What is krack Lack and hardwoodknock Listeners, I am Dampa Valley coming at you
once more without my fantabulous co host Adam Brommel, as our team look Ahead
train continues to roll on. We are up to the Los Angeles Lakers,
whose biggest move of the offseason was signing Wayne Ellington, so we're definitely gonna
get into that. I had to bring back on Jabari Ali Davis. You
can follow him on Twitter at Jabari Davis MBA. That's at jab A r
I d A v I S NBA. He is co host of the Baseline
and Never Meet Your Heroes podcast for nineteen Media Group. Go ahead and give
him a follow. Check out those podcasts at NBA Baseline for the Baseline at
n my h pod. Sorry for stumbling through that. A's at n M
y hpo d that's the Never Meet Your Heroes Pod. We have a great
conversation before where we get into it, though my usual housekeeping notes my usual
please keep rating, reviewing, and subscribing to us wherever you get your podcast,
poor bevore. It really helps us out in the charts, and that's
how we continue to get this podcast out there. If this is your first
time listening to us because you really love the Lakers. Maybe you're just a
jabari stand I'm right there with you. Perhaps you're here on accident. You
don't even know how you clicked on this or someone sent it to you.
Consider throwing us that permit subscription downloading every episode. We do ask that everyone,
whether they use iTunes or not, if you have access to it,
go to iTunes search Hardwood Knox. Throw us that five star rating. Write
a review, and you can be as mean as you want in the reviews.
We want you to be as honest as humanly possible, just as long
as you throw us that five star rating, because that again helps us a
ton in the charts. Follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. You can
follow our YouTube channel. Go to YouTube dot com search Hardwood Knox. We
will come up. Subscribe to that, and we are also on Instagram at
Hardwood Underscore Knox. Let's get two lots of Los Angeles first. Before we
get there, I want to note that because we've had such a podcast backlog,
I've elected to publish teams that might do something weird or have more pressing
issues going on first. It's so facto going and publishing the next the Brooklyn
Nets one right away because of the Kyrie situation, knowing that information there can
be dated pretty quickly. With the Lakers, I have held this podcast for
almost a week. We recorded before we found out about Trevor Reason being out
two months for his right ankle surgery. Please consider that doesn't impact the pod
wholesale at all. I also cannot remember that's how long ago was whether we
recorded this before we kind of found out that Anthony Davis is not going to
be starting at center. I think we mentioned that maybe he'll be starting at
Power Forward next to DeAndre Jordan. That is the expectation around LA, So
please keep those things in mind as you're going through this podcast. All the
information, though, are still very pertinent since the Lakers, obviously they really
physically can't do anything major with their roster even if they wanted to. They're
not trading any of their three main guys in Russell Westbrook, Lebron or a
d. They can't even trade talent Horton Tucker because of the contract that he
just signed. So there's not like they don't have the first of all most
of their rosters free agencies so they just can't make a move. All the
information was still pertinent. Sorry for stumbling through that, But let's get to
lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of Los Angeles Lakers talk both
short term, near term, super long term. I guess that's three things,
but we talk about it with Jabari Ali Davis. Let's get to it.
Jabari, thank you so much for coming back on the Hardwood Knox podcast
too once again school me on some Lakers talk first and foremost, though,
how the hell are you? I'm doing all right dad? For one,
I don't think I'll be doing any schooling, but I certainly appreciate the invitation
to give them. Man Hey, look, also, this is your third
time, because I have a spreadsheet to make sure I don't bother people more
than once or twice a year unless I really disliked them, apparently, but
this is your third time. So the first two times I feel like you
could be nice. Maybe I tricked you. The third time it's your fault,
like you agreed to come back. I'm not going to take responsibility for
that a thousand percent. And I actually meet it when I say it's an
oundor each time you got a great show and then you look, I didn't
realize it was a third for whatever reason, I thought it was a second.
So obviously it's not a Bob. So the Lakers, they didn't really
do anything over the offseason, right, it was kind of boring. Yeah,
honestly, they just sat around, didn't really make any moves. So
you know, it's kind of frustrating from a fan perspective, especially if you're
a King's fan and thought that you were dealing Buddy Hills for a certain fact,
or if you're a Buddy Healed that too. So what are your just
I mean, you have to start there like that is that might be.
And obviously we've seen Lebron go to Miami with the Big three, but this
is like one of the most polarizing moves in recent memory because of we have
all this evidence that Westbrook probably shouldn't play with the way the Lakers were built
like a guy like Lebron, and yet here they are they made that move.
So what what are your just what are your thoughts on the one the
Lakers, the decision that they made, which was essentially Russ over Buddy Healed
or maybe whatever else was out there, and too, Like, how what
is the path to making this work? Basically, I'm not gonna lie and
say that, you know that I wasn't concerned at the start of this,
especially since most of the signs that you know, we had going into it.
It was some some combination of Buddy healed and possibly Damar de Rosen or
you know, things of that nature, and then all of a sudden,
Nope, Russ. So again, like like, I've always been a Russ
fan, I've always I've always appreciated him, you know. But you know,
when asked in previous years if I wanted him on the Lakers, I
would have just said next no, because I didn't necessarily love the fit.
Where I ultimately landed, honestly, and you know, was with the You
know, the reality is that Russ is still what I consider a significant you
know, like upgrade at the position over last year. Flaws and quirkiness of
the of the fit and all, you know, but beyond Breen, what
I honestly feel is he's exactly the motor that this team was lacking last year,
especially when Lebron was not at full health. For very specifically not in
the game. Russ brings a presence and I think ad personally absolutely unique and
I'm here for that. In fact, you know, honestly, adding Russ
to this mix, along with Rondo returning obviously to a lesser extent, it
all but guarantees that there's going to be at least one all time playmaker on
the court. We are with Anthony Davis, and I'll be honest with you,
I think it's honestly going to lead up to, like what I'm anticipating,
being a big time bounce pack. What's interesting with him is we've probably
veered too far away in the Russell Westbrook discourse of Okay, this guy is
really good at basketball. Still. It's just that we have so much evidence
from Okay, see from Houston, from Washington that he plays a certain way,
and I view him as most valuable on a team where he is the
guy, or in situations where he is the guy and you've surrounded him with
shooting. I actually don't mind this trade from a regular season perspective, because
the Lakers offense was so bad without Lebron these past two years, and their
half court offense even with him has been sha he at points, and if
you replace Russell Westbrook, if he plays every single minute that Lebron doesn't this
year, you're one a better regular season team. I would think, you
know, he didn't. Washington's offense wasn't incredible last season when Russ played without
Bo. But this is a different team. But if you have Russ in
the games, if you want to wrest Lebron, or just when Lebron is
sitting in theory, the offense should be better. Where I just where it
comes starts to fall apart from me is it feels like there needs to be
a material change and either the way that Lebron plays or we're preferably because less
of Lebron should never be the answer. I saw people saying, like,
what if Lebron was off the ball? More no, No, Less of
a Lebron is never the answer for me, more preferably unless we see Westbrook
change. I get concerned about the playoffs part of it, because they're gonna
have to play you know, a you know, forty minutes together and a
thirty five minutes together, whatever it is. And I'm just I don't know
how to fit those same minutes with Lebron and Westbrook on. I just I
don't know how they work. I'm not gonna lie to you that that of
course, that's a concern. And it's funny because even though it's a bit
reductive, I often will at least go into the season like considering whether a
team is built for eighty two versus build you know, built for sixteen.
Obviously there are teams that are built you know, you know, built to
last regardless. But you know, I do think a lot of times you
can you know, you can put you can place teams, you know,
like in that category one way or another. With this Lakers team, while
yes, I think they're you know, I think they are set up you
know, you know, for you for you know, to match up favorably,
you know, kind of like across the board, you know, regardless
of the matchup, it will be a very interesting adjustment because, like you
said, the evidence is there. It isn't like, uh, you know,
while Westbrook is very still very much effective and still you know, and
and and and it obviously showed last year that he can you know, have
an impact on some winning basketball or you know, somewhat of winning basketball.
Uh, it would be foolish to say that, oh yeah, just just
heading in it's going to be perfect, because no, like Frank Vogel and
his coaching staff will have their work cut out for him. But like you
know it, you know the old adage. You know, they knew that
job was dangerous when they took it. They knew what they were signing up
for Westbrook. So hopefully it doesn't honestly for Lakers fans, hopefully it just
doesn't backfire. They made many other moves aside from Westbrook, and so just
looking at, like viewing the other additions in some because we just don't have
the time and you'd take a year to go through everything, and one of
them, which player, two, three players, whoever? Who do you
think ends up being the most important or most impactful for them again, just
beyond Westbrook. Yeah, and you know it's funny, like in the pre
show, you we can kind of alluded to like just how much they've done
if you really think about this Lakers front office, the last four consecutive summers,
they've like swung for the fences in a lot of different ways. You
know, obviously four years ago to get Lebron, you know, three years
ago they get you know Anthony Davis, you know, a couple of deal
or two seasons ago. We'll say, because it wasn't. It wasn't two
years ago, but two seasons ago, they you know, they made all
the moves to bring in Shrewder and Trez and and all that, and and
they've honestly, you know, circled right back and done it again. Obviously
everything being centered around you know, a d and Lebron. But you know,
while I definitely like the Westbrook edition, you know, allow me to
go on record, it's saying like, I think the Lake Monk could prove
to be one of the best acquisitions of the summer. And honestly, he's
in he's a you know, he obviously he's in a deep you know,
a deep mix of talent, you know, so we'll have you know,
he's gonna have to find his way, you'll, into a prominent role within
the rotation. But honestly, if he can just simply knock down open looks,
you know, Phil open spots, you know, Phil lanes, you
know, this feels like a situation where he could, like just where you
could routinely sneak you like maybe the high double digits in you honestly find a
way to be a difference maker, like and and But let's be real he's
going to be competing with the newly resigned THHD and others guards for you know,
for those minutes. But you know it, I get and in some
other guys, you know, like you mentioned that, you know, they
made a ton of moves, but in a weird way sort of what I
wish I wish you would have been able to see from a consistency standpoint,
I think bays Moore edition, a bays Moore's edition could bring what we wanted
to see from West Matthews. And that's not that's not a knock against West
Matthews last year because he did finally find you'll find a shot any any found
ways to be impactful. But just you know, with with them going out
as early as they did, he wasn't able to you'll can make quite the
impact that some of us would have liked. The base I think could you
could add to that. So I'll be honest with you. What Vocal has
shown over there, You're like during his tenure here and the end, you
know, quite frankly, I didn't I don't know that I uh, you
paid as close attention to his rotations when he was in in Indiana. But
what he's shown here is that he's not afraid to mix things up. He's
not afraid to move folks around, he's not afraid to kind of work guys
in and out of the rotation. And you're like, you're like it into
your your more significant roles of prominence, and honestly, it's usually based upon
what type of consistent effort they give it the defensive end. So for guys
like Monk, guys like you know, base More, guys like THHT,
all of them are going to have the opportunity to shine. It's just really
going to be like, you know who, We're going to pick up the
defensive principles and honestly, you'll you'll put in the work on the perimeter.
You saying that just made me remember that Wesley Matthews did not sign with the
team in this offseason as far as I know, maybe I'm maybe I missed
that, but that I don't think you did. Yeah. So the Molie
Monkan is very interesting because that dude can shoot. I feel like he can
make quick decisions on offense where maybe you don't want him being responsible for actually
generating the offense, but if you put the ball in his hands, there
are other things he can do then just shoot like he can put it on
the floor. And I've said this, I think it's a wildly unpopular take.
He's terrible on defense, but I feel like he can defend up for
his size, and so if you're facing matchups where you can hide him on
a bigger player that's maybe not as mobile or isn't going to attack, that
could probably help you get by with more Malik Monk minutes. Also a critical
part of that is you probably want eighty at the five in those scenarios so
that there are bigger players to choose from, And it sounds like eighty will
play the five. So I'm totally with you on the Monk front. The
Baysmore one is just I think this team, when you looked at it last
year, even when they had Wes Matthews, when they had Cus, when
they had KCP, it was like they could just use more three and d
wings, justn Lebron with them. Ken Baysmore thought is like always been a
little bit overrated on defense, then underrated on offense, but like he defended
fine last year with Golden State, so and that archetype of player on this
specific Lakers team, Like it's Kent Baysmore, Like you go up down the
roster, it's like, okay, well who are there? Who are there
three indie wing type players, And it's it's Kent Baysmore. I guess Lebron
falls under that mold at this point. But it's it's him, and it's
him and Lebron and that's it. But you know what the crazy thing and
and look and again, while I appreciated Vogel, you know during his tenure,
you know in the Eastern Conference, I didn't recognize how much of a
defensive beast that man was. And I guess I should have. I guess
I should have because he turned But what's my big band's name, what's my
big nand's name? Were you terryty Roy Roy Hibbert into an All Star?
You know, all start level and you'll all defense you level player for a
couple of seasons. But to be honest with you, the reason why I'm
less concerned heading into this year, at least from the from the defensive side,
one eighty eight to five is a that's a game jame. It you
see is on both ends, but you know significantly on the defensive. You
know, the pressure that you can ply and go both around the perimeter and
obviously as a protector and even as a weak side defender at the five.
You know, it can't be overstated. But also the main reason why I'm
not as concerned it is, even with a D out, even with Lebron
out for significant stretches of last year, the Lakers were you know, that
coaching staff was able to put together. If I'm not mistaken, I do
not have the statistics right here, you're in front of me, But be
honest with you if I feel like, you'll correct me, because you probably
have them. You know, they were able to put together a top three,
you know, three to five defense for the bulk of last year even
with their main defenders out. So I feel I feel pretty good about that
side of the ball once you know, once everybody, well if everybody you
know buys into the system. What's interesting about eighty at the five is so
I think at once it gives him a better defensive player of the year case
because I do feel like and look, defense is hard to measure and I
suck at it. So I want to make that clear, like I'm just
not like this savant. But because Anthony Davis was doing so much and wasn't
like this traditional rim deterrent because he was doing so much and playing more for
in the right. Yeah, they closed with him at the five. He
played in the playoffs, YadA, YadA, YadA, but it took away
because his impact it was harder to quantify whether you're looking at like what was
happening at the rim, not even just opponent field goal percentage, but maybe
the frequency with which they were getting there, even just raw blocks sometimes.
And so I think him playing center will probably end up boosting his defensive Player
of the Year case, especially if the Lakers are still good on defense,
because as you mentioned about Frank Vogel, he is a whiz. But like
there, they are rolling the dice on Frank Vogel here a little bit because
you got rid of Kuzma turned into the past two years a very solid defender
KCP. He's always been an up and down player, but he won.
I stand by the fact he was their third most important player during that title
run in twenty twenty. And he's also just handled a crack ton of really
important defensive assignments and you know, you replace them with Kent Baysmore. And
I apologize for my Trevor Ariza Erasher, I forgot about he is a three
and D type, so they are banking a lot, I would say on
Frank Vogel and Anthony Davis, I do agree with you though, with what
you said about him at the five, and I do think it sets him
up. Though to my larger point of if the Lakers are pretty good on
defense, if they're even close to as good as they are last season,
and Ad plays the five, I bet you that he is one of the
top two contenders for Defensive Player of the Year. I already went out on
the limits. I think he's been five Defensive Player of the Year as well
as everyp I'm you know, you know the show that I was on,
they said like, yeah, you say this every year. That maybe,
but but I genuinely believe I see and I see time. I think I
think we're looking at this type of that type of year from Abe this year
specifically, because like I said, when you were playing well one, he's
extra extra motivated. And I jokingly and somewhat flippingly said, bullying works.
This is like, these are human beings. These are folks that they see,
you know, they see you know, like they see the criticism.
They hear the loudest of the critics and they and it's understandable if it impacts
him that man went into the offseason, you know, very much ready to
get you. You'll get his body right, and by all accounts, you
know, like from all reports, he has done that. So, like
I said, I this is not the Laker homer in me. I promise
you, I genuinely think top three, you know, top three at worst,
top five in both this year. Yeah, I mean, Pete is
That's an interesting stance because my inst reaction would be, how is he ever
going to do enough on offense with Lebron and Russ there? But I'm wondering
if Russ and I have no answer to this, does that help a D
getting more pick and roll actions? I think that was something he kind of
complained about with Dennis Shrewder there or wasn't happy about one lab connection all year.
It will never make sense to me. I recognize they didn't play,
and you know, like in an ordinate amount of you have minute together,
you know, because you know a D was in and out of lineup and
Indio down the stretch. You know, obviously you know Shrewder was, but
one lab connection to what even in the shape that he was in, even
if he wasn't one hundred percent to what I consider probably top you know,
top three, you know, you know lab threats, you know that.
Yeah, we've seen at least in the last twenty years. That's never going
to make sense to me. You gave him Lebron, you know, like
your back hid full strength. You give him Russ like you just like you
just mentioned work and pick and roll action. Honestly, just find him on
find him on simple curls, finding him like on quick on quick deal breakouts.
I think he's I think the reason why he'll be in the conversation is
because he's going to put up the efficiency numbers that are just ridiculous. I
think the game is going to be it's going to be significantly easier for Anthony
Davis this year. I guess the one thing I would think that he needs
to do on offense, and that is a little dependent. Will he have
his opportunity if they're going to run more pick and roller, if they're gonna
find ways to bring him around screens, or is like he's still gonna take
outside shots, is my point, and those just need to fall at a
higher clip, not even just the threes. But like, I'm not saying
he needs to be Bubble, a D who was essentially given to Aunt two
point zero with his efficiency for mid range and beyond the arc. But I
think those numbers are gonna have even with him at the five, Like his
shooting becomes so important because he's going to play with Russ and like that's just
a non shooter right off the bat. Yeah, and agreed, and you'll
be is at your Lakers fans would be, you know, silly if we
didn't acknowledge a D Like like you said, it doesn't have to be Bubble
level, but it has to be better than it was last year. It
has to be and you'll make it. Honestly, in between those levels would
be okay. You know, like obviously you know close, you know,
the better you know, the better he shoots, to be honest with you,
the more efficient a half court offense will be. You know. And
that's not anything groundbreaking, but they they actually you're going to need that from
him, so you know, honestly, look, I'm putting a lot of
pressure on him. I'm sure he's putting a lot of pressure on himself.
The Lakers as an organization have have placed a lot of pressures on those shoulders,
and you know, you're going to see if he's gonna be able to
you know, going to be able to answer. And it's I think you
made the most important point though, is if he's going to be healthier and
his body's and better shaped, like his rim frequency plummeted last year, especially
towards the beginning of the season, and so if you have a healthier a
d just having that element then and even I'm thinking now, the thing I
didn't even mention with Russ to you is the Lakers were six in the frequency
with which they reached the rim on offense the percent of their shots that came
there. Now you're adding Russ to that and a healthy ad, it's like
they better rank one or two in that category. I would think. Feels
like it. Okay, So remember in twenty In twenty twenty, you're like,
they played b Bowl a lot, but they also got out and ran
a lot. It feels like we're we're headed for that. Feels like we're
going to get a lot of a lot of attack at the rim, whether
it's in the half quarter. You're like, you're ridin you'll semi transition or
actual transition. I think we're going to get a lot of that. Obviously.
To be honest with you, I'll go to a step further. It
would shock me if they're not number one in the league this year, and
especially in point page points in the pain. Yeah, look and yeah they
better be just at that point. And someone mentioned this to me too,
that we're probably overthinking the shooting element of their team because look at how the
Bucks just won and they sort of they didn't play ugly, but they didn't
shoot well from three during the playoffs. And I actually I was like,
that's a fantastic point where I sort of diverged from it. I was like,
they still had two guys that could really create from the perimeter, and
the Lakers had that in Lebron, and then Russ is like, no,
like he's like one of the least efficient jump shooters in the history of the
NBA relative to his volume. So that's where I differentiate. But they still
did win. They put a ton of pressure on the rim and on the
paint, they worked their asses off on defense, and they didn't win playing
like this widespread aesthetically acceptable style of basketball there working concessions, like jan is
playing off the ball a ton, but like that's like a d already does
that. So maybe I'm I still think the Lakers gonna be really good.
But that point that person made to me got me thinking, like maybe we
really are just like putting too much sweat equity and thinking about how the Lakers
are going to figure this out. When the Bucks just won the title,
you it was in reference to something else earlier, but you just kind of
said, like we overcorrected. Oftentimes we do that, you know, we're
all reactive. We all think like, oh, okay, you know,
since this team won it, it's going to it's going to be done like
this forever, when obviously we've been watching basketball long enough to know there are
multiple ways that you can win, you know, like with the league transitioning
a certain way, Yo, is it important to at least keep up with
the Joneses and you to a certain degree. Yes, But if you're really
really, if you're almost cut almost you're darn good at what you do,
you're free to curse. You're fine. You can still you can still be
affective, you know me, like and sometimes I let him loose, so
like I try to be respected, trying to be respect for a lot of
people's show. But honestly, if you're really good at what you do,
you're going to find a way to win. And I think the Lakers are
going to be really good at what they do, like and outside of the
shooting, and honestly, just like you know, just like in twenty twenty,
if the shots are falling, you can say good night. Yeah,
I'm imagine if Rush shoots like league average from mid range or something, this
team probably wins eighty games. And this is the thing I've already seen people
get in their hopes. So I've already seen people saying like, hey,
Russ has been working. Said come on, guys, you think Russ wasn't
working, But to your point, if he could just be closer to league
average or and quite frankly, if he's league average from the mid range and
YO line up the nets, let's get to this. I can't wait because
I and I and I know that we should do that because all types of
things, but we're all at least at least looking at that downpour. And
it's even even if he's not league average. If you have both Lebron and
Ads hitting their threes, and Lebron has been a really good or pretty good
at least three point shooter for more than a half decade now. So if
eight he is like a real three point three three you have to guard,
then it's not as important that Russell Westbrook hits jumpers because those pathways to the
basket, like you can still cobble together, like between melow Areza baysmore like,
there's guys who can hit a three, so you can continue to do
four out around Russ. Speaking of Mellow, I think maybe the biggest concern
that the Lakers should have is they signed a lot or added a lot of
guys that are going to expect to play. You look at the big names
when it's Dwight Howard, Mellow, DeAndre Jordan, but also like Kendrick Nunn,
he didn't get the minimum they got they signed like he didn't. He
got more than the minimum from them, so he's probably expecting to play.
Who do you think is most likely when you're looking at their roster to be
disappointed in their role because you see them maybe getting squeezed by by minutes.
Just given how this team is built right now, so this could come back
to bite me in the behind because of course, you know, you know,
NBA teams have done stranger things. But the first name that jumps out
to me is DJ. The truth of the matter is, you know,
I think everybody that's signed on had to at least understand, hey, look
I'm joining I'm joining a mix like this, and you know at least has
that, you know, like mindset going in. I could see DJ like,
I'm like this. I could see DJ starting at the five. You
know, certain games, I could see him being like we all worked in.
But ultimately, to be honest with you, you know you're better off
with a D at the five. And and if and if, honestly,
if Dwight can recapture any part of what he did these Lakers A related and
quite frankly, I think he can. Uh you know know just two seasons
ago. You're better off with him, feel like as your secondary. So
of all the names, while yes, I think that, I think the
coach stuff will find a way to work guys in. I think Rondo and
DJ maybe on the back end of the protetion, and for good reason,
they're more of the break glass in case of a purgency type players. For
this, I would argue at this point, with all due respect, that
you're probably better off with Mellow at the five than d Andrew Jordan at the
five. I'm just so far out on DeAndre Jordan, and I'm wondering if
for Dwight Howard. I know Russ is here, but I'm assuming they'll probably
play a lot of Ad Russ minutes without Lebron, and so Lebron will have
another big when he plays without those two. Right, Howard doesn't have to
play with Ben Simmons anymore, and the Sixers trying to make that duo happen
too many times last year like that was just that wasn't for Dwight, So
this must be a better set up. I'm I was more curious about,
and I agree with you on Rondo too. That's the one that was like,
I was not surprised that they signed him, but I was like,
I think Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk bring more of the elements what the offense
need if you have Russ and Lebron than a Rondo does. Right now,
one of the things that's kind of actually surprised me. Frank Vogel straight out
addressed this at if he was there at the beginning of camp or the Yo
Rondol's introductory prescott at some point over the last few weeks. Frank Vogels right,
I'll say he's not going to come in playing very much, and he
knows that. And I'll be like, even though that's an obvious one,
it still surprised me because you like, you'll, to your point, you're
leading into this question, guys are signing teams even if they know the situation,
they still want to. You know, a competitor's gonna want to be
competitive, and it's gonna want to it's gonna want to contribute. But ultimately,
yeah, I think it's gonna be the frontal situation because to your point,
they're going to have to have those younger guys. You know, they
honestly just as simply as simple as this, eat up minutes, especially during
the regular season and probably leading into the postseason. So you know, those
are the older and you know, less uh less impactful guys are gonna have
to you know, kind of take you know, take a side stake side
sea. I can't partake in The Lakers are old jokes ever since I turned
thirty. I just I'm like, you know, you know, the Lakers
average age of the rosters like thirty one. It's like, you know,
like, how am I supposed to make fun of that at this point?
Man? I'm look, you're talking to a guy that's forty two. I'm
I'm a not James Worth of the year. So like all of these,
all of these jokes hurt me. I'm like, hey, but shit,
excuse me, but I'm over a decade beyond that, you know. But
the truth of the better is this they've got, you know, they've got
collective age. But I don't expect the thirty five and ups to average thirty
five and up throughout the you know, the of the season. You know,
I think that they have done a good enough job. And like I
said, whether it's a month and none, let's not forget ad is not
annoyed, is not an old man, you know, your body concerns aside.
I think they have enough to kind of mitigate some of the older guys
going in and out of the lineup and in and out of their rotation.
And I think that's what it's going to be. That's a that's one hundred,
like they just have there's not maybe they're not the cleanest fits alongside one
another. But when you look at their depth chart, like they are just
they're essentially at least three deep at every position because Lebron can play point guard
or whatever you want to consider him. So the age thing doesn't even worry
me. I think the player that I'm inherently just fascinated with was Mellow signing
here, because because it's Mellow, it will be a story. It's not
a story anymore if Rondo or Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan doesn't play, if
Mellow's role gets curtailed, it's still a story. I'm less worried about it
being a thing. If AD's gonna play more five, I think that naturally
opens up minutes or more Mellow at the four and he's shown Portland let him
do his thing like he There was Jabs that Mellow, there was post up
Mellow, there was Iso Mellow, but he was hitting a lot of catch
and shoot threes. I do wonder if he's gonna have to lean more into
that with the Lakers, just because they have Russ and Lebron, which is
different from having like c J and Dame, even though that's still two scores
for two scores like now a D is in there too, So I'm curious
to see what his offensive usage looks like on this squad. You're you make
an excellent point, and I'll let me just say, Mellow is gonna play.
They're playing Mellow unless it just goes off the rails and he's just completely
lost it. I don't think he of all the names, he's the one
that doesn't sign unless he's an unless he's certain that he's going to play.
And that's not and that's not a knock against him. I think he can
still I think it can still be effective, and he can certainly still get
buckets. So you'll I understand that mindset. Yeah, I I look at
it as I anticipate a lot of catch and shoot, you like, especially
your corner situations or you know, secondary trains and type you know, situations
for him if he's on the court with you, especially if he's on the
court with eighty and Lebron, or if he shares minutes with him, when
you'll if those guys go off and and you know we're in the back,
you'll you'll getting into the second or even your midway through the second quarter,
and even stretches you know, like your midway through the third, you know,
like quarter, I could see Mellow getting some mellow time, and you
and everybody's listening. He knows exactly what that means. I can absolutely set
some mellow time. It might not be a regular thing, but there.
You know, there will be stretches over the course of the season where you
know, he might give you a twelve point their quarter and I'm absolutely Look,
i don't care, I'm here for it. I'm just going to celebrate
all of this and try my best not to go crazy on the nights where
everybody's flipping out because they had one bad game or like they lost back to
back games. Yeah, and look, I'm you know, I'm a numbers
guy. Sometimes I feel like we overthink it to the point of Mellow just
average thirteen plus points per game, shot better than forty percent from three.
You can quibble about, well, why are they playing him and crunch time
over Derek Jones Junior or whatever. That's not Melow's fault. Like, if
you have someone who's just gonna shoot forty plus percent, I'm fairly high volume
from three that is valuable in days. Yeah, Like, and that's the
thing when it comes to like the over correction or just like you know,
oversimplification, sorry, oversimplification of you know, like of the basketball conversation.
We do this, and you know, there are certain people that they decided
five years ago Mellow was done and then and and you know, like there
are people that like will hold on to the oh, well, you know
what I said, he was done back then, So like I at least
have to hedge my bad man. Just celebrate basketball, man, Celebrate how
great, how great this league has been outlooked. Is it perfect? No?
Am I on this league got no, But it's still it's still my
greatest source of entertainment. And for those and and honestly for the you know,
for the masses out there. Sometimes it's like, yo, let go
of the petty stuff and just celebrate that you got an all time great score
on your in the mix with this team. And you mentioned the corner threes,
which is something I don't even think of. Mellow shot forty four percent
basically from the corners last year. Lebron obviously had the injury. So the
year before, Lebron was second in the league in corner three point assist thrown,
didn't have a ton of shooters on that team either, and I would
expect the Lakers. They were top ten in corners three point frequency last year.
I'd expect that number to go up with Russ there. I don't think
Russ is like the best passer, like people still react to his drives like
those are gonna open mellows like. I think you'll have games where maybe he'd
plays fewer minutes with the Lakers than he did the Blazers and still averages more
points because so many of his buckets was coming within the flow and from beyond
the art. Wouldn't shock me if that man average fifteen points a game this
year and and then people are gonna be like, oh, come on,
I would not shock me for that exact reason. Wide open shots, wide
open looks east. Like I said, you'll whether it you're like you in
the half quarter or in you'll send me transition. I could absolutely just see
him being the trail guy. You'll certain situations who and I'll be honest with
you, I could be dead wrong about this stuff, but I almost anticipate
this feedcase. I would if this were like Melow leaving Houston or Okase and
going right to the Lakers, I would get the concerns, but after seeing
him in Portland, I'm like, you know, he he came off the
bench last year like this is he could It probably won't be an issue to
me. I'd already we've already talked about how you think that they'll with eighty
at to five the defense will be able to hold. But they did trade
away two of their most important like perimeter defenders in Kyle Kuzma KCP. Do
we now think that THHT is going to get And they did pay him,
which is the other thing that informs this is tch gonna play like a real
meaningful role for this team heading or this season. Excuse me to that to
the point you just made, they certainly paid him like they believed you're like
in him coming into this year. And and I've been a supporter if he
is, and I've always been intrigued by the measurables and like be honestly,
like, especially when he came in the league that he was a little bit
you know, Charles Barkley Bilt, you know what I'm saying, and like
like, but as as a wing player, as a Charles Barkley Bilt guy
that has always been at Charles Barkley you're comparison that you'll I'm always going to
kind of favor those types of guys, but yeah, like, yeah,
part of me has to believe that they anticipate him. You'll take it a
step, you know, from an all around perspective, and you know what
could really project him to that next level is specifically locking in defensively with consistency,
Like he's you know, he's got he's got quick enough feat he's got
quick hands. You know, his reaction time is good, it's ridiculous long
reach. You know, he does get caught ball watching and you know it.
You didn't bring that up with Russell, and I appreciate you because you
know, like, like, what's going to tank this team's perimeter defense is
the guards and wings ball watching. I'm hoping that they can get that under
control. And from you know, THHD side of things, they're gonna need
They're gonna they're gonna absolutely need him. Yeah, russ Is. People like
to think that Russ has been on defense and he's like he can make he
can make doing nothing looks so exhausting on defense is the best way to frame
it. And there are points where he just feels like he's chilling, so
he's not putting that much effort into it. But all right, let me
quote, let me, let me quote the great twenty first century philosopher Russell
Westbrook rest trick y'all, trick y'all. Look I love russ I love love
Russe, and look, yo, he didn't dive in passing pans and gets
steals and pick people from behind. And yes he still does that, but
to your point, I want him to be you know, I'm hoping that
he's more focused on that side as opposed to focusing on you know, you
know, simply making being disruptive with THHT specifically, what do you think needs
to happen on offense for him to ensure that he has the role because he
gets to the rim a ton, but he wasn't really a good finisher there
last year. And we all know the stuff about his jumper, but look,
he's shot over and this is I feel like this is the quintessential THHT
stack of parison. He was under thirty seven percent on all jumpers last year.
He shot over fifty percent on fadeaways and like that's just his game in
a nutshell, it's so harky, jerky and quirky. That's like, yeah,
that makes sense, but what can he do or what do you think
needs to happen on offense for him to solidify his place in a rotation that's
very veteran heavy. Otherwise, Fine, sweet spots and this is the and
like this is down. This is another shattery and analysis. Fine sweet spots
and knocked down open shots because on this team, we like as much of
people talk about like, oh, you know the space is going to be
an issue, Well, it's not going to be an issue for him.
He's going to have space to operate. He's going to have space to you,
he's going to like this is not a disrespect to him. But if
you have to choose someone to drag off over, someone you're someone to sag
off of, it's going to be him. So sometimes it's going to be
as simple as you know, if they completely if they completely lose sight of
you, feel that you'll you'll feel that space and there and you're going to
be found, you know, whether it's you honestly, whether it's russ or
you know, Lebron or even a d from the you know, from you
from the ipost, someone's gonna find you on a backdoor court or on a
curl and if you if you get the opportunity to knock you know, let
you know, for open shots in the corner or open shots up top,
you gotta knock them down, like you and I know that like we can
go, you know, we can you know, you know, take deep
dives into like oh sometimes it's just a maker misleadue thht. You gotta make
your open shots. He did post the workout video of him working on his
corner three and I'm I will never read into those unless it's apparently for on
cork mases like MVP hype video whatever. I don't know if you saw that
that was hysteric, but I did his TC's released, I will say,
looked quicker on those. And if they're gonna have him in the corner,
I mean if he hits, if he even shot like just thirty five percent
from the corners or something, that ends up being like this massive game changer
for Ali, it opens things up. It means that, I'll be honest
with you, it means that he earns himself. It's really nice upgrade,
even though he just got paid it. Honestly, what it means is he
elevates himself to that three and D type guy. Like I said, if
he can focus on the defensive end. It just knocked down that knocked down
that shot. It you know, it places him, It places him in
another plateau. And even though you know kind of like you said, I
know what's coming up, you know, like in the thing, it probably
puts him in you know, like it probably puts him in the stratosphere of
like, okay, opposing gms. That's who we're going to ask for if
the Lakers come calling for anything. You know, like at the deadline,
that was Look, Lakers fans thought he was there, Damian Lillard trade bait
at one point. So so so the funniest thing is like, look,
Lakers fans get criticized, which you know, we deserve it in a lot
of ways. But a lot of times it's like, well they think they're
gonna get everybody, yet you know what, sooner or later, a lot
of times it does take place. I'm not saying that h was going to
get your Dame. I'm just saying that it's you know, not all of
the trade packages and trade ideas are asinine. Because I saw a lot of
folks stay in the same thing, like, oh, they'll never get a
d for those guys. And I sat there quietly, Honestly, I sat
there quietly saying, they're gonna end up taking that deal because that's the best
deal. Even though people who you know, like at the time that the
younger players we were on the Lakers, you know, nobody wanted to acknowledge
that they had any skill whatsoever. But it always kind of made sense to
me. All I'm saying is this, it's not gonna be for game,
but if the Lakers do swing for the fences or do you know, try
to try to step step into a trade, it's probably he's probably going to
be the principal principal figure in it. Yeah. Look, and there's just
it's the extremists that are the problem here, whereas the Lakers fans that think
you can just you've given away so many picks up, like you can't just
trade talent Horton and salary filler and get Dame Like that's the frustrating one.
And there are the people though, because of that subsection of Lakers fans,
there are the people who cover the league or their fans of other teams that
just automatically think anything the Lakers offers dog shit that it went the ad trade
like what people thought of like Brandon Ingram and Lazlo Ball and Kyle Kuzma at
the time, and even though he wasn't involved, which is like this,
maybe if you thought there were better packages out there, fine, this was
not like and the picks they gave up, it was not like a terrible
offer. So there's the extremes of like this player players for the Lakers,
who's automatically overrated. But then there's also oh, we're Lakers fans, like
we're just gonna get whoever we want for salary filler. The middle ground.
The Russell Westbrook was the middle ground too. The people who thought that the
Lakers didn't have the AMMO to pull off a blockbuster move like that was always
too far towards the extreme. It's like, no, they're not going to
get Dame, but they have salaries, they have guys who are solid.
And we've seen this a few times now where there are certain teams that don't
want to pay the older stars. So if the Lakers are willing to pay
the older stars, like, yeah, they gave up value for us.
But like the idea that they couldn't do anything. That was overblown. But
the idea that they can do everything is also overblown, of course, and
you're going to get that looked. Like, look, anytime you have an
organization that's mien as successful as the Lakers have over the years, and like
as like I've already acknowledged to you, I grew up, you know,
like I'm a man in my forties. I grew up watching Showtime as a
child. I grew up watching Showtime Basketball as a young adult. I was,
you know, like I was blessed with the Shack and Kobe years.
And obviously get so on and so on. But anytime you have that,
there's going to be unrealistic both unrealistic expectations and unrealistic criticisms. It this is
the fun place to be. I love the extreme when when you're overrating your
own team, just how good they're going to be. As a fan of
respect it that I need to be. I'm very team middle ground when it
comes to trade talks, like I don't want to hear like, you know,
well, if this guy just says he wants to go to the Lakers,
they can only trade a second round pick and salary filler and they're gonna
get you know, the second coming of Michael Jordan or something. But I
I also think people are too hard on like like basketball is supposed to be
fond. It's for the fans, not everyone needs to be like nerdy about
it. So this is to say, I don't despise Lakers fans. That's
a I can. I can appreciate that. I can appreciate that they look
look I like, let me just say like this, there's assholes and every
single fan base. It just so happens that the Lakers fan base is huge,
so the assholes are going to be you know, projected even more.
Yeah, that's a that's the best way to put it. So to wrap
up sort of this discussion about their defense, they were second in points aloud
per possesion last year outside of garbage time. Where do you like, do
you still think that they all end up being like, let's say, a
top seven defense this year. Yeah, And I kind of alluded to it
earlier. Honestly, I think the difference maker is eighty at the five,
like it's it's it's it is that much of a difference maker. Yeah,
and and and I and I won't lie, I am leaning upon some faith
in Vogue'll say, the same faith in Vogue that you know that you mentioned
was the Fun Office, Yeah exactly, you know that's yeah, that's same
exact believe. But like I said, I saw him do it last year,
and quite frankly, it felt like it was like tricks and mirrors and
everything. But they found a way. I feel like they're going to find
a way this year. Is do you worry about the argument of, well,
we'll Ad be able to hold up if he's playing the five that long?
Or like me, do you fall into the camp We always ask if
Ad can hold up? Period? At this point, I don't care exactly
exactly, Like, look, if his body holds up, incredible, but
it's not like it's not like it didn't hold up because he was put at
the five because he said issues at the four. Like you know, it
looks like I said, his body looks great. He seems to be in
you know, he seems to be in a good headspace. Uh you know,
the you all reports are that you know he's locked in and ready to
go. But all you know, once you roll the ball out, we'll
see at the very but you know, kind of to your point that you
that you made a little bit earlier. Being two to three deep at every
position is a nice luxury. And if you have to slide him out for
a little while, or he gets stinged up and you have to, you
know, kind of match up. You match match him up against your less
your physically imposing guys. You can do that. As long as he's ready
for the postseason. That's really all that matters with this group. And I
didn't put this in the outline that I sent you because you just made me
think of it. Do you expect them to, like, is there going
to be a maintenance program for Lebron? I feel like we asked this every
year, and there's something different. I would say maybe he if he doesn't
want one, he won't get one. But there's just something different about saying
it's Lebron's age thirty seventh season. That number just feels like like, I
don't know what it is about the number thirty seven, but I look at
that and I'm like, that dude's so close to forty, Like it would
be nuts if they don't have it in mind. But you know the point
that you just made, if he wants one, he'll have one. If
he doesn't want one, he won't have one. I think he's intelligent enough
to recognize, well, I shouldn't even plate the positive in intelligence. I
think he can see the forest beyond the trees to say like, okay,
I may only you know, like, I don't know how many of these
runs I have left, so I have to be ready for the postseason.
Typically coming off of the postseason that they just had where both of them were
dinged up and and and it really and they really just never had any chance.
It would be crazy for him to say, nah, I'm good thirty
seven thirty seven minutes of night, let's go like that. That would be
crazy. I'm hoping that. I'm hoping that they're in a position to where
it's not even a consideration because he doesn't have to play down the stretch of
a lot. Of course, I think I'm thinking too much about the Russell
Westbrook acquisition. But if they weren't gonna do just something different, like maybe
it's okay, Lebron's not going to play more than thirty four minutes in the
regular season. Ever, I feel like maybe they wouldn't have been invested as
invested in a Westbrook trade because I think he gives you a pathway to doing
that. Like the non Lebron minutes are that's what every team has struggled with
basically since Lebron came in the league. And if you could win those,
maybe providing more flexibility that Lebron just really hasn't had before, because like even
the Cleveland minutes with Kevin Love and Kyrie and no Lebron, they were mostly
crap. There were stretches where they were fine, but they were mostly bad
without him. If you can win the non Lebron minutes, I'll be on
you. I could absolutely see him being very happy to play in thirty two
thirty three minutes tonight and being ready to go ramping and and we've seeing that
number increase in February and Marching being ready to go when it comes to the
potseason. We've reached the cookie cutter portion of this podcast where I asked these
questions on every look ahead, what is this team's biggest weakness right now?
I think we've probably already touched on it, maybe even stomped on it a
little bit, but it's it's perimeter defense. And anybody just says otherwise,
it's crazy. While I feel confident that they'll be able to put it together
heading in the biggest question is perimeter defense. You can't lose three or four
of your top perimeter defenders and you know whether whether guys are going to field
it you'll feel those rules or not. You can't lose that in and just
say like, oh, no, it's going to be fine. I think
it will. But that's the biggest question mark. If you said again,
yeah, and I could understand because Lebron has been so good defensively the past
two years. If you wanted to say it's their shooting, I guess I
would understand. But it's like, you actually have guys whether you play them
as a different story, but you have guys in monk In none in they
can hit the threes. Yeah, So I would agree with you there.
And that's it's definitely if it's not the weakness, it is the biggest question,
just like, what is this perimeter defense going to look like as of
right now? And this can change, of course, as the season actually
happens. We get more information, storylines developed, YadA, YadA, YadA.
Who would you view as the most likely player to get traded from this
team? See and this other thing, let me preface this with I'm not
saying I'm not advocating for the guy to get traded, but I already alluded
to this for Lakers fans out there that get very very sensitive with you mentioned
any of the young players, because that does happen, and I get accused
of all types of stuff in my DMS on my timeline, THHT is probably
the most likely, specifically because he's the probably the most attractive young piece that's
already locked in for a decent you wore a decent rate that also can it
has potential to take that next step. So I don't I don't think that's
going to happen. But if the question is who's most likely, it's probably
him. And look, the other thing here is like they're not trading lebron
A d or Russ. Getting to the point you get to the stage of,
well, how are they matching any salary? Teach T's now the fourth
highest paid player on the Lakers, Like that's so, and so I look
at him and Kendrick Nunn and I'm like, that's fifteen million in salary together,
Like if you wanted to aggregate it to get a more expensive player,
it's one of those two. To me, maybe the Lakers don't make any
moves, like maybe they're so good or they just don't feel the rush.
But if they decide to take a swing, it's gonna it's gonna be talent
Horton tough. Like, there's not even another possible answer here, exactly.
And even though I prefaced it with all of that and we're explaining this,
there's going to be people saying, these assholes are talking about trade. You
know, we don't want it to happen. I'm not saying it. I'm
just saying, like, like to your point, it's the only one that
makes sense, or the one that makes the most sense. Now, do
you The Lakers we just mentioned are now clearly limited in the type of trade
assets they could offer, knowing the weaknesses on this team or what they could
need. Though, are there any players that you envision who could become available
that you would like to see them make a run at on the market.
I don't have a specific player or but I will say you kind of addressing
what we just alluded to, whether it's more shooting or a bigger wing that
can defend. One of those two types of players would be the ones that
I would I would imagine them looking for in a second half for it.
I have a name. I don't know whatever it take to get him,
but he's cheap to where that you don't give up even talent Horton Tucker,
Daniel House if he's healthy, someone who could defend like David played him at
the five way back when in Houston, and he has shot threes better in
the past. That's not This is to say like people probably want, oh,
the Lakers need to go and get like another star or something. This
is a team that needs to put bows on the way that they're built.
He seems like the perfect type of acquisition. I don't know what it costs
to get him, but he's in the final year of his deal, coming
off an injury play campaign last year, and the Rockets have so many bodies
because they added like a trillion first round draft prospects this summer. That's a
name that if I was the Lakers and I would name him for a bunch
of contenders. But if you're the Lakers specifically, you look at what you
need. That's someone I zero in on, or at least keep an eye
on. So I didn't have him in mind. But but the point you
just made, if it's not the Lakers, someone's gonna come calling for a
guy that, you know, the guy that's versatile, you know, the
versatile like that. I that's a really good point. It would end you
know, you know, no disrespect you so, but you know you don't
need you don't need him with where you're going, you don't need well,
yeah exactly, I mean one hundred if they keep him, I wouldn't understand
why, Like he's not coming back again. Yeah exactly. So this and
I think with the Lakers, aprobably more so than most teams, they'll change
their crunch time lineup based on matchups. But what do you think will wind
up being their most effective or most used crunch time unit. It could go
a lot of different a lot of different routes, but I think it's going
to be eighty at to five. You're gonna get the combination of eighty and
Lebron up top, probably mellow in a lot in a lot of cases,
Russ at the you know, like you're at the one and I end the
notes here, I've got insert player because it's whomever is rolling that we already
have the blueprint for this. They've done it the last two years, especially
in the regular season. You know, this coaching staff has no problem with
going with never is rolling, or you'll like or has a matchup advantage,
or you have significant advantages and you'll like you'll from a matchup no perspective.
So I think it's going to look like that, you know, like whether
that's Monk or you know, none At a given night, Wayne Ellington,
like if he's really got it going, you know, you really any of
them across the board, could you'll could serve their role. Yeah, I
think there's three givens with Lebron, Russ, and a D And if if
Russ isn't a given in the closing unit, we're gonna have a lot of
content this season. If I'm if it is going to be mellow as like
the most likely fourth, I'm wondering if they might play bigger or at that
point, I wonder if it's we need to play Campais more Trevor Rees or
just have someone else other than Lebron who could defend wings in that crunch time
unit because Monk's not going to do that, is there and it doesn't really
starting figs don't really matter anymore. But do you have any sense of what
the starting five is gonna be? Then? Like we know a d Lebron
and Ross, how are they going to fill out those final two spots?
It from from the report that I saw that I heard. It's it's it
kind of is a camp battle between guys like THD and Monk and you and
Baysmore and those guys like I have no I have no way of honestly of
knowing. I think I want look, I put like this, I want
it to be THHD, but I think it's I think it's gonna end up
being a Monk. I would probably go Monk and Baysmore as the final two,
TCHT and Russ on the court at the same time. That is it
might yeah, let me look, let let me add this caveat if his
shot has fallen. I wanted to be because yes, what you were just
gonna say, yes, one hundred percent. Yeah, if either of those
dudes just just hitting threees a bunch of threes, then you feel free to
play them together as much as you want. Is there a weird, oddball,
quirky, out of left field lineup that you want Frank Vogel to roll
out just to try, just to see what happens. I do have one,
and here and here we are, and people are like the okay a
d lebron, Yes, I still want my thht THHD at the three Monk
and Russ. Look, look it's quirky, but it's really fun. They
can both get up and down the court, and they can bullyball you in
a half court setting. Especially, this is a big caveat if THHD continues
to improve as a deep brick, it wouldn't shock me if we actually saw
this line up at some point, because, like I said, like one
of the things that I kind of like about them, even though initially I
was a little bit off put by it, is that they're not afraid that
you know, they're not afraid the jo They're not that challenge. I'm not
afraid to test the waters. So the one and I'll purpose it with this.
The Lakers actually aren't built to get too weird, like it's their roster
makes too much sense when you like it's there's no there's no point in playing
a small ball unit because Ads is center and like he should be in whatever
line up you want on the court. So mine was Anthony Davis, Lebron
THHT, and then I had Monk and Ellington. In the sense of Lebron
and THHT, those are your ball handlers, and just try and surround that
lineup with as much shooting as possible and see where it goes. It's not
weird, but I think it's one that most people wouldn't expect to try because
you would probably want a a Rondo, maybe even a nun or a Russell
Westbrook like another type of playmaker on the court next to Lebron. As weird
as this is going to sound, well, yes, I could see that
being like a like a down the stretch situation, depending upon what the situations
with Russ. I could see that being kind of the they're a lineup that
they specifically try after that, you know, first round of first round of
substitutions, like like into into first quarter type round. I would love I
would love to see them explore that like into first quarter type you know situations
you just made my day. Then the fact that you think that that's a
realistic line for them to try if you never know. As we record this,
they're over under for the wind total set at fifty three point five.
Are you taking the over the under on that? And where do you expect
them to finish in a larger landscape of the Western Conference? That number seems
honestly pretty close to where I landed on them. I'm anticipating within fifty two
to fifty five range, you know, for them, and you know,
especially if they're relatively healthy for a bulk of the year, I think they're
going to end up as a top three seed, you know, either one,
two or three, depending upon healthy ship YO shape up. But ultimately,
like, if they're healthy going into the postseason, I expect to see
them in the conference finals and beyond. I'm like, I'm still pretty blue
shown I have taken way too many overs throughout this process. I'm gonna have
to go and correct them. This felt like an easy over for me because
in my mind, the whole idea of Westbrook is that even if Lebron is
gonna miss games, this is just a team that I think should still be
incredible during the regular season. When we get to the postseason, we'll have
a sample size to figure out whether it's a concern or not. I would
think every year there's a team that's gonna win like fifty eight or sixty games,
you could throw Milwaukee or Booking in there. It's the Lakers, but
as the third option of the team to do that. And so this was
more so than I thought. It was a very easy over pick for me.
Yeah. And it's funny because when we did our you know, we
did our Western Conference preview for baseline, I think I think I definitely said
over and I got accused it. I got accused of like, oh okay,
it's like, guys, if you don't think that this like like maybe
I'm just not seeing it. But I look at this, you know this
group of field, you know this group, and I'm like, yeah,
that's a fifty five wins. And that's where they're people are making fun of
the age. But as we've talked about their depth of bunch, that's where
it could help you, is you know, if Lebron needs beside even it's
like a D misses time, or if anyone misses time, like okay,
Mellow can still you said, maybe I'll have a game of Mellow time where
it's just actually really good. And the other thing is they dealt with a
ton of injuries last year and still won fifty eight point three percent of their
games. It's not like a huge leap from there to get to fifty four
wins. Yeah, it's it's it's not at all, you know, Look,
barring anything catastrophic, I would be stunned if they don't win. You
know, right around fifty fifty four, fifty five is there, And so
they're large the larger Western Conference picture, I think you could probably name six
to eight teams that might be interchangeable at this point. You could tell me
anyone finishes first, and I'd probably believe you. But if you also and
if you told me the Lakers finished first, I believe you. If you
told me when knowing that the Jazz, the Sun's, the Nuggets, the
Clippers, the Mavericks, the Blazers, the Warriors, those seven teams exist.
I think the Lakers floor is fifth because there's not Jamal Murray is not
in Denver for most of the season. We don't know what's gonn happen with
Kwai in La. The Blazers can always be weird. What about the Warriors.
I think you could reasonably talk me into like five or maybe all six
of those teams being better than the Lakers. But too much stuff needs to
go right for some of them, and so I think the Lakers floor is
fifth this year again, unless something catastrophic happens to them. Yeah, I'm
right there with you. You know, worst worst case scenario outside of catastrophe.
You know, you know that that that four range. But honestly,
I do maybe I'm just too maybe I'm just too bought in arrest. I
just don't see it. I don't. I just don't see him dropping below
three, like I think they'll be that good. Yeah. What's tough here
is I don't think there's any team that you can guarantee me is gonna have
a better regular season record than the Lakers in the West. It's when you
get to other teams, let's use let's use Denver as an example. Because
of the Jamal Murray injury, I would probably say the Lakers, Utah and
Phoenix are in front of But when you get to the Utah, Phoenix and
the Lakers, those are the three teams that I keep thinking, you're gonna
finish top three is of right now, I just don't I don't know which
one's gonna be. There's nothing definitive about the top of this year's West and
that's so wacky in kind of a beautiful way. It makes me very much
look forward to the race this year. I'm absolutely here for it. I
saw a lot of people, you know, initially saying like, oh,
Phoenix is gonna be like Miami, you know last year, where they you
know, like they haven't drop off. I don't see it as I think
they're going to be. I think they did a good job in the offseason,
you like, not just solidifying things and in resigning the guys they needed
to bring in. I thought I felt like they did a good job with
that roster kind of across the board. So they're going to be competitive.
Same thing with Utah, They're absolutely going to be competitive again outside of anything
wacky in place. So yeah, we're we're on the same page. Like
all three of those to me, I would put I'm not saying there's a
huge gap between you, you know, the rest of and I would say,
I think there's a little bit of space between between the other teams,
So I think they could be interchangeable. Yeah, if you told me Kawai
was gonna play or Jamal Murray was gonna come back in January, I might
be inclined to like reopen the discussion the way. The actual biggest wild card
to me are the Mavericks because the Luca don j plus shooting model, I
don't know how far get you in the playoffs. That could end up obliterating
people in the regular season just based off what he's done. And if you
get a better version of KP maybe they're the team that crashes that. But
when I go to do my standings, and I haven't finalized it yet,
I think the Lakers will be in the top three. I think their floor
is fifth though. That's just where I'm at right now. Yeah, I
got you. Look, I'm gonna selfishly, you know, project God.
I would love a three six Lakers matchup. Let you know, Lakers Mavericks
matchup, start to see you start things off? Yeah, like I want
I want every part of that. I want all Look a lot of people,
you know when it comes in there, they want the easiest path.
Look, well, yes, of course I'll take an easy title. I
also want the drama, you know. Yeah, give me a matchup like
that. And as funny as it's gonna sound, I don't want Lakers Warriors
in the first round. I want Lakers Apps in the first round. I
want I want all parts of Luca. The league office is going to be
doing all sorts of unspeakable things if they get a Lebron staff or Lebron Luca
playoff series whenever that is. That is like there's gonna be an orgy in
the league office if that happens one or the other. Uh. The Lebron
Lucas stuff is fun because they did play each other in the playoffs in the
bubble, right or am I just maybe they have like an epic perform No,
no, no, no no. The Mambis went out to the Clippers.
Yeah yeah, if I'm not mistaken, they both years they've lost to
the Clippers, Right, yeah, they did, You're right. And I
think there was a game during the regular season. It was pre or Midpanda
and I don't know what it was that was like Luca dontage is, you
know, he was already a star, but he I don't even know if
the Mavericks won, but he him and Lebron were going like back and forth,
and I think the league would would love that, maybe even more than
Lebron's Steph. I think there's a chance Lebron Steph is just like two polarizing,
but Lucas profile is so far on the rise, and because he's the
future of the league, where Steph is basically in the same era as Lebron.
I don't know. I guess would the league office prefer MAVs Lakers or
Warriors Lakers? I guess I think the smart ones as MAVs Lakers. The
old school folks that you know would still have like you know and rest in
peace, you know, you know, the stern the you know, the
best finals matchup as Lakers versus Lakers mindset. They might want you know,
you know, you know, Lakers Warriors. But the smart folks that you
know, because the smart money is is moving. Look, we'll take Lakers
Warriors. We'll take that, you know what I'm saying, Like, it's
not I'm not I'm not poo poo in the idea, but i would just
prefer to move towards the future. And I'm honestly, I'm absolutely do you
know which fan base or who specifically should be excited about a Lakers Warriors matchup
Warriors fans because it means that the Warriors made the pl off, which I'm
not entirely convinced that they're going too. So that's that's why if you're the
Warriors fans, you should be happy about that. I'm sorry, Clay's not
coming back till January? Are you going to rely on Wiseman's still coming off
the bat? Like you guys were terrible with Wiseman. He's still hurt.
Yeah, and so he's not even help to come in that might actually help
them. Unfortunate they were so bad with him last year. Now he hasn't
had a training camp or an off season to get better. I just it
still feels like it's iffy there, but not a Warrior's podcast obviously. Is
there any one or anything about this team that I have not asked you about
that you believe needs to be covered? Not to be honest with you,
I think I think we you know, we did cover a lot. I
mean, of course there's there's gonna be somebody just listening to saying, like,
you know, honestly, they didn't really explore the Wayne Ellington pick up
enough. But truth of the matter is, I think we all know what
this is. This is a highly talented group that obviously the ceiling is you
know, the ceiling would be a title. But and to your point,
you know, you'll you'll say things don't necessarily go as as great as you
know, as I'm anticipating. You know, it could be as as low
as a four five seed. But either way, there's gonna be trauma there
and it's gonna be it's gonna be a fantastic watch. Yeah, we apologize
to Austin Reeves's family for not talking about him on this podhot out major overs.
Shout out to the greatest nickname that I've seen in recent times, He'll
Billy Kobe. I'm not gonna lie to you, h p K two,
HBK two. I actually feel remissed that we did not acknowledge him. So
thank you for bringing this hb K two the racier will not stand, So
thank you for bringing him up and looking now, we talked too and his
response to about is he more He'll Billy or Kobe and his response but it
was just perfect too, Like that was just fantastic as well. I'm absolutely
Look, I'm here for fun, man, you know, Like I know,
we try to be serious about this stuff a lot, but honestly,
I'm here for fun. I'm here for jokes. I'm here to celebrate the
greatness of you know, like NBA athletes, and you know that's that's the
vibe that I'm going for. So you know I'm more here, Billy Kobe.
Your reactions less you know less? Uh you know, Oh if this
never mind. I was gonna throw some shade at my former my former ghost,
but I won't shout out Joss. Look at the end of the day,
and I do take my work seriously. Went up against a tight deadline,
but I try to remember not to take my actual self to seriously.
We cover a fucking game. This is a life for death. It's basketball.
It's a game. It's meant and if you really think about it,
and I don't mean to dump all over it, I mean it's my livelihood.
I work full time covering the NBA. People get paid millions of dollars
to put a ball in a basket and what they do is impressive. But
it's like, this is a game. This should be fun. And I
get that fans are passionate. The irrational takes are what drive like, that's
part of fandom. But this is supposed to be fun, Like this is
not. I'm not operating on it. I'm not a hard surgeon. I'm
like I'm not I'm not doing that. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not
doing anything. That's actually, if I stop doing what I do tomorrow,
guess what the world doesn't notice. It doesn't change, It doesn't mean a
thing. We should be having fun with this and I would do this.
But true, it's it's true. That's why I keep doing what I do
because I know that jab Jabar would notice. That's yeah, I keep going.
I'm like, wait a second time out, Wait, we're stand Where
where is Dad? He has not put an episode out in over a week.
That's not like him. What the Hill's going? Oh? Jabar?
Are you able to tell our listeners where they can find you on Twitter and
all your work? Yes, as I always do. Thank you very much
for the opportunity. I mean it when I say it. It's always a
great time talking you know, you know, talking hoops with you. So
I hope that you your spreadshot tells you that it's never a bother. Please
reach out at anytime. I'm simple, Jabari Davis NBA on Twitter, nineteen
media group dot com for the that I am. You know that I am
associated with and I'm proud to be able to proud to be a member of
that's probably your easiest bit. Yeah, and he's a great follow And for
anyone who actually likes me on Twitter, Jabari has influenced me on Twitter because
we had a conversation I don't know if you remember, like a year or
something ago, where it was after I turned thirty and I felt that I
couldn't make jokes on Twitter anymore because it was being too a mature and You're
like, look, you just got to be you. I'm forty whatever you
were at the time. So my snarkiness has not changed. I have not
stopped tweeting in part because of what you said. So you have you are
helping pollute people's Twitter timelines by having emboldened me to continue tweeting the way that
I do. Let me just say like this, while we all may think
that we are, you know, makeshift athletes and you know we're going to
be, the truth is this athletes. They have to retire comedian stone so
we can keep getting these jokes off regardless and regardless of whether someone sees us
as comedians or not, there's someone that laughs, So we are comedians.
That's the best way I've heard it. Frame Jabari, thank you so much
for coming on. It's always a blast talking to you, and I think,
as you know by now, i'm gonna come calling again. Please do
Thank you again.