

[Ol Roy]

AD would be an ideal partner for Jokic.

[Tracymcgoaty]

All i know is he deserves better than a 40 year old who refuses to play defense.

[ryguy613]

Yeah. After they missed out on Kawhi they kind of stumbled into the perfect roster build for the next era of the NBA. Two stars and a bunch of two-way, high energy guys that allow you to play a variety of different styles. They thought they needed to bring in more dynamic ballhandling as LeBron got older, but what they actually needed was to move LeBron to full time point guard mode and surround him with guys that would do the dirty work he's not able to do every night in his late 30s.

ironically, Rob accidentally cooked when he had to scramble to create a roster from scratch after Kawhi pulled a fast one. The problem, in my opinion, is that he heard all the chatter all year from the media about how the roster was trash, and after they won the title, he let his ego lead the way, thinking he would show what he could really do without having to cobble something together. This resulted in a worse roster in 2021 with guys like Montrez and a 90 year old Marc Gasol taking on large roles, while Schroeder, who shouldve been their best addition, quickly soured on the team for not starting him. Still, the 2021 team couldve won a title if healthy. Im firmly in the camp that they were well on their way to beating the suns before AD went down... but thats the game for you.

So they already weakened their lineup enough, but then they absolutely obliterated it with the Westbrook trade in conjunction with telling Caruso, who literally wanted to take a pay cut to come back, to take a hike. Now you've lost your entire defensive identity outside of one single player... AD. KCP ends up as a key piece in Denver's title run. Caruso ends up being one of the most coveted defensive guards in the league and the Lakers end up with the worst possible version of Russell Westrbook, a player whose very best version isnt even a home run. After that, it really hasnt mattered what the Lakers have tried to do to fix it. The roster is broken beyond repair. Just gotta give up the ghost and move on to something new.

I disagree because I think the 2020 offseason was good, even in hindsight. Trading Green for Schroder was a good move, KCP and Caruso were better options at his position and we did need a little more perimeter ballhandling. Pre-covid Marc was a really nice fit with that starting lineup passing and shooting at the top of the arc. The problem was that he was pretty bad for a while after he got covid. But I thought that team looked as good or better than the 2020 team during that 21-6 start. Montrezl was ehh and part of the reason why they thought they needed to bring in Drummond and promise him playing time, but he did help keep them afloat when that team got ravaged by injury. That 2021 team was really good but got wrecked by injury. LeBron has never looked the same athletically since Solomon Hill fell on his leg.

Its the 2021 offseason that was completely devastating. The most frustrating part was that they blew up the supporting cast to get Russ and keep THT because they thought they needed more playmaking, but that summer the got Reaves as an UDFA and Monk for the minimum. They could have just run the same team back with those two guys and been awesome.

yeah, I mean like I said, I do think they were more than capable of winning a title in 2021 if Bron and (even more importantly) AD were healthy. The supporting cast was good enough to do it, but the glue was clearly better in 2020 than 2021. I completely agree with you about Schroeder. I was stoked about that trade. But as I said, that blew up in their face because he went on a tantrum about coming off the bench. Gasol I was super concerned about because he just couldnt move well at that age. Toward the end of 2020, in the bubble, I saw the way he was moving and I didnt want any part of that. I think keeping the Javale/Dwight tandem was the better option. Harrell... that one really sucked. I didnt like him on the Clippers. Thought his inflated numbers masked the glaringly obvious fact that he was an undersized big man who cant shoot... no thanks. To think of the other guys they couldve had with the MLE that year. I'm just saying the roster in 2020 kind of stumbled into being better. Most people dont even remember how good Avery Bradley was for them before opting not to join them in the bubble. obviously the same level of importance can be applied to Rondo that year. That team was just super deep, super high BBIQ, super versatile, and most importantly, scary good on defense. That roster wouldve been a bit old in 2021, and moving off Green was almost certainly the right call, but its just the best roster they assembled in this era.

[KyRo23]

All i know is he deserves better than a 40 year old who refuses to play defense.

Does he though

He forced his way to LA, knew LeBron was getting older and also signed a big extension. Seems like he got what he wanted

[FarBeyondDriven]

He's always seemingly content just doing his thing. He's one of the best two-way players in the NBA his entire career and he's got top 15-20 all-time talent but if he doesn't care about his legacy we shouldn't either. I think people keep expecting him to be a #1 but as much of that has to do with mentality as it does skill/talent and he simply doesn't have that. So he IS a secondary player on any team with championship aspirations so that's not a slight.

[HMFFL]

It's not like AD is going to carry a team.
Should AD even be a teams second option on offense? I personally believe those days are way behind him.

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[Tracymcgoaty]

All i know is he deserves better than a 40 year old who refuses to play defense.

Does he though

He forced his way to LA, knew LeBron was getting older and also signed a big extension. Seems like he got what he wanted

Why are we talking about stuff that happened 5 years ago when Lebron could still be the best player in the world. He cant do that anymore and his piss poor effort on defense is inexcusable.

AD deserves better because it's basically him and Christie out there on defense. He's trying to anchor a piss poor defensive unit with lebron being at the forefront whilst averaging 26/12 with 2 blocks and 1 steal a game.

Yes he deserves better. I hope we trade him for a major haul.

[ScrantonBulls]

All i know is he deserves better than a 40 year old who refuses to play defense.

Does he though

He forced his way to LA, knew LeBron was getting older and also signed a big extension. Seems like he got what he wanted

Why are we talking about stuff that happened 5 years ago when Lebron could still be the best player in the world. He cant do that anymore and his piss poor effort on defense is inexcusable.

AD deserves better because it's basically him and Christie out there on defense. He's trying to anchor a piss poor defensive unit with lebron being at the forefront whilst averaging 26/12 with 2 blocks and 1 steal a game.

Yes he deserves better. I hope we trade him for a major haul.

He literally just signed an extension a year and a half ago. He knew LeBron would be there. Get out of here with this pathetic sob story BS, acting like he didn't know an old ass LeBron James would be his teammate. The guy is making 50m a year to play with the Lakers. Cry me a damn river. You act like he is a prisoner, lmao.

[KyRo23]

Does he though

He forced his way to LA, knew LeBron was getting older and also signed a big extension. Seems like he got what he wanted

Why are we talking about stuff that happened 5 years ago when Lebron could still be the best player in the world. He cant do that anymore and his piss poor effort on defense is inexcusable.

AD deserves better because it's basically him and Christie out there on defense. He's trying to anchor a piss poor defensive unit with lebron being at the forefront whilst averaging 26/12 with 2 blocks and 1 steal a game.

Yes he deserves better. I hope we trade him for a major haul.

He literally just signed an extension a year and a half ago. He knew LeBron would be there. Get out of here with this pathetic sob story BS, acting like he didn't know an old ass LeBron James would be his teammate. The guy is making 50m a year to play with the Lakers. Cry me a damn river. You act like he is a prisoner, lmao.

Thank you

He just signed an extension recently

[Tracymcgoaty]

Does he though

He forced his way to LA, knew LeBron was getting older and also signed a big extension. Seems like he got what he wanted

Why are we talking about stuff that happened 5 years ago when Lebron could still be the best player in the world. He cant do that anymore and his piss poor effort on defense is inexcusable.

AD deserves better because it's basically him and Christie out there on defense. He's trying to anchor a piss poor defensive unit with lebron being at the forefront whilst averaging 26/12 with 2 blocks and 1 steal a game.

Yes he deserves better. I hope we trade him for a major haul.

He literally just signed an extension a year and a half ago. He knew LeBron would be there. Get out of here with this pathetic sob story BS, acting like he didn't know an old ass LeBron James would be his teammate. The guy is making 50m a year to play with the Lakers. Cry me a damn river. You act like he is a prisoner, lmao.

True he knew he was going to play with a 40 year old who plays zero defense i guess. Blames on him for that. Ether way i hope we trade him for a major haul. Dont know who's crying a river or who's sobbing all i stated was that Lebron plays zero defense and isn't capable of being the best player anymore whilst AD is forced to anchor the defense whilst giving you great numbers on offense. He does deserve better both in roster construction and in a better 2nd fiddle. Lebron isn't it. But he knew that. Legit have no idea where you got the notion that i believe AD is a prisoner.

Already stated that i hope he asks out but hs friendship with Lebron will make it so it doesn't happen. Could get a major haul for him and after that we can either tell Lebron to stay or **** off it really doesn't matter.

[Tracymcgoaty]

It's not like AD is going to carry a team.
Should AD even be a teams second option on offense? I personally believe those days are way behind him.

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How many players can carry a team? He'll be the best 2nd option in the league on a legit team. He's forced to be the 1st option because we've got a 40 year who cant be the main guy on offense and his defense is non existent.

[SlimShady83]

I thought AD was a free agent this off season, I was looking at something different, oops. Good to know to know his signed to what is 27/8?? And while Lakers have Bron on their team Lakers are not trading AD and even post Bron I see Lakers keeping AD until the end

The real question should be Is, what type Big can Lakers get to help AD? because he needs help! And Hayes/Koloko are not it.

Kessler, Richards, Sharp, Ayton (too much) Vucevic are my choices. Need to be young, play defense grab boards and block shots and yes I know Vuc is old lol why I put him last

[Tracymcgoaty]

I thought AD was a free agent this off season, I was looking at something different, oops. Good to know to know his signed to what is 27/8?? And while Lakers have Bron on their team Lakers are not trading AD and even post Bron I see Lakers keeping AD until the end

The real question should be Is, what type Big can Lakers get to help AD, because he needs help! And Hayes/Koloko are not it.

Kessler, Richards, Sharp, Ayton (too much) Vucevic are my choices. Need to be young, play defense grab boards and block shots and yes I know Vuc is old lol why I put him last

Go get Dwight Howard He's free.

[SlimShady83]

Go get Dwight Howard He's free.

Nah we good.

[HMFFL]

He has to get out of there ASAP. An addition of AD is a championship puzzle piece for a lot of teams. He’s easily one of the best big men we’ve seen and still under appreciated and underrated. Love watching this dude play. Had some very nice moments against the Spurs last night and had me thinking about how good he’s been for YEARS. One of the most versatile big men we’ve seen in a long time. Taking guys off the dribble, rim runner, floaters in the lane, jab steps, footwork, changes or deters like 30 shots a game. Plays nonstop defense while cleaning up everyone’s mistakes and expected to score the ball. Appreciate what you’re watching.

Here are several reasons why I doubt AD agrees with you that he needs out ASAP.

He wanted to be in LA, he won a chip, his jersey will be retired, he will get a statue in LA, he's married, and I doubt he wants to be away from his three kids anymore than he needs to be.


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[Exp0sed]

yeah, I don't think AD cares that he's "wasting" these last couple of seasons but it's true that he is..

he's one the best big man in the league and has mysteriously started to actually play and lose the "day to Davis" moniker. he's been carrying the Lakers for a few good seasons, playing at a fringe MVP level every season and not getting any credit for it because LBJ gets all the hype while playing no defense

[Tracymcgoaty]

He has to get out of there ASAP. An addition of AD is a championship puzzle piece for a lot of teams. He’s easily one of the best big men we’ve seen and still under appreciated and underrated. Love watching this dude play. Had some very nice moments against the Spurs last night and had me thinking about how good he’s been for YEARS. One of the most versatile big men we’ve seen in a long time. Taking guys off the dribble, rim runner, floaters in the lane, jab steps, footwork, changes or deters like 30 shots a game. Plays nonstop defense while cleaning up everyone’s mistakes and expected to score the ball. Appreciate what you’re watching.

Here are several reasons why I doubt AD agrees with you that he needs out ASAP.

He wanted to be in LA, he won a chip, his jersey will be retired, he will get a statue in LA, he's married, and doubt he wants to be away from his three kids anymore than he needs to be.


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Excuse me? Jersey Retired? a STATUE???? Dude when AD's tenure here is done there will be seriously talks if even if his jersey will be retired. Both him and Lebron. If that happens best believe a lot of fans will be looking sideways at that

And if AD gets a statue in LA just go ahead and demolish that the same day lol.

Abdul-Jabbar, Magic, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Chick are the only ones with a statue in star plaza.

AD so far doesn't sniff any of them as a laker legend. Won a chip and got to the WCF. Nice well done Needs at least 1 more title for this to even be a conversation.