Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers need to get LeBron James through the regular season with as little wear and tear as possible. 

Easier said than done, obviously, given the challenging nature of the West, and the grind of an 82-game schedule. One idea, says Lakers great Shaquille O'Neal, is simply to take fewer shots and play more of a "Magic" type facilitator role. Let Anthony Davis handle the heavy lifting, and even allow Austin Reaves to be the team's #2 scorer. 

It sounds like a nice plan, but it's got some problems. 

Can the Lakers afford to load up more on Davis, who already carries the team's defense in some pretty absurd ways? 

Is Austin Reaves capable of being a consistent second option offensively? 

Do you really want LeBron being that deferential while he plays? Are there other ways -- better ways -- to lighten his workload? 

The answers to all of those questions, and more, are the focus of this episode, which naturally leads to the question of whether or not Reaves is capable of being the team's 3rd best player? Would he need to improve? How much better would he need to get for him to be a 3rd guy comparable to the 3rd best player on title teams? What's the best way to compare these guys, anyway, since not all "3rd bests" are asked to do the same thing. 

What does all of this say about the Lakers roster? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Shaq says LeBron should take a step back. 

SEGMENT 2: Is this the best way to keep LeBron AND Davis fresh? 

SEGMENT 3: Is AR capable of being a 3rd guy? Right now how does he stack up against other players cast in that role? 

 

For your next listen, check out the Locked On NBA podcast, where the season never ends providing national expertise with a local perspective. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay Motors
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With the offseason winding down and the trades of any real substance presumably done, we're able to take stock of where the Lakers stand against teams around the Western Conference, and even more specifically, their division. How, for example, do the battle-tested but aging duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis stack up against a talented Sacramento Kings squad led by  De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, old friend Malik Monk, and new foe DeMar DeRozan, who'd been linked to the Lakers during the offseason before the Chicago Bulls worked out a sign-and-trade sending the Compton native to Sacto. 

Among the topics discussed: 

The strength of the Pacific Division
Should the Suns, Lakers, Kings, Clippers or Warriors be considered strong contenders?
The importance of strong starts for both teams
DeRozan's impact
Austin Reaves' ceiling

(Also, a technical issue with the podcast software prevented Andy from using his laptop while recording the show, so he instead had to use his phone. Apologies for a different look and slightly different sound.)

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with guest Matt George (Locked on Kings)
 

SEGMENT 1: How Good is the Pacific Division?
 

SEGMENT 2: How Much will DeRozan Help the Kings?

 

SEGMENT 3: Can Austin Reaves become a third star?

 

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The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor has noted a couple of times throughout the offseason that the Lakers are keeping an eye on Luka Doncic, should something sour in his relationship with the Dallas Mavericks. Now, the Mavs just went to the Finals, have Luka under contract for another few years (including an option) and he's also extension-eligible, and there's no reason to believe at this point that Doncic won't ink that paper with Dallas. 

Of course, none of that means he can't still be traded, but the point is, this isn't a matter of a disgruntled star making noise. 

So what are we doing here? Is this really a thing to watch, or just a massive Captain Obvious moment? (Of course the Lakers are keeping an eye on Luka, just in case. So are 28 other teams.) Or is there something more because it's the Lakers? 

The important thing: It's not really about Luka, or any of the stars out there for that matter. Doncic here is shorthand for "the next guy the Lakers would bring in to pair with Anthony Davis after LeBron retires." When will that be? Nobody really knows. The biggest question from the Lakers standpoint is how they view the process of finding that player. Is it something they start thinking about now? Do they begin hoarding cap space for a certain summer when Player X might become available? How aggressive would they be in the interim? 

These are the questions that will determine the kind of product the Lakers will put on the floor until Luka, or whoever, becomes (potentially) available.

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are reportedly "keeping an eye" on Luka Doncic. 

SEGMENT 2: What exactly does that mean, and how does it impact the Lakers? 

SEGMENT 3: What do the Lakers "owe" LeBron? 

 

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Most Lakers fans were quite pleased when the team re-signed young forward Max Christie to a four year, $32 million dollar deal this offseason. It's seen as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull summer. 

But it's not a move that has received a ton of attention or scrutiny, either, other than maybe a couple lifted eyebrows at the dollar amount, given how little he played to this point, and some criticism that the Lakers put themselves in a position of needing to re-sign Christie after year 2 vs. year 3. For fans, though, the idea of giving Christie some money and now being in a position where he basically HAS to play seemed like a revelation. 

But is it? 

One critic is The Athletic's John Hollinger, who sees it as an overpay for a player who simply hasn't performed well at the NBA level. Plus, it's an opportunity cost - the Lakers, by signing him, took themselves out of position to be able to use an exception on a player who could potentially help them more now. Who? Not sure. The market for that guy was limited. But is he right?

Meanwhile, it's not just Christie the Lakers are counting on to make a big jump this season. They need the same from Christian Wood. Not so much a jump in talent level vs. the rest of the NBA - Wood is too established for that - but a big jump in impact. Like Christie, Wood has a skill set not easily replicated at the position he plays. The Lakers need him have a much better, more consistent year than he did a season ago. 

How much of this, whether talking Christie or Wood, is about JJ Redick? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Was re-signing Max Christie a mistake? 

SEGMENT 2: No, but it's not without risk. 

SEGMENT 3: Wood says he's coming back with a vengeance. 

 

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For Lakers fans, the Olympics were a bittersweet event. 

On the one hand, Anthony Davis, and especially LeBron James, played some great basketball. They won a gold medal. James, pushing 40, was named MVP. On the other hand, it was a reminder that the Lakers are not title contenders, despite having a still-elite James at the top of their roster. It was, for many, a reminder that the Lakers haven't followed up on the promise of the 2020 title with any more hardware, and don't have a clear path to send James into retirement (whenever that comes) with another shot at a title. 

Are the Lakers squandering LeBron's final act? 

That's the position of The Ringer's Michael Pina, who has a great column up breaking down where things have gone wrong and why. He joins the show, talking about LeBron's accomplishments, Rob Pelinka's work, and the missteps that have occurred over the last few years. 

Can they get themselves back on a title track? 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with Guest Michael Pina

SEGMENT 1: LeBron's remarkable run at the Olympics.

SEGMENT 2: Have the Lakers squandered his final act? How did it happen?

SEGMENT 3: Can the Lakers fix things in time? 

 

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The Lakers are hoping to get healthy again this year. Not with their stars, of course, since Anthony Davis and LeBron James played as many games as anyone could/would have hoped last season. But Jarred Vanderbilt was a non-factor for most of the season thanks to injury, and the Lakers suffered greatly for it. More than most people would have anticipated. 

So this year, even with most people expecting Rui Hachimura to start—though that's not necessarily guaranteed—the Lakers need to figure out a way to maximize the potential contributions of Vanderbilt. He brings skill sets the Lakers need more of, namely: 

• Defensive versatility
• Rebounding
• Energy
• Off-ball movement

But he's also limited. Vanderbilt shrinks the floor in real ways, since he's not a shooter (and if we're all being honest, isn't likely to become one). He can pass some... but it can be argued he's prone to unearned sauciness on the break. There are situations on D where he's not necessarily optimized. 

So how Redick deploys him will be significant. 

On that front, Redick has shown that he's approaching the offseason a little differently than Darvin Ham, starting with what happens in offseason workouts. Early reviews on the young players (Lewis, Hood-Schifino) are positive --- could any contribute this year? 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Can the Lakers get the most out of Vanderbilt? 

SEGMENT 2: How is Redick changing the offseason? 

SEGMENT 3: Can the young players contribute? 

 

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The Los Angeles Lakers have had a remarkably quiet offseason. This is no secret. And as we finish up transaction season and start taking stock on where teams in the Western Conference (and across the league). Not surprisingly, perhaps, the reviews aren't good. The pundits of ESPN, for example, overwhelmingly picked the Lakers to be "Team Turmoil," i.e. the squad most likely to tumble this season. 

But why? 

ESPN cited the lack of movement, and improved Western Conference and (of course) the threat of injury to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They stayed healthy last season but most people don't seem to think the Lakers will get lucky two years in a row. Certainly the team's stars have an injury history, last year notwithstanding. 

But how much of this is based on reality, and how much is vibes? Certainly the vibes aren't great, but how much does that matter? ESPN wrote that the Lakers face "plenty of questions" on the court. But do they? In a lot of ways, the Lakers are as known a quantity as there is in the league. How much does getting bounced by the Nuggets in consecutive years have to do with it? 

Doesn't seem to help, at the least. 

So what does an honest assessment of the Lakers look like right now? 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are not faring well in offseason evaluations by NBA experts. 

SEGMENT 2: Are the Lakers really the best candidate for the team most likely to tumble this year? 

SEGMENT 3: Are we dealing with vibes, or real issues? 

 

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The Lakers get a ton of attention when it comes to the lack of offseason improvement. They are the only team in the NBA to not make a signing or trade of any kind to bring in a new player, and are leaning hard into LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The only fresh faces come from the Draft. But while the Lakers didn't make themselves better... they also really didn't get worse.

 If you think Dalton Knecht is a reasonable facsimile of Taurean Prince, than the Lakers are basically what they were last year. A 47-win team with some upside if things break right and considerable downside if they don't. But now across town—and now it really is across town—the Los Angeles Clippers have had their own issues. They lost Paul George to Philadelphia, and while they did add a few depth players, stand to be less talented up top, with just as many nervous fans praying for the health of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. 

So where do they stack up out West? 

Which team is set up better for success, now and down the line? 

How does opening up a new building impact the dynamic between these teams, now and down the road? 

Ultimately which team is set to have the better season? 

Oh, and what about that guy JJ Redick took from their coaching staff? 

It's all on the table with The Athletic's Law Murray, who does outstanding work covering the NBA and the LAC.

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers and the Clippers both had hard offseasons. Which team did worse? 

SEGMENT 2: How does the new building impact things? 

SEGMENT 3: How do they stack up in the West? 

 

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The Lakers have a bit of a challenge to start the year. They need to get off to a good start, in part because the second half of the season features some difficult stretches, and they'd really like to avoid having to go full tilt in, say, early February just to make sure they get into the postseason. That wears down the battery of the LeBron James/Anthony Davis duo before the playoffs start, which shrinks the team's ability to advance. 

So a little wiggle room would be nice, which they can get from a high-end start to the year. 

On the other hand... James and Davis are coming off the Olympics, and A.D. admitted they might need to ease into things a little. What does that mean? Hard to say, but at the least it implies the team will have to moderate what Davis and James are doing early in the season, whether in training camp, or in the first couple of weeks. What kind of impact will that have? 

It gets to the tricky nature of this Lakers season, one where every bit of upside needs to be leveraged effectively in order for the team to reach it's maximum potential and have a shot with the most elite teams in the league. So how do the Lakers manage this? Is it really a LeBron/AD question, or something more related to the supporting cast? Rui Hachimura taking another step. Austin Reaves avoiding the slow start that plagued him last year. Dalton Knecht making an impact as a rookie, Max Christie stepping up after signing a new contract, and of course D'Angelo Russell playing like the guy who is hard to trade (because he's playing too well). 

Meanwhile, how did a flicker of talks between the Lakers and Warriors around LeBron get shut down? 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Keeping the stars fresh while getting off to a good start. 

SEGMENT 2: How much pressure is on the supporting cast? 
 

SEGMENT 3: Ending LeBron-to-the-Warriors before it started. 

 

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It's schedule day! Among the most hyped and least consequential days of the NBA summer, one here to remind us all how much we want the games to start. 

But while it's easy to overstate the importance of schedule day, it does set the table for the upcoming season, and can either seem to raise roadblocks to a successful season or, at least on paper, set more favorable terms for the 82-game campaign. To that end, the schedule for the Lakers does have a couple nice features (including a reduction in the number of back-to-backs) and notifications about happy events (the jersey retirement for Michael Cooper). It demonstrates the incredible difficulty baked into the Western Conference because there just aren't very many stretches where you look at the calendar and say, "this is an easy stretch." 

Why? Because there are only so many games in a chunk where you can avoid the West. 

So how do things shape up? What does the end of the season look like, if the team needs to finish in a sprint, as it did over the last couple of seasons? How about the first 15 games? Do the Lakers have a decent shot of getting off to the type of start that would preclude a helter skelter finish? 

Meanwhile, have the Lakers squandered the final years of LeBron's career? That's a question central to a recent column in The Ringer. 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers have a schedule! Highlights and lowlights. 

SEGMENT 2: Can the Lakers get off to a fast start, finally? 

SEGMENT 3: Have the Lakers squandered the end of LeBron's career? 

 

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