Did the Lakers blow by us while we were watching fireworks?

[slamtheking]

Lakers didn't pass us.  they have a mediocre roster.  they won't be winning anything any time soon with those players.  the positive spin is that the pick they need to convey to Philly won't be a good one for Philly - at least as good as they were hoping for.  positive spin #2 - they may finish better than Dallas thereby improving the pick we get from them.

[JHTruth]

The Lakers offseason has been a failure, to say the least. They're now overreacting to missing out on the big names by signing or trading for cast offs.

And ours has been a raging success??

We have had one of the worst offseasons in the league..

[OhioGreen]

The Lakers offseason has been a failure, to say the least. They're now overreacting to missing out on the big names by signing or trading for cast offs.

They're castoffs, but Hibbert is one of the best shot blockers in the league, Williams 6th man of the year, and BB, arguably our best big last year---changing teams doesn't necessarily mean you're a "castoff" in a complete negative sense.  Money is a huge factor! 
If we had done a reasonable deal for Hibbert, I doubt most here would think he was a "castoff"!  Anyway, I just feel with those three additions to their promising young guys and Kobe they've lept over us at least this year--quite an improvement from the bottom of the league and way more than we've been able to accomplish!

[mgent]

they signed players who more people have heard of.  that doesn't mean they'll win more games. 

they did the same thing last year with Lin and Boozer -- guys with more name recognition than Thomas and Crowder -- but were they really any better?  Did they win more as result?  No, and no. 

I'll be surprised if the lakers win *HALF* what we do next year.

I'd agree with this.  Lakers have such a big market, it doesn't suprise me they'd focus on selling out those expensive seats while waiting for the next Shaq to sign.

[crimson_stallion]

Hibbert - currently on par with a 40 year old KG - can't score, no defense outside the paint
Bass - would be our 4th best PF if he was still on our roster right now
Russell - a rookie who hasn't played a game yet, could just as likely be a bust or beast
Randle - upside is Carlos Boozer (but without the length and the jumper)
Clarkson - Jordan Crawford 2.0 (but worse defensively)
Williams - a smaller version of of Nick Young
Young - a bigger version of Jordan Crawford
Kobe - 35 and coming off a major injury

Who thinks that is better than us??? lol

With the exception of Kobe, I'd argue if anybody on that team is as good as Sully / Bradley / Thomas right now...and unlike us they don't have the assets (picks, TPE, etc) so add talent throughout the season.

I think Bass was an underrated pickup for them because they could use a veteran presence, but a good team they are not.

Especially considering the Lakers are in the West...yeah there's about a 0.5% chance they make the playoffs.

[Greenback]

The Lakers offseason has been a failure, to say the least. They're now overreacting to missing out on the big names by signing or trading for cast offs.

They're castoffs, but Hibbert is one of the best shot blockers in the league, Williams 6th man of the year, and BB, arguably our best big last year---changing teams doesn't necessarily mean you're a "castoff" in a complete negative sense.  Money is a huge factor! 
If we had done a reasonable deal for Hibbert, I doubt most here would think he was a "castoff"!  Anyway, I just feel with those three additions to their promising young guys and Kobe they've lept over us at least this year--quite an improvement from the bottom of the league and way more than we've been able to accomplish!

Well now, what they say in drag racing is: " the BS stops when the green flag drops."

[crimson_stallion]

They're castoffs, but Hibbert is one of the best shot blockers in the league, Williams 6th man of the year, and BB, arguably our best big last year---changing teams doesn't necessarily mean you're a "castoff" in a complete negative sense.  Money is a huge factor! 

You could just as easily argue that Bass was our worst big last year...

Indeed advanced statistics wold suggest that this is the case.

This year that would still be true, because Amir Johnson is better than Brandon Bass in nearly every regard.

[tazzmaniac]

I think the only loser in their moves is Philadelphia. They now have a team that could win 35-40 games if their young guys can play and Hibbert is a little better after a change of scenery. That makes them not good enough to make the playoffs, but better than most of the terrible east teams and the worst teams in the West. What looked like it could be the 6th pick in 2015 is looking like a 12th-14th pick in 2016. I dont think that is what the 76ers were hoping for when they traded for that pick.

Which teams in the west are the Lakers better than?  Even if they are better than most of the terrible east teams, the Lakers have to play a much tougher schedule.  The terrible east teams benefit by playing each other a lot.  Before the recent acquisitions, the Lakers were a bottom 3 team.  Now they'll probably get 28-30 wins and finish 6th or 7th worse. 

[celticsclay]

I think the only loser in their moves is Philadelphia. They now have a team that could win 35-40 games if their young guys can play and Hibbert is a little better after a change of scenery. That makes them not good enough to make the playoffs, but better than most of the terrible east teams and the worst teams in the West. What looked like it could be the 6th pick in 2015 is looking like a 12th-14th pick in 2016. I dont think that is what the 76ers were hoping for when they traded for that pick.

Which teams in the west are the Lakers better than?  Even if they are better than most of the terrible east teams, the Lakers have to play a much tougher schedule.  The terrible east teams benefit by playing each other a lot.  Before the recent acquisitions, the Lakers were a bottom 3 team.  Now they'll probably get 28-30 wins and finish 6th or 7th worse.

I think they will definitely jump Denver and would be shocked if Denver does not unload some of Lawson, Faried, Chandler.

Portland has had the worst offseason of a team I can remember and could be the worst team in the West

The timberwolves are still incredibly young and should be still bad

The Kings will either be a success or a disaster

The suns got a nice signing of Chandler, but are they trading bledsoe?

Finally Utah played amazing to end the season, but are they for real?



 







 

[colincb]

Two of the writers on ESPN's 5-on-5 picked the Lakers as having the worst free agency with another one having them in the conversation.  Seems pretty extreme to me given what happened to LAC and Portland, but the idea that the Lakers have done well in free agency doesn't hold any water. Pacers are probably thrilled to have ditched Hibbert for zilch.

[crimson_stallion]

The Lakers offseason has been a failure, to say the least. They're now overreacting to missing out on the big names by signing or trading for cast offs.

And ours has been a raging success??

We have had one of the worst offseasons in the league..

Funnily enough, those around the league with reputation seem to believe otherwise.

Woj labelled the Amir Johnson signing as "Maybe the best contract so far" at the time, and many people are talking about how underrated a pickup that was for us.

I also have a very different view on the draft picks than most people do - I like every one of them, given where they were taken. 

Also we still have one of the deepest rosters in the league, and people often fail to realise how important depth can be.  Most teams are lucky to have a bench strong enough to hold a lead while their starters sit - many lose that lead, and the starters then need to come back in and build it up again.  We have unit who can not only hold, but actually EXTEND that lead.

Depth also helps with consistency.  In the second half of the season last year we were able to play at a very high level despite multiple injuries (Sully, Olynyk, etc).  That was all due to out depth.

Finally, depth allows you to change the way your guys play.  Instead of having a few great players who have to play huge minutes and pace themselves at 70%-80% effort in order to preserve their energy...you can get a bunch of good players who can go out for brief stints, and play with 100% energy during those stints.  It's very hard for an opposing team to deal with a group of guys who are always playing with 100% energy/effort.

There is method to Brad Steven's / Danny Ainge's madness, and that's why we were so good in the second half of last season - contrary to popular believe, it was no fluke.

I also don't believe that many teams actually improved this year.  Short of maybe San Antonio and Milwaukee, what other teams actually got better?  Especially in the East.

[Celtics4ever]

In a quick weekend, I think the Lakers just became a better team than us!  Hibbert, LWilliams, and BBass! Wow!  To go with DRussell and Randle(who is basically a rookie), and Clarkson, Boozer,  and of course Kobe! Arguably better, or even at every position! 
For all the hope we had for big additions to our team---sad!

They won't make the playoffs. Kobe is done.  No one of merit will come there until he retires.

[max215]

The Lakers offseason has been a failure, to say the least. They're now overreacting to missing out on the big names by signing or trading for cast offs.

And ours has been a raging success??

We have had one of the worst offseasons in the league..

Funnily enough, those around the league with reputation seem to believe otherwise.

Woj labelled the Amir Johnson signing as "Maybe the best contract so far" at the time, and many people are talking about how underrated a pickup that was for us.

I also have a very different view on the draft picks than most people do - I like every one of them, given where they were taken. 

Also we still have one of the deepest rosters in the league, and people often fail to realise how important depth can be.  Most teams are lucky to have a bench strong enough to hold a lead while their starters sit - many lose that lead, and the starters then need to come back in and build it up again.  We have unit who can not only hold, but actually EXTEND that lead.

Depth also helps with consistency.  In the second half of the season last year we were able to play at a very high level despite multiple injuries (Sully, Olynyk, etc).  That was all due to out depth.

Finally, depth allows you to change the way your guys play.  Instead of having a few great players who have to play huge minutes and pace themselves at 70%-80% effort in order to preserve their energy...you can get a bunch of good players who can go out for brief stints, and play with 100% energy during those stints.  It's very hard for an opposing team to deal with a group of guys who are always playing with 100% energy/effort.

There is method to Brad Steven's / Danny Ainge's madness, and that's why we were so good in the second half of last season - contrary to popular believe, it was no fluke.

I also don't believe that many teams actually improved this year.  Short of maybe San Antonio and Milwaukee, what other teams actually got better?  Especially in the East.

I'd add Indiana to the list. They ditched Hilbert: addition by subtraction. And I know it doesn't mean much, but Myles Turner has been unstoppable in Summer League play. Milwaukee's probably the only team that's seen a huge improvement (in the East).

[dreamgreen]

They still suck and will be a lotto team. Hibbert sucks.

Want to trade coaches?

No. I like CBS I think he got a little to much credit for the run at the end of the season, but getting players that I buy in always helps.

[Scintan]

This thread should be revisited at the end of the season.