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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hoops tonight.
Speaker 3: You're at the volume.
Speaker 2: Happy Tuesday, everybody helpe. All of you guys are having
Speaker 2: a great start to your week. We have a very
Speaker 2: special guest coming on today, mister Jobaan Booja, the lead
Speaker 2: Lakers reporter for the athletic is gonna come in and
Speaker 2: we're gonna talk about this bizarre starting lineup that the
Speaker 2: Lakers have been used in the last couple of games.
Speaker 2: We're also going to talk a little bit about some
Speaker 2: roles changing within the locker room. We're both going to
Speaker 2: give our personal opinion on what the starting lineup should
Speaker 2: look like, and then we're going to talk about what
Speaker 2: needs the Lakers have at the deadline in light of
Speaker 2: their recent slides. So, without any further ado mister Jovann
Speaker 2: Bouja is going to join the show. Jovan I was
Speaker 2: reading an article from you this morning, drinking a.
Speaker 3: Nice cup of coffee.
Speaker 2: It's kind of cathartic listening to you just eviscerate the
Speaker 2: complete absurdity of the way this lineup was put together,
Speaker 2: as you absolutely put in your article. Eighteen minutes so
Speaker 2: far of this Jared Vanderbilt, cam Reddistorian, Prince Lebron James
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis lineup, they're giving up one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: five points per one hundred possessions on defense, so leaning
Speaker 2: into defense is not getting stops. They are scoring just
Speaker 2: one hundred and five points per one hundred possessions and
Speaker 2: they've been outscored by twenty points per one hundred posessions
Speaker 2: over that span. But hey, they're rebounding really well for
Speaker 2: whatever that's worth. So I'm curious. We've seen behind the scenes,
Speaker 2: We've seen the references to leaning into their identity and
Speaker 2: weird comments about Austin Reeves minute load, even though that
Speaker 2: doesn't seem to apply to other players on the roster.
Speaker 2: Have you heard anything internally in terms of it. Turmoil
Speaker 2: is the wrong word, but is anybody like raising their
Speaker 2: hand and going like, hey, this is not a good idea.
Speaker 3: What are we doing?
Speaker 1: Yes that there have been some eyebrows raised over the
Speaker 1: past seventy two hours or so when the Lakers made
Speaker 1: this starting lineup change I heard. I started hearing about
Speaker 1: it Friday afternoon and talking with some people, and.
Speaker 4: At first I just didn't believe it.
Speaker 1: I was just like, there's no way, Like maybe they're
Speaker 1: putting Vando in, because ever since training camp, Darvin has
Speaker 1: basically said Vando was going to win the starting spot
Speaker 1: over Torny and Prince. He was going to be the
Speaker 1: fifth starter again, and that was the way.
Speaker 4: LA was playing on going into the season.
Speaker 1: But he suffers that heel injury, he misses a bunch
Speaker 1: of time, and you know, ultimately comes off the bench.
Speaker 1: But so I felt at some point, once he got
Speaker 1: his legs back under him, even though really the game
Speaker 1: before he had just said he's not one hundred percent
Speaker 1: and still kind of figuring things out, that he would
Speaker 1: eventually go back to the starting lineup. So that wasn't
Speaker 1: a surprise to me. And I think with D'Angel Russell
Speaker 1: essentially being on the trade block since the summer, with
Speaker 1: the way that the Lakers structured that contract that he
Speaker 1: eventually would either move to the bench or just get
Speaker 1: moved in general.
Speaker 4: So those two moves in a vacuum.
Speaker 1: Didn't necessarily surprise me, but those two moves happening, you know, together,
Speaker 1: did surprise me. Of just looking at the lineup, there
Speaker 1: is not a second ball handler, There is not a
Speaker 1: secondary shot creator on the perimeter, and you just can't
Speaker 1: play that way in twenty twenty three, especially if you
Speaker 1: are holding yourself to a championship level standard. And I
Speaker 1: think you saw that in the OKC game. There were
Speaker 1: plus one in ten minutes, basically treading water against the
Speaker 1: OKC group that didn't have Josh Giddy, and frankly, it's
Speaker 1: not a great matchup for OKAC. I know you've covered
Speaker 1: that they're just too small for the Lakers. So the
Speaker 1: Lakers were able to overwhelm them with their size and physicality.
Speaker 1: But then you see it against Boston arguably the best
Speaker 1: team in the league, certainly in my opinion, the best
Speaker 1: five man unit in the league right now, and they
Speaker 1: just evistrated them. It was a twelve zero run in
Speaker 1: two and a half minutes. Lakers could not, I mean,
Speaker 1: you freeze any possession that's inside the three point line,
Speaker 1: and there's four Celtics minimum in the paint, if not five,
Speaker 1: and they're cheating off of Lebron and Towrnian Prince. And
Speaker 1: that's kind of another thing here, where like Lebron and
Speaker 1: Tornian Princes have both shot the ball well, but I
Speaker 1: don't think they still get the respect that maybe they're
Speaker 1: shooting percentages would indicate.
Speaker 4: So really, you had the Celtics happy to.
Speaker 1: Ignore or all five Lakers at certain points offensively, to
Speaker 1: say nothing of the way that they were defending Cam
Speaker 1: and Vandos. So just looking at that lineup, it never
Speaker 1: made sense in theory. In practice, it has been a disaster,
Speaker 1: and I think the Lakers are gonna continue sticking with
Speaker 1: it for now just because Darvin Ham believes in it,
Speaker 1: and he said as much basically postgame. But I think
Speaker 1: it's a mistake, and I think at some point in
Speaker 1: the near future, within the next few games, they're most
Speaker 1: likely going to have to go to a different starting lineup.
Speaker 2: To me, it's such as to me, it's a representation
Speaker 2: of a basic lack of understanding of the way basketball
Speaker 2: teams operate. And this is crazy to me because you
Speaker 2: know me and Jovonne, I never ever complained about the coach.
Speaker 2: I think that often it's just an easy target, especially
Speaker 2: for fans when they can't really target anything else during
Speaker 2: the season. And to me, like, if there's one thing
Speaker 2: that a basketball lineup needs to do, it's to check
Speaker 2: all these specific responsibilities right.
Speaker 3: And it's no.
Speaker 2: Different than like if you were to run out a
Speaker 2: big goal line package at midfield and you had seven
Speaker 2: offensive linemen on the field, you might be able to
Speaker 2: better protect your quarterback, but who the hell is gonna
Speaker 2: get open? Like who are you throwing to? You know
Speaker 2: what I mean? And it's just a basic like you
Speaker 2: almost are diminishing your returns, even on the defensive end
Speaker 2: because a couple of things. First of all, when you
Speaker 2: have guys that are on the ball taking heavier duty responsibilities,
Speaker 2: the off ball jobs are easier, especially for smarter players,
Speaker 2: and so you can get better defensive production out of
Speaker 2: lesser defensive players in an off ball role, especially if
Speaker 2: they're a smart, high IQ player like Austin for instance.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: And then on the other end of the floor. I
Speaker 2: know it sounds crazy, and we said, we talk about
Speaker 2: this all the time. The idea of setting your defense,
Speaker 2: but scoring the basketball makes getting stops easier. It just does,
Speaker 2: even above and beyond the geometry of the floor when
Speaker 2: they have to take the ball out of the basket.
Speaker 2: It's also about it's a motivation and passion and just
Speaker 2: when you're getting buckets, you want to sit better in
Speaker 2: a stance and to fight harder over that screen. And
Speaker 2: it's about believing in what your unit is capable of
Speaker 2: doing on both ends of the floor. And like above
Speaker 2: and beyond anything else, there was no legitimate like earning
Speaker 2: of the rotation spot. And what I mean by that
Speaker 2: is it's not like Cam's playing so well you have
Speaker 2: to start him. It's not like Jared Vanderbilt is playing
Speaker 2: so well you have to start him. Torny and Prince
Speaker 2: is the one guy in that group where it's like
Speaker 2: he's taken like eight nine threes a game and he's
Speaker 2: making forty percent of him over the last month or whatever.
Speaker 2: Like Torrian, at least you can make the case he's
Speaker 2: shooting the shit out of the basketball. You gotta have
Speaker 2: him on the floor, right, But those other two spots,
Speaker 2: how is it that by default they're going to lesser players.
Speaker 2: That's the part I don't understand, like, like Austin Reeves
Speaker 2: has had some defensive limitations this year. There's no doubt
Speaker 2: he hasn't been as good this year. Teams are being
Speaker 2: more deliberate about attacking him. But beyond any shadow of
Speaker 2: a doubt, the total two way impact of Austin has
Speaker 2: far superseded anything that Cam Reddis and Jared Vanderbilt had
Speaker 2: brought to the table. So there is legitimately no logical
Speaker 2: case for putting this line up out there to start games.
Speaker 2: And it's frustrating for me because I hear you say
Speaker 2: things like what you just said a minute ago, you
Speaker 2: were like, and I think they're going to stick with
Speaker 2: it for the time being. Okay, can you elaborate on
Speaker 2: that for me? First of all, like how long do
Speaker 2: you mean? And also like, is he just under the
Speaker 2: impression that this is going to start working at some point?
Speaker 1: Well, I think inherently coaches you know when they make
Speaker 1: a decision. Because the funny thing to me with this
Speaker 1: whole thing was we had been asking about a potential
Speaker 1: starting lineup change during the skid a couple of games prior,
Speaker 1: and Darvin was in you're referencing. I think it was
Speaker 1: after they lost the third consecutive game after the Bulls game,
Speaker 1: and you know, Darvin, we referenced when the Lakers won
Speaker 1: lost their three consecutive games earlier in the season. That's
Speaker 1: when you saw Austin Reeves go to the bench and
Speaker 1: he inserted Cam Reddish, and that was the big change
Speaker 1: was you know, this starting lineup isn't working. We don't
Speaker 1: believe in you know, Austin and Dilo can play together,
Speaker 1: and we want to try Cam out there. So they
Speaker 1: make that change. And you know, so now they're on
Speaker 1: a three game losing streak. We ask about it and
Speaker 1: he's like, well, you know, that's a big deal to
Speaker 1: change the starting lineup at this point in the season,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's it's not something that we, you know,
Speaker 1: are going to do lightly. So then they lose the
Speaker 1: fourth game in a row, and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden they make this starting lineup change, and I just so,
Speaker 1: I think inherently there's a level of stubbornness that comes
Speaker 1: with being a head coach where when you make a
Speaker 1: change like that, you don't want to give up on it.
Speaker 1: I asked last night, you know, I said, with the
Speaker 1: way that defenses are guarding Cam and Vando right now
Speaker 1: and just packing the paint and completely ignore them. Do
Speaker 1: you think a Cam vandoh Wing tandem is viable, you know,
Speaker 1: as a starting tandem And if so, how are you
Speaker 1: gonna make that work? And then he basically went on
Speaker 1: to say, it's all about pacing and they have to
Speaker 1: attack the way that defenses are playing them and use
Speaker 1: the space against them. But like, those guys aren't Draymond
Speaker 1: Green as passers and decision makers, and the Lakers don't
Speaker 1: have Steph Curry or Klay Thompson on this lineup. So
Speaker 1: it's one thing to use the Golden State model of
Speaker 1: we're gonna use Vando as like a dribble handoff guy
Speaker 1: and like this and that. But like if you saw
Speaker 1: the way that Boston offended them in those actually like
Speaker 1: they tried some of that stuff.
Speaker 4: They've been playing more for out.
Speaker 1: They've been having Vando more in the dunker spot, and
Speaker 1: that's another thing, like they've started to abandon their five
Speaker 1: out principles because of this starting lineup change trying to
Speaker 1: make it work.
Speaker 4: And then on the other end, I.
Speaker 1: Thought Anthony Davis had a comment that kind of went
Speaker 1: under the radar where he was like we've been He
Speaker 1: didn't say we've been a drop in hedge team, but
Speaker 1: basically like, we have not been a switch team. Now
Speaker 1: we are switching a lot, and we're batching a lot
Speaker 1: of the communication and a lot of the coverages, and
Speaker 1: I think you've seen that where there's been miscommunication and
Speaker 1: transition defense. They were cross matched with Boston because Christaps
Speaker 1: Porzingis was on Jared Vanderbilt, so that kind of messed
Speaker 1: up some of the matchups, and you saw in transition
Speaker 1: they didn't know who their man was, and then within
Speaker 1: the half court sets there was miscommunication on you know,
Speaker 1: when are we switching these off ball actions, who's sticking
Speaker 1: with the cutter, etc. So I think right now that
Speaker 1: they're kind of in a period of still trying to
Speaker 1: figure some of that stuff out.
Speaker 4: But to me, it just it doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1: Again in theory, it has not made sense in practice,
Speaker 1: and I think they should pull the plug now. And look,
Speaker 1: they're gonna play Charlotte on Thursday. Team, they're gonna look great,
Speaker 1: They're gonna win that game, and Darvin's gonna be able
Speaker 1: to point to that. But you've got to measure yourself
Speaker 1: against the Minnesota's the Oklahoma Cities and the Bostons, and
Speaker 1: I just don't think that type of lineup is viable
Speaker 1: against that calbur of opponent.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Oklahoma City game was very much the Lakers
Speaker 2: just dominated the possession battle. That was a big part
Speaker 2: of how they did well in that game, and they
Speaker 2: were just so much bigger at every single position. I
Speaker 2: agree with you that stubbornness is the primary driver, because
Speaker 2: it felt like it felt like the obvious change to
Speaker 2: make was just swap d Lo and Austin in the
Speaker 2: starting lineup, and if you wanted to get Jared Vanderbilt
Speaker 2: in there, you get him in there for Cam. But
Speaker 2: it almost felt like if Darvin put Austin in the
Speaker 2: starting lineup, he would be basically publicly admitting he made
Speaker 2: a mistake by benching him to begin with. And that,
Speaker 2: to me is stupid because that's cutting off your nose
Speaker 2: despite your face. You're not proving anybody right, You're just
Speaker 2: you're blatantly shining a light on yourself that you are
Speaker 2: being stubborn. In fact, I've always found it more admirable
Speaker 2: when people are willing to admit when they've made mistakes,
Speaker 2: and situations like that Austin, by the way, going into
Speaker 2: the game where he got not like where he should
Speaker 2: have been put back in the starting lineup, but they
Speaker 2: went with Jared instead. He had like, over an eight
Speaker 2: game span, been averaging twenty five and six on sixty
Speaker 2: five percent trait, like literally playing his best stretch of
Speaker 2: basketball the season, including just being an absolute monster in
Speaker 2: these in season tournament games. So it was like the
Speaker 2: most obvious decision that you could possibly imagine for a
Speaker 2: situation like that.
Speaker 3: Now I want to dive more.
Speaker 2: Into this concept of switching versus being a drop in
Speaker 2: hedge team, but I want to look at it through
Speaker 2: the context of lineup constructions. So we're going to come
Speaker 2: back to that in a minute. What I want to
Speaker 2: start with is one of my biggest pet peeves is
Speaker 2: when people are just like, hey, that's stupid, but then
Speaker 2: they don't provide a counter solution. So what we're gonna
Speaker 2: do today is we're going to have a little exercise
Speaker 2: where we talk about what the Lakers starting lineup should
Speaker 2: look like, the pros and cons of constructing them in
Speaker 2: different ways, and talking about what schemes would have to
Speaker 2: be used to work with those groups. So I want
Speaker 2: you to go first. If you were the head coach
Speaker 2: of the Los Angeles Lakers tonight or tomorrow night, I
Speaker 2: should say, who would you put out as you're starting
Speaker 2: five against the Charlotte Hornets.
Speaker 1: So I would start, of course Lebron and eighty at
Speaker 1: the four and the five. I would go with Austin
Speaker 1: at the one, Torrian at the two, and Cam at
Speaker 1: the three. I think, to me, the pivot point in
Speaker 1: that lineup comes down to Cam versus vand Do. I
Speaker 1: think you can make a case for either one of
Speaker 1: those guys. Vando obviously bigger, better rebounder. Cam is shooting
Speaker 1: the ball slightly better thirty percent overall, but twenty five
Speaker 1: percent in the month of December, but at least he's
Speaker 1: taking and making some van Do is zero for ten
Speaker 1: on the season.
Speaker 4: So like that that that's a problem to me. So
Speaker 4: I would go with those three.
Speaker 1: I think Torrian, I mean one, he's third on the
Speaker 1: team in minutes, So like any lineup that is you're
Speaker 1: pitching a starting lineup that doesn't have Torrian is just unrealistic.
Speaker 1: At this point, he's gonna He's a starting lock at
Speaker 1: this point and a closing lock. Frankly, so I think
Speaker 1: Torrion shooting forty percent for the last month or so.
Speaker 1: As you said on threes, I think he's a competent defender,
Speaker 1: not necessarily a lockdown wing the way that Darvin uses
Speaker 1: him at times, but I think, as like your secondary
Speaker 1: perimeter guy, that's fine. Then I look at that Van
Speaker 1: doh Cam spot as the point of attack, going to
Speaker 1: defend the best one through three.
Speaker 4: Guy and then Austin.
Speaker 1: I think if Austin's your worst defender and you're kind
Speaker 1: of hiding him on the secondary ball handler or the
Speaker 1: secondary guard, I think that's totally fine, and you see
Speaker 1: the Lakers close more often than not with that alignment.
Speaker 1: So to me, I mean this is pretty clearly the
Speaker 1: best lineup construct of you know, Austin's your third best player,
Speaker 1: don't overthink it, start him, play him more than twenty
Speaker 1: eight minutes a night. Torrian's out there as a floor spacer,
Speaker 1: and then you have the Cam Vandos spot, which honestly
Speaker 1: to me could even rotate depending on matchup. But if
Speaker 1: you want to go with one, I think Cam has
Speaker 1: in the aggregate.
Speaker 4: Played slightly better.
Speaker 1: He is the better shooter, and you just you got
Speaker 1: to tell him don't put the ball on the floor
Speaker 1: because that's kind of been an issue lately, is him
Speaker 1: doing too much offensively. But that to me is just,
Speaker 1: you know, pretty plainly the best potential starting five when
Speaker 1: factoring in roles.
Speaker 4: And the way that guys have been play lately. So
Speaker 4: that's the group I would go with.
Speaker 2: So I have two lineups that I consider, and one
Speaker 2: of them is basically a switching lineup, and one of
Speaker 2: them is more of like a hedge and drop lineup.
Speaker 2: And the hedge and drop lineup is basically the same
Speaker 2: lineup you put together. Again, don't overthink it. Austin's your
Speaker 2: best player or best non lebron A D player, so
Speaker 2: you go Austin lebron A D. Torrian's the one guy
Speaker 2: out of all these wings that is doing one thing
Speaker 2: at a super high level, which is shooting, so you
Speaker 2: put him in that group. To me, it's it's Cam
Speaker 2: is the better option right now. But the reason why
Speaker 2: I start Jared is I do think eventually he's going
Speaker 2: to get his legs underneath him and start defending like
Speaker 2: he did towards the tail end of last year. So
Speaker 2: I think inevitably in the long run, because Cam again
Speaker 2: there have been these brief stretches where it's like, okay,
Speaker 2: a two or three game stretch here where he only
Speaker 2: takes corner threes and he's focused on the defensive end
Speaker 2: and he's deeply impactful. But it's been a lot of
Speaker 2: random bs around that, which has kind of limited some
Speaker 2: of his effectiveness. And again, like it's not. One of
Speaker 2: the things I appreciate about Jared Vanderbilt is he knows
Speaker 2: he can't shoot, so you won't see him take a
Speaker 2: pull up transition above the break three where you're like, dude, okay,
Speaker 2: we can get a better shot than that. Like he's
Speaker 2: gonna go get the ball to somebody that can make
Speaker 2: a decision with it. So I would go Austin Vando,
Speaker 2: Torrian lebron Ad in like a hedge and drop system
Speaker 2: where we're trying to keep ad close to the rim.
Speaker 3: This is the other lineup that i'd pitch.
Speaker 2: And the basic concept here is you're putting your five
Speaker 2: best players on the floor, okay, and it'd be Austin
Speaker 2: Torrean Ruey lebron Ad. This would be a switch group. Now,
Speaker 2: to Anthony Davis's point, switching has ups and downs. The
Speaker 2: upsides are stagnate's an offense, you get in front of actions,
Speaker 2: you shut down a ball screen game. There's a bunch
Speaker 2: of things you can do with switching to stagnate an opponent.
Speaker 2: Downsides there can be confusion in switches, and when you
Speaker 2: botch a switch, people get wide open. That's a big problem.
Speaker 2: Can be fixed, the repetition communication, just building really good habits.
Speaker 2: That's that's something where part of part of the risk
Speaker 2: of changing your defensive set up in the middle of
Speaker 2: the season is you can go through a stretch where
Speaker 2: you look like shit doing it because you guys don't
Speaker 2: have your habits down right. But then the other side
Speaker 2: of it is like, Okay, we can give up rebounding
Speaker 2: mismatches or we can give up post up mismatches. There
Speaker 2: are downsides physically to switching, but you're huge in that group,
Speaker 2: Like you're unbelievably big. You're Corey and Prince at six '
Speaker 2: eight at the two, Ruyachimur at six ' nine at
Speaker 2: the three and whatever.
Speaker 3: He is two hundred and fifty.
Speaker 2: Pounds, Lebron James six nine sixty two seventy at the four,
Speaker 2: and Anthony Davis one of the biggest athletes in the
Speaker 2: league at the five, and so you have the ability
Speaker 2: to basically shrink the floor when teams try to attack
Speaker 2: matchups in terms of digging down and rotating in help.
Speaker 2: And you're huge on the glass. And so one of
Speaker 2: the reasons why I like that that that potential group
Speaker 2: is like you are trying to float things until you
Speaker 2: get to a point where you could recon figure the roster.
Speaker 2: And we're gonna talk about that in a minute, and
Speaker 2: that could fundamentally change the entire direction that this team goes,
Speaker 2: and you might have to kind of do what you
Speaker 2: did last year where you're basically a new team post
Speaker 2: deadline anyway, but you gotta get to that point, and
Speaker 2: in the Western Conference, you got to try to eat
Speaker 2: up as many wins as possible. I think finding as
Speaker 2: many opportunities as possible to have your best players together
Speaker 2: can go a long way towards helping you there. D'Angel
Speaker 2: Russell is arguably your fifth best player, but with Torrean
Speaker 2: shooting as well as he has and with the built
Speaker 2: of build of that lineup, let's just call him your
Speaker 2: fifth best player there. And then again, you eat some
Speaker 2: of the lumps of not of being as sharp with
Speaker 2: your switches and hope that it hopes that over time
Speaker 2: you can kind of figure some of that stuff out.
Speaker 2: But like, again to Anthony Davis's point, like there's there's
Speaker 2: you gotta find what it is that you want to
Speaker 2: be and lean into it. If you're gonna be a
Speaker 2: switching team, then build lineups accordingly and lean into it.
Speaker 2: If you're gonna be a hedge and drop team, then
Speaker 2: build lineups accordingly and lean into it. But this idea
Speaker 2: where it's like, Okay, hey, we're gonna we're gonna run
Speaker 2: Cam and Torrian and and and Jared Vanderbilt, and we're
Speaker 2: gonna be this athletic team. But we're just like putting
Speaker 2: together all these other weird groups where Austin, We're like, okay,
Speaker 2: here comes Ruey and Dill and they're just gonna come
Speaker 2: down the floor and shoot every time. Because so we're
Speaker 2: fundamentally changing the team. It's been it's been such a
Speaker 2: bizarre experience watching in the last couple of days because
Speaker 2: all we're seeing is these really redundant groups that just
Speaker 2: have a bunch of the same type of talent on
Speaker 2: the floor and they're really really struggling and there's no
Speaker 2: doubt that they're underachieving.
Speaker 3: Part of the issue here is you're.
Speaker 2: Talking about, Okay, well maybe it should be Cam, maybe
Speaker 2: it should be Jared. I'm talking about like, well, maybe
Speaker 2: it should be RUI, maybe it should be.
Speaker 3: You know, Jared.
Speaker 2: We're talking about all these different configurations, and the issue
Speaker 2: there is none of these guys are are really what
Speaker 2: they need. As good as Ruey is, as good as
Speaker 2: Cam is, as good as Jared is, as good as
Speaker 2: Torrian is, they all have a fundamental downside. Torrian, as
Speaker 2: good as he's shooting, is just not good enough to
Speaker 2: be a primary point of attack defender. He's just not
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt is good enough to do that, but he's
Speaker 2: such a huge offensive limitation saying I Cam, I would
Speaker 2: argue he's not good enough to do either, right, And
Speaker 2: then Ruey hatche Mura basically has to be in a
Speaker 2: switching scheme because he can't navigate screens, and so that
Speaker 2: begs the question, like if this is all going in
Speaker 2: towards a direction where you need to consolidate these guys
Speaker 2: and you need to turn them into a specific type
Speaker 2: of player that works to me. Until Darvin basically accepts
Speaker 2: that Austin is the one, and that you need to
Speaker 2: upgrade these two and three. It's hard to even get
Speaker 2: to that point where we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 2: So I guess this would be my question. Have you
Speaker 2: heard anything internally that has that leads you to believe
Speaker 2: that there's frustrating frustration building simply from the standpoint that
Speaker 2: they can't build functional lineups.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think even if you look at players comments postgame,
Speaker 1: there's been and some of that stuff is natural during
Speaker 1: a losing streak, So I don't want to like overplay that,
Speaker 1: but you've seen several guys kind of be like, I
Speaker 1: don't know my role essentially, or you know, like I
Speaker 1: think Rui has been one of the most vocal in
Speaker 1: that sense of just like some nights Rui's playing sixteen
Speaker 1: minutes a night, some nights Ruey's playing thirty minutes a night.
Speaker 1: And it's really been just kind of this up and
Speaker 1: down thing with so many guys, and like, I.
Speaker 4: Mean, look at Delo.
Speaker 1: Delo, you know, plays thirty eight minutes against the Timberwolves,
Speaker 1: starts that game two for twelve. Don't really understand why
Speaker 1: he's playing so much in that game, especially when Austin
Speaker 1: has it going and then he gets benched and plays
Speaker 1: eighteen minutes in each of the next couple of games.
Speaker 1: So right now, the Lakers kind of continue to use
Speaker 1: the injury bug as an excuse in my opinion of
Speaker 1: you know, we're not Like Lebron was asked last night
Speaker 1: about how you compare against Boston, OKC, Minnesota. You guys
Speaker 1: just went one to two against those three teams, and
Speaker 1: he referenced the team's injuries. But last night, Gabe Vincent
Speaker 1: was the only guy that was out, and I know
Speaker 1: Cam had a groin issue. Lebron obviously had that collision
Speaker 1: with Jalen Brown late in the second quarter. But the
Speaker 1: Lakers have been pretty healthy relatively over the last couple weeks,
Speaker 1: and we've still seen them struggle to beat a San
Speaker 1: Antonio team without Ad and just some of these losses,
Speaker 1: you know, losing to Chicago basically fully healthy, that was
Speaker 1: the game gave Vincent return. So, like, I think that
Speaker 1: excuse only holds water for so long, and at some
Speaker 1: point it's got to be like, we have to figure
Speaker 1: this out in terms of our rotations and our lineups.
Speaker 1: And I think another thing that's kind of gone under
Speaker 1: discussed with everything right now is like the Lakers wanted
Speaker 1: to have continuity. That was the theme of the offseason.
Speaker 1: They said it in every press conference. It was the
Speaker 1: main reason why they brought the band back together. And
Speaker 1: that continuity has basically gone out the window. Where you
Speaker 1: won with a Jared Vanderbilt, Austin Reeves, D'Angelo Russell starting
Speaker 1: perimeter group that has barely played together this season, and
Speaker 1: part of that, of course is Jared Vanderbilt's injury.
Speaker 4: But you know, originally it.
Speaker 1: Was, well, Austin and Dilo can't play together, so let's
Speaker 1: bring Austin off the bench. Now it's well, they're playing
Speaker 1: well together, so let's bring them off the bench together,
Speaker 1: and you know, have their broad the second unit, and
Speaker 1: it's just it's kind of mixed messaging. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, certainly there's some frustration internally in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, can we just stick with a lineup and
Speaker 1: a rotation for X amount of games, see what's working
Speaker 1: and what's not, and stop vacillating game to game the
Speaker 1: way that it has. And part of that, again is
Speaker 1: injuries and that they have had some bad luck, and
Speaker 1: that there have been reasons why certain lineups haven't been
Speaker 1: able to play as much as the Lakers would like.
Speaker 1: But part of that's just been, you know, certain guys
Speaker 1: struggle and they get benched, and certain guys struggle and
Speaker 1: they continue to play. And I think we've kind of
Speaker 1: seen that, like Torrian and Cam have very long leashes
Speaker 1: in terms of you know, like Torrian had that stretch
Speaker 1: where like eleven games he was shooting twenty eight percent
Speaker 1: on threes and he continued to play thirty plus minutes
Speaker 1: a night consistently. Cam has had some rough stretches, particularly shooting,
Speaker 1: and he's continued to play, whereas guys like Austin Dilo Rui,
Speaker 1: like those guys are fluctuating more so, I think that
Speaker 1: you know, you mentioned the consolidation with Delo and Rui.
Speaker 1: I think that's a you the likely solution here. But
Speaker 1: it has been kind of wild that night tonight. It's
Speaker 1: really you don't know what you're getting in terms of
Speaker 1: lineups and rotation, and like, part of that again is injuries,
Speaker 1: but part of that is just you got to stick
Speaker 1: to something, and it shouldn't be this current scarring lineup.
Speaker 2: Well, and again like leaning into Cam and Torrian as
Speaker 2: much as they have has diminished any sort of continuity,
Speaker 2: like you're, You're, You're mentioned, because those those guys are
Speaker 2: eating up the majority of the of the wing minutes.
Speaker 2: And again, like like I like a long leash for
Speaker 2: especially a skill player guys like Austin, guys like d Lo,
Speaker 2: guys like Rui, because you want them to always be
Speaker 2: in rhythm, and so you disrupt rhythm by constantly taking
Speaker 2: them out of games. There's no real upside to giving
Speaker 2: super long leashes to Torrian or Cam because Torrian is
Speaker 2: basically a high volume catch and shoot guy and more
Speaker 2: or less he's just shooting, catching and shoot threes. He's
Speaker 2: not a guy that's actually breaking the defense down, and Cam, like,
Speaker 2: I'm not even sure you can point to a single
Speaker 2: thing that he does well offensively. So like like maybe
Speaker 2: putting the ball on the floor for a six eight guy,
Speaker 2: he's got a little bit more pot there than some
Speaker 2: guys based on his pedigree, but like, there's just not
Speaker 2: a lot that you're getting there in terms of upside.
Speaker 2: And so again, like I agree with you that the
Speaker 2: fluctuations are occurring in the wrong spot on the roster.
Speaker 2: As far as Lebron and the excuses with injury. One
Speaker 2: hundred percent agree as well, because the way I look
Speaker 2: at it's like you're not beating the Celtics as cur
Speaker 2: constructed when Lebron plays like shit under any circumstances. Okay,
Speaker 2: you played really well against the Thunder, and again, they're
Speaker 2: a bad matchup and they've struggled with big teams most
Speaker 2: of the year. The Minnesota game schedule, loss tail end
Speaker 2: of it, back to back, just just a rough game, right,
Speaker 2: But there's a lot of games in there that they
Speaker 2: had no business losing. You know, even if I give
Speaker 2: you the Chicago one, because Chicago has been playing some
Speaker 2: good basketball lately, it's like you lost to a Dallas
Speaker 2: Mavericks team that was decimated by injuries, and I watched
Speaker 2: you guys not play hard to start the game. You
Speaker 2: turned it on in the third quarter, like I watched
Speaker 2: you guys lose to San Antonio Spurs, san Antonio's first
Speaker 2: team that literally hadn't beat anybody in like a month
Speaker 2: and hasn't beat anybody since.
Speaker 3: Like that.
Speaker 2: That's that's there's no there's no oh, like Jared Vanderbilt's
Speaker 2: foot's bothering him. So we lost to the Spurs. You know,
Speaker 2: like there's that to me is not something that I
Speaker 2: that I buy into. Some of this is like when
Speaker 2: you are trying to float until there's a point in
Speaker 2: the future where you reorder. Yet some things on the
Speaker 2: roster you can't afford to lose those games. And one
Speaker 2: of the things that they did well at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the year is they lost to the good teams,
Speaker 2: but they took care of business against those teams, and
Speaker 2: that hasn't been the case as of late, and I
Speaker 2: think it's it's done a disservice to them. But let's
Speaker 2: talk about this deadline for a minute here, because we've
Speaker 2: seen d Angela Russell's role change. He's only taking ten
Speaker 2: shots a game over his last nine and forty percent
Speaker 2: from the field, below thirty percent from three. He's weirdly
Speaker 2: important now because of Gabe Vincent's injury as essentially the
Speaker 2: backup point guard, although Austin's kind of in that spot too,
Speaker 2: which is which again leads you to wonder why the
Speaker 2: hell the rotation is constructed the way it is. But
Speaker 2: I saw a star trade get suggested today. That was
Speaker 2: the first one that I've actually liked for the Lakers.
Speaker 2: I have not liked any mention of DeMar Derozen or
Speaker 2: zach Lavine or any of these other names that have
Speaker 2: been thrown out there. But I'm Trannie reported today that
Speaker 2: we should keep an eye out for de Jonte Murray
Speaker 2: to be on the Lakers radar. Now, I I want
Speaker 2: you actually to go first here. Do you do you
Speaker 2: actually view that as realistic? Because I'm wondering why in
Speaker 2: the heck the Hawks would want one first and Ruey Hatcha,
Speaker 2: Mura and d Lo as a package there? Do you
Speaker 2: view it as realistic?
Speaker 3: And two?
Speaker 2: If so, do you think it's a direction that would
Speaker 2: help alleviate some of the Lakers issues Right now?
Speaker 1: I view it as realistic insofar as I think the
Speaker 1: Atlanta situation clearly isn't working and they likely have to
Speaker 1: split that up. I feel like Dejonte is more of
Speaker 1: the fall guy in this scenario, and I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers would have interest in him, and do you have
Speaker 1: interest in him? And there's also the clutch connection, so
Speaker 1: you can't you know, I guess you.
Speaker 4: Know overlook that.
Speaker 1: But to your point, like, the Lakers don't have a
Speaker 1: lot to give up, and I think when front offices
Speaker 1: admit a mistake, we were talking about it with coaches,
Speaker 1: but with front offices to admit a mistake.
Speaker 4: I mean, when did they trade for him? But I
Speaker 4: don't even remember how.
Speaker 3: Three years ago.
Speaker 1: I think it was two years ago, a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago, so it hasn't been that long. And you know,
Speaker 1: for them to admit a mistake, and given all that
Speaker 1: they gave up to get him, to get a just
Speaker 1: one first round pick back and you're not going to
Speaker 1: get Austin Reeves. So I think Austin would you have
Speaker 1: to be like a bona fide high level All star
Speaker 1: for the Lakers to include Austin Reeves in a deal.
Speaker 1: So if you're looking at something like Delo Rui, one
Speaker 1: of the younger guys, you know, be at Max or
Speaker 1: Jalen and throw in a pick. Lakers have upwards of
Speaker 1: four pick swaps they could throw in, So maybe you're
Speaker 1: throwing a pick swapper too, just to appease Atlanta and
Speaker 1: get is done. Like is you know, is there a
Speaker 1: better package out there? And I think there probably is
Speaker 1: for de Jonte Murray. I look at a team like
Speaker 1: Philly and what you know they could potentially offer in Philly,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers are kind of in the same boat
Speaker 1: in looking for the same types of players, be it
Speaker 1: an Alex Caruso or whatnot, or you know, more three
Speaker 1: and D wings. So like a team like Philly can
Speaker 1: come in and probably offer a better package and a
Speaker 1: more aggressive package, as we know Threw Moorey likes to do,
Speaker 1: so I do look at it would probably have to
Speaker 1: be a situation where just the market is dry for
Speaker 1: Dejonte and you know he wants to be in LA
Speaker 1: and you got the clutch situation, and the Lakers and Hawks,
Speaker 1: you know, figure out and again probably some pick swaps
Speaker 1: in there just to appease them. But that's where I
Speaker 1: just the actual package itself I kind of struggle with.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you expand it to a three
Speaker 1: team deal. Feels like a lot of these potential trades
Speaker 1: for the Lakers probably have to be a three team
Speaker 1: deal where Delo gets rerouted to a third team. That's
Speaker 1: you know, kind of an O case Utah situation where
Speaker 1: they're just trying to absorb a contract and you know,
Speaker 1: get another asset out of it. Maybe that's where one
Speaker 1: of the younger guys goes as well. But that's where
Speaker 1: I hesitate to say it's realistic in terms of like
Speaker 1: actually looking at the package, but I think the Lakers
Speaker 1: Dejonte checks the box of you could imagine him in
Speaker 1: that starting lineup with his size and athleticism defensively and
Speaker 1: just what he's capable of. I think he could fit
Speaker 1: the type of defensive guard the Lakers could use. And
Speaker 1: then again, the clutch situation, I think kind of speaks
Speaker 1: for itself, So I think that there's some smoke there
Speaker 1: for sure. I just I struggle seeing Atlanta pulling the
Speaker 1: trigger and that ultimately being the best available package for him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's funny because I'm super skeptical as well
Speaker 2: as to the realistic nature of this type of deal.
Speaker 2: But it again, as I said earlier, it's the first
Speaker 2: one I really like. And the main reason why is
Speaker 2: because it's a star. A star, but a star that
Speaker 2: kind of compliments the specific issues that the Lakers are having.
Speaker 2: We talked about the pros and cons of switching versus
Speaker 2: dropping earlier, and I am a big believer that ideally,
Speaker 2: if you have the personnel for it, I'd prefer to drop.
Speaker 2: And the main reason why is to me, Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: at the RIM is the is the best version of
Speaker 2: this Laker defense, and throughout the history of this team,
Speaker 2: the best versions of them have basically been teams that
Speaker 2: allow Anthony Davis to defend and pick and roll, and
Speaker 2: then the Lakers will switch at the end of games,
Speaker 2: They'll switch Anthony Davis in pick and roll onto the
Speaker 2: opposing star to get a couple of key stops at
Speaker 2: the end. That to me is the is the direction
Speaker 2: this team should should go in order to reach their
Speaker 2: own personal ceiling. But in order to do so, they
Speaker 2: need a legitimate point of attack guard that can navigate
Speaker 2: over the top of screens and apply back pressure. I
Speaker 2: viewed de Jontey Murray as that type of guy. I
Speaker 2: think he's I think for starters, he came up with
Speaker 2: a defen pedigree and.
Speaker 3: Two.
Speaker 2: The dude was a huge Lebron fan early on and
Speaker 2: would probably be willing to take on a role like
Speaker 2: that in hopes of potentially achieving a longer championship run
Speaker 2: with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. I think he compliments
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves really well in the backcourt. Dejonte was a
Speaker 2: really bad off ball player last year, having a much
Speaker 2: much better off ball season this year. Fueled in large
Speaker 2: part by just him shooting the ball better and catch
Speaker 2: and shoot situations and being more aggressive in catch and
Speaker 2: shoot situations. This was a guy who looked to drive
Speaker 2: close outs a lot in the past. Now he's taking
Speaker 2: a lot of those jumpers when he gets them. So
Speaker 2: I think it's like a would be an absolute slam
Speaker 2: dunk as far as star trades go. That said, I
Speaker 2: still come back to the same three things. Ideally, you
Speaker 2: want an upgrade at the three, an upgrade at the two,
Speaker 2: and an upgrade.
Speaker 3: At the center position.
Speaker 2: And so I still think the most realistic and best
Speaker 2: case scenario for the Lakers is some sort of deal
Speaker 2: with Chicago where they get Caruso and someone like Andre Drummond,
Speaker 2: and maybe that that's the deal that probably requires draft compensation.
Speaker 2: And then I look at a team like Brooklyn and
Speaker 2: that's the team I'd be calling with RUI Because the
Speaker 2: other important part of this, too is what does Ruy
Speaker 2: do for Atlanta? They have the same player basically in
Speaker 2: DeAndre Hunter. DeAndre Hunter is very very similar to Ruy Hatchimura,
Speaker 2: pull up mid range jump shooter guy, kind of an
Speaker 2: on an Island score that seems to kind of struggle
Speaker 2: in the flow of offense, and so I again to
Speaker 2: your point, they'd need a third team to even facilitate
Speaker 2: a deal like that. But Brooklyn has like three big
Speaker 2: lanky wings that are kind of like more like twos
Speaker 2: and threes. And then Ben Simmons is therefore and he's
Speaker 2: been injured basically right, so they don't have a big,
Speaker 2: strong forward. They don't have like an actual Ruey Hachimura archetype,
Speaker 2: but they have a guy like Dorian Finney Smith to
Speaker 2: go alongside Cam Johnson, to go alongside Mikhale Bridges. I'd
Speaker 2: be looking to potentially make a swap like that where
Speaker 2: you're getting a guy like Dorian Finney Smith, which is
Speaker 2: basically Torrian Prince with better perimeter defense, and that ends
Speaker 2: up being an upgrade at that position. If they did
Speaker 2: something like that, now we're talking about a lineup that
Speaker 2: could throw out Austin at the one, Alex Cruso at
Speaker 2: the two, a guy like Dorian Finney Smith at the three,
Speaker 2: Lebron and ad all of those position positions make perfect sense.
Speaker 2: It cleans up some of the rotation stuff, and then
Speaker 2: you'd have a playoff, playable center in someone like Andre
Speaker 2: Drummond coming off of the bench, which I think we've
Speaker 2: seen a lot from Christian Wood and Jackson Hayes has
Speaker 2: left a lot to be desired in recent weeks. So
Speaker 2: I still lean like instead of targeting that bigger type
Speaker 2: of target, little trades for upgrades at starting caliber positions.
Speaker 2: You have two starting caliber players in D'Angelo Russell and
Speaker 2: Ruy Hachamura that don't start for you because you already
Speaker 2: have guys in their positions. You have to find a
Speaker 2: way to turn that into starters that slot into those positions.
Speaker 2: Do you agree with me or do you think that
Speaker 2: they should go big fish hunting?
Speaker 3: I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think it depends on the big fish. I think
Speaker 1: the Jontey Murray is, as you were implying, going in
Speaker 1: the right direction in comparison with the zach Lavine or
Speaker 1: even DeMar DeRozan. I think I would prefer de Rosan
Speaker 1: over Levine if I'm the Lakers, and I know they
Speaker 1: feel the same way. But even there, you know, with
Speaker 1: his lack of three point shooting and his defense is passable,
Speaker 1: you know, depending on who he's guarding. But like, I
Speaker 1: still think there's a bit of a fit issue there.
Speaker 1: Both starting and closing games, whereas with the Jonte, I
Speaker 1: think he would slot in properly. You could close games
Speaker 1: with him in Austin, you could start games with him
Speaker 1: in Austin. Though I don't know if they would go
Speaker 1: in that direction, but I think it just makes more sense.
Speaker 1: But I'm with you, and I know that this is
Speaker 1: something that they've been weighing, and really it's been one
Speaker 1: of the big questions for the Lakers as an organization
Speaker 1: over the last few years has been do we chase
Speaker 1: the third star or do we go for the role
Speaker 1: player upgrades? And I think we saw with the Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook situation that they chased the third star did not work. Now, granted,
Speaker 1: outside of Ben Simmons, that might have been the worst
Speaker 1: third star to pair with Lebron n Ad in terms
Speaker 1: of fit, it probably was the worst. But you know, so,
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's like the best example of
Speaker 1: what a third star could look like next to Lebron
Speaker 1: and Ad. Like I think when they were going after
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard briefly, like that would have been a perfect
Speaker 1: fit in my opinion. You know, you could have Ad
Speaker 1: covering for him defensively and with his shooting and picking
Speaker 1: roll ability, alleviating a lot of that burden off of Lebron,
Speaker 1: And of course, you know he's been a top ten
Speaker 1: twelve player over the last few years, so I mean
Speaker 1: that's the high level upgrade, of course, But like I think,
Speaker 1: there's degrees here where just just blatantly, you know, saying
Speaker 1: that a third star won't work or won't fit, I
Speaker 1: think is a mistake. But they don't really have the
Speaker 1: assets to get the type of third star that would
Speaker 1: fit perfectly next to Lebron and ad In my opinion,
Speaker 1: it would really have to be a terrible contract or
Speaker 1: you know, a situation where you know they can get
Speaker 1: a third team involved and maybe that can help facilitate it.
Speaker 1: But I just don't see it the Lakers, being straight up,
Speaker 1: you're being able to find that type of third star
Speaker 1: that really takes them to the level of a Denver
Speaker 1: or a Boston.
Speaker 4: So to me, it is a smaller upgrade.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I think three and D wing has
Speaker 1: been the biggest issue for this team really since the championship.
Speaker 1: You know, they haven't been able to replace I mean,
Speaker 1: they still had KCP and KU's that second year, but
Speaker 1: injuries and whatnot but like they haven't been able to
Speaker 1: replace that, you know, since the Russ trade with you know,
Speaker 1: kcp Cou's Danny Green. Even Alex Caruso is more of
Speaker 1: a three and D guard, Like, they just haven't had
Speaker 1: those types of guys consistently, so, you know, it's always
Speaker 1: been one flawed like Jared Vanderbilt, really good perimeter defender,
Speaker 1: but can't shoot, and teams just play him off the
Speaker 1: floor in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: So I think finding at least one of those guys.
Speaker 1: If not a couple, if possible, Like you know, maybe
Speaker 1: you can't get Caruso and you go for Royce O'Neil
Speaker 1: and Dory Finney Smith, and you know, Royce O'Neil obviously
Speaker 1: isn't the caliber of player that Alex Cruso is, but
Speaker 1: to me, it would still be an overall upgrade to
Speaker 1: the rotation if you could bring both of those guys in.
Speaker 1: Those are two guys the Lakers have had interest in
Speaker 1: dating back to last offseason and even last trade deadlines.
Speaker 1: So I know that those are two guys that they
Speaker 1: would have interest in bringing in. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we're on the same page here in terms of if
Speaker 1: you can find the perfect third star somehow and make
Speaker 1: that work and make a miracle, you know, pull it off. Like, sure,
Speaker 1: go for that, but realistically, I think it's gonna have
Speaker 1: to be a marginal upgrade in terms of the starting
Speaker 1: and closing lineup. But that's still very important for this
Speaker 1: group is obviously they have yet to figure out what's
Speaker 1: our best five man lineup and we're over thirty games
Speaker 1: into the season.
Speaker 2: That that's the key there is, like you have to
Speaker 2: find a way to make Darvin's job easier because he's struggling.
Speaker 2: He's struggling. I mean, like I said this, yes the
Speaker 2: other day, and I truly believe it. Like, in all
Speaker 2: my time watching basketball, I can't ever remember a lineup
Speaker 2: decision that confused me as much as this starting lineup move.
Speaker 2: And it's not born out of, you know, foolishness from Darvin.
Speaker 2: It's born out of desperation. He's straight up trying to
Speaker 2: find something that works. Now, I think he's grabbing at
Speaker 2: the wrong stuff personally, but I do think that this
Speaker 2: is born out of desperation, out of situation, and like,
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, you have to you
Speaker 2: can no longer have it. You put it like this,
Speaker 2: in your tweet the night that they announced the starting lineup,
Speaker 2: and it really was this simple. The three three of
Speaker 2: the top five highest players, the highest played role players
Speaker 2: outside of Lebron James and Anthony Davis all came off
Speaker 2: the bench. That's just a misallocation of resources, plain and simple.
Speaker 2: You're you're making your job harder and so finding ways
Speaker 2: to to uh to make it so that it's pretty
Speaker 2: straightforward that your five best players are on the floor
Speaker 2: to start and finish games. Is the Bill Simmons, you know,
Speaker 2: always said this when I was growing up listening to him,
Speaker 2: and I thought it was smart. It's just like, who's
Speaker 2: your five, who's your five? Like who's the five you're
Speaker 2: going down with? And the Lakers don't know, and that's
Speaker 2: the problem. And they have a problem here because even
Speaker 2: number three isn't viewed as number three by the head.
Speaker 3: Coach, So so.
Speaker 2: It becomes an issue there now. I actually, again, you
Speaker 2: have to you have to add realistic expectations here. I
Speaker 2: agree with you, like Philly's gonna be aggressive, Miami's going
Speaker 2: to be aggressive. I wouldn't be surprised if we see
Speaker 2: teams like Oklahoma City, Indiana and Sacramento get aggressive more
Speaker 2: for a front court player, so like a Golden State's
Speaker 2: gonna be aggressive there. I think this is going to
Speaker 2: be an extremely active deadline, and I do think the
Speaker 2: Lakers are gonna get outbid by some of the bigger
Speaker 2: targets out there, or for some of the bigger targets,
Speaker 2: and so I think it is going to be important
Speaker 2: to try to find, you know, guys that are where
Speaker 2: you're getting more out of the sum.
Speaker 3: Of the parts, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: And honestly, Royce O'Neil is an interesting kind of fallback
Speaker 2: option for like a two guard. One of the things
Speaker 2: I like about Royce is he's not afraid to shoot
Speaker 2: the basketball like that. That is something that I think
Speaker 2: could go well with that group. And he is comfortable
Speaker 2: a little bit behind the three point line as well.
Speaker 2: I think I think you're you're hitting at all the
Speaker 2: right stuff there. I think like realistic targets, upgrades at
Speaker 2: the role players, those are the directions to go. I've
Speaker 2: seen a lot of people talking about Austin's defense. I
Speaker 2: can think of a lot of ways the Lakers could
Speaker 2: lose on their way to a title this year, and
Speaker 2: none of them involve Austin becoming an issue.
Speaker 3: They just don't for me.
Speaker 2: Like I obviously there are there are moments where he
Speaker 2: can get exploited for his lack of size, but having
Speaker 2: one guy on the floor like that is a problem
Speaker 2: every single team has. I watched Denver literally get relentlessly
Speaker 2: attacked in the post by Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Minga
Speaker 2: on Jamal Murray. You know, I've seen a team's do
Speaker 2: it to Boston's guards. I've seen teams do it to
Speaker 2: Dame into Malik Beasley. That's that, to me, is just
Speaker 2: a fundamental part of a good basketball team is you
Speaker 2: got to have a point guard on the floor and
Speaker 2: he's probably going to be smaller, and he's probably gonna
Speaker 2: be a guy that can be attacked. That to me
Speaker 2: is something you have to learn to work around instead
Speaker 2: of just bailing on entirely. And so to me, it's
Speaker 2: about the two and the three. All right, before we
Speaker 2: get out of here, is there anything that you wanted
Speaker 2: to plug? I know you've been working really hard over
Speaker 2: the holiday.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just.
Speaker 1: My story today about the starting lineup, and I think
Speaker 1: the headline literally was, you know, it doesn't make any sense,
Speaker 1: And I mean I go into some of the reasons,
Speaker 1: you know, look at some of the early possessions of
Speaker 1: just the way they're defending the Lakers, and why it's
Speaker 1: a mistake to continue using this lineup, the trickle down
Speaker 1: effect that I think you were talking about offense leading
Speaker 1: to defense. Like the other thing here is if you're
Speaker 1: not scoring, you're giving up you know, transition baskets, and
Speaker 1: that's what I think. There was a play early in
Speaker 1: the game. Ham runs a pick and roll because the
Speaker 1: Lakers need another ball handler out there. He's running pick
Speaker 1: and roll, he turns the ball over in the Celtics
Speaker 1: score and transition. It's like, if you have Cam as
Speaker 1: that fourth or fifth ball handler in the lineup, you're
Speaker 1: not really running into that. But when you put him
Speaker 1: as arguably the second ball handler in the lineup, now
Speaker 1: that's where you have some of these issues. So to me,
Speaker 1: you know, Lakers clearly have to go in a different
Speaker 1: direction with that lineup in the way that it affects
Speaker 1: the rest of the rotation.
Speaker 4: But that would be the main thing.
Speaker 1: I'll have some stuff coming up, you know, for the
Speaker 1: new year in terms of state of the Lakers and
Speaker 1: sort of where things are at. But for now, just
Speaker 1: enjoy a breakdown of why their new starting lineup doesn't
Speaker 1: make sense.
Speaker 2: One of the things I appreciated was that in that
Speaker 2: second half, I don't know if you noticed, but they
Speaker 2: just started posting up Lebron and eighty every single possession,
Speaker 2: And like that, to me is the at least the
Speaker 2: right counter to that none of our other guys.
Speaker 3: Can dribble situation, which is which is something to look at.
Speaker 2: But like I, Yovan and I have joked about this
Speaker 2: off the air, but like, in a weird way, this
Speaker 2: has been kind of like the perfect Lakers season because
Speaker 2: obviously everybody outside of the Laker fan base just thinks
Speaker 2: they suck, and I tend to think that's wrong. I
Speaker 2: think this is I think the Lakers are the team
Speaker 2: that have the largest gap between their night to night
Speaker 2: effort and what they're capable of, which is going to
Speaker 2: lead to some mixed results in the regular season that
Speaker 2: are gonna make them look lesser than they are. But
Speaker 2: it's kind of perfect because they're, in my opinion, one
Speaker 2: of the short list of teams that genuinely has a
Speaker 2: chance to win the title if they hit, if they
Speaker 2: hit at the deadline. But tons of drama, tons of
Speaker 2: shitty basketball for us to complain about over the course
Speaker 2: of the eighty two Yovan did an amazing job. In
Speaker 2: his article today broke down a bunch of specific video
Speaker 2: examples of the way that the floor is shrunk on
Speaker 2: the Laker starters, with the way that lineup was constructed.
Speaker 2: I highly encourage you guys to check it out. As always,
Speaker 2: we shit you guys for supporting the show. We'll have
Speaker 2: a show tomorrow coming out with power rankings as well
Speaker 2: as some game breakdowns.
Speaker 3: I will see you guys.
Speaker 1: Then the volume