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Speaker 2: tonight here at the Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all
Speaker 2: of you guys had a great week. Got a fun
Speaker 2: show for you guys today we have Yo bah Booja
Speaker 2: from the Athletic covers. The Lakers been traveling around with
Speaker 2: the team. Those of you guys who've been listening into
Speaker 2: our show, you guys know yovonn Well, he's been on
Speaker 2: Gosh like almost probably like seven or eight times already
Speaker 2: this season. But I could think of nobody better to
Speaker 2: dive into the developments of the last twenty four to
Speaker 2: forty eight hours of the Los Angeles Lakers making no
Speaker 2: moves at the trade deadline despite some pretty significant roster needs.
Speaker 3: Punt is a.
Speaker 2: Strong word, but in a lot of ways, the Lakers
Speaker 2: were basically telling us they did not believe in this
Speaker 2: particular group and their ability to accomplish much within this
Speaker 2: postseason this postseason. But there's also, as I've said a
Speaker 2: couple times over the last couple of days, there's always
Speaker 2: a little bit of a tricky element to talking about
Speaker 2: the trade deadline for any team because we never really
Speaker 2: know what was available. We never really know what options
Speaker 2: were on the table. Even when you hear from front offices.
Speaker 2: There's a certain rose colored glasses perspective you're always going
Speaker 2: to get. So what I'd like for yovonn for you
Speaker 2: to start us with today. I was reading an article
Speaker 2: from me this morning that gave a really good breakdown
Speaker 2: of everything that went down with the Lake Overs the
Speaker 2: last couple of days. Can you just kind of give
Speaker 2: us a quick synopsis of why the Lakers did nothing,
Speaker 2: what the last couple of days were like, and what.
Speaker 3: Their plan is in the big picture here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, first off, I would say, I agree with you
Speaker 1: with everything you just said. I was very surprised by
Speaker 1: the Lakers not making a move. I thought they'd at
Speaker 1: least do something, even a small move like trading Christian
Speaker 1: Wood or Jackson Hayes just the duck under the luxury
Speaker 1: A tax, they're about one point two million above that.
Speaker 1: So I was surprised that nothing happened. But from what
Speaker 1: I've been told, from what Rob Polinka said yesterday and
Speaker 1: his press conference with the media before the Lakers lost
Speaker 1: to Denver, the Lakers were canvassing the market in the
Speaker 1: league for several weeks now, Rob said that he fielded
Speaker 1: hundreds of calls and different offers, but nothing to them
Speaker 1: rose to the level of this is going to take
Speaker 1: us from a middling five hundred team to a bonafide contender,
Speaker 1: and that was the type of move they were looking
Speaker 1: to make. They felt the de Jonte Murray trade had
Speaker 1: that type of potential, but ultimately that fell through when
Speaker 1: Atlanta insisted on Austin Reeves being in that deal. And
Speaker 1: that was a theme in talks with not only the Lakers,
Speaker 1: but in talking to other sources around the league. The Lakers'
Speaker 1: biggest issue was that they really only had two coveted assets,
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves and that twenty twenty nine first round pick
Speaker 1: Max Christy had some value but just because of his salary,
Speaker 1: he wasn't really going to be the centerpiece of any deal.
Speaker 1: So in talks with other teams, it always devolved into
Speaker 1: give us the twenty twenty nine first round pick, give
Speaker 1: us Austin Reeves. And there were only a few players
Speaker 1: the Lakers were interested in giving up that pick for,
Speaker 1: and no players that the Lakers were interested in giving
Speaker 1: up Austin Reeves for. So ultimately, you know, they could
Speaker 1: put on the table, they could put jhs that they
Speaker 1: could put the pick, they could put you know, swaps, whatever,
Speaker 1: but it it just ultimately came down to teams wanted
Speaker 1: those two assets and the Lakers weren't willing to give
Speaker 1: them up. So the the Jente move fell through. And
Speaker 1: then from the Lakers perspective, you know, they felt that
Speaker 1: the actions of the deadline kind of showed how high
Speaker 1: some of these prices were. Where the Jonte doesn't get traded,
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown doesn't get traded, Dorian Finney Smith doesn't get traded,
Speaker 1: Alex Caruso doesn't get traded, Tyas Jones, Andre Drummond, like
Speaker 1: all of their top targets didn't move at the deadline,
Speaker 1: And those are all guys that they had interest in
Speaker 1: to varying degrees, but in seeing none of those guys
Speaker 1: getting traded, it just kind of showed how high the
Speaker 1: prices were where all those guys, you know, at least
Speaker 1: one first round pick in some cases too, and the
Speaker 1: Lakers just weren't going to do that. And again in
Speaker 1: some of those cases they would have had to give
Speaker 1: up Austin Reeves. So for them, they felt that standing
Speaker 1: pat and trying to be aggressive in the buy out
Speaker 1: market potentially adding a Spencer Dinwiddie or a Kyle Lowry,
Speaker 1: and then looking at this summer where they could have
Speaker 1: three first round picks starting on draft night, they're twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, twenty five, twenty twenty nine, and twenty thirty one,
Speaker 1: all to trade and packaged together for a potential third
Speaker 1: star that to them was more attractive. Now, of course,
Speaker 1: we know Lebron's are putting pressure on them. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's in love with the idea of standing pat
Speaker 1: and not improving the roster. So we'll see how this
Speaker 1: all shakes out over the next few months. I know
Speaker 1: we're going to get into some of that. But to
Speaker 1: my knowledge, they were never close on a deal on Thursday.
Speaker 1: The closest they ever got was the Dejonte deal, and
Speaker 1: that was about three weeks ago. So from that point
Speaker 1: they never really got close on another deal.
Speaker 2: The thing that's tricky with me is because I heard
Speaker 2: a lot of Lakers fans saying, like, you really think
Speaker 2: a guy like Royce O'Neil moves the needle that much?
Speaker 2: And I understand when you look at the record like
Speaker 2: this is twenty seven and twenty six team, you know,
Speaker 2: I understand that it might feel like there's not really
Speaker 2: much worth investing there. The tricky part for me is
Speaker 2: I really do think the Lakers are closer than their
Speaker 2: record would indicate. I think if you really dig into
Speaker 2: the performance this season, they started the season really well
Speaker 2: I should say not really well, but pretty well, and
Speaker 2: then especially well there at the N Season Tournament, and
Speaker 2: then as of late they've been playing some pretty damn
Speaker 2: good basketball. I mean even last night. Up until they
Speaker 2: ran into some issues late, which we'll talk about, they've
Speaker 2: been playing pretty damn good basketball. They had won what
Speaker 2: ten o their previous sixteen games. There was a three
Speaker 2: to ten stretch right after the N Season Tournament. A
Speaker 2: big part of that was just a big time relaxing
Speaker 2: from the entire roster. They promptly lost to a just
Speaker 2: decimated Dallas Mavericks team, and then they barely beat the Spurs,
Speaker 2: and then they lost to the Spurs. You know, they
Speaker 2: lost to the Grizzlies over that span, They lost to
Speaker 2: a bad Nets team over that span. Like, they they
Speaker 2: really did some damage to themselves just on the effort, focus,
Speaker 2: and energy front there in the middle of the season. Like,
Speaker 2: do I think that the Lakers are a you know,
Speaker 2: thirty five and fifteen team in reality? No, but I
Speaker 2: do think that they were closer than their record indicated.
Speaker 2: And then specifically, they had a very clear weakness in
Speaker 2: that athlete on the perimeter that can contend at the
Speaker 2: point of attack and provide a positive offensive contribution. And
Speaker 2: so again, like when I hear Laker fans say like, oh,
Speaker 2: this name is not going to change their fortunes, this
Speaker 2: name's not gonna change their fortunes for a couple of
Speaker 2: second round picks or whatever, my counter to that would
Speaker 2: be like, Okay, so you're not comparing him to an
Speaker 2: average NBA player. It's like they've got Cam Reddish who's
Speaker 2: on his fourth team in five years and is currently
Speaker 2: injured Jared Vanderbilt, who if look like I know you're
Speaker 2: gonna give us an update today but very well could
Speaker 2: not be available the rest of the season. And Max
Speaker 2: Christy who's twenty years old, and gave Vincent who just
Speaker 2: had knee surgery. So it's it's not improving on on
Speaker 2: a decent core, it's improving on a non existent core.
Speaker 2: And so I'm surprised that they didn't just do something
Speaker 2: to try to provide a different option. Do you think
Speaker 2: that the Lakers could have gotten involved on something like
Speaker 2: a Royce O'Neil for a few second round picks, or
Speaker 2: do you think they truly were priced out of the
Speaker 2: market in its entirety.
Speaker 3: Well, there's a couple of things there.
Speaker 1: Because one thing I reported, and this was another thing
Speaker 1: that you hear in talking to people, the Lakers felt
Speaker 1: like there was a Lakers tax, and that if you
Speaker 1: look at the final prices again some of the guys
Speaker 1: that they had interested in and those guys just not
Speaker 1: getting traded. But then some of the deals that actually
Speaker 1: happened yesterday, some of those players the Lakers had had
Speaker 1: interest in, and the asking price in conversations with them
Speaker 1: versus what those players ultimately went for there was a
Speaker 1: gap there, and the Lakers felt like, you sometimes the
Speaker 1: negotiations weren't in good faith in terms of, you know,
Speaker 1: we're offering you two seconds for this, and this guy
Speaker 1: goes for uh, you know, one second, or we're offering
Speaker 1: maybe the same type of framework of two seconds or whatever,
Speaker 1: and our seconds are better and you're taking worse seconds
Speaker 1: and doing another deal. So do you think part of
Speaker 1: that was the Lakers didn't have really any expiring contracts
Speaker 1: and that that's something that kind of, you know, hamstrung
Speaker 1: them in terms of just Delo has a player option,
Speaker 1: Like looking.
Speaker 3: At there, they're really they're tradable guys.
Speaker 1: Dealo has a player option, really has two more years,
Speaker 1: Gabe has two more years coming off the knee surgery.
Speaker 1: Max is an impending restricted free agent, So there there
Speaker 1: were a lot of.
Speaker 3: Teams that had interest in Max.
Speaker 1: It's just you have to factor that in now of
Speaker 1: you potentially have to pay him a certain amount that
Speaker 1: this summer, but it would be a team controlled asset.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: And then you know JHS has multiple years and like
Speaker 1: just on and on down the road. Really Torrian Prints,
Speaker 1: what was the only guy above a minimum salary that
Speaker 1: was an expiring uh So, I think from the Lakers' perspective,
Speaker 1: they felt like there was a bit of a Lakers
Speaker 1: tax in negotiations and that they weren't getting the same
Speaker 1: types of offers and opportunities that other teams were getting.
Speaker 3: So that's part of it.
Speaker 1: But part two, I do think they could have made
Speaker 1: a move like if they offer Brooklyn the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: nine first and let's just say lottery protected, top fifteen protected, whatever,
Speaker 1: I think Brooklyn would have been foolish to not accept
Speaker 1: that for Roys O'Neil versus three second round picks. So
Speaker 1: I think there were moves they probably could have made
Speaker 1: had they put that first on the table and protected
Speaker 1: it in again lottery, top fifteen, top twenty, whatever it be.
Speaker 1: I think they could have gotten in some of the
Speaker 1: conversations for some of these players. But I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers counter would be kind of similar to what the
Speaker 1: fans are saying of does Royce O'Neil really elevate us enough?
Speaker 1: Is that worth giving up this first? Then if you
Speaker 1: do lottery protect or top fifteen protect the first, you
Speaker 1: can trade that protected part later so that they still
Speaker 1: would be retaining that portion of the pick and still
Speaker 1: be able to move that, but it would lose some
Speaker 1: of its value.
Speaker 3: Now, I'm I think we're on the same.
Speaker 1: Page where looking at the current state of the roster,
Speaker 1: like Max just Scott injured, gabs out, Van dos out
Speaker 1: cams out like you need perimeter defense, like you're you're
Speaker 1: not gonna advance in the playoffs without at least a
Speaker 1: couple of credible perimeter defenders and some of those guys
Speaker 1: that will be back, and those are shorter term things,
Speaker 1: but like them not addressing that, to me, that's where
Speaker 1: they say they're not punting on the season that they're
Speaker 1: saying they still believe in this group. But that to
Speaker 1: me is a bit of negligence where it's like, if
Speaker 1: you don't address that, and even looking at the buyout market,
Speaker 1: they're looking at another ball handler, they're looking at guards,
Speaker 1: and you know, in my opinion, their three the biggest
Speaker 1: needs right now are a high volume three point shooter,
Speaker 1: you know, better wing and perimeter defense, and you know,
Speaker 1: better interior defense. Aside from Ad spencered inwhid he doesn't
Speaker 1: check any of those boxes. Kyle Lowry checks some of
Speaker 1: the shooting and defense but he's about to be thirty eight,
Speaker 1: and he's had several injury riddled seasons in a row.
Speaker 1: So even the guys they're looking at on the buyout
Speaker 1: market don't necessarily address their biggest needs. And I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of the issue here, where sure Ad Spencer
Speaker 1: dinwitdie at Kyle Lowry like that don't improve the roster,
Speaker 1: especially if Gabe still out. But you don't have perimeter defense.
Speaker 1: And we saw it in the New York game. I
Speaker 1: thought it was funny that they were talking about, oh,
Speaker 1: our defense down the stretch and this and that, and like, yes,
Speaker 1: it was pretty good, but it got to the point
Speaker 1: where they couldn't guard Jalen Brunson in a half court setting,
Speaker 1: so they had to start trapping him at half court.
Speaker 1: And you know it like it worked because New York
Speaker 1: had several injuries, you know, Julius randall og and obi
Speaker 1: Quentin Grimes was out, and you know, yeah, Josh Hart
Speaker 1: and Dante di Vincenzo. Trying to break guys off the
Speaker 1: dribble wasn't going to work. But against a potent offense, you.
Speaker 3: Could not get away with that. And I think you
Speaker 3: saw that in the Denver game.
Speaker 1: Ultimately, when Denver turned it on over the last few
Speaker 1: minutes of that game, Ad talked about them going to
Speaker 1: their Pagia action, which they go to at the end
Speaker 1: of games. Like Lakers just couldn't part of what strategy defensively,
Speaker 1: part of it was personnel, but like they just couldn't
Speaker 1: contain them on the perimeter because they just didn't have
Speaker 1: the weapons defensively, and torning prints on Jamal Murray just
Speaker 1: isn't getting it done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like to really zero in because I agree with
Speaker 2: the strategy behind not giving up a first round pick
Speaker 2: for Royce O'Neil. I would have only given up a
Speaker 2: first round pick if it would have netted you Royce
Speaker 2: O'Neil and Dorian Finney Smith, which I'm not sure would
Speaker 2: have been impossible. But again, not finding something better than
Speaker 2: cam Reddish to me is the issue that like not
Speaker 2: being able to just find something in that position group
Speaker 2: because like when push comes to shove, Regardless of what
Speaker 2: we talk about surrounding this deadline, we left the conference
Speaker 2: finals in late May, and in late May we identified
Speaker 2: a clear and obvious flaw in the roster, which was
Speaker 2: they did not have a you know, even like a
Speaker 2: well above average athlete on the perimeter that could contend
Speaker 2: on the point of attack, help in defensive rebound situations,
Speaker 2: and be a positive offensive player. Rob Plinkez had all
Speaker 2: summer and the beginning first two thirds of the season
Speaker 2: to try to address that problem, and he failed to
Speaker 2: do so. And like that, to me, when you zoom
Speaker 2: out is the issue. And so you go back into
Speaker 2: this playoff run thinking like man if let's say, by
Speaker 2: some miracle, Vando comes back, then he gets back on
Speaker 2: the floor and Lebron and Ad stay healthy. You're basically
Speaker 2: last year's team without Dennis Schroeder. And last year's team
Speaker 2: was just not good enough. And I actually think Denver's
Speaker 2: a little bit better than they were last year. And
Speaker 2: so once again like like to me, the Lakers lost
Speaker 2: last night for a couple of specific reasons, and I
Speaker 2: want some of this stuff is out of their control,
Speaker 2: like Austin reason. Ruey ha Cha Mura has had bad
Speaker 2: offensive nights, which makes it difficult to contend with the
Speaker 2: better teams in the league. But like I thought, two
Speaker 2: matchups defensively killed them. They didn't have anybody for Jamal
Speaker 2: Murray and then Ruey Hatcha Murray was really struggling with
Speaker 2: Michael Porter junior office screens, particularly early in the game,
Speaker 2: and then he made a couple of key mistakes late.
Speaker 2: And like that to me is like, if you actually
Speaker 2: have a legitimate five man grouping that has a perimeter
Speaker 2: defender at the two and the three, and you actually
Speaker 2: slot all of that stuff properly, I believe that you
Speaker 2: have enough in this locker room to make some noise.
Speaker 2: It's just a very clear and specific roster weakness that
Speaker 2: through two cycles here, the summer and the trade cycle
Speaker 2: this year, they failed to address. We can talk about picks,
Speaker 2: we could talk about laker tech, we can talk about
Speaker 2: saving for next summer, we could talk about everything in
Speaker 2: the world. But that's the sum of the result here.
Speaker 2: Like we knew they had an issue in May. Here
Speaker 2: we are in February. They did not address it. And
Speaker 2: and like one of the things that I think we
Speaker 2: have to factor in here too is like you know,
Speaker 2: like I talked about this with the Warriors, like Jonathan
Speaker 2: Kaminga's rise is an influx of talent. Lebron aging is
Speaker 2: the opposite effect, Like if you get this right, but
Speaker 2: he's forty and he can't play at the same level
Speaker 2: next year, then whatever potential return you gained you lost
Speaker 2: in that process. And so like that to me is
Speaker 2: where it doesn't really truly add up to the verbiage
Speaker 2: that we're hearing. If you believe in Lebron and Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis and their ability to win playoff series, then you've
Speaker 2: got to do what you did for them in twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: which is give them those two way athletes, and they've
Speaker 2: just failed to do so, and it's been frustrating. Is
Speaker 2: on the Spencer Dinwoodie front, Like, I think Spencer Dinwoody'
Speaker 2: is a super flawed player, really really inconsistent, streaky shooter,
Speaker 2: a guy that really struggles with rim decisions and finishing
Speaker 2: at the rim. But he's got good size and strength
Speaker 2: for the guard position, and I do think he's an
Speaker 2: above average athlete, and so I think like, even even
Speaker 2: with all of his flaws, I do think he could
Speaker 2: help the Lakers. And it's not like to me, there's
Speaker 2: not another guy in the buyout market, Like I don't
Speaker 2: think Fattius Young helps. He plays the same position as
Speaker 2: Lebron James and Ruey Hatcha Mura. I don't think Marcus
Speaker 2: Moore's senior helps. He plays the same position as Lebron
Speaker 2: James and Ruey Hatcha Mura. So like to me, for
Speaker 2: the talent for the money, I think Spencer dinwood he
Speaker 2: still makes sense. And so let's just put it this simple.
Speaker 2: How likely do you think that are the Lakers to
Speaker 2: sign Spencer Dinwoodie over the Dallas Mavericks because I've heard
Speaker 2: those are the two teams that are in the running.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so those are the two teams. It's tough to say.
Speaker 1: I put it around a fifty to fifty proposition, like
Speaker 1: I did. Think it was interesting. He was at Madison
Speaker 1: Square Garden last night sitting behind the dall S bench.
Speaker 1: He obviously played for the Mavericks before, has some familiarity
Speaker 1: with them, so I don't know if that was him.
Speaker 1: I mean applying the Lebron blueprint of applying some pressure
Speaker 1: and maybe indicating to the Lakers, hey if you don't.
Speaker 1: Because one advantage the Lakers have compared to most other
Speaker 1: teams on the buyout market is they can offer a
Speaker 1: little bit more money because they didn't use their full
Speaker 1: mid level exception to sign Gabe Vinson, so they have
Speaker 1: about an extra half million dollars that they can offer
Speaker 1: pro rated to potential players on the buyout market. So
Speaker 1: when looking at what they could offer Dinwoodie versus what
Speaker 1: Dallas could offer, they could offer.
Speaker 3: Him a little bit more money now.
Speaker 1: With state taxes and different things like maybe it's not
Speaker 1: that big of a gap, but it is something that
Speaker 1: they feel like is an advantage on the buyout market
Speaker 1: and compares some to other teams.
Speaker 3: The one kind of wildcard in this.
Speaker 1: Is Philly that they can out spend anybody because they
Speaker 1: didn't use they ducked under their tax at the deadline,
Speaker 1: and that they have a little bit more money to
Speaker 1: play with. But I think that's more of a Kyle
Speaker 1: Lowry destination than Spencer Dinwiddie. But I've heard from you know,
Speaker 1: Spencer is a LA native. He's someone who reps southern
Speaker 1: California and LA and you know is here in the summers.
Speaker 1: So I think that Lakers have a bit of a
Speaker 1: home court advantage in that regard. But I thought it
Speaker 1: was interesting that he was at the game last night
Speaker 1: sitting with Dallas, and you know, he does have the
Speaker 1: connections over there. So I'd put it right now, maybe
Speaker 1: Lakers the slight favorites, but I wouldn't put it more
Speaker 1: at like more than like fifty five percent, you know,
Speaker 1: fifty five forty five split.
Speaker 3: So I think it's pretty close.
Speaker 1: But I think LA with with the money and him
Speaker 1: being an LA native, and you're pretty much having a
Speaker 1: clear role for him of like we don't really have
Speaker 1: a ball handling guard off the bench right now. You
Speaker 1: can come in and play twenty to twenty five minutes,
Speaker 1: Like he's not going to start Dallis unless they're just
Speaker 1: going him Luca and and Irie, which doesn't really make
Speaker 1: sense in my opinion. So I think either way, like
Speaker 1: Lakers can probably offer him biggest role, most money, come
Speaker 1: back home to La like that that's pretty hard to
Speaker 1: turn down.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and again I don't I don't view him as
Speaker 2: like some sort of significant needle mover. I just think
Speaker 2: of all the buyout guys, he's the one guy who
Speaker 2: comes somewhat close to addressing a specific need, which is
Speaker 2: like actually getting kind of a big, strong athlete into
Speaker 2: the back court. Like I mean, like I watched that
Speaker 2: replay of the Jamal Murray three last night because it's funny.
Speaker 2: I watched a lot of Lakers fans getting on Austin
Speaker 2: about the gamble, by the way, that was a stupid gamble,
Speaker 2: Like it was stupid.
Speaker 3: Jokich made it pay for it.
Speaker 2: But to me, the game was already over pretty much
Speaker 2: on after Lebron missed the little bank shot and then
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray made the little floater in the lane. I
Speaker 2: thought the game was basically over. It was like a
Speaker 2: minute left and they were down five, you know.
Speaker 3: But on the.
Speaker 2: Three when it was one O four one O four,
Speaker 2: I watched the clip if few times. It's it's legit
Speaker 2: sad how overmatched Torrian Prince was athletically there, like and
Speaker 2: what's crazy is Jamal is not exactly the fastest guard
Speaker 2: in the world either, you know, but like Jamal's running
Speaker 2: around these screening actions and Torian Prince is just running
Speaker 2: for dear life and he looks stuck in the mud
Speaker 2: like he wasn't even like that was not like some
Speaker 2: of the shots that Jamal hit over the Celtics that
Speaker 2: in that game in Boston. That was he came off
Speaker 2: free and clear, and Torrian wasn't even slightly bothering him.
Speaker 2: And so again, like having having another athlete at that
Speaker 2: at that guard position, I think would be it would
Speaker 2: be useful do you think Lebron is frustrated? Is he
Speaker 2: outwardly frustrated or has it been quiet on the Lebron front?
Speaker 2: What are you hearing about Lebron in his kind of
Speaker 2: mood post deadline?
Speaker 3: He was a bit moody last night.
Speaker 1: His answers were short, and it's tough to separate that
Speaker 1: from another close loss to day. LA's lost seven straight
Speaker 1: games to Denver. Now it's kind of becoming you know,
Speaker 1: I was covering the Clippers and the mid twenty tens
Speaker 1: and those matchup like well, once they beat the Warriors
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen in the first round. From that point on,
Speaker 1: the Warriors became the Warriors, and then it was like,
Speaker 1: no matter what, they just had this stranglehold over the Clippers,
Speaker 1: and it, you know, mentally where it'd be close, tough
Speaker 1: games and then all of a sudden, Golden State would
Speaker 1: just execute in the fourth quarter and they'd beat the Clippers.
Speaker 1: And it's starting to kind of feel like that with
Speaker 1: this Lakers Nuggets matchup, where yet again we see another
Speaker 1: game that goes down to crunch time and Denver just
Speaker 1: out executes them over the last few minutes.
Speaker 3: So I don't know how much of it. What was that?
Speaker 1: But you know, I asked Lebron about Austin spoke first.
Speaker 1: So Austin kind of mentioned that Denver kept running the
Speaker 1: same action that the Lakers were aware of, they just
Speaker 1: couldn't really stop it. So I asked Lebron, essentially, you know,
Speaker 1: you guys, there's been a theme with you guys against
Speaker 1: Denver where you know what they're running, and yet you
Speaker 1: guys still can't stop it. Like how do you kind
Speaker 1: of like learn from this experience and take the film
Speaker 1: from tonight, especially those last few minutes, and apply it
Speaker 1: moving forward. And then he kind of had this remark about, well,
Speaker 1: you know, really good teams, you know, run the same
Speaker 1: stuff in crunch time and they know what they're running,
Speaker 1: and you know, and it was kind of I took
Speaker 1: it as a little bit of a shot at the
Speaker 1: Lakers crunch time offense, and you know, and he kind
Speaker 1: of tends to take some of those sometimes, and he
Speaker 1: just wasn't in the best mood last night. And you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't ask him about the trade deadline, which maybe
Speaker 1: was a mistake on our part, but we had already
Speaker 1: asked him about it. So, you know, several days in
Speaker 1: a row and he was pretty clear that you know,
Speaker 1: this is the team and I'm riding with my guys,
Speaker 1: even if obviously on social media he hasn't necessarily been
Speaker 1: as supportive with his U you know and stuff. So
Speaker 1: I think I think there is a level of frustration
Speaker 1: because to Lebron, like he doesn't care about a twenty
Speaker 1: twenty nine first round pick, you know, to him that
Speaker 1: that is a means to improve the roster. And again
Speaker 1: we can debate whether a guy like how much of
Speaker 1: an upgrade is a roy O'Neill over a Torrian Prince
Speaker 1: or even if it's maybe flipping Gabe and you're giving
Speaker 1: the first and maybe Brooklyn would have been more open
Speaker 1: to that, like, you know, to Lebron, it's like, I
Speaker 1: want to maximize this season. I want the Rock, Like
Speaker 1: even if the roster is one percent better, that's what
Speaker 1: I want, and that that is how he views things
Speaker 1: at all times. So for him, you know, he wanted
Speaker 1: the Lakers to make a move, and I think them
Speaker 1: it's tough for them to tell him we're standing pat
Speaker 1: and we're looking at the summer when he's going to
Speaker 1: be forty at the end of the year, it's going
Speaker 1: to be year twenty two, like that, there's no assurances
Speaker 1: he's going to be healthy next season. There's no assurances
Speaker 1: eight is going to be healthy next season. So the
Speaker 1: Lakers are taking a cow calculated gamble here of you know,
Speaker 1: I wrote about it at the end of my story,
Speaker 1: like they've been pursuing a third star basically since the
Speaker 1: inception of Lebron and eighty together twenty nineteen. It was
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. Twenty twenty one, they went after several guys,
Speaker 1: landed Russell Westbrook, then quickly realized that was a disaster,
Speaker 1: pivoted to trying to get Kyrie Irving in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: and again at the twenty twenty three deadline, and now
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four they're going after another third star.
Speaker 1: So they keep kind of kicking the can down the
Speaker 1: road in terms of the elusive third star, that it's
Speaker 1: going to be this ball handler that could take the
Speaker 1: pressure off Lebron and help run the offense and crunch
Speaker 1: time and this and that. But so far that plan
Speaker 1: has not really worked. And in the meantime, they made
Speaker 1: a lot of mistakes along the way with Alex Caruso
Speaker 1: and you know, various different things. So to me, I
Speaker 1: think Lebron is frustrated. I don't know to what extent
Speaker 1: and how that's going to affect him necessarily this summer,
Speaker 1: but I think based on his comments over the last
Speaker 1: few days, his actions over the last few days, and
Speaker 1: really kind of going back a week and a half here,
Speaker 1: it's clear he wanted them to do something. I think
Speaker 1: at some point he realized they weren't going to do
Speaker 1: something or weren't going to do something significant, and he's
Speaker 1: been a little upset about it.
Speaker 2: It's funny because the one year that they failed to
Speaker 2: get a star, they were forced to sign a bunch
Speaker 2: of two way role players and then they promptly kicked
Speaker 2: everyone's ass and won the championship. But apparently no one
Speaker 2: was paying attention when that happened. I had my eye
Speaker 2: on Lebron last night because I was sitting there thinking, like, like,
Speaker 2: he's got to be super annoyed. I thought his early
Speaker 2: game lack of aggression was like a clear sign that
Speaker 2: he was just kind of a little bit in a funk.
Speaker 2: He did get competitively engaged, and I thought he actually
Speaker 2: had an okay game. Definitely not the best that Lebron
Speaker 2: has been able to offer this season, but I thought
Speaker 2: he was, sorry, I already have like twenty five, eight
Speaker 2: and seven or something.
Speaker 3: Just walks into that.
Speaker 2: But I was actually, yeah, I know, it's it's the
Speaker 2: it's it's ridiculous. But I was actually last night when
Speaker 2: we finished with our live show, I sat down and
Speaker 2: I watched the postgame press conference and I heard your question,
Speaker 2: and I one hundred percent picked up on that where
Speaker 2: he was like, you know, the really good teams, it's
Speaker 2: just like this, like this like clear because it's funny
Speaker 2: because during the game, I was literally thinking, I was like,
Speaker 2: I think I was like, I was literally thinking. I
Speaker 2: was like, it's on the table that he goes into
Speaker 2: this presser and goes like Denver's just way better than us.
Speaker 2: You know, I literally thought it was on the table
Speaker 2: that he would go and say that almost as like
Speaker 2: a clear shot at the front office for not providing
Speaker 2: them with the horses and for the record, like and
Speaker 2: I said this on my show last night, put yourself
Speaker 2: in Lebron's shoes, like he probably went into this training
Speaker 2: camp thinking this is my last great chance to win
Speaker 2: a title. We just retained everybody from our Western Conference
Speaker 2: finals run. We're young, we're athletic, Like, we don't have
Speaker 2: the specific need yet fixed because we couldn't get Bruce
Speaker 2: bred we lost him to the Indiana Pacers this summer.
Speaker 2: But we'll fix that at the deadline. This group should
Speaker 2: be able to carry us through regular season games. We'll
Speaker 2: deal with it in February and then we'll make a
Speaker 2: run at this thing. And it has been I would
Speaker 2: imagine that he's had conversations behind the scenes with like
Speaker 2: his family and friends, like I cannot believe how this
Speaker 2: season is gone. And I wouldn't blame him for feeling
Speaker 2: that way, because not only has it not amounted to
Speaker 2: regular season success, but like specific players within the Western
Speaker 2: Conference Finals run, if not gotten as much burner opportunity
Speaker 2: as they did last year. The skill guards haven't played
Speaker 2: as well, which has been a big part of why
Speaker 2: they've struggled so much. And they didn't do anything at
Speaker 2: the deadline, And so of course he's annoyed, like how
Speaker 2: shitty would it be if they got it right just
Speaker 2: in time for him to turn forty years old, like
Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier, and so I do sympathize with him,
Speaker 2: and again I said this earlier, but it's the reality
Speaker 2: to me, like the Lakers had a clear need that
Speaker 2: they identified in May. They had two opportunities to fix
Speaker 2: it and they never did. And that's their job. That's
Speaker 2: their job. And again, to me, I think one of
Speaker 2: the biggest core philosophies of the Laker front office that
Speaker 2: has to shift is the idea that star power is
Speaker 2: what wins. When you already have Lebron James and Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis on the roster, there is a diminishing return there.
Speaker 2: It's like, you want to know why they don't want
Speaker 2: to include Austin Reeves in any trades. It's because Austin
Speaker 2: Reeves when he's your third best player, the gap isn't
Speaker 2: as big between him and some of the other guards
Speaker 2: around the league. Now, if he's your best player, yeah,
Speaker 2: you need somebody with a little bit more athleticism and
Speaker 2: pop and firepower. But in that tertiary role like a
Speaker 2: guy like Austin's fine. What you need is the two
Speaker 2: way athletes at the two and three, and they just
Speaker 2: never were able to get on front of that, out
Speaker 2: in front of that. So quickly, before we move on it,
Speaker 2: I want to talk about this summer, but I have
Speaker 2: two like kind of rapid fire questions anybody else that
Speaker 2: they're specifically eyeing in the buyout market, maybe someone that
Speaker 2: hasn't been bought out yet. Is there anybody that they're like, Man,
Speaker 2: if this guy comes available, we want him.
Speaker 3: I haven't heard any games Rob.
Speaker 1: So we asked Rob yesterday at the press conference, what
Speaker 1: specifically are the needs you're looking at on the buyout market.
Speaker 1: He said, first a ball handling guard, and second, if
Speaker 1: we can't get one of those, then just best player available.
Speaker 1: And even within that I thought an interesting part of
Speaker 1: it was he said Gabe hasn't Obviously.
Speaker 3: We thought Gabe would be a great fit.
Speaker 1: He's only played five games, he hasn't been available, so
Speaker 1: like it wasn't much. But even within that quote, it
Speaker 1: was kind of like what's going on with Gabe? Like
Speaker 1: he's supposed to be reevaluated in early March, and like
Speaker 1: is he coming back? Like so there's a lack of
Speaker 1: clarity there in terms of Gabe Vincent's future. But I
Speaker 1: think the fact that they're looking for another ball handler
Speaker 1: it's kind of revealing in and of itself, of you know,
Speaker 1: they might be pessimistic about Gabe's ability to ultimately contribute
Speaker 1: this season. So I mean, maybe a guy like Robin Lopez.
Speaker 1: You know, Bismack Biambo's a name they were looking at
Speaker 1: over the summer. They went with Jackson Hayes and Chris
Speaker 1: Wood over him, but he's another defensive big that I
Speaker 1: think could have some value. But maybe him or Robin
Speaker 1: Lopez is just a big body to kind of throw
Speaker 1: at Jokic because they don't really That was another thing
Speaker 1: we kind of saw last night, like you're Christian Wood
Speaker 1: and Jackson Hayes made some nice plays, but like those
Speaker 1: guys can't guard Jokic in a seven game series, and
Speaker 1: if you're relying on just ad Lebron and Breuiy. We
Speaker 1: saw it like you can have some success with that
Speaker 1: and you can keep the games close. But ultimately I
Speaker 1: still think they need another defensive minded big. So maybe
Speaker 1: it's waving somebody creating a second open roster spot and
Speaker 1: signing a Dinwitty and a Lowry and then going with
Speaker 1: another more defensive minded big. I just don't know at
Speaker 1: this point who they'd be waving, and probably have to
Speaker 1: be Christian or Jackson, but I don't know if one
Speaker 1: of those.
Speaker 3: Guys is really moving the needle more than those.
Speaker 2: Two Jackson I think has been playing really well as
Speaker 2: of late, just by his motor and athleticism, and Christian
Speaker 2: Wood has been kind of trending downwards, so I could
Speaker 2: see maybe that beat the direction they go. You had
Speaker 2: told me behind the scenes some interesting, interesting theory you
Speaker 2: had about Jared Vanderbilts, kind of like three to four
Speaker 2: week timeline. Can you let our audience know your theory
Speaker 2: about what's going on with Vando?
Speaker 1: Yeah, So before the Lakers had the announcement that he
Speaker 1: was going to be reevaluated in three to four weeks,
Speaker 1: I and others had reported that everything we were hearing
Speaker 1: behind the scenes was vandal was done for the season,
Speaker 1: or that's at least the way it's trending, he's going
Speaker 1: to have season ending surgery. Then the Lakers apparently got
Speaker 1: some good news they announced he's going to be reevaluated
Speaker 1: in three to four weeks, that they don't need to
Speaker 1: have that season ending surgery yet. But then yesterday at
Speaker 1: the press conference, Rob Polinka first said, you know, we
Speaker 1: were hopeful of Vando's coming back as kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: in addition to the roster when he was kind of
Speaker 1: going through things, And then someone asked the follow up
Speaker 1: question of you know, you mentioning hopeful for Vando, like
Speaker 1: it has he been ruled out for the or is
Speaker 1: he ruled out season ending surgery or like what's kind
Speaker 1: of the update there, And then what Rob was basically said,
Speaker 1: you know, when you have a guy recovering from an injury,
Speaker 1: you have to see how they recover first before you
Speaker 1: can really make a call on that. So we have
Speaker 1: not ruled out season ending surgery on that front, and
Speaker 1: you know, we're gonna see kind of how the.
Speaker 3: Next few weeks go. I'm paraphrasing, but that's essentially what
Speaker 3: he said. So you know, I checked in with.
Speaker 1: Some people last night and there continued to be some
Speaker 1: you know, internal pessimism about Vando's future.
Speaker 3: And remember, it's not him returning.
Speaker 1: In three to four weeks, it's him being reevaluated in
Speaker 1: three to four weeks. And as we've seen with Gabe
Speaker 1: Vincent and Kendrick Nunn, like the Lakers are fine with
Speaker 1: kind of pushing back the timeline of this guy will
Speaker 1: be reevaluated in another few weeks and another few weeks,
Speaker 1: and sometimes we don't even get an update on the
Speaker 1: projected timeline when we were supposed to get the update,
Speaker 1: So I think the Lakers have no incentive to say
Speaker 1: Vando's out for the regular season right now. But with
Speaker 1: that update coming around the trade deadline, I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: been surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a
Speaker 1: bit of a leverage tactic with if Vando is out
Speaker 1: for the rest of the season, or at least, there's
Speaker 1: that pessimism and the team that comes out like that
Speaker 1: takes away some of your leverage and talks because teams
Speaker 1: would know, Oh, the.
Speaker 3: Lakers really need a wing. They're desperate, and they're desperate.
Speaker 1: So I think we'll see what happens with Vando, but
Speaker 1: that could be potentially a huge blow for this team,
Speaker 1: a season altering blow, because they don't have another guy
Speaker 1: that can do what he does. I thought he was
Speaker 1: really looking like the old Vando these last few weeks.
Speaker 1: You know, he had a stretch there, multiple double digit
Speaker 1: scoring games. I thought he was pivotal in that first
Speaker 1: half against Boston. So for them to and that entering
Speaker 1: that game they were going to start Vandoh at small
Speaker 1: forward next to Lebron and Ady and go back to
Speaker 1: that starting lineup. Then he Lebron and Ady get ruled
Speaker 1: out and then he gets injured. So we were about
Speaker 1: to see the lineup that everybody had been clamoring for
Speaker 1: uh for the last few weeks, and now I don't
Speaker 1: know if we'll see him again. So it is a
Speaker 1: disappointing turn of events for the Lakers. And you know,
Speaker 1: again he hasn't been ruled out yet, he hasn't had
Speaker 1: the surgery yet, so there is a possibility he comes back,
Speaker 1: but everything I'm hearing is pessimism as to him actually
Speaker 1: returning this season, and again that would be a significant
Speaker 1: blow for LA.
Speaker 2: And I have had a foot injury before and when
Speaker 2: you come back there. I remember in non conference play
Speaker 2: my second year playing in college, like I was not
Speaker 2: good in non conference play because I didn't trust it
Speaker 2: at all. I couldn't plant on it with it. I
Speaker 2: mean I could, but like I never really pushed and
Speaker 2: made those like kind of like top tier effort and
Speaker 2: athleticism plays because of the fact that there's just like
Speaker 2: a multi phase recovery from something like that. And like
Speaker 2: even just this season with his kind of achilles thing
Speaker 2: or heeal thing he was dealing with, he wasn't particularly
Speaker 2: good when he first came back and took him a
Speaker 2: while to kind of get into up to speed. So,
Speaker 2: like I tend to think that counting on him to
Speaker 2: be available for a long playoff run is is a
Speaker 2: you know, kind of a fool's errand if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about this summer, and I want to
Speaker 2: talk about kind of the stuff you talked about in
Speaker 2: the piece first, and then we'll talk about the my
Speaker 2: kind of working theory because I have a like a
Speaker 2: specific idea in mind for what the Lakers should do.
Speaker 2: But the three names I think you had mentioned in
Speaker 2: your piece were it was Trey Young, Donovan Mitchell, and
Speaker 2: Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 3: Correct, right with those are three?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So of those three names mentioned, is there a
Speaker 2: name in that group that the Lakers actually feel like
Speaker 2: they could like pull off? Because I specifically am worried
Speaker 2: about their ability to get into a beating war with
Speaker 2: teams that just have better assets to offer, and that's
Speaker 2: certainly a factor.
Speaker 1: And that's the other part of this of you can
Speaker 1: frame it as well, We're going to have these three
Speaker 1: picks and all of a sudden we can get into
Speaker 1: certain conversations, and you can get into those conversations, but
Speaker 1: when it really comes down to some of the recent
Speaker 1: trades we've seen for stars, and the price is continually rising,
Speaker 1: and several teams across the league having an army of assets,
Speaker 1: like Lakers get into a bidding war with Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City is going to win that bidding war every
Speaker 1: single time, and there are several teams that can outbid them.
Speaker 1: And granted, some of those teams are smaller market teams
Speaker 1: where maybe a star doesn't necessarily want to go, and
Speaker 1: we do see stars tend to want to go to
Speaker 1: the bigger markets.
Speaker 3: It's just the reality of the NBA.
Speaker 1: But even some of the teams, you know, Philly as
Speaker 1: a bunch of cap space this summer, you know, they
Speaker 1: could get involved in things. New York is obviously becoming
Speaker 1: a destination and you know they're putting together a team
Speaker 1: that looks like it it might be able to make
Speaker 1: a deep playoff run. So there are other Miami always
Speaker 1: looms as sort of this this team with a bunch
Speaker 1: of I mean that they have some young assets. It's
Speaker 1: Tyler Hero, you know, Hami hawkez now is become a
Speaker 1: clear asset.
Speaker 3: You know, Nikola.
Speaker 1: Yovich like they have certain things that that teams would want.
Speaker 1: So it's not just this clear cut and dry like
Speaker 1: because the Lakers are willing to put three picks on
Speaker 1: the table, they're all of a sudden the front runner
Speaker 1: for all these guys. Like everyone you know, for the
Speaker 1: most part, wants to play for the like Lakers are
Speaker 1: always on the list at least when team won a
Speaker 1: star you know, submits the types of teams they'd be
Speaker 1: willing to play for. But they still have to outbid
Speaker 1: some of these teams, and that's probably gonna cost them
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves. Like that's kind of the other thing here
Speaker 1: is it's on one hand, like the Lakers weren't willing
Speaker 1: to give up Austin Reeves at this deadline, and people
Speaker 1: scoffed at the notion of them not wanting to give
Speaker 1: him up for anything below like an all star level player.
Speaker 3: But after you're going after the all.
Speaker 1: Star level guys, you're putting Austin Reeves on the table,
Speaker 1: and you're putting those three picks, you're putting multiple pick swaps,
Speaker 1: you're putting second round picks. So from an understanding, I
Speaker 1: reported on Trey Young last year coming out of the
Speaker 1: playoff run that Trey Young was someone to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on with the Lakers. It was the obvious clutch connection,
Speaker 1: but also he fits the mold of they've wanted.
Speaker 3: A point guard.
Speaker 1: They've wanted a superstar level point guard who can run
Speaker 1: the offense, take some of the burden off Lebron, you know,
Speaker 1: run pick and rolls with Lebron at the end of games,
Speaker 1: and just you know, be a high level shot creator
Speaker 1: where the Lakers can kind of stagger it and have
Speaker 1: that guy run the offense when Lebron's off the floor,
Speaker 1: when a D's off the floor, and not really lose anything.
Speaker 1: So to them, Trey Long, Trey Young reaches that level.
Speaker 1: So I would put Tray If I was ranking the three,
Speaker 1: I'd put Trey Young first, I'd put Kyrie second, and
Speaker 1: I'd put Donovan Mitchell third. I think the price for
Speaker 1: Donovan is going to be really high. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of smoke with him going to one of the two
Speaker 1: New York teams, be at the Knicks or the Nets.
Speaker 1: So I would still probably put the Lakers at best
Speaker 1: at third in the pecking order for Donovan, but maybe
Speaker 1: potentially even lower.
Speaker 3: And then Kyrie. I mean, they've done.
Speaker 1: The dance now multiple times. We know Lebron is still
Speaker 1: a huge fan of Kyrie. He'd love for him to
Speaker 1: be in LA. But that would require Dallas to really
Speaker 1: I mean, they've been trending downward, although I really like
Speaker 1: what they did at the deadline, So that would require
Speaker 1: Dallas to flame out Los in the first round, not
Speaker 1: even make the playoffs, and then look at you know,
Speaker 1: maybe we got to pivot trade Kyrie, Lakers can enter
Speaker 1: and you know that's the destination he's had interest in previously.
Speaker 1: So I would probably put Trey for I mean, Atlanta
Speaker 1: was interested in Austin Reeves, obviously, it was a player
Speaker 1: that they were fond of. I don't know if Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves was three first gets you Trey Young, but I
Speaker 1: think that one is probably the most realistic of the
Speaker 1: three options.
Speaker 3: Then Kyrie, then Donovan.
Speaker 2: So before I give my idea rapid fire, are the
Speaker 2: Lakers just suddenly out onto Jean Say Murray or is
Speaker 2: that a move they'd be willing to make again in
Speaker 2: the summer.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're completely out on him, but I
Speaker 1: think Atlanta wants the price to go up, and I
Speaker 1: don't think the Lakers want to pay more than they offered,
Speaker 1: So if the price is going to go up, then
Speaker 1: they're out at that price.
Speaker 2: Because this is what I keep coming back to, because
Speaker 2: like I've heard behind the scenes that you know, obviously
Speaker 2: if Atlanta did pivot this summer, that Trey Young and
Speaker 2: Clutch would be like, get me the hell out of here,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And so, like I do
Speaker 2: think there's a version of this where where Trey Young
Speaker 2: becomes available. But to the theme of the show, if
Speaker 2: the Lakers were to call up Atlanta this summer and
Speaker 2: be like, all right, three first round picks, you know,
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves, Ruy Hachimur whatever they got to do to
Speaker 2: match salaries and they close that deal. Now I've got
Speaker 2: Trey Young, no assets, Lebron James and Anthony Davis, and
Speaker 2: no damn players at the two and three that can
Speaker 2: defend and incredibly score on the other end of the floor.
Speaker 2: It's it is a fundamental lack of understanding of what
Speaker 2: wins basketball games. And it drives me completely insane because, like,
Speaker 2: to me, the move would be like circle back with
Speaker 2: Atlanta this summer, make a move like a two first
Speaker 2: round pick type of move for Dejontay Murray, and then
Speaker 2: use that other first round pick for a legitimate two
Speaker 2: way starting level wing to play at the three, Because
Speaker 2: give me Austin de Jontay Murray and let's just call
Speaker 2: him Dorian Finney Smith with Lebron James and Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: over Trey Young, veteran minimum, Tray veteran minimum, Lebron James,
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis any day of the week, Any day of
Speaker 2: the week, I'd take that team. And so, like, I
Speaker 2: just want to see them. I want to see them
Speaker 2: approach this summer with the three draft picks, not as
Speaker 2: a means with which to bring in another star that
Speaker 2: will lead to the same problems that they've been dealing with,
Speaker 2: but rather find a way to actually bring the thing
Speaker 2: you need to win at the highest level in the NBA,
Speaker 2: which is just athletes on the perimeter that can defend
Speaker 2: and can dribble, shoot and pass. Like that is what
Speaker 2: they need. They've got to address it. To me, like,
Speaker 2: I understand you need some sort of offensive firepower. I
Speaker 2: think that's been made abundantly clear, and to me, like
Speaker 2: a guy like de Jontay Murray could really help you
Speaker 2: on that front. But like I think it'd be a
Speaker 2: big mistake For the Lakers to go all in on
Speaker 2: a star this summer, I think they'd find themselves in
Speaker 2: a very similar predicament to where they are right now.
Speaker 2: Is that something you agree with or do you feel
Speaker 2: like going after Star is the right move?
Speaker 3: I think it depends on the Star.
Speaker 1: But we are talking about the perimeter defense and adding
Speaker 1: Trey Young isn't necessarily going to improve that situation.
Speaker 3: I mean it's making it worse.
Speaker 1: Frankly, you're going from D'Angelo Russell, let's just say the
Speaker 1: point of attack defensively out point guard to Trey Young,
Speaker 1: Like that is a downgrade. Tree Young is smaller, and
Speaker 1: he's the worst defender.
Speaker 3: I know he's had. I think he's tried a little
Speaker 3: bit more this.
Speaker 1: Season and been a little bit more engaged at times,
Speaker 1: but overall, there's just a size limitation there and a
Speaker 1: physicality limitation there that you're just always going to have.
Speaker 1: So and then I mean you can kind of pick
Speaker 1: a part of any of those guys like Kyrie. I
Speaker 1: mean there's all the question off the court that he's
Speaker 1: been great this season, but this is like the longest
Speaker 1: stretch we've seen him not cause any distractions. It almost
Speaker 1: feels like we're waiting for the other shoot to drop
Speaker 1: at some point. And then with Donovan Mitchell, I think
Speaker 1: there's a level he hasn't had that. Even Trey at
Speaker 1: least has had the conference finals run where you can say, like,
Speaker 1: you know, he was able to be the best player
Speaker 1: at times in that Philly series lead a team to
Speaker 1: the conference finals. Like Donovan Mitchell hasn't had that type
Speaker 1: of run yet. If anything, he's been I think, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, on more disappointing playoff teams rather than teams
Speaker 1: that have met or exceeded expectations, like some of those
Speaker 1: Jazz teams. That Cleveland team, I think most people pick
Speaker 1: them over New York last postseason. They got their butts
Speaker 1: kicked in that series. So like to me, I think
Speaker 1: there are legitimate questions. And now, of course Donovan isn't
Speaker 1: going to be year number one in LA, but theoretically
Speaker 1: that third guy you bring in can help bridge the
Speaker 1: gap to that next era of Lakers basketball and be
Speaker 1: a player that can row with ads. So I think
Speaker 1: with all those three guys, there are defensive questions for sure,
Speaker 1: and then there are some just you know, extra elements
Speaker 1: that you got a weigh in, So I'm with you,
Speaker 1: like maybe I'm trying to think like maybe D'Angelo option
Speaker 1: or you know, exercises player option, then you can you can.
Speaker 1: I don't know the exact trade restrictions in terms of
Speaker 1: timeline of when he could be moved, but you could
Speaker 1: trade him maybe packaging with JHS, maybe Max and and
Speaker 1: you know, a couple of picks. Maybe you have stronger
Speaker 1: protections on one pick, Like maybe that's something that they
Speaker 1: would consider for De Gente. But I think they got
Speaker 1: to the point where they felt that whatever they were
Speaker 1: offering was more than enough in terms of de lo
Speaker 1: versus de Gente, and the fact that Atlanta wasn't willing
Speaker 1: to do that and insisted on an Austin or insisted
Speaker 1: on a second first round pick that to them was
Speaker 1: just a deal breaker at this point. So again, maybe
Speaker 1: they revisit things on the side. We'll see how Delo
Speaker 1: performs the rest of the way, will see how the
Speaker 1: playoffs go if the Lakers make it. But I think,
Speaker 1: as of now, from my understanding, they felt that the
Speaker 1: Jeante price is going a little bit too high and
Speaker 1: they weren't willing to match that. So I don't know
Speaker 1: if that would change over the summer, I guess would
Speaker 1: be no. But I'm with you though, I think the
Speaker 1: three star build it just I mean, it hasn't worked
Speaker 1: like that. They haven't been able to get that guy
Speaker 1: over the last few years. They did get one guy
Speaker 1: and it was a disaster, so one of the worst
Speaker 1: trades in NBA history. And I do I do think
Speaker 1: like if there's like a way to get maybe a
Speaker 1: bigger shot creator, like a wing shot creator, and you're
Speaker 1: going more with like Austin at point or maybe like
Speaker 1: a mid level exception guy at point guard, Like I'm
Speaker 1: more open to that, but the three star build with
Speaker 1: like a small guard who can't necessarily defend, I have
Speaker 1: some questions about that, especially with the current personnel and
Speaker 1: the roster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like the idea in the long term of
Speaker 2: a Trey Young Anthony Davis kind of foundation, but I
Speaker 2: just think it would of course, but I think it
Speaker 2: would just I just think it would take like a
Speaker 2: legit two to three years to actually surround those two
Speaker 2: guys with the type of two way athletes that you need.
Speaker 2: And now we're talking about trading Lebron James and it's
Speaker 2: like that's like a to me, I don't want to
Speaker 2: like remove Trey Young from the conversation entirely. Just to me,
Speaker 2: once you make a deal for Trey Young where you've
Speaker 2: thrown all your assets in, you're not gonna be good
Speaker 2: enough the next year because you're not good enough on
Speaker 2: the margins. And so that to me is more of
Speaker 2: like a let's go into the next era of Lakers
Speaker 2: basketball thing, And maybe that's the direction they go. But
Speaker 2: like chances are if you if you do something like that,
Speaker 2: like I don't think Lebron is young enough to actually
Speaker 2: help you capitalize on it by the time you get
Speaker 2: the requisite talent around. But we I feel like we've
Speaker 2: complained long enough today, So we're gonna call it a night.
Speaker 2: Before you get out of here, yovonn can you just
Speaker 2: kind of tell everybody about your article that you wrote
Speaker 2: last night where they can find it, where they can
Speaker 2: find the rest of your work.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I wrote deep dive breakdown on the trade deadline,
Speaker 1: all the intel that I've been gathering over.
Speaker 3: The last few days, last few weeks.
Speaker 1: One hilarious tidbit in there was Darvin Ham pushing him
Speaker 1: back against the notion of the Lakers trading brains, which
Speaker 1: I knew Laker fans we're gonna love that detail. But
Speaker 1: I mean again, he was one of the only expiring
Speaker 1: contracts that they could have put out there, and ultimately
Speaker 1: they chose not to move him.
Speaker 3: So a bunch more details.
Speaker 1: We hit on most of it, but there were some
Speaker 1: other things in there that we weren't able to get into.
Speaker 1: And then at Yovan Booja on all social platforms started
Speaker 1: creating some YouTube content, so I do have Yovan Booja
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. Been doing some of the behind the scenes
Speaker 1: vlogs and different things I was posting on TikTok and
Speaker 1: on Twitter, I'm now doing on YouTube and a little
Speaker 1: bit of a law younger formatt. I'm able to get
Speaker 1: into some gameplay and filmating during games now a little
Speaker 1: bit and able to kind of do more in like
Speaker 1: two to three minutes versus like one minute, so be
Speaker 1: sure to check that out as well.
Speaker 2: Jovan does great work. Make sure you guys get over
Speaker 2: there and check out and support his stuff. We are
Speaker 2: going to be done for the rest of the weekend,
Speaker 2: but we'll be back Monday with power rankings and some
Speaker 2: game breakdowns. As always, I appreciate you guys, we'll see
Speaker 2: you next time.
Speaker 1: The volume