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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to Hoo's tonight here at the Volume.
Speaker 2: Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you guys had an
Speaker 2: incredible week. We have a very special show for you
Speaker 2: guys today. My friend Jovan Buha, who covers the Lakers
Speaker 2: for the Athletic and does an incredible job, has been
Speaker 2: there on the ground at Lakers training camp getting.
Speaker 3: Us ready for the season.
Speaker 2: I'm really really excited to talk all things Lakers and
Speaker 2: get some up close and personal perspective. Jovon, how's it going, man,
Speaker 2: It's good to see you.
Speaker 3: It's great man. It's great to see you.
Speaker 4: And this feels like the first week of school and
Speaker 4: you're seeing all your friends again.
Speaker 3: Everything is going great, So no complaints from me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I covered Timberwolves MAVs yesterday and like getting out
Speaker 2: of that off season grind to like actually covering real
Speaker 2: basketball feels good. And I have to say I'm probably
Speaker 2: as excited for this particular NBA season as I have
Speaker 2: for any time in my life. Is there's just so
Speaker 2: much talent the top of the league. There's so much parody,
Speaker 2: there's so many different teams that could rise above this
Speaker 2: group of incredible talent at the top of the league.
Speaker 2: I'm excited. But you have been on the ground at
Speaker 2: Lakers training camp. We are through four days of practice
Speaker 2: and media day. What is the pulse around the team,
Speaker 2: obviously going into their first preseason game tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Well, the vibes around the Lakers are at an all
Speaker 4: time high. I can say that this is my fourth
Speaker 4: training camp covering the team, and this is the most
Speaker 4: positive and optimistic and confident that the group has been
Speaker 4: since I've been there. So I think one that that's
Speaker 4: a great sign for Laker fans. But two, you know,
Speaker 4: the talk of camp has been how Lebron James has
Speaker 4: looked like his pre injury self, which I think if
Speaker 4: we're mapping out how this team ultimately wins a championship,
Speaker 4: it's got to be Lebron getting back to being a
Speaker 4: top ten player consistently. And you know, Darvin ham was
Speaker 4: comparing him to his third or fourth year self athletically.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I buy the that.
Speaker 4: Lebron's looking like a twenty two or twenty three year
Speaker 4: old right now. But you know, as we saw at
Speaker 4: the end of last season, and with the way that
Speaker 4: the playoffs went, barring you know, Game four against Denver
Speaker 4: and a few other big performance and says like he
Speaker 4: wasn't himself clearly, and there were times that he would
Speaker 4: be laboring on that foot. There were times he appeared
Speaker 4: a little differential to Austin Reeves or Anthony Davis. So
Speaker 4: I think if the Lakers can get the pre injury
Speaker 4: version of him, which remember in December or January when
Speaker 4: Ad went out, he was routinely dropping thirty points a night,
Speaker 4: had some forty point games in there as well, and
Speaker 4: really looked the best he had looked offensively, in my opinion,
Speaker 4: in a couple of years. So, if you can get
Speaker 4: that version of Lebron with this continuity that they have now,
Speaker 4: the deeper supporting cast, the improved three point shooting. I
Speaker 4: think that's where you can be really dangerous offensively. The
Speaker 4: other thing has been Anthony Davis's jump shot. By all accounts,
Speaker 4: it's looked much better than it has over the past
Speaker 4: couple of seasons. And then rookie Jalen hood Schafino has
Speaker 4: gotten multiple shoutouts. Just got a shout out today from
Speaker 4: AD for his pick and role play, his court vision,
Speaker 4: his point of attack defense. So again, vibes are at
Speaker 4: an all time high right now compared to where they've
Speaker 4: been in the past, and right you know, right.
Speaker 3: Now, all the buzz has been about Lebron and eight.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting because we're going to talk about
Speaker 2: the contenders at the top of the league and where
Speaker 2: the Lakers stack up later on in the show. But
Speaker 2: when I look back at the Denver series, it really
Speaker 2: came down to three things for me. Their backcourt athleticism.
Speaker 2: Bruce Brown just kicked their ass because he was bigger, faster,
Speaker 2: and stronger than all of the guards back there. And
Speaker 2: then the backup center position was tough. It wasn't as
Speaker 2: big of a problem in the Denver series because Denver's
Speaker 2: bench center is kind of a position that's also in flux.
Speaker 2: But throughout the postseason it was an issue, especially in
Speaker 2: the Memphis series when they were staggering. Jaron Jackson in
Speaker 2: with the bench group, so that Lebron was, you know,
Speaker 2: having to deal with that. But then the last piece
Speaker 2: was the shot making piece. Every single one of those
Speaker 2: games was close. Three of the four games went down
Speaker 2: to a clutch situation, meaning it was within five points
Speaker 2: with less than five minutes left, and then that fourth
Speaker 2: game that didn't go I think it was Game three
Speaker 2: that didn't go to a clutch situation. The Lakers had
Speaker 2: a double digit second half lead, and that might have
Speaker 2: actually been Game two. But the point is every single
Speaker 2: one of those games was kind of hanging in the
Speaker 2: balance going into the later portion and when push comes
Speaker 2: to shove, every single playoff game we've ever seen basically
Speaker 2: grinds down into a rock fight at the end of
Speaker 2: these games, and the whistle gets swallowed and it's super
Speaker 2: physical and you can't get easy shots, and it really
Speaker 2: comes down to can you make tough, contested shots over
Speaker 2: the top, and time and time again, Jamal Murray did it,
Speaker 2: and Nikola Jokic did it. And Lebron James couldn't and
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis couldn't, and so, you know, we can talk
Speaker 2: about trades and we could talk about hypotheticals and different
Speaker 2: guys they could bring in that might be able to
Speaker 2: rectify that, But the easiest solution is Lebron James and
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis getting back to where they were in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty where they can make those shots. They're never going
Speaker 2: to make them at as high a rate as that
Speaker 2: Nugget squad or even the Suns or a lot of
Speaker 2: these other teams around the league that have higher level
Speaker 2: shot makers, but if they can at least take away
Speaker 2: some of that gap, then their physical advantages can come
Speaker 2: to the surface, because even in Lebron's limited state, he
Speaker 2: was so dominant out of the post in that postseason run.
Speaker 2: He's still one of the best matchup attacking big forwards
Speaker 2: at bullying his way to the rim against smaller defenders
Speaker 2: that we have in the league, and so they have
Speaker 2: so many advantages elsewhere on the roster. If they can
Speaker 2: just kind of mitigate that gap, that can make a difference.
Speaker 2: And the Jalen hud Schafino stuff is super exciting to
Speaker 2: me because he is that big, strong, athletic guard that
Speaker 2: can really like actually hanging in the physicality areas of
Speaker 2: the game. Darvin Ham was talking a lot about him
Speaker 2: and how big and strong he is for his position.
Speaker 2: I could see that being something that could help mitigate
Speaker 2: that issue a little bit. Go as far as like
Speaker 2: the motivation level goes, Where are you at with this
Speaker 2: Denver La trash talk stuff? I think it's so silly
Speaker 2: because I can't even imagine why anyone would care that
Speaker 2: the Lakers want revenge. If they didn't, it would be weird.
Speaker 2: What's your take on the whole, Mike Malone, Bruce Brown
Speaker 2: trash talk Lakers feeling motivated situation.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm with you.
Speaker 4: I think it is a little silly, but I think
Speaker 4: it's as close to a modern rivalry as we have
Speaker 4: right now, probably in the NBA, you know, with the
Speaker 4: raw to turnover and stars going team to team. You
Speaker 4: don't see the classic rivalries that we had in the
Speaker 4: eighties and the nineties and the two thousands. But for me,
Speaker 4: I mean, I get why the Lakers feel the way
Speaker 4: that they do. I think Denver and look, Denver won,
Speaker 4: so you can talk trash when you win and you
Speaker 4: can kind of celebrate whichever way you want. But you know,
Speaker 4: with Mike Malone saying he's the Lakers daddy at at
Speaker 4: you know, their celebration and at the parade, and then
Speaker 4: him kind of poking fun at Lebron's retirement and say
Speaker 4: he was going to retire, and like, there's just been
Speaker 4: little jabs there, And you know, it's interesting to me
Speaker 4: because Mike Malone and Lebron used to have a great
Speaker 4: relationship back when Malone was an assistant in Cleveland. So
Speaker 4: you know, things have obviously taken a turn there a bit.
Speaker 4: But I'm really interested to see how the Lakers come
Speaker 4: out on opening Night. I don't want to get to
Speaker 4: hyperbolic with it, but I think it's a chance for
Speaker 4: them to land a haymaker, to send a message to
Speaker 4: start the season. And for them, looking at that opening schedule,
Speaker 4: they have a very difficult slate to start. I mean
Speaker 4: just the first three games alone at Denver home against Phoenix,
Speaker 4: then at Sacramento. You could easily go zero to three
Speaker 4: over those three games. You could go three and oh
Speaker 4: as well. But for them, with the way that they've
Speaker 4: started the last few seasons a little bit slower, I
Speaker 4: think it's important to go to Denver, you know, send
Speaker 4: them a message of we're not afraid of you. You
Speaker 4: don't have a psychological advantage over us anymore, you know,
Speaker 4: forget like the sweep was last season, put that behind us,
Speaker 4: and then also start the season one and oh and
Speaker 4: just kind of get some momentum and carry that over
Speaker 4: because we've seen them struggle in the preseason the last
Speaker 4: few years, we've seen them struggle to start the year,
Speaker 4: and I think another loss to Denver again, it's not
Speaker 4: debilitating by any means, but it would just kind of
Speaker 4: continue the trend of Denver I think having an edge
Speaker 4: over them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the psychological element is always interesting. It reminds me
Speaker 2: of the Clippers in twenty twenty, where it was like
Speaker 2: they lost an opening night and then they lost on
Speaker 2: Christmas Day, and it kind of felt like the Clippers
Speaker 2: had a little bit of a mental advantage. But then
Speaker 2: the Lakers got them once right before the bubble in
Speaker 2: rather convincing fashion in the fourth quarter, and then they
Speaker 2: got them at the start of the bubble, and then
Speaker 2: it's like, literally, there was never a psychological advantage since then,
Speaker 2: except for they've just been so limited from a roster
Speaker 2: standpoint in recent seasons, but you never felt like if
Speaker 2: the Lakers had to play the Clippers in that postseason
Speaker 2: run in the bubble that they would have had any
Speaker 2: issues because it felt like they had kind of overcome that,
Speaker 2: And that psychological advantage can definitely play a role. It
Speaker 2: plays a role in everything, like how comfortable the role
Speaker 2: players are, how comfortable you know, the team might feel
Speaker 2: if they're down by ten in the middle of the
Speaker 2: third quarter, and belief that they could come back like
Speaker 2: that sort of thing. I one hundred percent agree with you.
Speaker 2: I think coming off of last season, in their two
Speaker 2: and ten start, it's almost vital for their belief in
Speaker 2: the locker room to notch two or three key kind
Speaker 2: of like signature wins, just to kind of give them
Speaker 2: that belief that pushes them forward. Because this team in particular,
Speaker 2: you know, when I look at the top of the
Speaker 2: league and I look at Milwaukee and Boston, and I
Speaker 2: look at Phoenix and Denver in LA, all of them
Speaker 2: have different strengths, and the Lakers' specific strength has to
Speaker 2: be the defensive end. They're never going to be these
Speaker 2: teams like Denver or Phoenix or Milwaukee from a skills standpoint,
Speaker 2: They're never going to be able to go shot for
Speaker 2: shot with Dame or with Jokic or with KD or any.
Speaker 3: Of these guys.
Speaker 2: They have to be a blue collar, beat you up
Speaker 2: defensive team. Now, my question would be it I actually
Speaker 2: was talking with my buddy Anthony Irwin about this yesterday,
Speaker 2: and I find it to be really interesting. You know,
Speaker 2: we know that D'Angelo Russell is the contract that's kind
Speaker 2: of poised as the guy who could be traded. And
Speaker 2: to be clear, I'm sure the Lakers will approach the
Speaker 2: season as though they don't intend to make a trade
Speaker 2: and see what this group is capable of, and they'll
Speaker 2: make that call when they get to the deadline. But
Speaker 2: I think D'Angelo Russell in one of the forwards basically
Speaker 2: functions as whatever your salary is if you did decide
Speaker 2: to make a trade. Now, I look at it as
Speaker 2: like there's two different directions they could go. They could
Speaker 2: either go all in on that defensive identity and try
Speaker 2: to find basically a more dependable, starter caliber player at
Speaker 2: the two or three that's a perimeter defender, or they
Speaker 2: can go in on a shot maker, try to find
Speaker 2: somebody to help Lebron and ad and slow down half
Speaker 2: court environments. Which need do you think is more important
Speaker 2: for the Lakers? And if you were the GM, which
Speaker 2: direction would you go in terms of actually strengthening out
Speaker 2: the weaknesses of the roster.
Speaker 3: I really like that question.
Speaker 4: I mean ideally both if I know those types of
Speaker 4: guys are hard to find and potentially out of the
Speaker 4: financial range that they're looking at with d Lo plus
Speaker 4: whoever else you want to lump in there. If I
Speaker 4: had to choose one between the two, I would lean defense.
Speaker 4: I do think that this group's perimeter defense. It's interesting
Speaker 4: because they're running it back with essentially, you know, most
Speaker 4: of the roster that wasn't the number two defense to
Speaker 4: close out the regular season. But I think going from
Speaker 4: Dennis Shruder to Gabe Vincent is a slight downgrade at
Speaker 4: the point of attack. I think Gabe is better defensively
Speaker 4: than some people have given him credit for, at least
Speaker 4: when I see them discussing his role, but you know,
Speaker 4: he's not Dennis.
Speaker 3: And then I think Vando.
Speaker 4: I'm really interested to see what Vando's role is this season,
Speaker 4: whether it's starting, coming off the bench, how many minutes
Speaker 4: is it Just because as we saw in the playoffs,
Speaker 4: teams were really able to scheme him off the floor,
Speaker 4: and I think the jury's out with him where you know,
Speaker 4: when you're game planning for the Lakers, you are going
Speaker 4: to just completely ignore him and dare him to make
Speaker 4: you pay. So, you know, I think, if I'm looking
Speaker 4: at it, I think they probably need a little bit
Speaker 4: more primitive defense. If we're talking about how they match
Speaker 4: up with, say the Suns, it's a bit concerning. Like
Speaker 4: let's just even if you throw Vando out there with
Speaker 4: the projected starting group, like he takes probably KD, I
Speaker 4: would assume, and then we were putting Austin on book
Speaker 4: and then d Lo on Beal or you know.
Speaker 3: Who's Lebron guard.
Speaker 4: Like, I just think there's a lot of questions there
Speaker 4: defensively for the Lakers, with how they match up with
Speaker 4: teams like Phoenix and the Clippers and the Celtics, teams
Speaker 4: with multiple scoring wings, and so I would be looking
Speaker 4: to plug that hole. But I still think the shooting
Speaker 4: is a big issue potentially as well, where on paper
Speaker 4: it is better, but they were a bottom five three
Speaker 4: point shooting team last year, So even if you go
Speaker 4: from like twenty fifth to twenty eight.
Speaker 3: That still might not be good enough.
Speaker 4: I think you got to nudge up closer to fifteen twelve,
Speaker 4: you know, try to crack the top ten if you can,
Speaker 4: because historically that's kind of what we.
Speaker 3: See with teams that win the championship.
Speaker 4: So between it, I think they need to address both, honestly,
Speaker 4: But if I had to pick one, I would lean defense.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I've been thinking about this NonStop all summer because you know,
Speaker 2: the way I look at the Laker offseason was a
Speaker 2: lot of people are missing the boat. Yeah, they didn't
Speaker 2: get demonstrably better in terms of their ceiling, but they
Speaker 2: did get deeper at a bunch of key positions, which
Speaker 2: will help them in the dregs of the regular season,
Speaker 2: particularly with Lebron and Anthony Davis inevitably missing forty to
Speaker 2: fifty games between the two of them. Right, So I
Speaker 2: like the offseason from that perspective, But that top end
Speaker 2: improvement did not take place in this particular offseason unless
Speaker 2: there's some gigantic leap from a player like Rui or
Speaker 2: a player like you know, a player like Christian Wood
Speaker 2: for instance, or something along those lines. So like, I
Speaker 2: don't really see that move there and so in when
Speaker 2: I look at the the guys at the top of
Speaker 2: the league, you almost have to look at it from
Speaker 2: the stand point if you can't try to play them
Speaker 2: at their game when you're not as good at it.
Speaker 2: So like, I don't like the idea of targeting a
Speaker 2: shot maker unless it's somebody the caliber of Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 2: which is highly unlikely. Right, So Like, if it's someone
Speaker 2: like Kyrie, then you look at it like, yeah, we
Speaker 2: can go shot making toe for tow with toe to
Speaker 2: toe with some of the best teams in the league.
Speaker 2: But if it's anybody kind of below that tier, if
Speaker 2: you want to get in a shot making contest with
Speaker 2: the best teams in the league, you're just gonna lose.
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Speaker 2: is yours. So like what I like about going in
Speaker 2: on a perimeter defender that's more functionally fitting with the starters,
Speaker 2: is like a high caliber role player at the two
Speaker 2: or three is in that predicament. You can lean in
Speaker 2: on the thing that your best at, which is the
Speaker 2: defensive end of the floor. And there's no chance if
Speaker 2: you get a high level, above average perimeter defender that
Speaker 2: can function offensively. If you get a player like that Phoenix, Denver, Boston, Milwaukee,
Speaker 2: they're not gonna be able to hang with you defensively.
Speaker 2: Not with Anthony Davis as the best defensive player in
Speaker 2: the world on the front line, and what you have
Speaker 2: in Jared Vanderbilt and Lebron's you know, and Lebron's engaged
Speaker 2: defensively the type of high IQ help defender that he
Speaker 2: can be. Now, obviously that's a trade deadline issue. So
Speaker 2: looking at like the meat and potatoes of the season,
Speaker 2: you know, you and I had a conversation earlier this
Speaker 2: week and you made a point that I think was
Speaker 2: really interesting and I want you to kind of expound
Speaker 2: upon it a little bit. You had mentioned the idea
Speaker 2: of kind of pairing D'Angelo Russell with Jared Vanderbilt and
Speaker 2: Ruey Hotchi Mura with Gabe Vincent, and I think it's
Speaker 2: really smart because Vanderbilt is this you know, kind of
Speaker 2: second tier maybe top tier perimeter defender and then Ruy
Speaker 2: Hachimura can struggle with that, but gave Vincent's clearly a
Speaker 2: much better point of attack defender than D'Angelo Russell. So
Speaker 2: can you, like, do you do you think those pairings
Speaker 2: are going to have to stay together or do you
Speaker 2: think that Darvin Ham's going to go with somebody different
Speaker 2: in that three spot? Like after this four week, four
Speaker 2: days of practice, is there any intel on who's in
Speaker 2: the lead to get that three spot with the perimeter
Speaker 2: defense issue, Yeah, I.
Speaker 4: Mean it's been the talk of camp like that. That's
Speaker 4: the one question the Lakers have right now is who
Speaker 4: is the fit starter and specific who is the starting
Speaker 4: small forward.
Speaker 3: Unless they throw a wild card in.
Speaker 4: And I know Jackson Hayes did some scrimmaging with eighty
Speaker 4: the first couple of days as a five to four tandem,
Speaker 4: and eighty spoke about that today at practice. But from
Speaker 4: my understanding, it's been a competition between Ruy Van do
Speaker 4: Oh and Tornyan Prince Tory Prince being a dark Corse
Speaker 4: just because of his three point shooting, and I would
Speaker 4: say around average defensively, not going to kill you on
Speaker 4: that end, but not necessarily a plus the way that
Speaker 4: a Vando is or a Ruie can be, you know,
Speaker 4: potentially in bigger matchups, as we saw him defending Jokic
Speaker 4: in the playoffs. But I think, you know, those tandems
Speaker 4: make the most sense. So with Delo starting, it feels
Speaker 4: like Vando's getting the edge a bit in camp so far.
Speaker 4: I know that that first day, which is theoretically I
Speaker 4: mean first day of camp, like that's the first thing
Speaker 4: you want to see, Vando was the primary guy with
Speaker 4: the starting group, so I want to give him the
Speaker 4: slight edge right now. But everything I've been hearing entering
Speaker 4: camp was that Rui was the favorite. So it feels
Speaker 4: like there's some mixed messaging going on right now. Maybe
Speaker 4: the Lakers are trying to just play at Koy and
Speaker 4: they don't want us to know yet, But everything I've
Speaker 4: been hearing, for whatever reason, it's I mean, it's the
Speaker 4: preseason and people are going to see it in Denver
Speaker 4: on opening night. I don't think it really dramatically shifts things.
Speaker 4: But to your point, I think they should try and
Speaker 4: keep those pairings together, and that's where I see it potentially,
Speaker 4: as you start Dlo and Van do Oh, but you
Speaker 4: end up closing with Gabe and Ruey, similar to the playoffs,
Speaker 4: where for those first couple of series it was a
Speaker 4: lot of Delo starting alongside vand Oh, and then when
Speaker 4: it came to crunch time, it was Dennis and Ruey
Speaker 4: closing games, and that ended up being the Lakers' best
Speaker 4: lineup was that they're big three with Dennis and Ruey.
Speaker 4: I could see it being similar with Ruey and Gabe.
Speaker 4: So that's how I kind of see that breaking down. Personally,
Speaker 4: I would start RUI. I think that each of the
Speaker 4: three small forward options has clear strengths, but they also
Speaker 4: have clear weaknesses. And to me, Ruy is the best
Speaker 4: blend between offense and defense. And I know he's not
Speaker 4: the perimeter defender that Vando is, but I just think
Speaker 4: starting Vando comes with so much risk offensively of you know,
Speaker 4: we saw him working on his corner.
Speaker 3: Three's today after practice.
Speaker 4: Was I would say shooting in the thirty percent based
Speaker 4: on what I saw. I didn't see all of them,
Speaker 4: but was not shooting great, I would say, And you know,
Speaker 4: I think that's just a concern of can this guy
Speaker 4: be our full time starter? Like I look at it,
Speaker 4: as if you start Vando in the regular season, that
Speaker 4: is a temporary measure. One come playoff time, he's probably
Speaker 4: gonna have to move to the bench and be more
Speaker 4: like a twelve to fifteen minute a night guy. So
Speaker 4: I don't see the point in having a different starting
Speaker 4: lineup in the regular season versus the playoffs. I know
Speaker 4: you have to make adjustments, but for me, Rui is
Speaker 4: the best of those three players. He's getting paid the
Speaker 4: most of those three players, and I think he offers
Speaker 4: you the best blend of offense and defense.
Speaker 2: Has there been any buzz surrounding Torrian Prince because I
Speaker 2: look at him as you know when you look at
Speaker 2: those three forwards buy functionally on offense kind of can
Speaker 2: play the three because he can shoot well and he
Speaker 2: can attack closeouts, but he can also kind of mismatch
Speaker 2: attack a little bit in the post. But defensively, he's
Speaker 2: clearly a four, like he's got a great screen navigator.
Speaker 2: He's more of a guy that can switch and guard
Speaker 2: bigger players. And then Vanderbilt defends like a three, but
Speaker 2: offensively is like a four. But Torrian to me, is
Speaker 2: like that best mix of like perimeter defense at the
Speaker 2: wing and perimeter offense at the wing. Does he have
Speaker 2: any chance to crack into this conversation or is he
Speaker 2: kind of, like clearly the third guy in that tier.
Speaker 4: I think he has a chance. I would put him
Speaker 4: third right now. I think it's gonna be Ruy or
Speaker 4: Vando ultimately starting. But Torrian got a shot on day
Speaker 4: two as the primary guy with the starting group I've
Speaker 4: been told. So he's been in the mix, and again
Speaker 4: he's by far the best shooter you know, almost a
Speaker 4: career forty percent three point shooter.
Speaker 3: Ruey.
Speaker 4: We'll see if he can translate his playoff success into
Speaker 4: the regular season. But he was a guy who shot
Speaker 4: twenty nine percent with the Lakers after the trade deadline,
Speaker 4: then that bumped up to just over forty eight percent
Speaker 4: in the postseason. So Torian offers clear value as a shooter.
Speaker 4: I just don't know if I don't know if there's
Speaker 4: a big gap between, say, trying to make him your
Speaker 4: primary wing defender and trying to make Ruey your primary
Speaker 4: wing defender.
Speaker 3: Like Ruy, he.
Speaker 4: Said he hasn't slimmed down. He looks slimmer, he looks
Speaker 4: more athletic. We've seen some of those scrimmaging clips that
Speaker 4: the Lakers Social team has posted. He's taking guys off
Speaker 4: the dribble and dunking and attacking the rim with force.
Speaker 4: So I think Ruey again is the best of the three.
Speaker 4: And you know, like I would say, I've talked to
Speaker 4: some people at the team that are like, why don't
Speaker 4: you just go matchup based and why don't we have
Speaker 4: a revolving starting lineup where some games, you know, if
Speaker 4: you need the perimeter defense for a certain matchup, go
Speaker 4: Vando if you need, you know, like I think against Denver,
Speaker 4: Rui makes more sense like that for opening Night, you
Speaker 4: put Ruey on Jokich and then you have ad As
Speaker 4: you know, roaming and helping on the back line, whereas Vando,
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be a similar thing where they
Speaker 4: just completely ignore him and he kind of isn't doesn't
Speaker 4: really have a clear guy to defend, Like I don't
Speaker 4: think Murray is a great matchup for him. So we'll see,
Speaker 4: you know, again, all the intel I'd gotten before camp
Speaker 4: was Ruey. Seems like since campus started they've been leaning
Speaker 4: a little bit more towards Vando. But we're not really
Speaker 4: gonna know until the end of preseason. That's what Darvin
Speaker 4: said of one we'll actually see the full rotation will
Speaker 4: probably be either the second to last preseason game or
Speaker 4: the final one.
Speaker 2: Well really looks great, and like, like I think it
Speaker 2: was this the spin move Donc. I think was against
Speaker 2: Maxwell Lewis where he kind of like bumped him off
Speaker 2: and then spun and then went up off one leg.
Speaker 2: He made Max look really small on that play, which
Speaker 2: is another one of those things that makes me realize, like, okay,
Speaker 2: like Maxwell Lewis is what six ' seven and probably
Speaker 2: two twenty two fifteen like, and he just made him
Speaker 2: literally look like a child next to him. Like that's
Speaker 2: how big and strong Rui can be. I think Rui's
Speaker 2: clearly the best player to put in that spot. It's
Speaker 2: more just it causes you to have some issues in
Speaker 2: terms of your defensive configuration based on matchups. Like I
Speaker 2: think you might have to consider doing more switching because
Speaker 2: of lebron Ad and Rui and their ability to kind
Speaker 2: of guard multiple positions on that back line. And honestly
Speaker 2: liked Angela Russell's pretty big and strong too, and like
Speaker 2: I like, maybe you don't trust him navigating screens super well,
Speaker 2: but maybe he can slide his feet on defense and
Speaker 2: force someone to shoot over the top, you know, or
Speaker 2: something along those lines. But again, they're gonna have to experiment,
Speaker 2: and your idea about the matchup specific starting lineup is
Speaker 2: perfectly fine. I think the only real downside there is
Speaker 2: there is something to be said about, you know, the
Speaker 2: chemistry and continuity that can be gained by giving a
Speaker 2: lineup a specific lineup a ton of repetition. But the
Speaker 2: reality is is over the course of the season, one
Speaker 2: of those guys will separate themselves and it will just
Speaker 2: make more sense to have them start on any spacecific game.
Speaker 2: How much do you view ades jump shot as like
Speaker 2: a swing factor in this particular season.
Speaker 4: I think it's arguably the biggest swing factor of this season,
Speaker 4: aside from health, which is a big swing factor with
Speaker 4: this group, especially with Lebron and Ad. But to me,
Speaker 4: I mean, as you were saying earlier, eight shot making,
Speaker 4: to me, what was arguably the key of that bubble run,
Speaker 4: Like you just couldn't guard the guy when you have
Speaker 4: to guard him out to eighteen twenty twenty four feet,
Speaker 4: that just that unlocks.
Speaker 3: It is dribble drive game, his face up game like that.
Speaker 4: There's just so many elements that it improves the spacing,
Speaker 4: and that to me is going to be the key.
Speaker 4: I was speaking with someone from the team earlier this
Speaker 4: week of and they kind of brought up like, you know,
Speaker 4: I know you're skeptical of the two big lineups, and
Speaker 4: we were kind of talking through it, and I was like,
Speaker 4: to me, it's going to come down to a D
Speaker 4: shooting and eight like you, Yes, Christian Wood obviously is
Speaker 4: a above average three point shooter, and I think he's
Speaker 4: going to provide some nice pay can pop options and
Speaker 4: you know, catch and shoot thread and all that stuff.
Speaker 4: But it really has to be especially when he's playing
Speaker 4: with Jackson Hayes, it has to be a dy to
Speaker 4: some extent spacing the floor and keeping defenses.
Speaker 3: Honest.
Speaker 4: So, uh, for me, what when we because really going
Speaker 4: back to the playoff run, Like as you said, I
Speaker 4: think that the Lakers shot making and crunch time was
Speaker 4: an issue really throughout the playoffs, and you know that
Speaker 4: they did win several close games, but to me, it
Speaker 4: was just like when the Lakers would lose last season,
Speaker 4: a lot of it came down to their crunch time
Speaker 4: offense just stalling. They're dribbling out the clock and then
Speaker 4: they're going to run some type of ISO for Lebron
Speaker 4: or a D and then you know there They'll occasionally
Speaker 4: make it, but a lot of the times they're gonna miss.
Speaker 4: And uh, that would be kind of the blueprint for
Speaker 4: how the Lakers offense would crater in crunch time. So
Speaker 4: for me, if Ad can get back to doesn't even
Speaker 4: have to be thirty three percent on three and a half,
Speaker 4: three is a game. But if you can get to
Speaker 4: I mean thirty two, thirty three percent, maybe fewer attempts
Speaker 4: and you know, bump up his mid range accuracy, bump
Speaker 4: up his mid range attempts like that is something that
Speaker 4: I think is a vital development for their offense. If not,
Speaker 4: then I feel like he just kind of has to
Speaker 4: play the five. Like I think, if Ad is not
Speaker 4: spacing the floor, you have another guy in Jackson Hayes
Speaker 4: probably not spacing the floor. And then Christian Wood, I
Speaker 4: don't think, just wants to be a spot up shooter
Speaker 4: all the time.
Speaker 3: Like I just don't see how it works.
Speaker 4: So to me, eighty shot is arguably the key to
Speaker 4: the playoff offense and then also the key to making
Speaker 4: some of these two big lineups work.
Speaker 2: I have one hundred percent agree with you. I think
Speaker 2: it is literally the most important thing this season, and
Speaker 2: I think of it on three specific levels. One just
Speaker 2: over the course of the game getting easier points every
Speaker 2: once in a while, Like if Ad can just pick
Speaker 2: and pop and take four nineteen footers, you know, off
Speaker 2: the catch in the short role and he makes you know,
Speaker 2: one or two of them, that's an extra two to
Speaker 2: four points a game there that he can get just
Speaker 2: kind of bolstering his offense. Then, like specific coverages can
Speaker 2: become a problem too, so like eighty's floater is enough
Speaker 2: of a perimeter shot in normal pick and roll coverages,
Speaker 2: like against a drop coverage, if Lebron can get downhill,
Speaker 2: or if d Lo can get downhill and hit Ad
Speaker 2: around ten feet and he could take that little pop shot,
Speaker 2: it's fine. But what ends up happening is they do
Speaker 2: end up switching more towards the later portions of games,
Speaker 2: and it does turn into a Lebron ISO from the perimeter,
Speaker 2: maybe in Austin Reeves io from the perimeter, and on
Speaker 2: those possessions when Ad can't function as a spacing threat
Speaker 2: off the ball, it becomes an issue, especially when Jared
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt is out there. It's funny we put a lot
Speaker 2: of it on Jared Vanderbilt, but most lineups in the
Speaker 2: NBA have a non shooter out there. It's a common
Speaker 2: thing that you'll see around the NBA. You've got to like,
Speaker 2: the Nuggets basically won a championship like that with Aaron
Speaker 2: Gordon out there last year, the Warriors the year before,
Speaker 2: Draymond Green and Cavon Looney. It's a typical problem. It's
Speaker 2: when you cross like that threshold to where there's nowhere
Speaker 2: near enough shooting in the lineup in total, when Lebron
Speaker 2: and ad are broke and you're trying to run Jared
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt out there, Yeah, it can be a problem. And
Speaker 2: so like you buy yourself so much more margin for
Speaker 2: air in those specific situations when the actual stars of
Speaker 2: the team can make a damn jump shot. And then lastly,
Speaker 2: it's rescue possessions. Like you call it crunch time, one
Speaker 2: hundred percent agree, Like, it's not just crunch time, it's
Speaker 2: also the three or four possessions during the game when
Speaker 2: you have four seconds on the shot clock and someone
Speaker 2: has to jack a shot up. But like, it makes
Speaker 2: a big difference when you can occasionally make one of those.
Speaker 2: It's funny because like the Lebron crunch time offense thing
Speaker 2: has kind of been the same forever. It's like, let's
Speaker 2: pretend there's five clutch possessions at the end of the game.
Speaker 2: Lebron will take like four step back threes and he'll
Speaker 2: make like one of them, you know, and then like
Speaker 2: he'll have that one possession where he physically bullies his
Speaker 2: way to the rim and gets a bucket. That's five
Speaker 2: points in five possessions. That's fine when the Lakers are defending.
Speaker 2: The problem is this last year, as Lebron missed all
Speaker 2: four of those threes, like every single game he couldn't
Speaker 2: make a damn three, and so like they actually crater
Speaker 2: down below kind of like the minimum allowable amount of
Speaker 2: jump shooting in the lineup, and so it is on
Speaker 2: both of them the thing that too, and oh god, yeah,
Speaker 2: like literally so like it was, it was, it was
Speaker 2: completely untenable, right, So, like it's one of those things
Speaker 2: where honestly, Lebron gets guarded like a jump shooter even
Speaker 2: when he can't shoot. So it's I'm less worried about him,
Speaker 2: and he's just so good at finding ways to be
Speaker 2: good and impactful offensively even when he's not making shots.
Speaker 2: But with Anthony Davis in particular, especially with how much
Speaker 2: we uh like we see guys like Austin Reeves run
Speaker 2: the offense or Dangela Russell run the offense or Lebron
Speaker 2: run the offense in those predicaments, he needs to be
Speaker 2: able to make a shot. I think it's I think
Speaker 2: it's vitally important to the success of this team, especially
Speaker 2: when we get into slow down playoff environments. Again, like
Speaker 2: they have this defensive punch, and that defensive punch can
Speaker 2: put them over the top, but not if they get
Speaker 2: their ass kicked in every other area of the game.
Speaker 2: It's it's vitally and it's vitally important. Where do you
Speaker 2: see where do you see the the Lakers stacking up
Speaker 2: right now? Among get it, Like, I think there's six
Speaker 2: teams at the top of the league. I'd say it's
Speaker 2: the Warriors, the Lakers, the Suns, and the Nuggets, and
Speaker 2: then the Bucks and the Celtics. And I think the
Speaker 2: Warriors are clearly at the bottom of that tier. And
Speaker 2: really the only reason I have them on that tier
Speaker 2: is out of respect for the fact that they have
Speaker 2: the same five guys in the starting lineup that won
Speaker 2: the title literally, like you know, sixteen months ago or whatever,
Speaker 2: So like it's a respect nod to them, but they'd
Speaker 2: be underdogs against every single one of the teams above
Speaker 2: them in a playoff series. Where do you put the
Speaker 2: Lakers stacked up with those other five teams?
Speaker 4: I have them fifth and third in the West, fifth
Speaker 4: overall behind Denver, Phoenix, Milwaukee, and Boston. I would say
Speaker 4: that the Dame and Drew additions for Milwaukee and Boston, respectively,
Speaker 4: have also altered my perception of things a little bit
Speaker 4: where I think you could have made a case the
Speaker 4: Lakers were above maybe one or both, and now it's
Speaker 4: me they're clearly behind both. But I know we have
Speaker 4: a disagreement on Phoenix and Phoenix versus LA. But for me,
Speaker 4: I just look at I think those four teams I
Speaker 4: trust their playoff offenses a little bit more than the Lakers.
Speaker 4: I mean Denver, of course, reigning champs. We just saw
Speaker 4: the run that they went on Phoenix. I think sometimes
Speaker 4: we overthink the fit of star trios, and to me,
Speaker 4: all three guys can play on and off the ball.
Speaker 4: All three guys are plus shooters. I think they're going
Speaker 4: to have an insane offensive rating when those three play together,
Speaker 4: and you have multiple types of guys that you can
Speaker 4: plug in there.
Speaker 3: You can go big, you can go small.
Speaker 4: They don't have a traditional point guard, but I'm fine
Speaker 4: with that if I have Kevin Durant and Devin book
Speaker 4: Are running my offense personally. And then looking at Milwaukee,
Speaker 4: like I mean, Giannis Dame pick and roll is going
Speaker 4: to be maybe the best pick and roll in the league.
Speaker 4: And then you have Boston, where I think Kris aps
Speaker 4: Porzingis gives them an interior element that they haven't had.
Speaker 4: He just led the league in terms of post up
Speaker 4: points per possession. Then I think Drew Holiday being a
Speaker 4: third or fourth option is much more appropriate slotting for
Speaker 4: his skill set and what you want from him at
Speaker 4: this stage of his career. So I just look at
Speaker 4: you know, I think Boston is you know, that top
Speaker 4: six to me's probably the best top six in the NBA.
Speaker 4: Denver's coming off a championship, Phoenix to me as the
Speaker 4: best trio in the NBA in my opinion, and then Milwaukee,
Speaker 4: Damon and Giannis two top eleven twelve guys, Like I
Speaker 4: don't know. It's close. Like, I think you can make
Speaker 4: the case for the Lakers. I also think the Lakers
Speaker 4: are gonna make a move at the trade deadline.
Speaker 3: I think they are.
Speaker 4: One move away from the final roster, so once that
Speaker 4: move happens, I could easily see them jumping up to
Speaker 4: four to third, maybe even second on this list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're in a similar wavelength. I'd put the Lakers
Speaker 2: over the Suns just because I'm really concerned about the
Speaker 2: Suns and their commitment to the dirty work and the
Speaker 2: specific elements they're gonna have to thrive in. I think
Speaker 2: there's gonna be a little bit of an example of
Speaker 2: diminishing returns with the Suns. Like I love Bradley Beal,
Speaker 2: and I'm with you in terms of in a vacuum,
Speaker 2: that trio is just so insanely talented. But the reality
Speaker 2: is is that you know, when when you put the
Speaker 2: three of them together, one of them almost always is
Speaker 2: going to be out of rhythm or primarily off the ball,
Speaker 2: and there's usually that's a type of player that thrives
Speaker 2: and catch and shoot situations and can attack close outs,
Speaker 2: but is a guy who devotes his energy and effort
Speaker 2: to the little things as a cutter or on the
Speaker 2: defensive end. And I just I'm not sure that there's
Speaker 2: a guy on the Sun's roster that's willing to embrace
Speaker 2: That could completely change my mind about that when I
Speaker 2: see them start playing. So we'll see when we get
Speaker 2: to that point. As far as the guys above them,
Speaker 2: I don't think they have a case over anybody, like
Speaker 2: like they could beat Denver. I don't think they can't
Speaker 2: beat Denver. I just think they have to play like
Speaker 2: almost a perfect series, and judging on what we saw
Speaker 2: last year, kind of feels like a long shot.
Speaker 3: But I agree with you.
Speaker 2: I think I think that the front office has done
Speaker 2: a really nice job but positioning themselves to make the
Speaker 2: one big trade that could potentially push them over the top.
Speaker 2: All right, I have one last question before we get
Speaker 2: out of here. Who is the breakout player on this
Speaker 2: year's team. So obviously, if we go back to twenty
Speaker 2: twenty one, we have, you know, Alex Caruso coming off
Speaker 2: of starting in the NBA Finals, he shoots forty percent
Speaker 2: from three. Kyle Kuzma kind of becomes this really gifted
Speaker 2: help defender shoots his best percentage from three as a
Speaker 2: Laker and kind of gets the recognition that gets him
Speaker 2: the long term deal in the future. Obviously, Malik Monk
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two is a veteran minimum guy who
Speaker 2: popped in a big way Austin Reeves last year. Obviously
Speaker 2: becomes way better than anybody really expected him to become.
Speaker 2: Who's that guy in twenty twenty four, Who's the guy
Speaker 2: that the scouting department found that no one values enough
Speaker 2: and that's going to blow everybody away when we start
Speaker 2: playing basketball.
Speaker 4: Ex Christy, give me all the Max Christie stock. Jackson
Speaker 4: Hayes was at I mean, it's kind of been the
Speaker 4: common question we've at this point spoken with every player
Speaker 4: on the team this week, and the one common questions
Speaker 4: always who stood out in scrimmaging, Like who's impressed you?
Speaker 3: Who surprised you?
Speaker 4: And Jackson Hayes immediately went to Max Christie, like Max
Speaker 4: Christie is a dog. Jackson Hayes was there in summer Leak,
Speaker 4: so he saw the Max Christie breakout there, but he's
Speaker 4: like seeing it up close and in person with the
Speaker 4: scrimmaging and just the way that that there's the clip
Speaker 4: of Max driving and finishing at the rim with an
Speaker 4: and one. Like I think he just said today we
Speaker 4: spoke with him, he's put on about fifteen sixteen pounds
Speaker 4: of muscle since being drafted by the Lakers, and you
Speaker 4: see it like he's just he's filled out a bit,
Speaker 4: and I think he's going to play that kind of
Speaker 4: back up two three role.
Speaker 3: And you know, I.
Speaker 4: Look at it as like I would love to see
Speaker 4: an Austin Max backcourt. And you know, put in you
Speaker 4: can put in Tory Prince there, you can put in Rui,
Speaker 4: you can put in Vando, whoever at the three with
Speaker 4: Lebron and Ad. But just like those two guys together,
Speaker 4: I think compliment each other with high basketball Q. You know,
Speaker 4: Max can potentially be that perimeter defender. I thought last
Speaker 4: year he was ahead of the curve in terms of
Speaker 4: rookie defense. And I mean we're talking about like the
Speaker 4: Lakers needing perimeter defense, like it could end up being
Speaker 4: Max Christie. I would not be surprised if, aside from Vando,
Speaker 4: he ends up being the best perimeter defender on this roster.
Speaker 4: So looking at that backup role of like, can he
Speaker 4: play fifteen to twenty minutes a night, potentially bump that
Speaker 4: up to twenty to twenty five deeper in the season.
Speaker 4: But I think the ceiling for Max is like again
Speaker 4: kind of forcing, maybe not forcing his way to the
Speaker 4: starting conversation, because I think with Gabe and Dilo there,
Speaker 4: it's gonna be tough to leap frog both of those guys.
Speaker 3: But he could potentially be.
Speaker 4: A closing lock where the Lakers just go bigger on
Speaker 4: the perimeter and say, you know, try and score against
Speaker 4: Austin Max and Vando or Austin Max and Ruie and
Speaker 4: we're just gonna switch everything. We're gonna, you know, plague
Speaker 4: a bunch of guys six or five and above, and
Speaker 4: you know, use that to our advantage. So I look
Speaker 4: at Max is already he has the three and D
Speaker 4: skill set, he showed that last year, but the on
Speaker 4: ball shot creation he went to Austin Reeves University for foul.
Speaker 3: Drawing, Like those are things that he didn't.
Speaker 4: Necessarily have in his bag last year or wasn't comfortable
Speaker 4: with at least, and if he's confident and comfortable similar
Speaker 4: to Austin, I kind of look at it as a
Speaker 4: similar thing where like last year there were times Max
Speaker 4: would pass open and open shot and the coaching staff
Speaker 4: will get on him and be like, you got to
Speaker 4: take that, like even if someone else is open, even
Speaker 4: if you think there's a better look, like you need
Speaker 4: to take that corner three on the swing pass like,
Speaker 4: or you need to you know, pump, fake drive, make
Speaker 4: a move, do something. But play with aggression, play with assertiveness.
Speaker 4: And I think you started to see a little bit
Speaker 4: more of that last year, but ultimately he got phased
Speaker 4: out of the rotation this year. To me, he's looking
Speaker 4: like the eighth or ninth man, and if he can
Speaker 4: get real minutes and play with confidence, I think he
Speaker 4: has a lot of upside within this rotation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really liked the potential for Max because of
Speaker 2: his ability to function essentially.
Speaker 3: As a two.
Speaker 2: And I think a lot of people overthink this stuff
Speaker 2: from the standpoint of, you know, what they need to
Speaker 2: do offensively for the position, Like the twenty twenty Lakers
Speaker 2: a lot of times would start KCP or Danny Green
Speaker 2: at the one, like it would be KCP and Danny
Speaker 2: Green with Lebron a d and JaVale McGee. And it
Speaker 2: was because you know, from the same point of what
Speaker 2: the offense was. Lebron functionally was the point guard, so
Speaker 2: they didn't need a point guard to be a point guard.
Speaker 2: They needed a point guard to guard point guards. And
Speaker 2: that's the thing is, like, there's a there's an opportunity
Speaker 2: on this team in the in the space of perimeter defense.
Speaker 2: And like Max Christy could functionally operate as a two
Speaker 2: and allow you to keep Ruey as the three because
Speaker 2: of his ability to slide his feet, navigate screens and
Speaker 2: back pressure. He's got that unique combination of quickness and
Speaker 2: tenacity and give a shit for lack of a better term,
Speaker 2: but also has the length to bother players. Like in
Speaker 2: these drop coverages, you have to have the ability to
Speaker 2: pressure from behind. You have to have the ability to,
Speaker 2: like when you're getting over the top of the screen,
Speaker 2: make the offensive player worried about pulling up because of
Speaker 2: your ability to create problems with back pressure. Like Dennis
Speaker 2: Schroeder is good of a point of attack defender as
Speaker 2: he is just Jamal Murry didn't even see him when
Speaker 2: he was rising up in these jump shots. He's too
Speaker 2: small and so like I think he's a great example
Speaker 2: of a player that could benefit from a roster need
Speaker 2: and find an opportunity that otherwise you would never expect.
Speaker 2: A player of his age to find Jovan This was awesome, man.
Speaker 2: Why don't you take a couple of minutes really quick
Speaker 2: just to tell us about what you've been working on
Speaker 2: lately and how we can follow the team by following you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, I've all my works at the Athletic you can read.
Speaker 4: I've been writing these notebooks on kind of different topics
Speaker 4: from camp on a daily basis. Bigger picture, I'm working
Speaker 4: on a Laker's Nugget story about the playoff series and
Speaker 4: the Lakers feelings and what they've learned from that. I
Speaker 4: also have a Frank Vogel story that I'm working on
Speaker 4: that I think Laker fans will be interested in. And
Speaker 4: I'm documenting everything on social media, whether it's Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, shorts.
Speaker 4: TikTok has kind of been more my bread and butter recently,
Speaker 4: but trying to take fans behind the scenes with what
Speaker 4: it's like to be a reporter, what it's like to
Speaker 4: cover the team, just behind the scenes stuff, so you
Speaker 4: can follow all that at Jovon Bouja j Ova and Buha.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yovonn does incredible work. I just was reading his
Speaker 2: ten Biggest Storylines piece yesterday that was awesome. The social
Speaker 2: media stuff he's doing, He's given you guys a lot
Speaker 2: of access. I highly recommend you guys follow him on
Speaker 2: all platforms. Yovan, again, thanks for taking the time for
Speaker 2: us today. We sincerely appreciate it and we will see
Speaker 2: you next time.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, thank you.
Speaker 1: Jason The Volume