r/lakers

Marcus, Rui, Luke, and Ayton provide value in certain ways, but the OKC series showed that they have clear limitations and with the cap space that was available, it was time for a reset.

Are the Lakers closer to contending? No, losing Lebron throws a huge wrench into their ability to contend. But this offseason showed me that their priorities have changed. The roster has more players who can dribble, pass, and shoot, and the overall athleticism and speed is way up. There is a lot of work to be done, but for the first time in a long time, I can see a real plan from the Lakers and a real roster building philosophy. And now was the best time to do it.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/\_/id/49286926/rui-hachimura-clippers-agree-2-year-28m-deal

The Lakers and Clippers had a discussion around a Hachimura sign-and-trade, but the Clippers offered minimal cash as the Lakers expected draft capital in a potential return, sources said.

Remember when Rich Paul described LeBron telling the Lakers he was moving on as a “courtesy” so the Lakers could conduct their FA business?

A whole 6 hours before FA began?

Come on man 😂

From the All NBA Podcast which aired around 10 pm PT last night. Nothing groundbreaking from Marc Stein, but he said the following:

- Lakers want to add a wing and a big man

- They have “no way to retain Rui Hachimura” is the way he worded it

- Lakers “have made a lot of attempts to pursue Kuminga” and Stein added they might have to make an additional 1-2 moves for additional financial flexibility

- Kuminga is stuck waiting on LeBron because multiple interested teams are waiting on LeBron before they’d pivot to Kuminga

I still don’t understand the Sexton and Grimes signings. Sign one of them, but why sign both instead of using one of those slots for a bigger wing/forward. Kelly Oubre went for less money than Sexton, and without a player option.

This seems frankly short-sighted and dumb to scramble for a starting caliber wing after free agency is 90% finished, when you have to manufacture cap space without really any draft capital to work with.

And that’s setting aside that Kuminga isn’t some grand prize, he’s a former lottery pick who doesn’t play winning basketball and mostly prefers iso scoring to team basketball. We already have Luka and AR, we need defense-first wings who can shoot, thats it.