Business Decisions

And the deal has been made.

I had this in the drafts, but I figured to wait until the trade was made. So, the Raiders have shipped out Davante Adams to the Jets in exchange for a conditional 3rd round pick that could be a 2nd rounder. Adams has made it clear that he was unhappy with the situation on the Raiders and wanted out these past couple weeks. He was out with a "hamstring injury". But we all see through that facade that the Raiders were working to ship him out.

Quite frankly, I don't blame Adams for wanting out. This was a classic example of this team selling a bold face lie to a star player and unfortunately, he bought in hook, line, and sinker. Davante Adams was brought in for two reasons and two reasons only: 1) to play with his old college buddy, Derek Carr and 2) to elevate a Raiders team that went 10-7 and made the playoffs a season ago.

Both of those reasons were dismantled bit by bit thanks to the genius Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler. They ran Carr out of town with no structured plan in place to replace him at QB and slowly, but surely ruined that same squad, not putting them in position to succeed. 

When you see your homeboy who gave his life to the organization he played for be treated like crap under the new regime and then playing with downgrades like Jimmy G, Gardner Minshew, and AOC, it's understandable why Adams wants out of this mess. It also doesn't help that he's playing under a proven failure of an OC in Luke Getsy and playing behind a broken offense with no O-Line or stable running game. His business decision in showing a lack of effort against the Panthers in Week 3 was a message sent and the Raiders received it loud and clear.

Adams had two preferred destinations: the Saints and the Jets. Both of those scenarios made sense when you see who's playing at QB between both teams: his old friend Derek Carr or Aaron Rodgers, whom Adams developed quite a rapport with in Green Bay. The latter had more flexibility and the Jets are more under pressure to please Rodgers after they canned Robert Saleh last week. Adams joins an offensive unit with lots of potential with young pieces like Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson. 

For the Raiders, this is a sign of another rebuild. Though it's clear they found their No. 1 receiver of the future in Brock Bowers. So, they have at least something to build around. We just have to bear the QB play this season. Between watching Minshew or AOC at QB, it's like choosing whether to eat bull sh*t or horse sh*t. Both are awful in their own right. It would be best the Raiders to tank for a high draft pick the rest of the season to land them a QB because they definitely missed out on decent prospects this year. Season's over anyway.

All in all, this presents two mutually exclusive conclusions: Davante Adams is what the Raiders don't need and the Raiders are what Davante Adams doesn't need. The mutual parting between the two was inevitable. 

The Worst Timeline

It was a rough couple weeks to be a Lakers fan. I can tell you that. 

I'm going to be 100% transparent, I did not care about this season at all. I slept walk throughout the NBA regular season as the Lakers bore me with their inconsistent play. But hey, they won the inaugural NBA Cup, right? 

But, the playoffs rolled around and I took the initiative to pay attention a bit more. Clearly, the Lakers were easily dispatched by the Nuggets again, I wasn't surprised. I knew the outcome. If we can't stop Jamal Murray, the season is over. And he burned us...twice...at the buzzer.

I watched the playoffs a bit more, got up to the point of the NBA Finals. Once the Boston Celtics went up 3-0 over the Dallas Mavericks, I decided to watch no more. I knew the outcome was inevitable. Boston would one up on us yet again for the most NBA Championships.

I can only look back at the previous years the Lakers have squandered every opportunity to surpass those leprechauns from the East. After winning the 2020 championship (still disputed to this day), they had every chance to fully return to glory. And each time, they somehow fumble the bag year after year since they acquired LeBron James and Anthony Davis. 

This month, it was L after L for the Lakers this offseason. First, their surprise top coaching candidate, UConn's Dan Hurley, spurned them to stay out East in hopes to chase after a 3-peat in the collegiate ranks. An 11th hour surprise ignited some hope for Laker fans. The hope that they can snag a coach that may not have NBA experience, but has experience coaching nonetheless, over another experimental hire like JJ Redick. Turns out, it was never meant to be. 

There's pros and cons from picking a coach from the college ranks. They can either be Brad Stevens levels of great or they can be Rick Pitino / John Calipari levels of awful. But the Lakers believed Hurley was the guy that could be their Brad Stevens: a strategic coach and a proven program builder. But the difference is he has a personality that is somewhat over the top, but you just can't help but love his passion on the sidelines. The Lakers were prepared to give him a lucrative offer to make him one of the highest paid coaches in the NBA. And it's no secret Hurley wanted to try his luck on the NBA level. What better way with one of the prestigious organizations?

The expectation was that they were going to offer Dan Hurley $100M for six years. In reality, they only offered him $70M for six years. Lowballing at its finest. But I understand Hurley's decision to stay. He gets a shot to make history for a 3-peat with UConn. Not to mention, the Lakers coaching position is heavily scrutinized. When you coach the best player in the world, a legendary organization, you are under a heavy microscope. But still, this team was prepared to break the bank for him. And the Lakers being the cheap organization they are, pitched a "strong" proposal for Hurley. But they failed to make the money work. Can somebody tell this team, whatever money they pay the coach doesn't go toward the cap? And let me guess their pitch: we're the Lakers? It's LA? We have 17 championships and an IST (in-season tournament) trophy?

Then, sad news broke last Wednesday with the passing of the Logo, "Mr. Clutch", Jerry West. He was already a Laker great as a player. But he was even better as an executive, laying down the foundations of the Showtime dynasty in the 80s and later the Kobe-Shaq dynasty in the early 2000s. You can even make the argument he helped produced the late 2000s roster as well by gifting them Pau Gasol.

Perhaps the tragic part of Mr. West's passing is that he and the Laker organization were at odds with each other, especially with the Buss family. This organization had many years to mend fences with him and bring him back in a front office role. Even Kobe was demanding his return way back then! But too many times, they passed up on hiring him in an executive/consultant role. How the Lakers honored him after his passing was weak. When the Clippers offered a more sentimental statement, you know it's levels of bad. It's unfortunate fences will never be mended. At least he didn't have to see the Celtics win another title as many would say.

Because we have to, sitting through another Celtics finals appearance and championship win. Where do I begin? They showed the Lakers how long-term building is done. The Celtics were a rebuild project 11 years in the making and it all capped off with the franchise's 18th title in their domination over the Dallas Mavericks. Their road to the championship was highly questionable. But it is no excuse to discredit how they got there. They faced what's in front of them and did what they were expected to do.

I've always argued in the past that the Lakers should follow the same blueprint of their rival as well as other well-run organizations like the Spurs or *cough* the Warriors: build through the draft, develop the core, sign veteran players that fit, make the hard decisions when the team feels that it's ready to compete for a championship. But we are fickle and impatient to the core. And this results in too many short sighted results in an attempt to win now. Chase everybody's superstars is the goal, no matter the cost. And it is a blueprint that is very archaic in today's NBA, especially with the new CBA looming that emphasizes on teams to build from the ground up and develop young players.

The thing about this is the Lakers are stuck to this philosophy that they can't get themselves out of. Since the waning days of Kobe Bryant's career, it was always about chasing the stars. And year after year, they swing for the fences and they miss badly on players in their prime. However, it's a different story when they successfully add stars to their roster...when they're past their prime. They draft really promising young players, but are too impatient to develop them because they're too impatient and we're too impatient. I mean could you imagine if you put today's Laker fans in 1996? They'll be calling for Kobe's head, a rookie Kobe I might add, to be traded after firing 3 air balls against Utah. 

There is no process to follow, no long-term plan in place for this organization. They whiffed on a promising coach. They never made amends with a legend of their own. They sit there as they watch their biggest rival, the rival they desired to chase, one up them again for most championships. Honestly, the cherry on top for this organization is if they just hire JJ Redick as coach and draft Bronny James all to please LeBron. If LeBron does the funniest thing and leave the Lakers via free agency this offseason, I wouldn't be surprised. You can't "out-nepotism" the biggest Nepo baby of all no matter how much nepotism the Lakers developed over the years. We are truly living in the worst timeline here. The Lakers are making headlines, but it's all for the wrong reasons.

Who's to blame? Maybe it's Jeanie for setting up unrealistic expectations. Maybe it's Rob not putting together strong rosters and hiring the right coach. Maybe it's the Rambis family that keeps giving bad advices from the shadows. Maybe it's LeBron for putting this once proud organization in a choke hold. Or maybe it's us, the Laker fans for expecting too much, being the loudest voices in the room.

But hey, at the end of day, it's just basketball, right?

The Superteam

Superteams, you either hate them or love them. They are a coveted staple in the modern NBA. Star players from other teams conglomerate with each other to team up and play on one team for the ultimate goal of dominating the league and above all, winning a championship. There’s a reason why superteams frequently happen in today’s NBA. All-Star players are constantly frustrated that the organizations they play for couldn’t put together a competitive and competent roster around them. So they do what they can to get themselves out of their terrible situation and sign with a title-contending team.

Almost all of the time, superteams that are established in the NBA successfully, subsequently complete their objective in winning an NBA championship. The rules are simple when establishing a superteam: gut the future and maximize the window of opportunity presented. However, building a superteam is not as simple. It’s easy on the outside to build a Fantasy Basketball / NBA 2K-esque lineup. What’s much harder is figuring out how three or four NBA Superstars can mesh together on one team. Can such stars buy-in to their new system and sacrifice stats they put up for the betterment of the team? And most importantly, how do you fill out the roster and what players can be complementary pieces around this band of superstars on one team? Such is the methodology when formulating a dominant superteam.

Despite the success some superteams have garnered in recent memory, one prestigious franchise couldn’t seem to solve the formula of building the almighty superteam. Enter the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have experienced decades of success, winning 17 titles out of 33 NBA Final appearances, and have established a reputation of an organization every superstar wants to play for. The latter is at least what they think in their minds. There’s this notion within this illustrious organization that they can buy and poach superstars from other teams and put them together without considering the consequences.

After this shitshow of a season, it goes to show that the Lakers are still absolutely clueless when it comes to building the modern NBA superteam. Let’s rewind back to almost 10 years ago. The Lakers wanted to build a superteam to rival the Miami Heat lead by the star power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They attempted to trade for Chris Paul, which was infamously vetoed by David Stern and the 29 other owners who owned the New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans). Each and every one of those owners saw through the Lakers’ plans that they wanted to pair a trio of Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard. The following season, the Lakers attempted their construction of a superteam once again. Alternatively, they landed Steve Nash and still landed the big man they coveted in Dwight Howard. Following the free agent signing of Antawn Jamison, the Lakers now consisted of six NBA All-Stars. They looked the part of a superteam.

But there was one problem: this superteam that was built was old, slow, and couldn’t figure out a way to play together. They began a season of great expectations flat. Players missed games in and out, leading to lack of chemistry building. They were learning a new system (no, two systems) on the fly. As the season progressed down the stretch, the team showed signs that they were finally figuring things out, but it was too little too late and it came at the ultimate price of a significant injury to a most loyal Laker.

Here we are again, nearly 10 years later.

Following a gutless first round exit to the upstart Phoenix Suns, the Lakers knew they had to retool the roster. Because in the retrospect of the 2020-21 NBA Season, Laker basketball with Anthony Davis and LeBron James sitting on the sidelines was not fun to see. The players they brought in / retained struggled to step up and help the team right the ship when the going got tough. Secondly, even though the team was once again Top 5 in defensive rating, the offensive side of the ball was where they struggled the most. That was exposed in the first round matchup against Phoenix where the Suns shot the daylights from beyond the arc while the Lakers couldn’t hit a three even if their life depended on it.

So, the biggest need of the Lakers was this: not only did they need defenders, but they needed some floor spacers that could shoot and at least have opposite teams account for the perimeter threat the Laker could have, which they lacked. At first, the Lakers aimed their crosshairs at the Sacramento Kings’ sharpshooter, Buddy Hield. As inconsistent of a scorer he was, Buddy Hield would at least give the Lakers a threat from beyond the arc. You double AD or LeBron, you were gonna have a wide open 40% 3-point shooter open. The Lakers had a deal in place to land Buddy Hield.

Then the Washington Wizards intercepted the call and said to the Lakers “Russell Westbrook wants to play with you and you only. We can’t move him anywhere else.” Knowing the Lakers and their insatiable obsession to land superstars, they accepted the trade offer, giving away Kyle Kuzma, KCP, Montrezl Harrell, and a late first round pick in this year’s NBA draft to the Wizards for the hometown, LA-bound All-Star, Mr. “Triple Double”, Russell Westbrook.

With the acquisition of Westbrook, the Lakers have their coveted Big 3 that could rival that of the Brooklyn Nets. They have a guy who is durable, competitive, and in the case LeBron and AD miss games, they have a guy who can step into that number one option. It’s the perfect Hollywood story waiting to written: a superstar comes home to win a championship with one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. Fairy tales and fables aside, it lacked the answer to the Lakers biggest need in question:

HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS TEAM GONNA SPACE THE DAMN FLOOR?!?!?

You have three All-Star players who could attack the paint, but are not known to rely on 3-point shooting. This team would’ve worked 10+ years ago when teams still emphasized on dominating in the paint and attacking the rim at will. But in today’s league, players can pull up from 30 feet from three whenever. The Lakers didn’t even build their full roster yet, but the fit of LeBron, Westbrook, and AD was already in question from the get go. Now, the Lakers truly need to get a whole lot of 3&D players.

They continue to ignore the latter all in the objective of chasing names and not even considering the fit. Dwight Howard is available, let’s bring him back. Carmelo Anthony is a free agent? Sign him! Rajon Rondo? Bring him back. DeAndre Jordan? Sure! And kick Marc Gasol to the curb while you’re at it. On top of that, the Lakers were creating their own multiverse of madness, bringing some noteworthy ex-Lakers back such as Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, and Kent Bazemore.

With their new-look roster, the Lakers had 7 All-Stars (8 if you count Isaiah Thomas’ 10-day cameo appearance in December, another ex-Laker to tack on) and especially had 4 players who were nominated to the NBA’s 75^th Anniversary team. There’s another problem behind this poorly-constructed “superteam”.

THIS TEAM IS OLD AND SLOW!

Sure experience is key, but the older guys don’t have the legs anymore to keep up with some teams. The Lakers repeated the same mistake as 2012-13 when they signed one too many names, names that were once All-Stars, but are clearly past their prime. This rendition took it to a whole new level. No, they kicked it into overdrive signing one too many players. Some of them can still go don’t get me wrong, but others are clearly past their expiration date in the league. Speaking of Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan, now the Lakers don’t have any “stretch 5” and their lack of spacing especially became more magnified.

Still, with these many old names on one roster, the 2021-22 Lakers were picked by many as the favorites to represent the West and meet the Nets in the NBA Finals. Despite all the negative connotations, there are some that believed in this roster. No one more than LeBron James himself. LeBron insists on his haters and critics to “keep that same energy.” And everyone outside of the Laker brass was hoping for this “superteam” to fall flat on its face.

And failed they did this season. The 2012-13 Lakers have been dethroned from being the worst superteam the Lakers ever built. This team was a bubble ready to burst despite being bandaged and all patched up with Elmer’s Glue Stick. For two straight years, the Lakers were a top 5 in defensive rating. This year? They were one of the worst. Teams were able to shoot the daylights out against this team and attack the basket at will. That’s one of the drawbacks of having an old and slow team and the Lakers surely paid the price because there’s no such thing for teams to “respect their elders” when on an NBA court.

You cannot just look at the amount of losses the Lakers piled up during this season, but you need to deep dive into the teams they lost against. They lost twice against an Oklahoma City Thunder team in full tank mode. They lost to a Durant-less, Irving-less Nets team on Christmas Day (while almost at full strength). They lose to a Portland Trail Blazers skeleton crew who pretty much blew up their own team and retooled their roster with G-leaguers and players who are itching for a 2^nd chance in the NBA. They blow a lead against another tank job in the Houston Rockets. They had the most gutless, spineless home loss against a Pelicans team that went from lottery hopeful to play-in / playoff contender. And to add more insult to injury, they get swept by the Clippers. No Paul George. No Kawhi Leonard. And they still get swept by their crosstown rival despite the talent discrepancy on paper.

This team can cry that they were not healthy all they want. But what’s inexcusable was the lack of effort this team put in night in and night out. As if having all of those big names would hinder the team because every man was too egotistical to sacrifice themselves for the greater part of the team. Who would’ve thought? This team would rather work on taking shots at the media calling out their series of failures rather than working it out to turn this trainwreck of a season around.

The blame game has started and many Laker fans are currently playing this game. Person A should get most of the blame. No, it’s person B that should be blamed. To me, it’s a combination of people and personnel that need to be blamed on why this season went sideways. Let’s start with the main culprit who everyone is accusing.

Frank Vogel. When it is all said and done, the Lakers were going to part ways with Vogel just two years after coaching the team to a championship. Let’s get one thing here: Vogel is a defensive-minded coach. As mentioned, in the first two years Vogel was coaching this team, the Lakers were a top 5 team in defensive rating. It’s unfortunate that this roster he inherited consists of players that show minimal defensive effort or lack thereof. Not to mention, the injury bug biting LeBron James and their defensive anchor Anthony Davis these last two years, hampered this team into becoming something more from a defensive standpoint. That’s in defense of Vogel. Now why does he deserve some blame? Rotations were mediocre. The man cracked a whole lot of starting lineup combinations throughout the season like he was playing Russian roulette. His offensive system was very anemic. Especially when the Lakers were in a win / tie possession, he constantly drew up some of the worst offensive plays during a timeout. Though, he’s not at fault for the execution as players would just turn the ball over, take an ill-advised shot, or make an unnecessary extra play over the original play when it was there for them for the taking. Regardless, it’s a running gag in sports: when things go south, blame the coach. Without Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins breathing down his neck like the last two years, Vogel showed the coach that he is: a coach that is good when the pieces that fit his system are in place and a mediocre one when they’re not.

Let’s dive further down the list shall we? Rob Pelinka, what kind of roster-building was this? You saw how the Suns dismantled the Lakers and you addressed it specifically in your exit interview last year: the Lakers need to have floor spacers and shooters. The roster you built addressed everything but that. Trading Westbrook and on top of that signing guys like DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo? You essentially built a team consisting of non-shooters hoping to go back to the formula that won you the 2020 championship. Oh you did sign some shooters? Wayne Ellington? I forgot he was on the roster. Kent Bazemore? I forgot about him too. Kendrick Nunn? LOL. Trevor Ariza? Welcome back, but too little too late. The biggest position in need when you signed everyone was a young 3&D wing and you failed to address that. At least you had the saving graces of adding Stanley Johnson by December. Oh and Malik Monk was probably your best FA signing in retrospect. Too bad you might lose him this offseason because another team will likely poach him for more money than the Lakers could offer. To put it, Pelinka dropped the ball in reloading this roster from last year. Last year’s team was younger on paper, but lacked the experience and championship mettle. He nullified it this year, signing / acquiring more proven veterans, but added one too many to construct without question, the oldest team in the league this season. I’m not gonna fall to Magic Johnson’s BS that Pelinka could’ve re-signed Alex Caruso, signed DeMar Derozan, and traded for Hield. He didn’t even consider that the Lakers would trigger a hard cap. Still, Pelinka’s methodology of building this roster lacked any meaning or merit other than just “let’s build a superteam to compete with the Nets.”

Now, let’s get to the superteam itself. You wanna know why the 2012-13 Lakers didn’t have much of an epic fail like this team? Back in the day, when they knew they needed to turn it around, they made the effort to adjust their roles. Kobe Bryant facilitated more and set up teammates in positions to get them involved. Steve Nash had to be relegated to a spot-up shooter given his age and accepted that role. Pau Gasol had to be relegated to a stretch-4 (actually helped extended his NBA career in the long-run) to free up Dwight Howard to do his typical damage in the paint (albeit with a bad back). It took Pau awhile to accept his role, but he did anyway to give the team a chance. The 2021-22 Lakers? Nobody wanted to step in and refine their roles. A full 82-game season (+6 preseason games) and this team just couldn’t figure it out and adjust. Russell Westbrook especially struggled to find his identity in this team and his weakness as a low IQ BBall player were magnified under the spotlight of the LA sports media. It was obvious that he lost a step or two this season. When the home crowd is yelling at you not to shoot, you’ve got underlying problems. The marriage between Westbrook and the Lakers was so bad that they tried to move him by midseason and now rumors are floating that he may be moved to teams like Charlotte or Indiana by this offseason.   Anthony Davis, let’s face facts; the injuries he suffered were freak accidents. Players crashed into his knee. He landed awkwardly, landing on his tip-toe and rolling his ankle. He missed significant time due to unfortunate circumstances. But AD does have a reputation of being injury-prone. And that tag certainly didn’t help his case. This season eventually turned into a LeBron chasing records season.

A lot of the wins the Lakers notched this season, they needed to rely on the high-end talent of LeBron to bail them out, a 37 year old LeBron might I add. In order for the Lakers to stay in the play-in race, they needed LeBron to shatter every NBA record just to give them a chance. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has to be shaking in his boots, knowing that his unparalleled run as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer may be numbered. Honestly, the mileage that this man logged all season, you were concerned he was going to suffer the same unfortunate fate that Kobe did with his Achilles. But the man was just inhuman. Only a tweaked ankle and some knee soreness could stop him and that’s what just happened. As we marvel at this man’s greatness, we’ve come into one agreement: he shouldn’t have any business carrying a team, especially at this age. But the most complicating issue is this no matter if you believe otherwise, he definitely has a say in the rosters that are built around him. That goes with reputation since the day he took his talents to South Beach. A stacked roster around him is good on paper. But when it fails, his fans complain on his behalf that he doesn’t have any help and he’s already looking to bolt to another title-contending team. The team wins because of Bron. But when it loses, it’s everybody’s fault but him. You can’t deny that he had some say in bringing Westbrook in when there are reports that he and AD talked to Westbrook about teaming up before the trade happened. This is the roster he wanted and paid the ultimate price of shouldering the burden of carrying the team yet again.

The Lakers are at an impasse. They have purposefully sabotaged the window that was presented to them when they signed LeBron in 2018 and traded for AD the following year. Since the bubble championship, everything has gone downhill in a hurry. And you know who has to look in the mirror? It’s the organization themselves. A proclaimed “superteam” is not a true “superteam” when the pieces don’t fit. The Lakers consider the big names chasing old glory, but don’t even consider the fit and logic if you add said names to the roster. That’s the underlying problem to why they failed twice to build the proper modern NBA superteam in the span of nearly 10 years. And it doesn’t help that this organization refuses to seek outside help for advice. They’d rather keep it in-house, which means if you worked / played for the Lakers before, they will consider you over other proven candidates. We’re lucky to have seen one more championship out of this organization even if it is in a bubble. They are doomed for irrelevancy once again courtesy of building “the superteam".

A Post-Mortem of the 2021-22 Raiders

Well, I'll be dammed. 

This season of the Las Vegas Raiders will definitely go down as one for the books. In the midst of the longest NFL season marked by controversy, tragedy, and adversity, the Raiders found a way to "just win baby". Be it through mental fortitude or through superstition such a flip of a coin, they finished their 2021 season at 10-7 and made the playoffs only to lose in the Wild Card to the Cincinnati Bengals.

So, how did the Raiders make it this far? Honestly, there was not much expectation for this team heading to this season other than the fact that it's just a matter we see improvement with this team. But two impressive wins to start against the Baltimore Ravens in OT and Pittsburgh Steelers initially changed our perception of this team. The revamped defense under Gus Bradley looked legit. Derek Carr was playing at an MVP-level, something we haven't seen since 2016 in spite of a suspect O-line. And it seemed that coach Jon Gruden was finally righting the ship. 

With another win OT against the Dolphins and a loss against the Chargers on a Monday Night game, the Raiders were riding strong with a 3-1 start. Then after that, the drama descends. Jon Gruden was in hot water after the NFL probed an investigation over leaked emails from the Washington Football Team organization where Gruden wrote some homophobic and racial slurs in his emails. With the distractions surrounding that controversy and an uneasy loss to the Chicago Bears after, Gruden resigned as head coach. Assistant Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, Rich Bisaccia took over.

Following the coaching change, the Raiders notched some dominant wins over the Broncos at Denver and against the Eagles at home. It seemed like Gruden was the one that was holding this team back. The offensive execution looked a lot better specifically. They were taking care of teams they expected to beat. And the Raiders head into the bye with a 5-1 record.

Then the Henry Ruggs accident happened. A dumb decision to drive under the influence changed the lives of many. Not only did Ruggs kill his short NFL career, but he killed something far more precious than that. 

He took the life of an innocent woman and her dog as their car set ablaze, burning them alive. 

As much of a void Ruggs left behind, the Raiders did the right thing in releasing him in the wake of this senseless tragedy. Not only is he facing a DUI charge, but he's also facing vehicular manslaughter charges. It's safe to say he will be facing significant time in prison in the near future. 

A short couple days after that, the Raiders faced more problems with their other 2020 first round pick. Damon Arnette took to social media to confront an Internet troll and threatened to kill him while pointing a gun at the camera. He also got released on the basis of this immature and highly-sensitive action. I mean, there was a reason why he had many red flags when he was drafted. It didn't matter much because of the fact that he put half-assed effort onto the field as the projected #1 Cornerback.

With the Raiders 2020 draft class all but gone (sans Bryan Edwards), the void was felt in the Raiders' 3-game skid after the bye. An ugly loss to the Giants and Bengals and especially an embarrassing national TV loss to the Chiefs turned over public opinion over the Raiders. They went from being contenders to pretenders in a matter of weeks. And talks of a rebuild was certainly in play.

Until an internet sensation known as "the coin" gave Raider Nation some hope. A fan predicted the Raiders' record before the season with the flip of a coin that has them finishing 10-7, making the playoffs as a 7th seed. Wins against the Ravens, Steelers, Dolphins, Broncos, and Eagles and losses against the Chargers, Bears, Giants, Chiefs, and Bengals were all correctly predicted. The coin's next predictions? Wins against the Cowboys, Football Team, Browns, Broncos, and Colts and losses against the Chiefs and the Chargers. 

With a resounding win against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, almost everybody bought in to "the coin". There was still some skepticism knowing the unfortunate luck the Raiders had in years past. With a loss to the Football Team, "the coin" became a sham. But it could still be right about the Raiders' record. The team expectedly lost to the Chiefs because Arrowhead Stadium in December is typically a sign of impending doom for the Silver and Black. But the Raiders ran the table and notched very close wins against the Browns, Broncos, Colts, and a Sunday Night thriller against the Chargers in the season finale to get into the playoffs. "The coin" still correctly predicted the Raiders' record, just not some of the games and neither their playoff seeding.

Now, we get to the Wild Card round against a young Bengals team and a franchise starving for its first playoff win in 30+ years and honestly, the Raiders couldn't have asked for a better scenario. A matchup with the Bengals gave them a chance to be competitive rather than say another shellacking against the far more talented and experienced Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Whatever the outcome was for the game, you just had to live with it. And yes, there were some moments in that game that honestly frustrated me as a Raider fan. We can list a lot from Peyton Barber's bonehead decision to field the kickoff at the Raiders' own 2 when the kick was going out of bounds. The whistle after Joe Burrow stepped out of bounds and a Bengals TD was still upheld. The pass defense's inability to stop the Joe Burrow-Ja'marr Chase LSU connection. And of course, the penalties and the red zone deficiencies that reared its ugly head yet again. You name it. Even if Cincy's playoff drought ended in spite of the Raiders, this is an outcome that we can live with. Better this than getting whooped against far better teams in cold-weather Buffalo or Kansas City.

If you'd ask me, this season reminded of the 2016 season with elements of the 2011 season. The 2016 side, the Raiders were pulling off these come from behind wins and giving us fans major heart attacks in every game. The 2011 season side if you remember, Al Davis passed away, leaving a temporary shift in power with Hue Jackson as acting GM midseason, Jason Campbell gets hurt, they give up the farm for Carson Palmer, and Rolando McClain gets arrested during the bye week. This year, roughly the same circumstances: a midseason shift in power in the wake of a controversy, a first round pick gets arrested for a stupid decision, another first round pick gets released for a stupid decision, all the injuries and COVID issues, and the death of a key figure in Raider history (John Madden). As low of expectations that we had for this team coming into this season, you have to tip their cap for all the adversity and all the BS they had to overcome throughout the year. Now granted, this team is a major benefactor of the NFL's new playoff seeding and the new 17-week regular season. But, this doesn't take away from the fact that they did well in running the table down the stretch. 

That was the positive side. With this season over, I feel that there's more questions than answers surrounding this team. Despite the grit the team possessed in pulling together against all odds, it wasn't enough to retain some key people within the organization. Particularly, Mike Mayock is not coming back as the Raiders' GM as it was reported on Monday. One of the main questions is whether or not this playoff season was enough to save Mayock's job? A lot of people questioned his draft selections. Some say he's to blame. Others say it was Gruden. At the end of the day, the GM makes the final call. The coach will have his input, but the GM makes the final decision. Given that after this season, the 2020 draft class of the Raiders will go down as one of the worst in franchise history. So, that gives some merit into Mayock's termination.

Mark Davis is going to have a long laundry list to address. Who'll be the next GM? Who'll be the next Head Coach? And do you want to extend Derek Carr's contract? The GM thing, we know that they'll be searching for one. The Head Coach, the choices are obvious: you either give Rich Bisaccia a shot or take a big leap of faith at a hot coaching candidate. With Bisaccia, the players like him and played hard for him to finish out the year. There's some leadership skills that are untapped that could be unlocked with a full season. But, if there's someone in the market that's better, the Raiders should go for that option. I would say the only thing that needs to overhauled in the current coaching staff is the Offensive personnel. I don't want to see Greg "up the middle" Olson coordinating the offense of this team ever again. With the playcalling, the offense was predictable and vanilla. We need somebody who can be innovative and design offensive schemes that provide a robust balance of the run and the pass and can actually improve this team's red zone offense. Too many times, we've seen this offense get off to good starts, but they couldn't finish off drives because of lackluster playcalling.

With that said, we get to the most polarizing topic of Raider Nation: Derek Carr. To extend or not to extend? He's better than what the Raiders have had at QB, right? His performance this season is still a mixed bag. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He drove the Raiders in position multiple times to win, that's fair. I'll give him credit. I've questioned his ability on whether he could be that franchise QB, the leader of men when the going gets tough. And in some instances, he showed those traits. With a suspect O-line and patchwork of receivers, he did what he could. But, while everybody can point to his near 5,000 yards passing this season, he's still streaky. We talked about the red zone deficiencies. He doesn't go through multiple reads and misses open receivers down field. He's still quick to the checkdowns. He barely uses his legs to extend plays. The stats may not show it, but the film does. 

If anything, the Carr supporters got one thing right: you give him a decent defense that keeps games close, he'll win you ball games. Now, if you give him an improved O-line and a number 1 receiver that can take pressure off Waller and Renfrow, can he mitigate those bad habits that have hampered him in all the years he's been in the league? And this is not to say Carr is a bad QB because he's not. He's an okay QB at best. I don't think at this juncture of his career, he is a guy who can lead the Raiders to at least one Super Bowl. Barring an Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson arrival, it would make sense for the Raiders to hang onto Carr a bit longer. And wait until next year to draft a future QB because from what I heard, this year's rookie QB class is pretty underwhelming. At this point, Carr is the biggest piece the Raiders can leverage and it's in the hands of the new regime on what to do with him.

The Raiders finished with a winning record and a playoff berth, but at what cost? Depending on their personnel moves, it's gonna make or break this team as the top destination for free agents. Let's look at what the Raiders have now. They have a good pass-rushing duo in Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby. Mad Maxx just made the Pro Bowl this year after a down year last year. Darren Waller is a Top 5 Tight End when healthy. Josh Jacobs got off to a slow start with injuries, but the last few games showed that he still has talent and it'll be exciting to see what can happen with a healthy Jacobs and a healthy Kenyan Drake. Hunter Renfrow is a bone-a-fide Slot Receiver and much more. And they have some solid pieces on the defensive side from the 2021 draft in Tre'von Moehrig, Divine Deablo, and Nate Hobbs (if he can stay out of trouble). The jury is out there with their 1st round pick, Alex Leatherwood. Putting him in Right Tackle early was a bad idea. Luckily, the Raiders corrected that when they put him inside at Right Guard, but still more work needs to be done with their 2021 1st round pick. 

The Raiders have some pieces. But obviously, they're gonna need more to get over and be a serious playoff contender for years to come. We watched, we saw, and we heard up close about the environment in Las Vegas. The funny thing is, Raider Nation has complained about fans being too noisy in Allegiant Stadium when the offense is on the field or when the opposition scores / makes a big play. The ones that initially opposed this relocation (myself included) saw this coming a mile away. The biggest con in Vegas is that there is no true homefield advantage. Opposing fanbases will travel because the city is a notorious tourist hub. If the Raiders want to maintain the stronghold in their new digs, they have to do what the Golden Knights of the NHL did, they have to be a well-oiled machine in winning games and make the playoffs year in and year out. Becauseif they ever hit that rock bottom of perennial mediocrity again, Las Vegas people will stop caring and the opposition will be taking over. Luckily, they played in front of an empty crowd last year. 

It'll be interesting to see what kind of decisions Mark Davis makes this offseason. He has no more football advisors to rely on other than his own intuition. Al Davis is gone. John Madden is gone. It's time for Mark to step up to the plate. This is his team. This is his franchise.  This is his organization. The greatness of the Raiders is in its future, is it not?

Coach John Madden 1936-2021

Today's a sad day as the NFL and Sports world mourns the unexpected passing of John Madden. Coach Madden was a pioneer in Sports broadcasting and changed the way audiences see NFL games on television. He was charismatic, had a way with words, and was a frequent user of the telestrator to break down plays as they happened. Not only that, he was a pop culture phenomenon through the commercials (tough actin tinactin), the parodies (Family Guy, Frank Caliendo), and the long-running Madden video game franchise. 

Coach Madden was an important figure in the Raider history and lore. He's arguably the 1-B to Al Davis' 1-A in terms of the most important figures of the Silver and Black. The resume is indisputable: most wins and highest winning percentage as a coach in team history. Coached the Raiders to six AFC Championship appearances and a Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl XI.

Clearly, I wasn't around when Madden coached. But he was a recurring character in my late dad's stories recounting the Raiders of the 70's. He had such a recognizable voice in the booth when I casually watched the NFL as a kid. When John Madden is on the commentary team, you know you're tuning in to a huge marquee matchup. As mentioned, he changed the way audiences see the NFL. He made sure we know the names of the entire offense, defense, and special teams units, not just the QB. I watched the All Madden special on Christmas Day and players turn up their competitive nature to 110%. They want that recognition to be a part of the All-Madden Team, or want a piece of the "Turducken" on Thanksgiving Day. Nowadays, players want to be the cover athlete for the annual Madden games. 

What's shocking is the timing of his death. He just made an appearance on TV a couple of days ago for the first time since 2009. And then a couple of days after, he passed on. The All Madden special just seems like a way for every NFL player, personnel, and Sports broadcasters who have broadcasted on the NFL to say their final goodbye to a legend. The only thing we can take solace in is that Coach Madden lived a long, fruitful life and he touched many people. His name will forever be engraved in the game of American football. RIP.

Jon Gruden...

Well, that was quite an anticlimactic way to get out of his contract...

The Raiders and Jon Gruden parted ways after some emails from 10 years ago surfaced where Gruden made some racist remarks. And now, it was discovered that he had more messages where he made homphobic and misogynistic comments. Jon Gruden has officially resigned as head coach. The Raiders released a statement today from Mark Davis reading:

"I have accepted Jon Gruden's resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders."

I should feel happy, but at the same time I don't. You all should know by now, I was never sold on Gruden being the guy to take the Raiders to the next level. All of his personnel and roster decisions, coaching decisions, drafting, and gameplanning were abhorrent and archaic. We're talking about the Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper trades, the Antonio Brown saga, the reaches and misses in the draft, and the 2nd half collapses in the most important period of the NFL season. This 2nd tenure of Gruden literally drove me to the point of insanity and with a coach getting paid $10 million for 10 years, he was getting this team nowhere.

I wanted Gruden out on the basis of those terrible decisions in his 2nd tenure with this team. But, we should know by now, we live in a highly sensitive world where anything can be taken out of context. And anything you say in the past can come back to bite you in the present. The things on race, gender, sexual orientation, diversity, and equality are all magnified in this day and age. And if you say something subtly offensive on those topics, it's literally the point of no return for you. Even if you apologize, the goal post will be moved farther away. And Gruden did that. He apologized. But, sorry is never good enough.

If anything, I'm not mad, just disappointed. Gruden has nobody to blame but himself for making those slurs and remarks in the first place. He might've not considered getting another head coaching job then. But, the NFL is a revolving door. Coaches come and go and come back. Rinse and repeat. Nobody in their right mind would consider making derogatory comments to a professional email. Especially if you're a former head coach in the league. 

This is yet another black mark in Silver and Black infamy. Things like this is why most Raider fans have zero tolerance with this franchise and why my outlook on this team has been negative. They give you a false sense of hope and optimism and unravel who they truly are as the season progresses: a team that has mediocrity as it's ceiling. And it was showing that way so far this season yet again. The Raiders started 3-0. Then they lose 2 straight, one against a team they should've beaten yesterday in the Chicago Bears. Now, this team finds itself soul-searching yet again. And the last time they involved themselves in controversy, it didn't bode well the rest of the way.

In closing, a majority of us wanted Gruden gone. We got him gone, just not in a way that we would've possibly imagined. He's certainly never coaching in the NFL again. 

Russell Westbrook

The Lakers can't leave me alone apparently. So, it's been agreed upon. The Lakers are bringing "Mr. Triple Double" back home with a trade to the Washington Wizards, sending away Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the 22nd pick in this year's draft. The trade is not official until August 6 when the NBA rings in the new league year.

Let's run straight to the positives, the Lakers finally form their coveted Big 3. They get Russell Westbrook to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They are very adamant in preserving LeBron as much as possible and it's obvious there's a need for someone who can score and take up some playmaking duties. And most of all, they can take over games is needed. Westbrook fits that mold on paper. He's notorious for being a stat padder, racking up triple doubles in the last 4 of 5 seasons. But, he certainly can take over a game when needed and is a significant upgrade as a third option. He'll make LeBron's life easier. This allows LeBron to play more off ball. He'll make AD's life easier. And he's certainly an upgrade over Dennis Schroeder by a mile.

Now that's that. The downside of this is this does not answer the Lakers' glaring need: spacing. It has been a problem last season and it was magnified in the first round against Phoenix. They are going to need a whole bunch of shooters to free up Westbrook, LBJ, and AD to do what they do best. You can't win in this modern NBA if you are not an above average three-point shooting team. And second of all, the packaging to land Westbrook here: Kyle Kuzma, KCP, Trezz, the 22nd pick. That's a lot to give up for a superstar. At least we can finally say good riddance to "Mr. Inconsistent" Kuzma. Now the Lakers don't have that much leverage to trade for more pieces. Outside of a potential sign-and-trade with Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker, there's not much to work around. Of course, details won't come out until the the moratorium is lifted. I'm hoping there's more to be desired when all the details come out. 

But overall, the Lakers did what they had to do. They covet superstars and when they see an opportunity to land one, they pounce on it. Kudos to Rob Pelinka and the front office for not wasting any time. Now, the real work begins. They gotta find players that'll fit in with this trio, especially players that can lock in, shoot, and defend. We're gonna hear about the spacing or lack thereof for the next few days. But the Lakers got they always wanted, a Big 3. We'll see how this goes. As I said, we're hoping to uncover some more details surrounding the trade, especially since we know what the Lakers gave up to land Russell Westbrook.