A King and an Empire: The Official GOAT franchise Boss Angeles Lakers 2018-19 season

[Sccit]

Kuzma is just as bad at SF as C. If they can't get their defense straight with him at the center spot, they'll probably try some big lineups with Ball/Hart, Ingram, LeBron, Kuzma and McGee.

THATS MY FAVORITE LINEUP TBH

PG ZO
SG KINGRAM
SF LBJ
PF KUZ
C MCGEE

 

[Regular_P]

THATS MY FAVORITE LINEUP TBH

PG ZO
SG KINGRAM
SF LBJ
PF KUZ
C MCGEE

I worry about Ingram in that lineup. At his size, I don't think it's ideal for him to be chasing guards around screens. Definitely interested to see how it works though.

 

[Sccit]

I worry about Ingram in that lineup. At his size, I don't think it's ideal for him to be chasing guards around screens. Definitely interested to see how it works though.

HE’S AGILE AND SWIFT FOR HIS SIZE

DONT FORGET, HE WAS PLAYIN A LOT OF PG THESE PAST COUPLE SEASONS

 

[Regular_P]

HE’S AGILE AND SWIFT FOR HIS SIZE

DONT FORGET, HE WAS PLAYIN A LOT OF PG THESE PAST COUPLE SEASONS

I know, but he can get hung up on screens. If he can pull it off though...

 

[RAX 010]

Showtime!

 

[Professor Emeritus]

First of all, I don't think people are gonna argue against a trade for AD or someone of that level, but those guys are rarely available.

There are going to be nice players available - guys have been moving fast recently. Just in the last year or so we've seen all-stars like Kyrie, Kawhi, Blake Griffin, Butler, PG13, Oladipo, IT, CP3 and Cousins all get traded, you had guys like Love and Kemba and DeAndre Jordan on the trading block too. Even a next-tier player like a Zach LaVine, Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo, or Avery Bradley could be considered a big pickup on the right team.

Who might be on the table this year? I can imagine scenarios where Anthony Davis, Gasol, Conley, Lowry, Lilliard, Kemba, McCollum, Whiteside, Beal, Butler, or Vucivic get traded.

So just throwing around the name of guys like Lonzo, and Kuzma and that they should be traded because they don't look good in some preseason games is just ridiculous melodrama.

Watches 2 preseason games and is an expert on the Lakers

The dumb part of those comments is making up the idea that I've come up with this opinion based solely on two preseason games.

You even mention Lonzo despite the fact that he hasn't even played in preseason games.

Even the other comments in this thread confirm my premise. Part of the problem is that some of ya'all don't seem to understand why you make trades.

You don't trade players cause they're bad. In that case all you're likely to get back is another bad player. You trade players when they're worth more to someone else than they're worth to you, so you can get back a player that's worth more to you than they're worth to the team you got them from.

Kuzma is fine. The problem starts when fans/coaches try to make him something he's not. It's pretty simple:

On a good/great team he's a good 6th man or stopgap starter.
On a bad team he's a good stretch 4 starter.

He's gonna be playing five during the season too. I said this when they signed LeBron and everybody thought I was buggin'. LeBron is gonna get most of the minutes at the four. If Kuzma doesn't play the five off the bench, he's gonna get 15 minutes a night.

Kuzma is just as bad at SF as C. If they can't get their defense straight with him at the center spot, they'll probably try some big lineups with Ball/Hart, Ingram, LeBron, Kuzma and McGee.

All of this is spot on. Kuzma's ideal worth is as a scoring stretch four starting on a bad-to-mediocre team. On the Lakers he doesn't make sense when all their best lineups already include Ingram, LeBron, and guards who like to handle the ball. Kuzma has some elite iso skills, and this team doesn't need a four with elite iso skills. But other teams will give away something nice to get a guy who averaged 16ppg in his first season with great iso skills, solid 3pt shooting, a good work ethic and a super-cheap rookie contract. Why not start looking for that while his value is still at its peak, rather than when it becomes devalued from only getting 15 minutes/night or looking bad in failed experiments at the 5 or trying to play with Rondo/Ingram/LeBron all on the court at the same time?

This is similar to when I was talking about the Clippers needing to move CP3 and Griffin during the 2016/17 season or the Cavs needing to flip IT at the very first chance they got. The longer you hold onto players who are better off somewhere else, the more you risk not getting full value for those players. Kuzma's problem isn't that he's a bad player, the problem is that it's easy to project that he isn't an ideal player for what the Lakers are doing, and if you can have any confidence in that determination then it pays off to act on your evaluation when his value is still high.

 

[#1 pick]

Great post @Rhakim

 

[Trojan 24]

There are going to be nice players available - guys have been moving fast recently. Just in the last year or so we've seen all-stars like Kyrie, Kawhi, Blake Griffin, Butler, PG13, Oladipo, IT, CP3 and Cousins all get traded, you had guys like Love and Kemba and DeAndre Jordan on the trading block too. Even a next-tier player like a Zach LaVine, Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo, or Avery Bradley could be considered a big pickup on the right team.

Who might be on the table this year? I can imagine scenarios where Anthony Davis, Gasol, Conley, Lowry, Lilliard, Kemba, McCollum, Whiteside, Beal, Butler, or Vucivic get traded.






The dumb part of those comments is making up the idea that I've come up with this opinion based solely on two preseason games.

Even the other comments in this thread confirm my premise. Part of the problem is that some of ya'all don't seem to understand why you make trades.

You don't trade players cause they're bad. In that case all you're likely to get back is another bad player. You trade players when they're worth more to someone else than they're worth to you, so you can get back a player that's worth more to you than they're worth to the team you got them from.






All of this is spot on. Kuzma's ideal worth is as a scoring stretch four starting on a bad-to-mediocre team. On the Lakers he doesn't make sense when all their best lineups already include Ingram, LeBron, and guards who like to handle the ball. Kuzma has some elite iso skills, and this team doesn't need a four with elite iso skills. But other teams will give away something nice to get a guy who averaged 16ppg in his first season with great iso skills, solid 3pt shooting, a good work ethic and a super-cheap rookie contract. Why not start looking for that while his value is still at its peak, rather than when it becomes devalued from only getting 15 minutes/night or looking bad in failed experiments at the 5 or trying to play with Rondo/Ingram/LeBron all on the court at the same time?

This is similar to when I was talking about the Clippers needing to move CP3 and Griffin during the 2016/17 season or the Cavs needing to flip IT at the very first chance they got. The longer you hold onto players who are better off somewhere else, the more you risk not getting full value for those players. Kuzma's problem isn't that he's a bad player, the problem is that it's easy to project that he isn't an ideal player for what the Lakers are doing, and if you can have any confidence in that determination then it pays off to act on your evaluation when his value is still high.

Wait till Zo gets back bruh, Kuz and Zo have a great connection. How about we watch that play out and let everyone get in groove

We building, Bron ain't getting a ring this year.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Wait till Zo gets back bruh, Kuz and Zo have a great connection. How about we watch that play out and let everyone get in groove

We building, Bron ain't getting a ring this year.

Nah, there's no chance of the Lakers getting a ring this year, they're still two moves away. I just think they would be advantaged to make the first move ASAP if the opportunity arises, rather than waiting until someone knows they're desperate. Not saying you have to dump him, but definitely worth dangling him.

Even if you banish Lance, Beasley, KCP, and Moe to the 2nd unit entirely, how are Lonzo and Kuzma going to get into a groove on the same squad with LeBron, Ingram, Rondo, and Hart? That's six players squeezed into four slots and they all want the ball. And even if he did work out this year, where would he fit when the Lakers sign another 1st-tier free agent in the offseason next year?

I think Lonzo and Kuzma should exploit their great connection for New Orleans.

 

[ALonelyDad]

Kuzma's issue is that he will have to learn how to play a new role. Last year, he was one of the main guys handling the ball and had a green light. He doesn't have that this year and is overthinking. He is not even taking normal shots and missing, he is taking awkward/forced shots.

Moving him just to move him would be stupid though because he's on a great contract and is a great asset. He can still be a great 6th man, but Lakers need to have more defined roles coming off the bench. Right now it's 5 guys who all want to shoot and need the ball.

Eventually Lakers will need to try and move KCP/Beasly/Zubac and get a guy who just gets rebounds.

 

[camer999]

Kuzma's issue is that he will have to learn how to play a new role. Last year, he was one of the main guys handling the ball and had a green light. He doesn't have that this year and is overthinking. He is not even taking normal shots and missing, he is taking awkward/forced shots.

Moving him just to move him would be stupid though because he's on a great contract and is a great asset. He can still be a great 6th man, but Lakers need to have more defined roles coming off the bench. Right now it's 5 guys who all want to shoot and need the ball.

Eventually Lakers will need to try and move KCP/Beasly/Zubac and get a guy who just gets rebounds.

I'm upset we didn't get Dwight. Dwight/mcgee would've been perfect. Maybe if the wiz do bad enough

 

[Trojan 24]

Kuzma's issue is that he will have to learn how to play a new role. Last year, he was one of the main guys handling the ball and had a green light. He doesn't have that this year and is overthinking. He is not even taking normal shots and missing, he is taking awkward/forced shots.

Moving him just to move him would be stupid though because he's on a great contract and is a great asset. He can still be a great 6th man, but Lakers need to have more defined roles coming off the bench. Right now it's 5 guys who all want to shoot and need the ball.

Eventually Lakers will need to try and move KCP/Beasly/Zubac and get a guy who just gets rebounds.

If Zo comes back playing well, Rondo has to go as well. There's just no room for 3 primary ball handlers .I'd much rather have Ingram slide into that role for a couple minutes when needed

 

[ALonelyDad]

I'm upset we didn't get Dwight. Dwight/mcgee would've been perfect. Maybe if the wiz do bad enough

Dwight has been a locker room issue at every stop, don't think Lakers are trying to deal with that. Guys like Rondo would throw hands with Dwight the moment he starts smiling while they are losing. Lakers should have brought back Brook Lopez, Lopez might be slow but the guy can shoot 3s and played team ball. His defense was okay too. He basically signed for free with the Bucks.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Kuzma's issue is that he will have to learn how to play a new role. Last year, he was one of the main guys handling the ball and had a green light. He doesn't have that this year and is overthinking. He is not even taking normal shots and missing, he is taking awkward/forced shots.

Moving him just to move him would be stupid though because he's on a great contract and is a great asset. He can still be a great 6th man, but Lakers need to have more defined roles coming off the bench. Right now it's 5 guys who all want to shoot and need the ball.

Why is it stupid to move a guy on a great asset with a great contract if he's not the player your team needs? Everyone else in the league knows that he's a great asset with a great contract too, which means that you can get something GOOD for him. The arguments you're giving for keeping him are the EXACT reasons he's a good trade asset, because those attributes are valuable to every team.

You're stuck in the fallacy that you should only move bad assets. You don't move bad players, you move players who will get you more than they're worth to you.

Eventually Lakers will need to try and move KCP/Beasly/Zubac and get a guy who just gets rebounds.

But those aren't assets. Why would the Lakers get something good for a non-asset? You're looking at this wrong.

And the Lakers shouldn't get any rebounder unless he can either protect the rim or hit threes too.

Dwight has been a locker room issue at every stop, don't think Lakers are trying to deal with that. Guys like Rondo would throw hands with Dwight the moment he starts smiling while they are losing. Lakers should have brought back Brook Lopez, Lopez might be slow but the guy can shoot 3s and played team ball. His defense was okay too. He basically signed for free with the Bucks.

Does anyone actually know why the Lakers didn't keep Lopez? That move kinda confused me.

 

[10bandz]

Nah, there's no chance of the Lakers getting a ring this year, they're still two moves away. I just think they would be advantaged to make the first move ASAP if the opportunity arises, rather than waiting until someone knows they're desperate. Not saying you have to dump him, but definitely worth dangling him.

Even if you banish Lance, Beasley, KCP, and Moe to the 2nd unit entirely, how are Lonzo and Kuzma going to get into a groove on the same squad with LeBron, Ingram, Rondo, and Hart? That's six players squeezed into four slots and they all want the ball. And even if he did work out this year, where would he fit when the Lakers sign another 1st-tier free agent in the offseason next year?

I think Lonzo and Kuzma should exploit their great connection for New Orleans.

man shut the fukk up already.....we supposed to trade Lonzo because we have 32 year old Rondo on a 1 year deal. How is Zo gonna get in a groove? Zo is going to be starting when he gets back from injury, you act like he's barely going to get any playing time. Rondo was brought in to make Zo better not to replace him. And if the Lakers sign a first tier FA like Kawhi, how would Zo not be able to fit in? You talking about Hart wants the ball like that means shyt....

We supposed to give up on a PG who could start for us for 10 years because of Rondo


Go make a separate thread for your bron agenda essays