Hoops Tonight - Lakers insider on NBA trade deadline flop, failing LeBron James, Kyrie Irving to LA? - podcast episode cover

Hoops Tonight - Lakers insider on NBA trade deadline flop, failing LeBron James, Kyrie Irving to LA?

Feb 10, 202451 min
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Episode description

Jason Timpf is joined by The Athletic's Jovan Buha to discuss what went wrong for the Los Angeles Lakers at the NBA's trade deadline (2:30). How close was LA to making a move for a roster loaded with holes. Later, Jovan shares how frustrated LeBron James is growing with Los Angeles, and the guys debate what the right move is for Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and the front office to make moving forward. Could Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, or Kyrie Irving be joining LeBron and Anthony Davis this summer? Would that be a mistake? (42:00)

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Transcript

Speaker 1

The volume.

Speaker 2

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plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. See DKG dot com slash football for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gambling resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you guys had a great week. Got a fun show for you guys today we have Yo bah Booja from the Athletic covers. The Lakers been traveling around with

the team. Those of you guys who've been listening into our show, you guys know yovonn Well, he's been on Gosh like almost probably like seven or eight times already this season. But I could think of nobody better to dive into the developments of the last twenty four to forty eight hours of the Los Angeles Lakers making no moves at the trade deadline despite some pretty significant roster needs.

Speaker 3

Punt is a.

Speaker 2

Strong word, but in a lot of ways, the Lakers were basically telling us they did not believe in this particular group and their ability to accomplish much within this postseason this postseason. But there's also, as I've said a couple times over the last couple of days, there's always a little bit of a tricky element to talking about the trade deadline for any team because we never really know what was available. We never really know what options

were on the table. Even when you hear from front offices. There's a certain rose colored glasses perspective you're always going to get. So what I'd like for yovonn for you to start us with today. I was reading an article from me this morning that gave a really good breakdown of everything that went down with the Lake Overs the last couple of days. Can you just kind of give us a quick synopsis of why the Lakers did nothing, what the last couple of days were like, and what.

Speaker 3

Their plan is in the big picture here. Yeah.

Speaker 1

So, first off, I would say, I agree with you with everything you just said. I was very surprised by the Lakers not making a move. I thought they'd at least do something, even a small move like trading Christian Wood or Jackson Hayes just the duck under the luxury A tax, they're about one point two million above that.

So I was surprised that nothing happened. But from what I've been told, from what Rob Polinka said yesterday and his press conference with the media before the Lakers lost to Denver, the Lakers were canvassing the market in the league for several weeks now, Rob said that he fielded hundreds of calls and different offers, but nothing to them rose to the level of this is going to take us from a middling five hundred team to a bonafide contender, and that was the type of move they were looking

to make. They felt the de Jonte Murray trade had that type of potential, but ultimately that fell through when Atlanta insisted on Austin Reeves being in that deal. And that was a theme in talks with not only the Lakers,

but in talking to other sources around the league. The Lakers' biggest issue was that they really only had two coveted assets, Austin Reeves and that twenty twenty nine first round pick Max Christy had some value but just because of his salary, he wasn't really going to be the centerpiece of any deal. So in talks with other teams, it always devolved into give us the twenty twenty nine first round pick, give

us Austin Reeves. And there were only a few players the Lakers were interested in giving up that pick for, and no players that the Lakers were interested in giving up Austin Reeves for. So ultimately, you know, they could put on the table, they could put jhs that they could put the pick, they could put you know, swaps, whatever, but it it just ultimately came down to teams wanted those two assets and the Lakers weren't willing to give

them up. So the the Jente move fell through. And then from the Lakers perspective, you know, they felt that the actions of the deadline kind of showed how high

some of these prices were. Where the Jonte doesn't get traded, Bruce Brown doesn't get traded, Dorian Finney Smith doesn't get traded, Alex Caruso doesn't get traded, Tyas Jones, Andre Drummond, like all of their top targets didn't move at the deadline, And those are all guys that they had interest in to varying degrees, but in seeing none of those guys getting traded, it just kind of showed how high the prices were where all those guys, you know, at least

one first round pick in some cases too, and the Lakers just weren't going to do that. And again in some of those cases they would have had to give

up Austin Reeves. So for them, they felt that standing pat and trying to be aggressive in the buy out market potentially adding a Spencer Dinwiddie or a Kyle Lowry, and then looking at this summer where they could have three first round picks starting on draft night, they're twenty twenty four, twenty five, twenty twenty nine, and twenty thirty one, all to trade and packaged together for a potential third star that to them was more attractive. Now, of course,

we know Lebron's are putting pressure on them. I don't think he's in love with the idea of standing pat and not improving the roster. So we'll see how this all shakes out over the next few months. I know we're going to get into some of that. But to my knowledge, they were never close on a deal on Thursday. The closest they ever got was the Dejonte deal, and that was about three weeks ago. So from that point they never really got close on another deal.

Speaker 2

The thing that's tricky with me is because I heard a lot of Lakers fans saying, like, you really think a guy like Royce O'Neil moves the needle that much? And I understand when you look at the record like this is twenty seven and twenty six team, you know, I understand that it might feel like there's not really much worth investing there. The tricky part for me is I really do think the Lakers are closer than their

record would indicate. I think if you really dig into the performance this season, they started the season really well I should say not really well, but pretty well, and then especially well there at the N Season Tournament, and then as of late they've been playing some pretty damn good basketball. I mean even last night. Up until they ran into some issues late, which we'll talk about, they've been playing pretty damn good basketball. They had won what

ten o their previous sixteen games. There was a three to ten stretch right after the N Season Tournament. A big part of that was just a big time relaxing from the entire roster. They promptly lost to a just decimated Dallas Mavericks team, and then they barely beat the Spurs, and then they lost to the Spurs. You know, they lost to the Grizzlies over that span, They lost to a bad Nets team over that span. Like, they they really did some damage to themselves just on the effort, focus,

and energy front there in the middle of the season. Like, do I think that the Lakers are a you know, thirty five and fifteen team in reality? No, but I do think that they were closer than their record indicated. And then specifically, they had a very clear weakness in that athlete on the perimeter that can contend at the

point of attack and provide a positive offensive contribution. And so again, like when I hear Laker fans say like, oh, this name is not going to change their fortunes, this name's not gonna change their fortunes for a couple of second round picks or whatever, my counter to that would be like, Okay, so you're not comparing him to an

average NBA player. It's like they've got Cam Reddish who's on his fourth team in five years and is currently injured Jared Vanderbilt, who if look like I know you're gonna give us an update today but very well could not be available the rest of the season. And Max Christy who's twenty years old, and gave Vincent who just had knee surgery. So it's it's not improving on on a decent core, it's improving on a non existent core. And so I'm surprised that they didn't just do something

to try to provide a different option. Do you think that the Lakers could have gotten involved on something like a Royce O'Neil for a few second round picks, or do you think they truly were priced out of the market in its entirety.

Speaker 3

Well, there's a couple of things there.

Speaker 1

Because one thing I reported, and this was another thing that you hear in talking to people, the Lakers felt like there was a Lakers tax, and that if you look at the final prices again some of the guys that they had interested in and those guys just not

getting traded. But then some of the deals that actually happened yesterday, some of those players the Lakers had had interest in, and the asking price in conversations with them versus what those players ultimately went for there was a gap there, and the Lakers felt like, you sometimes the negotiations weren't in good faith in terms of, you know, we're offering you two seconds for this, and this guy goes for uh, you know, one second, or we're offering

maybe the same type of framework of two seconds or whatever, and our seconds are better and you're taking worse seconds and doing another deal. So do you think part of that was the Lakers didn't have really any expiring contracts and that that's something that kind of, you know, hamstrung them in terms of just Delo has a player option, Like looking.

Speaker 3

At there, they're really they're tradable guys.

Speaker 1

Dealo has a player option, really has two more years, Gabe has two more years coming off the knee surgery. Max is an impending restricted free agent, So there there were a lot of.

Speaker 3

Teams that had interest in Max.

Speaker 1

It's just you have to factor that in now of you potentially have to pay him a certain amount that this summer, but it would be a team controlled asset.

Speaker 3

Uh.

Speaker 1

And then you know JHS has multiple years and like just on and on down the road. Really Torrian Prints, what was the only guy above a minimum salary that was an expiring uh So, I think from the Lakers' perspective, they felt like there was a bit of a Lakers tax in negotiations and that they weren't getting the same types of offers and opportunities that other teams were getting.

Speaker 3

So that's part of it.

Speaker 1

But part two, I do think they could have made a move like if they offer Brooklyn the twenty twenty nine first and let's just say lottery protected, top fifteen protected, whatever, I think Brooklyn would have been foolish to not accept that for Roys O'Neil versus three second round picks. So I think there were moves they probably could have made had they put that first on the table and protected it in again lottery, top fifteen, top twenty, whatever it be.

I think they could have gotten in some of the conversations for some of these players. But I think the Lakers counter would be kind of similar to what the fans are saying of does Royce O'Neil really elevate us enough? Is that worth giving up this first? Then if you do lottery protect or top fifteen protect the first, you can trade that protected part later so that they still would be retaining that portion of the pick and still be able to move that, but it would lose some of its value.

Speaker 3

Now, I'm I think we're on the same.

Speaker 1

Page where looking at the current state of the roster, like Max just Scott injured, gabs out, Van dos out cams out like you need perimeter defense, like you're you're not gonna advance in the playoffs without at least a couple of credible perimeter defenders and some of those guys that will be back, and those are shorter term things, but like them not addressing that, to me, that's where they say they're not punting on the season that they're

saying they still believe in this group. But that to me is a bit of negligence where it's like, if you don't address that, and even looking at the buyout market, they're looking at another ball handler, they're looking at guards, and you know, in my opinion, their three the biggest needs right now are a high volume three point shooter, you know, better wing and perimeter defense, and you know, better interior defense. Aside from Ad spencered inwhid he doesn't

check any of those boxes. Kyle Lowry checks some of the shooting and defense but he's about to be thirty eight, and he's had several injury riddled seasons in a row. So even the guys they're looking at on the buyout market don't necessarily address their biggest needs. And I think that's kind of the issue here, where sure Ad Spencer dinwitdie at Kyle Lowry like that don't improve the roster, especially if Gabe still out. But you don't have perimeter defense.

And we saw it in the New York game. I thought it was funny that they were talking about, oh, our defense down the stretch and this and that, and like, yes, it was pretty good, but it got to the point where they couldn't guard Jalen Brunson in a half court setting, so they had to start trapping him at half court. And you know it like it worked because New York had several injuries, you know, Julius randall og and obi Quentin Grimes was out, and you know, yeah, Josh Hart

and Dante di Vincenzo. Trying to break guys off the dribble wasn't going to work. But against a potent offense, you.

Speaker 3

Could not get away with that. And I think you saw that in the Denver game.

Speaker 1

Ultimately, when Denver turned it on over the last few minutes of that game, Ad talked about them going to their Pagia action, which they go to at the end of games. Like Lakers just couldn't part of what strategy defensively, part of it was personnel, but like they just couldn't contain them on the perimeter because they just didn't have the weapons defensively, and torning prints on Jamal Murray just isn't getting it done.

Speaker 2

Yeah, like to really zero in because I agree with the strategy behind not giving up a first round pick for Royce O'Neil. I would have only given up a first round pick if it would have netted you Royce O'Neil and Dorian Finney Smith, which I'm not sure would

have been impossible. But again, not finding something better than cam Reddish to me is the issue that like not being able to just find something in that position group because like when push comes to shove, Regardless of what we talk about surrounding this deadline, we left the conference finals in late May, and in late May we identified a clear and obvious flaw in the roster, which was they did not have a you know, even like a well above average athlete on the perimeter that could contend

on the point of attack, help in defensive rebound situations, and be a positive offensive player. Rob Plinkez had all summer and the beginning first two thirds of the season to try to address that problem, and he failed to do so. And like that, to me, when you zoom out is the issue. And so you go back into this playoff run thinking like man if let's say, by some miracle, Vando comes back, then he gets back on the floor and Lebron and Ad stay healthy. You're basically

last year's team without Dennis Schroeder. And last year's team was just not good enough. And I actually think Denver's a little bit better than they were last year. And so once again like like to me, the Lakers lost last night for a couple of specific reasons, and I want some of this stuff is out of their control, like Austin reason. Ruey ha Cha Mura has had bad offensive nights, which makes it difficult to contend with the better teams in the league. But like I thought, two

matchups defensively killed them. They didn't have anybody for Jamal Murray and then Ruey Hatcha Murray was really struggling with Michael Porter junior office screens, particularly early in the game, and then he made a couple of key mistakes late.

And like that to me is like, if you actually have a legitimate five man grouping that has a perimeter defender at the two and the three, and you actually slot all of that stuff properly, I believe that you have enough in this locker room to make some noise. It's just a very clear and specific roster weakness that through two cycles here, the summer and the trade cycle

this year, they failed to address. We can talk about picks, we could talk about laker tech, we can talk about saving for next summer, we could talk about everything in the world. But that's the sum of the result here. Like we knew they had an issue in May. Here we are in February. They did not address it. And and like one of the things that I think we have to factor in here too is like you know, like I talked about this with the Warriors, like Jonathan

Kaminga's rise is an influx of talent. Lebron aging is the opposite effect, Like if you get this right, but he's forty and he can't play at the same level next year, then whatever potential return you gained you lost in that process. And so like that to me is where it doesn't really truly add up to the verbiage

that we're hearing. If you believe in Lebron and Anthony Davis and their ability to win playoff series, then you've got to do what you did for them in twenty twenty, which is give them those two way athletes, and they've just failed to do so, and it's been frustrating. Is on the Spencer Dinwoodie front, Like, I think Spencer Dinwoody' is a super flawed player, really really inconsistent, streaky shooter, a guy that really struggles with rim decisions and finishing

at the rim. But he's got good size and strength for the guard position, and I do think he's an above average athlete, and so I think like, even even with all of his flaws, I do think he could help the Lakers. And it's not like to me, there's not another guy in the buyout market, Like I don't think Fattius Young helps. He plays the same position as Lebron James and Ruey Hatcha Mura. I don't think Marcus Moore's senior helps. He plays the same position as Lebron

James and Ruey Hatcha Mura. So like to me, for the talent for the money, I think Spencer dinwood he still makes sense. And so let's just put it this simple. How likely do you think that are the Lakers to sign Spencer Dinwoodie over the Dallas Mavericks because I've heard those are the two teams that are in the running.

Speaker 3

Yeah, so those are the two teams. It's tough to say.

Speaker 1

I put it around a fifty to fifty proposition, like I did. Think it was interesting. He was at Madison Square Garden last night sitting behind the dall S bench. He obviously played for the Mavericks before, has some familiarity with them, so I don't know if that was him. I mean applying the Lebron blueprint of applying some pressure and maybe indicating to the Lakers, hey if you don't.

Because one advantage the Lakers have compared to most other teams on the buyout market is they can offer a little bit more money because they didn't use their full mid level exception to sign Gabe Vinson, so they have about an extra half million dollars that they can offer pro rated to potential players on the buyout market. So when looking at what they could offer Dinwoodie versus what Dallas could offer, they could offer.

Speaker 3

Him a little bit more money now.

Speaker 1

With state taxes and different things like maybe it's not that big of a gap, but it is something that they feel like is an advantage on the buyout market and compares some to other teams.

Speaker 3

The one kind of wildcard in this.

Speaker 1

Is Philly that they can out spend anybody because they didn't use they ducked under their tax at the deadline, and that they have a little bit more money to play with. But I think that's more of a Kyle Lowry destination than Spencer Dinwiddie. But I've heard from you know, Spencer is a LA native. He's someone who reps southern California and LA and you know is here in the summers. So I think that Lakers have a bit of a

home court advantage in that regard. But I thought it was interesting that he was at the game last night sitting with Dallas, and you know, he does have the connections over there. So I'd put it right now, maybe Lakers the slight favorites, but I wouldn't put it more at like more than like fifty five percent, you know, fifty five forty five split.

Speaker 3

So I think it's pretty close.

Speaker 1

But I think LA with with the money and him being an LA native, and you're pretty much having a clear role for him of like we don't really have a ball handling guard off the bench right now. You can come in and play twenty to twenty five minutes, Like he's not going to start Dallis unless they're just going him Luca and and Irie, which doesn't really make

sense in my opinion. So I think either way, like Lakers can probably offer him biggest role, most money, come back home to La like that that's pretty hard to turn down.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and again I don't I don't view him as like some sort of significant needle mover. I just think of all the buyout guys, he's the one guy who comes somewhat close to addressing a specific need, which is like actually getting kind of a big, strong athlete into the back court. Like I mean, like I watched that replay of the Jamal Murray three last night because it's funny.

I watched a lot of Lakers fans getting on Austin about the gamble, by the way, that was a stupid gamble, Like it was stupid.

Speaker 3

Jokich made it pay for it.

Speaker 2

But to me, the game was already over pretty much on after Lebron missed the little bank shot and then Jamal Murray made the little floater in the lane. I thought the game was basically over. It was like a minute left and they were down five, you know.

Speaker 3

But on the.

Speaker 2

Three when it was one O four one O four, I watched the clip if few times. It's it's legit sad how overmatched Torrian Prince was athletically there, like and what's crazy is Jamal is not exactly the fastest guard in the world either, you know, but like Jamal's running around these screening actions and Torian Prince is just running for dear life and he looks stuck in the mud like he wasn't even like that was not like some of the shots that Jamal hit over the Celtics that

in that game in Boston. That was he came off free and clear, and Torrian wasn't even slightly bothering him. And so again, like having having another athlete at that at that guard position, I think would be it would be useful do you think Lebron is frustrated? Is he outwardly frustrated or has it been quiet on the Lebron front? What are you hearing about Lebron in his kind of mood post deadline?

Speaker 3

He was a bit moody last night.

Speaker 1

His answers were short, and it's tough to separate that from another close loss to day. LA's lost seven straight games to Denver. Now it's kind of becoming you know, I was covering the Clippers and the mid twenty tens and those matchup like well, once they beat the Warriors

in twenty fourteen in the first round. From that point on, the Warriors became the Warriors, and then it was like, no matter what, they just had this stranglehold over the Clippers, and it, you know, mentally where it'd be close, tough games and then all of a sudden, Golden State would just execute in the fourth quarter and they'd beat the Clippers.

And it's starting to kind of feel like that with this Lakers Nuggets matchup, where yet again we see another game that goes down to crunch time and Denver just out executes them over the last few minutes.

Speaker 3

So I don't know how much of it. What was that?

Speaker 1

But you know, I asked Lebron about Austin spoke first. So Austin kind of mentioned that Denver kept running the same action that the Lakers were aware of, they just couldn't really stop it. So I asked Lebron, essentially, you know, you guys, there's been a theme with you guys against Denver where you know what they're running, and yet you

guys still can't stop it. Like how do you kind of like learn from this experience and take the film from tonight, especially those last few minutes, and apply it

moving forward. And then he kind of had this remark about, well, you know, really good teams, you know, run the same stuff in crunch time and they know what they're running, and you know, and it was kind of I took it as a little bit of a shot at the Lakers crunch time offense, and you know, and he kind of tends to take some of those sometimes, and he

just wasn't in the best mood last night. And you know, we didn't ask him about the trade deadline, which maybe was a mistake on our part, but we had already asked him about it. So, you know, several days in a row and he was pretty clear that you know, this is the team and I'm riding with my guys, even if obviously on social media he hasn't necessarily been

as supportive with his U you know and stuff. So I think I think there is a level of frustration because to Lebron, like he doesn't care about a twenty twenty nine first round pick, you know, to him that

that is a means to improve the roster. And again we can debate whether a guy like how much of an upgrade is a roy O'Neill over a Torrian Prince or even if it's maybe flipping Gabe and you're giving the first and maybe Brooklyn would have been more open to that, like, you know, to Lebron, it's like, I want to maximize this season. I want the Rock, Like even if the roster is one percent better, that's what I want, and that that is how he views things

at all times. So for him, you know, he wanted the Lakers to make a move, and I think them it's tough for them to tell him we're standing pat and we're looking at the summer when he's going to be forty at the end of the year, it's going to be year twenty two, like that, there's no assurances he's going to be healthy next season. There's no assurances

eight is going to be healthy next season. So the Lakers are taking a cow calculated gamble here of you know, I wrote about it at the end of my story, like they've been pursuing a third star basically since the inception of Lebron and eighty together twenty nineteen. It was

Kawhi Leonard. Twenty twenty one, they went after several guys, landed Russell Westbrook, then quickly realized that was a disaster, pivoted to trying to get Kyrie Irving in twenty twenty two, and again at the twenty twenty three deadline, and now in twenty twenty four they're going after another third star.

So they keep kind of kicking the can down the road in terms of the elusive third star, that it's going to be this ball handler that could take the pressure off Lebron and help run the offense and crunch time and this and that. But so far that plan has not really worked. And in the meantime, they made a lot of mistakes along the way with Alex Caruso and you know, various different things. So to me, I

think Lebron is frustrated. I don't know to what extent and how that's going to affect him necessarily this summer, but I think based on his comments over the last few days, his actions over the last few days, and really kind of going back a week and a half here, it's clear he wanted them to do something. I think at some point he realized they weren't going to do something or weren't going to do something significant, and he's been a little upset about it.

Speaker 2

It's funny because the one year that they failed to get a star, they were forced to sign a bunch of two way role players and then they promptly kicked everyone's ass and won the championship. But apparently no one was paying attention when that happened. I had my eye on Lebron last night because I was sitting there thinking, like, like, he's got to be super annoyed. I thought his early game lack of aggression was like a clear sign that he was just kind of a little bit in a funk.

He did get competitively engaged, and I thought he actually had an okay game. Definitely not the best that Lebron has been able to offer this season, but I thought he was, sorry, I already have like twenty five, eight and seven or something.

Speaker 3

Just walks into that.

Speaker 2

But I was actually, yeah, I know, it's it's the it's it's ridiculous. But I was actually last night when we finished with our live show, I sat down and I watched the postgame press conference and I heard your question, and I one hundred percent picked up on that where he was like, you know, the really good teams, it's just like this, like this like clear because it's funny because during the game, I was literally thinking, I was like,

I think I was like, I was literally thinking. I was like, it's on the table that he goes into this presser and goes like Denver's just way better than us.

You know, I literally thought it was on the table that he would go and say that almost as like a clear shot at the front office for not providing them with the horses and for the record, like and I said this on my show last night, put yourself in Lebron's shoes, like he probably went into this training camp thinking this is my last great chance to win a title. We just retained everybody from our Western Conference

finals run. We're young, we're athletic, Like, we don't have the specific need yet fixed because we couldn't get Bruce bred we lost him to the Indiana Pacers this summer. But we'll fix that at the deadline. This group should be able to carry us through regular season games. We'll deal with it in February and then we'll make a run at this thing. And it has been I would imagine that he's had conversations behind the scenes with like his family and friends, like I cannot believe how this

season is gone. And I wouldn't blame him for feeling that way, because not only has it not amounted to regular season success, but like specific players within the Western Conference Finals run, if not gotten as much burner opportunity as they did last year. The skill guards haven't played as well, which has been a big part of why

they've struggled so much. And they didn't do anything at the deadline, And so of course he's annoyed, like how shitty would it be if they got it right just in time for him to turn forty years old, like I mentioned earlier, and so I do sympathize with him, and again I said this earlier, but it's the reality to me, like the Lakers had a clear need that they identified in May. They had two opportunities to fix it and they never did. And that's their job. That's

their job. And again, to me, I think one of the biggest core philosophies of the Laker front office that has to shift is the idea that star power is what wins. When you already have Lebron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, there is a diminishing return there. It's like, you want to know why they don't want to include Austin Reeves in any trades. It's because Austin Reeves when he's your third best player, the gap isn't as big between him and some of the other guards

around the league. Now, if he's your best player, yeah, you need somebody with a little bit more athleticism and pop and firepower. But in that tertiary role like a guy like Austin's fine. What you need is the two way athletes at the two and three, and they just never were able to get on front of that, out

in front of that. So quickly, before we move on it, I want to talk about this summer, but I have two like kind of rapid fire questions anybody else that they're specifically eyeing in the buyout market, maybe someone that hasn't been bought out yet. Is there anybody that they're like, Man, if this guy comes available, we want him.

Speaker 3

I haven't heard any games Rob.

Speaker 1

So we asked Rob yesterday at the press conference, what specifically are the needs you're looking at on the buyout market. He said, first a ball handling guard, and second, if we can't get one of those, then just best player available. And even within that I thought an interesting part of it was he said Gabe hasn't Obviously.

Speaker 3

We thought Gabe would be a great fit.

Speaker 1

He's only played five games, he hasn't been available, so like it wasn't much. But even within that quote, it was kind of like what's going on with Gabe? Like he's supposed to be reevaluated in early March, and like is he coming back? Like so there's a lack of

clarity there in terms of Gabe Vincent's future. But I think the fact that they're looking for another ball handler it's kind of revealing in and of itself, of you know, they might be pessimistic about Gabe's ability to ultimately contribute this season. So I mean, maybe a guy like Robin Lopez. You know, Bismack Biambo's a name they were looking at over the summer. They went with Jackson Hayes and Chris Wood over him, but he's another defensive big that I

think could have some value. But maybe him or Robin Lopez is just a big body to kind of throw at Jokic because they don't really That was another thing we kind of saw last night, like you're Christian Wood and Jackson Hayes made some nice plays, but like those guys can't guard Jokic in a seven game series, and if you're relying on just ad Lebron and Breuiy. We saw it like you can have some success with that and you can keep the games close. But ultimately I

still think they need another defensive minded big. So maybe it's waving somebody creating a second open roster spot and signing a Dinwitty and a Lowry and then going with another more defensive minded big. I just don't know at this point who they'd be waving, and probably have to be Christian or Jackson, but I don't know if one of those.

Speaker 3

Guys is really moving the needle more than those.

Speaker 2

Two Jackson I think has been playing really well as of late, just by his motor and athleticism, and Christian Wood has been kind of trending downwards, so I could see maybe that beat the direction they go. You had told me behind the scenes some interesting, interesting theory you had about Jared Vanderbilts, kind of like three to four week timeline. Can you let our audience know your theory about what's going on with Vando?

Speaker 1

Yeah, So before the Lakers had the announcement that he was going to be reevaluated in three to four weeks, I and others had reported that everything we were hearing behind the scenes was vandal was done for the season, or that's at least the way it's trending, he's going to have season ending surgery. Then the Lakers apparently got some good news they announced he's going to be reevaluated in three to four weeks, that they don't need to

have that season ending surgery yet. But then yesterday at the press conference, Rob Polinka first said, you know, we were hopeful of Vando's coming back as kind of, you know, in addition to the roster when he was kind of going through things, And then someone asked the follow up question of you know, you mentioning hopeful for Vando, like it has he been ruled out for the or is he ruled out season ending surgery or like what's kind of the update there, And then what Rob was basically said,

you know, when you have a guy recovering from an injury, you have to see how they recover first before you can really make a call on that. So we have not ruled out season ending surgery on that front, and you know, we're gonna see kind of how the.

Speaker 3

Next few weeks go. I'm paraphrasing, but that's essentially what he said. So you know, I checked in with.

Speaker 1

Some people last night and there continued to be some you know, internal pessimism about Vando's future.

Speaker 3

And remember, it's not him returning.

Speaker 1

In three to four weeks, it's him being reevaluated in three to four weeks. And as we've seen with Gabe Vincent and Kendrick Nunn, like the Lakers are fine with kind of pushing back the timeline of this guy will be reevaluated in another few weeks and another few weeks, and sometimes we don't even get an update on the projected timeline when we were supposed to get the update, So I think the Lakers have no incentive to say

Vando's out for the regular season right now. But with that update coming around the trade deadline, I wouldn't have been surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a bit of a leverage tactic with if Vando is out for the rest of the season, or at least, there's that pessimism and the team that comes out like that takes away some of your leverage and talks because teams would know, Oh, the.

Speaker 3

Lakers really need a wing. They're desperate, and they're desperate.

Speaker 1

So I think we'll see what happens with Vando, but that could be potentially a huge blow for this team, a season altering blow, because they don't have another guy that can do what he does. I thought he was really looking like the old Vando these last few weeks. You know, he had a stretch there, multiple double digit scoring games. I thought he was pivotal in that first

half against Boston. So for them to and that entering that game they were going to start Vandoh at small forward next to Lebron and Ady and go back to that starting lineup. Then he Lebron and Ady get ruled out and then he gets injured. So we were about to see the lineup that everybody had been clamoring for uh for the last few weeks, and now I don't know if we'll see him again. So it is a

disappointing turn of events for the Lakers. And you know, again he hasn't been ruled out yet, he hasn't had the surgery yet, so there is a possibility he comes back, but everything I'm hearing is pessimism as to him actually returning this season, and again that would be a significant blow for LA.

Speaker 2

And I have had a foot injury before and when you come back there. I remember in non conference play my second year playing in college, like I was not good in non conference play because I didn't trust it at all. I couldn't plant on it with it. I mean I could, but like I never really pushed and made those like kind of like top tier effort and athleticism plays because of the fact that there's just like

a multi phase recovery from something like that. And like even just this season with his kind of achilles thing or heeal thing he was dealing with, he wasn't particularly good when he first came back and took him a while to kind of get into up to speed. So, like I tend to think that counting on him to be available for a long playoff run is is a you know, kind of a fool's errand if that makes sense.

So let's talk about this summer, and I want to talk about kind of the stuff you talked about in the piece first, and then we'll talk about the my kind of working theory because I have a like a specific idea in mind for what the Lakers should do. But the three names I think you had mentioned in your piece were it was Trey Young, Donovan Mitchell, and Kyrie Irving.

Speaker 3

Correct, right with those are three?

Speaker 2

Yeah, So of those three names mentioned, is there a name in that group that the Lakers actually feel like they could like pull off? Because I specifically am worried about their ability to get into a beating war with teams that just have better assets to offer, and that's certainly a factor.

Speaker 1

And that's the other part of this of you can frame it as well, We're going to have these three picks and all of a sudden we can get into certain conversations, and you can get into those conversations, but when it really comes down to some of the recent trades we've seen for stars, and the price is continually rising, and several teams across the league having an army of assets, like Lakers get into a bidding war with Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City is going to win that bidding war every single time, and there are several teams that can outbid them. And granted, some of those teams are smaller market teams where maybe a star doesn't necessarily want to go, and we do see stars tend to want to go to the bigger markets.

Speaker 3

It's just the reality of the NBA.

Speaker 1

But even some of the teams, you know, Philly as a bunch of cap space this summer, you know, they could get involved in things. New York is obviously becoming a destination and you know they're putting together a team that looks like it it might be able to make a deep playoff run. So there are other Miami always looms as sort of this this team with a bunch of I mean that they have some young assets. It's Tyler Hero, you know, Hami hawkez now is become a clear asset.

Speaker 3

You know, Nikola.

Speaker 1

Yovich like they have certain things that that teams would want. So it's not just this clear cut and dry like because the Lakers are willing to put three picks on the table, they're all of a sudden the front runner for all these guys. Like everyone you know, for the most part, wants to play for the like Lakers are always on the list at least when team won a star you know, submits the types of teams they'd be

willing to play for. But they still have to outbid some of these teams, and that's probably gonna cost them Austin Reeves. Like that's kind of the other thing here is it's on one hand, like the Lakers weren't willing to give up Austin Reeves at this deadline, and people scoffed at the notion of them not wanting to give him up for anything below like an all star level player.

Speaker 3

But after you're going after the all.

Speaker 1

Star level guys, you're putting Austin Reeves on the table, and you're putting those three picks, you're putting multiple pick swaps, you're putting second round picks. So from an understanding, I reported on Trey Young last year coming out of the playoff run that Trey Young was someone to keep an eye on with the Lakers. It was the obvious clutch connection, but also he fits the mold of they've wanted.

Speaker 3

A point guard.

Speaker 1

They've wanted a superstar level point guard who can run the offense, take some of the burden off Lebron, you know, run pick and rolls with Lebron at the end of games, and just you know, be a high level shot creator where the Lakers can kind of stagger it and have that guy run the offense when Lebron's off the floor, when a D's off the floor, and not really lose anything. So to them, Trey Long, Trey Young reaches that level.

So I would put Tray If I was ranking the three, I'd put Trey Young first, I'd put Kyrie second, and I'd put Donovan Mitchell third. I think the price for Donovan is going to be really high. There's a lot of smoke with him going to one of the two New York teams, be at the Knicks or the Nets. So I would still probably put the Lakers at best at third in the pecking order for Donovan, but maybe potentially even lower.

Speaker 3

And then Kyrie. I mean, they've done.

Speaker 1

The dance now multiple times. We know Lebron is still a huge fan of Kyrie. He'd love for him to be in LA. But that would require Dallas to really I mean, they've been trending downward, although I really like what they did at the deadline, So that would require Dallas to flame out Los in the first round, not even make the playoffs, and then look at you know, maybe we got to pivot trade Kyrie, Lakers can enter and you know that's the destination he's had interest in previously.

So I would probably put Trey for I mean, Atlanta was interested in Austin Reeves, obviously, it was a player that they were fond of. I don't know if Austin Reeves was three first gets you Trey Young, but I think that one is probably the most realistic of the three options.

Speaker 3

Then Kyrie, then Donovan.

Speaker 2

So before I give my idea rapid fire, are the Lakers just suddenly out onto Jean Say Murray or is that a move they'd be willing to make again in the summer.

Speaker 1

I don't think they're completely out on him, but I think Atlanta wants the price to go up, and I don't think the Lakers want to pay more than they offered, So if the price is going to go up, then they're out at that price.

Speaker 2

Because this is what I keep coming back to, because like I've heard behind the scenes that you know, obviously if Atlanta did pivot this summer, that Trey Young and Clutch would be like, get me the hell out of here, you know what I mean. And so, like I do think there's a version of this where where Trey Young

becomes available. But to the theme of the show, if the Lakers were to call up Atlanta this summer and be like, all right, three first round picks, you know, Austin Reeves, Ruy Hachimur whatever they got to do to match salaries and they close that deal. Now I've got Trey Young, no assets, Lebron James and Anthony Davis, and no damn players at the two and three that can defend and incredibly score on the other end of the floor. It's it is a fundamental lack of understanding of what

wins basketball games. And it drives me completely insane because, like, to me, the move would be like circle back with Atlanta this summer, make a move like a two first round pick type of move for Dejontay Murray, and then use that other first round pick for a legitimate two way starting level wing to play at the three, Because give me Austin de Jontay Murray and let's just call him Dorian Finney Smith with Lebron James and Anthony Davis

over Trey Young, veteran minimum, Tray veteran minimum, Lebron James, Anthony Davis any day of the week, Any day of the week, I'd take that team. And so, like, I

just want to see them. I want to see them approach this summer with the three draft picks, not as a means with which to bring in another star that will lead to the same problems that they've been dealing with, but rather find a way to actually bring the thing you need to win at the highest level in the NBA, which is just athletes on the perimeter that can defend and can dribble, shoot and pass. Like that is what they need. They've got to address it. To me, like,

I understand you need some sort of offensive firepower. I think that's been made abundantly clear, and to me, like a guy like de Jontay Murray could really help you on that front. But like I think it'd be a big mistake For the Lakers to go all in on a star this summer, I think they'd find themselves in a very similar predicament to where they are right now. Is that something you agree with or do you feel like going after Star is the right move?

Speaker 3

I think it depends on the Star.

Speaker 1

But we are talking about the perimeter defense and adding Trey Young isn't necessarily going to improve that situation.

Speaker 3

I mean it's making it worse.

Speaker 1

Frankly, you're going from D'Angelo Russell, let's just say the point of attack defensively out point guard to Trey Young, Like that is a downgrade. Tree Young is smaller, and he's the worst defender.

Speaker 3

I know he's had. I think he's tried a little bit more this.

Speaker 1

Season and been a little bit more engaged at times, but overall, there's just a size limitation there and a physicality limitation there that you're just always going to have. So and then I mean you can kind of pick a part of any of those guys like Kyrie. I mean there's all the question off the court that he's been great this season, but this is like the longest stretch we've seen him not cause any distractions. It almost feels like we're waiting for the other shoot to drop

at some point. And then with Donovan Mitchell, I think there's a level he hasn't had that. Even Trey at least has had the conference finals run where you can say, like, you know, he was able to be the best player at times in that Philly series lead a team to the conference finals. Like Donovan Mitchell hasn't had that type of run yet. If anything, he's been I think, in my opinion, on more disappointing playoff teams rather than teams that have met or exceeded expectations, like some of those

Jazz teams. That Cleveland team, I think most people pick them over New York last postseason. They got their butts kicked in that series. So like to me, I think there are legitimate questions. And now, of course Donovan isn't going to be year number one in LA, but theoretically that third guy you bring in can help bridge the gap to that next era of Lakers basketball and be

a player that can row with ads. So I think with all those three guys, there are defensive questions for sure, and then there are some just you know, extra elements that you got a weigh in, So I'm with you, like maybe I'm trying to think like maybe D'Angelo option or you know, exercises player option, then you can you can. I don't know the exact trade restrictions in terms of timeline of when he could be moved, but you could trade him maybe packaging with JHS, maybe Max and and

you know, a couple of picks. Maybe you have stronger protections on one pick, Like maybe that's something that they would consider for De Gente. But I think they got to the point where they felt that whatever they were offering was more than enough in terms of de lo versus de Gente, and the fact that Atlanta wasn't willing to do that and insisted on an Austin or insisted on a second first round pick that to them was just a deal breaker at this point. So again, maybe

they revisit things on the side. We'll see how Delo performs the rest of the way, will see how the playoffs go if the Lakers make it. But I think, as of now, from my understanding, they felt that the Jeante price is going a little bit too high and they weren't willing to match that. So I don't know if that would change over the summer, I guess would be no. But I'm with you though, I think the three star build it just I mean, it hasn't worked like that. They haven't been able to get that guy

over the last few years. They did get one guy and it was a disaster, so one of the worst

trades in NBA history. And I do I do think like if there's like a way to get maybe a bigger shot creator, like a wing shot creator, and you're going more with like Austin at point or maybe like a mid level exception guy at point guard, Like I'm more open to that, but the three star build with like a small guard who can't necessarily defend, I have some questions about that, especially with the current personnel and the roster.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I like the idea in the long term of a Trey Young Anthony Davis kind of foundation, but I just think it would of course, but I think it would just I just think it would take like a legit two to three years to actually surround those two guys with the type of two way athletes that you need. And now we're talking about trading Lebron James and it's like that's like a to me, I don't want to

like remove Trey Young from the conversation entirely. Just to me, once you make a deal for Trey Young where you've thrown all your assets in, you're not gonna be good enough the next year because you're not good enough on the margins. And so that to me is more of like a let's go into the next era of Lakers

basketball thing, And maybe that's the direction they go. But like chances are if you if you do something like that, like I don't think Lebron is young enough to actually help you capitalize on it by the time you get the requisite talent around. But we I feel like we've complained long enough today, So we're gonna call it a night.

Before you get out of here, yovonn can you just kind of tell everybody about your article that you wrote last night where they can find it, where they can find the rest of your work.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So I wrote deep dive breakdown on the trade deadline, all the intel that I've been gathering over.

Speaker 3

The last few days, last few weeks.

Speaker 1

One hilarious tidbit in there was Darvin Ham pushing him back against the notion of the Lakers trading brains, which I knew Laker fans we're gonna love that detail. But I mean again, he was one of the only expiring contracts that they could have put out there, and ultimately they chose not to move him.

Speaker 3

So a bunch more details.

Speaker 1

We hit on most of it, but there were some other things in there that we weren't able to get into. And then at Yovan Booja on all social platforms started creating some YouTube content, so I do have Yovan Booja YouTube channel. Been doing some of the behind the scenes vlogs and different things I was posting on TikTok and on Twitter, I'm now doing on YouTube and a little

bit of a law younger formatt. I'm able to get into some gameplay and filmating during games now a little bit and able to kind of do more in like two to three minutes versus like one minute, so be sure to check that out as well.

Speaker 2

Jovan does great work. Make sure you guys get over there and check out and support his stuff. We are going to be done for the rest of the weekend, but we'll be back Monday with power rankings and some game breakdowns. As always, I appreciate you guys, we'll see you next time.

Speaker 1

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