Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

Ziaire Williams gave a little more insight in to the trip he and the rest of his teammates, speaking to Sports Illustrated. While the Lakers played some ball, Williams says most of the important stuff from the trip came off the floor, in all the team bonding and team meals, and obviously the window into the world of Luka Donćić. 

That kind of thing is important for a team that is, for all intents and purposes, starting from scratch. And while teams like Minnesota have had a ton of turnover, the top teams in the conference, and a squad like Houston, still have a lot of continuity. So LA is playing catchup in that regard. Every bit helps. 

But meanwhile, is Williams potentially the best option for the lakers at the remaining forward spot? There's certainly a strong argument to be made. 

And from one Williams to another, the Lakers may have dodged a bullet when they rescinded their deal with the Hornets for Mark Williams. The (now) Suns center, who missed 22 games last year, is now going to miss months after undergoing shoulder surgery. There's still not a ton of insight out there about the details that got the Lakers to back out of that deal following Williams's physical? 

Who cares? Point is, he's not here, and that's good for the Lakers. 

And finally, Steve Ballmer made a lot of noise after the league handed down its punishment, threatening lawsuits and more. Well, Sunday he folded. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Ziaire Williams on the trip. Plus, is he the right guy to start? 

SEGMENT 2: The Lakers dodged a bullet!

SEGMENT 3: Ballmer capitulates. 

Photo Credit: Justine Willard-Imagn Images

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The Lakers are giving away a lot of bobbleheads this season. Like, a lot. Both for established stars like Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, and fan favorites from days gone by, like Kurt Rambis, Norm Nixon and even Paul Westhead. 

The Lakers have done the bobblehead thing before, but not in this quantity during the season. And it's a reflection of how fan service and promotion are changing in the wake of the squad's Dodgerification (which is either continuing, or at the least, is continuing with plans already in progress, despite the upcoming sale). 

And the Dodgers do the bobblehead thing a lot. Because they're incredibly popular, and a fun way to highlight players, both current and historical, as well as popular moments. They're a great way for the Lakers to honor players that can't get jerseys retired or statues out front. And more importantly, it naturally can get a person looking ahead to the next ownership era. Will they have the same respect for history as the Buss family has always had? That sort of attention to cultural history has always been a strong suit for the franchise, and appreciated by fans. So will the new guys be worthy successors in that regard? 

Finally, earlier in the week we discussed Walker Kessler as someone who many are quite bullish on when it comes to performance this season. The range of reaction on the show's YouTube page was significant, from people believing Kessler is going to put up big numbers, and others that think the hype falls short. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The importance of Bobbleheads. 

SEGMENT 2: Will new ownership honor team history?

SEGMENT 3: Expectations fair for Kessler? 

PHOTO CREDIT: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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Good news out of El Segundo on Wednesday. The Lakers reportedly have hired (now former) Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as another assistant general manager under Rob Pelinka. 

Amsler spent two decades in Miami, a place that famously holds on to its executives for a long time. He has worked extensively in the scouting functions, which is definitely a place where the Heat have thrived. Few teams have been more adept at consistently finding inexpensive players who produce in highly defined roles than the Heat. (How well those players produce in other roles, as Lakers fans know, is a different story.) The Lakers, quite prominently, basically don't have a scouting department, which indicates that Amsler could be the guy tasked with changing that. (In the same way that Rohan Ramadas is geared towards analytics.)

So is this a good hire? Hard to say. How responsible is Amsler for Miami's relatively consistent success? Also hard to say. 

But the Lakers are pulling from a good org, with a guy who has a resume indicating some skill at something they're missing. That's good. 

And the big Q: What this means for Rob Pelinka? Probably nothing. Amsler doesn't profile as a typical "GM in waiting" type. Pelinka's viability going forward is likely based on the team's success this year, and if they run him out of town there's a good chance new ownership will be looking for much stronger, or at least prominent, candidates than Amsler. 

But it's still a welcome development, and an indication that the concern over a hiring freeze while ownership sorts itself out may not be totally accurate. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers hire another assistant GM. 

SEGMENT 2: Is Amsler a good add? 

SEGMENT 3: What does this mean for Pelinka? 

Photo Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images

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On Tuesday's show, we talked about players like Ziaire Williams, Collin Sexton or Cam Carr who could make a significant difference in how the Lakers finish the season. But none of those guys matter if the frontline dudes -- that's Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler -- don't perform as needed. And while Luka and Austin are more proven commodities in the NBA, Kessler isn't. He's never played in the playoffs, or even for a .500 team. Last year, he barely even played, because the Jazz were in no hurry to get anyone on the floor who might actually help them win games. 

But that said, Kessler's impact numbers are undeniable, especially defensively, and there isn't a center on Earth that Luka hasn't made look significantly better. That includes the stiffs, and Kessler is decidedly not one of those. 

So how good can he be? Lakers great Robert Horry, speaking at the team's golf tournament last week, thinks the answer is very good. 

It's easy to agree, as well. 

Meanwhile, Phil Jackson is getting a statute at Star Plaza at LA Live. He's obviously worthy, and one of the last guys you can think of from the organization who clearly merits the honor. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Walker Kessler needs to be good. 

SEGMENT 2: Is Kessler a good bet to perform? 

SEGMENT 3: The Lakers are giving Phil a statue. 

Photo Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

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The Lakers are expected to be good this season... but not good in a way people need to pay much attention to, according to the pundits and assorted tastemakers. 

So in some ways, the fact that they're a brand new group that will, like all new groups, need time to gel is actually kind of beneficial. When you're not expected to come out hot, it's ok if you don't. Gives the team a little time to build things up. Underpromise and overdeliver. And one of the things that might help the Lakers prove some doubters wrong? Chemistry. It's hard to quantify, but for a team that needs to find every avenue to maxing out its talent, chemistry is a potential helpful tool. How quickly can the Lakers look like a group that has played some ball together? 

That's one way the Slovenia trip can make a difference. It obviously won't put the Lakers on the same level continuity wise as some of their competitors, but it can get the a little further ahead than they otherwise might have been. Maybe the good vibes help the team pull things together a few weeks faster than they otherwise might. And it'll help them mesh faster with Luka's leadership, which makes a difference. Slovenia was a chance for them to learn about the guy who will be leading them this season, which is critical. 

And finally, which newcomers have the potential to make the most impact this year? Former Lakers champ Danny Green has thoughts.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: A leadership boost for Luka? 

SEGMENT 2: Why chemistry can matter. 

SEGMENT 3: Difference makers? 

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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There were people, very likely including Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who didn't think Adam Silver had the stones to do it. Those people were wrong. 

The NBA on Wednesday dropped the hammer on the LA Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer, stripping five first round picks from the team, fining Ballmer $30 million and suspending him for a year, and handing down other suspensions to team executives. Uncle Dennis (i.e. Dennis Robertson) was banned for five years from NBA activity. 

Only Kawhi Leonard got off basically unpunished by the league (a $750K fine, but in the grand scheme of things that doesn't amount to much given how severe the punishement could have been). And that is by design. Because by letting Kawhi walk with a slap on the wrist, the NBA avoids any sort of arbitration process that could hold up NBA business. And if the goal is to punish the behavior and prevent it in the future, the best way to do it is to punish the teams, not the players. 

So what now? Where do the Clips, and the league, go from here? 

And how could this have been the Lakers, had they chosen a different path? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The NBA drops the hammer. 

SEGMENT 2: Why was the punishment so severe (for Ballmer, not Kawhi). 

SEGMENT 3: Good on the Lakers for not being the team at the wrong end of this. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Four spots in the starting lineup for the Lakers seem pretty settled. Obvously starting with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, and from there Quentin Grimes seems like a pretty safe bet. 

But what about that fifth guy? 

The hole comes at forward, but because Luka performs as a point guard offensively but absolutely doesn't on the other end, so what the Lakers really need is someone who can defend a few positions, allowing them to lighten Luka's load on that side as much as possible. Could that be Adou Thiero? Or is he too raw after playing so little as a rookie? How about Jake LaRavia? Underwhelming as an option, no question, but also perhaps the easiest answer if the goal is to have a starter-in-name-only type setup. What about Mamu? The Lakers invested a lot of money in him. And while he was a later add and is only on a minimum deal, Ziaire Williams makes a lot of sense, too. 

So much depends on what JJ Redick and the coaching staff decide they want to do schematically, especially on defense. 

We break down the options.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers need a fifth starter. 

SEGMENT 2:  Who makes the most sense? 

SEGMENT 3: Is Ziaire Williams worth an extended look? 

Photo Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

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It'll be a while before we know if the new ownership group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger will be a net positive or a net negative for the Lakers. We don't know how they'll spend money, or what they'll prioritize. 

But what we did know was that ownership upheaval had a chance to completely undermine a buildout of the basketball operations department that was already going a lot slower than Lakers fans had hoped for when the Buss family sold to Mark Walter a year and a half ago. Dan Woike at The Athletic made it clear in a report on Monday that the Lakers, who have already been turned down for a couple front office positions by potential hires, have essentially gone into a hiring freeze. 

There's just not any action, whether higher up in the department, or in things like scouting. 

So what does that mean? 

Well, it's not good. But there is one silver lining — there's only so much the Lakers can do over the next few months, anyway. So if there was ever a time to be hamstrung, this might be it. But the longer this goes on, the more problematic it gets. So what kind of timeline are we looking at? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 2: What does this mean for LA going forward? 

SEGMENT 3: How long will all of this take? 

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The Lakers lost out on Jonathan Kuminga last week (or dodged a bullet, depending on your POV) when the free agent forward went to Minnesota. But that doesn't mean they've stopped trying to fill out the roster. Jake Fischer, in his reporting for Bleacher Report, links LA to veteran guard/forward Bruce Brown, who was in Denver last year. 

Would he be a good fit with the Lakers next year? Just as critically, if he's not a great fit, would he be a better fit than anyone else they could find? And just as critically (again) would he be more valuable than the second player they'd have to jettison from the roster to make room for him? Keeping in mind that they already need to free up a spot as it is. 

And it will have to come by either trade or release, because the waive'n'stretch deadline came and went this weekend without the Lakers making a move. 

And then, who are the Lakers going to let go? The most obvious candidates are Bronny James, Jaden Hardy and Dalton Knecht. Jarred Vanderbilt may not a favorite of JJ Redick, but he would be a lot of money to eat, is an important salary ballast in a potential trade, and -- this matters -- is one of the only power forwards on the roster. 

So who is first to go? Who would be next, if the Lakers need to cut two players, not just one? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 2: Would Brown be a good fit? 

SEGMENT 3: Who should the Lakers let go when the time comes? 

Photo Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

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Every summer, ESPN issues it's preseason predictions. We hit on a few of them already, noting for example that the Lakers are predicted to win 45 games, and compete in that set of Western Conference teams either in, or narrowly avoiding, the play-in tournament. 

If they stay healthy, we think that's too low. But whatever. 

A new batch of predictions dropped on Thursday, and ESPN's writers voted the Lakers are the team most likely be the NBA's biggest disappointment. Is that fair? Well, if ESPN's writers are correct about the win total, there will certainly be the belief that they had a disappointing season and took a step backwards. And at the least the Lakers like to project that championship or bust approach to every season, whether championship is realistic or not. 

And this season, it's not, and isn't the goal. Sure, they'll try to win as much as possible. They hope to surprise. But the point of this offseason was to retool the team around Luka Donćić, the same Luka that ESPN projects will win another scoring title. What they don't think he'll win, though, is MVP. That prediction is related to the one about LA's win total. 

But what if Walker Kessler, who doesn't get any DPOY love, anchors a Lakers defense that's better than expected. Or Austin Reaves elevates to clear All-Star, or even All-NBA levels? What if JJ Redick gets some Coach of the Year love? 

If these things happen, it means the Lakers surely have won more than 45 games, and Luka's MVP candidacy gets a BIG boost. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: Are the Lakers going to be the NBA's biggest disappointment? 

SEGMENT 2: What are the right expectations? 

SEGMENT 3: Luka and the MVP race. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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