M hm as a nice comfortable wing, like, yeah, I was not expecting that, So that was good. When I saw the Lion, I was surprised, just because the Raptors have always played the Lakers really well, right, I think then when I know there was some Yeah, it's eleven straight losses, eleven straight losses to the Raptors before tonight, so I know I was spanning back to two four or something and saying like that, Yeah. I meanwhile, Lebron kind of owns them, which is kind of the hilarious
hypocrisy in it. Well, yeah, even last year, they just gave him problems. And the big reason why it was they were just they were the kind of the same archetype as the Lakers, just really really athletic and really physical and just a lot of them made everything really difficult. Yeah, you can see their defense still, it's kind of like it's like a zone kind of right, It's like a matchup zone that they play and it kind of forces you into top three pointers. The Lakers just made every
single one tonight. But you and I have talked before about how like there, you know, the shooting is such a momentum thing and if you let a team make some shots early, they just ride that wave of confidence all the way through the end of the game and then it ends up being one of those situations where one start going in and uh and that that's that's the same reverse effect happens, And that's what happened to
the Lakers. You know, for months and other stretches of the season, they just would miss a couple of shots at the beginning of the game, and then they start missing the easy ones and open ones, and so you know, this is what that positive aggression is that we've been waiting on for so long. Yeah, it's friendly, how contagiou as it is, right, like one person hits and another guy kind of feels himself to hit, and then from there it kind of just boils onto the whole team.
Th HD came in and kind of just felt the like energy of we're making shots tonight, and he just pulled up from in like transition and made his first one. So it's kind of crazy how that how that works when you just get a few open looks to go, the whole team kind of the floodgates open, as as
they say. From there, yeah, and then you know, you and I have talked a lot this season, and it's been something that I've said a lot, is that, um, you know, Lebron and a D gets so much credit for the Laker defense when not to say that they're they're not a part of it, because they are. But I always have said that the Lions share of the work and this defense falls to the guards with all of their effort on the perimeter, chasing guys off the three point line and defending at the point of attack.
And then also um Frank Vogel and his schemes and the way that he the way he sets everything up in their defense on a night tonight base just to succeed. And I think it's actually been really cool to see over this stretch without Lebron and a D that even
without Lebron and a D they defend extremely well. And and it's something that I predicted now Lebron and a D or the ceiling razors, because there, you know, when you get in the playoffs and you're dealing with matchups, it's so important that you don't give up, you know, significant match up advantages to the other team. And having two super versatile forwards like Lebron and a D, you know,
are are so imperative to be able to do that. However, in the regular season, when so much of it is about effort and uh and just simple schemes that teams don't have enough time to adjust to. Uh. You know, Frank and all of these guards who you know, work their ass off every day. It's easy to see how, how how that's been so important for how successful this
defense has been. Right, Yeah, and the starter is kind of their plus minuses were kind of in the singles for the night it was de bench right with that, I called it the young core lineup. It was like Caruso, th h T and k Cock, Kuzma all just defending, switching everything. That kind of changed the game. That's the one that moved the game from like a ten point
game to like a twenty point game. And that's what we talked about, Like the defense is all about their guards and how much ball pressure they can put in switch. They do a really nice job of like switching off off the ball, right, so like if they see a matchup that doesn't work, like the same mark is at the three point line, they'll just cross switch before the ball can even get to the guys. So it was it was cool to see them just fly around and
just use their athleticism. I thought Shrewder kind of struggled for most of the night and you could see like when th HD crew, so all those young guys just fly up the court and Toronto was obviously undermanned, but still, I mean, to be up thirty on a team without Lebrono a d is still still really impressive and it just shows we can just make some shots. Man. The defense has been pretty consistent, like they got some open shots to go on. The flood gates open, so it's
it's a good win. The THHD and and Alex Cruso struggled a lot at the beginning of this no lebron stretch with their playmaking duties, and that was to be expected because they went from being in kind of subsidiary roles to prominent roles. And you know, no one just picks that up immediately, uh, no matter how good your skill set is, because you've got to learn, you know, how your aggressiveness fits in with this new kind of
role that you have. And I thought both Alex Cruso and talent Warron Tucker made a lot of really nice place tonight for their teammates h in primary creating roles. And then look at Dennis Shrewder, I mean, DENNI Dennis Shrewder was was had an adjustment period himself, you know, becoming the number one guy, and he had seven assists in like his first a few minutes of play like that. That that guy you can tell is finally starting to
get comfortable in what he's being asked to do. And uh, and and obviously you know, when you defend as well as they do, if you can get anything going offensively, you're gonna steal some of these games. And as as our our buddy Pete tweeted out, you know, uh from Laker film room, the Lakers are four and five since Lebron wind, which is insane because I thought absolutely best case scenario. I thought we were looking at maybe three
wins and that it could potentially get worse. And now with James Harden being out ten days, you've got a reasonable opportunity to be Brooklyn here um soon. And then there's that New York Knicks game as well, like they if they somehow come out of this near five hundred without Lebron and a D that would be like, I mean, I know Frank Vogels not getting Coach of the Year, but that's some coach of the year level stuff there. Yeah,
that's a massive win. And even just their defense, Like I feel like Lebron and a d are probably the best let off wall kind of defenders in the league, and you take that out. Treads is not a room protector. Markis Morris is neither Andre Drummond goes out right already, so they have really no real room protection besides Gasol. And there's still number one. They were number one before tonight.
I don't know after tonight, but they were number one in opponent's field goals percentage in the paint, which just shows how much they're flying around on on defense. So hopefully that picks up and we have a few more winnable games here. They've won every game that they were supposed to win, right the right They beat the Orlando Magic, to beat the Calves, you know, and then tonight as well. So um, that's all you can ask. Really, they're not
supposed to be the Clippers of the Bucks. I mean, those are just those are those are really good teams? Are they're going to come out and play well? But yeah, I think they've done their job, and Lebron's out of a boot right, so that's that's kind of awesome. He's already he's already out eight looks and eight is already doing like on court work, he's like shooting pregame and stuff like that. So I mean not that far away. Um, they play the MAVs pretty soon, which I think will
be pretty big for seeding. But um, other than that, they've stayed pretty much at the at the five spot. It's not like any of the people up tops I've really made that much separation. Denver is really on fire. But other than that, um, all the West teams are
kind of still in that range. So if they can come back and maybe they can still steal like a top four or five seed if if possible, Yeah, and then all you have to do is put yourself in a position where you can go on and run with Lebron and a because so many, so many teams at the end of the season don't have anything to play for. I mean, look at the Lakers and the seeding games.
They're in the bubble. They just had nothing to play for, and so they go out there and hang a three and five spot and it literally is like completely forgotten because they had already locked up the one seed and then they go off and beat everybody in the playoffs.
But in this case, they do have something to play for and that last month of the season with Lebron and maybe kind of getting their groove back and getting their their rhythm back, and and with the seating, because you know, the difference between them being a six seed in a four seed is a huge deal. When you have fans in the stadiums. If you can take your first round matchup with Denver, the Clippers or wherever it is and play it with you know, four games at home,
that's a huge deal. So they just have to stay within striking distance of being able to go on a run. And already, even if they lose every other game the rest of this no Lebron and they d stretch. They've done a little better than we thought they would um as far as the defense goes. And this I think is a nice little segue into the uh into the
benmac a more discussion. Ben McLamore, immediately the second he comes in the door of the Laker locker room is already their most athletic guard, in their best shooting guard, now you can have a conversation about him on the defensive end. It's been the number one, uh negative thing you've heard about him today. But what I think is so important to keep in mind with that is, like we just talked about with Frank Vogel. You know, the Lakers are defending at an extremely high level right now
without a whole lot of defensive talent. There are a lot of guys that are playing minutes for the Lakers right now that and just about any other situation would be considered an average to below average defensive player. And they're having success because of what the Lakers ask from their guards, the scheming, and just an organizational wide like the like the announcers are saying today. They demand it.
The organization demands defense. And so with the athletic tools that Ben McLamore has, there's no reason to leave that he shouldn't be able to slot in uh into this defense now with the with the rockets, because they switched everything. He was primarily on an island and isolation. That's not the way it's going to be for him here. He's gonna be asked to chase guys off the three point line,
fly around in rotations. Anytime he gets in a mismatch, they're gonna send aggressive help because they're so good at rotating. I actually think he'll be a nice fit defensively here. What do you think? Yeah? I think so too. He's listed at what he's listened at, like six three, so he's going to play the off guard pretty much. That is still a little smaller, but he's an athletic guard.
I think they can get more out of him. I know for Houston, like he've been and pretty well for their they played a lot of a switching defense as well, and I thought he fit pretty well. He got a lot of minutes on that team. Um, we talked a lot about Andre Drummond, like how we should kind of temper expectations right without Lebron in a D and I kind of feel the same with Ben McLamore as well. UM, he's he can do a lot more, but he is still kind of like a specialist, right, Like he's a shooter,
like that's what he does. UM, and on this team he won't get as good of looks like. I still think he'll help, UM, But I mean players come to the Lakers and just forget how to shoot for some reason, but I still think something. I still think he's gonna help. I think he's like a forty something percent shooter from the corners, you know, and he hits his wide open threes. I think you posted the stat today, right, he's shooting
like thirty or something on his wide open shots. And that's really all we're asking for is guys to hit their open shots, not even hit like the little contested ones, like, just just hit their open threes. And I think he can do that. Um. And now the Lakers have a nice little guard rotation, like whoever is hot, they can kind of play with Wes Matthews, Ben Mcamar and KCP right, all three guys, at least one of them should be
making the shots from from game to game. So that's a big pick up again to get him for free, um off the buyout market. I think he's a really nice guard to add to the rotation and add to the shooting. Yeah, and it adds pressure on the guards who have been struggling to get it together. And uh, and you know, it's one thing, you know, you and I have extensively talked over the last two years about how you know, defensively, the UH they can put up with a lot of mistakes on the off its event
from their guards as long as they defend. And when there's a lack of when there's a lack of depth, you can get the worst of both worlds. You can get you know, KCP who's not making shots and is slacking around on the defensive end. But when you have six cards in your guard corps, there's pressure on everybody to make sure that they don't take a night off
with their defensive focus and things along those lines. Um. You mentioned some of the shooting numbers for those you guys who didn't see him on Twitter earlier today, he's shooting about forty on catching shoot threes. Last year when he was with James Harden, you gotta kind of throw out the stuff this year because he's just playing in a garbage situation altogether. It's not like he magically forgot
how to shoot. It's just a question of being in arguably the worst situation basketball wise that that we've seen in the last few years, like as bad as the um you know since Harden trade, as bad as some of the old you know, Sam Hanky uh Philadelphia seventy sixers teams that invented tanking like they I mean, they think they lost over twenty games in a row at one point. So it's hard to really take any of
that is real basketball. Um. At the previous season, with James Harden's fort on catching shoot threes UM, he was fort on wide open threes, and he led the Rockets with over a hundred and fifty catch and shoot threes. Excuse me with over Yeah, Well that's that's what it was. Catching shoot threes UM more than James Harden, more than p J. Tucker, more than any of those other guys on the roster. He was their best spot up shooter.
And I watched I watched a whole lot of film of him today, um, and the vast majority of it was attacking closeouts because of the really simple role that he had in that Houston offense. If you watching Houston offense, it's all James Harden, dribble, dribble, dribble, draw attention. These guys gotta play four on three, these guys gonna attack closeouts. Well, Ben McLamore, you know, he's actually very good at that,
at that very specific thing. He's not a guy who's gonna run pick and roll for you, he's not gonna a guy who's gonna create shots for others off the dribble. But what he can do is he can do what you asked Casey p to do to his knocked down open threes when he's uh when the team, when the defense leaves him, and then when they chase him off the line, you can put the ball on the floor, make really basic plays after that. And so I actually think for what the Lakers will ask him to do,
he's an excellent fit. And like I said, right away best athlete in the back court and right away best shooter in the back court. So I don't I don't understand any situation where it's not an immediate improvement over their current guard situation. Yeah, and then he got him for free, right, They don't have to give up anything to get him another guy to add to the rotation. He's a rotate. He's an NBA level player, right. I
think he showed that last year. Um, like you said, a lot of people talked about his numbers in Houston this year. I think it's kind of tough, like you said, to kind of go off that that's a really tough situation. That's a weird kind of situation going on there. They lost like twenty sounding games in the road. Right, It's really tough to judge his shootings, but I was looking like his playoffs. His playoff shooting hims are good as well.
Last year. He shot from three UM in the playoffs on in eleven games for the Rockets last year, so shows like he can shoot in pressure situations. Um. I remember against the Lakers he had a few games where he hit uh, he hit multiple threes. So yeah, he says it's a good signing. I think. Uh. I think the Milwaukee Bucks were also interested in signing him, but I saw like the support. But he's gonna be able
to spot up. He's not as much of a movement shooter, right, He's not the guy's gonna fly off screens, but he can spot up. It's hard to help off him, especially when they get Lebron and Adie back. He's just another guy you can sit in the corner that you can't help off of, right, Like he's used to it with
the James Harden basketball from last year. That's kind of how he got his new role in the league, right, Like he was kind of a fringe player until he kind of got into that role and he saw that he's kind of a spot up shooter and he's gonna fit perfect. Um, he's gonna get a lot of open looks. I mean, the guys right now are getting open looks, so imagining Ben Malcamore kind of feel right into there, and he's a he's a nice shooter to put on the team, but again he's a specialist with his shooting.
So I would like, really temper expectations again until you get the full team back for sure. Yeah, he's not the kind of guy that's gonna have a ton of success with this current UH wine up at the running out there, just because of the lack of talent, lack of shock creation. Um. However, you know when we're when we're looking at the UH the overall roster now it fills a hole in the sense that there's this there's this sudden field with the roster that they have versatility
that they didn't have last year. Like you can go crazy all in on defense in the backcourt with like a Dennis Shrewder and Alex Caruso. You can go crazy all in on shooting in the backcourt with like a k c P KCPM. Ben McLamore. You know guys that are you know, kind of more flamethrower type of guys.
You can go in the front court. You can go big, bruising centers all game long, like like Andre Drummond and and Uh in Montrese Harrold, or you can go versatile, perimeter oriented, more skilled centers that stretched the floor like Marcusol and Markis Morris. You can you can see them
going huge. You can see them obviously going back to Lebron in a D at the five um And what's great about having a six guard core that works this well is now all of a sudden, you have so much more depth for the A D at the five lineups because at that point you need you need to have three guards on the floor at any given time, you know, and if Kuzma is a bad matchup, or if Mark Kieth, if Mark Keith can't stay out there in a specific matchup, you can go with you know,
Wes and Uh and Ben McLamore and Dennis Shrewder or you know Dennis Shrewder Alex Cruso in Western Anto. You have all these different guard lineups that you can go to. Now with Lebron and a D at the five the roster for lack of you know, just a simp file that just feels like really well rounded out now, right, And and just to bring this back to like the game tonight, like Marca Saul was shooting his open threes right whether they went in or not, like he was
taking his open shots. Um, he was kind of I think he kind of took a personal that the Raptors would just leave them open. But um, he was hitting them in threes. And when that, when that happens, like the ball can pop, it can move around, and Ben mclemar can fit right into that. Right, they would drive hit kick and you have to you have to close out to every single person. You Mark keep is hitting his open threes. Mark just taking them, Um just feels
for a better flow to the offense. Um, guys don't have to really force it one on one where you can just move the ball and without running a D. They really have to do that. So I have Mark keep shooting it, and I think Ben Malcalimore can kind of fit into that. Right. Get the shots that k CP is getting, Um, get those open looks that Alex Crusoe gets, who'sma, who'sma gets a bunch of corner threes and um as well, I think you hit a few tonight. But yeah, I would just love to see Ben malcolmart
kind of in that in that kind of role. It's a really simple offense right now. It's very high pick and roll or Marcusol at the top, and I think I think he can fit into that. We'll see when drumming. I think Drummings should be back soon as well. But yeah, I think that's just like seeing Marcusol take those threes with a really good sign because when you have five guys who are a threat, that's obviously kind of similar to the a d F five lineup right where you
have to depend everybody everyone's a threat. So I'm excited to see uh malcolmore kind of uh fit into that. Um So Roser just made you the host of the room because you have a little bit more experienced with this. Uh do you want to get some other people involved? Yeah, so if anyone like, if you want to put things in the chat, I'll go to the chat right now and then Uh, okay, Joseph, I would like to speak what's up yourself? How's it going? Hey, what's up guys?
Appreciate you know what you guys do as far as bringing us Lakers content daily in a weekly But yeah, man, I just think, you know, like you know, everybody's basically waiting on hopefully E. D is able to come back
and be at least and obviously Lebron coming back. And I think, like you guys talk about, everybody will just slot in the place, and I just think from there, man Um, as long as I would say, as long as we can stay in that sixth seed, I think we'll be okay, man, And I think the Lakers can truly repeat if Lebron and a D or anywhere from eight. Thanks guys, Thank you. Jo's appreciated, man Um. I agree with you. Everything comes down to Slott and everybody in
the proper roles. It really is that simple. I mean, you know everything everything gets colored by recency bias, right. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot of Laker optimism after the seeding games last year because you're like, oh, they can't shoot, there's no offense, like they missed Rondo. Everything is, the wheels are coming off. Lebron and a D look sloppy. There was all this stuff because you just get caught up in the way basketball looks as
of late. However, the bottom line is is you still have to be Lebron and a D. With this backcourt and with this front court, with these role players and and with every all of the pieces that they have, it's easy to see how this could be very, very successful.
And they remedied two of their biggest problems back when they were healthy, which was they need a little bit more front court depth and they needed more shooting, and especially with as well as Alex Cruz has been shooting the ball as of late, and with Mark Keith getting going and with Marcusol getting going, like I tend to think that if Lebron and helped you were healthy right now, the Lakers would be looking just like as dominated as
Brooklyn has been as of white. Yeah, and like the thing that people a lot of people like compare this to like the Clippers last year, right like they only played a few games, or even the nets this year they've only played a few games together. I guess like the only counter to that was, like lebronon a D built all their chemistry last year, right like, they got a pretty much a full season last year, a full playoffs so they're not coming in like still trying to
learn each other's games. Um, they haven't really blend with the team as fully, but I mean at least those two together have kind of built a camaraderie in and from in the playoffs. Is gonna be those two together for like thirty minutes a game, right, Like that's really what it's gonna be. So I think it right, we have Lebron in a D back, and I don't think they care what seed they are. I don't think they want to play four straight games on the road, if
especially if fans are back. But I don't think they have a problem with it either. So I think the Calves w went to the finals as the four seed Lebron's left room. Yeah, so I don't think. Yeah, I don't think they're worried about that. And then obviously a Clippers matchup would be a home game anyway, so from there it's not really not a big issue. So I think you're right, Joseph, appreciate, appreciate you coming on here.
But Jazz to her hand, Uh, yeah, I think I think he's right that if if you have to run an a D back on the seating doesn't really matter. You just want to stay out of that seven h that's seventh seed. Yeah, And at the end of the day, so much of it just depends about the playoff path, like it was one thing. It was one thing last year when I was like, oh man, you want to have the one seed because you don't want to play
the Clippers in the second round. I mean that happened to Houston in two thousand nineteen if you remember, Uh, Houston slacked off during the regular season, ended up dropping two. I want to say, I can I think it was a three seed. I think they dropped to the three seed, and then the Warriors ended up dropping to two, and then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, the Rockets dropped four. That's what it was. And then they played Golden State in the second round and they got
beatn and then that shows up as a second round exit. Well, this year, everybody's good. So yeah, I mean, like, who are you who really are you avoiding here? Because I mean, uh, you know, the Warriors when when they're healthy or probably the worst of the top eight teams in the West, and I don't I wouldn't want to play Steph Curry in the playoff series, Like he's a complete nightmare in the playoff series. And you know, Luca with with is coming into form, and the Mavericks look really good. They
beat the Jazz the other night. Uh, and they're probably gonna end up being like the seven seed, and then the Nuggets there and Gordon look like better than the Clippers, and then the Utah Jazz are like a bona fide
number one overall seed. It's just there's no there's no easy path, so like you're really not um, You're you're really not getting Like even if the Lakers had some killer crazy comeback and they got the number two seed, it's like you're still gonna play Luca in the first round, probably the Clippers in the second round, in the Jazz in the third round. That's literally what it's gonna be. So there's just no advantage to straining yourself to get
a higher in the standings. Yeah, exactly. And if everyone anyone else wants to speak, they can request or just typed in the chat as well. Um April says, Malcolmar is a good ad when you think we are solid on defense, and that's true, like talked about earlier, defense has been pretty consistent. They just need to hit some open shots. That's what happened against Sacramento, That's what happened tonight. Um, it just sets that they hit none of the shots
against the good teams, which I think. I don't think it's a coincidence totally, but they did miss a bunch of open looks. Um, I'll honesk you this one. Jason is Aramo Saley Sorrify. But your name says Who's is taking a lot of bad shots? What do you think about his comment there? What do you think do you think Who's is taking a lot of bad shots? It's
in his personality. He's like, he reminds me he's a little bit of like a J. R. Smith kind of guy in the sense that lighten he he insists on trying to get his rhythm by taking crazy shots, which is insane to me because you know, like you know, for me personally, like one of the biggest areas of growth that I experienced as I got older was understanding that the best way to get going in a basketball game is to take easier shots so that you approached
the rest of the game with confidence because you've made easier shots, and you know, some of that gets more complicated when you're playing with out Lebron in NAD because there just aren't a lot of easy shots. But he played the same way with Lebron and Nad, where it's like a lot of times like who's his first shot, Like first shot of the game Lebron and Nadi are playing, He's flying off the screen contested, it's not even open. He's fading, he's kicking his legs and it's off the
back room and it's like, Okay, here we go. We're starting the game with the miss and I certainly would like to see him try to um, try to get going in a more under control manner. But the flip side of that is he's your stereotypical irrational confidence guy. And irrational confidence guys they're always like they succeed based on the fact that they think they're a lot better than they actually are, and part of that manifests as
a desire to take really difficult shots. So, I mean, I just kind of take it as it is what Kuzma is um and you you got, you kind of gotta live with it. I mean, he's one of the biggest hot and cold players that I've ever rooted for my time as a basketball fan, Like when he gotta go in, he looks like Jayson Tatum. But when when he doesn't have a going I mean, he looks like a bump. And that's just that's just kind of how
it goes. And I feel like there'd be a little more consistency if he reined in his shot selection, but it's just not in his basketball identity. Yeah, I always say I'll tell him, like like my grandkids about rookie Couz right, that was like it was like an offensive Monsters rookie year, but really just just a finish up on him. I think I agree with your points on him, like Lebron and a d r out Right, guys are gonna try to do more and whoever they think is
more right, shooters gonna drive more. Um Kuzin was gonna take a lot more tougher shots. He's gonna run a lot of more picking roles, even though his handle is still really chompy. Right, he gets stripped a lot, But yeah,
that like him do more. But his defense to me, like if you watched last year, not not last year, yeah, last year early in the year, Um Sam really picked on him, right, I think that was one of their losses to the Raptors was at home, uh and it ended their eight game win straight if I remember correctly. It was a home game and Sam really picked on him like they would call STOs out just for him, and he got to the rim, got layups scored this year, you could really see his defense like st Sa wasn't
pretty much hell all night. That's not all Kuzma. The Lakers health defense is obviously great, like we talked about earlier, but um, like he was able to stay in front of him. Sam got a few like mid range contested pull ups, but I think you live with that. He's really took away his drive to the basket and it was just cool to see him still. Like his defense is still um really top tier for a for a wing. So that's what the Lakers need. He's able to switch. He was able to switch on a lot of guards.
You got a few blocks to night as well at the rim. So his defense is playing well enough that I'm not really worried about the offense. Like I think his offense will come and go as it is. Like he's a he's a streaky shooter, right, He's a score he's a guy that can score thirty or you can be like two P ten right. That's that's his offense right now, and I think it's fine on this team. His spot up shoot numbers are okay, and he's sitting his shots from the corners at least, so I think
we'll live. We'll live with that. Um uh, you live, you live with the offensive inconsistency if he's consistent in all the other parts of his game exactly. Uh t O G, what's up? T he says. Bogil says that drummon will continue to start. I'll give this one to you, Jason. Uh. He says that, Yeah, what are your thoughts on that? The Bogos says a drumming will continia start even though Mark played so well tonight. Well, I mean, similar to what happened with Javel last year. I think it was
probably some sort of commitment before the fact. But there's a there's a basketball rationalization to that, and it has to do with the fact that Marcusol makes way more sense to play alongside Montrese harrold Um. Playing Montrese hele Andre Drummond next to each other would be like basketball blasphemy, would be horrible. It would ruin everything offensively for them. Um,
So you can explain it away that way. But as I said earlier today, if you guys were following on Twitter, like if Mark Keith is gonna keep shooting this, well, I mean they can start drumming all they want, but it's gonna be kind of like Javel last year, where they're just gonna go away from him after that first stint and they're gonna end up going with their more skilled in verse little lineups. Um, because they have so
many options to go there. And Mark Kis Morris literally right now looks like one of the best stretch fives in the league because he's guarding so well, he's defending post a players so well, and he's shooting from three on like five attempts per game. So I mean, they just have all sorts of options. But yeah, I mean, uh, they I would imagine they promised it to Drummond, but at the end of the day, like it actually does make sense to play Drummond with a d and to
play with MARKIV. Yeah, Mark got a lot of minutes next to that young Lakers corps, right, all the young players that were like flying around and he was the one at the top kind of like Yo kitch light kind of where he was just kind of directing and guys were cutting off him and playing. Well. It's funny because I was really looking forward to him playing with Tres because they don't have a minute together still. I don't think this season Blo said he wouldn't do it
against Milwaukee and then this game Treads gets ejected. I believe was that in the first quarter? Um so when the first I believe in the first coutter? Yeah so, um, Tred's gets ejected. So Mark still does not have a minute with Tread's. Hopefully in the next game. In the next game they can they can play together and see
how that works. But yeah, I'm really looking forward to because I think Mark and played the four on offense and the five on defense and just give a really nice dynamic off the bench, and how much he wants to do that. It's obviously he's he shared how he feels about it. But uh, yeah, I think Drummond fits
better with the starters as well. Give give Shooter a nice pick and roll target um option and that starting lineup and have Mark off the bench and hopefully he can he I know he'll eventually accept in that role market just he's a professional, he's a competitor and you expect him to kind of to speak on that and uh Andy again, if anyone wants to speak, yeah, go ahead. Drummond is such a physical presence to that when the Lakers have those games where they really attack early on
by just bullying the hell out of you physically. Uh gosh, like having Drummond out there with those guys, who is going to be a nightmare for the opponent when they really get that going. So I mean, you know, like, yes, what the Lakers have, they've been playing really well, but Drummond is also good and he's also going to be good, right, Yeah, definitely, And if anyone wants to speak or anything, or again, or you can put stuff in the chat as well. Again, t O G says, a great th HD game. What's
his ceiling? I'm not sure, honestly, I think it's pretty high. I'm glad he's not a Toronto Raptor tonight. So I guess I'll say that Jason was hoping you would be, but but no, But yeah, he looked really good. He just needs a service full jump. He needs a serviceable jumper just to get what he wants. He's already game to the rim. He pulled these guys at the basket. Um, he gets to the he gets to the line as well. For a Laker guard him and Shooter. Only Laker guards
that really can get to the rim. And yeah, he played well. His his passing is already super creative. He does things that like, like once a game at least you'll do something where I'm like wow, Like tonight he split a double team the three sixty pass on on on point to the corner to Caruso. We get at three, I'm like, man, that's like the ceiling. That's like if everything comes together, his body, his you know, his control everything. By like four, he can be an on ball creator.
I don't know if he gets there, but he'll have all the tools. What do you what do you think about th HDS game tonight and how do you think he'll he'll move on for going forward? He was great. He created open shots for his teammates. That's that's something you don't see often from someone in his age. I mean he came in first possession and he had to turn over and then uh and then after that almost immediately had that play where he had the ball at the elbow and dumped it off the kios going down
the uh going down the lane for the layup. And then he and he had the play that you're talking about to Crusoe where he kind of palmed it with his hand and like flipped and flicked the wrist out there, and then he had another driving kick. I want to say it was a Kuzma, but I'm not hunder percent sure. But you know I've said this a hundred times in conversations with you, like he's always gonna look really good
at times and and show these flashes. I just think, you know, I mean, especially with McLamore now, like it's hard for me to believe he's gonna play much uh come to playoff time. I mean, I think Frank will give him a chance. But unless he all of a sudden develops into a defensive player that never makes mistakes. I'm not talking about his peak, uh like athletically as a defender. I'm talking about one that doesn't make mistakes
because mistakes cost you. If he develops into that, then I believe that that he can um become that type of player. But I just Yeah, I love the potential. I love all that, but there's I'm I'm fully mentally prepared for him to not be a factor in this postseason. Yeah. I mean most like a lot of twenty year olds don't get them any minutes, right unless you're like Jayson
Tatum or something like that, Donovan Mitchell. Those guys are lead guards or stars when they came into the league, right, those those guys PhDs role is kind of field by Lebron, right, Like he's kind of playing the the Lebron role right now, and obviously when Lebron comes back, Lebron is going to play the Lebron role. But that's basically what he is. He's just running high screen role in the ball in his hands, and he had a bunch of turnovers, which
you know you can. I mean, Shooter is also having a bunch of tune numbers. So that's gonna happen when you have guys trying to play that superstar role. So I think you're right. In the playoffs is a little less. I do think he'll get spot minutes. Like he's a guy that can come in and just get a quick six points, right. The other team doesn't have good room protection. He's a guy that would really attack the basket, like Aaron Bains today he got some fouls on him. Aaron
bad isn't really a shop blocker. He's more of a guy that wants to draw charges. And the THHD did a nice job kind of attacking him. Um uh. Joseph says, where they put the all clutch lineup? I mean the all clutch lineup includes the bron A D, so I think you can't really go wrong abother three are there. But yeah, I guess all clutch would be what bron A D, tres K t H. I think that's an absolute. I think that's absolutely a lineup you'll see at some point.
It will be an Instagram post. Shortly after t says Ka cook the new tres next year. I want I want to ask you this because I watched Kake cog in Summer League. Obviously, summer League is not, you know, anything close to the league. But I thought he had Treads comparisons back then, before we even got dress or two summer leagues ago. Yeah, man, time is flown. I forgot whenever ended in started, but yeah, they summer League, I thought he looked like Treads back then what do
you see from Can't Cook. I know there wasn't a lot tonight, but he seems like he has a good motor and like you can finish at the rim. Um do you think like he has a he has a role maybe not this year, but next shot on this
team or anything that you saw it from him. There was a play in transition tonight where he had a block at the rim where he kind of almost jumped backwards, stuck his hands up and the guy kind of caved in his chest and then he blocked him on the way down and then he ran down the floor and got a lay up, and I almost the first name that came to my mind was Draymond. Now that's completely insane because Draymond is so skilled, it's such a good passer,
blah blah blah. But defensively, I saw some of that from him, because the difference between Draymond and UH and montrez is Montrese has all of this length. They're both short, but he has all of this length and he kind of is a little too thin. He doesn't really have much of a presence around the basket. K Cos just did a really good job of of of being disruptive around the rim with his hands without fouling, while also being kind of a pain in the ass, big strong
dude that was difficult to bully. And that kind of reminded me a little bit of Draymond. So obviously I'm just speaking about the defensive end, but yeah, I mean he's good and he and he, for the record, is another great example of all the things that I've said to you about about these young centers. Um, you know, kind of like Claxton with the nets, or or our Damian Jones that was here with the Lakers for a
little bit. Like when you give guys who have athletic tools a really easy job, they can have some success. And and it's nice when you've got the rest of the scheme dialed in. You can be like, oh crap, Montrese got ejected. Uh you here you go, Davante, it's your turn. And and because he has the tools him, because there's a scheme in place, he can just step
in and do his thing. Yeah, you could tell like the Raptors kind of players were kind of he's the kind of guy that's like playing super hard while the game is what up thirty right, And they're like what are you doing? Like, why are you who are you finding super hard Robin while the game is like super out of hands. So that's kind of what I saw tonight. And he hads a good finishing ability at the rim, I thought he has pretty good hands. Um, it's kind
of telling that cost Costes couldn't get minutes tonight. Um, in a game where you know the Lakers have treads also out, I think kind of shows that Ki Cook pretty much passed him as well in the rotation. And so I don't think I don't think Coast this is getting minutes anytime soon. Um, since we're doing this live, we can kind of see the Marcus All had a quote today, um after the game from Harrison Fagan shout
out Harrison. He says, I'm staying ready. I understand that we have to get Andre acclimated to what we're trying to do. I'll be ready whatever happens, whether it's five minutes, ten minutes, I'll stay ready no matter what. So, like we talked about that was, yeah, that's kind of expected, right,
That's what we were expecting out of Mark eventually. I mean, I know initially he was kind of upset the situation but I think that's what we were expecting from Mark, Like he's a professional, he's competitor, but he's gonna he's gonna play his role. Alright, guys, I got time for one more question otherwise I'm gonna get in trouble with my wife. Alright, one last question here. Can we still cut McKinney for a roster spot? Auto Porter would be
the cherry on top. I'm not sure, Honestly, I'm not really I think we could, um, but I don't think we'd be able to afford Auto Porter. I feel like you would be um, pretty coveted out there, unless he just wants to play in Los Angeles, So I have to check with the salary people on that. But I think that would be a smart move, right, Jason, I think you're high as well on auto Porter as a out reporter would be amazing, But like he's basically a taller a taller version of Ben McLamore in terms of
what he'd be asked to do. The difference though, is like, so out of Porter is really good, Like we'd be really good and so uh And what I mean by that is like he's not a veteran minimum kind of guy like, he's a guy that next year is probably going to be in the hunt for a bid level exception somewhere, So he's gould be looking at like two years twenty million, and so from that standpoint, there's there's no real reason for him to take a buyout to go to some tiny role somewhere where he might be
relegated to something that might hurt him. So I think that's why he's been because he actually has come out and leaked to the press. I should say, I don't think he's actually directly come out and said it, but he's leaked to the press. There is agent or whatever that he intends to stay in Orlando, and uh, my guess is that it's because he thinks he has a better chance of showing something that will get him paid next year, whereas like Benn mcilmore's probably a veteran minimum
guy regardless next year, you know what I mean? Yeah, that was always my thought too. On Auto Porter, He's he's a lot better than a buyout guy. He just But again, I think Andrew Drummond was in that situation as well. But I mean, he's free agent after this year, so I was looking to see if the Magic might keep on the trade him. But yeah, it's all on him, I guess, but I mean not' I'm not sure why they would buy him out right now. Um. They need
they need players who think in Orlando. So I'm not sure I think he'd He'd be really coveted though if he does come out. So yeah, And it also gets complicated in the sense that, like I wouldn't be surprised if Rob Polinka is already basically told Andre Drummond that he's getting the mid level exception next year. Um, and that's some sort of under the table thing. Um. Again, we don't know. We're always it's always conjecture with this
kind of thing. You'd absolutely love to have, um to add another three and d wing like that that can that can be a dead eye shooter and give you another body to throw at a Kauai or another body to throw at a you know, um out of Paul George. But at the end of the day, like man, like I said earlier, this roster feels pretty complete to me. It was rose for a second there guess h Alright, guys, I'm leaving you in the capable hands of ras from here, I gotta run um, but thank you guys for turning in.
This was fun. We gotta do this more often, especially when we have somebody like Lebron and n D back on the floor to make the games a little bit more exciting. I'm gonna sign off here as well, so this is a This is a lot of funny guys. Thanks to everyone who came and I asked questions. UM. This will be out in podcast for um UM pretty soon as well, so I appreciate everyone for listening. I'll touch you later, Jason, and I'll see you guys. Hi, everybody,