The Lakers are 17-4 in the Their Last 21 Games

[zimpy27]

What does gimmicky even mean in this context?

It means some folks are haters and have nothing legitimate to say against the Lakers.

I can say you as a homer don't have anything legitimate to say about the Lakers.

And therefore you have nothing legitimate to say about the Spurs?

[OxAndFox]

And Adam Silver and the NBA offices are fist bumping over a very successful rebrand...I mean trade deadline.

[DoctorX]

It means some folks are haters and have nothing legitimate to say against the Lakers.

I can say you as a homer don't have anything legitimate to say about the Lakers.

And therefore you have nothing legitimate to say about the Spurs?

I'm objective about the Spurs. With a healthy Victor they had a chance of making it to the playoffs, but it wasn't guaranteed. Now with him out they are definitely a lottery team. See that's how objectivity works. If I was a Laker fan, I would be delusional after tonight's win against the Grizzlies lol and say the Spurs have a good chance of going to the playoffs simply because they beat a top 4 team in the Grizzlies on the road.

[Stanq]

And I’ll take the top 8-9 for a lot of other teams over the Lakers. Especially in a 7 game series. Tons of pressure on that laker bench to show up.

From 3-8, maybe. But it is very hard to find cases when the team with the two best players in the series lost. If LeBron plays at a top5 in the league level like he’s been doing for the past month and a half, they can win against anyone.

There are lots of Ifs for a newly built squad like the post dealine Lakers: is Luka gonna get back to last playoffs level, is LeBron gonna be able to keep it up as a 40yo in a 7 game series, is Austin’s production sustainable in the post season, can they keep the is level of defense… but if all of this is true, they can beat anyone.

That’s a very very big if though. Lebron is only getting older. I do agree their ceiling is high but if the bench doesn’t show up the gap between LeBron/luka who can’t shoot straight and the top 2 of a lot of other teams is not that big.

LeBron is shooting over 40% for the last 3 years. Luka made the most threes last years playoff. LeBron show no signs of slowing down. There’s not a thing you said that makes a “big if”.

[Stanq]

So they are roughly a Top 8 team in the NBA?

How is that Gimmicky?

Having 2 top 10 players is a gimmick

Lebron being a top 10 player now is questionable. His defense is terrible along with Luka's. I don't see a team whose third best player is Austin Reeves, and fourth best player who is Rui winning a title.

Lebron and Luka are both terrible defenders and will be exposed during the playoffs along with lakers not having good rim protection. They can get a fluke win like they did against the Nuggets last week but in a 7-game series I still see them losing to the same Nuggets team. They are what I call a fool's gold team that can get a lot of regular season wins but whose ceiling at best is a second-round team.

Whoever says LeBron’s defense is terrible doesn’t watch games.

[Rust_Cohle]

From 3-8, maybe. But it is very hard to find cases when the team with the two best players in the series lost. If LeBron plays at a top5 in the league level like he’s been doing for the past month and a half, they can win against anyone.

There are lots of Ifs for a newly built squad like the post dealine Lakers: is Luka gonna get back to last playoffs level, is LeBron gonna be able to keep it up as a 40yo in a 7 game series, is Austin’s production sustainable in the post season, can they keep the is level of defense… but if all of this is true, they can beat anyone.

That’s a very very big if though. Lebron is only getting older. I do agree their ceiling is high but if the bench doesn’t show up the gap between LeBron/luka who can’t shoot straight and the top 2 of a lot of other teams is not that big.

LeBron is shooting over 40% for the last 3 years. Luka made the most threes last years playoff. LeBron show no signs of slowing down. There’s not a thing you said that makes a “big if”.

“But if all of this is true” again that’s a very big if, if LeBron wasn’t slowing down the lakers would’ve gotten past the first round last year instead of getting knocked in round 1. He had a good playoffs but again, my issue isn’t even lebron and rusty Luka, it’s the rest of the squad. That’s a huge if trusting the rest of the team to see them through come playoff time.

[FarBeyondDriven]

it's almost like the league was being bombarded with negativity and needed its biggest market and team to change the narrative. How convenient they miraculously get Luka. People are so naive they still don't think this was planned and that the league is rigged

[LuDux1]

it's almost like the league was being bombarded with negativity and needed its biggest market and team to change the narrative. How convenient they miraculously get Luka. People are so naive they still don't think this was planned and that the league is rigged

Maybe it's only rigged against Kings

[ReggiesKnicks]

Having 2 top 10 players is a gimmick

Lebron being a top 10 player now is questionable. His defense is terrible along with Luka's. I don't see a team whose third best player is Austin Reeves, and fourth best player who is Rui winning a title.

Lebron and Luka are both terrible defenders and will be exposed during the playoffs along with lakers not having good rim protection. They can get a fluke win like they did against the Nuggets last week but in a 7-game series I still see them losing to the same Nuggets team. They are what I call a fool's gold team that can get a lot of regular season wins but whose ceiling at best is a second-round team.

Whoever says LeBron’s defense is terrible doesn’t watch games.

LeBron is a far cry away from what he was in his prime defensively but he is still a solid defender.

[hippesthippo]

They will get the 2 seed. Denver sucks against pkayoff opponents like Jokic lead teams typically do and MEM has been a bit inconsistent lately. Im not sure Lakers have enough against OKC, but a Luka LeBron combo is better than the Luka Kyrie combo that beat them last year. If fully healthy they could challenge them.

Denver could really use a better scoring option from the perimeter. Preferably, somebody who can put pressure on the rim as well. Murray relies on his jumper and is inconsistent and RWB isn't exactly an efficiency darling. They're a flawed team for sure

[Doranku]

I mean the wins are nice and all, but the Lakers aren't going anywhere with this version of Luka. He has not been good at all. I'm sure he'll look different in a month, but he needs to be about 3 tiers better for the Lakers to be an actual threat. Long way to go.

[UglyBugBall]

I mean the wins are nice and all, but the Lakers aren't going anywhere with this version of Luka. He has not been good at all. I'm sure he'll look different in a month, but he needs to be about 3 tiers better for the Lakers to be an actual threat. Long way to go.

He looks in better physical shape than he did a month ago. I swear he lost some weight since the trade lol. I've been watching the guy since he was drafted, and he was probably the fattest I ever saw him around Christmas. He's looking decent now. Still needs to lose another 10 pounds, but he looks like he's working on it, which I'm pleasantly surprised about.

[Mavrelous]

I mean the wins are nice and all, but the Lakers aren't going anywhere with this version of Luka. He has not been good at all. I'm sure he'll look different in a month, but he needs to be about 3 tiers better for the Lakers to be an actual threat. Long way to go.

He looks in better physical shape than he did a month ago. I swear he lost some weight since the trade lol. I've been watching the guy since he was drafted, and he was probably the fattest I ever saw him around Christmas. He's looking decent now. Still needs to lose another 10 pounds, but he looks like he's working on it, which I'm pleasantly surprised about.

No way, he was fatter both at the start of 20/21 and 21/22 seasons, there is a thread on the GB about it, look it up, he was also in a very bad shape in November/December of the 21/22 season, the starting lineup with him and KP was in the deep negative while Brunson bench units were covering for them, until he took time off and came back in MVP shape.

[theFireBlanket]

it's almost like the league was being bombarded with negativity and needed its biggest market and team to change the narrative. How convenient they miraculously get Luka. People are so naive they still don't think this was planned and that the league is rigged

Maybe it's only rigged against Kings

You saying Silver told Vlade not to draft Luka?

[UglyBugBall]

I mean the wins are nice and all, but the Lakers aren't going anywhere with this version of Luka. He has not been good at all. I'm sure he'll look different in a month, but he needs to be about 3 tiers better for the Lakers to be an actual threat. Long way to go.

He looks in better physical shape than he did a month ago. I swear he lost some weight since the trade lol. I've been watching the guy since he was drafted, and he was probably the fattest I ever saw him around Christmas. He's looking decent now. Still needs to lose another 10 pounds, but he looks like he's working on it, which I'm pleasantly surprised about.

No way, he was fatter both at the start of 20/21 and 21/22 seasons, there is a thread on the GB about it, look it up, he was also in a very bad shape in November/December of the 21/22 season, the starting lineup with him and KP was in the deep negative while Brunson bench units were covering for them, until he took time off and came back in MVP shape.

Yeah it's hard for me to remember, he's looked overweight for so long now. I've seen him look better occasionally and then two months later he somehow grows again while playing... he does look better to me right now, but I'm skeptical it'll last. Does he look better to you at all?

[GreatWhiteStiff]

it's almost like the league was being bombarded with negativity and needed its biggest market and team to change the narrative. How convenient they miraculously get Luka. People are so naive they still don't think this was planned and that the league is rigged

Maybe it's only rigged against Kings

Vlade Divac was a sleeper agent.

[Jedi32]

What does gimmicky even mean in this context?

It means some folks are haters and have nothing legitimate to say against the Lakers.

I can say you as a homer don't have anything legitimate to say about the Lakers.

I’ve seen enough of your gimmicky posts. Just say you hate the Lakers and move on, cause the stuff you’re posting in this thread is really not making any sense.

[druggas]

it's almost like the league was being bombarded with negativity and needed its biggest market and team to change the narrative. How convenient they miraculously get Luka. People are so naive they still don't think this was planned and that the league is rigged

Maybe it's only rigged against Kings

Vlade Divac was a sleeper agent.

Got the Lakers, Kobe and now Luka.

[xchange55]

I heard they have one of the toughest schedules remaining (top 1 to 3) - let's see how they do down the stetch. I know their recent run had lots of Utah and and Charlotte, and Portland.

Just taking a quick look - I see BOS, 2x DEN, 2x OKC, 2x MIL.

The headlines are all about NBA ratings are down. Then LAL gets hot despite having lots of holes. Then Luka arrives and you start seeing headlines on tv ratings for DAL/LAL - things that make you go hmm....

[Stanq]

Lebron being a top 10 player now is questionable. His defense is terrible along with Luka's. I don't see a team whose third best player is Austin Reeves, and fourth best player who is Rui winning a title.

Lebron and Luka are both terrible defenders and will be exposed during the playoffs along with lakers not having good rim protection. They can get a fluke win like they did against the Nuggets last week but in a 7-game series I still see them losing to the same Nuggets team. They are what I call a fool's gold team that can get a lot of regular season wins but whose ceiling at best is a second-round team.

Whoever says LeBron’s defense is terrible doesn’t watch games.

LeBron is a far cry away from what he was in his prime defensively but he is still a solid defender.

He was DPOY level in his prime. Right he is a freaking great defender, especially dictating where players should be and reading the opposing offense. There aren’t many players who are more valuable defensively. Jokic’s defense impact is a shell of LeBrons.