Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Anthony Davis (42 Points, 23 Rebounds) Saves Lakers in 112-107 Win over Hornets
Episode Date: January 28, 2025The Anthony Davis Revival continues. At the same time he made waves by vocalizing his desire for Rob Pelinka and the front office to add another big to the Lakers roster, Davis has also elevated his ...play (which was, to say the least, already high level). Monday in Charlotte, Davis went for 21/11 in the first quarter, en route to 42 points and 23 boards. He was the reason—the reason—the Lakers got off to a tremendous start against the Hornets, outscoring them 39-19 in the first quarter and the reason—the reason—they hung on to win, 112-107. LeBron James chipped in with 22/7/8, but also had five of the team's 19 turnovers that kept the Hornets in the game. In some ways, this game is a perfect microcosm of the team's season. On the one hand, they lost focus (JJ Redick said after he felt they worked hard, but made tons of mental errors), squandering an opportunity to get their stars extra rest on the front end of a back-to-back. The offense got gummy after the defense cooled off, and they found themselves in a game that shouldn't have been competitive. On the other, they won, moved to eight games over .500 and keep pushing towards a top-6 finish. The Lakers have the Sixers, without Joel Embiid and Paul George, tonight, then Washington on Thursday. That's a golden opportunity to reach 10 games over before tougher games against the Knicks and Clippers.Losing big leads happens all the time in the NBA. If the Lakers had shown some of the consistency that high end teams display, it would be easy to shrug this off as annoying, but ultimately meaningless. But with the Lakers, performances like these tend to emphasize how challenging it is to figure out exactly what this group really is. To be fair, the Lakers had a goofy rotation, with Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent sidelined, Jarred Vanderbilt still on a minutes limit and Shake Milton tossed back into the fray. That kind of thing matters. But the best teams tend to keep a semblance of execution through times like these. Memphis, for example, has performed admirably through a ton of injuries this season, including to Ja Morant. So which end of the spectrum do the Lakers belong to? HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: The Lakers win, thanks to AD. SEGMENT 2: The game was a great representation of the season as a whole. SEGMENT 3: What it revealed about the roster. Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Turbo TaxReady for stress-free taxes and the most money back, guaranteed? Head over to TurboTax.com today and get matched with your Expert. Only available with TurboTax Live Full Service. Real-time updates only in the iOS mobile app. See guarantee details at TurboTax.com/guarantees. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelSuper Bowl 59 is here, And there’s no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just FIVE DOLLARS, and if you win, you’ll score TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in Bonus Bets. Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of Super Bowl Fifty-Nine. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Tuesday.
Brian Komeneski, Andy Komeneski, Anthony Davis leads the Lakers to a closer than necessary win.
Does it say something about the Lakers season and AD?
That's all next.
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Andy is where over 27,000.
Yeah, the number's so big.
Sometimes I can't even remember it.
27,000 subscribers are all pleased that Lakers won
and probably a little annoyed at how it happened.
112.107.
The final score Monday night in Charlotte,
the second game of this fairly extended road trip Lakers
playing tonight,
against a short-handed Philadelphia squad with a chance, Andy, to go nine games over 500.
So a lot of stuff to sort of unpack from this episode, including the incredible performance of Anthony
Davis and Monday's game. Before we get to it, though, I want to let everybody know that today's
episode is brought to you by Fandul. Super Bowl 59 is here, and there's no better way.
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So for me, and this will be in the newsletter of tomorrow, I should say today for people who are getting the Locked on Lakers newsletter.
This game, to me, kind of summarizes the season in a lot of ways.
But I think, and I'll explain why in a minute, but I feel like we got to start with what Anthony Davis did.
Andy, a monster first quarter, a monster final stat line.
And he is the reason the Lakers won this game.
There is no question.
Anthony Davis, 42 points, 23 rebounds, 8 on the offensive glass,
eight offensive rebounds.
That is almost as many offensive rebounds as Charlotte had as a team.
Eight of 10 from the free throw line, two blocks, two assists.
did have four turnovers, including one that was like really nervous with about 20 seconds left
or something.
You got a defensive rebound, and then Josh Green snuck behind him, took the ball away, and
then AD fouled Green on a three.
Thankfully, the three did not go down, so it only turned into three points with the free
throws as opposed to four.
But that is one of the few things you could criticize AD4 in this game.
He finished the first quarter with 21 points and 11.
rebounds. Charlotte finished the quarter with 19 points per Spectrum Sportsnet.
Since the 96-97 season, two players have recorded 20.10 rebound quarters.
Janus a couple years ago and now AD. JJ said after the game that AD basically did two
days worth of work in one game. Basically the first quarter was, you know, all-star numbers in
and of itself. And then the rest of the game, all-star numbers in and of itself. As I
tweeted out after the game.
AD should get the game ball and then he should burn it.
Game ball and then like another game ball and then another one and then throw them all in
the ocean like you said.
Right.
Right.
You know, to your point, Andy, it was Anthony Davis 21, Charlotte 19 at the end of the first quarter.
And, you know, you go, you get a guy 13 to 50, you know, what was he from a shooting percentage
in the first quarter?
Well, he was seven to seven to open the game.
I don't, uh, let me look at up.
up really quick.
Great exactly what it was.
But like you get a guy in your fantasy team that goes, let's call it, you know,
nine of nine of eleven or whatever.
Nine of twelve.
Nine of twelve from the four.
I knew it was close to that.
21 points,
11 rebounds.
That's pretty good.
That's pretty tidy game.
He finishes.
You know, he finishes,
he finishes with 42 and, you know, 42 and 23.
I,
the last couple games,
you know, you go back.
to obviously he was outstanding against the Warriors over the weekend and had played a pretty
good game against the Celtics, I thought, played well against Washington.
You've got to go back to the Clipper game to his last one.
I wonder if there's any kind of connection in your mind between his, I don't, resurgence,
if you want to call it, he's been really good all year, but this feels a little bit more like
he looked at the beginning of the season.
And the interview with Shams where he talks about wanting another center.
And just like everything, like sort of just I see from a perspective almost as like confidence and assertiveness building up in a lot of different ways.
I'm wondering if you see any connection between these.
Maybe not for the exact same reason you're putting it, like the idea that confidence brewing.
around the timing of this interview like the the interview well i'm not saying the interview triggered
it i was saying the game and the you know the quality of play and the interview are all kind
of representative of this sort of you know taking control a little bit of okay in you know being the
voice of a team i guess i mean it certainly could be that i mean this is the most direct ad has been
with a quote at minimum since he said that the team didn't know what they were supposed to be doing during the playoffs, which played no small role in Darbin Ham being dismissed.
It's one of the most direct, because, I mean, AD will maybe three or four times a season offer an incredibly blunt assessment of what is going on.
Like he is, for the most part, we've talked about this before.
80's a soldier, like in the way that he conducts himself.
He is somebody that doesn't go around making a ton of waves.
We've set on the floor like over the course of the season, you'll see maybe a dozen bad shots from Anthony Davis.
Like he does not color outside the lines, even though we've both said at times it wouldn't be the worst thing if every now and then he colored a little messy.
Like, you know, most superstars give themselves that liberty.
80 dozen. It was very similar
the way Powell played.
I was very much I follow the game plan.
But what I do think, though, is
when Anthony Davis made that statement
to Shams, among other things
he said, he put
a target on his own back. Because
if you go, if you say this stuff
and then you play like crap,
you look foolish
in the process. And you
look like a guy who's spouting
off, but
can't deliver on your own end.
And ever since that interview, again, however connected they are.
A little bit before that, but especially since.
You know, I mean, you put a big spotlight on yourself.
And this game was no exception in the way he performed.
Like I don't have every five-man line up in front of me,
but I'm willing to bet that the better your plus-minus was in this game,
the more time you spend on the floor with Anthony Davis.
It's, you know, I think what was unique.
Most other guys on this team, I thought, were somewhere between up and down, good at times, not so good at times, and just flat out not that good.
Yeah, I mean, like LeBron, for example, to use him as as a for example here, the finishing line 22, 7 and 8 isn't terrible.
There's nothing wrong with that.
and, you know, 9 of 17 from the floor, so reasonably efficient, did miss seven of eight
threes, but managed to spend other ways to score.
But the five turnovers that he had, and it, interestingly, there was almost the sixth
in the fourth quarter reasonably late, and it actually turned into a four-point play.
You know, they got the ball back into the scramble.
Max was, was fouled on a three.
And, like, that switch, like, that should have been his sixth turnover.
Yeah.
And the Lakers turned them all over 19 times.
We'll get to this in a second here.
Gave up 28 points in the process.
We probably should have mentioned earlier in the show.
Lakers got up, we're up by 20s, up by more than 20 in the first quarter.
And this became a game and it shouldn't.
And like I said, it's a microcosm of the season.
But, you know, this was as direct as Anthony Davis has not been about like I want to be a four and not a five.
But he says that three or four times a year.
But go get me a center.
Like, what do you think we need?
We need a center.
Like Rob Polinka, hi, we need a center.
Go get one.
That, in terms of directness, is a different step.
And I don't like to read too much into things.
But I think that was significant.
And so, you know, we'll see.
We'll see if it continues.
Certainly no Joe L. Embed tonight in Philadelphia.
No Paul George.
No Caleb or K.J. Martin.
No Andre Drum.
and obviously know Jared McCain, who's been out this whole season.
Most of it.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, ever since hurting himself, he's out for the season, I should say.
And I will say no excuse for AD not to have another good game tomorrow,
except that the Lakers really did squander an opportunity to give all these guys a lot of rest.
Yep.
After an emotional game over the weekend in Golden State, always is when you go play staff and that.
National TV, you come to this one and certainly let down there.
But like I said, I want to get to why I think this game is so representative of the season.
We'll do that next.
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of Super Bowl 59.
So on the one hand, Andy, the Lakers got off to a great start.
Like their defensive pressure, it was arguably the best quarter, I think they played all season.
Like that, 39 points they scored.
Guys were flying around the court.
They were almost never up against a set Charlotte defense.
You know, because their defensive pressure was so good,
Charlotte's offense was completely thrown off kilter.
The Lakers either forced turnovers or forced bad shots and were quick up the floor.
I mean, really quick up the floor gave themselves a bunch of easy opportunities of the basket.
Anthony Davis was dominant, all this other stuff.
They look fantastic.
Quarters, two and three especially, really sluggish.
They did make some plays in the fourth when they kind of needed to.
They also didn't make some plays in the fourth that necessitated needing to make the plays that they did make.
the final three quarters
JJ Reddick said he thought they played hard
he thought they completely lost focus
their mental
their mental performance was
really bad
Stu Lance during the game said
quote this is one of those games
they came out focused in the first quarter
and then the rest of the game has been one of those
side games where you get a big lead
and then you take a sigh relief
and it's interesting JJ said afterwards
like you'd mentioned that he thought that
the team played hard, but they were not mentally focused.
He talked about there was a few sequences where they did not run the play that JJ called.
He mentioned that, you know, Dorian turned over and inbound because he was rushing it.
And he was like, you know, with this, there was very little time in the clock like they're looking to burn clock at this point.
And that became a three-pointer.
Right.
There's no reason to do that.
And JJ said he wasn't sure if this was an issue.
of lapses in focus just because that's been something that's happened with this team all season long,
or the time change going from West Coast to East Coast, body and mental clocks on a completely
different time zone, like whatever.
But it was very clear that they were, they certainly did not seem to be regularly fighting the urge to let
minds wander. And I think Stu was correct when he said that, you know, the tone was in a lot
of way set by 20-point lead built up in the first quarter. Maybe you didn't feel collectively
like you were all there mentally anywhere. And everyone just felt this opportunity to relax.
And I know we're going to get into some of the lineups that, you know, took place without
Rui Hachamoran, especially without Gabe Vincent in terms of ball handlers. And there's no question that
was a problem. Yeah, makes a difference. But the flip side is though, and this is where I think you can only
give the Lakers so much leeway for that legitimate issue, the Hornets lost Lamello Ball seven minutes
into this game. And they're already without Brandon Miller. And La Mello Ball is by far the most
dynamic player and specifically playmaker on this team. His absence should, for basically an entire
game. He played seven minutes and then went out with an ankle sprain. His absence should at minimum
be a neutral against Gabe Vincent's absence. Yeah, oh, for sure. And I like I am not a huge believer
yet in Mello as like a quote unquote winning player. But yes, like they lost Lamello ball. The Lakers
lost Rui Hachamura and Gabe Vincent. Like that shouldn't equal out to the same.
same thing. And so, you know, I 100% agree with you, whether they, you know, I do think the,
you know, the lack of continuity in the rotations makes a difference in terms of your execution,
your timing, but the hop wasn't there. It wasn't the same energy, um, as there was early when
they came out. And so, you know, like, look, this happens all the time. And good teams will often
let bad teams back in games. Look around the NBA. This kind of thing happens all the time.
But why I think this is such a microcosm is like the Lakers come out.
What we are looking for constantly is like signs of what they are.
Like signs that they are better than some of the metrics might say they are,
better than some of these wild swings and performance might say they are.
Like what is the consistent core of this group?
You come out after a great win in Golden State and you have played arguably your best quarter.
I'm not saying you've got to turn a 23 point lead into a 50 point lead.
Like, great if you did.
But like that doesn't usually happen in the league.
Like I expected 100%, even if the Lakers continue to play well,
that at some point Charlotte would be within 10, 12, 14, something like that.
Of course they will.
And then the Lakers push it back to 18, 20.
And the game would mostly be played in that 10 point band between 10 and 20.
for most of the time.
They got to within three.
Right.
Like that wasn't right.
And so in a game that Charlotte never led at any point.
Correct.
Good teams really, if Oklahoma City had a game like this, you would say, all right, guys, come on, do better next time.
But we've seen it.
We've seen what you've done throughout this season.
When the Lakers do it, you're like, okay, which one of these things was the mirage?
Is it the great first quarter or was it the, you know, the section of third way,
like all of a sudden the offense looked really kind of bad again?
You don't quite know what they are.
The flip side is, Andy, they're now eight games over 500, which is a high watermark.
They are moving more, you know, keep inching towards that, you know, top six.
They should be or have a really good opportunity to be 10 games over 500 by the end of the week,
you know, because they play Philly tonight, by the end of the work week at least,
and then Washington on Thursday.
So like, they could be in a really good spot.
10 games over 500 is pretty good.
You know, what's funny is I don't consider either, you know,
when you were saying what's the real thing, what is the Mirage, like how to figure it out.
I think the answer is it's all real.
Yes.
The thing that you're trying to figure out is, has this team accepted?
the idea that they always have to play hard with a sense of urgency and focus,
paying attention to the details.
Like, that's what ultimately controls this team's ceiling.
Because, I mean, outside of, we've mentioned before, they are not steeped in talent in a way
that allows them to coast.
They have enough talent that they can be a good team.
But what they're not is a team that can coast on their time.
talent. And it was interesting. After the Golden State win, Anthony Davis was being interviewed,
I want to say by Cassidy Hubbard afterwards, and was asked, you know, what's one of your
takeaways from this win? And AD said that we have to play with a sense of desperation,
which echoes a drum. You and I have been beating this entire season that these guys do not
consistently play hard and focused enough. Like if JJ wants to say tonight, he's
thought they played hard enough, fine.
Like, that's okay.
I'm not even looking to debate, except by his own admission, they were not focused enough.
They have to be both because if you give most young teams, most bad teams, the opportunity,
not just to win, but to beat the Lakers with LeBron and AD, they're going to take it.
Well, at the very least, they're going to give it their best shot.
Right.
Well, they're going to take the opportunity.
I'm not saying they'll cash in, but they're going to, they, they, they, they, they,
They will want this opportunity.
Yeah.
And he called them, and he said this a few times.
LeBron echoed the same thing in the locker room after Monday's game.
He called them an execution team.
Yeah.
The first thing, I mean, obviously playing hard is really important all the time and all that.
And I have long, you know, going back a long way, like said, like it is sometimes difficult
to distinguish between not playing hard and not playing well
and sometimes playing unfocused, playing poorly,
whatever looks like you're not playing hard,
your steps slow to everything, you're tired, whatever it might be.
But unfocused, I think is a really good word for that
because if you are a team by your own admission,
where your coach says, your star says,
we are an execution-based team.
Execution requires focus all the time.
You cannot execute if you are not focused.
And so when focus goes, their performance is going to go.
And like that second quarter especially, you could see it like turned off.
And where, you know, shot clock violations and not getting to their offense.
But again, that pace just that focus like, we got to go a little bit faster.
Guys, we got to go a little bit faster.
We got to get up into the thing.
And I know people say, well, the rotation was different, this, that, whatever,
even notwithstanding the quality of the players that were missing, arguing about all that stuff.
Good teams execute almost no matter who's in the lineup.
You see the clippers.
They may not win when Hardin and Kauai don't play as much.
They always execute.
They also work their asses off,
but that's a different question.
Memphis,
look at all the injuries they've had over the last couple of seasons,
especially,
and this year missing Jha for a lot,
missing Bain for a lot,
you know,
smarts barely played.
Like they've got guys in and out of the lineup all the time.
They always execute.
And so no matter who's there.
And so the Lakers need to find a place where they can execute.
And if they lose, it's because, you know what?
The other team had better players tonight.
Or maybe they hit their shots or whatever it might be.
They don't have that.
And I think that's the thing that you look at and say,
until they start to show that for a month,
it's hard to fully buy in.
But you can't say they, like these people are at.
they're a fraud.
Like, that ain't it either.
No.
There was another thing, though, that jumped out of me for tonight's game that I think is
instructive when it comes to the upcoming trade deadline.
So get into that coming up next.
Gabe Vincent missed tonight's game.
He banged knees during the Golden State game.
There's hope that he could be available and Rui, for that matter, against Philly,
certainly for this road trip.
At the very least, JJ said he thought both would be back at some point.
They did recall Brony to join the team tonight.
That gets to what I was about to mention.
I actually tweeted out at Cam Brothers before the game that I'm not predicting it,
but with Gabe sidelined, I wouldn't be shocked to see Brony get a few like actual real minutes in this game.
Lakers need more guys who can handle the ball.
Shake Milton has not been effective and options are low.
Bronnie, as it turns out, was not active for this game.
And obviously I did not realize that when I tweeted this out.
But what was reflected from what was in line with my original tweet was they really struggled,
particularly the second unit, the time when you would have Gabe out there.
Like maybe he is just completely out of rhythm because he's played so little.
Maybe he just is not following the schemes that JJ wants.
Maybe it's just as we predicted, shake Milton was not going to end up in this rotation.
anyway, but he has been awful in the last.
I mean, I was like he's a score first.
He's not a point guard, not like a real,
but he's been frankly worse than I expect.
Yes.
And, you know, I remember a couple weeks ago,
I had said, you know,
this is sort of the immediate heels of the Delo trade
that I thought maybe it would be worth giving shake a little run
just because they needed somebody who is a guard
and like that's part of his job.
He just is really, really,
not fitting on either side of the ball with what they're doing,
which, again, led to me thinking like maybe Bronny would actually get some minutes.
It wouldn't shock me if he's active against Philly.
But this game demonstrated because, like, for example,
for you and I don't think Valenchunis is a particularly good acquisition to begin with,
but for the people that want a big center and big body don't care who it is,
and Gabe's salary matches up basically perfect with Valen Tunis.
salary. This game demonstrated, you cannot trade Gabe Vincent for Jonas Valenchunus,
unless you know for damn sure there's another guard coming in from somewhere.
Like, I don't think it's a good idea anyway, but I'd rather have Gabe than Valenciunis,
but this game demonstrated, you cannot do that. Yeah, and the fact that you are down,
and look, Brony to his credit has kind of very quietly put together some nice numbers in the G-League level.
And I don't know if that means anything for his pro prospects because, you know, he is still wildly undersized for the position he plays.
And, you know, needs, you know, as a guy who's going to build a reputation as a defender, he's short.
He's strong, but he's short.
It's going to be hard.
But he's putting up good numbers and good things seem to be happening.
He is not, at least you wouldn't think.
I don't want to say not.
Maybe he comes up and surprises you if you got to play him for five or ten minutes or something like that.
He does not seem like somebody who belongs on an NBA court in real leverage minutes
because it would be unfair to him to ask him to do that.
And so the fact the Lakers are in a position where they might need him to play
is a bad sign for the construction of the roster.
Yeah, I mean, I had some pushback on Twitter people like, people saying like, are you kidding?
Like you're going to have the 55th pick who shouldn't even be in the league, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You're going to give those minutes.
I'm like, this is not my recommendation.
I'm not I'm not staunchly advocating for Brony James to like finally get on the court.
What the hell have we been waiting for?
I'm saying without Gabe Vincent and with shake Milton being frankly unplayable.
and you're down to two above average ball handlers in LeBron and, you know,
way above average, but you know what I'm saying.
LeBron and Austin Reeves are your only two above average playmakers and ball handlers on this team.
On the team.
Like, you have to at least consider, can we put Brony on the floor for five minutes?
You got to have a, because he's, because he can dribble.
Right.
I mean, like, again, this isn't me.
lobbying for the surprise of the season.
Like, you know, the most inspirational moment we're all going to remember for the rest of our lives.
Andy, if you were the fourth guard, like, you know what?
And like, JHS, I mean, Hood Schafino would be next in theory.
Yes. He's not healthy.
He's not healthy again.
And so, you know, this is just where they are.
And so when you think about it be, it's a, because the center talk is really, there was reports,
Mark Stein, I think, had it that the Lakers are not going to be in really on Yacobirtel,
because the price there is going to be really high.
And also Vousvichich.
I could use Saja right now.
If Sasha was available, they'd play them right now.
He might.
But look, if Sasha costs you a couple first rounders, you've overpaid.
So those guys are not likely targets for the Lakers.
So you're running out of centers at that point.
And apparently, too, as we both said, Stein reported that there's no indication that Utah is going to move Walker Kessler.
Yeah.
I mean, I keep hearing people say, like, you know, the asking price for Walker Kessler is absurdly high.
I'm like, it should be.
Like, you should only trade him if somebody makes you an absurdly.
good offer that you'd be stupid. If he were 29, it would be different. He's 23. Like,
what young prospect are you going to get back? It's better than him. So that being the case,
like, you really do have to start thinking about, okay, if we can't get the type of center that's
going to do for AD what AD wants, what are the other priorities on this? Could we get is a Malcolm
Brogden type, a better addition to this than,
Kelly Olinick, you know, to put out another name of like a getable backup quality center.
Kelly Olinick's good player.
But like, which guy would you get more mileage out of, assuming both can stay on the floor?
I mean, like, I don't think the answer there is, is cut and dry because you're not going to start
and give 29 minutes a game to Kelly Olinick.
And so, you know, I wouldn't mind adding him.
Again, he's a good player.
And, you know, if you want a ball mover, a guy you can do a lot of stuff.
like that fits in the offense. He could play with Anthony Davis in the limited minutes that
they'd be on the floor together. But he's not a start. You're not going to start games or finish
games with him. So it really does become a very interesting question as to what the most important
thing that you can get is. And like if you can't get a, I want to say start and really a true,
genuinely impact player with those first round picks is plan B center or bust or is it a ball handler?
all I can say is after this game tonight, I mean, it's very clear.
You cannot move Gabe Vincent without knowing another ball handler is on the way.
And respectfully, Markell Foltz does not count.
Like we have not.
No, but I mean, because I've seen a lot of people, whether hitting us up on Twitter or on the comments section of the YouTube page or even people who team, like Lake.
media bring up the idea of clear, you know,
trail that center X, clear a roster spot in the process,
and you sign street free agent,
Markle Fultz or no street free agent point guard X.
I'm like,
Isaiah Thomas makes another comeback.
Right.
Like, there's a reason that dude is a street free agent.
Like, are you really going to roll the dice for your playoff rotation
with a street free agent point guard who,
who in the case of someone like Fultz has been very up and down while he was an actual NBA player.
Like that, frankly, it's kind of crazy.
Before we go, your thoughts on Vando in Monday's game.
He still is showing off the utility that he has.
He has an ability to make things happen defensively.
He's kind of like a defensive playmaker.
and, you know, there's an energy elevation, I think, for everybody when he's out there.
And he's almost like, he's almost like an electric kick returner.
You know, like every time he gets near the ball, you wonder if like something big is about to happen.
Like, you know, he's obviously not on a talent scale of a Reggie Bush.
But for those who remember Reggie Bush at USC, like every time he touched the ball,
it felt like something amazing could happen.
Like, Vando has the ability to kind of shake things up that way.
Again, not making the talent comparison.
I'm just talking about changing the dynamic of a game.
And again, even tonight in 12 minutes,
I don't think he was quite as good tonight as he was against Golden State,
but I think you still see the reasons that he matters.
Oh, completely.
You know, a couple of limitations, missed a couple shots inside, missed a three point.
I was like, you've never been a great finisher.
Oh, yeah.
No, it's not his jam.
People focus too much on his lack of outside shot and not enough on he should be a better
finisher.
No, that's the part that really matters.
I 100% agree with you.
But is he a perfect playoff player?
He is not.
You need guys around him to kind of pick up some of that slack and create the space for him
to cut, move, do stuff because he can make the right.
pass. He's not a useless
offensive player, but he's a limited
one. And so you put him
you put him and DFS
together, maybe like that
might be too limited, but like having
the option of having one of those guys
available to you at all times, if you're
Reddick, would feel
really nice, I think. Say this.
You know, if you've got, say
Austin, Max,
AD, DFS, and Vando,
that's a hell of a defensive. Like,
or maybe LeBron in place of Austin.
I was just thinking pure.
Yeah, but it wouldn't be the wrong.
You wouldn't do that for 25 minutes a night.
But like you could be like that's got potential.
Absolutely.
Five minutes you could F up another offense with that look.
So we'll we'll see what happens tonight.
The Lakers again missing a golden opportunity to get their stars and rest.
We'll see if there's any hangover.
The Sixers though are just catastrophically short-handed in this game.
And so there really is no.
excuse for losing it even in the third game in four nights.
So anyway, check out the postcast of Dave Palais after tonight's game.
Again, the newsletter, sorry, wrong hand.
Lockdown-Lakers newsletter at LockdownDaily.com, click on LockdownLakers.
If you go there directly, it's good for us.
So if you wouldn't mind.
And we'll see everyone tomorrow.
