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Speaker 1: Welcome to the State of the Lakers on DASH Radio.

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Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for coming to hang out

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Speaker 1: on a Thursday. Um weird stretch of Lakers basketball. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: with the way the schedule worked out, they played on Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: and then before their game on Tuesday. Next week they

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Speaker 1: only play once and that's on Friday. And obviously Rog

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Speaker 1: and I have been in a groove of recording basically

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Speaker 1: every single every other day for the last couple of months,

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Speaker 1: and so obviously this break is kind of strange. So

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be getting away from some of the Twitter spaces.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be doing a mail bag pod today. A

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Speaker 1: bunch of you asked some really good questions and I

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Speaker 1: appreciate that. And then probably on either Saturday or Sunday,

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Speaker 1: Rog and I will get together again to do something

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Speaker 1: along those lines, whether it's mail bag, whether it's some

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Speaker 1: midseason awards stuff, whether it's some you know, trade ideas

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers or something along those lines. Not really

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Speaker 1: sure what we'll do. We'll figure something out to do

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Speaker 1: over the weekend, and then obviously we will have our

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Speaker 1: normal postgame show tomorrow night after the Lakers Clippers game,

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Speaker 1: and again on Tuesday. Um, but we're gonna We're gonna

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Speaker 1: dive straight into the mail back. We're only gonna go

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Speaker 1: for about thirty minutes today, so it'll be nice and

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Speaker 1: short and easy. The first question I got was from

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Speaker 1: Nicholas Quick. Uh did you hear cowherds take yesterday that

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Speaker 1: the Sons are the team for now in the next

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Speaker 1: five years? The Lakers are old and poorly constructed, chopped deliver.

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Speaker 1: What's your response? Um, you know, first of all, Laker

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Speaker 1: fans have to come to terms with the fact that

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Speaker 1: this team has opened themselves up to slander and that's

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Speaker 1: just part of the deal. Um, they've played themselves into

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Speaker 1: this situation. There are other teams that have done the

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Speaker 1: same thing that Laker fans have taken advantage of in

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Speaker 1: sent years. A lot of you probably had a lot

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Speaker 1: to say about the Warriors over the last couple of

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Speaker 1: years and in their uh predicament that they were in.

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Speaker 1: But if you talk to somebody in the Warriors fan base,

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Speaker 1: I'm sure they would tell you, like, we believe that

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Speaker 1: when Clay gets back, and when we get some veterans

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Speaker 1: around step instead of some of these young players, we

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Speaker 1: believe it's going to get better. They have their optimism.

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Speaker 1: They see the light at the end of the tunnel,

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Speaker 1: just like we do. We see, you know, hey, Lebron

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Speaker 1: is gonna come back. The guys are starting to play harder.

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Speaker 1: Trevor Rees is coming back, which fills like a direct

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Speaker 1: need and the roster. This effort is the first time

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Speaker 1: we really are seeing consistent buy in this entire season.

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Speaker 1: We see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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Speaker 1: So we believe in what this team can be. But

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Speaker 1: people outside, people outside of our fan base, have every

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Speaker 1: right to look at us and kick us while we're down,

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Speaker 1: so to speak, in terms of Laker fans in the

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Speaker 1: Laker team in general, and we just kind of have

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Speaker 1: to live with that and understand that that's just how

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Speaker 1: this works. Um. As far as Cowherd particular take, he's

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Speaker 1: not wrong in the sense that if you're looking at

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Speaker 1: the picture right now, it appears that Phoenix is in

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Speaker 1: a much better position. You know. They He talks a

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Speaker 1: lot about how they do have They are built for

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Speaker 1: now and for the future. They do have a lot

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Speaker 1: of really exciting young pieces. Michail Bridges reminds me a

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Speaker 1: lot of Tashaun Prince, like a better offensive version of

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Speaker 1: Tashaun Prince, just in the sense that he's this incredibly

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Speaker 1: long wing that causes problems for basically every perimeter player

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Speaker 1: in the league. DeAndre Ayton projects to be an all

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Speaker 1: star level center in this league. We know what Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker and Chris Paul are capable of, and it's easy

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Speaker 1: to kind of draw a line between this is Chris

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Speaker 1: Paul's potential decline and this is DeAndre Ayton and Michael

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Speaker 1: bridges potential ascent. So it's easy to see like this

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Speaker 1: team is gonna be relevant for a really long time,

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Speaker 1: and they are. I would argue that because he said that,

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Speaker 1: you know, in his take, he said that the Lakers

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Speaker 1: had zero of their ten top ten players that are

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Speaker 1: in their prime. I would disagree with that. Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: is very much in his prime. Th h t is

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Speaker 1: not in his prime now, but he will be sometime

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Speaker 1: in the next five years. The Lakers do have a

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Speaker 1: lot more flexibility and a lot more potential for the

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Speaker 1: future than people think. Um. The other thing too is

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Speaker 1: payroll flexibility. The Lakers don't have any long contracts tying

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Speaker 1: them up, so they have a lot of flexibility moving forward. Yes,

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Speaker 1: next season, You've got Russ on the books. That makes

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Speaker 1: some things complicated for the next season, but after that,

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Speaker 1: other than Lebron and a d it's pretty much wide

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Speaker 1: open outside of th h T. So this team is

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Speaker 1: built in a way that they can retool year after year.

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Speaker 1: That said, yes, they're very much invested in this two

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Speaker 1: year window, so it's easy to get discouraged with how

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Speaker 1: it looks here because they don't have a ton of

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Speaker 1: flexibility strictly within these next two years. That's fair. What

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Speaker 1: I would say is all the things that I've been

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Speaker 1: saying in recent pods about them trending in the right direction,

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Speaker 1: the effort is better. Help is on the way. In

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Speaker 1: terms of the role players, Kendrick Nunn, it would be

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Speaker 1: better than most of the guards that the Lakers are

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Speaker 1: playing right now. Trevor Reasa is a forward that just

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Speaker 1: doesn't exist on the roster in terms of a role player,

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Speaker 1: those things will absolutely help. The Lakers do have a

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Speaker 1: little bit of trade flexibility, which we'll talk about later.

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Speaker 1: But the point is is there there Things aren't as

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Speaker 1: dire as they appear. But from the outside looking in,

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Speaker 1: wouldn't you rather be the Suns right at this exact

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Speaker 1: moment in time with the way things look. That's that's

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Speaker 1: that's not exactly the most outlandish take. Now where where

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Speaker 1: I would personally choose the Lakers over the Suns has

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Speaker 1: to do with the idea of a ceiling, And this

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Speaker 1: is a concept that is kind of convoluted because it's

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Speaker 1: hard to It's hard to justify using a ceiling as

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Speaker 1: the as the silver lining or as the light at

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Speaker 1: the end of the tunnel when so much of this

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Speaker 1: is regular season basketball and playoff basketball. Before you get

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Speaker 1: to that point, the Suns look fantastic all year. Last

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Speaker 1: year they look fantastic. In the first round, they look fantastic,

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Speaker 1: and second round they look fantastic. In the third round,

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Speaker 1: they look fantastic for two games in the NBA Finals,

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Speaker 1: and then guess what happened? Milwaukee, because of their elite

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Speaker 1: high end talent and Janice, We're able to hit a

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Speaker 1: ceiling as a team that Phoenix could not touch and

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Speaker 1: they lost four straight times. And during that time there

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Speaker 1: were some really good punches from Phoenix Game four, really

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Speaker 1: good punch. Devin Booker got really hot a couple of

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Speaker 1: times in that stretch and showed some shot making that

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Speaker 1: could have gotten them over the top, but it just

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Speaker 1: wasn't enough. The ceiling for Milwaukee is higher than the

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Speaker 1: ceiling for Phoenix considerably, and it costs them a championship.

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Speaker 1: And so the way I would look at it, you know,

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Speaker 1: I was talking about the Laker championship odds the other day,

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Speaker 1: I remember, and one of the things I pointed out

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Speaker 1: was like, you know, yeah, it's easy to say, why

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Speaker 1: would the Lakers have Some sports books have them at

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Speaker 1: fourth and some sports books have them closer to six

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Speaker 1: or seventh, depending on where you look. But like, the

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Speaker 1: reason why it's still a reasonably decent bet to bet

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Speaker 1: on the Lakers is because Lebron and a d can

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Speaker 1: reach a ceiling that these other teams can't reach. Most

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Speaker 1: of these teams can't reach. Brooklyn can reach that ceiling potentially,

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Speaker 1: you know, Milwaukee can reach that ceiling potentially. Golden State

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Speaker 1: if Steph gets going, can can reach that ceiling. But

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Speaker 1: a lot of these teams, like Phoenix and like Utah,

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Speaker 1: they just don't have that super super high end talent

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Speaker 1: that can match those peak peak guys in those biggest

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Speaker 1: moments That significantly limits their ceiling. So where I would

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Speaker 1: disagree with Colin is. I would say, if you're the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: you have the two best players in that series, like

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Speaker 1: absolutely no question. So even if the Suns have the

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Speaker 1: best system ever, and even if the Suns have really

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Speaker 1: good habits that they've established all season long, and even

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Speaker 1: if Chris Paul and Devin Booker played to their best,

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Speaker 1: ability if Lebron and A D played to their best,

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Speaker 1: you might lose. As a matter of fact, we saw

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Speaker 1: that last year. We saw a limited version of Lebron

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Speaker 1: coming off of an ankle injury. We saw Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: a few games removed um achilles tend to tend to

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Speaker 1: tend to noses or tending to pathi or whatever the

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Speaker 1: heck they called it, and Anthony Davis still couldn't make

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Speaker 1: a jump shot. Um The entire Laker corps of role

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Speaker 1: players went ice cold from three. They had absolutely no

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Speaker 1: space to operate. And guess what happened. Lebron and A

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Speaker 1: D physically overwhelmed Phoenix, and they won back to back games,

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Speaker 1: and they were up two games to one, and they

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Speaker 1: were clowning the Suns in the first half of Game four,

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Speaker 1: throwing lobs off the backboard and stuff, until Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: pulled his growing and then at that point, because the

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Speaker 1: team has all of their talent tied up in those

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Speaker 1: two players, the wheels came off, and that was to

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Speaker 1: be expected. But at the end of the day, if

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Speaker 1: I'm looking at this situation as long as I have,

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Speaker 1: even even with them declining apparently with Anthony Davis trending

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Speaker 1: down into the bottom half of that top ten and

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Speaker 1: Lebron as well, it's still is of higher ceiling potential

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Speaker 1: than what you get with the Phoenix or with the

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Speaker 1: Utah or teams teams in that tier or like Miami

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Speaker 1: is another good example of that. Um So, from that standpoint,

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Speaker 1: if you're a Laker fan like it always could be

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Speaker 1: a heck of a lot worse. But again, like I

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Speaker 1: said at the beginning, let's not let's not discount the

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Speaker 1: feelings of those outside of our fan base, because they're

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Speaker 1: well warranted. This Laker team has played an incredibly weak

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Speaker 1: schedule to start the season in their twelve and eleven So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, are is anybody really wrong in in the

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Speaker 1: in the stuff that they're saying that was that that

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Speaker 1: would be my little caveat there alright? How many days

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Speaker 1: this is from Dre Dave how many days before DeAndre

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Speaker 1: Jordan gets removed from this roster. Strategy of hiding DeAndre

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Speaker 1: Jordan behind first unit players was understood DJ is unplayable

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Speaker 1: with the second unit players because they lacked the skills

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Speaker 1: to hide DJ. So the DeAndre Jordan thing I talked

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Speaker 1: a lot about this in the last part is one

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Speaker 1: of the more interesting phenomena that I've seen in recent

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Speaker 1: history in the NBA. Because you know, like I, I've

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Speaker 1: been slandered relentlessly for this specific take because of the

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Speaker 1: fact that I said that I actually liked the DJ

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Speaker 1: signing over the summer. Now, I've tried to explain that

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Speaker 1: as best as possible, Like I saw him as an

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Speaker 1: end of the bench center, a guy who would only

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Speaker 1: play when Dwight Navy rested, not as a guy who

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Speaker 1: would be the starter for this group. I saw him

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Speaker 1: as a guy who would be able to maintain scheme consistency.

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Speaker 1: You could run drop coverage with Dwight and a D

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Speaker 1: and essentially when one of them is out, rather than

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Speaker 1: having to change your scheme the way you had to

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Speaker 1: sometimes with the Montrez Harrald, you could just do the

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Speaker 1: same thing with DeAndre Jordan's have that scheme consistency to

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Speaker 1: carry you for one or two nights in the regular

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Speaker 1: season and then subbing back out. I never saw him

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Speaker 1: as that type of player. Now, obviously, in my little

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Speaker 1: diet tribe over the summer, I said that I saw

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Speaker 1: him as a athletic primarily defensive center in terms of

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Speaker 1: the archetype. And just for the record, guys, I've done

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Speaker 1: over a hundred episodes of this stuff. You don't think

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Speaker 1: occasionally I slip up with my words and use a

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Speaker 1: little bit of hyperbole and exaggerate a little bit and

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Speaker 1: maybe put my foot in my mouth. Sometimes that's happened

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Speaker 1: more than once. I promise you, if you go back

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Speaker 1: and listen to all that junk that I said over

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Speaker 1: the course of last year, you're gonna find stupid stuff

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Speaker 1: that I said. That's the nature of the of what

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Speaker 1: this is. That's the nature of podcasting. So if you

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Speaker 1: want to rub that in my face, be my guest.

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Speaker 1: I can take it. But essentially, what's been interesting about

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Speaker 1: this is I also anticipated that Brooklyn, in their poor

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Speaker 1: defensive identity and their tendency to switch rather than run

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Speaker 1: a drop coverage, would lead to DeAndre Jordan's looking better

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Speaker 1: with the Lakers. Why Because they're a drop coverage team

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Speaker 1: and for the last two seasons they've had an amazing

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Speaker 1: defensive identity and Frank, even with limited defensive players, people

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Speaker 1: forget Avery Bradley was trending way down defensively before he

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Speaker 1: signed with the Laker. Kyle Kuzma was viewed as a

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Speaker 1: bad defensive player before Frank got his hands on him.

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Speaker 1: K CP was viewed as an okay defensive player. A

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Speaker 1: lot of these guys were were has massively outperformed what

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Speaker 1: their defensive expectations were under Frick coming into this season.

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Speaker 1: So I allowed that to make me optimistic about plugging

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Speaker 1: DeAndre in with this group as opposed to that Brooklyn group,

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Speaker 1: running a scheme that actually makes sense with what he does,

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Speaker 1: and having a group of guys that would, you know,

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Speaker 1: commit to that with him, and that he would look

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Speaker 1: better than he did in Brooklyn. That's what I was

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Speaker 1: expecting and where I was obviously way wrong is this

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Speaker 1: team just completely punted their defensive identity from day one

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Speaker 1: of training camp and from the top down, including Lebron

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Speaker 1: and a b have mostly mailed that end of the

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Speaker 1: floor in So, of course DeAndre is gonna look terrible.

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Speaker 1: That's just the reality of the situation. So I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's that's just my two cents on that take from

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Speaker 1: the summer. And again, yeah, I was wrong about some

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Speaker 1: stuff with that. I failed to anticipate Frank and the

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Speaker 1: way he would use him in the rotation. I failed

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Speaker 1: to anticipate the way the team would fall apart defensively

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Speaker 1: outside of DeAndre. Guys, when they were in drop coverage

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Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis. This season, it has looks terrible outside

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Speaker 1: of specific stretches of games. That's that's just the reality

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Speaker 1: of this team. So it's not fair to put all

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Speaker 1: of that on DeAndre. That said, I get just as

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Speaker 1: annoyed as you guys when he's on the floor because

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Speaker 1: I don't think he should be unless a break class

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Speaker 1: in case of emergency, here's an injury, here's the rest day,

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Speaker 1: we need to use him. That was what I always

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Speaker 1: saw with DeAndre. Now, as far as cutting him, goes

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Speaker 1: back to the question. You know, DeAndre has to inevitably

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Speaker 1: over the course of the next few weeks if Frank

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Speaker 1: does what we hope you will do, which is bench

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Speaker 1: Jim Hays, who embraced the bench roll. You know, we

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Speaker 1: saw that little video of the altercation. I think it

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Speaker 1: was on Pickup Hoops Twitter page where they seem to

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Speaker 1: get into it Frank and DJ on the sideline if DJ,

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Speaker 1: if Frank opts to take DJ out of the rotation,

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Speaker 1: and that's DJ's behavior, that's the way he chooses to act. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you gotta cut him. You can't have a a realistic

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Speaker 1: championship goal and have a really, really unhappy player in

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Speaker 1: the locker room that's constantly messing with your team chemistry.

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Speaker 1: You can't have that. But my guess is what will

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Speaker 1: happen is because you do need d Guys. We need

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Speaker 1: DJ as an end of the bench center. We need

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Speaker 1: him in case a D goes down for a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks, because if a D goes down for a

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks, there's no guarantee that Dwight can handle

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Speaker 1: all of it. At the end of the day, DJ

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Speaker 1: is needed. He's just miscast in his role. Okay, I

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Speaker 1: know everyone says, let's play j Huff, but guys, there's

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Speaker 1: a reason why he wasn't on a roster coming into

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Speaker 1: this season. If J Huff was playing every single minute

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Speaker 1: that DJ was playing, you guys would be slandering him too,

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Speaker 1: because he's probably a fringe NBA player, and so if

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Speaker 1: you play a fringe NBA player against good NBA teams,

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Speaker 1: he's not gonna look great all the time. That's just

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Speaker 1: the reality of how this stuff works. So, yes, if

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Speaker 1: DJ becomes a problem for the chemistry, you have to

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Speaker 1: cut him and try to work around that sign someone else.

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Speaker 1: But hopefully you move him to the bench. He embraces that.

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Speaker 1: A lot of the guys in that locker room are

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Speaker 1: friends with him from Team USA and from other basketball

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Speaker 1: related engagements. You want him on the team, You just

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Speaker 1: need him to be in his proper role. Alright. Moving on,

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Speaker 1: who's a realistic target for the deadline slash buyout? So

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Speaker 1: the reality is of the Lakers are not very flexible

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Speaker 1: right now. Um, they basically have one trade piece and

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Speaker 1: that's Taylor Horton Tucker, and they have one other player

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Speaker 1: that they can use a salary filler, and that's Kendrick Nunn.

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Speaker 1: Those two players get you to right around sixteen million, okay,

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Speaker 1: So realistically you're looking at players within within a couple

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Speaker 1: million of twenty million dollars is like your cap for

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Speaker 1: what you can trade for buyouts? Are tough. You never

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Speaker 1: really know what to expect in the buyout market. It's

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Speaker 1: a lot easier to get a feel for that sort

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Speaker 1: of thing as we get closer to that time in

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Speaker 1: the season, and quite frankly, guys like there are guys

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Speaker 1: out there that have the time to comb through every

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Speaker 1: single roster and make phone calls to exact and try

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Speaker 1: to get a feel for who might be a buyout candidate.

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Speaker 1: That's not what I have time for. With everything that

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Speaker 1: I have on my play as a coach and as

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Speaker 1: a real estate agent and doing this, I have time

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Speaker 1: to really really focus on Laker basketball games in a

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Speaker 1: handful of other big games around the league. But there

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Speaker 1: are better places for you to go for, you know,

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Speaker 1: checklists of different buyout guys that that might be available

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Speaker 1: that that come that time of year. As far as

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Speaker 1: the trade candidates go, the one that I have my

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Speaker 1: biggest eye on is Jeremy Grant. And I've talked about

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Speaker 1: this in previous podcasts, But the thing with Jeremy Grant is,

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Speaker 1: you know, I've seen him in the playoffs and what

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Speaker 1: he's capable of. Yeah, did Lebron have his way with

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Speaker 1: him in a lot of ways. Of course, Bill Lebron

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Speaker 1: has his way with the vast majority perimeter defenders in

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Speaker 1: the league. He did a pretty damn good job on

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard in the bubble. He is a good shooter,

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Speaker 1: not a great shooter, but a good shooter and a

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Speaker 1: guy who can put the ball on the floor. He's

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Speaker 1: capable of that advanced closeout attacking that I always talked

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Speaker 1: about that, Okay, they rotate to the rim and they

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Speaker 1: chase you off the three point line off of a

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Speaker 1: skip pass. What can you do to create offense in

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Speaker 1: that situation. We're getting a lot of this from the

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Speaker 1: Leak Monk this year, that in between stuff that, Okay,

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Speaker 1: they chased him off the line, he ripped through the baseline,

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Speaker 1: ripped through the middle, and he makes a tough floater,

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Speaker 1: or he makes a pull up ten footer, or he

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Speaker 1: makes a layup, but it's a contested layup where he

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Speaker 1: contorts his body around the guy and finishes on the

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Speaker 1: other side of the rim. That's advanced close out attacking.

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Speaker 1: We're not gonna get any of that from Trevor Ariza.

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Speaker 1: What we're gonna get from Trevor Easa is really really

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Speaker 1: solid individual defense and really really solid team defense at

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Speaker 1: the wing position with some size versatility. That's true. But

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Speaker 1: Jeremy Graham as an athlete and what he's capable of

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Speaker 1: on the defensive end is another level or another tier

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Speaker 1: above that. And then offensively, he's a guy that in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs can have games re scores twenty points. And

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Speaker 1: so I like him as a as the ideal target

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Speaker 1: because he's at a healthier salary. We're not looking at

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Speaker 1: trying to go after a Harrison Barnes that's up around

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Speaker 1: twenty five million or whatever. We're looking at a guy

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Speaker 1: who's right at twenty million. We can flip Kendrick Nunn

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Speaker 1: and th h T for him and bring him in.

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Speaker 1: And it's this obvious, clear ceiling raising move with our

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Speaker 1: core five man line up. Our core five man lineup,

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Speaker 1: which is another question that we're gonna get to in

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Speaker 1: a minute, which will address, you know, in a in

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Speaker 1: a world where we don't have Jeremy Grant, but our

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Speaker 1: core five man line up is gonna send around Lebron,

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Speaker 1: a d and Russ some kind of forward in some

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Speaker 1: kind of guard. And so that forward right now is

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Speaker 1: probably gonn be Trevor a Resa. But if you upgrade

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Speaker 1: that to Jeremy Grant. That's a huge upgrade. Not to mention,

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Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant can defend up and down a position, so

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Speaker 1: you can even go wild and play Jeremy Grant and

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Speaker 1: Trevor a Resa in that lineup and have a ton

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Speaker 1: of length of versatility. There's a lot of potential for

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Speaker 1: ceiling raising lineups if you add Jeremy Grant to the mix.

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Speaker 1: And I also just think it's a very realistic trade, uh,

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Speaker 1: in terms of both sides being interested. Detroit through a

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Speaker 1: bunch of money at Jeremy Grant. They threw it because

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Speaker 1: they were in a situation where they didn't really have

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Speaker 1: any sort of obvious pending contending season in the future,

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Speaker 1: right because they're just basically a perennial lottery team. They've

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Speaker 1: got killing in Hayes that they just picked up in

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Speaker 1: the lottery, they just got Kid Cunningham. They're they're they're

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Speaker 1: not really in a position where throwing twenty million dollars

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Speaker 1: a year or two player cap straps them. So it

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Speaker 1: was like an easy little money investment for them. It's

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Speaker 1: money they had to spend, doesn't hurt the team, doesn't

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Speaker 1: hurt their future, flexibility, gives a guy that they can

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Speaker 1: run the offense through while these young guys are developing.

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Speaker 1: It was an easy move for them. But that said,

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Speaker 1: Detroit is not invested in Jeremy Grant in their future.

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Speaker 1: He's not part of their long term vision for what

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Speaker 1: they're doing with the team. So Jeremy Grant is there

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Speaker 1: to be had, and he only has one more year

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Speaker 1: on that deal. So th HT that is an obvious

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Speaker 1: fit as a guy that a team could use to

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Speaker 1: project forward with their their development window, with their rebuilding window.

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Speaker 1: Not to mention, Kay Cunningham projects to be a guy

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Speaker 1: who can eventually guard twos and threes, and th h T,

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Speaker 1: as we've seen, can guard threes and fours because of

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Speaker 1: how strong he is. And again, when you're when you're

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Speaker 1: talking about position, it's all about who you can guard,

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Speaker 1: not what you do offensively. Th h T projects within

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Speaker 1: the next five years to be able to be a

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Speaker 1: guy who can defend one through four and a guy

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Speaker 1: who can hold his own and post mismatches, and a

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Speaker 1: guy who can offensively be a slasher in the same

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Speaker 1: way that a small forward or any sort of stretch

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Speaker 1: forward would be. So he's a guy that is an

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Speaker 1: obvious fit alongside Killy and Hayes and Kake Kan cunning him,

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Speaker 1: and he's a very clear investment in the future. So

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Speaker 1: if you're the if you're the Pistons and like you

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Speaker 1: get a chance to flip Jeremy Grant for a player

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Speaker 1: like th HT who has the potential to be an

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Speaker 1: All Star within the next five years with all of

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Speaker 1: his physical tools and everything that he brings to the table,

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Speaker 1: what's a no brainer. And if you're the Lakers, you

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Speaker 1: believe in th HT, you know what he can do

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Speaker 1: for you now and in the future. But the reality

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Speaker 1: is is he's not a fantastic fit right now with

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Speaker 1: this championship window. He's not a You're not there's a

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Speaker 1: diminishing return there. What the Lakers are getting from th

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Speaker 1: h T right now on a championship contending team does

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Speaker 1: not match up with what his value is elsewhere in

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Speaker 1: the league. So from that standpoint, it's the perfect time

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Speaker 1: to trade him. You of an opportunity to cash in

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Speaker 1: a piece that other people think is more value valuable

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Speaker 1: than it is to you in this moment. But it's

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Speaker 1: it's just to me, it's it's kind of like a

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Speaker 1: perfect case of a trade that makes sense for both sides.

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Speaker 1: We'll see, as is always the case, Like you just

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Speaker 1: don't know what's going on in the Laker front office.

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Speaker 1: Like it's like we're about to talk about Frank Vogel

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Speaker 1: in a minute. I don't know. I don't know what

431
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,920
Speaker 1: the internally, what the team is thinking about Frank. I

432
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:26,719
Speaker 1: don't know if Lebron and a d or trashing him

433
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,399
Speaker 1: in a group chat. I don't know if Rob and

434
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 1: Genie are having conversations about firing him, or if they're

435
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 1: all on board and we're all in our own heads

436
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 1: about this stuff. We don't we don't know. We're all

437
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: guessing at this point. And that's the same. The same

438
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:39,760
Speaker 1: thing goes with th h T. We don't know if

439
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,159
Speaker 1: they're completely invested in th HT would never in a

440
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 1: million years consider trading him. They think he's the future,

441
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,760
Speaker 1: or if it was like, hey, we're gonna sign him

442
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,040
Speaker 1: to a three year, thirty million dollar deal, and the

443
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,159
Speaker 1: idea is if he fits with this group, great, If not,

444
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,680
Speaker 1: we're trading him. We don't know. And there's obviously the

445
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: clutch element in there as well, But Jeremy Grant is

446
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:03,760
Speaker 1: my favorite trade target going into the deadline. What do

447
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,440
Speaker 1: you think it will take for Anthony Davis to take

448
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,159
Speaker 1: over and play like the number one option for the

449
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 1: Lakers on a consistent basis if you won't do it

450
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: now with Lebron's availability issues this season, and I don't

451
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,119
Speaker 1: know if you'll ever get there. He's twenty eight. Lebron

452
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 1: is about to be thirty seven. That question is from Rob.

453
00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:20,439
Speaker 1: So I've talked a lot about this on previous pods,

454
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 1: But Anthony Davis will never be what you want him

455
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,800
Speaker 1: to be if you're trying to get him to be

456
00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,719
Speaker 1: like Lebron can be for a team. He's just not

457
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 1: that archetype of player. This is one of the big

458
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: reasons why, you know, I was thinking about maybe doing

459
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: a top ten podcast today and I opted for the

460
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: mail bag instead. But when I was thinking about that,

461
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,560
Speaker 1: I went back and listened to my top ten lists

462
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: that I did about about two years ago. Just about

463
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: two years ago, eighteen months ago. I can't even remember.

464
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,280
Speaker 1: It was right after the bubble, so yeah, wow, that's

465
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 1: only like thirteen fourteen months ago. It's not that long ago.

466
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 1: But anyway, in that pod, I talked a lot about

467
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,919
Speaker 1: how that do you guys remember after Janice in the

468
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: Bucks got eliminated by Miami and the bubble, there was

469
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: a lot of talk about trying to convert Janice into

470
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,879
Speaker 1: a center, this idea that he was miscast as a

471
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 1: perimeter initiator, and we all kind of reached out a

472
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:17,159
Speaker 1: conclusion because of watching him perpetually dribble the ball up

473
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,199
Speaker 1: and be completely neutered in half court by defenses that

474
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 1: packed the paint. Now, in that podcast, in that top

475
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,880
Speaker 1: ten podcast that I did forever Go, I pushed back

476
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 1: against that and I said the Bucks were smart to

477
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:34,719
Speaker 1: invest in Janice as a perimeter initiator because your potential

478
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,479
Speaker 1: value as a superstar in this league is infinitely higher

479
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 1: as a guy who can bring the ball up the

480
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 1: floor and initiate from the perimeter than it is is

481
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,239
Speaker 1: a guy who needs to be set up. And I

482
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,359
Speaker 1: was proven right about that, and the Bucks were rewarded

483
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: on that investment when Janice became unstoppable in last year's

484
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,080
Speaker 1: playoff run and it held up the Larry O'Brian Trophy Janice.

485
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,959
Speaker 1: That investment in that area of Janice's game was the

486
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,159
Speaker 1: difference between him being what many consider to be the

487
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,680
Speaker 1: best player in the world right now and a guy

488
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: who's in that same tier with a d you know,

489
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,919
Speaker 1: like incredibly good in many nights, looks like the best

490
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 1: player on the floor, but just not the same as

491
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,120
Speaker 1: those top guys when they really have it going. And

492
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,639
Speaker 1: that's the situation with Anthony Davis. His inability to persistently

493
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,439
Speaker 1: initiate offense from the perimeter perimeter with a live dribble

494
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,920
Speaker 1: significantly hinders his ceiling, and so because of that, you're

495
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 1: never going to get him to be Lebron, so to speak,

496
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: the guy who can be the engine of a team

497
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,400
Speaker 1: night in and night out and carry you for long

498
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 1: stretches when Lebron is out with injury. It's just not

499
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,680
Speaker 1: something he's capable of now. In fairness to Anthony Davis,

500
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,600
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that he ever could have been that

501
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,880
Speaker 1: because an underrated part of Janice's game is his foot speed,

502
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 1: both laterally, straight line, first step, all of that stuff,

503
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: long steps, those like really heavy hamstring steps that used

504
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 1: to see Dwyane Wade do all the time. He does

505
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,480
Speaker 1: all the time that we gather the ball att and

506
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 1: somehow get all the way to the rim, and like

507
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,919
Speaker 1: two steps that those are all areas of Janice's athleticism

508
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: that are significantly higher than Anthony Davis's athleticism, So it's

509
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 1: not really realistic to compare the two of them. Anthony

510
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,119
Speaker 1: Davis has a great handle, so I'm not necessarily convinced

511
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,399
Speaker 1: that it's not something that they've tried and it's just

512
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 1: not worked for him because of his lack of foot speed. So,

513
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: but that's that's the thing. If Laker fans, you're setting

514
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,919
Speaker 1: yourself up for disappointment if you want Anthony Davis to

515
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: eventually become that guy, because I just don't think he's

516
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: physically capable of that, uh in any time, and he's

517
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 1: already twenty eight. Like the like the question asked, you know,

518
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: when you're building around him moving forward, if you're looking

519
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: at this from a five year window, kind of getting

520
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,960
Speaker 1: back to that first question we had, you know, you're

521
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: constantly retooling around him. Right, So Lebron rejects as he

522
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,359
Speaker 1: ages to be a slower player, for sure, but that

523
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,639
Speaker 1: doesn't mean he can't be a perimeter initiator. He absolutely

524
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 1: can come up the floor and run offense. We've seen

525
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: in tons of times in NBA history really really big

526
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 1: slow forward to be able to run offense We've seen

527
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 1: that with Kedo Turkoglue with the Orlando Magic. You know,

528
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 1: like that the Spurs used to do this a lot

529
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: with bores d O. You can use big, slow players

530
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,639
Speaker 1: as playmakers. Playmakers, guys that can put the ball on

531
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: the floor and get guys into positions. So I'm not

532
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 1: worried about Lebron being able to do that. Projecting forward,

533
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,959
Speaker 1: when you're building around that, though, you just target Anthony

534
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 1: Davis's weaknesses. That's why they went after us. Part of

535
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,560
Speaker 1: the reason why they were so good in Sacramento the

536
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,400
Speaker 1: other night is your ability to have this high end

537
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 1: perimeter initiator next to Anthony Davis playing at his best,

538
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 1: and so that that's kind of the way that I projected.

539
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,680
Speaker 1: You know, if you get to the point where Russ

540
00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: is done and you don't want Russ anymore, and he

541
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: goes and signs somewhere else, maybe you'll get lucky you

542
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: signed him at a discount to stay with the lake Yrs.

543
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,120
Speaker 1: But you have an opportunity to look at the landscape

544
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 1: of the league and primarily focused on perimeter initiators, guys

545
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 1: that can get Anthony Davis. Is Anthony Davis into his

546
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,959
Speaker 1: spots at that point you can potentially extend this window

547
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,879
Speaker 1: in moving forward. That's one of the reasons why it

548
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 1: maybe if he for the Laker front office to let

549
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: go of th h T as I'm sure they're hoping

550
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: that by the time th h T turns twenty four

551
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,240
Speaker 1: and Lebron is forty, that th h T can kind

552
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: of slide into that spot. You know. That's that's where

553
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 1: you get your best opportunity with when you're cap strapped

554
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: to have that type of player is when it's in house,

555
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 1: when it's from the draft, because you just have more

556
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: flexibility to go over the cap to bring those kinds

557
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: of guys in. But Anthony Davis is always going to

558
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: need that kind of player. He's never gonna be able

559
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: to be honest, And the sooner that we all understand that,

560
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: the more realistic we can be projecting forward with Anthony

561
00:28:54,920 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 1: Davis on this team. All right, Next question, moving on

562
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: to Frank Vogel. If Vogel was to get sacked, who

563
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: would you want to replace him? Including external coaches? Thanks,

564
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: This is from M so I have come around to

565
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: not wanting to fire Frank for the time being. Now

566
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 1: this is like a horse race. This thing is constantly

567
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: sliding back and forth, and we're always adjusting and responding

568
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: to new information. During the ugliest parts of this season,

569
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 1: you know, namely after the Sacramento loss and triple overtime,

570
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,239
Speaker 1: we you know, there were a ton of problems with

571
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 1: the Lakers. They had a lot of issues. Frank was

572
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: just one of those issues. The reason why I advocated

573
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 1: firing for Frank at that point was I saw him

574
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 1: as the only real fixable issue, right, Like, the Lakers

575
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 1: don't have the roster flexibility to make significant changes to UH,

576
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 1: to line up versatility. You know. The only thing they

577
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: can do there is hope Trevor Reason gets back, you know,

578
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: and hope Kendrick Nunn gets back. They can't even trade

579
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 1: th h t intil the middle of December, so there's

580
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: just not a lot of flexibility on that front. Talking

581
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 1: about like, oh, we need more defensive guards, Okay, that's great,

582
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 1: but what you can't You can't get any more defensive

583
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 1: guards unless they're currently outside of the league, which means

584
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 1: they're probably not that good. Okay. And then the same

585
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: goes for you know, trying to get UH, you know,

586
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 1: Frank to not play DeAndre Jordan or something like that

587
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: that all all of those problems could only be fixed.

588
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: The only fixable, like actual actionable item that the Lakers

589
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 1: could go to was firing Frank, and the reason why

590
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 1: I supported that at that point in time had to

591
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,920
Speaker 1: do with buy in. I saw Lebron and a D

592
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 1: not caring about this season nearly as much as they

593
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 1: did in the previous two seasons. It was blatant to

594
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 1: anybody who was paying attention. Yes there was scheme stuff,

595
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 1: Yes there were lineup stuff, Yes there was injury stuf off,

596
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: but Lebron and a D also weren't bought in, and

597
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,600
Speaker 1: as I've seen with Lebron in the past, a coaching

598
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 1: change has the potential to invigorate him in that regard.

599
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 1: It's whether it's because they need a new voice or

600
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: just the chaos of it all breeds urgency, I'm not sure,

601
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,160
Speaker 1: But for whatever reason, it appeared that those two guys

602
00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 1: weren't bought in, and so I thought firing Frank, even

603
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 1: though he's not the only reason why this season went

604
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 1: off the rails, would be a good opportunity to try

605
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,800
Speaker 1: to light a fire under Lebron and a D well

606
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 1: in the last two games. Obviously, Lebron missing the last

607
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: one with COVID, the stars have been fantastic. In that

608
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: game against the Pistons at home, Lebron and a D

609
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:48,120
Speaker 1: were unbelievable on both ends of the floor physically, uh

610
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: actually attempting to use their physical tools. Two bully teams

611
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: on both sides of the floor. And then Anthony Davis

612
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: looked like he was the best player in the world

613
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,720
Speaker 1: candidate the other night in Sacramento. So if that's turning around,

614
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,400
Speaker 1: if the guys are buying back in, then I would

615
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 1: want to stick with Frank because I think in the

616
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: long run, what he can get out of this team

617
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 1: defensively is more important for the ceiling of this team. Now,

618
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: with we've talked a lot about how that has to

619
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 1: be within an offensive context, right, Like, he needs to

620
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 1: bring the most defensively out of our best offensive players

621
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,920
Speaker 1: in hopes of kind of building that identity that you

622
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,280
Speaker 1: know that we saw in the second half against Sacramento.

623
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 1: That's what we need to build towards. But Frank is

624
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 1: the best guy for that specific job. Now, let's say uh,

625
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: the like Lebron and a D are back in the

626
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:44,560
Speaker 1: lineup in the next couple of weeks and they both

627
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 1: are playing fantastic on both ends of the floor, but

628
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,720
Speaker 1: Frank just continues to be completely offensively and apt and

629
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: it starts costing his games, whether that's through DJ or

630
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,000
Speaker 1: just you know, a bunch of really really poor concepts,

631
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: and even though Lebron and d are trying, it's just

632
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: not king. If that's the case. I like Mike D'Antoni.

633
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,720
Speaker 1: I think he's an obvious fit in terms of the

634
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,640
Speaker 1: identity of this team as a running up and down

635
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,440
Speaker 1: the floor type of team, as a team that will

636
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: lean heavily into their offensive talent. Most importantly, as we've

637
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 1: seen with him in Houston, he is the ideal five

638
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 1: out coach. So you know, five outs all about spacing.

639
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 1: The one of the biggest things that's been frustrating about

640
00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,960
Speaker 1: this Laker team is you'll see Lebron or a D

641
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 1: post up on the wing or on the block, and

642
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: when they do, rather than going to a five out

643
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 1: spacing concept, especially with Anthony Davis because he doesn't feel

644
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,040
Speaker 1: comfortable having a person behind him because he doesn't like

645
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:47,480
Speaker 1: having to watch his backside, they'll have to cram all

646
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: four other players on half of the floor, and so

647
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:52,960
Speaker 1: what inevitably ends up happening is you'll have a even

648
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 1: when they go small, you'll have a guard sitting in

649
00:33:55,480 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: the dunker spot, which actively undercuts the point of going

650
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,719
Speaker 1: small to begin with. And so what's great about Mike

651
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,800
Speaker 1: D'Antoni is he's really really well versed in five out

652
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:11,759
Speaker 1: offensive concepts. He will be the best guy to give

653
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:15,879
Speaker 1: Lebron a D and Russ isolation sets where all four

654
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,799
Speaker 1: guys are properly spaced on the floor in positions where

655
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 1: they can shoot so that there's not a body in

656
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 1: the paint, or if there is a body in the paint,

657
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:26,560
Speaker 1: there's an easy swing pass available to make the team pay.

658
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,960
Speaker 1: He nailed this down in Houston, especially after the Capella trade.

659
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 1: The Lakers, if they lean into playing small and having

660
00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 1: a lot of Anthony Davis and Lebron at center, can

661
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: play basically a five out scheme like Houston did, and

662
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 1: so Mike D'Antoni would be the perfect guy for that

663
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,360
Speaker 1: type of job. Then you just hope that at the

664
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,880
Speaker 1: highest Mike D'Antoni is probably gonna lean heavily into switching,

665
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 1: which would be great on defense, and even if it's

666
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: not the best defensive scheme, that you've ever seen, like

667
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 1: we've seen in the past with Frank Lebron in a DS,

668
00:34:55,760 --> 00:35:00,920
Speaker 1: physical ability raises the ceiling of that defense nificantly compared

669
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,440
Speaker 1: to what Mike could have done in Houston. So again,

670
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 1: don't want to fire Frank right now because I was

671
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,920
Speaker 1: only interested in firing him to try to light a

672
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 1: fire under Lebron in a D and right now they

673
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:13,800
Speaker 1: seem to be trending in that right direction. So I

674
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,720
Speaker 1: would keep Frank, but things go off the rails again.

675
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,400
Speaker 1: If the group does decide the front office and Jeannie

676
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,040
Speaker 1: decide to fire Frank, I would look in the direction

677
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: of Mike D'Antoni. Right. Okay, this is the last question.

678
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,640
Speaker 1: This is from Chenny Britt. How should a guy like

679
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,560
Speaker 1: th h T approaches outside shooting struggles. It seems like

680
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 1: he's put in a lot of work into his jumper,

681
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 1: in his form and his free throw percentage are both good.

682
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,799
Speaker 1: What's the next step for translating that into a better

683
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: on court percentage? So not to get into the weeds

684
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:57,359
Speaker 1: of shooting coaching here, Um, but shooting is is such

685
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:03,280
Speaker 1: a fickle thing because it's a it's a low percentage task,

686
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 1: even on your best, even when you're at your best right,

687
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,279
Speaker 1: Like if we look at you know, there are a

688
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:11,440
Speaker 1: handful of guys in NBA history that I've had seasons

689
00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:13,960
Speaker 1: where they get over and you know, they knocked down

690
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,520
Speaker 1: fifty three o the threes or something along those lines.

691
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,000
Speaker 1: But for the most part, like even if you're a

692
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 1: really really good shooter, you miss more than you make.

693
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,560
Speaker 1: So it's a really really hard thing to figure out mentally,

694
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 1: especially for a young player, when you don't really know

695
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: how to contextualize your misses and understand that that's just

696
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 1: kind of part of the game. I think THHD projects

697
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 1: to be a really good shooter because he's a really

698
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,719
Speaker 1: good shooter at the free throw line. The reason why

699
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,800
Speaker 1: is the free throw line is the static situation of shooting.

700
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 1: The free throw line is the best indicator of your touch.

701
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:48,719
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a coincidence that Lebron is a

702
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,799
Speaker 1: very inconsistent shooter from the perimeter because he's inconsistent at

703
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,279
Speaker 1: the free throw line. I don't think it's a coincidence

704
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,800
Speaker 1: that outside of a couple of really bad shooting games

705
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 1: this year, Lebron is shot pretty well from three and

706
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 1: also is having a good season from the free throw line.

707
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 1: Because his touch this particular season is better. He's doing

708
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,439
Speaker 1: well in that regard. Um. You know, we I've talked

709
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: in the past about Lebron's form. I'm not gonna get

710
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 1: into it right now, but th HD has a really

711
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 1: really good, solid base, and he's got good touch, and

712
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,400
Speaker 1: he's got big hands. Big hands are important for shooting.

713
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 1: I know it sounds crazy. You think of a lot

714
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 1: of the centers in NBA history who have shot poorly

715
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:25,919
Speaker 1: because there because a lot of people think it's because

716
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,320
Speaker 1: of their big hands, But there are so many players

717
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 1: in NBA history with big hands that have shot great,

718
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:31,880
Speaker 1: So I think it's kind of a cop out excuse.

719
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,920
Speaker 1: When you have big hands on the basketball, it actually

720
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,120
Speaker 1: helps you to avoid left right misses. It's actually a

721
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 1: form thing that I teach kids, and then I had

722
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:42,840
Speaker 1: a coach teach me when I was in junior college.

723
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 1: Spreading your fingers further out around the ball help you

724
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 1: stay in line with your shooting stroke. It makes it

725
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 1: a focus on distance rather than left to right. So

726
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,280
Speaker 1: th h T projects to be a really good shooter,

727
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,319
Speaker 1: as in the sense that he's got huge hands, he's

728
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,760
Speaker 1: got a really strong base. It'll help, it'll be easier

729
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,200
Speaker 1: for him to stay on balance. In the long run,

730
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 1: I do believe we'll see him be a really good shooter.

731
00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 1: He's struggling now. Why is that? I think it has

732
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,640
Speaker 1: a lot to do with shot selection and inconsistent role.

733
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,520
Speaker 1: He started again against uh the Kings on the road

734
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,840
Speaker 1: the other night. Since he came back into the lineup,

735
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 1: it's just been a complete cluster f of differing circumstances.

736
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,760
Speaker 1: It's been I'm starting this game, Lebron's out, I'm shooting

737
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,280
Speaker 1: a ton of shots. Okay, Now Anthony Davis is out. Okay,

738
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:32,880
Speaker 1: Now I'm coming off the bench. Okay, now Lebron's out again. Okay,

739
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,640
Speaker 1: now I'm I'm coming off the bench with Lebron out. Okay,

740
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,799
Speaker 1: Now Lebron is um out, and I'm moved back into

741
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,200
Speaker 1: the starting lineup. Like it's just been, it's just been

742
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 1: a roller coaster of of differing circumstances for him. And then, honestly,

743
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:48,080
Speaker 1: one of the worst things that happened to him was

744
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,560
Speaker 1: he played so well in the first few games, tricked

745
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,319
Speaker 1: him into thinking he was ahead of where he was

746
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,520
Speaker 1: in his own development. You know, if you come into

747
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,319
Speaker 1: the league and and you come off of an off

748
00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:59,719
Speaker 1: season when you worked really hard and your average over

749
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 1: twenty points a game for a three game stretch and

750
00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:04,520
Speaker 1: you look like a potential future All Star. Gets in

751
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:06,759
Speaker 1: your head a little bit you start to think I'm

752
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,120
Speaker 1: here in my development when in reality, um somewhere further

753
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 1: down here, you know what I mean. And so he

754
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: had to kind of have a wake up call in

755
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:18,440
Speaker 1: that in that respect, you know, we we saw Davion

756
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:20,840
Speaker 1: Mitchell just apply a little bit of ball pressure and

757
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: completely throw him out of his rhythm offensively and really

758
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:24,799
Speaker 1: struggle as a playmaker and make a lot of bad

759
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:28,040
Speaker 1: decisions one after the other. That's kind of a youthful thing.

760
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,080
Speaker 1: That's that's that's part of that. And we talked a

761
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:32,839
Speaker 1: lot about how we want him not to be an

762
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:34,560
Speaker 1: on ball creator, but a guy who would work on

763
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:38,200
Speaker 1: the second side. Always work against a already compromised defense

764
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,799
Speaker 1: lebron or rust come down and run in action. If

765
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,680
Speaker 1: that action gets shut down, you swing it to th

766
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:46,319
Speaker 1: HD guy closes out at him. As opposed to dealing

767
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,400
Speaker 1: with ball pressure, He's working with an advantage. The defense

768
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 1: is pre shifted over to the lebron a D side.

769
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: He has more opportunity to succeed in that second side.

770
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,920
Speaker 1: I'd like to see more of that the as a

771
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:01,920
Speaker 1: posed to what they did with Sacramento putting him on

772
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 1: the ball the whole time. That's that as far as

773
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:07,560
Speaker 1: the shooting goes. Once he had embraces and understands he's

774
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:09,920
Speaker 1: not the guy from the first three games, but he's

775
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: actually closer to what he was in the beginning of

776
00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 1: last year when Lebron and n A. D were healthy,

777
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: which is a guy who plays off the ball, who

778
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 1: sells his soul on the defensive end of the ball

779
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,560
Speaker 1: to be an all defense level guard and then attacks

780
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 1: closeouts and then up in a little bit from there

781
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 1: to have him run some action on the backside, like

782
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,000
Speaker 1: we just discussed, that's where he's gonna be at his

783
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:37,279
Speaker 1: best with this group in this championship window. Inside of

784
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,799
Speaker 1: that context, he needs to just be more disciplined with

785
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,759
Speaker 1: the shot selection. We talk a lot like when you

786
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,719
Speaker 1: take bad shots and you miss him, you can trick

787
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 1: yourself in your head to thinking I just don't have

788
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 1: it tonight. Do you really not have it tonight or

789
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:57,000
Speaker 1: are you showing bad process? Because where I say I

790
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,840
Speaker 1: don't have it tonight, is when I'm getting wide open

791
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,839
Speaker 1: looks all day long and they're just not going in.

792
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: That's that's different. But with th HT, what I'm seeing

793
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 1: a lot of is taking the same shots from when

794
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 1: he was averaging twenty points a game, them not going

795
00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,359
Speaker 1: in and a kind of snowballing on him and him

796
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:16,680
Speaker 1: doing the classic young player thing, which is that I'm

797
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,600
Speaker 1: having a bad game and so now it's manifesting everywhere

798
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,279
Speaker 1: on the floor, turnovers, bad defense, x y Z. So

799
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,239
Speaker 1: this Kyle Kuzma used to have this problem a lot

800
00:41:26,239 --> 00:41:28,000
Speaker 1: when he was with the Lakers. But that's what I'd

801
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,480
Speaker 1: like to see is just really really tightening up a

802
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,759
Speaker 1: shot selection, taking wide open threes on kickouts. But I

803
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,880
Speaker 1: want him to be aggressive as a catch and shoot shooter.

804
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:39,560
Speaker 1: That's so important because it tricks the defense into thinking

805
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:40,960
Speaker 1: you're a shooter even when you're not. That was the

806
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,400
Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzma thing. Again, always a low percentage three point shooter,

807
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,160
Speaker 1: but he accomplished real spacing for the Lakers because he

808
00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,239
Speaker 1: was a gunner. You had to run out on him

809
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: because if you didn't, he would shoot. And he had

810
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: enough hot nights over the course of his career that

811
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,239
Speaker 1: he had a reputation as a guy that she had

812
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:58,480
Speaker 1: to close out on. That's what th h T needs

813
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,640
Speaker 1: to be aggressive as a catch and shoot shooter. Be

814
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:05,640
Speaker 1: aggressive attacking closeouts. From there, through high shot quality, he

815
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,640
Speaker 1: will break out of his slump when kids, when high

816
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,239
Speaker 1: school kids come up to me and say, hey, I'm

817
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,719
Speaker 1: in a shooting slump. What do I do? I always say,

818
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 1: don't think about your release. Focus on little details in

819
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:17,880
Speaker 1: your shot. The two details that I always focus on

820
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 1: our legs, like my base, how balanced to my am

821
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,879
Speaker 1: I going straight up and down? And are my hands big?

822
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:24,839
Speaker 1: If I have big hands on the ball, I won't

823
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:27,560
Speaker 1: have those left right misses. So for me, when I'm shooting,

824
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,680
Speaker 1: as I'm as I'm going into my shot, I deliberately

825
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:32,839
Speaker 1: think legs and hands, legs and hands, legs and hands,

826
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,040
Speaker 1: and I do that deliberately to get out of my

827
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,200
Speaker 1: head about my release and just focus on these little

828
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 1: details that are controllable. Then if I missed the shot,

829
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 1: I run down the floor and I go did I

830
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:47,360
Speaker 1: have my hands spread out? Did I have a good base? Yes? Okay,

831
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,680
Speaker 1: that was good process. The miss is the miss who

832
00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 1: cares move on. If I'm running down the floor, and

833
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,080
Speaker 1: I go I didn't really feel like I was on balance,

834
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 1: or I didn't I didn't pay attention to my hands

835
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,319
Speaker 1: and I missed left or right. Eight. Now, I'm not

836
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,799
Speaker 1: saying I'm mad at myself for missing I'm mad at

837
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,640
Speaker 1: myself for bad process. I'm mad at myself for bad form.

838
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:10,960
Speaker 1: Or maybe I just took a bad shot in terms

839
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:13,480
Speaker 1: of you know how much separation I had from the defense.

840
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 1: And then I can get me out at myself and

841
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:19,920
Speaker 1: go like, hey z, good one, make a couple of

842
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,440
Speaker 1: good back to the tough ones that I approached that.

843
00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:28,520
Speaker 1: And so with th HD, by attacking his own neurosis

844
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 1: as a in terms of his shot selection, by getting

845
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,279
Speaker 1: on the right track taking easy shots, he will inevitably

846
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 1: bust through his slump because that's just how this works. Alright, guys,

847
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,520
Speaker 1: So tomorrow night we will be doing a postgame show

848
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,720
Speaker 1: after Lakers Clippers. This will be on my podcast feed

849
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,120
Speaker 1: here in about fifteen minutes while Aaron Dash Radio tomorrow

850
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: morning at seven am Pacific Standard time. As always, I

851
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,800
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys support of the pod. We continue

852
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,160
Speaker 1: to basically set a new record every single day that

853
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:01,359
Speaker 1: we released an episode I've been so amazed by you

854
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:04,200
Speaker 1: guys for rocking with us, and I can't ever express

855
00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:06,840
Speaker 1: to you guys how much I appreciate it. Um. I

856
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 1: hope you guys enjoyed the pot and I will see

857
00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:11,080
Speaker 1: you guys tomorrow. Night. H