The LeBron James Laker Legacy

 

After 8 years, it is over.

Everyone is likely informed by this news. But just in case, LeBron James has announced his decision that he will NOT play for the Los Angeles Lakers this upcoming season. Basketball discourse has jumped all over this news non-stop and everybody is looking with great intrigue on this headline: "What's next for LeBron James"?

The LeBron era in Los Angeles will forever be remembered as a mixed bag. Depending on who you ask, it was either a success because it restored the Lakers to championship relevance and produced an NBA title, or it was a disappointment because one championship in eight seasons simply isn't enough for the NBA's most decorated franchise. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

When LeBron signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018, it was the spark that this franchise desperately needed. Following Kobe Bryant's retirement, the Lakers had become irrelevant by their own standards. The mystique of wearing the Purple and Gold faded. Every offseason, superstar free agents would schedule meetings with the Lakers, only to use them as leverage to secure larger contracts from their current teams or elsewhere.

Part of the blame rested on the Lakers themselves. The organization struggled to articulate a long-term vision that convinced superstar players to buy into the future of the franchise. The front office cycled through rebuilding plans, lottery picks, and coaching changes without establishing a clear identity.

Then LeBron arrived 2018 and the Lakers have become a desirable destination for superstar-caliber players again. Within a year, the Lakers successfully acquired Anthony Davis, pairing him with LeBron to form one of the league's premier duos. That partnership delivered the 2020 NBA championship, ending a decade-long title drought and giving the Lakers their 17th championship banner. Years later, the Lakers leveraged Davis in another franchise-altering move, sending him to Dallas in exchange for Luka Dončić. Whether or not that trade ultimately becomes another championship move remains to be seen, but it illustrates how LeBron's arrival fundamentally reshaped the direction of the organization.

During LeBron's 8 years, the Lakers have made the playoffs 6 times. This includes a 2019-20 championship run, no matter how many detractors try to discredit the Bubble Ring and another Western Conference Finals appearance in 2023.

Those are the positives. The negatives? One title in 8 years is underwhelming by Laker standards. There were so many opportunities to add on more in the following years. But it was all wasted away because of inner fighting with Lakers management and LeBron and Klutch Sports behind-the-scenes. 

Following the 2021 playoff disappointment against the Phoeneix Suns, both LeBron and the Lakers panicked. Looking across the league, they saw the Brooklyn Nets assembling Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving into what looked like an unstoppable superteam. Instead of staying patient, the Lakers attempted to answer with star power of their own. They traded for Russell Westbrook while adding veterans such as Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, hoping experience and name recognition would compensate for poor roster construction. It failed spectacularly. The roster lacked shooting, spacing, perimeter defense, and chemistry. The Westbrook experiment became one of the most disappointing superteams in recent NBA history and set the Lakers back several seasons. And both LeBron and the Lakers deserve blame for wasting that year and putting in the peculiar position they are in now.

And when a team has LeBron James on the roster, they are under the microscope of mainstream sports media and basketball talking heads non-stop. The Lakers were already media darlings. But when LeBron joined, the coverage around the team increased tenfold. When the Lakers won, LeBron received the overwhelming share of the praise. When they lost, the blame often shifted toward teammates, coaches, or the front office. It became an exhausting cycle that many Lakers fans like myself grew tired of, even if it wasn't entirely LeBron's doing. His presence naturally attracts nonstop media attention unlike any other player in basketball. We also can't forget about the coaching turnover that happened under LeBron's watch, going from Luke Walton, to Frank Vogel, to Darvin Ham, and finally, to JJ Redick.

LeBron has broken a lot of statistical milestones during his Laker tenure and those statistical milestones became nightly television events, regardless of whether the team won or lost. But a lot of those games where LeBron had a record-breaking night, the Lakers typically suffered the latter. Historic accomplishments like becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer deserved celebration, but there were also stretches where individual milestones seemed to dominate the conversation while the team struggled to consistently compete and string wins together.

Finally, there was the Bronny James situation. The Lakers' decision to draft LeBron's son was always going to invite accusations of nepotism and questions about whether a valuable roster spot was being used for reasons beyond basketball. To Bronny's credit, he showed meaningful improvement during his development and took encouraging strides last season, but the optics of the decision became yet another subplot surrounding the LeBron era.

With new ownership in place under Mark Walter and some staff from the Dodgers that followed Walter to the Lakers in front office positions, it's obvious that the franchise is going to an all new direction. They have a vision for the franchise moving forward—and that vision simply did not include extending the LeBron era indefinitely. In many ways, the signs had already been there when the Lakers committed to Austin Reaves with a four-year maximum extension. It became increasingly clear where the organization saw its future. Combined with Luka Dončić, the franchise has effectively decided to choose the future for the franchise rather than look back to a player who's still good, but he's 42 and you can't expect him to hang around forever.

With LeBron gone, new ownership, a commitment to Luka and Reaves, a lot of pressure is now falling on Rob Pelinka. This is now the offseason for him to see what he's made of as a GM. Unfortunately, his start has been far from encouraging. The Lakers have not been nearly aggressive enough in strengthening the roster around Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves so far. They are not prioritizing bringing back key free agents such as Marcus Smart and Rui Hachimura while leaving significant questions unanswered elsewhere on the roster. And Rob is definitely hearing the collective groans from Laker fans. Outside of trading for AD and trading for Luka, Rob's roster transactions throughout the years have been mostly pathetic to say the least. So, Rob's got his work cut out and he's on thin ice with this new ownership.

Now comes the next chapter. Where will LeBron James finish one of the greatest careers basketball has ever seen? Personally, I believe the answer should be Cleveland. If he wants to bow out of basketball with whatever grace/dignity he has left, finish it out with Cleveland and get the farewell tour from there. If he goes elsewhere, like the Warriors, he's gonna hear the "superteam hopper" and "mercenary ring chaser" monikers again from detractors. People will disqualify him more from the GOAT conversation, which I find very tiring in my opinion. I think LeBron has more than earned the right to punch his ticket elsewhere this time around, especially since he's old now. Appreciate him while he's around because it'll take the NBA another 20 years or so to find another abnormal freak athlete like him.

In closing, "The Age of LeBron" in Los Angeles is officially over. It has been a long marriage and it definitely wasn't perfect. But at the end of the day, LeBron did his job making the Lakers relevant again and delivering a championship. That at the very least is the bare minimum we can accept. So, thank you, LeBron. And good luck on your new team wherever that is.

The Trade Heard Around The World

 

I'm still in shock that this trade even happened.

Saying "Luka Doncic is a Laker" still feels like a joke. It's fake news. But it's not. 

The golden rule when it comes to following these NBA trade news is that if it hasn't been reported by Adrian Wojnarowski nor Shams Charania (more so the latter), it's not real. It a clickbait.

This trade still doesn't feel real that Shams had to confirm it not once, but multiple times on a late Saturday night that this was not a drill.

So here's the quick breakdown: the Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Utah Jazz engaged in a 3-team trade. Utah gets Jalen Hood-Schifino, one of the Clippers' 2nd round pick, and the Mavs' 2nd round pick. But the real meat behind this trade is the Lakers get Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris (welcome back BTW) in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first round pick.

That was it. That's all it took to get Luka.

Now as we're trying to get our minds settled in, let me make this perfectly clear in my opinion of this. This move is not a "win now" move. Let's be realistic here. When you look at the outlook of the roster this season, this was by no means a championship roster. Even though this team is surging and currently 5th in the West, I see this team at best getting bounced in the 1st round in the playoffs. And the biggest weakness the Lakers was that they had no other solid big man besides Anthony Davis. And now that AD is gone, the Lakers now have a big void to fill. This team is not going to win with Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko playing meaningful minutes. And even if and when Christian Wood creeps back into the rotation, they don't have a reliable big. Their literal frontcourt is a 40-year old LeBron, Rui, Vando, and Dorian Finney-Smith and Hayes and Koloko in that true Center spot. This team is going to get wrecked when they run into opponents that have an elite big like the Nuggets and Jokic. 

With AD no longer anchoring the paint and getting players into position defensively, the Lakers are gonna get exposed night in and night out. Luka is not a great defender. Austin Reaves not a great defender. LeBron? At this stage of his career? Not a great defender. Besides Vando and DFS who can guard positions 1-5, that is not enough to cover most of the Lakers' deficiencies. And you consider the fit too. LeBron and Luka are both ball dominant players. And one of them is going to have to sacrifice their game to get the Lakers to win basketball games. It's exciting that you have two high-IQ players that can score and pass the ball and rebound. But somebody has to cede responsibilities to make this pairing work.

That is the short-term outlook. The long-term outlook? As mentioned, LeBron is 40 and he can walk away from the NBA anytime soon. And the Lakers as a franchise needs to look at the future of this team. And they have two choices: 1) you can keep AD and build around him, but at best he's only got 2-3 more great years of basketball left before his body breaks down or 2) you can build around a 25-26 year old Luka Doncic. Weight problems aside, he's already a top 5 superstar and a MVP-caliber player and his best basketball is still yet to come.

It's simple, you choose the latter. You build around Luka freakin' Doncic! If he's available, you take it. No questions asked.

And this is what's mind boggling to me. Of all the teams to help the Lakers solve their bleak post-LeBron future, the Dallas Mavericks? This trade reminded me of the fact that Mark Cuban is no longer in charge of that franchise. He sold his majority stake. And this trade wouldn't fly with him if he was still in charge because he wants the Lakers to essentially suck forever and he'll die on that hill! But this team under the current ownership, just gifted their franchise cornerstone to the Lakers before he was able to reach the peak of his basketball career! Like we are not getting a true superstar who is washed like trades of yesteryear. We are getting a superstar that is close to his prime or at his prime already. Luka is already an offensive juggernaut, defensive deficiencies aside, weight aside. He can score from anywhere and he's an absolute magician with the ball in his hands. He's not the flashiest player nor is he super athletic, but he's incredibly crafty with the basketball. And I'm not gonna lie when I say this, but he was one of my favorite players to watch that's not on the Lakers until now. Every fantasy team I drafted, I was gunning for Luka if I was in position to draft him.

If you're a Mavs fan, I understand how confusing this is, how torn you must be because you're not used to this. This is like if they gave us Dirk Nowitzki to team up with Kobe Bryant in exchange for Pau Gasol and Shannon Brown. And the reason your team gave away Luka like that was they were "concerned" about his weight and conditioning. And they believe defense wins championships that's why they got AD. With all due respect, AD is a beast when healthy, a top two-way player in the league when healthy. And he'll finally have quality big men to play alongside with in Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford. But with this trade, it is absolutely essential for Dallas to win now or within the next 2-3 years. So this works for them in the short-term. However, it's gonna be too much to ask an old Kyrie, and old Klay, and a soon-to-be-old AD to carry this team to a deep playoff run because all their careers, they have shown that they can't carry a team on their back. These next 2-3 years are gonna define their legacies before their careers are all said and done.

If anything to take from this trade, the Lakers had to think critically about their future. They wasted so many opportunities in the LeBron-AD era. It's sad to think the only defining moment in that era was winning that 2020 bubble championship. And we wish the best of luck to Anthony Davis in Dallas. But this trade to get Luka Doncic, it gives the Lakers' future new life. That was the first step. The 2nd step, they have to build a contender around him in 2-3 years tops. This means find him another superstar whether it's via trade, free agency, or the unthinkable option: draft and develop one and surround him with quality role players who can shoot and defend. Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss, JJ Reddick, you were given a rare gift. Use it well.

With that said, thank you Anthony Davis, Max Christie (solid game against NYK last night BTW), and Jalen Hood-Schifino (I forgot you were still on the team). And welcome to the Lake Show, Luka Doncic! I'm excited to see "Luka Magic" bring "Showtime" back to the Lakers in the now and into the future.

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".

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.

A Post-Mortem of the 2020-21 Lakers

"Guess who's back?" - Dr. Dre, "Still D.R.E."

How's it going everyone? No, I am not here to signal that I'll be back to sports blogging full-time. But, I always considered this blog as a haven to get my thoughts across. Honestly, I've been swinging around Raider and Laker fan pages on Facebook providing my thoughts on both teams. But, this blog is a "canvas" where I can "paint the full picture." And after the Phoenix Suns eliminated the now previously reigning, defending champion Lakers, let's dive deep for one post only on what happened.

So, the Lakers failed their bid at a repeat and in doing so, helped handed LeBron James his first playoff series loss in the first round where he was previously 14-0. The Lakers dug themselves in a hole too deep that it was impossible for them to come back even if they tried to give the Suns a scare in the 2nd half. Obviously, that team hasn't been in the position before to close out a game of this magnitude, especially against a defending championship team. 

In this series against the Suns, Games 4-6 was a microcosm of the roller-coaster 2020-21 season the Lakers had to endure with a stockpile of injuries that stemmed from the short turnaround from the NBA Bubble in October to the new season start in December. Considering, the Lakers and the Miami Heat were the last two teams standing in the bubble, they had the shortest turnaround, 70 days to be exact from Game 6 of the 2020 NBA Finals to the first week of the 2020-2021 NBA Season. As a result, Miami got eliminated earlier in a sweep against the Milwaukee Bucks in a rematch from last year's playoffs in the Bubble. The Lakers were the last domino to fall against the Suns.

What we learned about this season is that the Lakers will go far as long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy and are on the floor together. It's an obvious truth. This season was a painful, extensive look at how the team fared without one or the other or the worst case, without either of them on the floor. All was not completely lost earlier in this season as the Lakers were riding high at 21-6, #2 in the West. They looked the part of a team destined to repeat. 

Then, the downturn escalated real quick when AD re-aggravated his Achilles Tendinosis injury at Denver in February, causing him to miss nearly 2-3 months of action. And then LeBron James suffered a high ankle sprain after the All-Star break in March in a game vs. the Atlanta Hawks. Literally, we saw a whole month of Lakers basketball without the two stars. And that put a lot of weight on guys like Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and later on, Andre Drummond to keep the team afloat in playoff contention in their stead, especially since the Lakers had a difficult backend schedule against teams either in playoff contention or eligible for the new format of the play-in tournament.

Looking back at this early playoff exit, it was clear that this team didn't look right. The fact it took a miracle three from LeBron against the Warriors in the play-in was a red flag of what was to come. In defense, the Suns were an ideal matchup for the Lakers. Phoenix was a young team and outside of Chris Paul and Jae Crowder, not one player on that roster had any extensive experience in the playoffs.

Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Cameron Payne all said "hold my beer." Hats off to the Suns in this series. They beat the Lakers at their own game of pushing the tempo. Nobody on the Lakers roster was able to stop Devin Booker. Even more so, Ayton outplayed all of the Lakers' big men. Didn't matter if you had Drummond, Gasol, or AD on him, he was able to dominate inside and crash the boards. Perhaps the biggest difference maker was that Phoenix shot at a ridiculously high 3-point percentage than the Lakers. They exposed the biggest weakness of the Lakers: little reliable 3-point shooting or lack thereof. It has been a problem of the Lakers all season long and this series just magnified that, especially in games 5 and 6. The only time the Suns shot poorly from three was in game 4 and they still won that game. Overall, Phoenix shot the lights out from deep and even worse, they dared the Lakers to shoot from deep, knowing the Lakers can't generate any consistency from beyond the arc. Defensively, they put a wall on the Lakers so that they won't attack the basket at will and get easy shot opportunities. As a result, so many players were hesitant to take a shot and relied on LeBron to bail them out as they milked all 24 seconds on the shot clock.

Even with a healthy Anthony Davis, this team was doomed from the get-go with the role players not stepping up when they needed to. And that's the tragedy behind this lost season for the Lakers. If you look at the roster, it was more talented than last year's roster on paper. As I mentioned, last year's roster consisted of older veterans whose best years are behind them. This team was supposed to be a lot younger and a lot more athletic. We can't use age as an excuse. Outside of LeBron, Marc Gasol, Wesley Matthews, Jared Dudley, and Markieff Morris who are all 30 or over, everybody else is 27 and under. This team had super, young role players in Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell and struck a goldmine in the buyout market again adding Andre Drummond. The talent was there. The biggest culprit was the injuries and there was not a lot of time for this team to build chemistry and play as a cohesive unit because players were missing significant time. When even Jared Dudley has an injury and he hasn't played all season long, that's when you know the Lakers are snake-bitten by the injury bug. It was that bad.

Even more frustrating because of the lack of playing time together, some players just didn't fit well into the rotation, looked lost on the floor, or playing for their self-interests. Dennis Schroder wants a $100 million extension, but didn't look like a Point Guard who's worth that contract. I hate to say it, but Schroder is a super backup PG. He's not starter material. Andre Drummond is playing for a big contract. Despite the vision of Drummond and Davis dominating inside, Drummond more so hampered AD's game once he came back. That coveted twin tower duo never clicked from the get-go neither did Drummond's rapport with LeBron when he returned. Montrezl Harrell, reining Sixth Man of the Year, got lost in the shuffle and saw playing time decreased when the Lakers got Drummond. Harrell's lack of size is a prolong liability and it will stay that way because he doesn't have an outside shot.

The debates are starting right now on whether or not the Lakers should've hung on to last year's championship squad. I don't think last year's squad would fare any better and the results would be the same, but a bit worse. For a fair assessment, despite the Lakers having more talent on the roster, they definitely lacked older "glue guys" who can step into that leadership role and bring guys together when the going gets tough. And that's where the Lakers miss guys like Rajon Rondo, like Javale McGee, and like Dwight Howard. Rondo especially we can look back at this and say the Lakers definitely made that mistake of letting instrumental players go. If you look at past Lakers championship teams, they had that one guy that kept the team together. The Shaq and Kobe-led teams had Brian Shaw. The Kobe and Gasol-led teams had an older, wiser Derek Fisher. Rondo was gonna be that next guy and the Lakers let him go. They didn't have that "glue guy" this season, an older vet that the players could rely on to weather the storm. Like everybody would turn to Jared Dudley for guidance!

Let's be truthful regarding the Lakers' superstar duo, Father Time will come for LeBron James eventually. He's going to be 37 next year. We saw glimpses in this playoff series where LeBron is gradually losing his freakish athleticism. He can't get any lift on his legs, playing off a bad ankle. And as evident, he's settling for jump shots rather than attacking the basket. This was my concern when the Lakers first signed him: how much will all the wear and tear take a toll on him as he gets older? We saw proof that he can't carry an entire team anymore like he used to in Cleveland. Players need to break out of the "LeBron system" because he won't bail you out night in and night out.

Anthony Davis' injury history is well-documented. I would say the short turnaround hindered him the most. He finished the Bubble with a bad ankle, bad heel. This year, he battled an Achilles Tendinosis. The medical staff kept highlighting that injury as a strained calf. But, we all know that's all BS. Look at how Kevin Durant fared in the 2019 NBA Finals with a "strained calf." In the playoff series against Phoenix, he strained his groin in Game 4 and tried to play through that in Game 6. He only played five minutes and didn't finish the game. Whoever cleared AD to play last night, shame on them. You're putting a 5-year, $190 million investment of the Lakers' future at risk. If he suffers a career-altering injury, the Lakers will be back to ground zero. That's the truth. And as a bold take given the injury history, AD's gonna be a career 2nd option at best. The Lakers are going to need a true 1st option and a 37 LeBron is not that and neither will be AD for the future.

This team is going to look completely different this offseason. Rob Pelinka has a lot of roster decisions to make. Outside of LeBron and AD, everybody is going to be on the roster bubble. Alex Caruso, Dennis Schroder, Andre Drummond, Wesley Matthews, Ben McLemore, and Markieff Morris they're all going to be unrestricted free agents. Talen Horton-Tucker is a restricted free agent. Montrezl Harrell has a player option that he can decline to hit free agency this year. They'll explore trade options to move Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Kyle Kuzma's fat contracts. On top of that, the Lakers don't have too much wiggle room considering they're over the salary cap. Pelinka will be challenged this offseason. He has his work cut out to retool the Lakers while the championship window is not completely slammed shut.

Personnel decisions are being considered as well. Frank Vogel got outcoached in the first round. His rotations were highly questionable, especially pertaining to the fact that he refused to play Montrezl Harrell when the Lakers had nothing to lose as Phoenix was pushing them to the brink. Everybody's clamoring for Vogel's firing, especially rumors are swirling that Jason Kidd is gaining interest from other teams in the league for Head Coach. They think Vogel should be fired and Kidd should be promoted. I'm probably in the minority of dissenting opinion. It's too early to consider firing him. He did what he could with all the injuries and the short turnaround. The "hidden rule" for teams regarding coaches is that if a team regresses or gets off to a bad start after some successful seasons with the same coach, there is merit to fire the coach. Vogel wrapped up his 2nd year. He just coached them to a championship season. As I mentioned, the Lakers were 21-6 under Vogel before the injury bug struck. It would be wise to give him another year or two.

The silver lining is that the Lakers can get some true rest after resting only for 70 days. Honestly, I blame the NBA and the team owners for voting for a December start to the 2020-21 NBA Season. They just had to squeeze around Christmas time. Every team had a major injuries as a result and the Lakers and the Heat got the short end of the stick the most being the last two teams standing to finish out the 2019-20 Season in the Bubble. The only bad part is that the West will continue to get loaded. You look at all the young talent that's blossoming in the playoffs. You can sense the changing of the guard in the NBA. But, I'm pretty sure the Brooklyn Nets have something to say. Honestly, Nets vs. Bucks is the true NBA Finals. One is looking to prove the "Big 3, Superteam" era is not dead and the other is looking to prove that small market teams can compete as well. The only consolation I can take is if the Clippers get eliminated as well. I'm pretty sure they're kicking themselves for tanking when they could've easily dispatched a wounded Lakers team in the first round. But, they have dug their own grave because Luka Doncic is going full-on "John Wick" on that team trying to avenge from last year's playoffs. 

In closing, I would like to add Cameron Payne and Jae Crowder to the list of Phoenix Suns players I don't like. They're going up there and joining the likes of Raja Bell, Tim Thomas, and Goran Dragic. Welcome to the club!

It's going to be a tough few months until the offseason Laker fans. We're gonna have to live with the haters putting an asterisk on the 2020 championship and some Bubble memes and "LeMickey" and "ADisney" jokes. Honestly, if it was any other team that won the Bubble Finals, everybody would be cutting them some slack. But because the Lakers won it, you know that'll ignite a fuel to the fire of the haters, especially since they got bounced out this year.

The Lakers will be back! 

Lakers 2020-21 Season Preview: The New Dynasty?

Just for the record, I am doubling down on my departure from this blog at the conclusion of Week 17 of the NFL Season. But, I don't want to leave Laker Nation hanging to provide my overall thoughts on the upcoming season. The Lakers only had a good 1 1/2 month to celebrate banner #17. Now, they have to get back to work in what is a very short turnaround because the NBA wants their Christmas Day games. What we know is that the league has shortened the season to 72 games. Only the first half of games has been revealed for each team. The second half is yet to be determined. And after a successful implementation in the NBA Bubble, the play-in tournament between the #9 and #8 seeds has been brought back.

The Lakers are coming in as the defending NBA Champion, having conquered the Bubble in what felt like it was just 72 hours ago that they won the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat in 6 games. Typical championship teams tend to sit back and retain their championship core as long as they can. The drawbacks is that the core gets a year older and opposing teams get better. For the Lakers, the team that just won the championship were filled with veterans and former All-Stars who were on their last legs or looking for a ring before they cash out with other teams. I don't think hanging on to everyone would've been wise, especially in such a short turnaround.

Nobody had a better understanding of this than Rob Pelinka. To ensure that the Lakers stay one step ahead of everyone, he rolled the dice and there was no Kawhi Leonard decision to hold him down like last year. It was tough to see fan favorites like Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, and Danny Green (not really) leave. But, they were replaced with younger players in Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell and cheaper veterans in Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol. Gasol gives the Lakers a big who can space the floor even more and be the extra facilitator. Wes Matthews provides more offensive arsenal than what Danny Green provided as a mere spot-up shooter and is a solid defender in his own right. Schroder and Harrell gives the Lakers potential pieces that could play with AD in the long-run and helps fortify the bench with two 6MOY candidates. If there was one negative that the Lakers had last season is that they typically fumble away big leads, which leads to LeBron and AD playing unnecessary minutes in the 4th quarter. Because once those two leave, the offense sputters. That's not going to happen when you have Schroder as a reliable third option and Harrell who can double-double at any time. Those acquisitions will help LeBron and AD preserve energy come playoff time because they literally carried the Lakers to a title just two months ago. 

With the departure of McGee and Dwight, they do lose some rim protection and additional lob threats outside of AD. That will be something to monitor as the season progresses, especially when the Lakers run into the premiere bigs like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Bam Adebayo. Marc Gasol is the Lakers' only true Center this season. And he might've lost some athleticism, but he's still a cerebral defender. I don't think it's a cause for concern at the moment. Keep in mind, the buyout market is still a little later this season, so that'll give the Lakers some options to add another big for extra rim protection. Dewayne Dedmon is still in the market and who knows? The Cavs might buy out McGee, which allows him to come back to the purple and gold. 

Despite some tough departures, the championship roster is mostly in tact. KCP re-signed for three years. Markieff Morris re-signed for the minimum. Jared Dudley and Quinn Cook are brought back for team chemistry purposes. The biggest ones is that the Lakers have LeBron and AD to stay for at least 3 more years. LeBron signed until 2023. AD is locked in for the foreseeable future. And on an interesting bonus, the Lakers locked up Kyle Kuzma for 3 years, $40 million just recently. No question Kuz has been a disappointment in his current role. But we have to remember, he battled nagging foot injuries last year so he couldn't fully assimilate himself into Frank Vogel's rotation. No question, he's on a short leash with Talen Horton-Tucker showing up this preseason. We're going to see some extended action from THT after some nice spurts in the Bubble. But the big story, LBJ and AD are here to stay and will extend the Lakers' championship window for another three years.

With that said, can the Lakers run it back this year? This shouldn't be a question to begin with. The Lakers have a pretty good influx of youth and veterans around their dynamic duo. Yes, there's some cracks in the front court and on the wings. But, Frank Vogel and the coaching staff have a great knack of putting players in the best positions to win. This Laker team now has a good idea on how to get to the Finals, let alone win a championship. The crosshairs are going to be looming large at them as teams will try to come at them to dethrone them. There are teams that will be a threat: Clippers, Dallas, and Denver out West. Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philly, and Miami out East. But, the Lakers have a pretty legit chance to repeat and go back-to-back. A new dynasty is brewing.

It's been real Laker Nation. Thank you all for a great 10 years on this blog. One of the great feelings in the world is finally covering a championship season here. It was a long wait. But, it was well worth it at the end. I'm ready to move on to my next chapter in life. I'll see you guys later.

James, Davis 2020 - Keep the Lakers Great for 3 More Years

LeBron signed through 2023, AD signed through 2025

Finally, I can have some time to talk about the cream of the crop signings to tie the knot in what was an eventful free agency that the Lakers put together. They bring back Jared Dudley for one more year to retain some stability for chemistry and locker room leadership. And to bring back a guy who will stand up for his teammates. Harp on Dudley if you want. I personally have no problem brining him back. The Lakers gave him a role and he's living up to it. He can still knock down a couple 3 balls at his age.

Okay, jokes aside on "Elmer Fudd" Dudley. You all know where this headline is going. The Lakers may be restoring their greatness as the gold standard of the franchise, but one thing that has been consistent even through the recent years of mediocrity is that they know how to take care of their superstars. Rob Pelinka got it done, inking LeBron James to a two-year extension and re-signing AD to a max contract of $190 million for 5 years. Pretty much, this certifies that the Lakers will be title contenders for awhile as long as the LeBron-AD duo stays in tact. And especially as we usher in AD as the new face of the franchise until he hits free agency again in 2025. Rumors of LeBron's demise last year has been greatly exaggerated as he was able to rebound and lead the Lakers to the 2020 championship. Father time has no answer for him. Regarding the extension, it's no secret that LeBron wants to play with his son, Bronny when he's eligible to hit the league in 2023. You can pretty much connect the dots on this contract.

The Anthony Davis situation is the one that we all were holding are breath on. Prior to LeBron's extension, there were rumors that they were waiting on Giannis Antetokounmpo this season if he was going to extend with the Bucks or hit free agency. I surmised that AD was going to do the Kevin Durant deal with the Warriors and sign a 1+1 deal. One year guaranteed and the other year is a player option which he can opt in and hit free agency with LeBron once his initial 4-year contract is up. That would give the Lakers cap room to possibly sign the Greek Freek and LeBron and the 'Brow would take less money to form an almighty Big 3. I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry for the rest of the league if that were to happen.

But with the LeBron extension and AD inking a max deal, we can all put that Big 3 talk to rest. I've said this from the very beginning when the Lakers gave up all the young assets (minus Kuzma) to the Pelicans, re-signing AD for the long run would change the fortunes of the franchise. They lose him, they end up right where they were 7 years ago when Dwight Howard bolted for free agency. At least they got a championship out of the trade. But kudos to the Lakers front office for getting this deal done. This ensures that the Lakers will be in good hands for the foreseeable future and it extends their championship window in the now. They will eventually hand over the reins to AD once LeBron hangs it up or departs to wherever team that drafts his son in 2023 (most likely back to Cleveland). The next challenge would be pairing a future star with AD to fill that void. But, that's not until later. The restored greatness of the Lakers extends for a couple more years.

Lakers Free Agency Day 3 + Markieff Morris Announces Return

A "Gasol" on the Lakers seems right, feels right

What a weekend it has been for the Lakers! I don't think you can ask for a better offseason than the way Rob Pelinka and company handled free agency to strengthen the team even more to better their chances at a repeat. Yes, we lost some fan favorites along the way. But, the NBA is a business first and foremost. Some necessary sacrifices are needed to become champions once again as the entire league is trying to play catchup. The Lakers know very well that they have a huge bullseye behind their back and needed to do what they can to stay ahead of the arms race. Let's break down the most recent transactions.

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JaVale McGee --> Traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jordan Bell and Alfonso McKinnie

Comment: JaVale picked up his player option prior to the start of free agency. Personally, I had McGee as a sign-and-trade candidate as we all know the Lakers are shopping Kyle Kuzma around in case he shows no signs progress in the upcoming season. Maybe throw in McGee as an additional player in the package to free up some cap room. When rumors that the Lakers were interested in Marc Gasol swirled up, that was a microcosm that the Lakers are likely to move JaVale elsewhere. And they needed to do that to make cap room for Gasol. Outside of shot blocking, JaVale doesn't provide much value. We already expected this as soon as he found himself out of the rotation in the NBA Bubble. Ultimately, the Lakers lose a hype man and a locker room personality on their team. I was an avid watcher of his "Life in the Bubble" vlogs on YouTube just to have that all-access look on how this team bonded in the Bubble. But, McGee looks good only on short spurts. You're not going to get a lot out of him if you give him more minutes. The Cavaliers do get a decent backup for Andre Drummond.

As for the Lakers' acquisitions in this trade, both Jordan Bell and Alfonzo McKinnie are on non-guaranteed contracts. I heard Bell already got waived. They were most likely going to get cut as they were just excess pieces to make the money work to get JaVale to Cleveland. McKinnie is actually going to remain with the team for the time being. He saw some extended action during his time with the Warriors and did decent for the most part. I think he'll provide some value as a wing defender that the Lakers got in return for cheap.

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Marc Gasol (TOR) - 2 years, $2.5M

Comment: A "Gasol" on the Lakers sounds so nostalgic. As soon as the Lakers traded JaVale, this move was inevitable. Real Laker fans know that the team drafted Marc Gasol in 2008 and traded his draft rights to Memphis to get big brother Pau. Looking back at that trade, it was ultimately a win-win. The Lakers won two more titles out of three finals appearances and Marc blossomed into a 3x All-Star and DPOY winner for the Grizzlies. Life comes full circle as Marc will finally don the purple and gold. 

As much as we will miss Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee's shot blocking and rim protection, this is actually a solid upgrade. We know Marc is not as athletic as he once was, but he provides the Lakers a big body that can space the floor with his ability to knock down 3-pointers and can defend the premium centers like a Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Karl Anthony-Towns. So, that takes a lot of pressure away from Anthony Davis to play extended minutes at the 5. And having a big man like Marc who can space the floor and make the right plays with his high IQ, that allows LeBron and AD to have a field day inside. AD, especially will benefit from Marc's presence in the all likelihood he re-signs. Teams will have to think twice about doubling him. And centers like Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams who thrive as interior defenders will have an uncomfortable time having to defend outside the paint with Marc's ability to stretch the floor. 

I hope the Lakers do not retire #16 yet for Pau Gasol. Have Marc wear that number, make it even more nostalgic for us Lakers fans. It'd be a fitting way to follow in his brother's footsteps. Marc may already have a ring with the Raptors, but the Gasol brothers winning rings as Lakers from different eras? That's gonna be quite a story for that family.

Markieff Morris Tweets Return

Earlier today, Markieff announced on his Twitter that he will return to the Lakers. "Run it back!" He says. Nothing else to say. Unlike Dwight's deleted tweet, this is for real as the Lakers are finalizing to bring back 'Kieff for the veteran's minimum. The Lakers getting 'Kieff off the waivers and not having to give up anything unlike the Clippers trading everything for brother, Marcus, was a huge steal. They get a true stretch 4 who can play the 5 in small ball situations. But, I think with Trez onboard, we'll see 'Kieff almost exclusively at the 4. He too was an X-Factor in the Lakers' playoff run from Game 2 of the semi's to onwards. Give it to 'Kieff from beyond the arc, it's a guaranteed bucket. And the Lakers keep a guy who represents grit and toughness. Those Morris twins, you don't mess with them. It's hilarious that the Clippers overpaid for Marcus earlier. But clearly 'Kieff has his priorities straight. Rings now, money later. Once again, Rich Paul and Klutch Sports surely had a hand in this since 'Kieff is also their client along with LeBron, AD, KCP, and Trez. 30% of the Lakers' projected roster is Klutch Sports! 

Lakers Free Agency Frenzy Day 2

The "Pope" is back!

Day 2 of the NBA Free Agency is in the books. We expected some more key losses on the Lakers' front and we got those today. Remember, the Lakers traded for Dennis Schroder to get younger and to mitigate the big losses the Lakers will get in terms of their backcourt personnel. Despite some of those losses, the Lakers still rebounded and brought back a guy who'll be an integral piece for many years to come. Let's break down some of these transactions.

(-)

Avery Bradley --> MIA, 2 years, $11.3M

Comment: AB was the first domino to fall today. I wouldn't say I'm surprised by this. The Lakers brought him in to defend the best perimeter players and for the most part, his role was pretty consistent prior to the suspension of the NBA Season. We all know what happened regarding his decision to withdraw from the NBA restart. Again, I'm not going to hold that against him. At least he was open to come back. It's just that I don't think that the Lakers would've offered him this kind of contract that he's getting with the Miami Heat. The Heat have pretty much bolstered their perimeter defense by adding Bradley to the team. And they strengthen their scoring and shooting as he can have a knack to go off at times. But, his niche is defense and pairing him along with Jimmy Butler? That's an underrated defensive tandem right there in a franchise that instills defense into their culture.

Rajon Rondo --> ATL, 2 years, $15M

Comment: When the Lakers traded for Dennis Schroder, we knew right then and there that Rondo is expendable. Rondo was huge from the 2nd round onwards in the Lakers' championship run in the NBA Bubble. With LeBron and Rondo on the same team, it was like cheating the system when you have two guys who have unbelievable basketball IQ on the same floor. The only knack is he's not as durable as he was before, having extended periods of absence due to injury. But to get him back in the postseason was great timing and "Playoff Rondo" is as advertised. The Hawks just got a guy who can help Trae Young take that next step as a floor general point guard. It's quite surprising since Rondo was rumored that his preferred destination is to a playoff team. But, the Atlanta Hawks are on the come-up in the East and Rondo's rationale is to secure the last big payday before he declines even further. He's got nothing to prove at this point. He's won championships with two storied franchises. That's more than enough. At least he didn't go to the Clippers. Thanks Rondo for giving your all to the purple and gold!

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - 3 years, $40M

Comment: With Danny Green traded. Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo going elsewhere, the Lakers are well on their way to have a revamped backcourt. But bringing back KCP is huge for this team to bring some stability. It's a love-hate relationship with KCP since he first got here in 2017. When he does terrible, he's "Kentavious Caldwell-Poop." But the way he rebounded in the postseason after dropping a goose egg in the beginning swayed public opinion about him. KCP was the X-Factor in the Finals run, hitting clutch shots after clutch shots. I would say he's earned this contract extension after signing multiple 1-year deals and a 2-year deal with a player option. The thing about is, he's only 27 years old. He still has a lot of years left in him and he flashed potential as an integral role player and a guy who's not afraid of the big moment. Don't let the numbers fool you, he's a pesky defender as evident in his playing days in Detroit. The Lakers and Klutch Sports have done it again. We all must remember, KCP signing with the Lakers back in 2017 planted the seeds for LeBron, AD, and the unholy alliance with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports that is unfolding this year before our very eyes. 

Lakers Free Agency Frenzy Day 1

Patrick Beverly and the Clippers on Suicide Watch

The first day of NBA Free Agency has had many twists and turns so far and it is far from over. While we anticipate whether or not Anthony Davis re-signs with the Lakers, the Lakers are wasting no time in making moves by adding players who fit into AD's timeline. Not only that, but the Lakers get younger. They're more athletic. All of a sudden, they went from arguably the oldest team in the league to a younger team fresh off a championship. Let's dig right into Day 1.

(-)

Dwight Howard -> PHI, 1-year, $2.6M

Comments: I thought he was staying? He made a Tweet earlier this evening, giving us signs that he was going to come back to LA for a chance to run it back. But, that tweet was immediately deleted and he's going to the Philadelphia 76ers. From what I heard, the Lakers offered him an incrementally higher salary, which is why it was odd that he would take less money to go from a guaranteed championship team to a team with championship aspirations. Let's be real here, this is a much different circumstance than when he first left in 2013. I am bummed out. The Lakers lose their "enforcer" in the paint, but I'm not completely mad. He completed his redemption arc in the purple and gold. Now, he's a champion. He can do whatever he wants. Let bygones be bygones already. Looks like Shaq has more bulletin to make fun of Dwight more. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Shaq's  recent rants on how Dwight celebrated the championship played a part in this. 

Nonetheless, the 76ers are going to get a true backup to Joel Embiid. Funny enough, Dwight is going to reunite with Danny Green since OKC flipped Green to Philly when the Lakers traded for Schroder. The Lakers still have a shot blocker since JaVale McGee picked up his player option. But honestly, the Lakers are going to miss Dwight as he helps take off the load of McGee and AD defending the more premium centers like a Nikola Jokic. He had a huge role during that matchup against the Nuggets.

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Wesley Matthews (MIL) - 1-year, $3.5M 

Comments: Now, this is a move that we all saw coming. The Lakers needed to find a cheap replacement for Danny Green and Wes Matthews was their guy all throughout this process. Matthews had a pretty decent season as a prominent role player for the Bucks. His best days of averaging 10+ PPG are behind him, but he's a savvy veteran who can still knock down the three ball and defend multiple positions. He's the perfect trade-off for the departure of Danny Green and the Lakers didn't need to break the bank. Fun fact, his dad played for the Lakers in the Showtime Era. It comes full circle for the man.

Montrezl Harrell (LAC) - 2-years, $19M

Comments: I felt a great disturbance in the force as if millions of Clipper fans suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. The salt level of Clipper Nation is through the roof with the signing as Montrezl Harrell decides to join the real LA team across the hallway. Nobody, saw this coming! I never thought he would be a target! But, this mitigated the loss of Dwight a bit earlier tonight. Harrell doesn't have the physical stature and defensive prowess that Dwight has. But, what he brings is relentless energy and high motor and he can score and terrorize the boards in bunches. He was a big reason why the Lakers dropped the first two meetings with the Clippers last year. Once Montrezl and Lou Will subbed in, you just knew momentum was about to shift in the Clippers' way in a blur. 

Now, the Lakers don't have to worry about now that they have him. After further research, Harrell is a client of Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. Definitely, there was a lot of internal stuff going on that we don't know about. But, who are we to complain? Rob Pelinka and Rich Paul are playing chess while the rest of the league is playing checkers. The Lakers have the reigning Sixth Man after previously acquiring the runner-up in Dennis Schroder. I would think Harrell comes off the bench. He and the Carushow are going to be super electrifying coming off the bench. And, they just weakened the Clippers with this "pro gamer" move. Don't cry Clipper fans. If y'all sign Rondo, you better pray to the basketball gods he stays healthy all season and he can handle the egos of Paul Choke (PC13) and Kawhi LoadManagement. 

The Dennis Schroder Trade

I'm on my way out of this blog by the end of the NFL Season. But, we can still talk about the Lakers offseason while I'm still active. The NBA offseason is underway when a trade has been reported. And earlier today, league sources have reported that the Lakers and Thunder have agreed to a trade that would send Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Dennis Schroder to LA in exchange for Danny Green and the Lakers' 28th pick in this year's draft. The trade moratorium is tomorrow, so we can expect this to be official by all accounts.

Rob Pelinka isn't playing any games. This is a great deal for the Lakers. If you want to better your chances to "run it back," you make moves like these. It would be ideal for the Lakers to bring everyone from their 2019-20 championship roster back. But, the truth of the matter is that nucleus is going to get older and opposing teams are going to get better. Schroder may not be the All-Star guard that we covet, but he provides the Lakers a reliable 3rd option to go with LeBron and AD. Schroder is only 27 years old and is a consistent 18-20 point scoring guard with playmaking ability. He is also a much better shooter at this point of his career than what the Lakers currently had among that back court personnel. 

For the assets that the Lakers are giving up, they're literally giving away "peanuts." Danny Green is a solid 3 and D player, but he's slowing down. That's evident in this year's postseason run in the bubble even if he had some injuries. If you compare DG's contract to Schroder's contract, they both make $15 million a year. Obviously, Schroder is getting paid incrementally higher. But the difference is simple: Schroder is reaching his peak while Danny Green is on the decline. The 28th pick doesn't hold too much value. The chances that pick develops into a future superstar is very slim unless OKC's scouts have somebody in mind. That team is committed to a full-on rebuild, accumulating a boat load of draft picks from Houston and the LA Clippers from the Russell Westbrook and Paul George trades respectively. 

This trade is also a contingency plan to patch up the Lakers' backcourt because that unit will take a hit this upcoming offseason. Rajon Rondo is opting out and wants more money. KCP wants more money. Avery Bradley is also opting out. At least Schroder will fill that void for the time being even if it's on a one-year rental. Although we do want Rondo and KCP back, it's understandable we gotta play that game of "keep as many as you can." And there's a chance the Lakers may not get either of them back with their high salary demands, especially since they have to prioritize resigning AD this offseason. This trade is one way to keep AD in LA for the foreseeable future and pair him with a prospective young piece in preparation for the post-LeBron era. And currently, this helps extend LeBron's prime and keep him fresh for the postseason with a guard who can consistently score double digit points and create plays for teammates. 

Moving On

Hi guys. Hope you all are having a splendid week. I'm pretty sure everybody's still celebrating the Lakers' 2020 Championship run. Or having a relaxing bye week like the Raiders after a huge win over the Kansas City Chiefs and gearing up for Sunday Night against the Buccaneers. It's nice to have a week off and reflect on some things and so on and so forth.

I wanted to make this announcement on Sunday, but I've been super busy wrapping up one half of the Fall Semester of my Masters program. And now that's out of the way, I have time to effectively announce my future and the future of this blog. To say I'm "retiring" is not the word I want to throw out there. It's more like I'll be going into a long-term hiatus. I don't know when I'll come back and post content. It could be a year from now. Two years from now. Five years from now. Or maybe fifteen years from now. That's up for me to decide. But, I have decided after witnessing my Lakers' run to the NBA Championship this season, I am effectively moving on from this blog at the conclusion of the Raiders' 2020 NFL Season. 

To be honest, I contemplated about this for a couple of years now. My endgame was that either the Lakers make it to the NBA Finals, win or lose, or the Raiders make it to the Super Bowl, win or lose. Having both scenarios happen would be a plus. But, once one of those scenarios happened, I was going to move on from this blog. When the Lakers won the 2020 NBA Championship, I felt really satisfied and reflected on the 10 years that I've had this blog. I covered what was nearly a decade of mediocrity with both the Raiders and Lakers failing to win championships. Of course, there are a few bright spots like when I recapped the late Kobe Bryant's final game when he dropped 60 points over the Utah Jazz or when the Raiders went 12-4 later in the same year, covering all those come from behind wins. But other than that because the Raiders and Lakers have been terrible through all these years, it has been nothing but pain on this blog. I've been typing out the same regurgitating stuff about what they can do to get better or if certain players or coaches need to get cut or fired. I'm thankful the Lakers got good again with LeBron James and Anthony Davis as I reached my "twilight years" of posting on and managing this blog. And when the Lakers won it all this year, it was right and then and there that this is the decision I wanted to make. 

I made this blog undergo a lot of changes since I first started. I was just beginning my junior year of high school and I lost a lot of writing material because my previous laptop failed and I didn't have a backup drive to save them. I had aspirations to be a writer and the day I lost all of my writing crippled my drive to write again. Starting this blog after that incident in August 2010 was like a haven for me because it was a way to keep my writing style alive. Writing and blogging about my beloved Raiders and Lakers came out of the blue because sports is a consistent topic to blog about.

When I first started, I was actually covering three teams: the then Oakland Raiders, LA Lakers, and the San Jose Sharks. My high school was very religious about Sharks hockey and yes, I do like the Sharks as well. But, I didn't have much knowledge about the NHL or hockey as I did with football and basketball. By the time I transitioned over to college, I dropped the Sharks (still rooted for them though) and stuck to what I knew best and that was Raiders football and Lakers basketball. And that's pretty much when I rebranded this blog as True Raider Laker. By 2013 after doing three years of short recaps and stats highlights, I expanded my posts to share more of my knowledge about the games with the quarter-by-quarter (Q by Q) reactions and full recaps. I just typed what I saw in the games from my perspective. I'm not an expert or anything. It was all subjective on the pluses and minuses after the games.

In 2015, I synergized my YouTube channel, MechG2994, with this blog, starting up TrueRaiderLaker Productions where I simulcasted my hype videos on my channel and on this blog. My 2015 "New Generation" Raiders video caught the eye of a prominent Raiders YouTuber. You may have known him somewhere as "Donkey Lips." But we all know him as Mikey Raider. I was able to drive traffic to my channel, but I missed a big opportunity to drive traffic to my blog. From my 2016 Lakers Hype Video onward, I started watermarking the URL to my blog. I stopped at my 2019 videos because I assumed most of my viewers were annoyed by it. 

2018-2020 was like a "jumbo" era for this blog. I immediately cut off the real-time Q by Q reactions. And as a Raider fan, I pretty much lost my sanity when Jon Gruden infamously dealt Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears before the season started and eventually Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys in the middle of the season. And of course we had the following year with the saga of Antonio Brown the Clown and the Raiders losing their last home game in Oakland against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. Time will tell if Gruden and Mike Mayock rebounded from that mess. There's still a lot of issues, but the Raiders are off to a solid start in their inaugural Las Vegas season. On the Lakers front, it was not as bad, but still bad as the organization couldn't get a plan together and decide if they want championships now or hold onto the young core for long-term sustainability. Rob Pelinka definitely proved naysayers wrong after Magic Johnson resigned, trading for AD and putting a "Plan B" championship team with quality veterans and young players who understood their roles. Like I said, I'm thankful the Lakers got good again to bring some positivity to this blog. By my later years, I started to care less about this blog, but the Lakers' resurgence this past season gave me something to hang onto by a thread.

2020 man, this year has been a year of unpredictability. Kobe Bryant's tragic death sent this world into a tailspin. The following months, all sports have been suspended and we all locked down to contain the spread of COVID-19. And of course on a personal note, I lost my dad overseas and pretty much I have to step up now as the new man of the household. If the NBA continued as planned and the Lakers still won, I would've announced this in June and I wouldn't be around for the first 2020 Las Vegas Raiders season. But life works in mysterious ways. The NBA restarted in July in a bubble setting. The NFL went on as planned with limited to no fans. The Lakers were crowned champions this month, but the Raiders are just getting started. I'll still hang around since football season is current. But like I said, after this season, barring an improbable Super Bowl run by the Raiders, I am moving on to oversee new projects I want to groom and take care of some personal stuff.

I had a great time managing this blog and sharing my fandom for the Silver and Black and the Purple and Gold. But, all good things must come to an end at some point. As I mentioned, I wouldn't say I'm retiring. I won't be around on this blog or post content as much as I used to. However, my TrueRaiderLaker Productions content will hang around as long as I have a visual idea. But, they'll be taking a back seat going forward. I'm thinking about dispersing another niche on my YouTube channel and letting that grow as something new and independent. I'm not gonna close down this blog after this incumbent Raiders season that's for sure. This blog and all of its posts will live on. After all, what happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet. I'll see you guys later.