159. The major problem in the Lakers’ front office

I sent you. Twenty one plus in president Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Permitted parishes only, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia. First online real money wager only. Refund issued as non withdrawalable site credit that expires in fourteen days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sports book dot fan duel

dot com. Gambling problem called one eight hundred, next step or text next step to five three three four two in Arizona one a date eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org slash chat. In Connecticut one eight hundred Gambler or visit FanDuel dot com slash RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, In Virginia one eight seven seven seven seven zero stop in Louisiana one eight hundred to seven zero seven one one seven

for confidential help. In Michigan one eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope and Why to four six seven three six nine in New York. In tennessee redline dial one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine in Tennessee, visit www one eight dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Lakers Tonight, presented by fan Duel. Here on the volume, I am Jason Tim. Happy Monday, everybody. I hope you all had a great weekend. I hope you

enjoyed the super Duel Super Bowl. I used fan Duel to bet a hundred dollars on Rams minus four and a half, which I obviously lost, But I was fortunate enough to jump on a live line on Vanduel in the middle of the game and catch the Rams at plus one oh five, So technically I made five dollars yesterday, So obviously I'm I'm feeling like a high rule high roller.

But we're gonna talk basketball today. We're gonna talk a little bit about this report that came out in The Athletic about Genie Buss in her newfound rediscovered reliance on Magic Johnson. Uh. Then we're gonna talk a little bit about James Harden and him missing his first opportunity to play with the Sixers as well as the All Star Game,

whether I think that's something or nothing. And then if you stick around to the end, we're gonna do our first ever edition of the Power Rankings, which we're gonna call Timp's Top Ten, because obviously that's what we should call it. So we're gonna try that if you stick around to the end. But let's start with the Lakers. So I'm not even gonna call it a report because

this was on the record. This was Genie bust being quoted in The Athletic essentially saying that she very much has leaned a lot on Magic Johnson this year in all of the uh drama that has surrounded the Lakers, and it was immediately discouraging for anybody who's been following

the Lakers over the course of this stretch. I've been covering the Lakers now for four years, and before we go any further, I just really quickly wanted to read off the highlight reel of the Laker front office and ownership group over the course of this four year stretch, because I think it does a nice job of framing what I'm gonna try to say here. Now, again, this is just in the last four years. And yes, every NBA front office has black marks, every NBA front office

has made mistakes, but this is genuinely impressive. So for starters. In the summer of two thousand eighteen, they let Julius Randall walk for nothing. Mind you, this was the seventh overall pick, a legitimate lottery player who was trending in the right direction, and the Lakers just didn't want to deal with whatever was associated with keeping him, whether it was his attitude, whether it was the money, whether it was the complication of trying to sign and trade him.

They just let him walk. Shortly thereafter, they let Brook Lopez walk. Brook Lopez the center who could shoot, which obviously made a ton of sense with Lebron James, but they decided to let him walk. He said on the record later that year that he wanted to stay in l A and they didn't extend the offer to him, and as a result, the Lakers ended up playing a thirty six year old Tyson Chandler for the vast majority

of that season alongside JaVale McGee. And they were desperate for having competent front court play and the option is right there in front of him, they let him walk. Then they signed Lance Stevenson and Michael Beasley because Magic Johnson had the genius idea of getting the basketball out of Lebron James hands. Mind you, this was about a month after he led the Calves to the finals again with the ball in his hands, the galaxy brain idea of taking the ball out of Lebron's hands that Magic

Johnson had in that summer. Then they at the deadline, Panic traded Ivica Zoo bats for Mike Muscala, which Zbach is one of the better backup centers that you can find in the league. And Mike Muscala basically was just a big guy who could shoot and didn't make any shots with the Lakers. Another disaster. Then, going into that off season, they traded Danny Green in the first round

pick for Dennis Schroeder. Which again I understand the idea there, this idea of getting playmaking around Lebron, but that was the first step in the transition from the Lakers away from being a big team that had shooting to a small team and in the case of Dennis Shrewder, a huge part of why the Lakers had such spacing problems in that season. They also signed Montrese Harrold with the mid level exception that year. Again Montrese Harold a clutch client.

So we had back to back off seasons where we didn't look for the best player, we looked for a clutch client to join the team in that mid level exception spot. They ditched their rim protecting bigs and Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee for slower, smaller big small like Montrese Harrold and big and slow like Marcus Al. Don't really understand why they did that, didn't make any sense. The Dwight and Javaial thing worked great. They just decided to switch things up. They then you have the Rush

trade and everything that has been wrapped into that. I'm not even gonna get into it, but the Alex Crusoe decision to let him walk was very much attached to the rush trade. Now, looking at this, I'm not even sure that Taylor Horton Tucker is. Although I'm higher on him than most, he's having a rough season. I'm not even sure if he was the right guy for the

Lakers to invest in financially. And then the last part this last offseason, you're desperate as a fan watching the team sign a big guy, sign somebody who's six seven and can run and jump. Nope, the only wings they signed were Trevor Reza who's old, and Carmelo Anthony, who's old, both of which were obviously going to be in adequate for what the Lakers needed out of that position. And instead they signed a million guards who can't defend and are and have gaping holes in the important areas of

the game. Again, all those things I just read are just in the last four seasons. And that makes sense when you look at it from the perspective of the fact that the three biggest influencing like influential forces that are guiding Genie Buss and her decision making are Magic Johnson literally, the guy who had the genius idea of getting the ball out of Lebron's hands, and Kurt Rambis, the guy who went into Frank Vogel's coaching meeting and

said more DeAndre Jordan's please. And Rob Polinka, who's obviously more in the trenches than those guys are, but in terms of when you compare him to the rest of the league, is far from the best at that specific skill set. And I don't think it's a coincidence. I think it's a it's a glaring lack of self awareness.

You know, it's funny. I was joking with my wife earlier, like you remodeled the house in two thousand nineteen, and I had a bunch of experience remodeling houses because that's what I did at the time, but this was the first one I ever remodeled for myself, and going into we had a budget, and I had to decide which things I would do and which things I would outsource. And I decided to do the obvious things that I could do. I could paint, I could swing a sledgehammer.

I could use a rate to do some landscaping. I could install some cabinets. What I could not do was plumbing an electrical I would have spent hours on YouTube, and chances are I would never have gotten capable enough of doing an adequate job on those things in the way that a professional could, because the professional studies it every single day, because the professional is in the trenches, because the professional uses continuing education to stay up on

all of the modern areas of their profession. And that's what the Lakers need to be doing. Magic Johnson is like me calling a plumber that hasn't worked since night. I'm not sure that. Yes, he has plumbing experience, but Magic Johnson's retired. Do you think Magic Johnson is in the weeds on lead pass watching all these teams, trying to get a feel for what's working in the modern NBA. Do you think Kurt Rambis is doing that? Do you think Kurt Rambis watched DeAndre Jordan play much before he

tried to force Frank Vogel into playing him more. And then Rob Polinka, the guy who is you know, I'm not gonna he's your He's more along the lines of someone who's done good and bad over this stretch, So I don't want to slander him to too much of an extent, But he's not in the trenches the way some of these other guys are. But it all kind of comes back to Genie Buss and her insistence on leaning on what's comfortable for her. It'd be like if I needed plumbing, but I decided to call my dad

to help me do it. I don't understand why I would do that. He's not the man for the job.

All there is there is familiarity, But that familiarity is all that matters to Genie Buss, and that extends to even Lebron and a d who clearly, with their personnel recommendation that they're making, are saying, let's sign clutch guys, when very clearly coming into the season that mid level exception needed to be used on a big wing, and instead of it being Rudy Gay, a guy who's big and can do big guy stuff, it was Kendrick Nutt,

yet another little guard who's offensively oriented. And that's really troubling because you've seen as Laker fans what you get when you get a grinder, when you get a guy who's really in the trenches. The Laker scouting department, for instance, is one of the best in the league. Those guys find incredible gems in the undrafted class in the G League. In the second round in the late first round. Their

track record is unassailable. You know that there is a work that's being done behind the scenes to locate those guys. But the top three guys that are influencing Laker personnel decisions are literally three people that aren't doing the work. They are family friends, They are close and familiar to Genie Bus. They aren't the right people for the job. You know, and say what you want. There's there's this war that happens on Twitter between like the blog boys

and the people who have a real basketball background. But say what you want about the blog boys. Those guys are working. Those guys are watching games. Sometimes they watch too many spreadsheets alongside the games, but they're watching games.

That's what the Lakers need, not necessarily one of those guys, but somebody with the basketball background that actually is in the trenches, that is traveling around and watching games in Europe, that is constantly on NBA League Pass, watching dozens and dozens of games every week, not just games that the Lakers playing, and actually doing the work that you need to do to be a successful general manager in this league.

It doesn't take a lot to look at the landscape of the league and understand that the Lakers ditched all their size and that was gonna be a problem. That's literally why all of us were pleading for Wesley Matthews, or pleading for Ruddy Gay, or pleading for James Nis or whoever it was. We were pleading for the summer when we just wanted somebody who was tall on the team because we watched the games, because we pay attention to the league pass because we see what works in

the NBA these days, and that's concerning there. You know, Like I said in the last show, Rob Polinka had pointed out that everybody needs to look in the mirror, and Genie Bust needs to be the next person to look in the mirror because far too often, and that's what's so crazy about this story from the Athletic in terms of just being tone deaf, How is it that, with everything that's going on, you thought it was a good idea to go on the record that the that

the guy you're leaning on right now is the same guy who made a fool of himself quitting on the franchise literally during a game last in the in the two thousand nineteen season. Again, you need to apply to a certain amount of respect to Magic Johnson for what he accomplished in the league. I'm not trying to circumvent that at all. He's the best point guard to ever play the game. He deserves all the requisite respect. However, this dude is not a guy who should be making

NBA personnel decisions in the year two. Neither is Kurt Rambis and neither is Kurt Polinka or Rob Polinka. So Jennie Bust needs to wake up and learn from her scouting department and find people that are actually willing to do the work on that front, because those are the guys that can look at Lebron in the face and be like, hey, actually you don't want Russ. I've watched every game he's played in the last three years, and he's one of the worst defensive players in the league

when you factor in his lack of focus. That was a conversation that would have happened if it was Massi Uxurie in the front office and not Rob Polinka, and so that that that's the next area of improvement here.

It's funny looking back because the Laker fans literally protested outside of Staples Center in the summer of but there was this little lightning in a bottle that was caught with that team that won the title, and it diverted the focus away from the travesty that was take place with the ownership group in the front office and bought them a ton of a margin for error. But they've made so many mistakes in the time since then that they have literally undone everything that that team had built.

And that's really unfortunate, but it's the reality of the situation. FanDuel Sports Book is an official sports betting partner of the n b A and with FanDuel Same game parlays, you can turn little bets into big pay days. For instance, you can bet on the Lakers to win and for Lebron James to score over twenty five points to maximize your winnings. It's incredibly easy to use, payouts in as little as two hours, plus if you're a new customer, you get a risk free bet up to one thousand dollars.

Make every game feel like the finals all season long. Download the FanDuel Sports Book app or had to FanDuel dot com and sign up using promo code Jason T to bet the NBA today and get your first bet risk free. Download the FanDuel sports Book app or head to FanDuel dot com um and signed up using promo co Jason t to bet the NBA Today and get your first bet risk free twenty one plus in president Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana.

Permitted parishes only, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia. First online real money wager only. Refund issued as non withdrawalable site credit that expires in fourteen days. Restrictions apply see terms at sports book dot fan duel

dot com. Gambling problem called one eight hundred next step or text next step to five three three four two in Arizona one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org slash chat in Connecticut one eight hundred gambler or visit FanDuel dot

com slash RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey. In Virginia one eight seven seven seven seven zero stop in Louisiana one eight hundred to seven zero seven one won seven for confidential help in Michigan one eight seven seven eight Hope and why or text hope and Why to four six seven, three six nine in New York. In tennessee redline dial one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine in Tennessee visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. Alright, moving on

to James Harden. So obviously there's a question of whether or not James Harden is dealing with something significant because he's it's been announced that he's not going to play again before the deadline and that he's going to miss the All Star break. And I think this is a huge nothing burger, for lack of a better term, you know, I think there are two big angles to this. First of all, I think Darryl Moray knows that James Harden has struggled with fatigue and injury at the end of seasons.

Before last season with his hamstring breaking down, and then in previous seasons. I mean, we don't have to get into it, but this guy has one of the most miss serable playoff resumes that any NBA superstar in NBA and in the history of the league is put together and specifically at the end of series. I did a thing on hard in a long time ago that if you take a look at his numbers in the early games of a series compared to the end games of a series. They foll up a cliff and some of

that fatigue related. Some of that's his lack of ingenuity and him being way too predictable, but that's all attached to each other. I think that they probably see this as an opportunity to buy him an extra two weeks arrest, understanding that he has had issues with that in the past, and then the other side of this is just simply optics. Like James Harden took a lot of criticism, including from me, for the way he behaved on his way out of Brooklyn. That has to be addressed in some way. Right in

an easy way is to blame the injuries. Right, if you sit out for another two weeks, if he doesn't actually put on a Philadelphia seventy six ers jersey until late February, then he can at least claim the plausible deniability that he was hurt and that was why things went south the way that they did lastly on the hard in front. I think he's under a lot more

pressure than Ben Simmons here. There's been a lot of talk about what it would be like for James Harden if he had to return to one of these places, or what it would be like for Ben Simmons to go on the road to Philly in a playoff series. You have to play in front of that crowd, which would almost certainly be you know, borderline two thousand and eleven, Calves booing Lebron type of intensity. But the truth of the matter is Ben Simmons is going up to Brooklyn

as a role player. The pressure for that team's outcome falls on Kevin Durant because that's just the way the NBA works. When you're a superstar, even if you have a superstar partner, it falls on the perimeter. Initiator, falls on the guy who has the ball in his hands at the end of the game going down to Philly. That's James Harden. I think right now we can all

agree Joel and Beads a better player. But because it's easy to double post players in the in the league today, because Joel Embiad is not a great passer, and because of just the way the league becomes super physical in those late playoff environments, James hardens the guy he is

going to determine the outcome. The difference between Philly. Winning the title or losing to a Brooklyn or Milwaukee in the second round is going to fall on James Harden and his decision making, in his ability to make shots. That is a lot of pressure. And the truth of the matter is, when you have the resume that he has, he's starting to build some variety. I talked a lot and the Saturday Show about Lebron's variety and his success. Well, James Harden has a variety in his failure and adding

another chapter to that story only further exacerbates that. And so he's under a lot of pressure here. But again, rest up, he's got two weeks off. You have a chance to make a run in it at the end. You have the talent. I don't believe James can outplay Kevin Durant or Jana Syntenna Coupon in a playoff series, but he's gonna have his opportunity, all right. Before we get out of here tonight, this is gonna be our first ever rendition of power rankings. We're gonna call it

Tim's Top ten. A couple of quick rules. The way that I am making these decisions is based on three things. One, who has been best team overall to who has been the best team of late, and lastly, who projects to be better in a postseason setting. You know, you guys

know me. I am constantly a denigrator of the regular season, not overall, but just I understand from my years watching the game that the postseason is almost an entirely different sport in the way that it's officiated, in the way that the teams are in terms of scheming and focus and effort. It's just a different sport, and so the ability to succeed on that level absolutely has to factor

into these kinds of decisions. If the point of a power ranking is to say who's the best team, it's obviously going to be more complicated than who got on a hot streak in the regular season. But on that note, let's get started. So at ten, I have the Cleveland Cavaliers. This group just keeps grinding out wins. They're eleven in four in their last fifteen games. Second in defense, obviously that's their story. They have all of this front court height,

and that really bothers teams. It's just not usual in the NBA to face three and footers in the front court that are switching and flying around and protecting the rim. It's just difficult to deal with. But this team's biggest weakness will always be their ability to generate shots, especially

in a playoff environment. In their last fifteen games there in offense, they rely heavily on Darius Garland to to create everything, especially in pick and roll, and that's just something that's difficult to do in a playoff series when other teams are super physical and teams have times time to scheme. That's why they went after Carris Lavert. It gives them another guy who can help make these decisions

at the end of the game. But if you're choosing in a playoff series, who's gonna execute more than a half court Lavert and Darius Garland backcourt, or you know, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant or Chris Middleton and janasun Tennecompo or Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry or James Harden and Joel em Bad. It's just they're an exciting story, don't get me wrong, but they just don't have the offensive firepower to hang with the top dogs Number nine, the Chicago Bulls. This is a team that's had a

lot of up and down this season. They are thirteen and fifteen this year against five plus teams. That's been one of their biggest issues is their ability to hang with the top teams in the league. There twenty three in defense over the last fifteen games, which I think is really interesting because it's showing you how important Alex Caruso is and how important a Lonzo ball is as

perimeter defenders. Those are two of the best perimeter defending guards, point of attack defending guards that we have in the league. And one of the things I've talked about a lot on the show is I believe basketball is trending in the direction of making perimeter defense immensely important. The ability to keep your man in front is one of the most underrated skills in the league. Without a Lonzo and Caruso, this team has fallen apart. I have them at number nine,

number eight. The Toronto Raptors their fifth and net rating in their last fifteen games. Pascale Seacom had a really rough night tonight, but coming into tonight in his previous twelve games, he was good for ten and six on sixty three percent true shooting. That is just an outrageous stretch of two way play. From Pascal Siakam. He actually gives them yet firepower. He's had a really rough last couple of years in terms of injury and just being

able to get into a rhythm. He was one of those guys that was clearly in a funk down in Tampa. But he looks like the best version of himself right now. That that as a team, they're extremely athletic and very well coached. They're gonna be really difficult to beat. Again, You're not gonna pick them over those top guys, but they have a puncher's chance in any matchup just because of their firepower and their coaching and athleticism. Number seven

the Dallas Mavericks. They're fifth in defense and third and net rating in their last fifteen games. Lucas in shape. Finally came into the season weighing like two sixty pounds or something, which has been a huge problem for him this year. Um, but he's finally getting back into shape and most most importantly, he is finally embracing the defensive end of the ball. This is a team that has taken on a new identity this season. It used to be very much up and down the floor, lots of shooting,

lots of Luca. We're gonna try to outscore you, and they's thrive in that switching environment, right, But now they're showing sign ends up being an elite defensive team. And I've always believed in the NBA that the elite defensive team that has some offensive shortcomings but that has a really good offensive player is a more dangerous playoff team than you know, your offensive oriented teams, teams like the Utah Jazz, teams like the Phoenix Suns back when they

had Steve Nash. You know, that's why Alan Iverson got to the finals. That's why Lebron got to the finals a few times. In clear it's easier when you just have a bunch of guys that defend and then he can create everything. I like that direction that Dallas is going in and then little side note, I like that they ditched out Chris aaps porzingis the perfect first step in their long journey to find Luca a real co star.

Gent down the line a little bit, but that was the first step you had to get off of all that money. Number six. The Miami Heat their fourth and defense in their last fifteen games. They have great balance in the last fifteen games, nobody on the team is averaging more than twenty points, but they have six guys averaging at least ten they and they have the high end creation in Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler that we've

seen translate in the playoffs. They are a dark horse team to knock out the Milwaukee Bucks in my opinion, because of all their athleticism in the front court, having Jimmy Butler, having p J Tucker, having Bam at a bio, having the game planned success that they've had against him in the past. They're one of those teams that has a real punchers chance to knock off Milwaukee. Speaking of Milwaukee,

I have them at number five. They are losing way more games than they should, which continues to be the case. They have like a nice dominant stretch and then they go beat the crap out of the Clippers and Lakers, and then they get absolutely rolled by the Phoenix Suns. The biggest glaring problem with them this year is their defense has slipped their twelfth and defense on the season

sixteen in their last fifteen games. And as you guys always hear from me on the show, you have to be a top ten defense to win a title unless you're the two thousand eighteen Warriors. That's pretty much what NBA history tells us. If you don't have Shaquille freaking O'Neill or Kevin Durant and and and and Steph Curry, you can't afford to not be a top ten defense. And Milwaukee has let way too much slip on that

end of the floor this year. They will get beat unless they tighten that up here over the course of the next couple of months. Number four, our high rise or our new team in the mix, is the Boston Celtics. They're twelve and three in their last fifteen games. They have a nine defensive rating in that stretch, which is way ahead of everybody else in the field. I think second places a one oh six in that regard. They switch everything with a ton of really big athletes, which

is like modern basketball personified. I saw a stat earlier today when Robert Williams is on the floor with Jayson Tatum and Jylen Brown. In over seven hundred minutes this year, they are outscoring opponents by more than eighteen points per one possessions. That is a bona fide championship contender. Stat. That's not the last fifteen games stat, mind you, that's

an entire season stat. So even in the muck of all their mediocrity to start the season, they have like a really good, you know, foundation to fall back on, which is when we have Robert Williams holding things down underneath underneath the basket and we have Tatum and Brown on the floor, we're good there, We're really really good. And that's that's something real that you can build on. I like the Derek White edition. He gives them a

little bit more playmaking. He's a great assist to turnover guy. Tatum and Brown. They've always struggled with generating quality shots for their teammates. Derek White gives them a little bit of that. They have a lot to go up. Still, they can get a lot better. Over their last fifteen games, both Tatum and Brown are shooting below from three, so if they start making shots, this could even go to another level. Number two the Memphis Grizzlies. They are top

seven in both offense and defense for the season. They are consistent. They are fourth and net rating. Over their last fifteen games, they are eleven in four in that stretch. They are loaded in athleticism, They have a ton of shooting guys that can space the floor, and they have legit inside presences with Jaren Jackson Jr. And Steven Adams.

But most importantly, the think that makes me so excited about them, the reason why they project well in the postseason setting, and the reason why I have them at number two, is John Morand he is a legitimately unguardable offensive weapon. I said on the show a while back,

and I truly believe it. He has the potential to go on a two thousand six Dwayne Wade type of playoff run, because not only are teams completely ill equipped to stay in front of him or bother him around the basket, but refs have no idea what to do with this guy. They have no idea what to call as he comes flying into the lane just like oh six Wade and falls on the ground half the time. And that's just a wrinkle that could swing a playoff series. So they they are not a pretender. They are not

an exciting up and coming story. They are not a young team with a ton of potential. They are a bona fide championship contender, and I have them at number two. Number one are runaway number one all season, the Phoenix Suns. They're fourteen and one in their last fifteen games. They are five games up in the lost column on the second overall seed. Right now, they're utterly dominating everybody. They have absolutely no weaknesses. They have a great playmaker, they

have a great isolation score. They have great size on the wing. Their size on the wing can all shoot. They have big, strong bodies to throw at wings. They have tall, skinny athletic bodies to throw out wings. They have an interior presence in DeAndre and and they finally got him a good backup in JaVale McGee. They are good across the board except for the fact that they don't have that elite, high end star power. That will be the ultimate question surrounding the Phoenix Suns this year.

If you built a perfect basketball team that didn't have a super duperstar, can you win a title in the modern NBA? We're going to find out. Phoenix has been incredibly dominant. They're a legit contender that I believe in them. I just believe in those super duper stars more, which is why I'm not sure that they can get the trophy. But right now they're the undisputed number one in the list. Alright. That is it for the first rendition of Tim's top ten.

That's all I have for tonight. Thank you guys so much for coming to hang out. We will have shows tomorrow and Wednesday. We will do it on Wednesday. We will be doing a normal postgame show after Lakers Jazz. As always, I appreciate your guys support and I will see you tomorrow night. The Volume