Lakers coach Frank Vogel has faced increased scrutiny recently, but owner/governor Jeanie Buss said she’s going to reserve judgment until the team is completely healthy, according to Mark Medina of NBA.com.
“Until we’re 100% healthy, I don’t think you can really make any judgment,” Buss told NBA.com at halftime of the Lakers-Celtics game on Tuesday. The Lakers won the game, 117-102, to move to 13-12 on the season.
Buss seemed a bit perturbed by the question, but said the Lakers are connected as an organization, noting that Vogel attended a season-ticket holder event Monday with Buss.
“We’re as connected as any organization can be,” Buss said. “I really don’t know what you’re looking for me to say. I would say until we’re 100 percent healthy, I won’t make any judgments about anything.”
The Lakers have dealt with several injuries this season; LeBron James has missed 12 games (various reasons), Talen Horton-Tucker was sidelined for 13 games after thumb surgery, and Trevor Ariza (ankle) and Kendrick Nunn (knee) have yet to suit up this season.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- LeBron James would still love to play in the NBA with his son Bronny, writes Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. Bronny is a 17-year-old junior for Sierra Canyon High School.
- Not many things excite Clippers coach Tyronn Lue during games, but perfectly executed plays are among them, Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group relays. Swanson notes that Lue prefers to stay impassive on the sidelines for strategic reasons.
- With the returns of Klay Thompson and James Wiseman on the horizon, Warriors coach Steve Kerr will face challenging, yet desirable choices, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. The Warriors are tied with the Suns for the best record in the league at 20-4, and their depth has been a major strength.
- Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala, who has missed the last 10 games with knee swelling, could return Wednesday against the Trail Blazers. Kerr said it’s a “possibility,” per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Slater also notes that rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody will play a couple games in the G League before returning for the team’s five-game road trip, which starts Saturday.
The Warriors are looking real good this year and their depth is a definite asset. Didn’t quite have this depth a year or two ago and it showed in their record.
But what sometimes gets lost is the play of their Superstar. Steph Curry is absolutely tearing it up. I believe that without him the Warriors are a middle of road playoff team. More like an 18- 12 team.
My point of bringing this up is that you need a superstar AND maybe another one to get to the championship level. You need two guys or three guys that can create shots for themselves and their teammates at a high level and high success rate.
Look at the Phoenix Suns before Chris Paul arrived. A nice young team but nowhere near what they are now. Add a superstar ball-handler, creator for himself and others, and the Suns are right there. With the second guy Devin Booker and that puts them in Elite status. Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis and Khris Middleton as a Creator shot-maker in crunch time.
I sure would love the Warriors to trade three depth guys for 1 even better player. But not sure exactly what I mean by that because they look fantastic for now in this year’s playoffs with the veterans, but also for the future with Jonathan kuminga Moses Moody Jordan Poole Etc 3 years from now.
I guess the Warriors just roll with it how they are today and see how it plays out. Depth is good I guess but I sure would love an upgrade over Wiggins or Poole.. and get a stud. Don’t know how to accomplish that but it’s a hope.
Gary, I always enjoy your posts because you clearly have a good read on things…with one exception. Wiggins. Try as I may, I just don’t see negatives. I watch every game with your criticisms of Wiggins in my head. Prior to his dominant performance vs twolves he definitely was good/not good. I saw many times when I felt he had chances for loose balls or was needed to defend the basket, and he lacked aggression. At the time I felt this is what Gary is seeing. But since and including the twolves game he’s been different. Aggressive on loose balls and defending the rim. In fact, he’s probably been more consistent than anyone with Green being a possible exception. As Curry said yesterday, Wiggins seems to have completely adjusted to the GSW system. Add to that, he has shown this joy in what I see as his “finding” himself. Curry clearly is ” tearing it up” but still has a bad game sometimes. Not often though–MVP year imo. But Wiggins has been VERY consistent, to me. He is excellent at attacking the bucket, has a very solid shot midrange, his 3s, especially from the corners, are killing it. Up to 41+%. But where I see the biggest difference is his defense, especially at the basket.
Their chemistry is growing each day. I worry that losing a guy like Wiggins will change the chemistry for the worse.. I’m a chemistry guy–the Giants were to me more fun to watch than ever this year. Going back 55 years for me. I get the same joy watching GSW. Durant is probably the greatest player ever, but I this current iteration of GSW bball, with all the depth, is more fun for me. Each night I cant wait for GP2 or JTA or Nemanya or Porter to come in. Iggy when he’s healthy. There were great bench players in 15-19 but the excitement of seeing them come in was not there, to me. Speights is the only guy I can think of that brought that much excitement. I know I’ve talked to long, and I’ll finish with this: Poole is very inconsistent but Looney is the one player that I find frustrating. His D and rebounding and passing are A+ and integral but he REALLY struggles with scoring. I’m talking basic 2 footers. Yes, a center that can score would be a great add but I’m not sure if the cost is a good idea. Anyway, my main reason for this post was to question your criticisms of Wiggins. Sorry for the length. Please respond to the Wiggins discussion. Thx for listening.
Excellent post Claude.
As an outsider looking in I love the makeup of this team. Wiggins and Poole compliment Curry perfectly. They can both knock down shots and drive on closeouts and keep the ball moving. In Wiggins case he has developed into a all defensive or near all defensive player. Stars can play either or both sides of the ball. Sure Steph is a transcendent offensive force and no one quite effects the game like he does but the same can be said about Draymond defensively. Green has built a hall of fame career on the defensive side of the ball. The youngsters are getting experience to contribute now and in the future and on top of all that Klay Thompson’s return is eminent.
I agree with you in that they are a good team but they may need a key ingredient in the playoffs once teams lock in defensively and take away the free flow of the Dubs offense – and yes it happens and why KD was so important during the last two Chips.
The could br vulnerable to a center like Anton who ate them up first game and they could use a more reliable back pg in crunch time. Poole Payton and others are fine in spurts but floor management and passing in crunch time not their best skills.
We also forget the Warriors still hold their mid-level exception. A lot of prognosticators think they won’t use it as the $5.4 million exception is actually a $16.2 million cap hit (X3). But, for this ownership money is not an issue. If they still feel they are one of the top 4 teams and maybe injuries are starting to flare up, I think they can add another player. If you literally wait to mid-season a $5.4 million exception gets you a $10.8 million player. A nice veteran back up center would be great.
I can agree with all you guys.., and Claude about Wiggins. I guess I’m too much of a perfectionist and it hurts me another areas of life as well.
When you look at the stat sheet, he’s getting it done. Good shooting percentages EVERY single night and his overall numbers look good. It’s just those times when he drives to the hole and it gets ripped from him or he misses a floater layup in the lane Etc. I guess I’m expecting him to shoot 100% and that’s unrealistic (to put it lightly, lol.) I need to not be so critical, not be that coach on the sidelines that screams at a guy who’s actually doing pretty well.
thanks Gary. Who would you try to acquire and what would that cost? That is if an upgrade is still a desire.
That’s the tough question and I believe that’s why the Warriors have not made a move. Who’s available and even if you know that.., what’s the cost? I don’t have an answer. Kind of a Myles Turner, maybe, at best?
At 20 – 4 The Warriors are looking fantastic. Somebody made a point a couple weeks ago that the warriors don’t really need that stud Creator I’m looking for. If they set up the perimeter with shooters all they need is one of their guys who can drive and kick. That would be just as effective. Makes sense to me. Curry and Poole and Wiggins and maybe a couple other guys can do that. Drive, draw and kick.
Piggyback note, actually watching Draymond Green this year he’s been more aggressive with a quick First Step going to the hole and then kicking to a perimeter shooter, or even scoring the ball himself. Going to be even better in the second half of the year when Klay comes back and sets up on the perimeter.. in addition to the guys already on the team.
Green looks like he’s 10 years younger. All around, both ways. Curry, MVP but Draymond could be the number 1 reason they’re 20-4.
The problem is the team is all either max deals or min. You have the rookie scale deals and Looney making over the min. So its super hard to find a deal for anything but a major star where the salary matching and player values match. Who is a fair trade one for one on Wiseman at 10M each and is available?
So its either a huge trade for a star on the level of Giannis/Embiid/LBJ/Joker/KD where you build a package, but otherwise its giving up someone like Wiseman for a mediocre role player. Even a deal for someone on a cheaper contract like Wood is hard to make values work.
@totoiv
You cant trade into the MLE it is only for signing a player.
The scenario where this comes up is if a player who is juicy gets bought out you can offer more than other over the cap teams with the MLE. The other use would be to offer a player like GPII an extension with the MLE money so you can lock in a good role player for multiple years.
The only way I see a roster spot opening up is if they wanted to dump Moody who is the least valuable young asset for like a future first, or if a player like OPJ/Belli goes down with a season ending injury since they are only a one year with no rights. Otherwise who are you cutting to add? You would need a pretty good player to shake loose as a FA to have them be better than all 12 non-future players on the team.
Kerr has talked where he sees Wiseman develop into an Ayton type roll. Remember Ayton took 3 seasons and Chris Paul to break out.
Right now you don’t need anything. You got till TD. Have to wait and see how Klay looks. Plus Wiseman and Kuminga are coming back. I believe strongly in those two guys. I would wait it out till TD.
Good points by everyone. I understand what KnickerbockerAl says about waiting until the trade deadline and the returns of Klay and Wiseman, but Wiseman may not return now until sometime in Q1 2022, perhaps later in that quarter.
I do believe they need more of an inside presence than Looney or even Wiseman in order to make it to the finals.
Wiseman is about due for the 9 months later this month, and unlike Klay where he needed more ramp up time Wiseman can go full once he gets clearance. He is just waiting for the green light, which is weird on Meniscus injuries because the imaging will always look like the scar tissue from now on so you cant look at the structure and have to play it more by feel. The upside is though it takes longer with the full repair it should keep his career safe since he still has full cushioning in his knee and wont have it break down later.
Lakers are talking about 100% healthy, then make adjustment
Such a weird note about Lue lol.
For the first time this season, the Lakers played real defense.
Lineup that broke the game open: Russ, Bradley, THT, Bron & AD.
Maybe Vogel can evolve this group.
Vogel was given a bad hand. He’s a solid coach. The players? You’ve heard the expression “addition by subtra tion”? To me, Laker management (with LJs help, I’m sure) “subtracted by addition”.
Worry about your team. Man, these warriors fans, smh…
Sorry Kowalski to take away from your one over .500 euphoria. Btw, I have put up with way too much BS from other teams fans, specifically Laker fans, to sit here and feel I owe people like Kowalski my silence. Whiny, don’t hurt my feelings Laker fans…smh.
PS Kowalski. You have confused “worry” with “pity”. I pity you and your Laker fanship, and I sure as heck am not worried about them. And if you think LeBron is absolved from any blame?? SMH
Why?
Coz every fan should know, 73-9 doesnt mean a thing.. Its a great record but..
Kowalski, our team is 21- 4. I don’t see much to worry about right now. Playoffs could be a different story but right now worry’s not even in our vocabulary.
worry means mind your own… Coz lakers doesnt care, do you?
Of course I care. I’m reading these articles. I’m interested in what’s up in the NBA.
73-9 ? What does that have to do with anything? Wasn’t that 6 years ago and the Warriors lost in the finals anyway?
Rings baby, talk about rings. Lakers got one 2 years ago and that was fantastic. No asterisk at all just got the ring. Every team was in the same boat. Fantastic, now try to do it again this year. It all starts in the playoffs whether you’re the 10th seed or 1st seed, everyone starts over. I love it. I care.
Just get ready Lakers fans. Lebron has hinted at wanting to play with his son for years. Unless the Lakers get lucky and are forced to draft him, watch Lebron demand a trade to whatever team drafts his son.