2017-18 Lakers Season Watch Thread (27-34, 10th Slot on 3/2)

[mef730]

Well, everyone got another glimpse of what next year could be like if #LakersPick doesn't convey... 

19 draft is depleted of talent due to guys like Bagley jumping to the 18 draft. That Kings pick is a lot worse than what it looks like.

This is not really true.  Bagley jumping a year meant RJ Barrett jumped from 2020 to 2019, so there wasn’t a net loss.

True but we do need a young big rather than another wing/guard.

as much as I agree, Ainge tends to draft best player available regardless of need. See- us drafting millions of guards past few years when we need rebounding and rim protection. Didn't Ainge already publically comment saying he's not particularly interested in a project big that will take years to be a core piece? I believe he was referring to this upcoming draft too. Got a feeling he's looking at doncic/porter/young or swinging the pick down for a more ready prospect in someone like jackson jr/carter/bridges. That or its a typical smoke screen

He was talking about selecting real project bigs though, I don't think any of the top bigs in this draft are that much of a project, they'd probably at least soak up some rotation minutes at C from the get go.

No, when discussing the Nets pick, he said that Cleveland would probably get a talented young big who will take a couple of years.  Now, there’s always some Ainge smokescreen to look around, and that comment was made in the preseason so at not impossible that they see a big as ready to immediately contribute based on what they’ve shown this year in college (although that player is going #1 anyway), but when he was talking about project bigs and not being completely excited, it was definitely with regard to the 2018 draft.

Besides, the point is that Barrett makes the overall draft class as deep as it was with Bagley.  Bagley was likely going #1 in 2019 — we were never getting him.  Barrett is the current favorite to go #1 — we won’t get him either.  It just means that we have the same pool of players from #2 and below as we had before, so the class, insofar as who we could potentially draft, hasn’t been weakened at all.

Iirc they projected the Nets pick to be like around 7 so isn't it possible for him to not be referring to Ayton/Bagley/Bamba? Also I think Ainge might be blowing a smokescreen ala Red Auerbach doing it when he drafted McHale .

No, they never said anything about where they thought the pick would be, publicly, other than it could be a really good pick.  You do not recall correctly.

And again, none of this changes that the 2019 pick didn’t get any weaker for the Celtics, which was your original assertion.

Ainge didn't have to say publically, but the fact that he kept the Lakers pick and not the Nets pick (and left it totally unprotected), let you know what he thought of those respective picks.  I firmly believe Ainge felt the Nets were going to be better than the Lakers, which is why he traded the Nets pick and not the Lakers pick (because I think Cleveland would have taken either).

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

[Fafnir]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

[celticsclay]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

I do think the Lakers are more likely to trade off a few players in advance of the trade deadline that would make them a small amount weaker for the second half (Randle, Nance, Clarkson).
They obviously don't care about being worse given not owning their pick. Meanwhile, I think the Nets coach will have them playing hard the rest of the season and they may pick even more wins up in the second half against tired teams or teams shutting down players. I don't see the Lakers playing consistently hard.

[Moranis]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

Dinwiddie is actually a less efficient player this year than he was last year, he is just shooting twice as often (though not scoring twice as much). 

I really don't understand why so many people thought the Nets were going to be terrible.  They added a lot of talent and I actually felt removing Lopez would make them a better team as he just wasn't what they needed from that position. 

[JBcat]

We could use at least one win tonight between the Magic and Grizzlies both stuck at 12 wins now 1 behind the Lakers.  Funny both of them started off hot to start the season.  The Magic are on the road against the Bucks, and the Grizzlies at home against the Pelicans. Of course it would be nice if the Hawks win tonight too.

[saltlover]

We could use at least one win tonight between the Magic and Grizzlies both stuck at 12 wins now 1 behind the Lakers.  Funny both of them started off hot to start the season.  The Magic are on the road against the Bucks, and the Grizzlies at home against the Pelicans. Of course it would be nice if the Hawks win tonight too.

I’m overall not worried about the Grizzlies.  I do expect Conley to return at some point this season, probably the end of this month. They’re a good team with him (#10 in net rating in games with him), so they’ll pull out of the cellar soon.  No one’s running away with the 8 seed — they’ll challenge for it, and you can bet Golden State is hopeful they don’t get.

It’d be nice if they win their easier games until Conley gets back (and they’ve got some winnable ones coming up, hosting Lakers, Kings, and Knicks in their next 5 games,) which increases the likelihood they won’t tank, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t win at least 30 games, and 35-40 isn’t impossible if they get Conley back in two more weeks.

[rondofan1255]

Good opportunity for Memphis tonight with AD sitting out (sprained ankle).

[moiso]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

Dinwiddie is actually a less efficient player this year than he was last year, he is just shooting twice as often (though not scoring twice as much). 

I really don't understand why so many people thought the Nets were going to be terrible.  They added a lot of talent and I actually felt removing Lopez would make them a better team as he just wasn't what they needed from that position.

Usually the team with the worst roster in the league is pretty terrible.  Only the Hawks have a roster as lacking in talent.

[Snakehead]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

Dinwiddie is actually a less efficient player this year than he was last year, he is just shooting twice as often (though not scoring twice as much). 

I really don't understand why so many people thought the Nets were going to be terrible.  They added a lot of talent and I actually felt removing Lopez would make them a better team as he just wasn't what they needed from that position.

Usually the team with the worst roster in the league is pretty terrible.  Only the Hawks have a roster as lacking in talent.

Currently, yes.  With Lin and Russell I don't agree.  If they had their whole roster they would be at the least scoring a lot.

[Snakehead]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

To pat myself on the back, I called this lol.  I was high on the pick and trade immediately, liking Tatum and Fultz about equally but thinking the Celtics just got another top pick, so it was an easy choice.

The Lakers roster was hype.  I didn't buy into Ball being a huge impact as billed by many.  There's a big jump to be made for young teams and I think currently people like to skip that step and try to think these teams will make massive jumps year to year when it really never happens like that, especially with young players.  A lot of other teams have gotten better, East and West.

But of course I have some misses as well ha.  Lately I have been very on board with the moves.

[rondofan1255]

three-way tie for third worst with the Grizzlies win!

Bulls Hawks and Mavs won too!

[Moranis]

Thus proving again why he is the GM and I'm behind a keyboard. Sad as it is to admit, if you had asked me which of the two was more valuable, I would have traded the Lakers pick every day, twice on Sunday and probably three times on Tuesday. I figured that there was no way that the Nets pick wouldn't be top-3, and that the Lakers would be 7-10.

I still think the Lakers finish outside the top-5 and that BKN finishes inside the top 5, but that conviction that I had at the beginning of the year is sure starting to fade.

Mike

I can't blame you for that, Dinwiddie's rather unexpected play wasn't something I think anyone was projecting. If anything they were thinking Lin/Russell would give them roughly what Dinwiddie has.

Lakers are only 2 games behind the Nets and their profiles are overall similar so I don't think its a given one will be worse than the other at all. Both will be in the top 10 for the lottery, but I do think they'll probably be more 5-10 than 1-5.

Dinwiddie is actually a less efficient player this year than he was last year, he is just shooting twice as often (though not scoring twice as much). 

I really don't understand why so many people thought the Nets were going to be terrible.  They added a lot of talent and I actually felt removing Lopez would make them a better team as he just wasn't what they needed from that position.

Usually the team with the worst roster in the league is pretty terrible.  Only the Hawks have a roster as lacking in talent.

I just disagree with this wholeheartedly.  The Nets are far from the worst roster in the league.  The Hawks, Bulls, Kings, Suns, and Lakers all have worse rosters.  And the Magic and Mavs are fairly comparable and frankly the Grizzlies without Conley, even with Gasol, have a pretty terrible roster.  Just because you weren't paying attention to them doesn't make their roster terrible.

[JBcat]

At this moment there are 3 teams that worry me that the Lakers (currently with 13 wins) will not finish worse than.

The Magic with 12 wins have only won 3 games since the beginning of December.  Maybe they can turn things around a bit once they get Vucevic back but I’m not expecting much.

The Kings with 13 wins play 8 out of their next 10 games on the road. Ouch.  I feel like Zach Randolph is a big reason they don’t have a much worse record, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is gone by the trade deadline.

The Hawks with 11 wins play 9 out of their next 10 games at home so that’s good.  They mostly seem to play hard so maybe they can squeeze out a few wins during this stretch.

The Lakers need to hurry and trade Randle and Clarkson for more cap space. Ha

[Moranis]

At this moment there are 3 teams that worry me that the Lakers (currently with 13 wins) will not finish worse than.

The Magic with 12 wins have only won 3 games since the beginning of December.  Maybe they can turn things around a bit once they get Vucevic back but I’m not expecting much.

The Kings with 13 wins play 8 out of their next 10 games on the road. Ouch.  I feel like Zach Randolph is a big reason they don’t have a much worse record, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is gone by the trade deadline.

The Hawks with 11 wins play 9 out of their next 10 games at home so that’s good.  They mostly seem to play hard so maybe they can squeeze out a few wins during this stretch.

The Lakers need to hurry and trade Randle and Clarkson for more cap space. Ha

Randle won't give them more cap space since he is a free agent.  I think the thought with Randle is he would be attached to someone like Deng, but I just don't think Randle has that type of value. 

[JBcat]

At this moment there are 3 teams that worry me that the Lakers (currently with 13 wins) will not finish worse than.

The Magic with 12 wins have only won 3 games since the beginning of December.  Maybe they can turn things around a bit once they get Vucevic back but I’m not expecting much.

The Kings with 13 wins play 8 out of their next 10 games on the road. Ouch.  I feel like Zach Randolph is a big reason they don’t have a much worse record, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is gone by the trade deadline.

The Hawks with 11 wins play 9 out of their next 10 games at home so that’s good.  They mostly seem to play hard so maybe they can squeeze out a few wins during this stretch.

The Lakers need to hurry and trade Randle and Clarkson for more cap space. Ha

Randle won't give them more cap space since he is a free agent.  I think the thought with Randle is he would be attached to someone like Deng, but I just don't think Randle has that type of value.

He’ll be a RFA though and whatever team gets him will get his bird rights.  It’s better for the Lakers to trade him for whatever little value they get back rather than just letting his contract expire.