Episode 70: Lakers Free Agency

to basketball. Do you get sunburned easily? Because like, when I get sunburned, it doesn't hurt though, And I feel like most people they tell me when they get sunburned, air hurts, but like I got kind of burned on my face, Um, I didn't really feel it. I was gonna ask you, do you get sunburned pretty easily? Well? For us white folk, there are there are two different types of of skin. There are the ones that tan

and the ones that burn. I'm lucky. I tan, um, but I would say that I'm probably too tan to the point where I get even made fun of by a lot of my friends. Um, but yeah, I'm I'm I'm lucky. But for for most of us. It can be,

it can be trouble. Um, So really quickly, before we get started, I wanted to vent about something for just a second, because you and I are going to be overwhelmingly positive today, because because the Lakers had a great off season and they've had they've I agree with the vast majority of the signings they made, and I think they're gonna be really good, and we have lots of

reasons to be very positive. Um. However, they're gonna be handful of things today that I'm gonna tell you that I disagree with or that I would have done differently. And uh, for some reason, that has become such a big fat, hairy deal on on Twitter in the last couple of days, which is insane to me, because like I feel like you and I have always done this were objective observers. We're not. We're not yes men. Uh. You know, our willingness to criticize when we disagree with

something is what makes it meaningful. When we tell you that we like a free agent signing or that we like the way a player is playing in in his specific role, you know, we give ourselves credibility by doing that. I mean, if you're if you're if you're a yes man and you go and say yes again, then everyone around you is gonna dismiss it out of hand because they know what you're doing. You know what I mean. And so today when you and I are occasionally being negative,

it doesn't mean we're being haters. It just means we're being honest. So that's one thing I wanted to to frame everything with. But that said, overall, just overarching, I thought it was a really good couple of days for the Lakers. Um. I still think they need like one more forward. We'll talk more about that. And I didn't love the Alex Crusoe thing, which we'll dive into in a little bit. But overall, I thought it was a great couple of days. How are you feeling, kind of

looking from the thirty feet Yeah, that didn't love. The Alex cruser thing felt like an actual moment in like history, right. It felt like the whole world kind of just stopped once he signed with the Chicago Bulls. I felt like, um, Twitter kind of just um shut down. I was in this kind of same vein just looking at the roster.

I mean, I feel like they that was their backup plan and get a bunch of guards that can kind of shoot off the dribble, can kind of create that's like my world, kind of like outside view of this. A lot of guards with a lot of a lot of handle that can shoot, take it to the basket, um, can get hot, can really kind of play make can dribble um. That's really what they've kind of done. I don't ask you this because this is kind of interesting

to me. I always said that I didn't really believe Anthony Davis when he said he would play the five more. But you look at this roster. It's thirty six year old Marcasol and it's thirty five year old Dwight Howard. He's one of the he's in his mid thirties at least. So that's basically your two centers on the roster with Anthony Davis. Everyone else is a forward. I mean Carmelo can play. There is probably a four in this situation. I don't think Melos a five. So that's an interesting

thing to me. It's like they've really built this kind of around um the idea because he's gonna have to play more five. I don't see Dwight and Mark kind of taking the full center rotation in the regular season. Um, those were kind of my big views. What else did you kind of see from the roster makeup as a whole? I guess before we kind of break this down in individual parts, Um, what do you see as like the

ethos of this roster? So let's talk about the total identity change that the Lakers have undergone in the last couple of years, because there are two primary identity changes that I believe they underwent. First of all, it's very clear that a D is going to play at least half of his minutes at the five. Otherwise they would have devoted more resources to bigger, bruising, rebounding type of forwards that can play small ball five and things along

those lines. They would have kept Mark Keith Morris probably if they intended to play a D at the four lots. So it's it's very clear that a D fully intends to play at least half of his minutes at the five, which is very good if we were if we remember in the championship season he played about of his minutes at the five, and then last season he only played about ten of his minutes at the five, So they

clearly are planning on shifting back to that um. The other big identity change that I noticed, as I felt, and you and I talked a lot about this right after the Sun series, I thought the Lakers were a little too heavy on on on really simplified offensive role players, guys who could hit an open shot occasionally and maybe rip through and get to the rim, but that was

about it. Like their best close out guy was probably k C. P And like you said, like he could do that one dribble pull up, he could hit an open three, and he could get all the way to

the rim. But there wasn't really a whole lot else, while the Phoenix Suns had all these guys like Cam Johnson and Michael Bridges and and campaign, these guys that could make these really complex reads out of closeouts, Like they could rip through the right, do a counter move, you know, hit of ten foot, you know, leaning face, eating shot, floaters, all this this these these this more

intricate shot making from the role players. Well, it seems like the Lakers very clearly addressed to that need in this offseason because guys like Malik Monk, guys like Kendrick Nunn, these are guys that are capable of far more complex, uh, read and react type of clothes out attacking and when you've got guys like Russ and Lebron and a d they're gonna put so much pressure on the rim and draw so much attention. Having guys that can do that

more complex decision making is a huge advantage. And we saw that with Devin Booker and Chris Paul drawing attention and the Son's young role players making reads off of that. And so I think that the Lakers clearly shifted their identity in that direction on both of those fronts. And and I actually like the idea, and I believe that the ceiling of this team is considerably higher than it was in the last couple of years. What about you, Yeah,

for sure. And I think they really just it's just like which from defense to offense, right, these these kind of role players that are really defensive minded, um Alex Alex Crusoe being the kind of main one of this, and they went towards this like now we're gonna score a bunch of points. You know, the second unit is gonna come in have a lot of firepower. Watching Kendrick Nunn, He's a really explosive guard, Like we don't really even have that. Last year, Dennis Shrewder I was kind of

saying that, like we lost. We only had like one guy who could dribble as a guard last year and kind of shoot off the dribble, and that's Dennis Shrewder. And still he doesn't get the kind of separation that you kind of need. You saw it in the playoffs. Kendrick Dunna is the guy that explodes off pick and rolls Mollek Monk comes off and can fire from three very easily, has a quick release. Um, it's kind of

hard to get to. So those are kind of kind of interesting things that they've they've kind of done with this. One guy that's kind of getting hidden because he got down the first he went on the first day was Wayne Ellington. I love the Wayne Ellton siding. A guy who could shoot off the move. He's not Buddy Healed obviously, it's kind of like a Buddy Healed light as as a shooter. Um, he's not as dynamic as a playmaker and all that, but he can really shoot off the move,

come off screens. Um. I'm excited to see that kind of wrinkle in the offense. We haven't really had a guy that could run like from the paint outside office screen and shoot. So those are kind of interesting things to me. Um and the non Lebron minutes are so interesting and fascinating to me because you also have Carmelo Anthony on this team. And I totally get he's study seven. I totally did. Yeah, he's adjusted his game in Portland's I totally get. He stood in the corner and took

a bunch of threes. Still Carmelo freaking Anthony, Like that's that's a guy on this team. Um So I'm so interested to see how that will work. I guess him and a D kind of play four and five backup, Like, how do you think that kind of bench unit works there? What kind of kind of lineups do you think they kind of go with? Because I'm that's where I'm fascinated with. Is it Russell, Westbrook, Mellow and a D manning second units? Like what? How does? How does? How do you think

this kind of shapes out? So there are a million different directions this thing can go, and I think that's the most exciting part. There's a versatility, particularly on the offensive end with this team that ever existed over the last couple of years. You know, Uh, Carmelo Anthony uh is you know, he he diminished his role in the last couple of seasons as a spot up shooter and kind of a stretch for type of deal. But you know, he still is actually super adept at attacking mismatches um

particularly against smaller players in the post. And so I think he's capable of a little bit more than people realize. I think that whether or not he ends up being that big of a of a contributor is going to come down to what he does defensively in Frank's system. But he's gonna be asked to do more defensively than he has in the last and probably in his entire career.

He'll be asked to do more defensively this year in terms of what is expected from him from the coaching staff, because even when he was in his physical athletic prime, you know, he kind of coasted on that end to devote his energy on the offensive end. But just in general,

there are so many different directions they can go. They can go, you know, uh, they can go really athletic with lineups like you know Russ and Kent, Baysmore and Lebron a D and uh, or they can go really heavy on shot making and go with lineups like Malik Monk and and Wayne Ellington next to you know, lebron at the four and Dwight Howard at the five and run screen and roll and have all the shooting on

the floor. They have all these different directions that they can go and honestly, like we we need to marinate on this for for months to really kind of come to two grips with all of the different options that they have. What I would like to do, if it's okay with you, is just kind of go down the list, player by player and just talk about what excites us

the most about them. Um So, from from that standpoint, let's talk about Uh, Let's let's start with Malik Monk because I think he's the one that has everybody the most excited over the last couple of days. Malik Monk to me, you had mentioned Wayne Ellington is kind of like a poor man's buddy healed. I kind of think of Molik Monk as the poor man's buddy held for a couple of reasons. First of all, I think he'll get more minutes Ellington and two, Uh, Molik Monk is

just better off the dribble. He's better at creating things. Uh, you know when things break, you know, when when he has to break down the defense rather than when he's waiting on someone else to break down the defense the way that Wayne Ellington will need to. For the most part, a lot of the stuff we talked about with Anthony Davis off ball and having Buddy Healed setting down screens, having Buddy Healed fly off of pin downs, having Buddy Healed us a screen and roll and force the defender

to go over the top. Molik Monk accomplishes a lot of that. Uh. He's underrated as a passer. He got off to a rough start in his career as a shooter, but his three point shot has come along in the last season. I'm really excited about Malik Monk as a player that can be kind of what we wanted Buddy Healed to be. What did you think of the Malik Monk acquisition? Yeah, I love I also love like a day pushed towards a little bit younger as well. I

think he's what twenty three years old. I believe Link Monk getting him for the minimum is kind of crazy. Those guys don't come from the minimum. Here's what top He's like the eleven pick and a couple of drafts ago. Um yeah, I love his game. I love that he can kind of come off the dribble. He's a guy that can get hot very easily. Right. He's a guy that's streaky, like if he gits won three, um, he'll kind of pull up and take a couple more. He's nicely sized as well. Just a lot of athleticism. Um.

I love the like explosiveness of him. Thht none. All those guys are really fast and really power throw it down on you. Um yeah. It's just like this team is really big, really old, kind of in the front court, right, other than a D it's kind of a resa. Um. All these other guys a little bit in their thirties. I like that the cards are pretty young. So I haven't watched too much from Leak Monk. I watched them

like his tape um yesterday. Um, just a really fun player, it looks like, and um yeah, getting him on the minimum is kind of it's kind of crazy. Yeah, I'm with you that if you're if you're looking at uh, the biggest weakness and what Rob put together it's in my opinion front court depth and age. I'd like to see one more four word in there, preferably one that's a little more athletic. Um, just because of what you're

gonna be asking from. From the way I look at it is like, imagine a back to back in Utah and Denver and you have like just an absolute crazy game in Denver that goes, you know, where Lebron is to play forty two minutes and Trevor Reason plays forty minutes and Carmelo plays thirty four minutes or whatever it is. You know, you're asking those old forwards to play again the next night in Utah. You know, you'd like to have a little bit more depth there for that specific need.

But again we're kind of nitpicking here because every team has flaws and I really like what they put together. Um. Anyway, let's move on to to Kendrick Nunn. So Kendrick Nunn is an interesting case because you know, one of the first things I do when the Lakers sign anybody is I reach out to somebody that I'm friendly with on Twitter who's a fan of that team that he was previously on, and I asked them for their honest opinion.

And so I talked to a couple of Heat fans yesterday and the big thing that stood out to me as uh. They said that he's a little bit frustrating from time to time, but that overall he was one of their most talented offensive players. And it shows in the numbers. He scored at a rate of eighteen points per thirty six minutes last year. Incredibly efficient. He had a sixty true shooting percentage. Like for a guard to have that type of efficiency in the NBA right now,

you're in a rare class there. Now he's doing it on lower volume than those top tier guys, but that just goes to show you that higher end shot making, that higher end offensive ability to react to what kind of attention Lebron and a d are drawing. That's the kind of exciting stuff that Kendrick Nunn brings. The table you brought up that he's explosive off the dribble, that's another big one. He's more, he's built well, he's built

like a tank. He's got a lot going for him physically and adds a different element to that backcourt that we hadn't had offensively in the last couple of years and that's something that I think is really exciting. Are you excited about Kendrick Gunn as well? Oh yeah, And he kind of fits the like Russell Westbrook style of play. He's obviously not as good as Russell Westbrook, but he's not the guy that kind of goes through you. Right with his athleticism. Um, he can pull up from three,

He's very comfortable with that. He takes long threes to like even on his spot ups, he's comfortable pulling from long. But yeah, like I love how he goes through guys really athletic, just a different type of guard than we have and we've had, you know, Dennis shooters and is it like a quick point guard. But he's not like athletic. He's not gonna go through. He's not gonna jump over you, Kendry gun If you give him a lane, he'll dunk on you. Like that's the type of guard. He is

very similar to Westbrook. Um, I think that's a perfect guy from him to learn from, just how to get to the rim, um, how to attack and stuff like that. So um, I'm I'm I'm really excited for him as well. I've again, like I remember he had like get a good finals against US. If I remember the finals correctly, he had like a pretty good game, wonder game to a guy that we had we had trouble stopping. Um.

So yeah, I get another younger. I think he's twenty six, a little bit older than I thought, but but still just again a guy his mid twenties. I think it's good to have those guys mixed in with the vets and our guards and the really quick, really quick, really fast, um explosive guards that we heard that that we've signed. He's got a good arsenal of little floaters and midrange shots too. Uh that I think gives him that versatility

and punch offensively. He's your textbook late bloomer type of guard who ended up going to a small school and was an alpha dog. Um, and you know that kind of that kind of guy is the kind of guy that you know, uh, NBA teams typically stay away from because they view him as guys that succeed on bad teams, that type of vibe. Um. But the truth is is like that alpha dog mentality is what has turned him

into such a confident offensive player in the NBA. Like and again, I'm gonna hammer this home a lot over the next couple few weeks. But it's not easy to be that efficient as a guard score and that is something that I'm really excited to see if it translates in this specific offensive system. Um okay, so next, let's

talk about camp bays Moore. So I reached out to some people that I trust to follow the Warriors, and they basically said that the uh that he was asked to do too much in their system, that that was the primary, uh you know, reasoning behind some of his struggles because he did have, uh, you know, a season

that was full of ups and downs. And you know, from a distance from our perspective, we watched them complain and we watched him struggle, and we're very quickly, we're very we're very quick to just be like, oh, Kempaysmore sucks or Kemp Besmore had a rough season. Well, the people within the Warriors fan base who were watching objectively would tell you that he was asked to do too much. He was he was basically their second best perimeter initiator. That's that's a lot to ask for a player with

his specific talent. The big, huge, glaring positive with Golden State was he shot the seams off the basketball. I tweeted it out after he signed. He was forty six on wide open threes. That's something you know, the Warriors fans will tell you that he's likely to come back to Earth in that regard. However, if there is some sort of hot streak that he's on, he's going to

continue to get very good shot quality on this team. Uh. They said that he was good at ball pressure, he was good at the point of attack, but that he could be hands he sometimes commit some silly fouls, get a little bit out of control, but that in general, they liked to pick up for the Lakers. And you know, that was kind of my initial thought as well, and it felt good to hear that from Warriors fans as well.

What was your take on the Baysmore pickup? So, Bisimore, he's another one of those guys that's a returning Laker, right, You've seen the memes and jokes that, um, we're kind of only high, We're only getting guys for retraining Lakers. He's the guy I wanted them to keep back then. Back then, obviously the Lakers were terrible. Um, they were in the beginning of the rebuild, I think, and he left to the Hawks where he signed. He's one of those guys that kind of went through this. He was underrated,

then overrated, and underrated again. I feel like he went to the Hawks for like the minimum and then they paid him I think four years eighty or some thing like that to either starting to guard on a team that was winning sixty, you know, sixty games a year. Um. I like the camp Baisemore signing. He's a like traditional three and d um. I'm not sure if he's as good a shooter as he showed last year, like as that, but he's a good shooter. He's a smart basketball player

who knows like what he's doing. He knows how to play on a winning team. I don't think he's that old either. I think he's like thirty two if I remember right for Kemp Baisemore, um and can he's probably our best like other than the Reza guy we can throw on wings. I think he's a good defender, um, smart defender and yeah the word Warriors fans were obviously tough on a lot of players last year, but I thought Baisemore was a good player fit next to steph Um.

I think he'll fit right next to Lebron too, So just another solid signing for for the minimum. I agree they went from you know, they went from a obvious lack of guard depth after the West Book Trade West Book Trade. That concerned people because we knew, we knew only the veteran minimum was available, and we just were concerned about whether or not to be able to put

together some decent that the guard position. And you know, routinely in Lebron's career, and this is something that is a testament to uh, you know, the reputation he's built amongst his peers, but consistently in Lebron's career, he's been able to convince players to take discounts to come play with him, and uh, because of the fact that they know they're going to get good shots, and they know they're gonna have a chance to compete for a championship

and all that good stuff. And I'm sure the Laker brand also plays a significant role. But I wanted the ability to get Kendrick Nunn, bays More and uh, Molik Monk and every one of those guys could have made more elsewhere, but Kendrick Nunn had a deal bigger than the mid level exception offered to him by the Knicks that he turned down. Bays Moore had more, more years, more money from the Warriors that he turned down, and we all know Molik Monk probably could have got a

mid level exception somewhere out there. So very clearly, you know, the Lakers were able to take advantage of their their the perks of of of being the lay Kers and parlay that into guard depth that they desperately needed, and so that that was exciting. Um. So the next guy that I wanted to talk about was Trevor Reza because he's a really interesting case because he's your textbook like outside of Lakers Twitter, there's a lot of pessimism like about that that pick, like ha ha, they had to

settle for Trevor Reza. They're old, Trevor Reas is washed, he hasn't mattered in two years, blah blah blah blah. So again I reached out to some Miami he people that that were watching him last year and they said, look, he didn't shoot particularly well, but he's still every bit as good defensively as he's been in the last few years. They said he was the one that they would stick

on all the big tough defensive matchups. Then Tim Cranches from UH from I can't remember the name of his site all of a sudden at the second, but anyway, Crane just came out with his statistical model of his UH perimeter defense and he was one of the best perimeter defensive players in the league last year. And I remember him most vividly in two thousand eight team doing such an incredible job on Kevin Durant in the Western

Conference finals. And I hadn't watched too much of him in the year since, mainly because he had been on mainly irrelevant teams. But I'm really excited about Trevor Reasa. He's a wing defender that the Lakers haven't had in

the last couple of years. And for the most part, what I think about is half court NBA playoff basketball, you know, against the team like Phoenix, against the team like the Clippers, against the team like the Warriors, and having your front court be Trevor reason Lebron and Anthony Davis.

To me, that's very exciting that the prospect of that level of athleticism and length and savvy veteran savvy defensive ability from those guys, and then when you couple that with Anthony Davis, full bore, full health, it's it's really exciting to me. So I actually really liked the Areasa pickup. I would have preferred him as a bench a guy. I would have preferred somebody younger in front of but

I actually think he might end up starting. But either way, regardless of what his role as, I really liked to pick up. What did you think about A reason? Yeah? I like him too. It's funny he kind of has the uh in O eight. He helped the Lakers kind of win the oh nine. Sorry, he helped the Lakers win the title, and he left for kind of for money reasons, and the fan base was kind of upsets, very eerily similar to how Carusoe kind of walked. Very

similar to that. Um similar type of player. He wasn't a good shooter when he was younger, but he's really made himself into like a really nice spot up shooter. Um that's kind of shots he'll get here. I don't know if he'll play big minutes. He might start, but I mean at thirty six or whatever he is, I don't think they want to have him, you know, in the thirty minute range. But yeah, just another smart player,

another dude who's been on a bunch of winning teams. Um, that Houston team just let him walk, which I thought was a mistake when at the time it happened. I think he went to Sacramento for uh yeah, I think he went to like the Kings or something. Obviously Sacramento was irrelevant at the time. Um, but but yeah, Like, I love his game. I've always had. I wish he

was back here at a little younger age. But but even at this age, UM, he's still, like you said, a really great perimeter defender and he's gonna get wide open shots here. And he's been a knockdown three point shooter for a long time. Um, he's been a spot up shooter for the last few years as well, next to James harden Um, especially on those Rocket teams. So I'm excited about him as well. I worry about his age and all that, and his durability at that age

being a wing defender on this team. But in front of a d I'm interested to see how Vogel kind of puts the scheme out. They were very heavy in terms of ball pressure last year. I don't think it will be that this year. I think it'll be more physical, a little bit more switching, maybe a little more dropback defense. But yeah, the reason is a smart dude and he's a good player on the on the minimum. Yeah, you know, it'll be really that that part you just brought up

about the defense is super interesting. It'll be I would imagine in training camp he's going to gauge the guard corps. That's gonna be the key because you know, there's actually they actually had a quite a bit of athleticism in the guard core. When you think about Russell Westbrook, Camp bays Moore, Malik Monk and uh Kendrick Nunn, like there's quite a bit a shifty athleticism and strength. Uh they can go. They can throw out lineups like None and

Westbrook next to each other. Like you've got two stocky six three guards there that that are going to be difficult to bully physically and that are very athletic. So it'll be interesting to see, I'm with you. It'll be a question of whether or not they're capable of applying the level of ball pressure that guys like k CP and Dennis Shrewder were able to. But it'll it'll be interesting to see, but we know Frank, like, Frank's gonna adjust, He's gonna figure out what works with that guard corps

and and build everything around that. They do have a switchier set of forwards than they've ever had. Uh, that's gonna be the most exciting part is that idea that you can throw out. You could throw out a lineup of Westbrook, Bays More a Reason, Lebron a d and or let's say they bring in westmath Us, which is something we're gonna talk about later. He's a guy I'd like to see them add as just like a low like a low ceiling, high floor type of option to

throw out. There is a fifth man, but lineups like that where every player has some girth to them, you know, some strength, and none of them are are easy to physically bully, and they can kind of switch everything. So I'm excited to kind of see what they build around there.

But just in general, with the reason, and one last note on the reason with his shooting, you know, you and I talked a lot about how Russell Westbrook, even if he went out next year and shot in the first month of the season, teams still aren't gonna guard him because just there's a huge difference between three point

percentage and three point gravity. Three point gravity more has to do with how scared teams are of you, And it really takes a large sample size of doing something different for you to start adjusting your your your strategy with something like that. Trevor Reasa, even if he shoots again from three next year, teams are gonna at least guard him, you know what I mean. There's a at the very least, if you're guarding Trevor Reesa, you're scared that he's gonna make you pay if you leave him open.

So I I do like, I do like his fit in terms of the natural spacing of everything. Um so I guess let's see the I guess the last guy that we should touch on his Mellow because I don't I don't think Ellington's gonna play all that much. Uh. And then you know the center's Mark and Dwight. You and I have talked about at length over the last two years. So you know, I'll let you start on this one. What are you are you expecting Mellow to play that much of a role this year? Yeah, that's

so tough. Like I understand car mellows here on a minimum, but he played for Portland's It's it's not like he was an end of the bench guy on Portland play. I don't know if how much he started, I really don't remember. I think he did start a few games, but it's a big part of the rotation. Um he was the or on that team. UM. I still like him as a shock creator for the second unit. He's started seven though, so like, can you defend well enough

to play that? Those are the questions to me. UM. I think Frank Vogel does have a like he doesn't like to play his vets, does like to play the Vets. We saw Rondo play a bunch um in the regular seven season, even though he was bad um that first year. I see similar things with Carmelo. Um. I reached out to my Portland Travelers a friend and I was like, hey, like, what do you think of Karmelo on the Lakers? And

he's like, uh, Carmelo, Uh. He can be frustrating at times because he's gonna, you know, I want to say, hijack the offense. But I mean when you have Carmelo Anthony, give him the ball, that possession is his, Like that's just just what happens when you give Carmelo the ball in the post, that possession is his now like he's I'm gonna bully ball my way into the post. I'm gonna take a mid range fade away jumper. You know.

If it goes in, I'm gonna, you know, talk my ship, or if it doesn't go in, I'm just going with the other way. But but but yeah, that's that's the kind of thing with Karmelo Anthony is the talents there obviously in him and Lebron wanted to play together. I think that's a big part of this. I do see him buying in Um. I think this is a maybe his first like championship kind of chance, you know, in

a long time, maybe since those Denver teams. Um, I don't think those next teams were really close to a title, and those Portland's teams are are what they are. So I can see him buying him behind him as well. But yeah, that he's the most like question mark to me in terms of minutes UM him and and th h T. I guess if if you want to touch on him, but like Carmelo's minutes are the ones I'm most interested to see how that goes. Is he just

a spot kind of play here and there? I see him fully in the rotation, though I don't know about you, like I think he's not. He's not gonna come here and stay on the bench for a bunch of games. What about you? What do you think about Karmelo? So, I think the easiest way to contextualize Carmelo Anthony's fit minutes role. You know what they asked him to do, whatever you wanna call it, is just an upgrade of

Mark Kith Morris. If you remember, like I asked you to describe what Mark Keith Morris was to the Lakers, you would say he was a spot off show er and they would occasionally, especially late in the season, try to go to him in the post because they lacked offensive creation without Lebron and a D, so they feed him to try to score in the post. And then he was a below average perimeter defensive player who was below average in rotations, but he was good as a

post up defender. That was what we remember about Marquis Well. That's pretty much exactly what they're gonna need from Carmelo. Like Carmelo is going to be a below average perimeter defensive player, he's going to be below below average covering ground in rotations, but he's gonna be above average as a post up defender. Teams aren't teams aren't gonna be able to physically dominate him underneath the basket. And then he's gonna be a guy who's gonna be a spot

up shooter at a higher level than Markief. And he's gonna be a guy you can throw it to the post against inferior defenders and you're gonna get more out of him than you did out of Markief. So just simply that's that's how I see the role shaking out. As far as minutes go, if you think about it as like a there's kind of two ways to look

at it. There's the depth chart approach, which is if a d s you're five and Lebron's you're four, and you can get them to do uh, you know, thirty two minutes a night, you know, if you're trying to keep their minutes down because the age that means there's sixteen minutes there for Dwight at the center position, and there's sixteen minutes there for Mellow at the four uh. And then when you factor in load management, and things

along those lines. During the season, there will be even more minutes available for marcusol or for Dwight to play more, or for Carmelo Anthony to to play more. So from that perspective, like, that's how I look at it. From as far as his role goes, Like whether or not Lebron is willing to play more three and to have Mellow play more fork, that's all about fit and whether

or not Melo really pans out as a defensive player. Look, if Mello comes in and he shoots from three and is killing it on the block and defending pretty well, then yeah, you're gonna shift up and play lab On at the threesome and and and and put Carmelo at the floor. But again, this is about flexibility and versatility, and the Lakers have options. Uh, they're in this regard and so I think I think it's uh something to be excited about. I love the market. Market Moore's kind

of like comparison there. But Carmelo was an excellent shooter last year too. Yeah, I think he shot forty percent from three from the corners too. He's a guy. Also, like when you compared to Mark Morris teams double Carmelo Anthony still like they send help. Like even if the numbers say whatever they are, the spreadsheet, basketball still says whatever that that's a bad shot to you know, take teams still come and send doubles on Carmelo Anthony with

Damian Little on the floor like that. That's something that really happens in Portland's. Um, so it's funny. So that's a that's another wrinkled thing that I like. And Markey Moore's another guy that likes to post up, take and manage mismatches. I think Carmelo's a little bit better at that too. Um He's a guy can create more help better pastor I think than Markey Morris as well. I'm really interested in those like Mellow with the other star lineups,

Like I'm really fascinated by that Melo really. I mean, yeah, Dame and c J are what they are, but like the type of paint presence that like run a d could provide. I'm just curious how Mellow can kind of fit his way into that. I think you get Carmelo in a bunch of one on one matchups. I think that's favorable even at his age. He's a guy that really knows how to score. He's a professional score one of the best ever. UM. So that's why I'm interested

to him. Just that kind of interesting linkol to it. Um. That kind of talent is what it is, and I think the coaching staff will try to try to work with that. But yeah, I love the Marquis Moore is kind of comparison there. Yeah. Well, and if you think about it, like he gives you a matchup attacking option

at the end of your lineup. So if you run a lineup that has a d at the five, Mellow at the four, Lebron at the three, you know, th h T at the two, and Russ at the one, every single one of those guys can destroy a week matchup. If you get th h T on a skinny guard that can't really defend, he's just gonna bully him all the way to the basket. Same goes for us Lebron on a weaker wing, Carmelo Anthony had a weaker wing or a slow forward, and then Anthony Davis. That is

a nightmare lineup for attacking mismatches. And and that's like, that's something that that could be really really exciting. UM. So we got about ten more minutes before you gotta get out of here, and we're gonna dive even more into a lot of this stuff as the summer progresses. Um, But I wanted to talk about Caruso for a second. So you know, first of all, I think that, uh, there are two separate topics with this Crusoe thing. There's

the topic did the Lakers need Caruso? Obviously not that that that goes without saying they're gonna be fine without him. That that that that was that The negativity that I have about this topic isn't dedicated to my optimism about the Lakers as a whole. Okay, However, it's important to say that with respect to that roster spot, there was no reason to let Alex go except for money. It only had to do with the amount of money that Jennie would have to pay. So in general, I don't

I don't. In general, I don't love the idea of protecting the wallet of a hundred millionaire or a billionaire. That's one of the first opinions that I have about it. But secondly, there was the opportunity lost that comes with Alex Crusoe's contract. So this summer you have added some legitimate assets that teams are gonna want. Malik Monk on a minimum contract, that's a great deal. Kendrick Nunne at five point seven million a year or whatever, that's a

great deal. But adding those salaries up is useless to amount to anything. However, if I've got Caruso at nine million and there's a player out there that I really want that's a seventeen million dollar salary, I can go bam, you know, Monk, none at Crusoe for this guard that's out there, whoever it is. And I'm just providing an example. They they they and I'm not even saying they would

make a trade this year. I'm just saying if you wanted that flexibility, having that intermediate salary and that nine million dollar range attached to a player like Cruso that teams want makes your minimum contracts more valuable because they

can actually amount to more salary. The point being is that whether it's guard depth, or whether you think Alex Cruso should be in your closing lineup, or whether you want to use him as a trade piece, there were so many positives that come with Alex Crusoe on the team and letting him slip purely as a result of counting Genie Busses money. In my opinion, was a mistake. Uh, that was just how I felt about it. Doesn't mean I dislike the offseason. Doesn't mean I think the Lakers

are gonna suck. That was just one of my complaints from the last couple of days. What was your opinion on the Alex cruise? I think Okay, So like first, Uh, well, I guess, like it's no secret I love Alex Cruso. Like you can type my Twitter name out screw, so you'll find a bunch of videos, You'll find a bunch of stats that you know, people are like, you're you know, you're kind of nit nitpicking stats whatever. But there's no secret I love al Scruso that I knew what he

meant to this team. Um, I think this team went with the identity shift they wanted on ball shot creation. Go look at what THHC just got three years, thirty two million dollars for th h T. However you feel about THHC, they obviously feel a way about him. My only wish issue with this, I'm not keeping for Genie buzz I have no reason to, you know, I don't

know her personally at all, like what they do. I think there's a difference between being cheap, right, because I see saw that word thrown a lot, a lot thrown around a lot pretty way too loosely called the Lakers cheap. That's totally different than not wanting to you know, payout screwso whatever it costs fifty whatever man in luxury tax. Those are two different things. Being cheap is not is trading James Harden before he hits his max players spot, Like,

that's that's being cheap to me. This is this is a little bit different. So that's the kind of like difference that I want to make with this. Like to me, logically, how I was kind of explained this, you don't make the trade for Russell Westbrook and then think you're gonna be cheap, right, Like, those things can't coincide. To me, you can't trade for the second highest paid player in the game while also having two max guys, while also being a franchise that's going to be cheap on the margins.

So when the crew something happened, I said, yes, this is terrible, but I'm gonna give them a little bit of a benefit of the doubt because It just makes no sense to me to go trade for a forty three million dollar player, have three guys make one thirty million, and then say we're gonna be cheaper on the margins. That makes zero sense. You could have just did the buddy, he'll trade and then filled the roster route, you know, evenly, and you know, paid a little bit of luxury whatever.

They're still gonna have a huge tax bill. This is the highest tax billing Lakers history, you know what I mean. So that's that's the only thing I don't like about this. I hate that Crusoe has gone. I think he billed himself into a great player. He earned every penny of this new deal. Lakers obviously didn't feel that, you know, they wanted to go in a different direction, and I

don't like it. I can understand it, but I think the word cheap is the one that I have the most kind of issue with because, like, that doesn't make logic sense to me that they went and dealt for a guy making that much money and then you know, call them cheap for this is that's the communiany part of me. What do you what do you think about that? Yeah, I like, I don't think Genie is being cheap, like you said they have, they're about to have a huge

luxury tax bill. Um. The thing that I always thought about it was just like, you know, so let's say, first of all, blaming Alex crusoe salary for the big fat luxury tax bill is stupid because his salary is not the reason why there were be a giant luxury tax bill. That that would be unfair to Alex. Uh. Secondly, you know, the the way I look at it, Let's say you're you're you are paying Alex effectively thirty million or something because you're paying him nine and there's twenty

one million in luxury tax or something like that. Uh yeah, that's a lot of money. But you're in a two year window here where you're contending for the title. You can regroup financially because all these are one year deals and th h T s the only long term deal they signed or or Kendrick Nunn and Kendrick Nunns is a player option that will probably opt out of if he has a good season. So the thing is is

like you've got cat flexibility moving forward. Russ even only has one more year on his deal, and then you can kind of restructure everything. So the point is is why not pony up now for this one or two year window and understand that built continuing to build that Lakers brand of dominance is what allows you to charge what you do for tickets, and charge and sell as much merchandise as you do, and charge as much as you do for a TV deal and things along those lines.

And you know, like I I use this example earlier, but let's say let's say Trevor Reasa doesn't pan out like he just has washed, and let's say Sam goes for Carmelo and the Lakers are playing small, and it's like, man, we really need a wing, and the buyout markets crap um. But you know, Jimmy Butler gets hurt and the Heat are tanking, and all of a sudden, p J. Tucker is available and his salary is ten million a year or whatever, and it's like, man, we call up Miami

and they'll take Caruso and Monk for for p J. Tucker. Bam, Now we have our front court depth back. You know, that kind of flexibility is gone without those intermediate salaries. And I'm just that's just a complete fabrication that I came up with But I'm just giving you an example of It was never as cut and dry as we don't need Alex because we have guards already coming. It was never as cutting dry as that's too much money for Alex. It was it was always bring him back,

keep the asset. Alex is a great player. Even if he doesn't fit, you can move him and improve the team. Oh and if you're concerned about Genie Buss's money, she just paid the luxury attacks for the first time in like a decade. Uh you know they are not a decade, but in in several years last year, and and and she's in a two year championship window here. You know she can do this, you know what I mean. So that that that kind of was was the part that

I that got lost in it. And once again, you've got these yes men out there that are like, God forbid you say anything negative about Lebron or Rob Polinka or or Genie Buss. You're being a hater. You're being negative. And it's like, no, man, Like, we're just being objective, objective observers. And and that that the whole thing kind of bothered me. Did you, uh go ahead? I was gonna say, like Yeah, it's allfu to lose him for nothing,

you know what I mean. If it feels like a guy that's grown here, a guy that we've developed, like you know, from the G League to you know, being able to place Bob minutes to being a starter on the last game in the finals, I think they knew what he meant. Like, I like that you said it's not as cut as dry as either of those, because I think it's somewhere in the middle, right, Like they kind of they kind of looked at both sides here and they said that we can kind of they probably

had these cards in their hand. You know, I'm not to get tampering rules or anything, but they probably had some idea of like what kind of players they would get and kind of weighed that against you know, what Crusoe is gonna get with with Chicago and kind of made their decision. I disagree with it, vmn A like I would have. I wanted Cruso back. Um. I think he would be the best defensive guard on the team right now, Like just that's just how it would be.

He's been big in closing lineup. But that's just how they fell. And it sucks that that happened, but that that is what it is. I would love him back. I think he's gonna I think he needs to be with other shot creators. I think him to Rosen and Levine is a really interesting kind of fit there. But but yeah, like that's that's the tough part of it. Doing the salary and the luxury tech stuff. It's all, you know, that's all outside of kind of what I can kind of comment on. I could just see that.

I'm just going from the basketball fit and and just with the way they built their roster at the time, the kind of team they had. They went with these scoring guards, you know, and that's the fit that they want to do, and we'll see if it works. It remains to be seen. You know, Laker Sweeter is pretty high on all the moves here, but um, yeah, it was still remains to be seen if this was the

right decision. For sure, I'll Cruso is gonna be great in Chicago because they're not going to need him to create because of all the offensive talent they have on the roster. He's basically going to be your fifth starter, kind of like he was on the Lakers in Game six of the Finals. Who's just asked to guard the other team's best player and do all of those things. I think he's gonna he's gonna be great there. Um. And you know, this is the last thing I'll say

about the Alex Cruzo thing, and then we could be done. Um. The rewriting of history of what he was in a Laker jersey has been absurd, and that has been the

worst part of this whole saga. You've got these people out there that are trying like it's like, now, now, he wasn't good, really like he wasn't he wasn't good, like it just it bothers me like that you'd kick someone like that out the door just as a fan, you know, in general, especially for a player like that who was so you know, immensely important, like the Lakers best lineups over the last two years or anything involving lebron A d and Alex Cruzo, Like it was literally

that simple in terms of the way that, uh, they performed on the scoreboard in those minutes. Um. But anyway, I know, I know you need to get out of here. We're gonna we're gonna do another one of these here in a couple of days where we touch on a couple more Laker topics after we've kind of marinated on things a little bit longer, and then we're also going to touch on some league wide stuff and things that

we liked, uh from the rest of free agency. Is there anything else you wanted to hit on today, ros Uh? I think like Dennis costing himself eighty million, that's a really weird one. Though the music is about to stop, man and he needs a chair like that, there's no seat yet for Dennis. We're just really fascinating. I'm interested to see where that kind of goes here. Is there any teams with caps face left? Nick signed up? Nobody, The Knicks took Kemba. I think the Spurs have cap space.

But I don't know why they would want Dennis because they went all in on young guys Dallas maybe, I mean, I don't know. They're kind of getting go on tragic. I get like that. It's it's definitely weird. Would you want him back as a six man? I guess we'll close with that. Would you want to back as the sixth man? I think that's a bad look to lose Caruso.

I guess I think I'm bringing Dennis back. But like, what do you think of Dennis coming back as a sixth man, which is probably probably awkward, probably really awkward, But um, what do you think of that as an option? Because the Lakers can we sign him, they have his I think bird rights correctly, so they can um go over the captain sign. What do you think of him as a backup point guard? I guess we can. We

can close with that. If they bring him back, they'd have to trade him because there's gonna be some bitterness involved here because of the fact that he had this eight four million dollar offer that he turned down. Also, the Lakers do not need him anymore. They flat out do not need him playing Aulness. Yeah, exactly. But here's the thing Dennis shrewder on like a three year thirty million dollar contract is a huge asset. Or a two year, two year twenty million dollar contract to year twenty five

million dollar contracts something along those lines. So you know,

if you're Dennis, you have two options. You can sign with someone like the Warriors on a mid level exception on like basically a prove it deal and and hope that you just have a great season and that it allows you to recalibrate in a year where there's more cap space, or two you sign with the Lakers on some sort of three year, thirty million type of deal and then essentially have an under the table agreement that you're gonna get traded because the Lakers should not bring

him back to use him. There's no real point there. It clashes with their current identity. And quite frankly, I want to see more Monk and and and none running those backup guard lineup. So I don't in talent Horton Tucker. We didn't talk too much about talent Horton Tucker today, but like I think he could end up starting uh and or being a sixth man. And so there's just no real purpose to Dennis on this team other than

as an asset. And so there's a mutual relationship there where it's like, we'll give you some money to make up for this money that you lost, but we're gonna trade you too. Maybe we'll trade you to where you want to go, if that's the deal or whatever it is, but that that would be the only kind of real resolution here. For I don't think there's any chance he gets close to what he was originally asking for. Yeah,

probably not. You talked about a lot about you talked about how like people were kind of not lying, but like saying what Crusoe wasn't I guess or was? I think Shooter is going through that as well, kind of this kick out the door. He was better than Like, he was not a bad player on the team this year. Like, we don't need to do that. Like he struggled in the playoffs, he had some the end of the year wasn't good, but he was a solid player on a team that was when they offered him eighty four. He

deserved it at that time, exactly. Yeah, So that's the that's the part that we don't need to do. He had a better season than we thought. He's not a bad player at all. He's a serviceable point guard. He's probably a backup who's you know, underqualified starter. Like that's how I would say Dennis Shrewter is. And that's fine. That's a good player. That's a ten million dollar player, that's timm lead player that all of that, maybe even twenty million on a team that can you know, keep him,

that can afford him. But um, yeah, that's where I'm kind of with him. It's interesting that this has played out kind of kind of this way. I forgot who else also is unsigned? Um, not the guy, but but yeah, an audio drama obviously went for the minimum. Kelly Kelly uber Is another guy was leaving left is basically looking for money and roll out there that none of the

NBA teams are willing to offer him. But you brought up musical chairs, which is an interesting comparison because Bill Simmons said this on his podcast a few days ago. It's like there were five really good point guards I wanted to get paid this summer, and two teams looking for point guards at that price range, the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. And so guess what, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry got the money and everyone else is screwed.

And that's just kind of how it goes. Like even Kemba Walker we can safely assume signed for like seven million because of the uh that's how much cap space the Knicks had. I don't know how. I haven't seen the details yet, but I'll be interested to see what it is. But anyway, I'm with you. I think Dennis it was a lot better than people remember, and I genuinely feel bad for him, but he got some bad advice when he got that eighty four million dollar contract.

He should have jumped on that so fast. It wasn't even not even funny and uh, and I feel bad for him, but it is what it is. And and hopefully he goes out next year and has a great year and gets himself paid the next summer, just not as a Laker, because I don't think he makes any more sense there. But anyway, thank you guys so much

for hanging out with us today. Um, Like I said, uh, Roger and I just wanted to give our kind of thirty foot view of all this stuff because there's still a lot of tape to watch and a lot of lineups to consider and a lot of details to really marinate on. Uh. And then we want to talk about some league wide stuff, so we'll touch base maybe either Friday or early next week. But thanks again guys for your support as always, and we will see you next time. Thanks everyone,