Did the Lakers actually get better this offseason?! | The Hoop Collective

Did the Lakers actually get better this offseason?! | The Hoop Collective

Let’s start with where everybody at ESPN starts when it comes to Pacific Division. The Sacramento Kings. Just kidding. Just kidding. The LA Lakers who last season finished the year at 50 wins and 32 losses. You may remember they won some tiebreakers and ended up with the number three seed. Um and in the um actually that what was their record that what’s we’re projecting them to be 50 and 32 believe that was also their record last year. Anyway, we also are pro projecting them uh our ESPN projection model has them at 50 and 32 but not in third. It has them in sixth. So um off in the offseason they had uh 50 and 32. You were right bonds. Um, in the off season, you will remember they made some some significant moves. Number one, they signed Luca to a three-year contract extension. Luca Donuch. It was the their undoubt undoubtedly their number one priority in the offseason. They were able to get that done. Um, happened. Did McMahon, did it happen on the first day that he could say it was? Oh, yeah. Just paused that little or had the Jordan Tour in right there in LA and was there on August 2nd. Signed that bad boy. No questions. Boom. off they went. So, that was a big thing for them. Um, they also signed two guys who got bought out of their contracts. Uh, Marcus Smart, who got bought out from by the Wizards. And the more surprising one, DeAndre Aton, got bought out by the uh Portland Trailblazers. We didn’t necessarily see that coming, at least not when it happened. And he signed a two-year deal with the Lakers. It would be their starting center. And then they signed Jake Laravia. They did that on June 30th. That was actually their first move was signing Jake Lorravia. Um who’s a interesting case study. We can get to him in a second. So um the other thing of course is LeBron. LeBron had this uh situation where he picked up his player option and uh his agent Rich Paul uh gave comments to Sham Stania that indicated LeBron was not really sure what his future was going to be and then silence. There has been no further on there discussion from Rich Paul, no on there comments from LeBron James even though he was just in China. um he didn’t have any quotes while he was there that uh really addressed it. And so he for the first time in his career is heading into a season where he does not have a player option or a contract for the next year. He has never been in a position like this. He is not eligible to extend his contract. Um and he has a no trade clause. So very likely will be headed towards um unrestricted free agency. Now, he has certainly been an unrestricted free agent a whole number of times in his career, but has never been in a situation where his team is not invested in him and has chosen not to invest in him um past this year. Um Rich Paul, uh I think I should just say he told me he told me that they didn’t have material conversations with the Lakers about a new contract. Um that can be a statement that can be taken a bunch of different ways. Maybe they um knew what they were going to get. Maybe they expected the Lakers to offer, but it wasn’t like LeBron asked for a new deal and the Lakers said no. And the Lakers, according to Rich, didn’t come to them and say, “Here’s a new two-year, three-year contract.” So, that’s sort of the backstory of their off season. Um, which is there’s a lot there, Bontemps. Um, to me, I’m more interested because I know LeBron’s going to be a Laker at the end of the month because he has a no trade clause. I know Luca is invested in being a Laker. I know they have these new players. Uh we talked the entire season last year about how they needed perimeter defense. They lost Dorian and Finny Smith and added uh Lorravia and Marcus Smart. Um on the court with what the team that they’re going to have on opening night, do you think the Lakers have materially improved on their 50- win team that was in the the the middle of the number three to number six seed morass last year? I mean maybe I would say the biggest argument that they’ve improved and McMahon has talked about this is that if the expectation is you’re going to get a better version of Luca than last year. I think you could also make an argument you won’t get as good of a version of LeBron as last year just because he is the oldest player in the league and while he has defied father time in a way basically nobody ever has there is at least some possibility he will regress. Um, and then a lot of these other guys are question marks. Like Marcus Smart has basically not done anything for two years. If Marcus Smart from the 2022 NBA finals shows up, that’s an improvement for the Lakers. If the Marcus Smart, who was not very effective for Memphis or Washington shows up, I I don’t think that’s going to make a significant difference for them. DeAndre Aton is probably the uh the best option um that they could have gotten realistically in free agency at center. But again, we’re damning with faint praise there. Like DeAndre Aton is also not, I would say, some massive differencemaking player. Now, maybe he’ll get with LeBron James and Luca Donuch like he was the year when they went to the finals with Chris Paul in Phoenix and have a great year. I wouldn’t rule that out. Um, but I would say on the whole the Lakers are probably a little better. I also think one thing that really hasn’t been talked about a lot is basically this entire team is up for a contract this this season and going into next summer. Yeah, let me go through it right now. So, LeBron, we already mentioned Ruy Hatimura is in the last year of a deal paying him $18.2 million. He’s extension eligible. That could get extended. Austin Reeves makes $14 million this year. He has a player option for next year which is widely expected him to not pick it up and become unrestricted. Uh Gabe Vincent is in the last year of a deal paying him 11 a.5 million. Maxi Cleba is in the last year of a deal paying him 11 million. I mentioned Eightton got a two-year deal, but the second year is a player option. So technically he can opt out and be a free agent. Marcus Smart signed a two-year deal, but he has a player option. He can opt out and become a free agent. Jackson Hayes um is up. He can be a free agent. All those guys. You want the shorter way to do this? On the Lakers whole roster, there are four players who have a guaranteed contract for next season. Luca Donic, Jared Vanderbilt, Jake Laravia, and Adoo Theorough, their second round pick. Bonnie James is partially guaranteed. Dalton Connect has a team option. Everybody else either has a player option or is an unrestricted free agent. Now, that could work out great, but that also could be a thing that causes a lot of issues. and you have a lot of guys trying to get paid and a lot of guys trying to be in the best situation they can going into next summer, right? So, all that to say that I think for the situation the Lakers were in, I think they did about as well as they could have. Obviously, getting Luca Donic done is the only thing that really matters. That’s a gigantic win for them to get him to sign for multiple years and to be there going forward. But there are a lot of questions and I think it’s going to be a very interesting test to see how JJ Ratic handles things cuz look I would say he deserves a lot of credit for how they went through the season and they with some smoke and mirrors I would say had a pretty good defense for what they had. Then they got in the playoffs against the Wolves and once they got stuck in a series against a team that could game plan for it a lot of stuff on both sides of the ball didn’t look so great. So it’s going to be a very interesting season in LA. But but look, the fact that Luca has had a wakeup call and for, you know, is taking conditioning seriously, is he going to maintain that commitment? We’ll see. There have been a couple of times where he’s taken it seriously and then that didn’t didn’t keep it up. But he seems to have had a wakeup call. There seemed like he was more of a leader during Slovenia’s Eurob than I’ve ever seen him be. He’s a guy who’s been a five-time first team all NBA selection despite constant condition concerns and immaturity. If he’s turned a corner on those two things, he’s always going to yell at Raps. I don’t sweat that. But if he’s turned a corner there and he’s playing in the in the low 240s, high 230s, that’s a a drastically improved version. Well, let me just stop you real quick. He can yell at refs, but yelling at refs and not getting back on defense in the playoffs is a m is a mature. Oh, no. It’s been a con. I’m just saying like, yeah, if if he’s going to maintain the weight stuff, the he ain’t ever going to be a perfect angel, but you’re right. The rest stuff is serious. But he has shown more commitment and more maturation this summer than he has any other time during his career. And then look, DeAndre Aton, he needs to turn a corner in in the maturity uh realm as well. He is there’s a lot of flaws there, but they were starting Jackson Hayes at center last season, guys. Like, he is a drastic upgrade. And I’ve said I think DeAndre will either be a long-term piece or a short-term circus fire. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of in between. And the guy’s talented. There’s no question about his talent. Is he going to do all the things he needs to do to help the Lakers win? And if he does, I could see him being Luca’s, not his co-star, but his starting center for years to come. I will say this, so Jake Laravia is an interesting signing. Um, they gave him $6 million. Um, uh, he’s buddies with Austin Reeves. Um, I’ve I couldn’t tell you that I was super familiar with his game, but I’ve watched some packages of clips that some people have prepared, both um people within uh the NBA uh community and people on the outside, you know, YouTubers. Um, you went down a Jarabia YouTube rabbit hole. You were dedicated. I did because I thought because I was gonna have to because he signed with the Lakers. I had to talk about him in July. Okay. like um uh he defends he can defend multiple positions. I mean, and he can like um and he was a type of guy who will pick up full court and you know he not you can’t play him on every point guard and you can’t play him on every point guard for 25 minutes, but he has some defensive versatility which they were sorely lacking last year. You mean you weren’t letting Dorian Finny Smith defend point guards coming up the floor? I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you imply that Jake Lavy is a defensive upgrade over Dorian Finny Smith. No, no, I didn’t say that. I said defensive versatility. You’re not You can’t You couldn’t put Dorian Finny Smith on opposing point guards. What What starting point guard in the Western Conference you going to put Jake? I’m not sure Jake Loravia’s agent would say he could guard starting. telling you I’m was watching clips of him applying fullcourt pressure to many different players both in Memphis and in San in Sacramento. Okay, my biggest question about I think J is a nice player. I would not I would not say he’s an option to guard opposing point guards. I’m curious, will he get a not for 25 minutes, but he has 25 seconds. Correct. You beat me to it, Big Ban. Will he get a tan living in Southern California? Because I tell you, he was glowinthe-dark in Memphis. Man, I I think Jay Garia is a nice player. I just think this is a weird this is an odd tactic. I’m just telling you he has got and when I did some research I saw that he’s got more defensive versatility than I knew that he had. And so the Lakers are in need of that. I’m not saying he’s doing it for 30 minutes. I’m just telling you that that explains some of the reason why they, you know, they didn’t have cap space to go out there and sign a bunch of guys. Well, listen. Jake Lorravi at $6 million is a nice value swing, but I I just I’m not gonna I’ll maybe I’ll end up saying, “Wow, Wendy, you were you were on that one.” I don’t see him move the needle defensively. I’m sorry. I say he’s got defensive versatility. He is also 6’8. He has size and defensive versatility. That That’s all that needs to be said about him. I’m not going to say anything more about him. I’m just I’m just saying I watched some film and I did not know that he had that he was defending one two threes and fours. Are you telling us he has deceptive athleticism? I did not say that. I just said he’s 6’8 and I watched him defend one two threes and fours which they didn’t have guys. They didn’t have a lot of guys who could do that last year. I Please send me the clips of him guarding point guards. I got to see these. They exist. What do you want me to say? Um, so I point out something on LeBron. He played the last two seasons he’s played 71 in 70 games. Um, he this last year averaged 24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, shot 51% overall from the field. His three-point percentage was 37% 38% if you round up, which was down from the year before. He did have a knee injury uh during the playoffs last year that knocked him out and slowed down his summer. So, we’ll see if that affected him at all. Um, those are still pretty strong numbers. There are definitely nights when his energy is higher than others. There are nights when he looks old, and there are nights when he looks like he can still completely take over a game. So, he is going for his 22nd consecutive AllNBA team this year. Insane. So, he’s made the AllNBA team. He has continued to make the AllNBA team regularly. um despite, you know, slowing down. Yeah. And listen, I get saying that LeBron production might dip this year. Like, it makes sense, but I’m not going to forecast that because the guy keeps defeating Father Time. I mean, he’s not he’s not what he was in his I guess the peak of his prime, but he’s still an AllNBA player. It’s insane. I can’t speak to where he’s at um spiritually. Yeah. About wanting to play longer. Um what I can tell you is his play on the court is not indicating somebody who’s near retirement now. No, he’s still one of the 10 or 15 best players in the league. Easy. He’s Look, he’s got to want to do it. He’s got to put his body through it. All of that stuff. Um, I keep saying I keep hearing people like this might be the last year. This might be the last year. Look, he’s been linked to potentially playing in other leagues. I don’t know. Maybe. But if he stays healthy, I do not see LeBron James slowing down. Yeah, maybe he’s tired of doing it, but I do not see LeBron James slowing down that much. Um, safe bet based off history. LeBron’s going to remain good. Has been a good bet for about 23 years. And I’m still on that side of it. Jackson uh tells us that Luca he averaged 30 35 points 34.7 points in the Euro basket, which is the most points in anybody in Euro Basket has averaged since 1989. Pretty good. He made He was the one guy who didn’t make the final four who did make I forget what they call it who basically made their all-star team the top five players. Yeah. and he was up, get this, he was he was one of the uh nominees for the best defender award. Now, Luca can do no wrong in Europe. And you know the I saw some European media Jake Laravia would have won that award. Jake Laavia would fit right in over there in Euro Basket. I but I saw some folks indicate, “Oh, this shows that the rap that Luca has in the NBA is has always been wrong.” It’s like, “No.” Okay. But but in in all seriousness though, if the Lakers are going to be an improved defensive team, I think Luca will have a lot to do with that. If he’s in better shape, Luca can be an effective team defender. And he also he won’t have 6’8 goes a long way. He wants a perimeter defender. Start with being 6’8. Well, and he’s 6’8. He’s strong as hell. I’ve always said one of Luca’s best defensive uh strengths is that you can hide him on multiple positions. He does have great hands. I’m But I’m saying I’ve never heard you say that. That’s true. No, but I’m like I’m not I like it. I like it. I like it. For example, Trey Young, you can’t hide him on multiple positions. That’s true. Luca, you like look, you can put him on a four and he’s going to rebound his position. Uh Luca can be a great help defender. He’s got great hands. He’s got great instincts. You know, Luca is always going to have a little bit of trouble staying in front of guys, but you know, when he’s obviously in better shape, it’s a lot easier, and he doesn’t have to rest as much on that end of the floor. You can build an elite defense protecting Luca with Luca on the floor. It’s been done. It’s been done twice. The Mavericks, when they went to the Western Conference Finals, ranked seventh in the league in defense. when they went to the finals. They ranked first in the league over the last quarter of the season in defense. Luca has contributed to outstanding NBA defenses. The Lakers need that to happen again this season. And he put himself in a physical condition that uh I I think you can be optimistic about that. Well, and the other thing real quick on the Lakers, too, is Austin Ree is going into a contract year and he expects to make an awful lot of money next summer. So coming off a playoffs where it was pretty rough against Minnesota, uh it’s going to be a very interesting year for Reeves in LA to see how he does to see how he does in the playoffs assuming the Lakers are in the playoffs as we expect. Um and to see what his market is next summer and what he uh commands and whether he ultimately is there or not. Um that is going to be a subplot to watch all year with them. I tell you what, three white guys and a three white guys and a 40-y old looks like some of the pickup lineups that I play in. Yeah, you’re a long way from being 40. No offense. This is true. So am I. I’m not. I’m just I’m just, you know, just being honest.

Brian Windhorst is joined by Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to preview the upcoming season for the Los Angeles Lakers including LeBron’s uncertain future with LA, Luka’s potential MVP candidacy, how some major roster questions marks could swing the season and interesting roster subplots for this year.
0:00 Luka & LeBron duo expectations
5:59 Can LA roster question marks a difference?
13:18 Interesting roster subplots for upcoming season

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