2021-2022 17 TIME WORLD CHAMPION Los Angeles Lakers Thread

Lol yea we know it's better to average 23ppg on 41% and missing the playoffs at age 38

Well, I guess it'd be nice to not get swept. lol

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
Well, I guess it'd be nice to not get swept. lol

Ham said it ain't over yet

First half: "Run everything through Lebron. He must will the team to win."

Second half: "f**k Lebron. Everybody else do it."

Cya lakers

Kudos to Lebron but it was a mistake in my opinion to play him 48 minutes. He was obviously wiped out at the end.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Kudos to Lebron but it was a mistake in my opinion to play him 48 minutes. He was obviously wiped out at the end.

Legendary first half. Was afraid of the basketball in the 2nd.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Kudos to Lebron but it was a mistake in my opinion to play him 48 minutes. He was obviously wiped out at the end.

wouldn't have mattered, nuggies too good

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Kudos to Lebron but it was a mistake in my opinion to play him 48 minutes. He was obviously wiped out at the end.

Legendary first half. Was afraid of the basketball in the 2nd.

I wouldnt describe his 2nd half that way nor blame him at all for the loss. 40 pts, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover. All while playing 48. Obviously his 2nd half wasnt great but I do think that was due to the minutes and lack of any rest. Has someone his age ever played 48 minutes?

In my opinion, AD needed to step up and show why he is considered by many a top 5-10 player in the league. Making just 6 FGS the entire game and being a side show to Lebron really hurt the team

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Kudos to Lebron but it was a mistake in my opinion to play him 48 minutes. He was obviously wiped out at the end.

Legendary first half. Was afraid of the basketball in the 2nd.

I wouldnt describe his 2nd half that way nor blame him at all for the loss. 40 pts, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and only 1 turnover. All while playing 48. Obviously his 2nd half wasnt great but I do think that was due to the minutes and lack of any rest. Has someone his age ever played 48 minutes?

In my opinion, AD needed to step up and show why he is considered by many a top 5-10 player in the league. Making just 6 FGS the entire game and being a side show to Lebron really hurt the team

Im not blaming him for the loss at all. Overall he had a great game. But the Lakers had a 15 point lead in the 3rd quarter that evaporated during a time that Bron took zero shots. Zero.

f**k lebum. MJ never looked that bad.

Big offseason for Lakers bc they can vastly improve this team.

First priority - AR should be brought back no matter what but as a starting PG of the team. Really feel Max is gonna be a real good player at SG/SF and should have played in these playoffs. He's gonna be AR of 2024.

Rui should be brought back as well to backup Lebron and play significant minutes.

The real benefit of the deadline trades comes now. Beas and Bamba are team options and can be traded as expiring contracts or be the depth players at SG and backup big. 30m salary ballast will be huge in any trade.

D'Lo is a FA, and Vando is signed for $4M next season. I'd bring back DLo on a short term deal if possible, so he can be easily traded at the deadline if he's still up & down.

Lakers have 17th overall pick this year.

There's gonna be a lot of Kyrie rumors. I think he re-signs with Mavs. Lakers need a player like OG or Finny-Smith who can play defense and hit 3s. OG will be very tough to trade for - but he's going into last year of his contract and can sort of dictate where he wants to go.

Update — 5/22:

Woj and McMenamin said they don't see any scenario where the Lakers don't keep both (via "The Woj Pod," emphasis mine):

McMenamin: "And that's why, no matter what happens from here on out for the rest of the Lakers' postseason run, they've identified these two players in particular, you have to imagine Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves will be part of their future going forward."

Woj: "Both restricted free agents, I don't see any scenario where the Lakers would not match on both. They have to... They've proved themselves to be win-now players with LeBron and Anthony Davis on their timeline (and) these are both starting-level players... Again, they will match on those two. They just cannot let them leave."

In his latest Substack Column, NBA insider Marc Stein also wrote that the Lakers are expected to match any offer Reaves receives in restricted free agency:

League sources continue to say that L.A. is determined to retain Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura in free agency.

There is frankly no scenario, based on what I know, that Reaves won't be a Laker next season. Even if a team or two out there does decide to put a higher offer on the table than the maximum four-year, $51 million deal that the Lakers can offer, all indications are that the Lakers will match whatever they must to keep the restricted free agent, who has emerged as L.A.'s top shot-creator not named LeBron James.

————————

As I expected - smart move by the Lakers to get this out there right away. As I understand the Arenas rule - even if a team offers Reaves 4 means 99M (that's the max anyone can offer) - and Lakers match it - Lakers will still be paying him approx 10m in Cap on 2023. It is only in his 3rd year - his salary will jump to 35M. That works for Lakers bc by then Lebron is probably retired and Lakers will have bunch of room to pay Reaves whatever.

"I want to be here [and make a s**tton of money while doing so.]"