Round off the roster now.. Let's take it home!!

[lazybatman]

After a wild window of tying up most of our primary rotations, let's round it off fellows. Throw in the vet minimum names you'd like to see fill up the weak spots in this roster -

PG - Lebron, Schroeder
SG - Caruso, KCP
SF - Wes, THT, McKinnie
PF - AD, Trez, Kuz
C - Gasol, Bell

I'd personally like to shore up the half court playmaking with a traditional PG, some size and defensive help on wings and preferably swing Jordan Bell for a better big.

PG -
I have no good ideas here Reggie Jackson and Bryn Forbes on the board FYI. OKC also has George Hill's contract, but I don't know if we have room to swing for it anymore.

At this point I'm hoping Rondo peeves off Trey Young(a'la CP3 & Harden) and comes back on the block for us.

Wings -
Wes & Lebron are a little thin on this count, specially against the Clips who could have Kawhi, PG13 and Marcus Morris on the court at the same time. THT may be an year or two away from learning to fully use his physical gifts on the defensive side.

- Andre Roberson - Elite long & athletic defender to throw at the league's elite forwards like KD, Kawhi, PG, Jimmy, Giannis. Great rebounder too. He's pretty terrible on offense, except rim running and putbacks. Also bad 3 pt shooter, who will cause spacing issues. Coming off a terrible injury. I look at him as defensive insurance, nothing more. Might even sign a two way / non guaranteed deal.
- Korver & Belinelli - For the off ball movement and absolute chaos they create to the oppositions set half court defenses. It opens up the paint and we will milk KCP, Korver, Bellineli, Wes, Gasol for an easy 30-40 points every night from the 3. They're no more than 0-15 min a night vet system defenders(not on ball), who can act like a spark on offense on 2 out of 5 nights.

Bigs -
Marc Gasol has played 41 games on an average over the last 3 seasons due to injuries. We will need cover, at least for the regular season.
- Boogie - No question. I fail to understand the rhetoric against him, given the upside for a vet minimum contract.

If he's 80-90%, he's a sure starter and probably an All Star - 25p-13r-6a in 2017.
If he's 50%, he's still better than Marc Gasol offensively.

Elite rebounder and passer. He should be Pelinka's number 1 target right now.

- Dud - Cos we love him
- Saric - 35% 3fg shooting savvy PF/C
- Morris - Did he just change agents this offseason for a vet minimum?

[heezyo2o]

Bell is supposed to be waived. They need an athletic big who can block some shots. That was a strength last year, but now looks like a weakness.

They need a wing defender, but maybe McKinnie pans out and fills that role

[lazybatman]

Bell is supposed to be waived. They need an athletic big who can block some shots. That was a strength last year, but now looks like a weakness.

They need a wing defender, but maybe McKinnie pans out and fills that role

Bro, Gasol is a 1000% better than Dwight and McGee combined on both ends, just based on his IQ. His availability is the big question after the last 3 years he's had.

McKinnie's a Hail Mary in an already weak rotation at the wings. And he's a bad shooter, so hoping he gets flipped for something.

[heezyo2o]

Bell is supposed to be waived. They need an athletic big who can block some shots. That was a strength last year, but now looks like a weakness.

They need a wing defender, but maybe McKinnie pans out and fills that role

Bro, Gasol is a 1000% better than Dwight and McGee combined on both ends, just based on his IQ. His availability is the big question after the last 3 years he's had.

McKinnie's a Hail Mary in an already weak rotation at the wings. And he's a bad shooter, so hoping he gets flipped for something.

Gasol is a better passer and shooter, but not the rim defender that those guys were. If they sign Boogie, it's another slower guy like Gasol. Last year with AD, Javale and Dwight, they always had some good shot blocking in the lineup

[lazybatman]

Bell is supposed to be waived. They need an athletic big who can block some shots. That was a strength last year, but now looks like a weakness.

They need a wing defender, but maybe McKinnie pans out and fills that role

Bro, Gasol is a 1000% better than Dwight and McGee combined on both ends, just based on his IQ. His availability is the big question after the last 3 years he's had.

McKinnie's a Hail Mary in an already weak rotation at the wings. And he's a bad shooter, so hoping he gets flipped for something.

Gasol is a better passer and shooter, but not the rim defender that those guys were. If they sign Boogie, it's another slower guy like Gasol. Last year with AD, Javale and Dwight, they always had some good shot blocking in the lineup

Shot blocking is glorious but Gasol's a much better defender than Dwight bro.

2019-20 Nerd stats for both of them -
Defensive Rating On/Off Court - Gasol -7.7; Dwight +1.4 That number went upto +7.4 during the playoffs for Dwight. That means we were giving away 1.4/7.4 more points per 100 possessions with Dwight on court, than with him off court.
Net Rating On/Off Court - Gasol 6.4; Dwight 0.1
DBPM - Gasol 2.1; Dwight 1.1
BPM - Gasol 1.6; Dwight 0.2

Dwight's Playoff Net Rating was.. (Hold your breath for this one) -10.2. He didn't win us the playoffs. He damn near lost it for us, had Vogel played him more.

Pelinka didn't give him an offer and Morey only hired him as an insurance for Embiid's health. He may not get any minutes in Philly unless Embiid gets injured.

IQ and shooting always age better than athleticism. The only thing Dwight does better than Gasol is cheerleading Good Riddance!

[Lakers24gm]

Players still available we can go after...

PG- Shabazz Napier, Tyler Johnson, Shaq Harrison

SG- Damyeon Dotson, Wayne Ellington, Langston Galloway

SF - Glenn Robinson III, Treveon Graham,

PF- Keef Morris, Jared Dudley, Rondaoe Hollis Jefferson,

C - Boogie Cousins, Thon Maker , Frank Kamisky, Chieak Diallo

[heezyo2o]

Shot blocking is glorious but Gasol's a much better defender to Dwight bro.

2019-20 Nerd stats for both of them -
Defensive Rating On/Off Court - Gasol -7.7; Dwight +1.4 That number went upto +7.4 during the playoffs for Dwight. That means we were giving away 1.4/7.4 more points per 100 possessions with Dwight on court, than with him off court.
Net Rating On/Off Court - Gasol 6.4; Dwight 0.1
DBPM - Gasol 2.1; Dwight 1.1
BPM - Gasol 1.6; Dwight 0.2

Dwight's Playoff Net Rating was.. (Hold your breath for this one) -10.2. He didn't win us the playoffs. He damn near lost it for us, had Vogel played him more.

Pelinka didn't give him an offer and Morey only hired him as an insurance for Embiid's health. He may not get any minutes in Philly unless Embiid gets injured.

IQ and shooting always age better than athleticism. The only thing Dwight does better than Gasol is cheerleading Good Riddance!

Where do you get your stats? Not sure about some of them. For playoff net rating, I see -0.3 for Dwight

Stats don't lie, but they don't always tell the whole story. When Dwight was starting, some of those games the other team got off to a hot start and lakers shot was cold. Things leveled off after the 1st quarter, but a lot of times Dwight wasn't on the floor anymore. Now was that all on Dwight or just the ebb and flow of the game and teams going on runs.

Gasol's advanced stats are still good, but a mobile athletic big would be still be useful against some teams and they should try to pick one up if they can.

[lazybatman]

Where do you get your stats? Not sure about some of them. For playoff net rating, I see -0.3 for Dwight

Stats don't lie, but they don't always tell the whole story. When Dwight was starting, some of those games the other team got off to a hot start and lakers shot was cold. Things leveled off after the 1st quarter, but a lot of times Dwight wasn't on the floor anymore. Now was that all on Dwight or just the ebb and flow of the game and teams going on runs.

Gasol's advanced stats are still good, but a mobile athletic big would be still be useful against some teams and they should try to pick one up if they can.

Mostly NBA.com and Basketbalreference -

https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612761/onoffcourt-summary/

https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612747/onoffcourt-summary/?Season=2019-20&SeasonType=Playoffs

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howardw01.html

Even on the eye test, Dwight's reckless fouling was costing us important turnovers and sometimes halting our offensive runs. He has no goto offensive moves, and his and McGee's defender clogs the paint so much that Lakers ended the season as dead last - 30th on drives per 100 possessions.

The league is at a point where I even look at a 26 year old 6th man of the year bad*ss funny because he's gonna clog the paint. 3 point shooting doesn't close tight games in the 4th quarter usually, but can open up tight games in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters to where they aren't a contest anymore. That's why I'm harping on Korver & Belinelli, even if they get only 10-15 mins combined.

As for getting stats to tell a different story, these are the most telling stats about defense IMO. However, Gasol simply played on a better defensive team, which helps. But despite his 26 mpg, he's amongst the top 2-3 Raptors' players, who played significant minutes.

[lazybatman]

This describes how I feel about Dwight and McGee rather well -

Read on Twitter

[Danny Darko]

This describes how I feel about Dwight and McGee rather well -

Read on Twitter

haha oh man

[heezyo2o]

This describes how I feel about Dwight and McGee rather well -

Read on Twitter

I'll give you that on Javale, but Dwight has a decently high IQ defensively. He wouldn't be able to a DPOY multiple times on athleticism alone. He knows how to position himself defensively and for rebounding, despite what the current numbers might say

[Danny Darko]

I think we will miss the energy and athleticism of Dwight on both offense and defense and the way it affects his teammates, however I'm pretty sure overall D will improve in the half court and passing on offense if Gasol stays healthy.

I do wonder if we have any big bodies in the D league hopper who could end up being a two way contract insurance policy for health though.

[lazybatman]

Gasol's main problem has been health over the past 3 years. He is considerably slower and limited in minutes now than he was in Memphis. I think he can be an A class journeyman though.

[lazybatman]

This describes how I feel about Dwight and McGee rather well -

Read on Twitter

I'll give you that on Javale, but Dwight has a decently high IQ defensively. He wouldn't be able to a DPOY multiple times on athleticism alone. He knows how to position himself defensively and for rebounding, despite what the current numbers might say

It's a joke bro. I think Dwight's positioning and post and P&R is still world class. Some good habits he's retained from the past, but I just hate everything else about him - his fouling being the worst.

[tamaraw08]

This describes how I feel about Dwight and McGee rather well -

Read on Twitter

I'll give you that on Javale, but Dwight has a decently high IQ defensively. He wouldn't be able to a DPOY multiple times on athleticism alone. He knows how to position himself defensively and for rebounding, despite what the current numbers might say

It's a joke bro. I think Dwight's positioning and post and P&R is still world class. Some good habits he's retained from the past, but I just hate everything else about him - his fouling being the worst.

Yes it was very frustrating for me too, the very obvious shoves underneath then he looks at the refs like he never touched them.
But the most annoying was the needless illegal screens. Dwight did great especially putting a body on Jokic, those offensive rebounds etc but I will nor miss those missed FTs too. Not a few also doubted if he’ll bring the same energy especially after failing to get a huge increase in pay.

[Beethoven]

Let's do this we are good let's go make a run for the 2nd championship !!

[heezyo2o]

Yes it was very frustrating for me too, the very obvious shoves underneath then he looks at the refs like he never touched them.

That's basically how he starts to box out and get position. He times it well with the shot attempt so if the guy doesn't flop, the ref usually lets it go

[stan francisco]

I think we will miss the energy and athleticism of Dwight on both offense and defense and the way it affects his teammates, however I'm pretty sure overall D will improve in the half court and passing on offense if Gasol stays healthy.

I do wonder if we have any big bodies in the D league hopper who could end up being a two way contract insurance policy for health though.

Kostas. Give him minutes all season and he’ll be beasting it come the post season. I have very high hopes.

[lazybatman]

Yes it was very frustrating for me too, the very obvious shoves underneath then he looks at the refs like he never touched them.

That's basically how he starts to box out and get position. He times it well with the shot attempt so if the guy doesn't flop, the ref usually lets it go

Water under the bridge now.. Cheers to Gasol and best wishes for a healthy season!

[lazybatman]

I think we will miss the energy and athleticism of Dwight on both offense and defense and the way it affects his teammates, however I'm pretty sure overall D will improve in the half court and passing on offense if Gasol stays healthy.

I do wonder if we have any big bodies in the D league hopper who could end up being a two way contract insurance policy for health though.

Kostas. Give him minutes all season and he’ll be beasting it come the post season. I have very high hopes.

You awfully high on Kostas Stan .. post some videos bro