Lakers Deandre Ayton & Marcus Smart are LOCKED IN Entering Training Camp! + JJ Redick REVEALS Roles!

Lakers Deandre Ayton & Marcus Smart are LOCKED IN Entering Training Camp! + JJ Redick REVEALS Roles!

[Music] We are now less than 4 days away from training camp and the Lakers are definitely getting ready for it. Seeing many of their guys back in the gym, working out together, even doing some five on five runs, which was confirmed by JJ Reic and Rob Plinka. This coming during their introductory press conference in which they revealed a whole lot about the team, their potential future plans with the team. JJ Reicang, a new contract, and a whole lot about their new additions, especially about Marcus Smart and DeAndre, the plans they have for them, how they have looked this summer, what Reddic plans to do with them, and how they’ll be involved within the rotation, and how Reddi will plan to implement them. We’re going to talk about them directly, what Reddic talked about, what Rob Pelinka talked about, and go through how that actually will apply to the Encord stuff, which Shakanda is really not too far away at this point. So, we’re going to talk about that and break it all down here. And well, beginning with Marcus Smart, I like what Reic had to say about him. You know, even going back to his days of playing against Marcus Smart, Smart battling against him in many postseason runs, even hitting Reic in the face and causing him to get some stitches at one point. They’ve had many battles both during the regular season and during the postseason, too. So, now Reic gets an opportunity to be on the other side of that. not battling against Marcus Smart, not coaching against Marcus Smart, but coaching Marcus Smart and actually having him on his team for once. And Reic definitely is looking forward to it, talking highly about Marcus Smart’s defense and him getting back to that player that he was, his leadership, his communication, even his playmaking ability, and he definitely went in pretty good detail with it. So, here’s quickly what he had to say about it. You mentioned that you know what you’re going to get out of Marcus. What’s the hope for what he’s going to add to this team? Uh, I would say toughness. Um, I’ve already told him this, like we need his voice. Uh, that’s part of communication. Um, his competitive spirit and, uh, defensively he, you know, probably went a little bit under the radar because of the last two years, but he still grades out in nearly every metric in 80th percentile or higher. So, he’s still a very versatile defender. Um, and to me, he’s always been a little bit of an underrated playmaker. I think with, you know, Austin and Luca, those guys are obviously going to be primary ball handlers for us. Uh, but but Marcus can be that secondary ball handler. You know, there’s definitely a lot to break down there if you want to get really in depth with it. Talking about Marcus Smart’s defense and what Reic was talking about with it, you know, the 80 plus percentile talk with it and where he’s coming from with that. Well, one website, for example, is bballindex.com. And regarding Marcus Smart last season and how he graded out on defense for his parameter isolation defense being in the 87 percentile being graded with an A minus, his ball screen navigation in the 91st percentile also being graded with an A, his offball chaser defense in the 95th percentile, pickpocket rating in the 89th percentile, passing lane defense in the 92nd percentile. So I think you kind of get what I mean here. or even for a different website that craftedNBA.com, ranking Marcus Smart in the 93rd percentile for deflections, ranking him in the 78th percentile for rim defense and yes, rim defense has a 6’3 guard, ranking him in the 82nd percentile for versatility rating, and in the 79 percentile for crafted defensive plus minus rating. So no matter where you look and no matter what you’re talking about, Marcus Smart has been and is still a very viable defender and definitely an 80 plus percentile kind of guy too. So yes, JTregg is not simply making that up and that’s kind of what he means here about it. Or if you want to talk about the playmaking ability, once again, Reic referring to that and likely kind of referring to it from a numbers standpoint. Again, we know how Reic likes numbers and likes to go back to them. Once again, he’s not lying about it. Marcus Smart is actually a pretty underrated playmaker. You know, maybe not a primary point guard or a primary ball handler for a team, but he definitely can be a secondary playmaker. And according to Reic, that is what he expects him to be. And once again, going back to the numbers here as Reic likely is referred back to them, ranking in the 81st percentile for playmaking talent last season, in the 82nd percentile for passing creation volume, in the 96th percentile for passing versatility. And overall here he once again ranks well in regard to numbers with his playmaking ability. So yes, Reic is valid by calling him a good playmaker, a good defender yet, and a guy that can actually be a two-way player for them. However, I think the real value here with Marcus Smart and directly with their team and what the Lakers needed is with something that can’t be measured by numbers. That being his effort and pride on defense, his vocalenness and his communication on the court, his willingness to do the little plays and do the dirty work for a team that again can’t be measured by any stat or by simply numbers alone. You got to look at him from the eye test and how his nature and how his behavior in a good way will actually help their team out and might be the missing link for their team in that regard, too. I mean, Marcus Far is a tenacious player, not only defensively, but simply his mindset, too. He’s going to bring that attitude to their team and I think they desperately need it especially after the loss of Dorian Smith who kind of was the only guy for their team especially in regard to a role player for their team and kind of a 3 and D player for their team. That’s the role that Marcus Smart will now be taking on not only from a skill set and numbers standpoint but again more importantly from a mentality standpoint a communication and leadership standpoint. That’s why I’m looking forward here with Marcus Smart and I think Reic is kind of referring to it here too. And well, one thing they need a wakeup call with and something I actually can point to the numbers here with too is their ability to get back on defense. It’s not something they can’t physically do or something that they haven’t shown the ability to do, but it’s something they don’t routinely do and have not been able to change their mindset to doing it for really a few years now. Do both pre and post JJ Reic. Last season, they gave up the fifth most fast break points per game to their opponent, giving up nearly 17 per game, getting even worse during the postseason. And if you combine that with bad paint defense, bad offensive rebounding, or rather bad defensive rebounding, giving up too many offensive rebounds to their opponent, which hopefully will and I think will change with the arrival of DeAndre. But simply in regard to transition defense and getting their ass back on defense, that’s something that Marcus Smart will be extremely valuable with. In fact, I think he’ll be invaluable with. So that’s kind of the rundown with Marcus Smart. the numbers with him, the outlook with him, the offgrid stuff and what can’t be measured by numbers and what Reic really emphasized with Marcus Smart. That’s kind of what we have to look forward to with and hopefully Marcus Smart can live up to it. But how about DeAndre Aton? Another new addition for their team and another guy that both JJ Reic and Rob Plink had plenty to talk about with him. Reic talking about his offense being a former first overall draft pick. Him playing with a Reic former teammate than Chris Paul. how that has helped DeAndre in the pick and roll game field that he has and hopefully how that will translate to himself and Luca Donuch. Reick had a lot to talk about with him and here’s what he had to say. Obviously getting DeAndre in the offseason was a big acquisition. Just would love to hear you just expand on how important of a role he’s going to have, how critical he’s going to be to this team, and just what some of your expectations are for him as the season begins. his expectations are no different than any other player. Just I’ll I’ll just say that again. It goes back to the daily commitment to those three things. Um this is a guy who was a number one pick who has uh produced in in every sort of situation he’s been in. Um whether that’s been, you know, early in his career uh post Chris Paul trade, like he he’s he’s a he’s played in the NBA finals. He’s been the anchor of a defense and a starter on an NBA Finals team. Um, so I think even just being in the gym with him the last couple weeks, um, this guy played pick and roll with Chris Paul. Like there’s not a more detail oriented player. Like he his his feel for twoman action um is just super high and really excited to see him play with Luca. Yeah, I’ll talk a little bit to it and then let JJ address this. I mean, first and foremost, uh, having a a true center that is both great in the short role. When you have DeAndre Aton in pick and rolls with Austin Reeves, Luca, even LeBron, his ability to catch passes in the short role, we’ve already seen some of that and in sort of the player workouts that have been going on. Um, he’s also a lob threat, so just adding that dimension. His size is is is very real. Um, and then we know that LeBron and Luca both have thrived with players that have that 3 and D component. We felt like Jake Loravia is a young player that is really good now and has a lot of growth left in him. And then Marcus Smart has proven to be an elite three and D player at different points of his career. And our sports performance staff is working really hard with him to make sure he gets back to that form. It was just a couple seasons ago, I think he won defensive player of the year. So there’s still um there’s still a lot to be excited about with adding him. Simply put, DeAndre is going to be a game changer for their team in the paint and JJ Reic knows it, too. Everything in regard to his long thread ability, his pick and roll ability, his feel for the pick and roll game, even his mid-range shooting, and simply his touch around the rim. Then defensively, not only about the rim protection, but even more so the defensive rebounding in my opinion. something I’ve talked plenty about and that being one of the Lakers biggest problems from last season, their defensive rebounding, ability to stop their opponent from getting second chance points, that’s something that Aton will be guaranteed to help them with. And yes, guaranteed to help them with. You know, it might not be guaranteed that he stays healthy for a full 82 game season. Might not be that he’s committed on both ends of the court every night, but it is guaranteed that he will be a good rebounder for their team. In fact, a great rebounder for their team. I mean, he’s never averaged below 10 rebounds per game, literally ever in his now six-year ongoing NBA career, averaging 10.2 rebounds per game last season, over seven defensive rebounds per game, and over three offensive rebounds per game, ranking top 15 in all three categories. And then if you’re talking about the paint production and the points per game, not to mention the second chance points, also very productive in that regard, too. ranking 22nd overall in points in the paint per game last season despite playing fewer than many other players than many other centers around the NBA, scoring nearly 11 points in the paint per game, ranking 22nd overall again, then ranking ninth overall and second chance points per game, scoring 3.6 of them per game. So if you translate that to playing with Luca Donuch, LeBron, Austin Reeves, getting the paint touches with pick and roll play, dump offs around the rim, then cleaning up the mess and getting offensive rebounds. I think it’s going to be a great fit for DeAndre and simply what their team needed, too. So, I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m really looking forward to watching these two play, how Reic will integrate them and how he plans to implement them within the rotation. Whether they’re starters or not, or one is, one isn’t, both aren’t. I don’t really care that much. I guess I do a little bit about Aiden starting. But again, the main point here is that they have big plans for them. Reic has talked a little bit about it and hinted at it during this introductory press conference and I’m really looking forward to watching them throughout training camp preseason into the regular season too. So with that in mind here, what do you guys think? What are your expectations both Marcus Smart and DeAndre entering training camp? How do you feel about what Reddic said about them? How do you think he’ll implement them? And how do you think the entire season will look like with them? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below. But I think that’ll pretty much do it for this one. And if you enjoyed the video, then I would greatly appreciate it if you dropped a like, subscribe to the channel if you have not already, and hit that notification bell to never miss out when I upload a video. But as always, thank you for watching and have a great day or night. [Music]

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