Episode 9: Mega Lakers Season Preview with @UnwrittenRul3s

as at Unwritten Rules on Twitter. He is one of my favorite guys to bring on to talk Lakers because he has a lot more time than I to do, or at least he's willing to devote a lot more time to watch a lot of the in depth film and you can bring a lot of perspective that most of us don't, you know, have the time to really build and uh so I'm really excited to have him

on to bring his expertise. We're just going to dive into all things about the Laker off season today and uh you're gonna hear a lot of optimism from Raj and I I would imagine, because I think we're naturally optimistic people, but also there's a lot to be optimistic

about with this Laker team. And I think before we get started, I want to talk real quick about why I think we should be so optimistic, and it starts with what happened with the Laker team last year because As I've said several times on Twitter over the last couple of weeks, Lakers were one of the most dominant basketball teams of this century. They started the season twenty four and three. Think about how crazy that is to

start the season twenty four and three. At one point, they finished the season at a sixty four win pace. They were the fourth best offense in the league and the third best defense in the league going into the bubble. They finished the season with the best record among all NBA teams against winning teams against teams at five or better. And then they got into the into the playoffs and they only lost five games. They were never truly threatened. Even in the series where they got pushed to six,

they just absolutely obliterated the Miami Heat. They were one of the most dominant teams not only in the history of the league, but in in this modern era with with as much depth of talent as there is from top to bottom. And I think one of the main reasons why there was so much pessimism surrounding the team

basically stemmed from two things. They dropped an early game against the Clippers where they posted up a d every time, and then they dropped an early game or Christmas Day game against the Clippers where they had a pretty big fourth quarter lead that they blew at the end with some foul calls that went one way and and just missing a couple of shots. And then they lost that game at the end of the road trip against the Bucks. And then there was the seeding games, which were weird.

They there were no fans, so there was no adrenaline for the players to feed off of. They had absolutely nothing to play for. They had locked down. Anything that they needed was seating. There was no legitimate reason for

them to be the best version of themselves. And they went three and five, and most importantly, they couldn't score, which completely changed the whole, you know, perception of that team because it made everybody think they were a bad offensive team, even though they were the fourth best offense all season long and and and during that seating game

they were the seating stretch. They were still defending. So I say all that to say this, the reason why we're going to be so excited in this podcast for how good this Laker team can be is because they already were one of the most dominant teams that we've seen in this modern era and they legitimately got better

in my opinion, on both ends of the floor. And so I think that I think that that's the important thing, is to kind of confront some of that weird, illogical pessimism that surrounded last year's Laker team that was never really based in reality, because they were good from start to finish. I was tweeting pretty recklessly about them back in October, and I know you've felt the same way of out. But yeah, I mean, do do you agree with me? Do you think that do you think I'm

overreacting a little bit? No, I think you're right. I think like there are times last year where you kind of had to convince me because there were times where like they would lose a game and would be like, oh my god, what's happening? And then you would go on like a rant like dude, they're okay, They're just one like ten in a row, Like it's okay to

lose one game. So I think you're right, um, And the dominance level, I forget, like because you remember the losses way more than the wins in a weird way, Like I remember exactly losing that home game to Dallas that they lost. Luca went off at home. But then you forget like they won like fourteen in a row or some crazy amount and you have sixteen and five in the playoffs. Is nothing to joke about. And they're like the first team to win without any home court

right they want to. They won the championship with zero home court advantage. Now they didn't have to go on the road at all either, but that's a pretty big deal. So this year they get home court. UM. I think they've got a much better roster, more balanced roster around this team. Now, obviously chemistry was a big deal from last year. We'll see how that um kind of correlates to this year. But yeah, I think you're right. I

think they were dominating last year and they've improved. I mean, you can't deny that they hadn't improved this team, So yeah, I'll see. I mean, obviously, when you win the championship, you have the right to be positively and you obviously going to next season with a lot of positive feelings

on it. It's hard to do and I think I think one of the things that I always tell people when they're dealing when they're trying to cope with regular season losses, because especially I remember when I was younger, when I was in my teens, and I was watching a game where I had a rooting interest, whether it was the Arizona Wildcats or whether I was watching you know,

Lebron when he's playing with the Cavs. They lose a game and I had to keep I would constantly just kind of just be devastated by it, even in like March, which never made any sense. And it's funny because you think about, like, if I told you that an NBA team was gonna win sixty games, you would think, oh,

that's a dominant basketball team. That's a bona fide championship contender, you know, But if they like, just by a simple matter of math, if a basketball team loses or win sixty games in a regular season, that means they have to lose twenty two times. So I think about it like, that's crazy. You're losing at that rate. You're basically losing

once a week like that, that's it. That's insane. So I think it's important to always kind of keep that perspective and understand that even the warts that popped up for the Lakers, the warts like dropping those couple games to the Clippers, dropping that game to the Bucks having some you know that. I think they lost four games in a row at one point where things got a little rough there. But you have to remind yourself and go, like, it's not like there's a team out there that's perfect.

You know, there's into two thousands, seventeen Warriors, your outlier contender. That's so different from any traditional season. All these teams are struggling. And that was what so weird about it is the Lakers would have this pessimism surrounding them, and

it's like have you watched the Clippers. They're getting their butts kicked by bad teams, and they don't like each other, and there's all this bad body language and all their guys are in and out of the lineup, and it's like, how is that getting you know, glossed over for their sake but being completely you know, like having this big flashlight shined on it for the sake of the Lakers. And I never really understood understood the watch behind that.

Uh but yeah, so let's let's get started with what I think is the first really interesting you know that like structural things surrounding the Lakers, and it stems from that interview that we had with Dannis Shrewder and his inaugural press conference with the Lakers, where he basically kind of came out and publicly said, I plan on being the starter, okay, like and it wasn't like necessarily super uh kind of like, it wasn't very you know, uh, modest,

it was very like intentional. It seemed wasn't low key at all, right exactly, And so so let's assume that that's that whole dynamic to me makes the starting lineup dynamic interesting for the Lakers because for starters, you can throw Alex Cruso out the window as a starter, which is crazy because arguably their most dominant performance last year was with Alex Caruso on the starting line up, so we set him aside. So there are seven names, in my opinion, that can be considered for a starting shot

starting spot. There's Lebron and Anthony Davis. There's k C. P There's Wesley Matthews. There's Dennis Shrewder, who threw his name in the hat and I probably wouldn't have put it there before he said that. Uh, Marcusol and Montrese Harroll. So Lebron and A Dye have to write, you're thinking contagious call. Well, Pope probably has to why because he started a lot of last season and you just paid

him a lot of money, you know. So the reality is is, like, it doesn't make necessary, It doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense to have him coming off the edge. So that leaves West, Dennis Mark, and Shreds fighting for those last two spots. So my first question for you is what do you think the Laker starting lineup will look like? And then follow that up with whether or not you agree with that concept or if you wouldn't have if you would change anything about it.

I mean, I just to speak on the like shrewder thing, Like, I think it's great that he wants to be a starter. Um, we obviously aren't in the room with his agent, with Polinka, with you know, Lebron and a d or whoever got to talk to him and promised the starting start, didn't. I just think it's I don't think it's like normal for a guard who's coming from another team to come to a championship team and demanded to be a starter. I think that's a little strange. I still would be

surprised if he's starting on opening night. UM, Like, I think you can go as treads like do you want to be a starter? He's can be like, hell yeah, I want to be a starter? Like this, what kind of question is that? Like? So, I mean, I'm not sure if he was asked directly, but I mean I'm sure he doesn't want to come off the bench anymore. And that's understandable. The dude's a competitor, right. He averaged eighteen points a game on a fifth seed last year.

I'm sure he believes he can start. But I still think UM that starting lineup is going to go with a k C. P. I think he's earned it his playoffs performances, UM has gotten him in that lineup, and I just think you want to keep as much like chemistry as well as last year. UM, just to keep it, keep the continuity, right, Like I think Wes Matthews feels

perfectly for Danny Green. They are very similar players. Um. I think West is a little bit of a defender on the ball, but anyways, they're they're both kind of three and D players. And then Mark saw if it's perfectly with Jabal and then you can keep that playoff bubble team together with k C. P Lebron and a D and then that bench unit can build their own continuity, right,

because last year it was kind of aretic. You had a regular season Rondo trying to play with Kuzma who was doing his thing, and then you had Caruso coming in trying to get minutes. It was a little bit erratic and anyway through the season. So I think you're right thing, those are the spots. Obviously Lebron and a D are locked in. I would think trez is gonna come off the bench. Um, I think Shorter is going

to eventually come off the bench to start. He's still gonna get his starter in minutes though, and his his minutes next to Lebron and a D. But that's kind of how I see it going, how about you. That's the that's the important detail. And so for the record, like I had, I've I know what this experience is like. When I was playing at Arizona Christian University, I started this season as a starter, so a totally different vibe than my junior college years. Like in junior college, I

was an all conference player. I was had all these big scoring numbers. They were lying heavily on me to be an offensive creator. And then I was playing with two All American guards, you know, and the n A I A is all weird, like they have weird age rules. So our guards were twenty nine and thirty one years old playing college basketball, you know, and I was twenty two and you know, trying to fit in with these two like big alpha personalities that have been around the

game forever. And I was like a Trevor Reasa type role on that team. All I did was guard the other team's best player and spot up in the in the corner and shoot threes while these guards took all these dribbles. And while it's one thing to buy into that role from the standpoint of, you know, being unselfish, it's another thing with the way that it can affect your rhythm. And I genuinely remember like that process. I was a starter my entire college career. I started every

game in junior college. I started like the first twenty games of the season when I was at Arizona Christian University, and then all of a sudden, they were like, we had a backup three. He was all he was an All conference player this season before, and he was older. He was I think he's like twenty eight years old, and the coach basically just came to me and he says, hey, we're gonna start with Jordan's and we're gonna have you

come in off the bench. That way you can be a bit more as bull of all all this stuff. But the reality is is like coming off the bench

is hard. You go through this intense warm up before the game, you're going through layup lines, You're all jazzed up, there's a crowd, you're you know, jumping out of your out of the gym, and then all of a sudden, it's like I'm sitting and not only that, but it's like eating at you because you're just watching other guys play when you feel like you should be out there. And so I I sympathize with the with with the plight of what Dennis is talking about. The flip side

of it is, though, is his role is different. His role on this team is to be aggressive with the basketball. So in the starting lineup, it's foolish to have Dennis be super aggressive with the basketball. It doesn't actually make a lot of sense from a basketball a Q standpoint for what they're trying to do in those minutes because in those minutes when Lebron and a D are on the floor, everything needs to be flowing through that as much as you can, because there are two of the

top three or four players in the entire world. So that's just a smarter that's just a smarter basketball like you approach to the game. It's not we're not benching Dennis for the sake of of of trying to you know, uh, like Paris out who's the best player on the team. It's just actually, if we have you check in with five minutes to go in the first quarter, we can have you come in and be super aggressive and not have to worry about deferring to Lebron and Anthony Davis.

So that that's the reasoning why I didn't like that sort of approach. It shows me that Dennis is kind

of worried about the wrong things. That's said, even if they do start Dennis, they can work it out just by quickly benching either Lebron or a D. And I think you'll see that a lot, especially as you're dealing with Lebron trying to load manage, because I think the clear obvious answer for the starting lineup is to go KCP and West because West is a perfect starter because he doesn't need touches, he locks up, he's a ball pressure guy. He can set the tone defensively. And then

the same thing with Marcusol. Marcusol because he's just going to be a high you player who's not who's not overly aggressive. He's perfect in the starting lineup. And then you bring in Tres and Dennis and you say it's

your time, just go get him. But if if they insist on starting Dennis, which I believe they will, which will lead to Dennis k CP, Lebron a d Marcusol, then you're gonna have to do some quirky stuff with your rotations to quickly get either Lebron and a d out or a d out to get UH to get Dennis the ball more because he's going to basically be spotting up in some of those minutes. That would be

my one concern. Yeah, and the thing also, I think there's enough playmaking between Marcusol and Lebron in that starting lineup to where I don't think you need an extra pastor there. Um. I think Dennis is the best, as you said, on the ball, attacking off ball screens, um, getting downhill and that's a little more tougher when he's like standing on a week side corner waiting for you know, the help to come down from a Lebron drive or you know, a d um flashing to the room, things

like that. So obviously they can work well together. I just think his skill set kind of matches more of that second unit. And it's still kind of strange to me like that that he would just come in and demand to be a starter and they would just like, you know, give him that. Like, I just think that's earned. That's earned on the court, right if he's averaging like twenty points a game and six assists up in his minutes, and yeah, it started. Like if he's demanding to start,

then he started the basketball show. If he needs to start or not, he he doesn't need to demand it, you know, day one of training camp. I think it's kind of strange for a team that that just dominated

their way, Like you said, an intro to a championship. Um, this guy coming off, you know, a five seat off the bench is just weird, you know, just you're right, it's about optics, like exactly, dude, Like I feel I'd have so much more respect for you if you felt that way, and you just kept it in the house. But I mean, it's the thing, and this is what is important that you're bringing to the table, Rodger, and

what drives me nuts about so many fans. It's like, it's so you can be a Lakers optimist and be honest about the things that you're seeing. And like, as much as I love the Dennis acquisition, and we're gonna talk more about what he does for the offense and for the defense, but it's okay to acknowledge like that wasn't I didn't love what he said in the press conference, Like it wasn't ideal, you know, especially talking about a

team that had such great, such great chemistry. And we just dealt with this with JaVale McGee, with all the reports we had about how much he cared about starting, and it's like and then now we're all of a sudden throwing him into the fire in the Western Conference finals to get absolutely cooked by you know. So I think that I'd prefer to see the egos checked at the door. But it's you can even if he is privately insisted on it, you can still make it work.

And and maybe that's what it is is trying to make him happy long terms so that he's you know, more committed to the franchise. But it's all gonna work out. So let's dig into some of the fun stuff that I think you in particular, can be super helpful for so UM. As I mentioned earlier in the show, the Laker offense was one of the best offenses in the league last year that got completely glossed over because of

the bubble games. And Zach Lobe presented some data and he was including data from the bubble games for the record, but he basically pointed out that most of the Laker offensive success came in transition and that that they struggled a little bit in the half court now. But like I said, he was including games from the bubble So it's difficult to manage that, uh, that kind of expectation

from what we saw and when they were more engaged. Um, And the realities is scoring in transition is still offense. It's not like like the Lakers scored a lot in transition in the playoffs. Game six of the NBA Finals was a track meet. They were strangling the heat and then running out for layups and dunks on the other end. So it's not like that's not real offense. That said, I understand some of the concern there, and I think

a lot of it stemmed from spacing issues. And the spacing issues stemmed from a lot of Rondo minutes and a lot of JaVale McGee and a lot of Dwight Howard. So what I want to start with is, let's talk about specifically with the starting lineup to start how does how does having Mark Garsol out there instead of a JaVale McGee Dwight Howard completely change the way that the

Lakers play offense to start games. Yeah, it's everything, man, because like you can see, when the Lakers started games, um, it would be really clunky, clunky, even though they have Lebron and a d um. You just have two bigs in the paint right away, um starting your offense on and you'll have Javal in the dunker spot usually and teams just can just sit there and wait for Lebron to drive, a d to drive and just dare the shooters to kind of hit a little bit concessis shots.

But now Marcusol, he operates on the top of the key. Um, he'll never hit them, He'll never miss a guy that's going off a backcut. They'll never miss, like a good back screen or he'll always hit you right in the right in the place. And like he can really play make um and help and even find Lebron on back cuts, and it can it can allow Lebron and a D, a D and Lebron to kind of work off each

other as well. Um they can screen for each other, and uh, Marcosol can find him and just have another playmaker out there so that you're not just running Lebron is OS two or a D i OS or a D post ups. You can Lebron. You can learn Lebron Marcosol action. And they have to respect him out there. I know his three point shooting kind of collapsed in the bubble. I think it was like a thtent or something like that. But I think he's still shot like thirty as a whole before the bubble. Um. He's respected

out there. Even though he's a little bit slower foot. He's not the same guy he was, but he's still the amazing pastor. He still has the i q um and he's it's going to open up everything. Having a spacer along with a D out there. We saw it with like Marky Morris. Right, when you have Markis Morris and a D out there, how much space that just

gives a D to work down low. Now imagine like that guy is now seven foot, that guy's now a great passer, and you don't really lose much in terms of room protection, and you could still go big and keep that identity. I know you talked about that a lot of the Lakers identity last year. You can still kind of keep that big identity while also also opening

up the offensive floor. Yeah, so I agree, Like I think, I think spacing as part of it, Like obviously having a center who can shoot opens up a lot of things. First of all, Anthony Davis spent half of the season last year posting up with a big in the dunker spot, which is just gremely difficult to do because when it big is in the dunker spot, just natural shell spacing allows the opponents at the opponents center to sit right under the basket and to not get a defensive three

second calls. So it completely messes up your spacing at four st. Anthony Davis to be hesitant and a lot of those positions and take a whole lot of turnaround jump shots and things that were a little bit more finesse and less power, which, for the record, fine when you're Anthony Davis because he's so good, but you can see him potentially have a lot more success as a to the basket post up score when you've got Marcosol spacing from the three point line, specifically with his three

point shooting. I know that there's been a lot of talk about his postseason performance, but I think it's important to remember that, you know, he only played what he played. The Raptors Celtics series went to Game seven A, but they swept the first round, so he played the leven playoff games, and and he was really good in a

larger sample size in the regular season. So theoretically and with the Lakers, with the with the probability of him making a deep playoff run, and honestly just because of the Toronto never had the level of offensive creators to generate the quality of looks that Marcosol is gonna get. Playing alongside Lebron and Anthony Davis is going to be a different level in that regard. So I think, like just strictly from a spacing standpoint, it opens things up

from Lebron driving. It opens up things for Anthony Davis as a post up threat, and most importantly, uh, just quality of looks are gonna help Marcosol generating points for himself. But then there's a second element to that, and it's it's just the basketball, like Q is so much more complicated than people realize. It's not just about like, uh, it's not just about like learning how to channel your aggression or being in the right spot at the right

time on the defense. Like a lot of spacing is about like being in the right spot, like shifting your body when you need to, kind of naturally by instinct to help create openings. It's like kind of just on a whim setting a screen at the right time. It's cutting instinctually at the right time. Was something that Alex

Crusoe is so good at. Like Alex Cruso had so many offensive limitations, but he was a high i Q basketball player, which just makes it a lot easier in the half court generate like these little tiny openings that can help you over the course of the game, generate baskets. And that's a huge part of the Marcosol experience. Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee I I specifically with Dwight Howard. I thought he was a big impact player for the Lakers last year. I thought they should have found a

way to bring it back. And that's an entirely different topic that we've all discussed. But Dwight Howard is not a high i Q offensive basketball player. So he's a high i Q defensive basketball player, but he's not a

high i Q offensive basketball player. He struggled a little bit with what I'm talking about as it pertains to Marcusol being in the right spot at the right time, cutting at the right time, flaring at the right time, finding that open spot on the perimeter where you think Lebron will find you or where the opening will be.

All that stuff I think is important. And then you talk about with his there's this whole other elements to the offense that they can run um in the possessions where Lebron and a d are either resting while on the court or off the court, and that's just his basketball que as a passer, getting them the ball high post, getting the ball in a position where when you have guys like Crusoe, Montrez Harrold on the floor, you can get them cutting into into specific spots on the floor

where Marcusol can find them. I think he completely opens things up on that end, right. And it's no accident that Alex Caruso like is one of the best guys to play next to Lebron James, right. It's because it was really high i Q. And then you pair that now with Marcusol, who's another just super high i Q guy. Imagine those two guys now working together. I think that's

the best. I don't know you could. I mean, I think it's debatable, but it's probably the best passing front court in the league if you kind of put the song in Lebron together. Just imagine those two finding each other, finding Lebron going on it back. How many times with Lebron cut and like no one would throw in the law when he would like have the lab and you know he would go back to the corner or something like that with his hands back and try to catch

and isolate again. So Marcusol will never miss you on those kind of cuts. Toronto kind of lived off that Toronto wasn't as talented either, but they'll lift all those cuts and those back back door screens. I think he's

gonna help Kuzma and Cruiso a lot on there. He's a massive improvement to the collective basketball i Q of the Lakers, right, And I don't think that can be overstated, especially when, like I don't know how many times we have to see an NBA history basketball i Q win games at the highest levels of playoff basketball, whether it was watching the Spurs for years or watching watching teams that have famously been called old all year long suddenly

become the best teams when when the when the you know, late round playoff series, uh, you know are being fought. And I think that that I think that that sort of thing is like again, you know, the Lakers, because they had so much youth and athleticism with some of the other moves that they made, Marcosol infusion is a super good, a super you know, worthwhile risk in my opinion, because you're not sacrificing your overall athleticism and age of

the team. You're bringing in a savvy, veteran player that into a situation where his strengths can be emphasized instead of his weaknesses. Right, So let's let's uh shift forward in the game now to end of the first quarter, early second quarter type of stretch where now you have

Mantrez and uh Dennis Shrowder on the floor. In this case, you're looking at a line up where it's probably going to be some combination of Montrese Harold, Anthony Davis, Um, Dennis Shroder, Wes Matthews, maybe a Kyle Kuzma in there. But that's gonna be the type of lineup that you're working with offensively. How do you see that, uh, that line up working to find baskets? Yeah, then it's exciting.

I mean after watching you know, regular season Rondo Um trying to isolate or run ball screens that go nowhere that create no advantage as you would say a lot Um. Now you get Schroeder and Montrez Harrold with I'm assuming Anthony Davis will play in the second unit next to Harold to kind of take take off his defensive deficiencies, and you can have those two run screen and roll. You can have a d and Um Shooder run pick and roll and have like Kusma in the corner or

MARKI Morris and Caruso cutting. I think it's just gonna be beautiful. Those two that you need to kind of play their own basketball. I think it will be a lot faster than the starting lineup. This all obviously isn't gonna try to get out and run too much, so UM, I expect that you need to just run up and down. Shooter is one of the fastest cards in the league. I think, UM, just having the basketball, I'm being able to speed up and down. And Harold likes to run.

He has a huge motor UM, so he's gonna just keep driving to the rim. And I think those two are gonna score a lot. They those were two eighteen points of game scores UM off the bench last year. I think I think they can do the same thing here um playing next to Lebron or a D depending on how Vocal wants to play it. But I think they're gonna get a lot of baskets UM. And yet you can see last year, like when the bench would come in, we would kind of struggle, right those numbers.

People would attack a D a lot because they would say the numbers when Lebron sits, UM, we're still a negative, right. I think the Lakers were like negative point something with Lebron off the bench last year. That kind of flipped in the bubble. But I think this will help a lot. Somehow Rob got the two six Man the Year candidates to join this championship team, UM, filling both of the holes. I thought backup point guard was like the number one hole to fill. He filled that in before free agency

even began. So yeah, I think this bench is gonna have a no, no trouble getting points of UM going forward. Yeah, I agree. So I think I think the first thing that's interesting from the standpoint of what Dennis Shrewder had to deal with in Oklahoma City, he was spending a lot of time with you know Darius Basically you're spending a lot of time with you know, Steven Adams. He was dealing with some spacing issues that he won't necessarily have to deal with with the bench lineup of the Lakers.

So theoretically, let's pretend it's Dennis Shrewder, West Matthews, Kyle Kuzma, Anthony Davis, and Montrese Harroll. First of all, you can run pick and roll with Anthony Davis. Forget about Tres for a second. You can literally run pick and roll with Anthony, which is gonna generate more opening for him than he's ever experienced in his career. As a as

a pick and roll ball handler. Then in the scenario where you're running pick and roll with Montrese harroll, you've got Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, and West Matthews on the perimeters. You can't help anywhere in that mix, and you're you're just giving him a little bit more flexibility to uh to turn what is one of the more gifted role men in the NBA's just because you know, I think he was. I can't remember who was. I was tweeting

out Montrese's measurables the other day. But one of the big reasons at his height that he's so effective around the basket is he has super super long arms, and he's a super high standing reach. If I'm not mistaken, his standing reach in his wingspan are both higher and longer than Bamata bios if I remember correctly. So, Montrese brings a lot of length around around the basket. Offensively, big hands, he can catch everything. I had a Brett Dawson was a friend of mine who who has been

covering the Oklahoma City Thunder for a long time. He said that when he was watching Dennis play in Oklahoma City, he was frequently frustrated with how with the stone hands that the Biggs had there, and it made him it made him less of a willing cats in the sense that he just was a little bit hesitant to throw the ball to guys who didn't know what to do with it when they got it, or maybe they couldn't catch it to begin with. That's the problem you're gonna

have with Anthony Davis and with Montrez Harrold. So I think it definitely brings out, you know, what could be the best out of Dennis shooter. And then the other thing with him, you know, he's a more aggressive jump shooter, which I think is important because the Rondo jump shooting experience was such a roller coaster. There were days where he was confident, he was firing away and it really

opened things up for their offense. But for every night like that, there was a night where he was either completely unwilling to take them or he was bizarrely super aggressive and not making anything. And so it was it was such a roller coaster in that regard the Shrewder. You know, there's been some talk about how before last season he wasn't a great jump shooter, and whether or

not last season was an outlier. But the reality the situation is is even like the worst case scenario for Shrewder as a jump shooter UH this season would be better than what they were dealing with with Rondo. So I think I think that I think the Dennis Shrewder of jump shooting is not really concerned me. And most importantly,

his aggressiveness will open things up in that regard. And the other thing with tread that I think is interesting is it brings he brings an interesting wrinkle against switching defenses. I know a lot of people have talked to death his ability to uh to victimize post Mitch mattch mismatches. So you run some sort of screen and roll, you know, Lebron's tired or Shrewder's tired. They've been aggressive in previous possessions and they get the switch, but they don't really

have the legs to blow at the center. Well, you can dump it down to Tres and he can get you a basket against an undersized defender. That that's been talked to death. But one of the big ones, in my opinion, that hasn't been talked about enough is the pressure that Montrese can put on the basket. As an

offensive rebounder against switching defenses. So you have Dennis Shooter come up the floor, montrese is being guarded by you know Bach or some something like that, and gets the screen, gets Dennis switched on to him, and Dennis is feeling feisteed, just giving him all sorts of space, and he settles for a jump shot and he and he misses it. Well.

In that scenario, you can pretty much count on Montrese Harold like diving to the rim if he's got Lou Williams on him in this case, or some Red Jaccon or whoever the guard was that was guarding uh Shrewder diving to the basket, pushing them underneath the rim, getting an offensive rebound and putting it back up in That was one of the things that I noticed the most

with Montrese Harold. That's kind of glost over last year is that three points that's free points, because that's that is in the scenario where Dennis Shooter or Lebron are making those jump shots, you're getting made jump shots, and then there's certain percentage of them that are not being uh that the jumps are the jumpers are being missed. Montrez is converting those into a certain amount of points

per possession as well. So I thought that those are the things that make me the most excited about about him in that regard. And we always look at it like what could the free agent do for us? Right, we look at who we had add like what can Truoder do for us? Hair? Or do it for us? But like Shooder last year, I was looking at the numbers he played of his minutes, Nick to a traditional five and Steven Adams or new Lands nowell miss that means like he had no space at the rent. Right,

those guys are just lob lob dunk guys. Try you have to pass it right in the paint. Adams has a little bit of a postgame, but he's not a guy you're really throwing it download to um to get baskets. Now you have been playing with Anthony Davis and his jump shoot game. I know people like to talk about the three pointer. I'm more interested in the mid range pull up. Having a guy who can hit that shot

next to a d just opens the world up. I mean, we saw Rondo would drive and people would just give him that little lane right that little oh Man's land where Biggs will come out too. But guards need to be able to hit that shot in today's today's game to open things up, and Shooter has that, um. And I think him playing Stade will open him up. Um. And obviously it will help a D as well. If a D shitting that mid range jumper, then I'm not

sure how you really defend that at that point. And obviously Harold, he obviously he played the five a lot, which I thought was out of position a little bit last year, especially defensively. Um. I thought Doc had him on Bates. That just didn't make sense. Obviously the Denver series, he was on Yo kitch for probably way too long. Um. Now he gets to play on fours. I think he's he's quickness that he uses on offense, he can use that on defense. Right, He's a little bit more of

a blitz player. He shouldn't be back down and drop coverages or things of that nature. So I think, um, we can help them as well. UM coming here, Yeah, and we're gonna We're gonna get defense here in just a minute. And I am I I think there is a case for how the Montres Harold signing can work out on the defensive end. And we're gonna talk about that.

The last thing I want to say about the offensive end, though, is something that I've talked with you about several times, because so we look at the uh the Montrese Harold and Dennis Shrewder signing as these two big six men that came in to join these two stars in l A. And I think it's important to remember that the Clippers kind of had a similar thing going on last year. They had Kawhi Leonard and they had Paul George, these two star ball handlers, and then they had these two

six men and Lou Williams and Montrese Harrold. And one of the big reasons why that didn't work is they I thought that they m that the collective basketball i Q of the team was too low in the sense that too often Kauai and Paul George would become very passive as all of the role players were heavily involved in the game, and then when it came time for them to turn it on, they never really had much

of a rhythm. Paul George in particular, really struggled with this, and I think it's one of the reasons why he was so hot and cold throughout the season. So while all of those things we just talked about our great on the offensive ent, and I'm a big believer and everything that we just said, I still think it's very important that while Lebron and Anthony Davis are on the floor, they remain heavily involved in the offense. Now there there,

there's a way to do that. For instance, like, uh, when Dennis Shooter is on the floor with Montrese Harrold, the actions need to be run with Montrese, but they also need to run with be run with Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis needs to get his touches because Anthony Davis in a rhythm is still going to be a more dominant offensive force than anything Montrese Harrold and Dennis Shooter can hope to do. And the same thing goes for Lebron.

So where the where one of the biggest things they'll bring is just depth, the ability for them over the course of the seventy two game season to generate offense, especially in nights where Lebron in a D arresting or if Lebron in a D stay in the low thirties in terms of their minutes per game, but at the end of the day, I still think it's very important to understand that this team will be at their best when Lebron and a d are very aggressive on the

offensive end of the floor, and then having Dennis Shooter and Montrese Harrold and all these guys kind of play off of that to the best of their ability. I

think that's something to keep in mind. All right, So the defensive end, this is something that I have been confused by from not just Lakers Twitter, but from a lot of from one of the more common things that I've heard from Twitter, as people say things like, oh, our defense might have gotten a little bit worse, but our offense got way better, is one thing, or particularly from a lot of people in the basketball analytic uh, you know, and a basketball analysis that you'll see on

Twitter from outside of the Laker community. You'll see a lot of things about how the loss of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard are a loss of length and athleticism on the interior. You'll hear things like that, or you'll hear about the loss of Avery Bradley, or you'll hear about, you know, Danny Green's positional defense, Danny Green's helped defense. Things along those lines, and how losing those things actually hurt. They're uh there this team on the defensive end of

the floor. So my question for you is relative of two last year's Laker team, which I've said was the best defensive team in the league because even though they didn't have a better defensive rating than Milwaukee, they were playing better offenses night in the night out. They finished with the third best defensive rating in the league and the absolutely dominant defensive performances against a bunch of really good offensive teams, right Houston, Denver, really good offensive teams.

And then obviously when they played the worst offensive they played, which was Miami, they really strangled them from time to time. So relative to that team, how do you feel about this Laker defense? I think I think sometimes you try to complicate things. I mean, I feel like the reason that Laker team was so dominant is because they have an Anthony Davis on their team, Like that's the versatility of Anthony Davis allows you to have the kind of defense they did. Now, I think they do lose some

with Dwight Howard. I think him and a d playing together as like a physical force was something that really helped the team last year. But looking at with Javel, he's a he's a room protector, but he's a different kind of room protecting the marketsol. So I don't think you kind of I don't think you lose that, and I think what you gain an i Q defensive i Q And also Marcus all is more of like a straight ahead, verticality defender. I think that's just as effective.

There was a lot of times with Jabel would just try to block everything in sight. UM it would kind of lead to guards be able to bate him at the rim um and things and like things like that. So I think they can keep it up. I think Danny Green's um wing defense was good. I think it fell off in the bubble um. There's a lot worse going forward in the playoffs UM, and I think they've replaced that with Wes Matthews. I think he's a better um on ball defender. I think he's more similar to

Avery Badley kind of they kind of replaced that. And then UM, I think k CP showed that he can fill in that Danny Green role. He chase guys off screens. He's not as tall as Danny Green is, but I think he can fill in and then off the bench. Shrewder has good defensive metrics, at least from looking at his numbers from last year. Harol. Obviously, I think was just played in the wrong position. Um, that's still going to be seen, but I think they can still play

that way. I think a little bit their identity went out with Dwight Howard. I think that was a big part of the bench units. He would come in and we can see if Harrod kind of do that. He's in the same mold, right. He likes to dominate with physicality.

He likes to dominate by attacking the rim. Um. He screams after a lot of dunks, similar to how Dwight Howard did, and uh, I know we laugh about that, but that was a part of the Lakers identity, right when Dwight comes in and he gets offensive rebound and dunks it and screams, Yeah, the bench screams and it gets the team going. Um. So I think that's kind of how they see that. Similarly, and obviously Harrold is

a much better offensive player. You can, like you said, you can throw in the isolations, but looking at the defense, Um, he's more of a switchable player. I think he can switch a lot more than Dwight could on the perimeter, so it's gonna be interest. I think they can still keep their defense, um afloat. I'm not sure if we'll get another Lebron defensive year as we did last year, so I think that would be a part of it

as well. I'm sure you'll speak to that, but um yeah, I think they can still they can continue it from the season before. Yeah, so I think, um so, to be clear when it comes to there's a reason why basketball analysts will be a little bit more pessimistic about the Laker defense as it pertains to what they lost at the center position. But as with any type of defense that you can bring to the table, as with

any type of defender, there is a given a take. So, for instance, like if you're a high i Q low physical gift defender, you bring a lot of like uh, you bring a lot of like consistency in the sense that you're always in the right place at the wrong at the right place, at the right at the right time. Unless you make fewer mistakes, you give up fewer wide

open shots. But with physical limitations comes the simple fact that really athletic offensive players can get high quality looks in isolation against you, or in the case of a center at the rim, like when you have a Marc Asol type or Montrez Harald type, a guy who an athlete who is slashing to the rim, experiences no hesitation in what he's thinking about when he's going to the basket, compared to the Javail McGee Dwight Howard mold, where it's there's like a little bit of a fear, there's a

little bit of in the back of your head, this idea that you know, I can't get sloppy around the basket, They'll send it into the third row. And I do think that that matters, without a doubt. I don't want to gloss over that and just make it seem like it's an apples to apples comparison, because it's not. The matter is the downside of the JaVale McGee Dwight Howard experience is part of that equation as well, and that is that they had a little bit of a tendency

to get out of position, to make silly foul. JaVale McGee is always falling all over the place, jumping out of his shoes, against a weak pump fake or things along those lines. That kind of stuff goes out of

the window with the Marcusol experience. And so that's from that standpoint, like I'm a believer that with the athleticism that Anthony Davis brings to the table, with Lebron who's actually a highly underrated back line defender, and his ability to rotate to the basket, jump completely vertical, not commit

a foul, and deter layups around the rim. When you have that kind of stuff around the basket, the it could be a little bit more flexibility with what you're doing with Marcusol and most importantly, the Lakers when they were at their best in the postseason, We're not playing dwighter debail in the in and uh at the end of these games when they were really strangling and putting these teams away, they weren't relying on those guys. So

I'm looking at their defense. While they brought a certain element to the defense, it wasn't the only reason why they defended well. It was part of their entire scheme, chasing guys off three point line, forcing them into Anthony Davis and Lebron and just really good commitment and effort and habits that's what actually put their defense together. And then you said before I loved your comparison of of Wes Matthews to Avery Bradley, because West Matthews is like

the wing version of Avery Bradley. He's a little bit undersized, but he's extremely latter, really quick, and he's very good at using his hands without getting called for fouls, which is like a it's like a gift. It's like a magic ability that he has where because I've on against guys like this in my time playing where it feels like they're fouling you, like you're trying to get around him, and it's like this dude's holding me in in my space.

But it's a call because there's just a natural gift in the way that he hand checks you, in the way that he can kind of get his body in your way to where it just never gets called. Uh. Andrea Gudala has another great example of someone like that, but Wesley Matthews, because he's a little bit taller and because he's a lot stronger, he kind of had that Avery Bradley effect against bigger wing offensive threats. And that's

what I what I like in that regard. But I think that while Danny Green was a little bit bigger and a little bit better off ball instinctually kind of being in the right spot as a help defender, Wesley Matthews just so much better on the ball that I think that it's kind of like, uh, it's something that the Lakers can still scheme around and make it work.

But at the end of the day, all of the core pieces that made their defense great Alex Caruso Contavious called Will Pope, uh, someone in that Danny Green mold, which of Danny Green, West and Matthews, whatever you gonna call it, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, all of those pieces are there, and no matter what, as long as the habits are still instilled and as long as they care enough, they should defend better than they did last year's because,

especially since Rajon Rondo was another kind of weak link in the defense last year in terms of his seen his effort. Dennis Shrewder is not a great defensive player, but he's a much better defensive player, especially in terms of what he brings athletically to the table. He's quicker, he's got long arms, and he can be disrupted, so it comes down to the lebron thing which you method, which you mentioned, So as someone who's cheered from his whole career, I am really interested in seeing what he's

going to bring to the table this year. From an effort standpoint, I think we'll know pretty early on. I think I think we'll be able to be make a more informed decision after we see him play a few games. That set what makes me optimistic, because there are a lot of reasons to be pessimistic that they're on such a quick turnaround. He's in your he's coming already at the top of the mountain. There's a little bit less motivation. The optimism for me comes from Anthony Davis and the

new players that they brought to the table. A lot of the times when the Lake, when the Cavalier teams in the Miami Heat teams faded, when the Miami faded defensively in two thousand and fourteen, when the Cavaliers team faded defensively in two thousand and seventeen, it was most the same players. They basically brought back the same guys, so there was complacency because it was the same group.

This is very different Laker group. This Marcosol being in that locker room, Dennis Shooter being in the locker room, Montrose Harold being in the locker roo, Wesley Matthews being in the locker room, and West and Dennis and and Tres have never won a title. Right, You've got guys in that locker room, have every that have every reason to h to want to attack this season in terms of their effort. And then the reason why, say Anthony Davis, is this is a player who takes pride on the

defensive end. This is the player is one of the few examples of a player in the NBA who's a star in the NBA who's better defensively than he is offensively. And so from that standpoint, like Anthony Davis, I believe will have confrontations with Lebron as he fades at certain points in the season in terms of his defensive focus. And after right, gives me optimism that the Laker defense in terms of their effort, will be better than what

it was. Right. And Montres Harrow is in a quiet duty either, Right, He's not going to just stand around and watch Lebron not trying offense on defense. And yeah, like you said, Anthony Davis kind of keeps him accountable, right, he keeps him going. And then, like the quotes coming out from Lebron, he doesn't sound like a guy who was trying to walk into this season. Like he sounds a good guy ready to go. UM And I think he knows the states, he knows the chance he has

to repeat it is like fifth fifth ring here. So yeah, he looks ready to go. And I'm excited to see if feel continuous defensive effort. I'm not sure like he'll be every night like it was last season. Um, I don't think that's um as necessary this year. I think the talent that they have allows him to kind of ease into a little more than last year. I think last year is trying to prove a point um and things like that. But yeah, I think I think you're right.

I think he'll be ready. You're ready to go. And and two and two really small things that I think will help too. Is one. I think at some point fans will rejoin the equation during the season. I think we'll see. But if fans rejoined the equation, that's going to bring back some nostalgia from Lebron because he hasn't played in front of fans in forever that will bring another competitive fire out of him and UH, and then secondly, the strengths of the team being able to limit his minutes.

You know, if you look at the two thousand eighteen Calves for instance, he was in a situation where so much was on his play offensively, so much was on his plate and what he had to bring night tonight for that team to win that he couldn't really at least he thought that he couldn't really put that much energy and effort into the into the defensive end of the floor. This is an entirely situation. This team could be a championship contender if Lebron took ten shots a game.

So from that standpoint, what's important with the Lebron experience years keep his minutes down around thirty two thirty three at night, and then have your new guys UH be hard on him when he slacks, and then he should have every reason to bring it. And then most importantly, like a lot of this falls on Vogel than him being that intense authority figure that will demand a lot out of these guys. And I think that that makes me a little more optimistic. So yeah, definitely, definitely. So, uh,

what do you make of the Kyle Kuzma conundrum? Yeah, I think I asked you about this. Sounds like I wanted to kind of discuss it. Um. Sorry, the Kyle Kuzma thing is interesting because sorry, I think he's seen like differently online than he is. He's viewed, like his perception on Twitter or like with fans is so different than I think how the front office views him the front house, like how we've um is just like, you know, a average role player who kind of hit some shots,

sometimes defense here and there. I think the front office, the front office fused him as a player they've developed for four years, right, They put time and effort into developing into a winning player, and that's what he became last year. He became a winning player. Um, he wasn't great, he didn't shoot great from three, but you know, he defended well enough to play twenty three minutes a game in the playoffs, right, there were players who got Benchedjaville

was unplayable in the playoffs. Dwight Howard played one series basically against Denver Calcus, averaging twenty three minutes a game. I think matters in the playoffs he's not perfect. He's obviously not worth the money. He thinks he's gonna get around twenty million dollars a year. But obviously his off court stuff is what it is. It's not defendable. I mean, there's nothing I can say about his stuff that he

does off the court. He opens the door to all the criticism for that, but just looking on the he you know, he welcomes that. I think, Um, I think it's interesting how he goes about it. But you know that's heating neither here and they're just looking at on the court. He defends wings, and this team needs more wing defenders, right. It's kind of somehow it's more garden forward heavy. Um, So I think who's is going to play a role if he can hit his He shot

like fifty from the corners, um. All everywhere else he kind of struggled. But even just doing that, stay in the corners hitting threes. UM. Looking back watching all the Bubble playoff games, I forgot how many like big shots he hit. He had a bunch of like run stopping shots, like the other team would go on like a fifteen four run and he hit like a huge three to kind of send the Tide and obviously those shots, um

don't really get remembered. You remember, like the no look pass that he tries in a playoff game that just is nonsensible. There's no point of me. But yeah, exactly, those are things that get glorified um online. But like that's where I think it is that he's obviously not a great player, but um, he's not terrible either. And I think that's how the Lakers see him. He he

was drafted by this front office. He's the last player on this team that was that first draft e right, He's longest drafted player on the team, and I think that's how he's seen. I remember last year people wanted to trade him and Danny Greens to New York for Marcus Morris and I just thought that was crazy because I thought there was no way the Lakers were just gonna salary dump him. Like there was just no chance that was happening. Um, so one of those guys, Yeah,

I think I was like, what are you doing? But um, and there's another one for like Bach I think in uh Sacramento not Bogdomabilly, and um, yeah, so I think that's where I think that's where the team stands, and obviously he's gonna want money in the next offseason, which makes sense. Um, I don't think the Laborers are gonna pay him anything other than maybe the five six million that he's paid right now, but obviously he wants more

than that, and that's fine. I just think there's no reason to just throw him to another team, as a lot of Lakers Twitter seems very ready to do. Um at the first side of the deal. Well, I think for me and entirely comes down to what you can

get back. I mean acknowledging the reality of the situation I think is important, which is that you're probably gonna lose Kyle Kuzma this summer because the reality is just look at what we saw this last offseason and teams throwing big fat contracts at players that are what you would consider to be average, you know what I mean. Like I get like I was pretty excited about potentially bringing Dana Daniela Gallinari to the table this this summer.

But the reality is is Danielle Gallinari is only marginally better than than Kyle Kuzma and is probably an inferior defensive player, and yet he's playing for all that money in Atlanta. So the reality is is like, you're gonna lose Kyle Kuzena this summer unless you want to completely

hand handicap yourself in the salary cap moving forward. So then the question becomes, in the short term, just just this season, who do you have who can you get for Kyle Kuzma that could be potentially be better than Kyle Kuzma um within the scope of this season, because the reality is whoever you get back, you're gonna have similar contract problems. If you bring back a bigger salary than Kyle Kuzma and he has multiple years left on

the deal, it handicaps moving forward. If you bring back a person who's an expiring deal, now you have the question mark about whether or not you lose that person for nothing. So all it's all relative to the deal. But the bottom line is what is Kyle right now? He's an average NBA player. He is a below average ball handler, he's a below average shooter, and he's a below average basketball i Q. But what he does bring to the table is he's he's got a lot of size,

and he's got a lot of confidence. So on any given night, it minds you there's more bad than good, But on any given night, he can give you a significant scoring pop. And then, like you said, he's capable of hitting big shots because he's not scared of the moment in that regard. So from from that same point, like, that's that's what he is right now. He's your the eighth or ninth best player, seventh or eighth or ninth

best player on this team. So the question becomes if you can potentially find some front office around the league who values Kyle Kuzma enough to give you a legitimate asset, something that you can either quickly parlay into something else or something somebody that can help you more than Kyle Kuzma is in this particular season. I think you've got

to pull the trigger on it, because I do. The reality is is like they can have as many conversations with Couza as they want, Rob Blincoln can tell him as many you know, weird mythological tales as he wants

from books that he's read, eccentric whatevers. But the bottom line is is Kyle Kuzma is going to come to the table with an offer sheet next year that's signed from you know, Sacramento Kings or some some something stupid like that, that's gonna be a four year, eighty million dollar contract, And and the Lakers are not going to to sign that offer sheet unless they are a percent sure that no star in the next four years is coming to join Lebron in a D and L A,

which I just don't think they would handicap themselves like that. So accept the reality of the situation. He's an average NBA player. You're gonna lose him for for a big fat offer sheet this summer. So just taking on a deal by deal basis, and if you see something that's worthwhile, jump on it. Yeah for sure. I mean I can also like see a scenario. I know this will kind of dry fans mad, I'm sure, but like, let's say just a scenario I'm throwing out. Let's say the Lakers

went back to back. I see the Lakers giving him like a Jordan Clarkson deal, Like I don't know if you remember the Lake signed Jordan Clastion to like a four year, fifty million yeah, which I think was a good deal. At the time. People thought of it as kind of a little overpaid by I mean, it was it was a guy that they developed who they saw getting better and they just invested that. Now, I don't think who's would take that. I think he wants a

lot more than that. But I can see like if he doesn't get any offers, like say he shoot he hasn't known the season where he shoots really poorly from three, or you know, he just doesn't get offer sheets from teams like that, because I think twenty million dollars is a lot of money from for any team to pay k Kuzmi year. I don't care how much they believe in him. I think that's a lot of money. So I could see that as well. But yeah, you're right,

they're probably losing next year. I'm sure they'll shop him at the deadline. Um. I think he understands that. I think they try to get maybe Bugonovitch for him this summer and that kind of fell through as well. But I think you're right, that's that's that's just what he is right now. And I think there's like a line that he's seen as like a super trash player or like you know, there's some there's people who think he's

he should be starting as well. There's like that section of people exist, so there's like a fine line where he fits, and obviously his social media kind of tears that line apart. But um yeah, just looking on the court, Um, he is who he is. Like you said, well, likability is a big part of what shapes are opinion on these players. I mean, like, when I'm trying to be a really unbiased, honest basketball analyst, I still think James Harden is like the seventh third best player in the world.

But I hate that guy, and like it's just everything that he does drives me nuts, and in my opinion, like when I'm ranking NBA players, I want so badly to put him lower. And it's a similar thing with the Kyle Kuzman thing. He does so many unlikable things that it causes a lot of Laker fans to kind of gloss over which and you you did a really good job of laying out all of the good that he brings the table. He is a good NBA role player.

But the one thing that would make me nervous is even at that four years six million type of number four year fifty million, even if who's the brandies with Puma is a Puma, Even if Puma was like, hey, listen under the table, take his l a deal instead, and we'll give you an extra five million a year, you know, or something like that. Like, the reality is is like even at that number, even at four fIF four for fifteen a year, it's still kind of limits

your flexibility when it comes to other stars. So from that standpoint, I would want if as a like, like as a Laker front office person analyzing that situation, I would want to see a little more out of Kyle Kuzma just understanding it's kind of similar to the Montrase Harald thing, the Montres Harald thing. At the numbers. Just being at the numbers makes amazing sense. Paying nine million a year for a guy who's gonna get you eighteen points a game and you know, brings a lot to

the table offensively, it makes it's a no brainer. But if you actually look at the hardcat and the fact that you can draw a direct line that costing you Avery Bradley and costing you Dwight Howard, it's a little

bit more complicated. And that's the way that I look at it with Kyle Kuzma is if you if you want to bring in a third star, then you have to understand that the rest of your roster is basically going to be veteran minimum contracts and maybe guys that you have bird rights on, like like a contiguous called a pope. So bringing Kyle Kuzma back kind of does affect the long term strategy of the Lakers. So it's

something it's something to keep in mind. It's not just about, oh, he deserves fifteen million, It's about what you're potentially losing as the dominoes fall further from that deal. But no matter what, like, let's give him another chance, like as is the case with all this stuff, like this is going to be his second full season playing under this type of role, with this type of talent. Give him another chance to see what he can bring to the table.

All right, lastly, real quickly before I get you out of here, what is your prediction for the Lakers this season, both in their regular season performance and what you expect from them in the playoffs. Uh So, I still think they come out pretty well. I don't think they're as dominant in the regular season as they're last year. I expect a lot of more resting, not as much rest as like games off, but I'm expecting the goal as hard as they did last year. Um, I still have

to make it the one seed. I think their talent level is enough to get the one seed um in the regular season, and I still having them going back to back. I think when you have a title team that got better, I think it's only right you give them the benefit of the doubt, give them a chance to repeat. And I think they've gotten all the tools they have to repeat. Here, I'm not sure. I'm not

sure what's stopping them. I mean, I think every contender is either got worse or stayed pretty marginally as they were, depending how good you think surgery Baka is. But I mean, other than that, like every contender kind of stayed the same. So, yeah,

I think repeat they repeat here. Yeah, So I've gone back and forth as it pertains to the regular season because of the Lebron thing, because of the classic issues that repeating teams deal are the two teams defending the title deal with And I kind of fell back to kind of the two thousand one Lakers model, which for

two thousand one, the infusion was Kobe's growth. He got so much better than he was in the year two thousand, But the reality was it wasn't so much about them having to deal with apathy on there, and it was the fact that the rest of the league just wasn't capable of hanging with them. And in my opinion, all of the contenders got worse. The Warriors, I mean, what we expected from the Warriors got worse. I think that got worse. I think Utah is more or less the

same like the Clippers. It's hard to say, but I think they have the same fatal flaws that they had uh coming into last season. Dallas added stuff, but not enough to really be a difference maker in my opinion. So the reality is by making the moves the Lakers made, they massively increased their margin for error on a night tonight basis. Adding players as talented as Denistrator Montrez, harrald and and and Marcus al West and Matthews, those guys make it so it's a little bit harder for you

to lose night tonight. And when I when I think the talent gap has now increased between what the Lakers had, Lakers had between them and any of their opponents on any given night, that gap has grown, and so in my opinion, it will be a little bit harder for them to lose. And then I think just in general, the the back in the stadiums thing, the infusion of players who haven't won a championship onto this roster, which is different from your stereotypical defending champion. I think all

of those things will keep Lebron engaged. And I actually think the Lakers will end up with the one seed, which I think is something that a lot of analysts disagree with, and I think I really do think that it's it's shaping up for a season where the Lakers could win at about a sixty to sixty five win pace and uh and go into the right go into the postseason with with the number one overall seed, and so as far as the playoffs go, I more or

less expect when I saw last year. I don't think there's a single team in the league that can take them the six outside of the Los Angeles Clippers. I've talked about this at length. I think they're the only team in the league that has really built for to

to have some matchup advantages against the Lakers. What they bring to the table with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard as mid range scores is they attack a specific gap in the Laker defense and the way that it's structured and uh, and they have some size now with Tobaka and and Zoobach that can confront some of the size that the Lakers have. I really do think that they have the capability of at least making the Lakers sweat

a little bit. But I predict something similar a you know, four or five game first round, four or five games second round, a little bit of a battle with the Clippers, and then a five game NBA Finals type of series. That's That's what I'm predicting at this point. Yeah. My main kind of thing to look at is um Athene davis jumper. His mid range jumper obviously was insane Katie

level of in the playoffs. Um, I'm not expecting it to stay at that at that rate, but if he can even be close to that, I'm not sure how a team really beats his team. Um, they look pretty unguardable when a d has his jumper going. I think he was hitting like mid range bull ups and they were still winning at like a sixty five one pace

in the regular season. So in the playoffs that jumped to like, um, he was hitting him off the dribble, And if that's real, then you to shut this season down, because I don't think it is, and he's really going to happen if if he's still hitting those um at that rate, him getting better as he's entering in his prime and dealing with better spacing than he's ever had

continuity with with his core role players. There there's like this scenario where you could just see this, you know, nice from last year type of m v P campaign from Anthony Davis, which would be really fun to watch. Uh And because there were there were some legitimate things on that Laker roster last year that constrained some of his strengths, and so I think it'll be cool to

see what he does. But anyway, so I've had you for over an hour now, so I appreciate you taking time after a long day of work to come hang out and offer your expertise. As always, I really really appreciate you doing this to all of you have turned in and listened. I would imagine that Roger will be kind enough to join me several more times over the course of the season, so you'll be seeing lots of this. But thanks again, man, I really appreciate you coming on.

No thanks for having me man. It's funny to see you and like all Lakers out now, so it's like, what's funny as you can see a little Yeah, actually had for a while. I have a lot here. That's awesome man, that's great to be here. All right, man, have a good night. I'll talk to you later, all right, you too, Thank you, Bro,