The Laker nation
Indulge me today guys and in some of my future materials. Since the time of the legendary Laker Big Three of Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and Wilt Chamberlain, I had been following the purple and gold. I’m not exactly rabid but had been with my favorite NBA team since then. Like all team supporters, I do have my share of team stuffs. With that, you can do an almost accurate calculation of my earthly existence.
And now to our main topic.With the noise surrounding this year’s number two pick, the basketball world expected Lonzo Ball to justify the exaggerated pandemonium. He did, during the preseason games when he led the LA Lakers and won MVP honors. Then the hype went hyper fanned by his totally fast-talking father, Lavar as the season began when he did a near tripledouble performance during their second game of the season in a win over Phoenix by scoring 29 points, grabbed 11 rebounds Ten games into the season, the Lakers sport a decent 5-5 win-loss start. And then Lonzo went pfft, even going with 0 points in a loss to Portland. His shooting woes aside, he leads the team in assists (6.9 per) and minutes played (33). From the look of things, the team is happy because Ball is a facilitator and knows what to do with the ball, except maybe perhaps to shoot it with his below 30 percent field goal percentage. As long as his coach and teammates are happy, his scoring will be secondary. This unit is getting a bit better and
hopefully gets them to above the 30-win column by season’s end.
Seven Laker players average double figures led by Brook Lopez with 16.4 followed by Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson who all average 15 points per game. Former Piston Kentavious CaldwellPope and Julius Randle are averaging 11 points apiece. With his left thumb broken, the Lakers will miss Larry Nance, Jr.’s 10.6 ppg and team-leading 7.5 rebounds per outing.
The above-mentioned plus Corey Brewer, Josh Hart and Tyler Ennis are LA’s core rotation. Coming in if Coach Luke Walton remembers them are Loul Deng and IvicaZubac. Into the 2nd year of his massively ridiculous $72m deal, the 32-year-old Deng hasn’t seen action since their opening game where he contributed 2 two points in 13 minutes. With the young frontcourt players around, he’s bound to be a practice player until he lands on another team and it would be difficult for the Lakers to find a trading partner willing to gamble on a questionable asset with a huge contract but waning talents.
Of late, Deng wants out of the team obviously because of his inactive status. It’s easier said than done. The previous front office sucked big time on this and it never will be simple to deal him away. They managed to off-load Timofey Mozgov and his equally bad deal but they were forced to include D’Angelo Russell in the trade. If teams ask for the same transaction to get Deng, I don’t think the new front office would be willing to part with their current assets. If ever, I suppose either Clarkson or Randle would be on the package. I hope this won’t happen.
The only possibility for the Lakers to get out of this dilemma without sacrificing their young core is to buy him out. Or they can waive-and-stretch the remaining two years and $32m to five years of what they owe to Deng.
Teams in the Eastern Conference could use Deng’s experience, plus another Laker. He could make a farewell comeback with the Chicago Bulls where his veteran presence would be a stabilizing factor in an injury depleted lineup. He sure can be of help in lieu of the injured Zach Lavine and David Nwaba, who ironically is a former Laker.
Had Andrew Bogut been healthy, the Laker front court would be very formidable. He’s out for four games already with back issues and is still iffy when they face Boston tomorrow. With Nance, Jr. also out of commission, I’m looking forward to Walton to give some minutes to Zubac who had seen action only once. The other day, Kuzma started at power forward in their win versus Memphis alongside Ingram at SF and the pairing was a revelation. Randle at 6-9 is an undersized 5 but is holding his own against centers bigger than him but personally, it would be best to alternate him with Kuz at the 4 spot.
The most reasonable backup to Lopez would be the 7-foot Zubac. He’s still 20 years old and what better way to develop him is to give him some minutes. Third option off the bench at 5 will be rookie Thomas Bryant who was recalled to join his mother team from the NBA’s official minor league, in what was previously known as the NDBL, then the NBA D-League and now the G-League, maybe because of the multi-year partnership with Gatorade.
It’s a young Laker team with 11 on the 15-man roster aged 25 or younger. The senior citizens are Bogut and Deng who are both 32, Brewer at 31 and Lopez at 29. If the young core remains untouched, LAL will be in top playoff contention by 2020. For the moment, the playoff dream remains a dream.