Happy Thanksgiving! And if you need something to be thankful for, how about the incredible turn of good fortune that the Lakers have seen over the last year, thanks to the largesse of former Mavericks GM Nico Harrison, who (and it still defies explanation) gifted Luka Doncic to purple and gold. 

That trade yanked the Lakers out of a purgatory where they were not going to be bad thanks to the LeBron James/Anthony Davis/Austin Reaves core, but they certainly weren't going to win a title, had no clear runway to a title, and had nothing but awful financial decisions to make around Davis particularly going forward. Plus, they were scared to tear it all down. 

It was not going to be a fun few years... but now the Lakers have Luka and a remarkably clear future. 

Thanks again, Nico. May you get a statue at Crypto, and honorary murals around town. 

Finally, do the Lakers have a first quarter problem? (Spoiler alert... yes.) Is solving it as simple as swapping Marcus Smart for Rui Hachimura in the starting lineup, or would it be better if the pattern wasn't so dependent on Luka going nuclear? 

 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

 

SEGMENT 1: AD returns (probably) in uniform. 

 

SEGMENT 2: What Davis symbolizes. 

 

SEGMENT 3: The first quarter problem. 

 

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