![]() It hasn’t worked to this point and in all likelihood will not work moving forward. One thing is clear, though, as the Lakers try to dig themselves out of this current hole: They simply cannot continue to rely on ball-dominant guards to alleviate pressure on James. You don’t go from a championship team with plenty of flexibility to whatever the hell this roster is without all kinds of mistakes from the top down. So whether you want to assign blame to James, Johnson or Pelinka, you can honestly take your pick. Unfortunately, he has spent every waking moment stripping that team down and altogether ignoring what made it special. James has his preferences, but Johnson infamously had this to say when specifically asked about the lack of shooting he assembled:Īfter Johnson stepped down, the onus fell on Pelinka to compile a more productive roster and, to his credit, he did exactly that en route to that championship in 2020. That doesn’t take into account Caruso, who they let walk because of how expensive Westbrook was at the same position, nor the contracts for Kendrick Nunn, Talen Horton-Tucker and now Lonnie Walker IV.Īll that for, again, players whose creativity won’t matter in the Lakers’ biggest moments because you want LeBron James to have the ball, obviously.Īnd look, there’s plenty of blame to go around here. So if you’re keeping track at home, the Lakers have used Green, Kuzma, Caldwell-Pope, Harrell, and at least two first-round picks on Schröder and Westbrook. Even given the headache that Schröder was on and off the court, the Lakers committed even further to a ball-dominant, poor shooting point guard to try to fit with James as they sent Kuzma, KCP, Montrezl Harrell and another first-round pick to Washington for Russell Westbrook and will now have to trade another first-rounder just to undo that mistake. ![]() (Quick aside: Hilariously, the Lakers - and Schröder, obviously - would be in an objectively better place had he just accepted the reported $84 million contract. There is just no way the Lakers would triple down on that approach after James’ flatulent analysis and Schröder’s spectacularly bad contractual judgment. Green would be sent with a first-round pick to Oklahoma City for Dennis Schröder, who immediately demanded to start over Caruso, did, but never quite fit with James because it turned out his 39% three-point shooting the year prior was an aberration.īut hey. Surely given that success, the Lakers would continue to lean even more heavily on steady role players like Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, etc., right? They figured it out! There’s no way to screw that up with firsthand experience with exactly what wins.Īh, that’s right. Johnson stepped down, the Lakers missed out on Kawhi Leonard, and stumbled accidentally into the equation that led to his prior championships and, guess what. James’ analysis of that experiment was somehow more amazing, as he made a literal fart noise when asked how he thought that went. Rather than surrounding James with shooting, length, athleticism, and defensive wherewithal that helped him win championships in Miami and Cleveland, the Lakers instead opted for, well, not that. When James first arrived in Los Angeles, he and Magic Johnson embarked on a grand experiment. With the Lakers, though, his subliminal messages land a little different. Exempt from federal VOC regulations including California CARB and OTC regulations.Remember back in 2017, when LeBron James’ shots at his front office were simply sources of entertainment for Lakers fans? His subtweets were Twitter fodder and nothing more, back when he was either in Miami or Cleveland.Non-toxic, non-flammable, inert and non-reactive. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |