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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight, presented by Fan Duel here at the volume.
Speaker 1: Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are
Speaker 1: having a great week so far. Today is my one
Speaker 1: and only calendar day, full calendar day that I'm in
Speaker 1: Tucson before I have right back out of town tomorrow
Speaker 1: to go to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League. Though
Speaker 1: I'm very very excited for a couple of massive I'll
Speaker 1: be at most of the games, but a couple of
Speaker 1: massive games I will for sure be. Yet there's a
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic versus Houston Rockets game tomorrow night, which will
Speaker 1: feature powamanchero in Jabari Smith Jr. That I will have
Speaker 1: an instant reaction video on and then I believe, either
Speaker 1: the next day or two days later the Magic Player.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, the Rockets played the Oklahoma City Thunder so
Speaker 1: we could see chat homegrin versus Bari Smith Jr. I
Speaker 1: will be at both of those games. I'll be doing
Speaker 1: live reactions to make sure you first of all subscribe
Speaker 1: to the Volumes YouTube channels you don't miss any of
Speaker 1: those videos, and also follow me on Twitter at underscore
Speaker 1: Jason lt. I'll be tweeting out where I'm at in
Speaker 1: the gym and stuff and where I'm at around town,
Speaker 1: so you guys have an opportunity, if you guys are
Speaker 1: friends of the show, if you want to swing by
Speaker 1: and say hi, talk some hoops and hang out for
Speaker 1: a little bit. I also plan on trying to find
Speaker 1: at least one day where I can get to a
Speaker 1: gym um and play little basketball with some of the
Speaker 1: local people over there. So again, follow me on Twitter
Speaker 1: at underscore Jason lt S you guys can kind of
Speaker 1: see where I'm at. I would love to get to
Speaker 1: meet some of you guys, some of the people that
Speaker 1: have supported this show so much over the course of
Speaker 1: the last year, and then I appreciate so much. Um
Speaker 1: So last night, as we were all waiting for Kyrie
Speaker 1: news or Kevin Durant news or really anything interesting and
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook trade something along those lines, instead we got
Speaker 1: a very interesting Lakers related piece of news. The Lakers
Speaker 1: managed to sign Thomas Bryant, who was a former Laker,
Speaker 1: very interesting young center prospect in the league right now,
Speaker 1: who had a partially torn a c L about a
Speaker 1: year and a half ago that's kept him out for
Speaker 1: a while. So that's why I haven't seen much of
Speaker 1: Thomas Bryant. And so maybe not a big game, maybe
Speaker 1: not a big name, excuse me, not necessarily anything splashy,
Speaker 1: but I think a very very solid player and a
Speaker 1: very interesting player as it pertains to the shape and
Speaker 1: and essentially the identity of what this year's Lakers team
Speaker 1: is going to be. So I wanted to take today
Speaker 1: to focus in on the Lakers so far this offseason,
Speaker 1: the moves that they've made, things that I liked, things
Speaker 1: that I disliked, things that I expect later in the
Speaker 1: summer as well. It's gonna be a Lakers team day. Now,
Speaker 1: remember this show originally was under the name Lakers Tonight.
Speaker 1: We switched it to Hoops Tonight because that was always
Speaker 1: the plan. We were always going to cover the whole league. However,
Speaker 1: the Lakers, even though I know many of you probably
Speaker 1: despise the Lakers, and I'm not a Lakers fan either,
Speaker 1: I've just covered the team. Over the course the last
Speaker 1: couple of years. I've become a fan of certain elements
Speaker 1: of the franchise, of course, but the Lakers will always
Speaker 1: be one of the prominent franchises in the NBA. Hell,
Speaker 1: they have Lebron James and Anthony Davis on the team.
Speaker 1: I know it was really strange that they didn't make
Speaker 1: the playoffs this year, but a lot even with all
Speaker 1: of the disastrous things that they did, it was primary
Speaker 1: really injury related. So if Lebron James and Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: are healthy this year, chances are they'll be right back
Speaker 1: in the mix. And this show, Hoops Tonight will always
Speaker 1: focus on all of the league, but with a primary
Speaker 1: focus on the top teams. And that goes with big
Speaker 1: brands like the Lakers and Nicks. That goes with successful
Speaker 1: teams and franchises like the Toronto Raptors and the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors and teams that are contenders. So that's why
Speaker 1: we're gonna dive a lot into teams like the Boston
Speaker 1: Celtics when they're really good, or teams like the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: is seventy sixers with the Miami Heat. We're always going
Speaker 1: to focus in on the best and most interesting teams,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers come hell or high water because they
Speaker 1: have so much star power, because they have the you know,
Speaker 1: the dramatic ownership, general management group that they have, it's
Speaker 1: always going to be a team that we spent some
Speaker 1: time on. So today is going to be a Lakers
Speaker 1: team show. I'm gonna get into some positives from this summer,
Speaker 1: some things that I didn't like, what I expect about
Speaker 1: the Kyrie fit, because I do still think there's about
Speaker 1: an eight percent chance that he's a Laker when this
Speaker 1: is all said and done, and then I'm gonna do
Speaker 1: deep dives into four specific players, Thomas Bryant, Lonnie Walker,
Speaker 1: Juantsaskano Anderson, and Troy Brown Jr. Just some of the
Speaker 1: things that I've noticed on tape and some things that
Speaker 1: I'll be looking for from them once we get into
Speaker 1: the season, but I do want to start positive because
Speaker 1: there's a there. I've been really hard on the Lakers,
Speaker 1: as you guys know. I've been really hard to Genie
Speaker 1: Buss have, but really hard to Rock Link. I haven't
Speaker 1: really hard on everybody on the roster and including Lebron James.
Speaker 1: And you know, I don't feel bad about it. They
Speaker 1: deserve it. They were the second leading favorite in Vegas
Speaker 1: and then they missed making the playoffs in a field
Speaker 1: that allows twenty of the thirty teams to get it.
Speaker 1: It was embarrassing and heads needed to roll, and heads
Speaker 1: basically have rolled over There have been rolling over the
Speaker 1: course of the last couple of months. Um, It's been
Speaker 1: kind of a funny start to free agency so far.
Speaker 1: Right Like, it kind of feels like Rob Polinka is
Speaker 1: making decisions based on public perception rather than what the
Speaker 1: league is kind of trending towards. Right Like, they lose
Speaker 1: to the Suns and then they load up on offense
Speaker 1: and shooting and then they can't guard anybody and all
Speaker 1: their old guys are hurt, and then the criticism becomes, oh, well,
Speaker 1: they didn't have any defensive minded players and they were
Speaker 1: too old well, every player they've signed so far thist
Speaker 1: offseason is in his twenties. They've now become super young
Speaker 1: and super athletic and very defensive minded, and a lot
Speaker 1: of the role players that they've picked up are players
Speaker 1: that have severe offensive limitations. So it's kind of funny
Speaker 1: to see the the pendulum of public perception kind of
Speaker 1: drive Rob Polinka's decision making rather than just kind of
Speaker 1: focusing in on specific team needs. But we'll get to
Speaker 1: that later. Like, like I said, I just undercut myself
Speaker 1: because I said I was gonna be positive and I
Speaker 1: just was negative. But I do want to try to
Speaker 1: start positive. So let's let's start positive with the Lakers
Speaker 1: first and foremost. I really really like the Damien Jones
Speaker 1: and Thomas Bryant signings. They are modern NBA centers. Again,
Speaker 1: like you think about if we go back in a
Speaker 1: time machine twenty years the game played it in a
Speaker 1: grueling lee slow pace, so transition foot speed didn't matter
Speaker 1: at all, Right, Like the game, the game was primarily
Speaker 1: three out two in, meaning there was primarily two centers
Speaker 1: clogging things up in two defensive centers climbing clogging things
Speaker 1: up on every single possession, So floor spacing wasn't necessarily
Speaker 1: a concern because everybody was dealing with it right and
Speaker 1: with the way that the game was officiated at the time,
Speaker 1: where contact was allowed pretty much all over the floor,
Speaker 1: you were better off going to one of your bigger
Speaker 1: players to try to get them to bully the ball
Speaker 1: closer to the basket. But a lot of things have
Speaker 1: changed in the two decades since. Looking right at the physicality,
Speaker 1: the post up is basically the only place on the
Speaker 1: floor in the regular season where you're allowed to be physical,
Speaker 1: So no longer makes sense to post players up unless
Speaker 1: you have a significant size advantage, because defensively, the refs
Speaker 1: allow you to do just about anything there, whereas everywhere
Speaker 1: else on the floor it's like you put your hands
Speaker 1: on somebody, it's a foul. You bump somebody, it's a foul.
Speaker 1: You come up underneath the shooter, it's a foul. You
Speaker 1: bear it's extremely ticky tack everywhere else on the floor,
Speaker 1: and then very and very loose and and just kind
Speaker 1: of free for all underneath the basket. So post up offenses,
Speaker 1: particularly centers banging on centers, you just don't really see
Speaker 1: much value in that anymore. You'll still see your Lebron's
Speaker 1: posting up a small guard or a big guard posting
Speaker 1: up a small guard, but it's few and far between,
Speaker 1: and it's not a very you know, smart way to
Speaker 1: run offense anymore. Then we ditched the power forward and
Speaker 1: we basically added a fourth wing, slash guard, perimeter player.
Speaker 1: So as a result, spacing now is a concern if
Speaker 1: you are running some sort of three out two in
Speaker 1: the type of attack, or if you have to really uh,
Speaker 1: if you have two non shooters on the floor, then
Speaker 1: things really will get clogged up. And it's no longer
Speaker 1: an issue of competitor becomes an issue of competitive advantage
Speaker 1: because the other teams you're playing don't have that problem.
Speaker 1: And so as things have gotten spaced out more and
Speaker 1: as we've ditched that foreman, the traditional foreman having that big,
Speaker 1: lumbering center has become more and more of a problem.
Speaker 1: And then, last but not least, the game just plays
Speaker 1: at a much faster pace and a lot of teams
Speaker 1: play a five out style of basketball, So your ability
Speaker 1: to get up and down the floor in transition and
Speaker 1: your ability to cover ground in rotation is much more
Speaker 1: important now than it used to be. And so essentially,
Speaker 1: a big, lumbering center like Dwight Howard carried a great
Speaker 1: deal of value. It's ten fifteen years ago, right when
Speaker 1: the game was like that, but now it's like you
Speaker 1: almost want a guy that's a little bit smaller, a
Speaker 1: little bit thinner, a little bit faster, and the guy
Speaker 1: that doesn't rely on post up touches. Ironically, Dwight Howard
Speaker 1: having a tiny bit of a late career renaissance there
Speaker 1: with the Lakers came with him slimming down a lot
Speaker 1: and ditching the post ups and primarily being at least
Speaker 1: the best version of that that he could be. So
Speaker 1: I did think it was impressive for Rod Polinka to
Speaker 1: notice that trend that I just laid out into target
Speaker 1: centers that are younger, fast, or that will actually be
Speaker 1: able to get up and down the floor, especially since
Speaker 1: Darvin Hamm has talked a lot about how he does
Speaker 1: want to play fast and so you're gonna need a
Speaker 1: specific type of center to be able to do that,
Speaker 1: and Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones give you that. So
Speaker 1: I do like that a lot. Also, they shifted towards
Speaker 1: defensive minded guards once it's gotta Anderson, Troy Brown Jr.
Speaker 1: Lonnie Walker that they're kind of fit into the existing
Speaker 1: mix of players that the Lakers signed late last year. Right,
Speaker 1: Austin Reaves a defensive minded guard, Stanley Johnson a defensive
Speaker 1: minded wing, and when you and Gabriel a defensive minded
Speaker 1: kind of like forward wing hybrid. Right, And so now
Speaker 1: you have a bunch of really defensive minded young players.
Speaker 1: The reason why that's important is you gotta look at
Speaker 1: the Lebron James and Anthony Davis problem. You know, Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis. The reason why everyone got so
Speaker 1: excited when they originally paired up in is they were
Speaker 1: the consummate modern NBA front court. They brought all of
Speaker 1: the physically imposing stuff that came from your old school
Speaker 1: power forward center combos with all of the malleability, versatility,
Speaker 1: and foot speed that comes from the modern front court combos. Right,
Speaker 1: and then you combine that with Lebron James being one
Speaker 1: of the most dominant offensive forces of all time and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, at least during the first year of his
Speaker 1: time with the Lakers, being the hyper versatile offensive forward
Speaker 1: that he was. You kind of was like the perfect
Speaker 1: foundational front court for an NBA team. That's why it
Speaker 1: wasn't a coincidence that for two straight years, not only
Speaker 1: did they win a championship, but they won damn near
Speaker 1: eight of their games when the two of them were
Speaker 1: on the floor together. That is the you know that
Speaker 1: that was the foundational piece of this whole thing. But
Speaker 1: in I don't know if it was because of Frank Vogel.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was because of Lebron coming
Speaker 1: off of the most embarrassing season of his career. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it was Anthony Davis thriving under all
Speaker 1: of the enthusiasm from joining the Lakers. But Lebron and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis were thorough and entirely bought in defensively. Then
Speaker 1: we went to Lebron stayed bought in defensively, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: bought out defensively. Then we moved forward one year and
Speaker 1: Lebron James buys out defensively too. And now suddenly Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis are a pretty bad defensive front
Speaker 1: court compared to what they used to be. Obviously, Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis's poor defensive effort still brings a lot of positives,
Speaker 1: but they just weren't the same in the one year
Speaker 1: they still had a ton of defensive minded players to
Speaker 1: pick up the slack for Anthony Davis, Dennis Shrewder, Danny's
Speaker 1: not Danny Green, excuse me, can tab He's called well pope.
Speaker 1: You know Kyle Kuzma. That was the year he blossomed
Speaker 1: into an excellent defensive forward in this league. They had
Speaker 1: players that were committed defensively to kind of pull the
Speaker 1: weight for what was going on. Um with Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: backing down Alex Cruzer, I left him out. He's another
Speaker 1: great example of that. They had awesome defensive minded players.
Speaker 1: Then you get too, yes, if you basically trade out
Speaker 1: all of the defensive minded players for offensive minded players.
Speaker 1: You combine that with Lebron James and Anthony Davis buying
Speaker 1: out defensively, and it turned into a disaster. Defensively, they
Speaker 1: were one of the worst defensive teams that I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: And so from that standpoint, I am hopeful that Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis are bought in this year. I'm
Speaker 1: hopeful for the sake of the Lakers that they kind
Speaker 1: of recapture some of that vibe. But if they don't,
Speaker 1: or if it's something less than that, like let's say
Speaker 1: they buy in for the big games, or they buy
Speaker 1: in for stretches, but they have extended stretches of the
Speaker 1: season where they're kind of checked out. That's where it
Speaker 1: helps to have all of these guys that love to
Speaker 1: play defense, because that will help carry you during those stretches.
Speaker 1: Most importantly, it will make it difficult for Lebron James
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis to buy out because it's just hard,
Speaker 1: you guys, know. I mean, look, I played in college,
Speaker 1: I play pick up now. I go through days where
Speaker 1: I don't really feel like bringing it. But if I'm
Speaker 1: on a team and I have three or four guys
Speaker 1: next to me that are really defending, I'm probably gonna
Speaker 1: defend because it's just you started to get the side eye,
Speaker 1: you start to get those little bit of dirty looks.
Speaker 1: You start to feel guilty for not playing defense when
Speaker 1: the guys next to you are. And there was none
Speaker 1: of that accountability with the Lakers last year. There was
Speaker 1: none of that guys holding each other to the same
Speaker 1: defensive standard. And so I like the direction, even though
Speaker 1: I feel like it was a reactionary. Even though I
Speaker 1: don't even necessarily know if Rob Blinka's mind or heart
Speaker 1: was in the right place. I do like the shift
Speaker 1: back to defensive minded guards. We talked about this earlier,
Speaker 1: and I gotta give some credit to Rob here. Umm.
Speaker 1: I talked about this about a month ago, but I
Speaker 1: really like the Darvin Ham sign. Awesome defensive um, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of transition from what he was doing in Milwaukee
Speaker 1: to the Lakers. Some of the stuff you can do
Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis and Lebron is similar to stuff that
Speaker 1: he did with Joannas, Antenna Coompo and uh and Brook Lopez.
Speaker 1: So I loved that fit. I love that he's a
Speaker 1: tough former NBA player, role player archetype, and the way
Speaker 1: that he'll be able to look eye to eye with
Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davison, resonate with them in a
Speaker 1: way that a lot of the establishment coaches can't. I
Speaker 1: really really liked that signing. The Lakers now have a
Speaker 1: great base of high motor players. We talked about this
Speaker 1: just a minute ago with defense, but that goes with
Speaker 1: the night and night out grind of the NBA season
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor. Austin Reeves is a
Speaker 1: high motor player. Stanley Johnson is a high motor player,
Speaker 1: Whennan Gabriel is a high motor player, Juantasconal Anderson high
Speaker 1: motor player. You know, Troy Brown Jr. Thomas Bryant, these
Speaker 1: are all high motor players. So this Lakers team will
Speaker 1: do better in the dregs of the regular season having
Speaker 1: this group out there too in the rotation to just
Speaker 1: bring the night in and night out energy that you need,
Speaker 1: especially to pad your to pad your team in the
Speaker 1: standings with wins and losses. So last year, if you
Speaker 1: guys remember, that was a huge problem for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: When you're relying on Russell Westbrook and you're relying on
Speaker 1: Lebron James, and you're relying on Carmelo Anthony, and you're
Speaker 1: relying on Anthony Davis, and you're relying on Dwight Howard,
Speaker 1: and you're relying on DeAndre Jordan's and you're relying on
Speaker 1: camp bays More. It's like these are all older veteran
Speaker 1: players who don't really get up for the Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: Thunder in December. So what happens You end up losing
Speaker 1: to the Oklahoma City Thunder twice as a result. So
Speaker 1: I liked the idea of understanding your weakness. Your weakness
Speaker 1: is your two stars struggle with motors. Sometimes, let's target
Speaker 1: young players with high motors. It will help carry them
Speaker 1: through some of those stretches. And the last but not least,
Speaker 1: in terms of positives, I think that, you know, Rob
Speaker 1: Polinka finally started to get it right in terms of
Speaker 1: the value of shooting. You know. And I kind of
Speaker 1: have like a combo opinion on this kind of thing.
Speaker 1: It's a combo of different things that I've heard and
Speaker 1: seeing over the years when I've been playing and coaching
Speaker 1: and covering the league. Um, the best guy that I've
Speaker 1: seen to explain kind of a variation of what I
Speaker 1: believe is is My Trudel, who does an amazing job
Speaker 1: covering the Lakers for Spectrum Sports Net. He also does
Speaker 1: the Laker Film Room podcast with Pizza sent Terry Soriana.
Speaker 1: They do an amazing job Lakers fans. If you're looking
Speaker 1: for like a Laker focused podcast, that's the best one
Speaker 1: I've seen. Got to check them out. Um, But Mike
Speaker 1: Trudel always says that like the difference between a thirty
Speaker 1: eight percent three point shooter and a thirty four percent
Speaker 1: three point shooter might be a dozen makes over the
Speaker 1: course of a season. You know, if you if you're attempting,
Speaker 1: you know, three shots right like that, it's not really
Speaker 1: that much of a difference. And I tend to agree.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, I think percentage matters less than volume.
Speaker 1: You know your it's it's the perception of your threat
Speaker 1: versus your actual threat. So, for instance, you know NBA
Speaker 1: teams are gonna sag off of players all the time
Speaker 1: to guard Lebron James and Anthony Davis. That's just what
Speaker 1: you have to do. If you leave the paint open
Speaker 1: and let Lebron James drive to the rim all day long,
Speaker 1: he's gonna destroy you. If you don't double team Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis in the post and you let him work one
Speaker 1: on one against smaller players, he's gonna destroy you. You
Speaker 1: make a decision when you guard. The Lakers were packing
Speaker 1: the paint and we're making other people shoot. So if
Speaker 1: Wesley Matthews shoots thirty four from three, but you know, uh,
Speaker 1: Troy Brown Junior shoots thirty five or thirty six, or
Speaker 1: I've just thrown out numbers for the sake of this argument.
Speaker 1: If there's a slight percentage difference there that's irrelevant to
Speaker 1: the way teams will guard you. The way teams will
Speaker 1: guard you is the same regardless of whether that's Wesley
Speaker 1: Matthews in the corner, or it's contagious called Will Pope
Speaker 1: in the corner, or it's Kyle Kuzma in the corner,
Speaker 1: or it's you know, uh or Tory Banner Jr. Whoever
Speaker 1: the hell it is in the corner. They're ignoring that person.
Speaker 1: They're gonna probably have a foot in the paint or
Speaker 1: near the paint to help on your Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis's drives. The only type of player will actually
Speaker 1: warp the defense out to you is a gunner that's
Speaker 1: a high volume three point shooter. Has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with the percentage, has everything, or i should say, very
Speaker 1: little to do with the percentage, and mostly has to
Speaker 1: do with the fear that you will shoot if you
Speaker 1: are open. For the most part, if you got a
Speaker 1: foot near the paint and there's a skip past to
Speaker 1: Wesley Matthews and you close out on him, he won't
Speaker 1: even shoot it. Now, keep it moving. He might attack
Speaker 1: the clothes out a little bit, kick it to the
Speaker 1: next guy. And then reset the offense. And so that's
Speaker 1: what allows that defender to sit in the paint knowing
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to chaotically, psychotically panic chase you off
Speaker 1: the three point line because you're only going to shoot
Speaker 1: if you're completely wide open. Having a shooter out there
Speaker 1: that is a gunner, someone that has a relatively quickly
Speaker 1: quick release and never see the shot he doesn't like.
Speaker 1: That's the type of guy out there that will cause
Speaker 1: the fender to have a little bit more hesitancy to
Speaker 1: pull further and further away from him. I accidentally listed
Speaker 1: him earlier, but I intended to use him for this example.
Speaker 1: A guy that that that that that fits this mold
Speaker 1: perfectly for you guys to understand what I'm talking about
Speaker 1: is Kyle Kuzma. Kyle Kuzma has been shooting the ball
Speaker 1: a lot letter in a lot better in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, but for his career has been a
Speaker 1: like a low thirties three point shooter. But he's six
Speaker 1: ft nine and he's a freaking gunner. Every time he's open,
Speaker 1: he shoots it. And so Kyle Kuzma has a better
Speaker 1: spacing effect then a forty shooter that's hesitant or a
Speaker 1: thirty eight percent shooter that's hesitant. I always liked Kyle
Speaker 1: Kuzma's fit as a role player next to stars because
Speaker 1: you never have to doubt whether or not he's brave
Speaker 1: enough to take the shot, and he more than likely
Speaker 1: will take a few more than you that you then
Speaker 1: you actually want him to take. Every coach will tell
Speaker 1: you they would rather have a player that they have
Speaker 1: to convince to shoot a little bit less often than
Speaker 1: a player that they have to convince to shoot a
Speaker 1: little bit more often. It's just a simple matter of
Speaker 1: confidence at that point. So ditching the Malik Monk and
Speaker 1: Carmelo Anthony archetypes of players, Mellow actually is more of
Speaker 1: a gunner. He was actually a better fit, and I
Speaker 1: wouldn't hate to see him back in the Laker jersey.
Speaker 1: But Malik Monk is a good example of what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. He's kind of got to load up on
Speaker 1: his shot. He's a little bit shorter, needs a little
Speaker 1: bit more separation. His value as a spot up threat
Speaker 1: is he pretty much has to be open, right. He's
Speaker 1: not a guy that's gonna make you pay for, you know,
Speaker 1: helping off of him just a little bit so shifting
Speaker 1: away from high percentage three point shooters. If you guys
Speaker 1: remember last year, all those guys that they signed, it's like, oh, Kemp,
Speaker 1: he's more from three with Golden State, Like that's impressive, right,
Speaker 1: we gotta bring that guy in. You know. It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, Avery Bradley shot the ball really well
Speaker 1: from three last year. We gotta bring that guy in.
Speaker 1: We gotta bring these guys in because their percentages looked
Speaker 1: better then the guys that we had last year. But
Speaker 1: then all came in and no one guarded him anyway,
Speaker 1: and they didn't make that many shots. So again it's
Speaker 1: it's and if you look at the Malik Monk, Carmelo
Speaker 1: Anthony archetypes, this is the other side of this thing.
Speaker 1: The Malik Monk mellow archetypes give up a ton on
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor on defense. And so
Speaker 1: it's like, at least if you've got to want Uscano
Speaker 1: Anderson and a Troy Brown Jr. Lonnie Walker and Astar
Speaker 1: Reeves Stanley Johnson, they're not gonna shoot over thirty from three, right,
Speaker 1: They're not gonna make a ton of shots. They're gonna
Speaker 1: present the same shortcomings as spot up threats from just
Speaker 1: about any other Laker that has played in this era,
Speaker 1: but they're competing down on the defensive end of the floor.
Speaker 1: So the moral of the story is, if you can
Speaker 1: choose between a guy who's a good shooter who doesn't defend,
Speaker 1: and a guy who's an okay to average shooter that
Speaker 1: does defend, take this guy unless he's an absolute gunner,
Speaker 1: like a guy that absolutely forces defense to contort his way.
Speaker 1: Those are the only guys that bring in enough significant
Speaker 1: offensive value that you can make up for some of
Speaker 1: their defensive shortcomings, which is why Mellow is one of
Speaker 1: the guys that I had considered as a potential player
Speaker 1: to sign as we moved to the negatives. So I
Speaker 1: like the idea of going younger. You probably will have
Speaker 1: guys more available, You probably won't have to deal with
Speaker 1: line up turnover as often as you did last year.
Speaker 1: But you do need some veteran role players. You do
Speaker 1: need some wise experience, you know, guys who've been around
Speaker 1: the block a few times. You do need some of
Speaker 1: those guys in the locker room, especially as role players. One.
Speaker 1: They can help coach up young role players in a
Speaker 1: way that the Lebron's and Anthony Davis is the world
Speaker 1: cannot because they can't relate to them, right, they can.
Speaker 1: They can be you know, mentors to them in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways too. They're usually more reliable in a
Speaker 1: playoff series. We've seen this so many times. But having
Speaker 1: a guy that you can trust to not make mistakes
Speaker 1: in a big moment carries a great deal of value,
Speaker 1: especially as a fifth starter, especially as a guy that
Speaker 1: is surrounding your higher end players. You know that that's
Speaker 1: not to say that you'll use them often, but you
Speaker 1: like to have them as an option. You know. Typically
Speaker 1: when you're dealing with young players, you deal with volatility.
Speaker 1: I say this all the time. Young players struggle to
Speaker 1: identify what's working for them and to replicate that, and
Speaker 1: to identify what they're struggling with and to find ways
Speaker 1: to cut that out. They always struggle with that. That's
Speaker 1: not just a basketball thing, that's a life thing. It's
Speaker 1: the reason why, like I swear, every young person I
Speaker 1: know gets in some amount of debt when they're young,
Speaker 1: and then they have to learn the hard way that
Speaker 1: that sucks. And then you get out of debt and
Speaker 1: you realize you don't want to do it. Anymore. You're young,
Speaker 1: you don't understand the mistakes you're making. You can't actually
Speaker 1: perceive consequences in the future, and so you do stupid stuff.
Speaker 1: This is the kind of thing that I'm talking about here.
Speaker 1: So like a guy like Lonnie Walker, he'll have nights
Speaker 1: where he looks amazing, but he'll also have nights where
Speaker 1: his head's not in it and he's making a lot
Speaker 1: of mistakes. That's where it helps to have a veteran
Speaker 1: an option to plug into that spot for twelve fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes in a second half one night when lone he
Speaker 1: doesn't have it, or the same thing. If I want
Speaker 1: to scona Anderson, isn't isn't isn't fitting in well? And
Speaker 1: this specific night in his spot in the rotation, I'd
Speaker 1: like to see a little bit of a veteran role
Speaker 1: player presence. This is why I liked Mellow again. Mellow
Speaker 1: as a guy that has to play thirty minutes a night,
Speaker 1: as a guy that you need for significant amounts of
Speaker 1: offensive creation, as a guy that you need eighty two
Speaker 1: games a year, that can be a shortcoming on a
Speaker 1: team surrounded with other old guys. But if he's the
Speaker 1: one old guy if he's the one veteran presence, if
Speaker 1: you never need to post him up, if he can
Speaker 1: take a night off on a back to back, if
Speaker 1: he can be the veteran mentorship, veteran mentor to some
Speaker 1: younger players, he can bring great value there. And again,
Speaker 1: he was the one true legitimate spot up threat that
Speaker 1: actually contorted defenses for the Lakers last year and that
Speaker 1: manifested in their net rating stats if you look at
Speaker 1: him when they when he would play alongside Lebron James,
Speaker 1: good things would happen. And so I like the idea
Speaker 1: of bringing Mellow back. Is one of the handful of
Speaker 1: older veteran players on this roster who brings one truly
Speaker 1: elite skill in his ability to spot up shoot. A
Speaker 1: lot of the criticism directed towards Mellow over the course
Speaker 1: the last couple of years has a lot to do
Speaker 1: with the fact that he's been in bigger roles than
Speaker 1: he really should have had. In Portland, they needed him
Speaker 1: to score a lot. With the Lakers, they needed him
Speaker 1: to score a lot. There was no expectation for him
Speaker 1: to play defense because neither of those teams played any defense.
Speaker 1: This is actually a much better fit for Mellow than
Speaker 1: even just last year's Lakers team was second negative the
Speaker 1: lack of wing size. So the first thing that I
Speaker 1: came to my mind when I saw Thomas Bryant. Second
Speaker 1: thing that came to my mind when I saw Thomas
Speaker 1: Bryant last night, I was like, Oh, Thomas Bryant quality signing.
Speaker 1: Really like this guy Damien Jones made more sense as
Speaker 1: a backup center anyway, I like this second thought, Oh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna go big again this year. Now, They've never
Speaker 1: really truly leaned into a d at the five, and
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of reasons for that, um particularly
Speaker 1: this last season. They just didn't have the personnel. They
Speaker 1: didn't have enough wing size to successfully play Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: at the five. But the thing is is, I always
Speaker 1: thought that the best version of this team was Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis at the five because of the offensive spacing that
Speaker 1: it creates. You know, again, in the modern NBA, especially
Speaker 1: when you're playing top tier defenses, when teams are allowed
Speaker 1: to be physical, when they start ignoring your nonshooters, floor
Speaker 1: spacing becomes a premium. It becomes one of the most
Speaker 1: important things in the game of basketball. And so the
Speaker 1: problem with having Anthony Davis at the four and putting
Speaker 1: someone in the dunker spot all game long is even
Speaker 1: though it helps you in some other way areas of
Speaker 1: the game, like on defense, rebounding things along those lines,
Speaker 1: it vastly hurts the confidence of your slashing stars because
Speaker 1: they just don't see the driving opportunities that they normally see.
Speaker 1: And so when I saw that Thomas Bryant signing, the
Speaker 1: first thing I thought was, Okay, if they have Thomas
Speaker 1: Bryant Damian Jones, chances are they playing playing Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: at the four. So at first I was a little irritated.
Speaker 1: But the main reason why I think this might be okay,
Speaker 1: and the main reason why I think this could work
Speaker 1: again just could is because when you don't have the
Speaker 1: wing size, you have to play big. Now the whole
Speaker 1: league is going towards wings. But there was a team
Speaker 1: in that won the title largely without wings, and they
Speaker 1: did it with guards and bigs, and it was the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Then there was a team in one that won the
Speaker 1: title largely without wings, primarily with bigs and guards, and
Speaker 1: that was the Milwaukee Bucks. They were exceptions to the
Speaker 1: rule though I know they won, but the reality was
Speaker 1: as they won because Lebron James and Janice were so
Speaker 1: unbelievably good. You can functionally run a team like that.
Speaker 1: It's not the way that I think you should in
Speaker 1: today's day and age, but as the Bucks in Lake
Speaker 1: Kers have proved, it is doable as long as everything
Speaker 1: breaks right. So with Rob Polinka still having not signed
Speaker 1: a single player that is over the six six, so
Speaker 1: I am as tall as every wing on the Lakers
Speaker 1: roster right now except for Stanley Johnson, like the because
Speaker 1: we haven't gone that route for the Lakers. You have
Speaker 1: to play big, and so I like that. At least
Speaker 1: if they're going to play big, they're doing it with
Speaker 1: the right kind of centers, and you can kind of
Speaker 1: see the team's identity starting to take shape. Defensive minded
Speaker 1: guards Lebron James at three, Anthony Davis at the four,
Speaker 1: super athletic centers underneath the basket to be rim runners
Speaker 1: and back line defenders. That was the Lakers. So I
Speaker 1: do like that they've tried at least to re replicate
Speaker 1: something that has worked. It's not what I would have done.
Speaker 1: I didn't think it was right to use the mid
Speaker 1: level exception. You're one large salary slot. This summer on
Speaker 1: a player that does not play the wing, on a
Speaker 1: player that cannot start for you necessarily in a playoff series,
Speaker 1: he might end up having to buy virtue of the
Speaker 1: way the roster shakes down. But I'm not sure that
Speaker 1: Lonnie Walker would have started for any of the conference
Speaker 1: finalists last year. And I like Lonnie Walker. They would
Speaker 1: have signed Lonnie Walker for the minimum, I'd be singing
Speaker 1: praises about the deal, and he solid guy who will
Speaker 1: fit in this rotation. But when you had one slot
Speaker 1: to offer a player six million dollars, it should have
Speaker 1: been for someone who was six ft eight and could
Speaker 1: play a little bit of a play a little bit
Speaker 1: of a two way basketball. I disagreed with that strategy.
Speaker 1: I think that the best ultimate version of this Laker
Speaker 1: team that might never end up happening, and really that
Speaker 1: we've only seen in the playoffs of was Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: at the five, Lebron James at the four in big
Speaker 1: perimeter players Alex Cruzo, Kyle Kuzma, and Contabious called Pope
Speaker 1: six five six six six nine that would or swap
Speaker 1: out Danny Green at six ft seven for Kyle Kuzma.
Speaker 1: That was always the best way to do this big
Speaker 1: perimeter players Lebron James and Anthony Davis in the front court.
Speaker 1: So not having big perimeter players is an issue here.
Speaker 1: Now you might literally have to play big. And the
Speaker 1: ultimate reminder, if we go back to the Lakers, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've played big, but in the playoffs, sixty of their minutes,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis was at center when push came to shove,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis was at center when they fell down one
Speaker 1: out of the Rockets. Anthony Davis played at the center
Speaker 1: for specific matchups like against your Kich they went big,
Speaker 1: got back to Miami, they played small most of that series.
Speaker 1: So at the at the ultimate moments of that championship
Speaker 1: pursuit for the Lakers, Anthony Davis played center. And unless
Speaker 1: they can find another big wing, I'm not sure they
Speaker 1: can this year. Now, a lot of stuff is still
Speaker 1: gonna happen. So, for instance, re Irving is probably gonna
Speaker 1: be in this picture somehow, But that doesn't solve that problem. Right.
Speaker 1: Let's say Russell Westbrook ends up being the full crumb
Speaker 1: of the Kyrie Irving trade and one first round pick.
Speaker 1: That means you have Kendrick Nunne, Taylor Horton, Tucker, so
Speaker 1: a six to point guard who's left handed and kind
Speaker 1: of and shifty. Not great defensively, but okay. And Taylor
Speaker 1: Horton Tucker, who like, depending on which night you catch
Speaker 1: on me, looks like a future All Star or someone
Speaker 1: who shouldn't be in the league and he's only six four.
Speaker 1: We have those two guys, and we have one more
Speaker 1: first round pick. Those three assets have to somehow bring
Speaker 1: back somebody who's six ft seven six ft eight, can
Speaker 1: guard multiple positions and defend uh and do a little
Speaker 1: bit of something on offense. That has to be the
Speaker 1: target here, because if you're gonna try to recreate the
Speaker 1: mold of the Lakers, you need to have some malleability.
Speaker 1: You need to have some ability to to have the
Speaker 1: ability to downsize the way the Lakers did. Step up
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Speaker 1: Promo code Jason t All. Right, before we get out
Speaker 1: of here, I wanted to talk for just a couple
Speaker 1: of seconds about Kyrie's fit, and then I want to
Speaker 1: rip through some of these young players and just give
Speaker 1: you guys my quick thoughts and then we'll get out
Speaker 1: of here. First of all, as that laid out with
Speaker 1: that roster, a lot of these guys, Lonnie Walker wants
Speaker 1: to Ukono Anderson, Troy Brown, Junr, Austin Reeves, Stanley Johnson.
Speaker 1: You know these are not offensive creator type of players.
Speaker 1: And while the Lakers went too far that direction with
Speaker 1: the mellow Monk type of idea. You do need some
Speaker 1: offensive creation. You do need somebody other than Lebron James
Speaker 1: that can run action. Now, the way I look at it,
Speaker 1: in the NBA, there's two different kinds of actions. There's
Speaker 1: primary action secondary action. Primary action is ran against a
Speaker 1: set defense, and secondary action is typically ran against the
Speaker 1: defense that's either in rotation or has made a rotation
Speaker 1: and their primary defenders are not involved. It usually is
Speaker 1: targeting one of their lesser perimeter players. So, for instance,
Speaker 1: like a guy like Lonnie Walker, I guy like Lonnie
Speaker 1: Walker has a lot of experience running second side action.
Speaker 1: He's run some primary action with the Spurs. It just
Speaker 1: doesn't really count because it's the Spurs and they're not
Speaker 1: getting the other team's best shot. I don't think Lonnie
Speaker 1: Walker is the kind of guy that can come down
Speaker 1: the floor. You know twenty thirty possessions of game, run high,
Speaker 1: pick and roll with Anthony Davis and be trusted to
Speaker 1: make consistently good decisions. But if a Kendrick Nunn comes
Speaker 1: down the floor and runs that action and it gets
Speaker 1: swung to Lonnie Walker who now has a defender closing
Speaker 1: out on him, or you know, here comes the ball screen,
Speaker 1: but the defense isn't set all the way. That's where
Speaker 1: I do think he can bring some value. But the
Speaker 1: Lakers do need at least one more first primary side creator, right.
Speaker 1: You know, you could post up Lebron, you could post
Speaker 1: up Lebron James, post up Anthony Davis, run any sort
Speaker 1: of high action with Lebron James, ball screen isolation, things
Speaker 1: along those lines, right, But you need one other guard,
Speaker 1: one of the wing, that could put the ball on
Speaker 1: the floor and create his own shot either and pick
Speaker 1: and roller in isolation. This is why Kyrie is so important.
Speaker 1: And again like there's again the intel with Kyrie went
Speaker 1: over a lot of it yesterday, so I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: get into it again. My theory here is that Brooklyn
Speaker 1: is asking for two first round picks. The reason why
Speaker 1: is they know they can get one from the Lakers,
Speaker 1: so why not go canvas the league looking for a
Speaker 1: second first round pick, and maybe you'll convinced the Lakers
Speaker 1: to throw in a second first round pick. And and
Speaker 1: if that's the case, the Lakers are doing the right thing.
Speaker 1: Be patient, this will all shake out. You'll be able
Speaker 1: to get Kyrie for Russ in the first Just do
Speaker 1: it at that point and then you'll be fine. The
Speaker 1: one thing that I would say is if Rob Polinka
Speaker 1: is not including the first, that's just complete insanity. This
Speaker 1: is Russell Westbrook. He's one of the most overpaid players
Speaker 1: in NBA history. I'm not even I don't even need
Speaker 1: to get into the rust thing. You just Russ is
Speaker 1: a negative asset, Okay. Kyrie Irving is also a negative asset,
Speaker 1: but much less of a negative asset than Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: is Why because Kyrie Irving actually can play basketball still
Speaker 1: at an extremely high level on one end of the floor,
Speaker 1: while Russell Westbrook can't on either end of the floor. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you're trying to trade a a forty seven million
Speaker 1: dollar a negative asset for a better asset who makes
Speaker 1: thirty six million dollars. So you're gonna have to give
Speaker 1: him something, all right, So give him the first if
Speaker 1: the time comes. But if they're just holding out to
Speaker 1: make sure it's only one first, I support the deal.
Speaker 1: That said, the Lakers need to do whatever it takes
Speaker 1: to get Kyrie. Stay in contact, don't blow this, don't
Speaker 1: go blow the pick on somebody else, because it would
Speaker 1: be extremely advantageous for the Lakers to have a guy
Speaker 1: in Kyrie that they can toss the ball to times
Speaker 1: a game to run that primary side action. Such a
Speaker 1: big deal for Lebron James. That's why he's targeted these
Speaker 1: point guards so much over the years. You know, Lebron
Speaker 1: Holway's joked when he was with the Calves that it
Speaker 1: was like thirds, Like for a third of the game
Speaker 1: he's looking to score, a third of the game he's
Speaker 1: looking to facilitate, and a third of the game he's
Speaker 1: looking for somebody else to do those things, Okay, And
Speaker 1: he's never been able since he came came to the Lakers,
Speaker 1: He's never been able to find that guy. You know.
Speaker 1: In the season it ended up kind of randomly being
Speaker 1: Rondo as he had a good, a decent playoff run
Speaker 1: after having a bad regular season. But like, that's the
Speaker 1: type of guy. He's tarty, and that's why he wanted
Speaker 1: Dennis Shrouder, That's why he wanted Russell Westbrook. He wanted
Speaker 1: somebody to do that. Kyrie is your guy there. It's
Speaker 1: a natural fit. The give and take with Lebron is excellent.
Speaker 1: You know. He he can bring the ball off the
Speaker 1: floor without even pass it and create something for himself,
Speaker 1: so he's he's kind of like a great release foul
Speaker 1: for Lebron to save his legs for the other two
Speaker 1: thirds of the game when he's more involved. So great
Speaker 1: offensive fit an absolute necessity for the Lakers, and hopefully
Speaker 1: they don't mess around and blow this. They need him.
Speaker 1: Let's rip through these young players really quick before we
Speaker 1: get out of here. Thomas bryant Um partially torn a
Speaker 1: c L so he should. He should theoretically be back
Speaker 1: to this year. He's a decent three point percentage shooter,
Speaker 1: but he's super low volume. He'd made few or threes
Speaker 1: in his entire career through four seasons. Then Maxi Kleiber
Speaker 1: did in just one season this year for the Dallas Mavericks,
Speaker 1: to give you an idea and the volume difference between
Speaker 1: a real stretch five and a guy who's capable of
Speaker 1: making some shots. But as I talked about earlier, I'm
Speaker 1: not really all that concerned about his three point percentage.
Speaker 1: Him just being a reasonable threat is a hell of
Speaker 1: a lot more than what the Lakers have had in
Speaker 1: the years past, even from Anthony Davis. So I do
Speaker 1: expect some floor spacing capability from him, but don't think
Speaker 1: MAXI clear, but that's just not what he is. He's
Speaker 1: always played with a super high motor and he rolls
Speaker 1: hard to the rim every time. That's a big advantage
Speaker 1: for ball screen guys, guys like Lebron James or if
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving ends up falling into the spot or Kendrick
Speaker 1: Now if they don't trade him, having a player that
Speaker 1: sets the screen hard and rolls hard to the rim,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's difficult because you don't always get the ball.
Speaker 1: In fact, often you don't get the ball, and so
Speaker 1: it's hard to convince Biggs to do that, and it's
Speaker 1: good that he does do that, but he does have
Speaker 1: that high motor. He plays super physical, he's not afraid
Speaker 1: of contact. This is big time for NBA centers because
Speaker 1: a lot of NBA centers don't necessarily love basketball that much.
Speaker 1: There's a reason why guards are always so much more
Speaker 1: skilled than bigs, and a huge part of it is
Speaker 1: his guards choose basketball because they love the game of basketball.
Speaker 1: Most big guys choose basketball because they were told by
Speaker 1: their friends and family that they should play basketball. So
Speaker 1: it's good to see when you do see a big
Speaker 1: guy that has that motor. That's that that that's something
Speaker 1: that absolutely um is unique at the position. And last
Speaker 1: but not least, Thomas Bryant. He's got all that modern
Speaker 1: center mobility. I'm not gonna get into it again because
Speaker 1: we got into it earlier, but he does have the
Speaker 1: foot speed and linear speed to be able to hang
Speaker 1: in transition into hang in five out situations. Okay, Lonnie Walker.
Speaker 1: So everyone's comparing him to Malik Monk. Our own Chris
Speaker 1: Mannix compared him some link Monk with with Collin Coward
Speaker 1: the other day on his show. I do agree in
Speaker 1: the sense that he's a thin athlete. So you know,
Speaker 1: when you're a relatively fin athlete, it's hard for you
Speaker 1: to get to your athleticism when the slightest little bump
Speaker 1: in hand check can contain you or cause you to
Speaker 1: lose balance. So you know, a bigger, stronger This is
Speaker 1: why I was such um This is why I was
Speaker 1: such a huge fan of ivy Uh, the kid that
Speaker 1: um Uh the Detroit Pistons signed in the draft, picked
Speaker 1: in the draft because he has that combination of strength
Speaker 1: and low center of gravity with athleticism, so you can't
Speaker 1: bump him off his line. You're not gonna be able
Speaker 1: to just and check him in his place. He's more
Speaker 1: likely to bump you off of your line. That's why
Speaker 1: these super thin, super athletic guards have some limitations. That's
Speaker 1: why Malik Monk, even though he was a great dunker,
Speaker 1: wasn't just flying through the lane duncan on everybody all season.
Speaker 1: It's because it's just hard to do when you don't
Speaker 1: have the physical, you know, momentum to stay on your
Speaker 1: attack line. So I do agree with him there, However,
Speaker 1: that's really competition. The comparisons end. Malik Monk was a
Speaker 1: lights out three point shooter who absolutely could run primary
Speaker 1: side action, and Lonnie Maker Walker is not. Okay, Malik
Speaker 1: Monk competed on defense, but just didn't have the instincts
Speaker 1: or the physical traits to do with Lonnie Walker is
Speaker 1: a little bit stronger, a little more laterally quick, and
Speaker 1: actually is very much committed on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor. He's not an elite defensive guard right now,
Speaker 1: but he's the kind of guy that could be that
Speaker 1: for this team. So from that standpoint, I don't really
Speaker 1: look at it as a Malik Monk comp When I
Speaker 1: do look at it is as a similarity in the
Speaker 1: sense that it was a misallocation of resources to target
Speaker 1: a young uh six four guard that doesn't fit your
Speaker 1: direct need on the wing for a player like that.
Speaker 1: Although I should give Rob blink of some credit some credit.
Speaker 1: Moliku Monk was on a veteran minimum contract last year.
Speaker 1: A couple of specific things. Lonnie Walker said in his
Speaker 1: interview today that he that he prefers to guard one
Speaker 1: through three, but that he can he thinks he might
Speaker 1: be able to guard fours now because he's up to
Speaker 1: two fifteen pounds. I'm curious to see if he's actually
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifteen pounds because I don't I don't
Speaker 1: see that kind of size from him, So I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see him on the court this year to
Speaker 1: see if that muscle really is there. Two or fifteen
Speaker 1: pounds is heavy for six four guard. That would mean
Speaker 1: he's really really stout, and I don't really see that
Speaker 1: with him. But I did think it was interesting that
Speaker 1: he said that he guards one through three because that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I'm talking about in terms of wing
Speaker 1: wing versatility. In order for you to be a versatile wing,
Speaker 1: you should be able to guard one through four, like
Speaker 1: the only guys in the league. You shouldn't be able
Speaker 1: to guard er A Yoka. You're an mbid, right, you
Speaker 1: should be able to at least hold your own and
Speaker 1: force the guy to shoot over the top, to the
Speaker 1: the um, to all of the perimeter players in the league.
Speaker 1: And if you're a little too small and a little
Speaker 1: too thin, you're gonna struggle against the bigger forwards, bigger
Speaker 1: wings in the league. And that's something I expect league,
Speaker 1: or excuse me, Lonny Walker to struggle with. He's inconsistent
Speaker 1: with his shot. That's to be expected. If you look
Speaker 1: through his numbers, Yeah, you only shott pent from three
Speaker 1: last year, only thirty two percent when he was open
Speaker 1: or wide open. But if you looked at it, he
Speaker 1: had extended stretches where he shot, well, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: here's a fifteen fifteen game stretch where he shot here's
Speaker 1: a seven game stretch where he shot forty seven percent.
Speaker 1: Like that's the kind of thing you're seeing there. That's
Speaker 1: classic young, up and coming streaky shooter. To me, that's irrelevant.
Speaker 1: We talked about the shooting thing earlier. He's gonna make
Speaker 1: enough shots that teams can't completely ignore him. But At
Speaker 1: the same time, teams are gonna play off of him,
Speaker 1: just like they do every single teammate of slashing stars
Speaker 1: that you see around the league. And then we talked
Speaker 1: about this earlier. But he's not a primary side creator.
Speaker 1: So the Lakers are gonna have to find some way
Speaker 1: to find a primary side later because if you're relying
Speaker 1: on Lonnie Walker to run, you know, high pick and
Speaker 1: roll with Anthony Davis to start possessions for a significant
Speaker 1: chunk of the season, you're just gonna be at a
Speaker 1: disadvantage compared to some of the other guys around the league.
Speaker 1: And then, last, but not least, and I'm lumping these
Speaker 1: two guys together. Who wants Toscano Anderson and Troy Barron Jr.
Speaker 1: They're just athlete wrecking balls. These are not offensive players.
Speaker 1: These are not guys that are going to light you
Speaker 1: up spotting up from the three point line. These are
Speaker 1: not high level clothes out attackers. They're not gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: be chased off the line, ripped through into the lane,
Speaker 1: make a you know, I'll give you an example. Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves is a high level close out attacker. That guy
Speaker 1: rips through to the middle and slows down and makes
Speaker 1: a read, sees how the defense kind of contorts to him,
Speaker 1: and then he'll make the perfect kick out every single time.
Speaker 1: And then if you don't collapse on him, he's got
Speaker 1: a couple of moves that he can go to, secondary
Speaker 1: moves like counter moves to try to get a shot
Speaker 1: off as he's attacking the close out. These aren't those guys.
Speaker 1: These are one dimensional spot up threats. They're gonna make
Speaker 1: some of their catch and shoot threes. And if you
Speaker 1: chase them off the line and they can rip through
Speaker 1: the basket and go all the way and dunk, that's great.
Speaker 1: But you're not gonna get them to make high level
Speaker 1: close out rates. But that's fine because that's not their job.
Speaker 1: These are athlete wrecking balls. They will crash the offensive glass,
Speaker 1: they will run the floor and transition, and most importantly,
Speaker 1: they are committed to the defensive end of the floor.
Speaker 1: I loved hearing Troy Brown Junior's press conference today talking
Speaker 1: about how his only concern on this team is to
Speaker 1: play defense and that he wants to He's gonna focus
Speaker 1: on his ability to knock down corner threes, which is
Speaker 1: what you need from a player who plays position. His
Speaker 1: position and then be able to guard as many positions
Speaker 1: on the floor as he can. You know, Troy Junior
Speaker 1: is a little bit more wiry, a little more athletic
Speaker 1: Quantasconna Anderson's a little bigger, a little less athletic, but
Speaker 1: a little trunkier. I like that versatility. You can unleasha
Speaker 1: Troy Brown Junr against a quicker guard, and you can
Speaker 1: release a want Tosconna Anderson against a Kawhi Leonard as
Speaker 1: someone that might be able to at least hold his
Speaker 1: ground in some of the physicality. Anyway, I hadn't had
Speaker 1: a chance to touch on on a bunch of these
Speaker 1: guys because we've just been in the weeds of the
Speaker 1: rest of the free agency. But I wanted to take
Speaker 1: some time today to do a deep dive in the Lakers,
Speaker 1: and we went really deep. We went almost forty five minutes, um.
Speaker 1: But that's all I got for right now. As we
Speaker 1: get more information about what the Lakers are gonna do again,
Speaker 1: I expect the Kyrie Irving move from Russell Westbrook. I
Speaker 1: expect Kendrick Nonn and Taylor warn and Tuck her to
Speaker 1: be flipped for a wing at least. I hope that
Speaker 1: they do, and I think they they'll end up targeting
Speaker 1: like a Carmelo Anthony and maybe one or two more
Speaker 1: veteran players to round out their rosters. So this is
Speaker 1: not over, um, but I thought now was as good
Speaker 1: as time any to dive into the moves that they've
Speaker 1: made to this point. All right, guys, that is all
Speaker 1: I have for today. Like I said at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the show, don't forget that I will be an
Speaker 1: NBA Summer League starting tomorrow through Sunday morning. Uh. Follow
Speaker 1: me on Twitter. I underscore Jason LT so you guys
Speaker 1: can see kind of where I'm at around town, where
Speaker 1: I'm at the game, So you guys can come say
Speaker 1: hi and we can talk some hoops and maybe we'll
Speaker 1: get to play a little bit hoops as well while
Speaker 1: we're there, and then I'll do some video reactions to
Speaker 1: some of the higher end games as we get there.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have. I will
Speaker 1: see you guys tomorrow. The volume