Lakers are 17-2, did their front office outmanuever the Celtics?

[Somebody]

And Davis will be like 30 and may very well be the best player in the world. 

Davis is not nearly the best player in the world right now, and I would be surprised if he is in that conversation 3 years from now.

I'm not sure any player could really be in that discussion in today's league unless they have the ability to handle the ball at the point of attack and create a high volume of three pointers, either by driving the ball and kicking to open teammates or pulling up from deep.  I don't think Davis is that kind of player.

To be fair he can polish his passing, finishing and shooting to the point that he'd be the perfect big man in the PnR/PnP with a strong post game to generate his own offence if needed, and improve his defence to top of the pack rim protector levels. The offence of Garnett plus the defence of David Robinson is certainly a contender for the best player in the league (ntm a top 15 peak ever!).

I'm not saying that he will do all of this, but there's a path for him to be the best player in the league.

[celticsclay]

People forget that NOP owns the Lakers draft stock for the next, what, 5-6-7 years?

protected #8-30 2021 (so only top 7 transfers) or unprotected in 2022, pick swap option in 2023, and then a 2024 or 2025 pick with NO selecting the year.

So only 2 picks owed outright with a swap option.

I would be pretty excited if we owned the pics for the lakers in the seasons Lebron will be like 37 and 38

And Davis will be like 30 and may very well be the best player in the world.  I'd be very surprised if any of those picks were lottery picks (this isn't a Nets scenario where everyone on the team is old).

Davis, by himself, was rarely able to lift NOP out of the lottery.
When LBJ is 38, and the team is still gutted from the Davis trade, I知 not confident Davis will have LA in the mix for the championship.
NOP has the best collection of picks since Danny grifted the Nets.

The Lakers won't be gutted from the Davis trade in 3 or 4 seasons.  that is a long time for them to re-stock the coffers.  They also will also likely have Kuzma who will may just be entering his prime in year 6 or 7.  And who knows what Lebron will be doing.  4 years from now he might very well be signing as a free agent on whatever team drafts his son, but the Lakers will almost certainly have some other star playing next to Davis whether Lebron is there or not.  They have a lot of cap flexibility once Lebron's contract is off the books (maybe they re-sign him maybe they don't, but it won't be for a max at that point).

I will say again, I'd be very surprised if any of those picks are lottery picks.

Do you see Kouzma as more than a role player?
Also, why are we very confident that the Lakers can get a star to replace Lebron there? (I agree it is likely he is not there if he is even playing in 4 years, wherever his son would be, hopefully cleveland. Prior to getting Lebron, who most people believe went there for non-basketball reasons, it seems like they were striking out on everyone they wanted (George, Aldridge, Howard, Lowry, Young Carmelo Anthony)

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/lebron-james-lakers-free-agency-news-rumors-roster-contract-magic-johnson/c03vqu3myif51cjzvlith9d1x

I think they could still be good, but really unclear why they would be a given to be out of the lottery. Just the location?

[PhoSita]

And Davis will be like 30 and may very well be the best player in the world. 

Davis is not nearly the best player in the world right now, and I would be surprised if he is in that conversation 3 years from now.

I'm not sure any player could really be in that discussion in today's league unless they have the ability to handle the ball at the point of attack and create a high volume of three pointers, either by driving the ball and kicking to open teammates or pulling up from deep.  I don't think Davis is that kind of player.

To be fair he can polish his passing, finishing and shooting to the point that he'd be the perfect big man in the PnR/PnP with a strong post game to generate his own offence if needed, and improve his defence to top of the pack rim protector levels. The offence of Garnett plus the defence of David Robinson is certainly a contender for the best player in the league (ntm a top 15 peak ever!).

I'm not saying that he will do all of this, but there's a path for him to be the best player in the league.

Honestly, in today's league, I'm just not sure a big man like a Garnett or a Robinson could be the clear cut best player.  The league is so skewed toward creating three point shots, and the best players at doing that are guys who can both pull up and drive.

When it comes to late game situations, defenses tend to be really good at making it hard for big men to get the ball.  Unless you can catch the ball behind the arc and work your way to your preferred spot, it's hard to be "the man."  We've seen that with Joel Embiid.



It's looking like we're entering the era of Giannis and Luka.

[RMO]

Are we certain the lakers will have cap space when/if lebron leaves/retires?  I'm not going to pretend I know anything about the lakers cap situation nor am I a cap expert but I'm pretty sure it's not as simple as a dollar for dollar increase in a team's cap when a player comes off the book.

For those who know about both these things.  Are the lakers set up to have significant cap space when lebron leaves?

[Somebody]

And Davis will be like 30 and may very well be the best player in the world. 

Davis is not nearly the best player in the world right now, and I would be surprised if he is in that conversation 3 years from now.

I'm not sure any player could really be in that discussion in today's league unless they have the ability to handle the ball at the point of attack and create a high volume of three pointers, either by driving the ball and kicking to open teammates or pulling up from deep.  I don't think Davis is that kind of player.

To be fair he can polish his passing, finishing and shooting to the point that he'd be the perfect big man in the PnR/PnP with a strong post game to generate his own offence if needed, and improve his defence to top of the pack rim protector levels. The offence of Garnett plus the defence of David Robinson is certainly a contender for the best player in the league (ntm a top 15 peak ever!).

I'm not saying that he will do all of this, but there's a path for him to be the best player in the league.

Honestly, in today's league, I'm just not sure a big man like a Garnett or a Robinson could be the clear cut best player.  The league is so skewed toward creating three point shots, and the best players at doing that are guys who can both pull up and drive.

When it comes to late game situations, defenses tend to be really good at making it hard for big men to get the ball.  Unless you can catch the ball behind the arc and work your way to your preferred spot, it's hard to be "the man."  We've seen that with Joel Embiid.



It's looking like we're entering the era of Giannis and Luka.

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

A big man like Garnett or Robinson would be amazing in today's league due to their portability: their skills (passing, shooting, defence, finishing) scale up on good teams and are immensely valuable on bad teams with players being more offensively slanted nowadays (at least I think the average perimeter player is better at offence than their counterparts in the past) as their skills unlock the potential of teammates who can create their own offence, ntm their defence would still be incredibly valuable due to their horizontal strengths. There's only so much value in that specific kind of scoring, a player can have a huge impact on the game by having other types of strengths on both ends of the court.

[celticsclay]

And Davis will be like 30 and may very well be the best player in the world. 

Davis is not nearly the best player in the world right now, and I would be surprised if he is in that conversation 3 years from now.

I'm not sure any player could really be in that discussion in today's league unless they have the ability to handle the ball at the point of attack and create a high volume of three pointers, either by driving the ball and kicking to open teammates or pulling up from deep.  I don't think Davis is that kind of player.

To be fair he can polish his passing, finishing and shooting to the point that he'd be the perfect big man in the PnR/PnP with a strong post game to generate his own offence if needed, and improve his defence to top of the pack rim protector levels. The offence of Garnett plus the defence of David Robinson is certainly a contender for the best player in the league (ntm a top 15 peak ever!).

I'm not saying that he will do all of this, but there's a path for him to be the best player in the league.

Honestly, in today's league, I'm just not sure a big man like a Garnett or a Robinson could be the clear cut best player.  The league is so skewed toward creating three point shots, and the best players at doing that are guys who can both pull up and drive.

When it comes to late game situations, defenses tend to be really good at making it hard for big men to get the ball.  Unless you can catch the ball behind the arc and work your way to your preferred spot, it's hard to be "the man."  We've seen that with Joel Embiid.



It's looking like we're entering the era of Giannis and Luka.

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

A big man like Garnett or Robinson would be amazing in today's league due to their portability: their skills (passing, shooting, defence, finishing) scale up on good teams and are immensely valuable on bad teams with players being more offensively slanted nowadays (at least I think the average perimeter player is better at offence than their counterparts in the past) as their skills unlock the potential of teammates who can create their own offence, ntm their defence would still be incredibly valuable due to their horizontal strengths. There's only so much value in that specific kind of scoring, a player can have a huge impact on the game by having other types of strengths on both ends of the court.

Well the best teams in recent years have been the raptors, warriors, rockets and cavs (and prior to that the lebron heat).

The best center of those groups (bogut, tristan thompson, old gasol, capela) have never really been all-stars. I don't even think the power forwards (which have been better) were the second best players on those teams (ibaka, draymond, love, tucker, bosh).

[PhoSita]

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

When was the last time the best player in the league was not widely regarded as the best or among the best in terms of crunch time scoring?


When was the last time the undisputed alpha dog of the league was a big man who relied on others to get him the ball?


I think you'd have to go back at least a decade; the league has changed a great deal since then.  (see for example the recent Ringer article about the death of the post-up)

[liam]

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

When was the last time the best player in the league was not widely regarded as the best or among the best in terms of crunch time scoring?


When was the last time the undisputed alpha dog of the league was a big man who relied on others to get him the ball?


I think you'd have to go back at least a decade; the league has changed a great deal since then.  (see for example the recent Ringer article about the death of the post-up)

Would you count Dirk or Durant as bigmen?

[celticsclay]

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

When was the last time the best player in the league was not widely regarded as the best or among the best in terms of crunch time scoring?


When was the last time the undisputed alpha dog of the league was a big man who relied on others to get him the ball?


I think you'd have to go back at least a decade; the league has changed a great deal since then.  (see for example the recent Ringer article about the death of the post-up)

Would you count Dirk or Durant as bigmen?

I would not count Durant at all. He definitely plays like a wing/small forward like paul george or leonard. That could change when he gets older or maybe even just having lost a step from this injury. However, Draymond was definitely the big when they were both on the floor (and previous to that it was Adams/Kanter). Dirk is a big, but obviously not a true center like Embid.

[Monkhouse]

Does anyone seriously think Lakers can beat the Clippers in a 7 game series? Because I just don't see it.

[Sophomore]

Does anyone seriously think Lakers can beat the Clippers in a 7 game series? Because I just don't see it.

I have the Clippers, too.

[Moranis]

Does anyone seriously think Lakers can beat the Clippers in a 7 game series? Because I just don't see it.

Can, absolutely.  Not sure they will, but the Lakers absolutely can beat the Clippers in a series.  Davis is a big problem for the Clippers as I don't think George or Leonard can handle guarding him full time and they really don't have anyone else I would trust guarding him.  I mean the other options are Zubac, Harkless, Green, and Patterson and I wouldn't trust any of them to be able to guard Davis with any consistency.  So I see Davis as the key to that series.  If he plays up to his full potential, I think the Lakers probably win the series, if he doesn't, then the Clippers probably win.

[Monkhouse]

Does anyone seriously think Lakers can beat the Clippers in a 7 game series? Because I just don't see it.

Can, absolutely.  Not sure they will, but the Lakers absolutely can beat the Clippers in a series.  Davis is a big problem for the Clippers as I don't think George or Leonard can handle guarding him full time and they really don't have anyone else I would trust guarding him.  I mean the other options are Zubac, Harkless, Green, and Patterson and I wouldn't trust any of them to be able to guard Davis with any consistency.  So I see Davis as the key to that series.  If he plays up to his full potential, I think the Lakers probably win the series, if he doesn't, then the Clippers probably win.

Doesn't the same question also applies to who's guarding Paul George, let alone Kawhi?

[PhoSita]

I think you're putting too much emphasis on a specific type of offence: crunch time scoring.

When was the last time the best player in the league was not widely regarded as the best or among the best in terms of crunch time scoring?


When was the last time the undisputed alpha dog of the league was a big man who relied on others to get him the ball?


I think you'd have to go back at least a decade; the league has changed a great deal since then.  (see for example the recent Ringer article about the death of the post-up)

Would you count Dirk or Durant as bigmen?

Dirk yes, and he was great in the 2011 playoffs. I don't think he was considered in the discussion for best guy in the league after roughly 07/08.

Durant is a wing, irrespective of how tall he is.

[Monkhouse]

There is no way Davis will be the best player in the world. If he isn't now, he won't be in the next 3-4 years. ESPN may proclaim he's the next best, but we already know that title belongs to Giannis or Luka.