New Lakers coach Darvin Ham is confident he can lead the team back to contention, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. As Washburn notes, Celtics coach Ime Udoka recently guided Boston to the NBA Finals in his first season with the team, which is something Ham hopes to do.
“Coming from Milwaukee, I’ve seen alignment between ownership, front office, and head coach and coaching staff, and the one thing (Lakers VP of basketball operations) Rob (Pelinka) and I decided is we needed a team that was more athletic and we need more shooting,” Ham said about the team’s offseason additions.
“So far, so good, in my opinion. We still have a long way to go. Every team, not just us, are always looking for ways to improve their roster. We’re definitely trying to get our resources together to put the best possible team on the court for 2022/23.”
To this point, the Lakers have added Lonnie Walker IV, Thomas Bryant, Damian Jones, Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson this offseason. The team also drafted Max Christie at No. 35 overall. Los Angeles still has one open spot on its 15-man roster.
Here are some other notes from around the Pacific:
- Along with Ham, former Lakers guard Malik Monk also expressed optimism that the team could turn it around, as relayed by TMZ Sports. Monk played 76 games with Los Angeles last season, averaging 13.8 points per contest on 39% shooting from deep. The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Kings this month.
- James Ham of The Kings Beat examines whether the Kings can defy Las Vegas oddsmakers and win more than 32 games next season. Sacramento traded for Domantas Sabonis last season, pairing him with promising guard De’Aaron Fox –who recently averaged 23.2 points per game. In addition to Monk, Sabonis and Fox, the team also has Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Davion Mitchell, No. 4 pick Keegan Murray and others.
Lakers get worse
1. LeBron is a year older
2. Lost Monk
3 Lakers don’t sign good free agents
4 Lakers don’t plan to trade all future Firsts
5 Lakers don’t plan to pay $70 million luxury tax
Or they could get Kyrie when the Nets finally make a decision and have the best starting lineup in basketball.
Best starting lineup in basketball with Kyrie lmao. No.
Minnesota, GSW, Boston, Phoenix all have a better starting 5 even with Kyrie. Not to mention Philly, Cleveland and others if everyone is healthy.
Lakers are going to get abused down low this off season by Ayton and others in the west.
All of those teams are laughable to call better than LeBron, Kyrie and AD other than Golden State. It’s insane how underrated AD and Kyrie are becoming
I think the large majority of NBA fans understand just how good AD and Kyrie are. I think you’re failing to understand that the likelihood of all three of those guys being on the court together for more than 3 games in a row is extremely unlikely given AD’s psychical health and Kyrie’s mental health.
Kyrie has a lot of mental health… he’s just a old school pimp like Iverson…he’s just an alpha dog who don’t take an ounce of bull from anyone… he’s as good of a shooter as curry but more clutch and better handles and maybe the only player in the league that can beat 5 defenders by himself on any given possession…. If lebron and AD understand that it’s Kyrie’s Lakers and play awesome supporting roles and good defense they could beat anybody…. But Kyrie ain’t going to LA and Queen Lebron and his handpicked bag of malcontents and their weaknesses are going nowhere
Maybe you’re confused on what a starting lineup is. There’s 5 positions on the court. Not 3.
3 guys isn’t a starting line up. This is the NBA. Not the Big 3 Ice Cube league.
People understand how good LeBron, Kyrie, and Anthony Davis are. They also understand theres 2 other positions on the court lmao and Kyrie, AD, and LeBron are older and less involved in defense given their advanced age and declining health.
White, Brown, Tatum, Gallinari, Williams is certainly better than Kyrie, Lebron, AD
Young, Murray, Hunter, Collins, Capela is certainly better than Kyrie LeBron AD
Morant, Bane, Brooks, Jackson Jr is certainly better than Kyrie, AD, LeBron
Van Vleet, Trent Jr, Anunoby, Barnes, and Siakam are certainly better than LeBron, Kyrie, AD.
Maxey, Harden, Harris, Embiid is certainly better than Kyrie LeBron AD
Not to mention many teams have better depth. Kyrie AD LeBron aren’t capable of playing 35+ minutes a night an entire season. Lakers have absolutely no bench and no second unit to speak of.
Well said my man
Lakers’ success hinges completely on Davis. There’s no way they enter the szn w Russ imo, whether they turn him into kyrie, Gordon, or hield remains to be seen. Also kings ain’t going nowhere lol
* Davis’ health
The kings have more promise than your lakers bro. In 2 years this team is screwed regardless. You threw buddy girls in your comment like having him would potentially help something out! If the only thing a player does is Jack it up of course he’s going to have a ton of threes . Russ can do that already. Nobody is taking Russ unless the lakers include picks ! Davis will show up this year I bet .. and THAN it’s over
We’ll see dude, Kings have 8 pretty solid players. LeBron is getting old & AD can’t stay on the court.
Lakers’ success hinges completely on Davis’ health. There’s no way that they keep Russ, they’ll trade him for either kyrie, Gordon, or hield imo. Also kings ain’t going nowhere lol
I’d love the Lakers to get Irving more than both Turner and Hield.
Irving > Hield + Turner
This trade would cost Lakers $70 million tax
Lakers get Irving, Harris and Curry
Nets get WB, Tucker and 2 Firsts
Nets save luxury tax because they are on rebuild.
Lakers need to waive and stretch Westbrook and sign Colin Sexton and Demarcus Cousins.
Lakers will not waive and stretch a guy in his final year of the contract. 50 million waved and stretched is still something like 16 or 18 million per year. That’s a serviceable guy $$ that would not be available for the next 3 years. Russ expiring contract could possibly be attractive to a team at the deadline who has a couple guys that’s not working out.
Keegan Murray is the rookie of the year and the Kings win more than 32 games.
My Predictions :
============
KM wins R of Y
Kings : Win 41 Games / Lose 41 Games (Make the Play In Tournament)
I hope so, sounds like a realistic goal!
Pelinka looks like a knock off Rob Lowe