The Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[Angel Oracle]

I think you are asking too much of him.

If the Lakers were a thoroughbred horse, he would understand. Guy was never into anything besides horses for years. He ain't equipped to run an NBA franchise.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Man, watching this game tonight was so tough.  I wanted the Lakers to win...and also not to win.  Derrick Rose is tough to watch as well.  He settles for jumpers too much and isn't that great of a shooter.  I almost wish that Chicago had just gone with Aaron Brooks to close out the game.

[Angel Oracle]

And then Brooks decides to get himself ejected after the game is decided.

Then again, if I just lost to the Lakers, I would be pissed too.

[DW711]

Derrick Rose is more harm than good. I might take Brooks over Rose at this point.

 

Butler is by far your best offensive player.

[Angel Oracle]

Butler is a man so far this season.

Rose is showing the effects from playing only 49 games over the previous three seasons, as points/assists are down and TOs are the same.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[Angel Oracle]

Let the Grammies road trip commence, big game at MSG this weekend. 

[Richard]

Nice win for the young guys! Jordan Hill stock took a big jump last night. 

[DW711]

Butler is a man so far this season.

Rose is showing the effects from playing only 49 games over the previous three seasons, as points/assists are down and TOs are the same.

 

He's just stupid, also.

 

He's a POINT GUARD that's shooting about 30% from three point range...so what's he do...Rose shoots MORE THREES.

 

If he's going to the basket 80% of the time..fine, but I don't get it.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Check out D'Angelo Russell of Ohio State when you get the chance as he will likely be in the discussion for players we should draft.  I'm sure you can YouTube him.  He is a freshman point/shooting guard and is rising to the top of the draft ranks, along with Okafor and Karl Towns.  I watched him against Maryland last night and his game is pretty sweet for a freshman.  Good handles, nice range, willing rebounder and defender, but the big thing that I saw was he has amazing court vision and makes the right pass consistently.  Doesn't force action. Top-4 pick gets you Mudiay, Russell, Towns or Okafor.  

[Angel Oracle]

I love Russell's size for a PG at 6-5, and the complete statistical look (Big-10 games averages of 23 pts, 5 assts, 2 steals).

Mudiay is an interesting story of course, de-committing from SMU and turning pro to play in China. Like Russell, he is a 6-5 PG.

Towns probably is the least ready of the four to contribute immediately. But the size and athleticism is there.

Any one of those top 4 players would be a great addition.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[HaloMilliVanilli]

In the Maryland game he went 18 pts., 14 rebounds, 6 assists.  Could've easily had a triple-double as there were quite a few nice passes in the first half that his bigs didn't finish.  Only took 12 shots too.  I was very impressed with his overall game and poise.

[Angel Oracle]

Top four order now?

Okafor, Russell, Mudiay, Towns?

[Hollyw00d]

If the lakers trade nick young, they will have no one likeable left on that team. Yeah he's a flawed player, but do the lakers have anything to play for? They're just a circus sideshow at this point.

Byron Scott is a douche as well

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I give absolutely zero f*cks about how much people like my players.  I want players who minimize their liabilities on the court.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Top four order now?

Okafor, Russell, Mudiay, Towns?

Towns goes before Mudiay for me and I'm not absolutely set on the order of Okafor, Russell and Towns.

[Angel Oracle]

Russell may have some Magic in him, although 4 inches shorter.

Towns potential is maybe off the charts.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I like that Towns is active defensively and could pair well with Randle, helping with rim protection.  He also has a nice jumper and could drag a center or power forward in some lineups out to the 3-point line and allow Randle to bully his defender without weak-side help.  I suppose it depends on what one believes will be there to select with the Houston pick, too.  More likely a nice point guard or small forward prospect there than a center, which maybe makes some sense to prioritize Towns with the early selection.

 

I love Russell's game though.  If there was a way to guarantee someone like Willie Cauley-Stein was available with the Houston pick, I'd jump at Russell.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Dwight-mare has struck Houston, by the way.  He will miss most, if not all, of February with his knee issue.  Hopefully Houston can lose some ground in the standings and we can get that pick moving in the right direction.

[Angel Oracle]

NY is 5-2 in its' past 7 games since Melo returned.    They should be passing the Lakers not too long from now.

Focus now is on Philly, who is 10-21 since starting off 0-17, and Orlando (15 wins), who needs to start winning again. 

 

Minnesota may be a lost cause though, although Rubio returns this week.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Philly wins again, drawing to within two games of the Lakers.  And we have two games still to play against them.  NY lost to Boston so we gain no ground there.  Overall, a good night.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I'm beginning to think that putting in a RFA offer on Khris Middleton from Milwaukee would be a great move.  He could be our future at the SF as he is only 23, can shoot the 3 and is a strong defender at the wing.  I think there is a strong chance that Milwaukee wouldn't match because they have a young core that is going to get very expensive within the next season or two and he plays a position they have covered.  He would be a strong complimentary piece to the overall build and way more likely signing than Jimmy Butler.

 

Add him to D'Angelo Russell at PG through the draft, Kobe returning from injury, Randle returning from injury and then sign someone from the FA ranks at center (Kosta Koufos/Ed Davis combo?) and we are building a young, exciting team that should improve markedly in 15'-16'.  Add someone like Tyus Jones with the Houston pick and we are better longterm with a higher ceiling in a hurry.

 

Russell/Clarkson/T. Jones

Kobe/Clarkson/Swaggy

Middleton

Randle/Kelly/Black

Koufos/Davis

 

The other thing, which is probably more important, is that we are collecting lots of assets while developing a solid core.  If a big fish wants to move, we would look a lot more enticing than we do now AND if we need to trade to acquire that fish, we'd have better pieces to do so.

[Angel Oracle]

The drive for top five continues with a loss to the Bucks when the Bucks hit a three with under a second to play to force OT.

 

Now Orlando Magic, start winning!    The Knicks and Sixers are winning.   Heck, even the T-Wolves finally won a game yesterday! 

[nando714]

Ya glad we lost it in OT

Edited February 5, 2015 by nando714

[HaloMilliVanilli]

I think I get way more stressed watching this Lakers team nearly win games that I want them to lose than any team in the past nearly lose games I wanted them to win.  Does that make sense?

[tennischmp]

I was checking the score on my phone and saw that they were up by 6 with 30 secs left and stopped checking thinking the game was over. I checked back 15 mins later and saw them losing in OT. I was pleasently surprised.