Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Are the Lakers Wasting the Preseason? Plus, LeBron Teases "Decision of All Decisions"
Episode Date: October 7, 2025The Lakers have lost their first two preseason games. More significant than the scores, though, are the names in the box score. Luka Dončić and LeBron James both sat out the weekend's games, as did ...Marcus Smart. Maxi Kleber has also been in street clothes, and Austin Reaves missed the second game after playing well in the preseason opener. No question, there are reasonable explanations for all of it. Luka played deep into Eurobasket (and has been on the practice floor through the first week). LeBron has been nursing a sore glute and noted heading into camp that he and his camp think LeBron went a little too hard in the preseason last year. Smart has an Achilles problem, so caution is warranted. And so on. But at the same time, if the Lakers are going to eat up the gap between them and the teams in front of them (or at least perceived to be in front of them) out West, they need to maximize their upside. That starts with getting as many reps as possible in training camp. That's not happening. So is it by choice? Are the Lakers re-starting what had become a trend of kinda blowing off training camp? What could that mean going forward? Meanwhile, LeBron got everyone's attention Monday when he teased "#TheSecondDecision." A "decision of all decisions." Is he teasing a retirement announcement? Is he shilling for Amazon (Tuesday is Prime Day)? We'll all find out at 9 am PT. HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: Are the Lakers missing out on preseason opportunities? SEGMENT 2: Strategy or necessity? SEGMENT 3: What's LeBron teasing? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!QuoSee why over 90,000 businesses trust Quo, formerly OpenPhone. Get started free and get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.Quo.com/LOCKEDONNBA.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBAPelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first yearFanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting https://FanDuel.comto get startedFANDUEL 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 Locked on Lakers for Tuesday.
Brian Kaminetsky, Andy Komenesky.
Are the Lakers taking full advantage of the preseason?
Are they wasting important opportunities?
That's next.
You are Locked on Lakers.
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Thanks to everyone for making Locked on Lickers first listen to every day,
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This one's always going to be free.
Never, Andy.
behind a paywall. Nobody likes those. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is we're going to hang out with over 36,000
subscribers to the channel. People who are getting the, they're watching the magic happen,
Andy, as opposed to those who are just listening to it, whether that would be through Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
However you get your podcast, we certainly appreciate you joining in. Andy, there's a section of every
like child's report card where like you go down the list of things and one of them at the bottom is always
uses time wisely.
Never one of my,
never one of the more sparkling parts of my report.
In fairness, wisdom is subjective.
How are we supposed to judge whether or not what you were choosing to use your time on was wise.
No, no.
I actually think as far as the stuff that I devoted towards rather than studying,
I actually think I use that time.
damn officially.
Very wisely.
Yeah.
Just not towards school.
I mean, is algebra?
Is that really that wise?
I'd go buy beer, find a place to drink that beer and record efficient time.
Right.
I mean, to get that done during school hours is actually a real time saver.
You tried doing that during a 45-minute class period.
It's hard to do.
So that is a question that we are bringing up today
Because we saw and there's a lot of LeBron LeBron stuff that's been written
Which we'll get to over the very interesting stuff looking at the Lakers in the future
And LeBron and all that kind of stuff
Timelines, Andy, people are talking about timelines.
Is there one timeline or two timelines the Lakers are on?
Bobby Mark's writing about that for ESPN noting that
But we will get to all those things.
Plus LeBron also is
either retiring or advertising.
We will explain that.
Let's not rule out the possibility of both.
Yeah, it's true.
So we will explain what we mean by that before the end of the show.
But you have come full circle, though, on this notion of using your time wisely,
where before you were like, let's skip class and buy beer,
now you are insisting that the Lakers take full advantage of training camp.
And they have not through two.
To be fair, if I'd been paid tens of millions of dollars to go to school,
I'd have been a better student.
That's true.
I'm actually not sure that it's true.
I think you'd have just taken the money.
No, no.
If it had been contingent on my grades.
I mean, that's the only way you get paid to do something.
If I'd been paid to be a better student, I mean.
It's a guaranteed contract.
I got okay grades without even trying.
A little bit of effort for 10, you know, tens of millions.
Still's done.
All right.
So no Luca in the first two games, no LeBron in the first two games, Austin Reeves, sat out.
We haven't seen Mark, sat out on Sunday, I should say.
Marcus Smart is yet to appear in a game.
The Lakers play six preseason games, which is a heavier load.
Normally teams get in this day and age four, five, nobody plays six.
So they do have a little bit of wiggle room here.
We are only through a week of preseason,
so there's training camp,
so there's still some time left before the season opens on the 21st.
But you, Andy, are concerned about whether or not the Lakers are, in fact,
using their time wisely.
Like you said, they have an entire week for practice potential.
They don't play again until Sunday.
So I am allowing for the caveat that things may change depending on how this week is used, how the remaining four games are utilized.
I do have some concerns, though, that whether by choice, whether by circumstances, a combination of both, that the Lakers are not going, are thus far not off to a start that I would say is truly maximizing the opportunities in training camp, which is one of the things that both.
that both we and they have talked about as one of their big advantages heading into this season,
the idea of a full season, I mean, excuse me, a full training camp, full preseason,
with Luca and LeBron and Austin Reeves all to get on the same page with JJ Redick,
to all get on the same page with the supporting players to fully integrate DeAndre Ait and Marcus Smart,
Jake LaRavia, and try to hit the ground run.
running in as maximized a version of yourself as you can reasonably expect in October.
With that in mind, Luca has not played in either preseason game.
Austin Reeves has only played in one.
LeBron has not played in either preseason game and has not practiced in any discernible
individual drills.
I think he's an individual drill.
Insofar as with his teammates,
part of that process of getting everyone on the same page,
hasn't practiced yet.
Marcus Smart has not practiced yet,
to the degree that you think Maxi Claiba could matter.
He has barely practiced.
Gabe Vincent just got back, yada, yada, yada.
Some of these issues obviously are necessitated by health
or immediate health as opposed to load management
or whatever. Mark is smart if he's dealing with Achilles tendonopathy, you want to be careful
with how you approach this. LeBron with the glute nerve irritation. And I know there are people
speculating that this is not a real thing. It's a phantom thing. It's invented to give the
pre-cure, you know, the pretense for missing training camp. I am, until I hear anything otherwise,
I am taking- I actually have thoughts on that. So I, well, I am taking everybody at their word
for the time being.
If for no other reason, then if LeBron really is just not participating
because he doesn't feel like it, that's pretty bad.
And I don't want to throw that around without actually knowing anything.
But like Austin only playing in one game because apparently he worked out so hard in the
offseason, I guess I can understand it.
But there are potential opportunity costs.
Luca, not playing in either of the preseason games.
I guess if you want to say that.
it's because of the participation in Eurobasket.
Okay, but at the same time, A,
they're saying, Eurobasket was supposed to be a thing
that would get him in condition and up and running
for training camp in the first place.
And also, too, there are potential opportunity costs.
Maybe it should be said, Luca is practicing.
Yes.
It has, Luca practice last week.
So just to make the note.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
But with, again, the caveat that things could ramp up more over the course of this week.
And if that's the case, then my concerns may end up largely assuaged.
But as somebody who has spent a lot of time, I went to school a little bit.
Some of that time wisely.
As somebody who has expressed concerns over many pre-seasoned that I,
I felt like the Lakers don't take it seriously enough.
Last offseason, JJ's first year coaching, I think, was a rare exception to this.
I have concerns about this becoming more of the norm that I don't think has helped this team.
I think the question really that you're asking here is, are they doing this because they want to or because they need to?
And last year, like the LeBron thing is a really interesting example to me because
if you're going, you know, if you're, you know, like you say, are people looking at it like
they're making things up?
LeBron James doesn't need to make things up.
Like I think this is an injury that if this was, you know, the home stretch of the season
and they were, you know, vying for seating and getting ready for the playoffs, he'd be playing,
but it's not.
And they made, they made it pretty clear coming into camp that they thought last year at training
camp that they overdid it.
that, you know, in an effort to do exactly what you were saying, like to really get the JJ
Reddick era off quickly to make sure everybody's on the same page, to put all of that stuff together
that they went real hard. And LeBron went real hard in training camp. And that was great. It was great.
But it also, to their minds, was too much. And as you want to, you know, sort of keep him at maximum
strength and full health and all that still played what was it 70 games last year it wasn't like
he wasn't available but you know so i think the answer is it's both like it is is he making up
the injury no because he doesn't need to make up an injury but seriously doubt it too is it an injury
that if it wasn't the first week of training camp he could play through i am willing to bet the
answer to that question is yes. So we'll
after the break
talk about the other guys
because like this balance of
have to versus want to
is an interesting one.
Plus what exactly
is LeBron
teasing on Monday if you're
all over social media. We'll get to it next.
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If you are anywhere near social media, Andy, you've seen the LeBron text, or I'm sorry, tweet
or maybe it's an Instagram post too.
It's probably all of them.
But it is a tease Andy for October 7th, which is today, for those of you listening on the audio, teasing the decision to basically, like the decisioniest decision of all time.
But it may not be that straightforward.
ready. Well, it just so happens that October 7th, Tuesday is one of the assorted prime days during
Amazon Prime's calendar of Prime days. LeBron James is an Amazon Prime endorser. He's already done previous
Prime Day hawking advertisements. And there are many who suspect that this is just a setup for an
ad that will eventually be about Prime Day, although I really would respect.
I would really respect if LeBron did the Prime Day ad and then basically overshadowed
the Prime Day thing by announcing his retirement separately.
I'm retiring from basketball so that I can focus on these spectacular deal.
Maybe there's an offer where, you know, for his last game, he all.
offers you free shipping to get there if you're traveling.
You can ship yourself.
Yes, for free.
For free.
Yeah.
To that game.
It is, I will say, when you say there are many who believe that there is literally,
if you go through the replies to LeBron's tweet,
which says the decision of all decisions,
October 7th, 12 p.m. Eastern time.
So nine Pacific time, hashtag the second decision.
I am yet to come across one where anybody believes he's actually.
Oh, I've seen a few eyeball emojis.
I've seen a few people speculating.
I have actually seen that.
I'm not reading close enough.
Well, I mean,
Buffalo Wild Wings responded with boneless or bone in.
I mean, that's well done.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I have seen people wondering if maybe he's using the Amazon assumption as a
fake out to the actual retirement. It would be a good way to do it because ever, like you said,
everybody is assuming that this is not an actual retirement announcement. So we'll,
we of course, certainly if it is a retirement announcement, you'll hear from us pretty early on
Wednesday. So if it's a prime day, you will not be here on us pretty early.
There will be no emergency pod for LeBron is buying new earbuds.
No.
Message David Locke in advance.
That's not a special show.
LeBron found a spectacular bargain on an air friar.
It's not going to interrupt my morning.
Not.
Not going to happen.
Although he is frugal enough.
He is the type of guy who would.
We are about the cheap clicks, but not that about it.
Not that cheap.
LeBron, though, is about cheap air friars.
The guy likes a cheap everything.
Yes, he does.
So we'll see.
Anyway, back to what we were talking about before.
and this notion of whether or not the Lakers are really taking advantage of training camp.
And now, I mean, look, I think there is an idealized version of this where it's not necessarily
that they're going 100 miles an hour, playing full speed every minute of every practice and this
and that, whatever, and every guy's on the floor for every game.
You're sort of doing six dress rehearsals and all these other things.
Like, there's an idealized version of it where everybody, I think, is on the floor to
together a lot.
And I don't think, I don't have any reason to believe that they've deemphasized that
aspect of it.
I think they are making, I mean, I think Marcus Smart can't play yet.
Oh, for sure.
So that's just setting that one aside.
I don't think Maxie Kleba, who was, I mean, itch into play, is able to play.
They thought, I mean, sometimes.
Was practicing then hurt himself and had to get an MRI.
Right. And so the expectation is he should be back sometime maybe this week for practice,
certainly by next.
You know, so those guys are suffering injuries.
They put Gabe Vincent on the floor pretty quickly.
I think the Luca decision is certainly one that's done with his trainers, with the medical staff,
and again, he practiced last week.
So that time on the floor was.
was there.
This is one of those situations.
What we're really talking about in a lot of ways, too, is LeBron,
whether or not it's smart not to push him.
And then that lingering feeling that everybody has to be relevant to the conversations
we're talking about with these timeline conversations,
and there's another thing written about X factors and all that,
how you feel about sort of the risk of LeBron that is in not even the back?
of everyone's mind.
There's also, I mean, there's also, I think they made it, but my point is they made a conscious
decision not to push LeBron in training camp.
That is, I think, the only thing that, if LeBron didn't have the glute thing, I don't think
he'd have played in those games.
I think they are going intentionally very slow with him.
I think when Reddick talks about dress rehearsals, I think he does that.
At least right now, with the idea that LeBron will play in those games, I think if they knew LeBron wasn't going to play in the preseason,
I actually think they would say LeBron isn't going to play in the preseason games just to remove the expectation and to remove the sort of worry about it.
I think they are still thinking that LeBron is going to play in one of these remaining, one or two of these remaining four games.
I think they are healthy enough.
I think they are hopeful that he will.
I don't think they necessarily are thinking that he will.
But let me rephrase it.
They're not thinking that he won't.
They have not already made it.
The hope is he's feeling well enough and there's no, you know,
we're not adding undue risk and all that kind of stuff and he can play.
The design is for him to play.
They're just being, but we're going to be cautious about it.
And that's different than we don't need him to play.
it doesn't matter if he plays, he's LeBron James.
I understand that.
I mean, at this stage of LeBron's career,
the idea that you would hold out LeBron purely because he's LeBron,
he's done this a million times,
he doesn't need the practices to understand things.
The context completely changes,
given that it's season 23, he's going to be 41 in December.
But, you know, for example, with Austin not playing in Sunday's game,
unless there was something specific that they were concerned about,
I'd rather him play just 12 minutes.
Like I'd rather him be out there with his teammates.
Like Luca, unless it's something specific, again, I realize this is done with a team of people
and it's not done frivolously, all that stuff.
But getting the reps in practice is not the same thing as getting the reps against other opponents.
Sure.
And I would rather these guys play a quarter as a group.
and, you know, as opposed to, say, 20 scattered minutes of a preseason game, I'd rather than play
one quarter as a group. That to me feels like more purposeful and there's more intentionality to it.
And again, I said it before, I'll say it again, depending on how this week and then next week's
slated games shake out, my opinion on this may shift, but it is something that I'm flagging right now
as a concern, if for no other reason, then this franchise has a pretty consistent recent track record of,
in my opinion, not capitalizing on preseason opportunities.
So we'll see.
Yeah, I think, I don't think they're doing that.
I think this is, I don't think this is them poo-pooing the preseason in ways that I 100% agree with you that they used to do,
where it just wasn't important.
Like, this is no weak.
I don't know if it's because they felt like they had more formed teams or whatever it might be.
I don't think, you know, clearly Redick last year came into the year not thinking that.
And I don't think they, you know, he's revised his philosophy there.
But what I do think it reflects is that the Lakers aren't a the favorite in the Western Conference.
They are rightly seen right now as that next, sort of in that next tier after your perceived elite couple of teams in the West.
And when you are not a favorite, every little bit that raises your ceiling.
Like if the Lakers got 2% better because they got a little extra reps, and I'm making up numbers here, I think people understand that.
But if they just got a little bit, they could raise their ceiling by a couple percent.
points with these reps, that's significant when you're trying to make up the gap between you
and another team or build it a little cushion in case, you know, Luca misses five games or LeBron
misses 10 or, you know, Marcus Smart misses some of this. Like the things that happen over the
course of a season happen to you. So all of this, like the Lakers just aren't in a position
where they can,
I don't want to say relax,
but be extra cautious or
sort of defer like the thunder
can be a little more cautious because
they know they have all this depth.
They know they've got a little bit of space
between them and some of the conference
and all that stuff.
They've proven it,
but the Lakers can't.
I think that's what you're talking about
kind of reflects that every little bit
that they can do to make
up. That's why we talk so much about
Jake Laravia's ceiling
and whether or not Vando
can play like he did on Sunday
all season long. Those
are the things that raise the team's ceiling.
Speaking of Jake
La Ravia, actually, Andy, he was somebody, both of us
had a couple thoughts about
and we will maybe get a little bit
into this concept of timelines
which we will explore a little bit more of the course
of the week. We'll do that next.
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Interesting stuff on ESPN.
I think at this point we've all heard of the timelines concept, the two timelines concept
that was made famous by the or infamous.
I think if you're a Warriors fan by the by the warriors,
this idea that they could kind of win with Steph while accumulating young talent
that would then take the torch forward in a sort of post-Stef,
post-Dremond, post-Klai era and carry the Warriors into a new,
new era of prosperity hasn't worked.
The old timeline's still hanging in there.
Like the Warriors are still pretty good team.
with Steph and Dre and that, but it's the second timeline that they're sort of struggling with.
One of the people in the timeline, Jonathan Camingo, they don't even won on the team.
No. And he's like the face of two timelines. And they would love for him to, they would love
for him to be turned into somebody else. By the way, so would he. So like, you know, he's the face of
two timelines. Well, so don't freak out. But Bobby Marks at ESPN,
has described the Lakers as the epitome of a two-timeline team, reading here from Bobby.
No organization exemplifies the two timelines more than the Lakers.
Present is a roster with LeBron James, a 23-year veteran entering the last year of his contract,
and the uncertainty of the future besides James, Rui Hachimur, gave Vincent, Maxi Claibah,
Austin Reeves can all become free agents next summer.
The four players excluding James give the Lakers over $50 million in expiring contracts.
The future is Luca Donchich, who is under contract.
through at least 27, 28, and financial flexibility in the next two off-season
to build around a roster of the generational player, mentioning the off-season money that they
have coming up next off-season, and then they have more even the season following.
It does note, Bobby Marks does note that Dave McMedman is written that the Lakers are open
to trading for a player on a contract that extends beyond 2026, and then some of the stuff
the Lakers can offer. But basically what he is saying is that the Lakers are,
are in a similar situation to the Warriors,
that they are a two-timeline team.
There's the LeBron Lakers timeline,
and then there's the Luca Future.
I know where I come down on this evaluation of the Lakers roster,
but what say you, Andy?
I completely disagree with Bobby Marks' framing.
I have a lot of respect for Bobby Marks,
but I think he is completely miscarriage.
100% dead wrong?
Yeah.
Because that is the correct answer.
I think he is completely either mischaracterizing or misunderstanding the situation with the Lakers.
It's not two timelines.
It is essentially two eras, one of which is the LeBron is still here era, and the other one is the LeBron is no longer here era.
But they're all part of the same timeline, which is Luca Donchich and a Lakers team that assuming they are doing this with any.
rationality and sensibility, they should be looking to compete right now. And, you know,
the two timelines thing for the Warriors was because, you know, you had one contingency of
Steph and Draymond and then Clay Thompson and, you know, I don't know if Igadala was still
with them or whatever, but you have that older, Kavana Luni, this older group of players,
Wiggins win now. We are ready to win right now. And then you had guys like Kaminga,
James Wiseman, Moses Moody, Brandon Pajemski,
or it's like we can see some potential in them
and we think maybe they can be foundational pieces moving forward.
Because we don't want to do, we don't want to have to go through a full complete rebuild.
We think we can transition from one era to the next era
without having to do that super awful, painful rebuild that nobody likes.
Those guys are good enough to help us win now,
but also become good enough to be foundational pieces moving forward when Steph and Dre and, you know, a pre-traded Clay Thompson all retire.
And this will be seamless.
It's turned out that it does not look seamless at all.
It's got many.
It's meaningful.
It's got a lot of scenes.
It's like a baseball.
More seams than a baseball.
But like Jack Skellington.
All of those players, you know, the commingas of the world, they were all developmental pieces.
Luca is not 22. He's not 21. He's not somebody that you see the potential, but more seasoning is required.
Luca is already a first team, all-NBA caliber player who's taken a team to the finals and ready to go right now just entering his prime.
There is no future. There is a team that you look to build around him big picture, but there is no two timelines down the wrong.
road. Like the Mavericks right now as constructed are a two timelines team because Anthony Davis,
Kyrie Irving, if you're going to have those guys around, you are on the clock to maximize
whatever that is. Right. And Cooper Flagg, unless you think he is really ready right now
to take a, to put it generously, oddly constructed team.
deep into the playoffs, which maybe he is,
but most rookie players, even really good ones,
aren't ready to do that.
Like, LeBron was not ready to do that with a crappy Cavs roster,
and he arrived in the NBA about his NBA ready as they come.
Like, they are a two timelines team.
The Lakers are not a two timelines team.
Yeah, I think what is being sort of misconstrued here,
the Lakers have this.
decisions to make about now versus the future, but they're not in the context of we have to maximize
LeBron per se. It's we have to maximize the talent that we have currently around Luca.
Is this version of the Lakers, the one that has LeBron, our best chance to win something or do we
need to parlay it into something bigger? Because it's not about winning for LeBron or while we
still have LeBron. It's about if we don't go all in now, all in, so to speak, and we wait,
we use this cap space. Are we going to get better? Is the result going to be better than it would
be if we use some of those tools and took advantage of LeBron James's presence to be on a Luca
Donchich-led team? Because this is Luca's team and he's the best player. But if you, like the
post-Lebrough, the part that always, I think, I'm not talking about you specifically,
but I think does get overlooked and that Lakers fans, especially the ones who want to chase
LeBron out the door, really overlook is when LeBron goes, you have to replace LeBron.
And it's not like replacing, you know, it's not like the Warriors having to replace Clay,
who was a star player.
who was an elite player for a stretch of time,
but was not by the time he left the Warriors.
It's not the Lakers replacing Kobe when Kobe left,
because Kobe was an icon,
but from a basketball standpoint was very clearly.
That what Kobe's final year,
assuming the Lakers cared about the kids,
that would have been a two-time line.
Right.
But like you didn't,
you had to replace Kobe's presence,
and you had to replace Kobe's.
legacy and you had to do all that stuff.
But replacing the basketball player at that point wasn't the problem.
LeBron goes next year and you have that cap space and you have tools and you have it.
You have to figure out how do we replace a consensus top 10 player,
a guy still, you know, finished sixth in MVP voting who, you know, whether, you know,
I understand all the issues that you have to go through and we'll maybe unpack some of this
because this is not the only LeBron think it's.
been written. Like there are complications that come with LeBron. I get all that stuff.
But he's played 70 games a year, the last two seasons and has been an all NBA performer.
And you know, you have to replace that. Yeah. If he's gone. And that is the part where, you know,
you have to decide it's not about winning for LeBron. It's not what about winning on LeBron's timeline is
it's Luca wants to win now too. Right. So is this the best opportunity for you to make Luca a win?
or are you going to be better off, can you build an even better team by being somewhat patient now and then very aggressive over the summer?
Two timelines, at least the way I think it would be rightly explained, two timelines is one piece of the timeline is not ready to win right now.
and therefore you are waiting for those players,
that entity, whatever, to be ready
while you serve a different piece of a timeline.
Right.
But we don't want to sacrifice those young players.
Right.
So that when this timeline expires,
we have to rebuild from scratch.
We won't have our cake and eat it too.
Right.
That's a very different thing from what the Lakers.
Luca is ready to win now.
How much the Lakers can maximize that and cap,
capitalize on it remains to be seen and they'll evaluate all their options.
But there has nothing to do with LeBron.
No.
As a play, it has to do with LeBron as a talent.
Again, it's in next to Luca.
It's an era, not a timeline.
They're two very different things.
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