Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Bonus: Are the Lakers Now Preparing to Pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo as Summer's Plan A?

Starting point is 00:00:00 After making a small deal at the deadline, the Lakers look ready to compete for Janus in the summertime. We'll tell you why that path is filled with landmines next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for everybody to everybody for making Lockdown Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, sometimes on weekends, even on holiday. days, Andy. And sometimes for not just one but two bonus episodes over the course of a day, no matter whether you're a Spotify guy, maybe you get the podcast through Apple iTunes,

Starting point is 00:00:50 maybe you're one of the 37,000 plus subscribers to Locked on Lakers on YouTube, which is a happening and hopping spots, particularly on days like today, no matter how you do it, your part of making Locked on Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in this or any other known universe, Brian Komenetsky with Andy Kaminetsky. We are guys who have been covering this team for a very long time, almost two decades for the ESPN, for the LA Times, for the athletic. And Andy, this is one of those trade deadlines where the headline for the Lakers might not actually be the player they acquired.

Starting point is 00:01:28 We did a show earlier in the day on the trade for Luke Conard, which we both like Luke Conard to the Lakers for a second. second round pick and Gabe Vincent. He will help with their shooting. He saves him actually a little bit of money, which could be put towards the buyout market. That could come in handy. All in all, it was a nice little move for Rob Blinka. Yeah, one of the things I wanted to add beyond what we talked about with Luke Conard and obviously the shooting that he brings, which is elite, it is important to remember that he's not just an elite spot-up shooter. He is a movement shooter. Like he is somebody that you can run off screens, like you can actually run sets for to get him open.

Starting point is 00:02:12 And it's different than somebody like Rui, who Rui is a, he's an elite three point shooter, but he is much more of a stationary three point shooter camped out as opposed to someone like Kinnard, who, to be clear, he is not Clay Thompson. but he is much, he operates much more like Clay Thompson in terms of the way he's used or the way JJ Reddick was used when he played than just a spot-up shooter. I just want to make sure that point is emphasized because it's not just Conard's ability to shoot, which again, he's shooting almost 50% from three this season. He's 44% on his career. The lowest he's ever shot in a season is 39%. and he's only shot that low twice in nine seasons,

Starting point is 00:03:03 but just to emphasize the versatility of his shooting beyond just the skill set. So the headline, and I referred to it in the open, the big picture headline for the Lakers really has nothing to do with Luke Kinnard and how much he'll help the team this year. He'll help. He doesn't make the Lakers contenders. There was no, as we discussed in that show, there was no move out there for what the Lakers had that was going to make them content like true true contenders um you know and there'll be time to figure out who they might be

Starting point is 00:03:35 able to add the buyout market will start going through some of those names once they're all available but yana santa tucco was not moved by the Milwaukee bucks uh the the bucks clearly are going to make every effort turn over every stone do whatever they possibly can until every opportunity is exhausted before they move Janus or they are going to need Janus to definitively make a stink out of wanting to be traded. Neither of those things seems to have happened yet, at least not with enough force. They might need Adam Silver just to step in and say, I am decreeing that you will move Janus onto de Kumpo because neither one of you sides will bleep or get off the pot. I'm declaring you bleep. I am declaring that you just bleeped. Right.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Someone's getting off the pot. You are both in the process of bleeping, go handle your business. So, you know, with that, the minute the trade deadline passed and Janus was exactly where he was. And the Lakers obviously preserving all of their cap flexibility. I actually just tweeted out Thursday afternoon, a projection from Yossi Gosselin, you know, the cap expert looking at some of the numbers that might be available for the, Lakers and it is somewhere in that neighborhood of about 45 to 50 million depending on exactly who they get rid of where their first round pick lands and all that kind of stuff do Diorre 8 and Marcus Smart pick up their options right all the projections assume that you know that they are they

Starting point is 00:05:13 those at the very least are things that are on the books for the Lakers um as you know people do the cap math now so the Lakers don't use any of their picks except that second rounder which, if we're being honest, would be incidental to a Janus chase, in most cases. I can, we could get rabbit hold as to why it would be relevant, but not worth it. If you need a second round pick that badly, you can purchase one. You can find it. You can figure out how to move a guy. Right.

Starting point is 00:05:42 It can get done. So they have, they'll have the access to the three picks around draft day. They'll have all the cap space. They'll have, you know, potentially a couple other things they might be able. to use, but they are believed to be focused now on Janus as at least a major, I dare I even say plan A before as we head into the summer. That's what it looks like on the outside. Obviously, the Lakers haven't had time to comment on that yet and probably won't.

Starting point is 00:06:18 I don't think that can. It can't, but like, you know, I mean, you understand what I mean. Like they're not going to, through channels, I think, you know, they're not made, you know, it'll be out there. The Lakers are interested. Everybody's going to be interested in Yannis. That is not a secret. I, I'm going to guess where you come down on the Janus's plan A plan. I'm not going to say it out loud, but I'm going to ask you to respond.

Starting point is 00:06:50 Why don't you write it down? Why don't you write it down? And that way everyone will know that you were being honest. I'll write while you get going. I just got to find a pen. You start. Well, I can't start. If I start, Brian, that's cheating. But anyway, I will use the honor system. I'm not wild about the Janus as plan A thing. If it's a hard and fast, we will wait it out plan along the lines of the way the Lakers were waiting out, Kauai Leonard in the summer of 2019. which I realize it ultimately worked out for the Lakers. They won a championship, but they also won a championship with LeBron James in hand, Anthony Davis in hand, and a supporting cast, some of which, some of whom were already in place, and a very specifically unusual situation where Danny Green was in their hip pocket

Starting point is 00:07:50 because he was specifically waiting out Kauai Leonard's decision as well because they had been teammates both in San Antonio and in Toronto where they just won a championship. If Kauai was going to return to Toronto, Danny Green was going to return to Toronto. If Kauai was going anywhere but Toronto, Danny Green would have been somewhere else. Kudos to Rob for having the foresight and the proactivity to make that happen. But again, it's super specific and things that you can. cannot count on. If the plan is to wait out Janus at the expense of other viable and even good options that just simply are not splashy as biggest name possible, I don't like it. On top of the

Starting point is 00:08:36 idea that I am not wild at the prospect of being the team that pays Janus $60 to $70 million a season in his mid to late 30s, considering he's been getting hurt. hurt increasingly more often. I realize he is still a great player when he's healthy. He's still an elite player when he's healthy. I am concerned when he's healthy is going to start to become a less frequent thing. And there are elements of Janus's game that I have concerns about in the way they will age. Again, it doesn't take away from the fact that he's obviously a great player.

Starting point is 00:09:14 Do I think he and Luka can work together? Yeah, I think they can figure that out. I do not want to see the Lakers cut off a lot of optionality. When you've gone through all this, when you've gone through all of this process to create this much cap space, or you've just centered yourself so much on this much cap space and flexibility, to then sit on it waiting for one guy and then potentially go to plan C or D if A isn't there. if that's the plan, I don't like it.

Starting point is 00:09:49 That's I wrote down. You can't read it because it's backwards, but it says he hates it. So that was my guess as to what you've been. Let's take a break. And after though, I, this is a,

Starting point is 00:10:03 this is a tricky thing here because there are a lot of competing forces here that could influence why you would choose a particular. particular path and, you know, some of the challenges that the Lakers are facing, regardless of how they approach the honest question. So we'll explain that. Next, on Lakers is brought to you by indeed. Hiring just, it's not about simply finding someone who'll take a job. A lot of people are going to take a job. It's about finding the right person with the right background who can actually help your business move forward. And if you want, candidates who match what you're looking for, indeed sponsored jobs. That's your move, because

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Starting point is 00:14:16 On the one hand, look, I share. your concern over an aging Janus. You know, it is a version, although a significantly better version, of the dilemma of paying Anthony Davis, the Lakers were facing before the Luca trade, where you're just a guy who's older, who's more injury prone, less likely to give you everything that you want, at least on a daily basis because of availability. and all of that stuff. Flipside is, like you say,

Starting point is 00:14:50 it's still Janus, still one of the three or four best players in the NBA. It's hard to turn that down. So, okay, I get it. It's a tricky situation, though, because the Lakers probably won't still be able to make the best deal in terms of draft capital. I think other teams,

Starting point is 00:15:14 if they really want to make a run at Janus, have both the ability to offer more of their own stuff and then acquire more things if they want, even if you think the Lakers with their three first rounders, they can offer plus a couple swaps or whatever, even if you think that's a good deal. The Lakers have the capacity to trade into their cap space if they decide to go a different way.

Starting point is 00:15:39 They can sign guys, they can trade for guys, they can do all that stuff. I agree with you. They need to figure out how to fill out this roster. They have all this cap space to work with. The flip side of that is, it's a bad year for free agents. So more likely than not, you run the risk this offseason of overpaying for guys that you wouldn't really want to give that kind of money for just because they're the only ones available. We noted you can use it for trades, though. The problem with, that is the Lakers don't have a lot of stuff to trade to get really good players to bring into that cap space. So they don't have a super clean path forward. Can they, if they can get Janus, if they really think Janus wants to come to L.A.

Starting point is 00:16:33 And they have a little bit of runway to figure out how to do it and all that. Can they get Janus and still figure out how to grab a couple supplementary pieces that, that will help fill out the roster in a way that it's not just a different version of this year's super top-heavy problem. If you can do that, great. I would think I'd be on board with the honest plan. But that's a tough needle to threat. It is a tough needle to thread. And look, for what it's worth, I think they do have a fair amount of optionality in terms of there are a significant an amount of paths that they could take. And I think there's a there is a fair amount you can do as a team with Luca Donjic at its center, presumably Austin Reeves in tow that much potential

Starting point is 00:17:24 cap space and three firsts. I think there's a lot that can be done. What can't be done, and I think fans need to wrap their heads around this and maybe even the front office needs to wrap their head around this, you can't do everything. And the idea that you're going to be able to build a super team right off the bat from either those, either those different avenues that we described, or that just by landing Janus, you automatically become a super team and that everything is soft. Like, those are the traps that the front office at the very least, because they're the ones actually making these decisions, they need to avoid that sort of stuff. Like as an example, as a pure example, if they used two, maybe even three of the picks to bring in somebody like Trey Murphy.

Starting point is 00:18:19 And then you had the extra, you're absorbing essentially Trey Murphy into your cap space. And then you have another 25-ish, give or take to play with after, I believe Troy Murphy's making somewhere in the 20s, I think right now. I could be wrong. I'd have to look it up. but I think it's roughly in that area. You at that point have at least some significant space to try to build around that. You get one more player.

Starting point is 00:18:48 You can get one more pretty good player with that. Right. Is it as splashy as getting Janus? Is it as lacery as getting Janus? No, but if you're asking me, I think it's actually a better plan than getting Janus because also while Trey Murphy is obviously not as good as Janus, it's a damn good player.

Starting point is 00:19:06 and he's somebody on a timeline that can grow with Luca and can grow with Austin. Another thing I don't love to be on, I mentioned before about the idea of not wanting to give Janus that sort of contract, or at least I'm a bit skittish about it, giving him that sort of contract into his mid to late 30s, is he is in some respects on a different timeline than Luca and Austin. Like he is four or five years older than those guys. And you start having different considerations with a player like him. Yes, I see.

Starting point is 00:19:41 I don't mean to cut you off. But like yes and no. I don't think the Lakers are on a patience timeline. Let's slowly and methodically build around Luca over three or four seasons. That's not what I'm talking about. You know, but like so I, you know, so I think what I'm talking about. I know. But if you get, if you can find a bunch of younger players to trade for, great.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Troy Murphy's not going to be. You're not getting Troy Murphy. Trey. Trey Murphy. You can't get Troy Murphy. You can't get Troy Murphy. You don't even need any. You trade two first rounders for Troy Murphy.

Starting point is 00:20:21 That is terrible work by your team. Oh, that's a fireable offense. Get on him. I don't care how much Jeannie loves Rob. But this, this summer, you're not getting Trey Murphy for two first. first rounders if you're the Lakers. This is not going to happen because you're talking about picks that are going to be almost surely in the high...

Starting point is 00:20:37 Then three. Fine, then three. But, okay. So, like, but like my point being here is like, if you can find young players to sign and fill that space, if you can get Walker Kessler, great. I don't think he's going to, I think Utah is going to match just about any offer for him.

Starting point is 00:20:55 I think Denver is likely to match just about any offer for Peyton Watton. for example, especially an offer that comes from a Western Conference rival like the Lakers. So, you know, if you can get younger and all that stuff, great. I would, I think I might prefer that too. Four or five good young players, three or four good young players, whatever it might be to, you're all in their mid-20s to put with your other guys who are in their mid-20s. But that scenario feels in a lot of ways sort of just as unlikely. as you sort of weighted out for Janus

Starting point is 00:21:33 and try to hit your home runs kind of perfect thing. The answer is almost surely going to be a variety of imperfect options that all have highlights. If you can get Janus and still figure out a way to viably fill a few important roles

Starting point is 00:21:49 around your roster, then yeah, there's a risk there, but you're also making it so there's a very good chance for the next couple of seasons. You have an excellent team. That's true. And, you know, so you're asking me what I would prefer.

Starting point is 00:22:05 My preference, I agree with you. I'm not talking, just so it's clear, because I'm seeing people in the chat misinterpreted. And I think you may have misinterpreted what I meant. I'm not talking about building slower or more methodically or anything like that. I'm talking about building with what I think gives you a longer runway. And you get a longer runway automatically assuming you have good players when they're younger. That's all I'm talking about. I agree with that.

Starting point is 00:22:31 And somebody mentioned it was too far back in the chat for me to say like Rob Polenka and you alluded to this, Andy, and we can quit here and get ready for the game, which starts in an hour and, you know, 20 minutes from when we're recording this. The challenge for Rob Polinka is going to be navigating the scenarios that aren't obvious. It may become abundantly obvious that Janus is coming here and you just got to figure out how to. engineer it and that's great and it's like the anthony davis thing or the luka thing where all you have to do is not talk about it and you get to get luka donchich you know and all that's great more likely it's like there's a risk reward here there's an opportunity cost for staying in the yonis what happens if yonis what if the bucks don't you know whatever and now you got to wait for the next deadline or something like that like where you have to as you said you said you

Starting point is 00:23:31 earlier in the show, bleep or get off the pot, Rob has always struggled with the imperfect, more challenging, less obvious choice. And the summer is shaping up to be a series of those. This is the summer where Rob Polinka has no more excuses. He has a superstar in his prime who is very committed to this organization. He has in all likelihood, Austin Reeves, who even if you don't think he is good enough to be the second best player on a championship team, he's definitely good enough to be the third best. He and Luca, if nothing else, offensively can play well off each other. He surely will have a good amount of cap space, maybe the most of any real team in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:24:21 He has three first round picks, which is not a boatload, but it's not nothing either. This is the most optionality and most ability he is going to have. to build from the ground up since he's taken this job, and certainly for several years, and for a while, and we talked about this leading up to where we are now and certainly before the Luca trade, it was very clear that for the last couple seasons of LeBron and AD,

Starting point is 00:24:49 he had lost confidence in that and did not want to invest any further, but they, as an organization, also didn't, they did not either have the guts to or the confidence to whatever, pivot out of it. And you can agree, disagree with their logic, whatever. It's now over. At this point now, Rob has something that he should commit to. There is no more logical explanation to kick anything down the road. Whereas before, I think some of the grand vision they were talking about was really just him disguising, I don't believe in this group, but I can't say it. There's no more

Starting point is 00:25:26 excuses at this point. There's nothing. So we will. see how this resolves. I don't expect we'll need to talk about this or Janus anymore until we get a conclusion to the story. So I hope everybody enjoyed our analysis. I doubt it will come up again. But in the meantime, locked on Lakers on YouTube is where we can go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. Plenty more to cover about the, you know, in terms of how the Lakers might try to tweak the roster before the end of the year. We'll get into that probably more next week as the buyout market becomes a little bit more clear. And we'll see everybody after the game.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Bonus: Are the Lakers Now Preparing to Pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo as Summer's Plan A?

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