Lakers Lounge

Anthony kicks off his player preview series with Luka Doncic. Everything is riding on him, fair or not.

Anthony starts this preview by talking about what Luka Doncic needs to do for the Lakers to have any chance at title contention this season, and the bar is extremely high. Good news is Doncic is absolutely capable clearing that bar.

The Lakers have one of the most dynamic offensive forces in the sport in Luka Doncic. The tendency would be to hand him the keys on that side of the ball and still be really good. In order to be as overwhelming as they can be, a balance needs to be struck. Anthony talks about that, the stakes at play and how he actually sees Doncic's season playing out.

This show does everywhere. Anthony loves Luka's Lakers minicamp. He opens up about how he balances optimism and pessimism as a host. He discusses LeBron/AD's similar frustrations that Steph probably feels right now. Then, he dives into a particularly wandering Q&A with the live audience.

Anthony reacts to the report from ESPN that Luka Doncic is hosting his Lakers teammates in Slovenia for a team trip/minicamp. This is objectively great news, that puts on display something Anthony is looking for heading into next season: Luka stepping up as a leader.

Anthony spends some time discussing the similar leaks he's noticed from the Warriors that brought him back to the end of the LeBron/AD era with the Lakers and the root issue for each situation. He discusses that, why people might think the Warriors have done more lately for Steph, sports journalism issues and more.

Anthony breaks down the Lakers options now that they've apparently figured out they're a bit thin at the center position (after losing two really good backup centers). He then felt bad about how few questions he answered from Twitter yesterday, so he dives back into that thread as well as the live chat to wrap up the episode.

Anthony discusses some of the rumored center options for the Lakers as they have apparently realized how thin that rotation is now. From there, he asks the pretty natural follow-up: Uh, why trade away Deandre Ayton if it leaves you in your current circumstance?

Anthony finishes up his extended mailbag with the audience by comparing and contrasting Adou Thiero and Jarred Vanderbilt, discussing whether the Lakers are set up to succeed in the playoffs and more.

Anthony comes back from the weekend with a slight update to the Jonathan Kuminga situation. Cam Johnson has been presented as a backup plan, but Anthony doesn't consider it particularly likely. He discusses all that, then dives into a lengthy and productive Q&A with the live audience.