Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James has to live with the consequences of the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade he pushed his team’s front office to make, opines Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Goodwill writes that, whether James cooked up the Westbrook deal or merely advocated for it, his interest in the idea ultimately compelled Los Angeles team president Rob Pelinka to pull the trigger, and the team is now struggling to stay afloat, currently the ninth seed in the West.
After the team used many of its remaining assets to acquire Westbrook from the Wizards and opted not to re-sign stellar defensive guard Alex Caruso over the summer, it had its hands tied at the trade deadline this past Thursday, ultimately deciding to stand pat. Beyond the maximum salaries of James, the tough-to-trade Westbrook, and big man Anthony Davis, the Lakers had just two players, Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn, making more than the veteran’s minimum. Horton-Tucker has struggled in an expanded role, while the injured Nunn has yet to play a single game with L.A.
There’s more out of Lakerland:
- Lakers star big man Anthony Davis discussed his sense of relief following the trade deadline, now that the team knows its personnel heading towards the end of the season. “[The deadline passing] lifted weight off the [team’s] shoulders,” Davis said, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). “This is our team, let’s go.”
- Following the Lakers’ inactive trade deadline, Los Angeles head coach Frank Vogel also expressed optimism for the home stretch of the 2021/22 season, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It’s a new day,” Vogel said. “I think there’s just a natural reset energy to our group, knowing that the trade deadline has passed. This is the group that we put together to start the year. This is a group we believe in.” That group has led the Lakers, currently on a three-game losing streak, to a 26-31 record and the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
- One of the lone bright spots in this disappointing Lakers season has been the play of rookie shooting guard Austin Reaves, who has emerged as a reliable bench contributor on both ends of the court. Reaves initially signed a two-way contract with the Lakers after going undrafted out of Oklahoma this summer, then saw that deal converted to a standard NBA contract before the start of the season. The 23-year-old has emerged as a clutch role player of late, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times details. “He’s got a great computer to process help and see whether if he’s going to shoot or whether he’s going to make the extra pass and obviously he’s got a lot of guts to make big shots,” Frank Vogel said. “And he really competes on the defensive end and has a good IQ down on that end.” LeBron James also raved about the youngster: “Nothing has impressed me anymore on Austin. He’s made big plays over and over offensively and defensively.” In 21.1 MPG, Reaves is averaging 6.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG and 1.3 APG, and has supplanted veterans like Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore in L.A.’s perimeter rotation.
Austin reaves 6 points a night are about as impressive as lebrons help defense. Lakers would make the playoffs easy if they just rotated on defense but they’re too old and don’t have the energy to do it
Ask Klay Thompson if he thinks Reeves can ball ?
Or maybe just try watching him yourself !
Give him more PT and let him shoot more and then maybe you’ll finally be impressed.
They forget he a rookie that shouldn’t even been playing . But he earn his way to playing time
AD needs to stop commenting as some sort of leader until,….. well, he actually plays like one
Getting shut down by Kevin Looney? Cmon , it’s embarrassing.
He has now taken 3 total shots in the last 2 4th qrters….both games Lakers were tied with 4 mins left in as well
Kuminga
18, 9
Plays 25 minutes
AD
16, 7
Plays 35 minutes
Trade AD for 3 unprotected picks and a bad contract like John Wall
Lakers lost the game because of 2 points deficit
The lakers would be wise to see what they can get for AD this off season. That current roster is heading nowhere. Nobody on that team plays defense with any effort
AD looked terrible last night. Don’t know what these players problem is but they sure don’t look like they are interested in winning.
AD can’t shoot anything, THT just needs to be benched, and Avery Bradley needs the ball more. Bradley/Reaves backcourt should start every game just for the defense and shooting/hustle. Monk has had bright moments and Ariza…man c’mon.
For once i need to defend LeBron. Last night Laker fans complained about LeBron’s 4th quarter but he was playing hurt and way too many minutes. Vogel needs to reduce LeBron minutes down. No way a player his age should be averaging 38 minutes a game.
I agree his mins are too high but what else can they do today really? It is what it is
He just had a bad 4th qrter in an otherwise great all around game
I will admit he didn’t look too thrilled on having to make 3 ft’s in a row (Has never been his M.O) …his body language and mind were not in it and he made it evident right when the ball left his hand on the first ft…..
**No idea why Vogel didn’t sub in Howard for Westbrook (on the missed ft) as Howard probably get’s a {strong } tip attempt/reb if he’s on the right block instead of Westbrook at the end. Bad coaching there
Also Reeves waking up Klay didn’t help lol . Klay got all personal and won that game for GSW single handedly. LBJ must be envious that Curry can ghost the 4th and still leave the arena with a W
Reaves woke up Klay? What are you talking about? I don’t think Klay needs motivational lessons from a rookie.
I take it you didn’t watch the game last night
And your right, Klay doesn’t need any lessons (from anybody) but the NBA is a nightly platform for different motivations.
It’s one of the payoffs to actually turn on the Tv rather than check box scores the next morning
Ummm… Please tell me how Klay could score 16 points in the 4th quarter while being destroyed? On his restricted minutes, that’s 40 points a night.
Destroyed? I said “waking up”
I’ll take that as you didn’t watch last nights game
You commented on another article and said that Reaves destroyed Klay. I don’t think scoring 16 points in one quarter counts as being destroyed.
Why not comment there then.
Klay was not having a good game… 16 points in q4 means not much before.
I did. But, he chose to comment twice. So, I responded twice. He scored 33 points in 30 minutes. Kinda hard to say Klay was getting destroyed.
Reeves was lucky going against Poole. Poole is the warriors weakest link on defense. Teams for the last few weeks been attacking him on defense. Too many times players blow by Poole for inside protection. They need to put payton in on defense last 5 minutes.
Trade James for Simmons this summer. Move broken AD for young parts. Wiz for Hachi and Avdija + picks, Pels for Zion, Murphy and picks or Heat for Herro and Robinson. Start over this lucked out with having covid 5 month brake and they won chip, there is no way they ll win more against Suns, Warriors, Bucks and others
It really all depends on what LBJ wants
The Lakers should really just follow his lead- If he wants out in the summer accommodate and start over, that includes an AD trade as well and probably a trade to a team HE (LBJ) wants (We do owe him that)
If he wants to stay long term; accommodate and send AD to boot camp over the summer to toughen up and be clear that 23 might be rough but 24 holds a ton of hope (that he can help a lot with by going Tom Brady on his next contract) and they can make 1 more run
As long as the communication lines are clear between front office and LBJ I really don’t mind the direction they go in as it will be the right one for the dish that’s being served. If theres miscommunication, doubts, or deception on a plan it could set us back half a decade
Advanced stats will tell you LeBron is still a top 5 player in the league. It’s hard to imagine he has more than one more year max at this level … but we’ve been saying this for over 5 years now.
LAL has no incentive to move him while he’s still this good. Davis … maybe? But I think even the AD pessimists realize there are very few two way stars of his caliber. Two way being the key here
Russ will obviously be dumped even if it costs them 2027 and 2029. Not impossible for them to retool around Bron and AD in July
LBJ is under an incredible amount of pressure from his bosses in the CCP!
Another lebron China joke, nice! They get funnier every time…
Lebron got them 1 championship but it will be years before another IMO.
Austin Reaves finished his drives well, it wasn’t just “smart” perimeter play— at least last night. He is reliable wth the ball and chased well on defense.
Oklahoma was on tv too and I enjoyed Tanner Groves with the huge beard kept hitting 3s and moving at 6-10 235. Okie day
SB prediction: Bengals will not handle Aaron Donald. Donald can line up anywhere along the line and have the advantage. Rams will blitz when the Bengals get near FG range and it will be a jailbreak. Also Sinitsova yowza in the pairs ice dance.
Probably not too many more HR articles tonight…
Westbrook should be playing the 2. What they miss most is Dunn. At least he’s a real ball handler. Having Westbrook at the 2. He can attack and play off the ball. With Bron and AD he’s best as a wing.
Westbrook off the ball is the whole problem man. Dude refuses to set screens and just stands in a corner doing nothing since he isnt spacing the floor because nobody respects his shot.
The whole bad fit is Westbrook has to have the ball to do anything but is way worse as the facilitator than LeBron with worse passing and way more turnovers. His one skill is the thing they dont need him to do.
Reeves is more clutch than lebron. That’s why he likes him
I think the narrative that “Lebron makes everyone around him better” has to be re-evaluated in light of the Lakers’ experiment, or at least amended to “makes everyone of high talent level better”. He certainly did not bring out the best in the younger team mates who have thrived elsewhere after being traded (once or twice). That does suggest that he is NOT a good mentor for younger players, as in every instance his championships have come in the presence of other outstanding veteran talent.
He is still one of the all-time greats, and one of the smartest basketball players ever. But it doesn’t seem to translate to making just any team mate better, unless by that you mean “they look better because defenses focus on Lebron and thus the weaker players look better than they usually do”.
I have to wonder if at this season’s end we are going to see yet another instance of Lebron fleeing to greener pastures, a trend which he has promulgated, and which has not been good for the NBA, as the Big3 approach orchestrated by stars has failed more than it has succeeded, and has led to free agency that diminishes patient team building.
LJ has not necessarily been good for older players either, if they are not used to being role players.
If AD is not what he was (often enough), Lebron may look at a different investable co-star… Garland & Mobley for instance!… Allen at center… one of them with Love starts a trade… But whoever gets LJ’s son has the ad
You mean to say that Ingram, Zo, and Kuz have gotten BETTER since their rookie years? AND they’ve improved their game after being leaned on heavily by their new squads? Wow thats a real earth shattering take my friend