A King and an Empire: The Official GOAT franchise Boss Angeles Lakers 2018-19 season
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G-Zeus
G-Zeus Chrystler...the brehsident
Waiting on Lakers to give them 8 picks and their future.
Flex Luger
Job Is Finished
Same bum that said they wasn’t answering the Lakers calls lol
Boonapalist
Superstar
I know Woj is doing his job and all, but I just wanna take off on this nikka. fukking Ainge flunky
I just want some damn consistency at this position
G-Zeus
G-Zeus Chrystler...the brehsident
? U got 4 right nowWe need a center
Not good enough.
JodyHiighroller
Superstar
No matter what happens with Anthony Davis, the Lakers need...
No matter what happens with Anthony Davis, the Lakers need to build a team
By Brian Kamenetzky 5h ago4
On Saturday, there was a blowup inside the Lakers locker room following their loss to Golden State that may or may not have been a thing in the grand scheme of things, but at least it indicated folks were on edge. Monday arrived with a fresh set of Anthony Davis Trade Scenarios (ADTS). On Tuesday, LaVar Ball loudly declared on Phoenix sports radio that (among other things) Lonzo Ball isn’t interested in playing for the Pelicans, Luke Walton turned Lonzo into a loser and is a terrible coach and that the guys around his son may not be all that good. That night, the Lakers lost by 42 points in Indiana, the most lopsided defeat of LeBron James’s career.
By my count, nine different guys had appeared in ADTS at that point.
Quantifying precisely how much the trade deadline rumor mill contributed to Tuesday’s loss is impossible, but forward Lance Stephenson was one of many Lakers acknowledging its impact. Again, nine players.
(All this before the Lakers made, like, an actual trade, and a solid one, at that.)
I get how the Lakers got to this point, why they’ve prioritized cap space over players and where they’re trying to go. I understand this is a messy and inelegant process, and while I might be skeptical on how all of this plays out, the Lakers need to run through the finish line.
But the exercise is not without cost. It’s meant multiple seasons of guys signed to one-year contracts, most of whom have their eye on other franchises because they know the Lakers can’t/won’t keep them. Those circumstances undercut a coach’s ability to build culture and buy-in. Young players are never quite sure whether they’re coming or going, and meanwhile player development is made more complicated because nobody quite knows what the young players are being groomed to do. Is it to score in bunches? Come off the bench? Evolve into a spot-up specialist?
Answers appear to change daily.
At some point, a sense of permanence and stability needs to take hold. 2019 must be the last trade deadline the Lakers enter where roster instability and disposability are overwhelming themes. We’ve seen that half-measures don’t work. It’s time for the Lakers to build a team.
Obviously, the Lakers are trying. They know LeBron’s presence puts them on a clock, and they intend on moving as quickly as possible. It’s the whole reason there are ADTS in the first place. They’re obviously pushing hard there and have max-level cap space this summer. There are many winning scenarios, and they aren’t pie in the sky.
But there’s also a very good chance things don’t go exactly as planned this offseason. The Lakers aren’t currently seen as clubhouse leaders for any of the top free agents. Major moves from the Clippers and Knicks have changed the calculus for New Orleans, making it even more beneficial to wait for the offseason before moving Davis. History (Paul George, Kawhi Leonard) shows players aren’t always successful forcing their way to a specific market via trade.
So what happens if the Lakers don’t land a big fish this summer and can’t convince Pelicans GM Dell Demps to send Davis to them? In lieu of home runs, will the front office be willing to try the more difficult work of stringing together a series of singles, doubles and triples? Do they sit on cap space for another year? Sign another batch of temporary players to go along with a young core, now a year older, still in a stunted form of development and knowing full well the organization and James are walking around doing this all day?
What does that mean for Walton, or anyone else the Lakers decide should coach the team next season?
On Tuesday, Rajon Rondo was asked whether guys are looking forward to getting past the deadline. “I don’t know if it’s that simple. It’s not like the trade deadline happens and then everything is going to be back to normal,” he said. “Guys are hearing it. It’s a different mentality to have obviously.”
Rondo, who has seen some things, makes a critical point. Assuming nothing big happens by Thursday at noon PT, it’s not like the shadow of a big trade goes away. It extends into the spring and then the summer, and as long as Davis is still a Pelican. If he’s moved somewhere else, the young guys don’t forget how aggressively they were shopped, and likely they just become names in a different rumor for a different star, anyway. Do they look at the organization in quite the same way? At LeBron? Put guys on the block enough times, and eventually they might just want to go. And in the meantime, having GM’s around the league constantly passing on your trade assets isn’t a good look. Maybe all of it matters, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s important to remember none of this takes place in a vacuum. Every action has a reaction.
The time is quickly coming for the Lakers to commit to guys they have, or commit to other guys they don’t. But they’ll need to pick a lane and assemble something real.
After multiple summers of kicking the can down the road, the Lakers have officially run out of pavement.
When LeBron James finally has the Lakers team he wants, will Luke Walton be coaching it? (Brian Spurlock / USA TODAY Sports)
Top photo of Lebron James, Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Ivica Zubac: Getty Images
Brian Kamenetzky is a contributor to The Athletic. He is co-host of ESPNLA 710's pre, halftime, and postgame Lakers broadcasts, and a weekly guest on Southern California Public Radio (KPCC). He has covered Los Angeles sports for over 10 years for ESPN.com and the LA Times, and was a contributor to ESPN The Magazine. Follow Brian on Twitter @https://twitter.com/KamBrothers.
Since we not getting AD, wonder who is?
and a special fukk you to Bron and Rich Paul for being so sloppy with this shyt.
And Rob needs to go if he's hindering free agents from coming here.
And don't get me started on my GOAT Earvin......being so thirsty for stars and getting duped by Bron and Rich into this sloppy ass charade for AD.
and a special fukk you to Bron and Rich Paul for being so sloppy with this shyt.
And Rob needs to go if he's hindering free agents from coming here.
And don't get me started on my GOAT Earvin......being so thirsty for stars and getting duped by Bron and Rich into this sloppy ass charade for AD.
Flex Luger
Job Is Finished
G-Zeus
G-Zeus Chrystler...the brehsident
Celtics....to spite Lakers....won't be for much either..compared.