Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Does Luka Dončić Need Austin Reaves to Play His Most Efficient Basketball?

Episode Date: November 10, 2025

As poorly as the Lakers played Saturday in Atlanta, we'll get a quick idea of whether or not they learned a lesson. Because the Lakers now head into Charlotte, who like the Hawks are missing a bunch o...f key players, including LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. When whole, the Hawks are a good team in the East, but should have been beaten without so many key players. The Hornets are terrible no matter who is playing for them. And without two of their stars, plus a questionable Miles Bridges, there is simply no excuse for the Lakers not to win. One thing that will help, aside from effort, is a more efficient Luka Dončić. While his overall numbers remain elite and he's still playing great, Luka has also had a few of his less efficient games, from a shooting perspective. Would a healthy Austin Reaves, listed as questionable fior this game but expected to be available at some point on the trip, help bring that efficiency back up? It certainly wouldn't hurt. And the Lakers more broadly would very much love to see more of those two on the floor before LeBron James comes back in a week or two. Because even if LeBron plays well and improves the team upon coming back (which is a very, very reasonable supposition) the Lakers will nonetheless have big decisions to make next year about James, even if he wants to return.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: The Lakers may get Austin Reaves back in the lineup.  SEGMENT 1: Why has Luka's efficiency dipped?  SEGMENT 3: Why it matters if AR plays well in the season.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashNext time someone goes off for 50, use promo code NBA50the next day to get 50% off on DoorDash with DashPass — plus your shot at the Bag Drop.DashPass members only. 50% off up to $10 the day after a 50-point game with promo code. Terms apply.No Purchase Necessary. Ends April 13th. Open to U.S. residents 21 or older. Visit DoorDashInYourBag.com for full details.DoorDash — In your bag all season long.BILTTurn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to https://joinbilt.com/lockedonnba.DripDropStock up now before the heat hits hard — and keep your body and mind performing at their best with DripDrop.Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order.Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNBA. WayfairDon’t miss out on early Black Friday deals.Head to Wayfair.com now to shop Wayfair’s Black Friday sale for up to 70% off.Mint MobileReady to say yes to sayingno?Make the switch at https://MintMobile.com/LOCKEDONNBA Upfront payment of $45 required (equivalent to $15/mo). Limited-time new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35GB on Unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.RobinhoodYou expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelRight 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockedon Lakers for Monday. Brian Komeneski, Andy Kaminetsky, the Lakers are in Charlotte today. Austin Reeves might play, but really shouldn't matter. That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Lockedown Lakers.
Starting point is 00:00:29 First listen to every day Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcast. This one's always free, never behind a paywall. and Lockdown Lakers on YouTube, Andy, is where people listen to this number one rated network, the most popular sports podcast network out there. 37,000 subscribers are hanging out on YouTube, talking to us, talking to each other.
Starting point is 00:00:48 And Andy, they're all wondering if Austin Reeves is going to make his way back into the lineup from the groin injury that's kept him out over the last three. He has been upgraded to questionable for this game in Charlotte. Of course, the marquee matchup of the road trip. looming on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. So we'll see, we'll talk about this as to whether or not, you know, we think the Lakers might just give AR one more day because, as we will discuss,
Starting point is 00:01:17 the Hornets aren't even the Hornets right now. And when the Hornets are the Hornets, they're not that good. We'll get to all that in a second. But first, we need to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code Lockdown, I made for $20 off your first purchase. All right, so Andy the Lakers just absolutely sucked in Atlanta on Saturday. Like we're not, there are no adjectives that describe it in a kind way.
Starting point is 00:01:46 The Hornets are in a lot of ways, like take two of that thing except worse because they're the B-list version of the one-winged hawks. Right. Like the Hawks, when healthy, somebody was giving you bleep for this in the, in the chat. I actually think with the Hawks, a fully healthy Hawks team, it could be pretty decent in the Eastern Conference. They've got some good players. They're good young athletes. We don't have to get down that rabbit hole. They were missing a bunch of players, five rotation players, including four starters, and the Lakers lost this game.
Starting point is 00:02:25 The Hornets, when everybody is available, are bad. add. Andy, they won't have their roster available to them. Lamello ball isn't going to play. Bridges is questionable in this game. Brandon Miller is out. Josh Green is out. Grant Williams is out. Like you said, Miles Bridges is questionable.
Starting point is 00:02:50 He's dealing with back spasms. We saw recently with DeAndre Aitin trying to play through back spasms. I don't know on a scale of 1 to 10. how much Miles Bridges is back is spasoming, but it is difficult to work his way through that. So both as a player and a person, Miles Bridges is questionable. That is true. I just look at this and like, I, I, I, we'll get to the Reeves portion of this in just a second. I would like to think that the Lakers will not do this twice.
Starting point is 00:03:31 having learned their lesson, having had to watch the film, having... JJ made it clear, we are watching this film. And my guess is he woke their asses up early to do it. 6 a.m. He comes into the dorm room and is wrapping a little aluminum pan, waking them all up. Full metal jacket style. The Lakers, this is what good teams do. When they travel on the road, they all sleep in one room.
Starting point is 00:04:01 to build up togetherness and camaraderie. In jammies and nightcats. That's right. And JJ's in there and he's banging on pots and we're getting in there. We're going to watch this film, guys. I mean, you don't want Dad to be mad at you for two games in a row. And look, the Lakers are professionals. And they realize they wet the bed on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:04:23 And you can't do this twice. And you're going to play bad games periodically. How you respond to that. I mean, and all kidding aside, really is for a team with real aspirations. You cannot lose to the Charlotte Hornets a handy at half strength. Right. I mean, Lamello Ball is, you could argue, their best player. He's their per game leader in points per game, rebounds, assists, steals.
Starting point is 00:04:50 For better, for worse, I think a lot of people would see. He's their best player. Well, he's their most naturally talented at the very least. It's not a good thing to have Lamello Ball be your franchise player. that's what he is. Right. And if he is not their best player, it's either Brandon Miller or, as we said, Miles Bridges, who could be limited. You know, they've got Colin Sexton, who is a solid point guard. And my guess is some contender will trade for him over the course of this year. Con Cinnipo is having a good rookie season, 16 points, six rebounds, 40% from behind the arc on eight attempts per game. He's certainly doing of all the players in the league with a canna sound, he's doing better than how. hours. He's first team all cana.
Starting point is 00:05:37 And unfortunately Dalton's second team is only two of them. He's actually somehow third team. There's only two of them. But he's 40. Is better than yours. He's 40% from behind the ark on
Starting point is 00:05:51 high volume. Cyan James second round pick. He can shoot Ryan Kalkbrenner, another second round rookie. He can hit the glass. Musa, Mia. Diabate. He is very good on the glass.
Starting point is 00:06:06 They've got a bunch of guys that if you're a Hornets fan, you can be like, okay, we've got a decent group of young players. The mess is sort of at the top and at the fact that Brandon Miller cannot stay healthy. This is, you know, he's a very good young player. Yeah. One of those sort of Swiss Army knife guys, but he cannot stay on the floor. And so the Lakers, whether Austin Reeves plays or not, and the relationship between Austin and Luca on the floor.
Starting point is 00:06:37 I mean, I'm talking about off of it. But the on-the-court pairing is something that I know you and I really wanted to see a lot of in this stretch where LeBron wasn't there because it was a natural, whatever, 20-game laboratory to see what they might need next year. how you would put a group together around those two if in fact this is LeBron's final season with the Lakers, which by the way, I'm not at all convinced that it is. But we haven't seen as much of it as we'd like. The Lakers have Reeves listed as questionable. There is that big game coming on Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:07:19 If I, you know, guessing as we head into this thing, I think I might hold him out. Just to be. My guess, and like you, I am stressing this is a guess. He is not going to play on Monday with the hopes of him playing on Wednesday. Plus, they have a back-to-back coming up, and I don't know if he's going to play on both ends of the back-to-back. But if nothing else, you hope that you can be in a good position to have him for one of those games, probably the Bucks, because it's going to be a difficult game, second end of a back-to-back.
Starting point is 00:07:54 You want him as available as potentially possible for the two-hard. hardest games of this road trip. As far as Charlotte, these are the two things just in taking a look at their team. And then we can get into some of what I know you and I wanted to talk about in terms of these games without Austin, how they've affected the Lakers and how they have, I think, also affected, we both think, affected Luca, two areas to watch with the Hornets, because as we said before, they are not a good team. They are actually a very good team on the glass.
Starting point is 00:08:26 Like I mentioned before, C Cinepple has had a good season on the glass, averaging six rebounds a game, which is good for his size. Diabate can hit the glass really well. Cockbrenner is very good on the glass. They've been rebounding well without some of their front line players. In particular, they hit the defensive glass well. The Lakers are a bad offensive rebounding team. So they need to make sure they're not doing favor. for a god awful defensive team by not letting them have one and out possessions with a defensive
Starting point is 00:09:03 glass either create second chance opportunities or just make the initial shot and call it a day. The other thing too, we saw the Lakers dreadful taking care of the ball against Atlanta. If you want to, and I'm not, but if you want to chalk it up to either the Lakers' lack of ball handlers or Atlanta's athletes, Dyson Daniels' presence, yada, yada, yada. I'm not going to give them that grace, but let's just say for the sake of argument I did. That is not going to be even a possible explanation with the Hornets. They are 28th in the league for steals, dead last for deflections,
Starting point is 00:09:41 dead last and points off turnovers. I don't care if they're missing all their balls. They're practically standing still. Yeah. They don't deflect the ball. They don't steal the ball. They don't send you to the line. Like, I don't care who the Lakers are missing in terms of ball handlers.
Starting point is 00:09:59 This is not a team. It should matter. If it does. It's by pacifists. If it, if they are, if they are struggling to take care of the ball against Charlotte, that is on them. It is not credit to the, you don't have to give the hornets credit. So we're both guessing that help will not be there for Luca, perhaps in Charlotte. Hopefully they don't need it.
Starting point is 00:10:28 They shouldn't. But does Luca need more help, particularly, Andy, in the form of Austin Reeves. How does one guy affect the other? We'll get to that next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Robin Hood. Your ambition just met its match with Robin Hood. You play for the win, not just on game day, every day. Locking in on every opening, beating your PR, beating it again.
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Starting point is 00:11:32 Again, that's robin hood.com slash your money. Your money, your move. Locked on Lakers, Andy, is also brought to you by game time. Basketball season, it's officially here. And we've been at this for a little while now. And nothing beats. Well, takes 10 games before it's official. That's true.
Starting point is 00:11:51 or until Trevor Areza returns. Yes. And nothing beats being in the arena. Or until the copy's updated. Any of them. But let's be real. Getting tickets can be a total headache in between waiting in queues, surprise fees, prices that jump up right before checkout.
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Starting point is 00:12:29 but I've used it for any kind of entertainment. We use it primarily for soccer tickets. Go to L-AFC, go to Angel City, we go to the Galaxy, and we are usually scoring tickets the same day as the game. We check out where we're going to sit. We see exactly what the price is going to be
Starting point is 00:12:46 with all the fees inclusive, so no surprises there. And so, you know, the zone deal thing, it's kind of cool. You pick the section. Game Time picks your seats. You save a lot of money. It's also very convenient. So we use all those tools.
Starting point is 00:12:59 You can use them for the NBA like we use them for the MLS. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use code. Locked in NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That's code LOCK-E-O-N-N-B-A for $20 off. Swipe tap Ticket Go. part of what made
Starting point is 00:13:22 Lucas' early season that run of four games or whatever was just so cosmically ridiculous wasn't just the number of points that Lucas scored and all that other things it was the fact that he was shooting
Starting point is 00:13:36 like 57% from the floor I mean it was the efficiency was incredible and you combine that Andy with the high volume of free throws which show like reversing a little bit
Starting point is 00:13:50 a trend of the last couple seasons where Luca actually hadn't been at the rim as much as he had earlier. Shooting a lot more threes and stuff like that. So now we're sort of seeing this fully realized version of Luca. The numbers have remained quite good.
Starting point is 00:14:07 He's still getting to the line a lot. The Atlanta game, notwithstanding, which was one of his worst game. He also played fewer minutes. Everyone sucked in that game. So Luca's getting to the line still at a very, very high volume, but the efficiency over his last few games has gone down. And that got both of us thinking, and you, Andy, digging.
Starting point is 00:14:29 Yeah, it was interesting. You and I both were thinking about, you know, Reeves' hopeful impending return, you know, dealing with low pain now. That's the way JJ described it in terms of that groin. Nobody wants high pain in their groin, Andy. No, no. So we all sympathize and are excited that Austin Reeves has moved on to low pain in the groin. Right.
Starting point is 00:14:50 And the confidence seems high that he's going to return at some point during this road trip, even though you and I both don't expect it to be Monday versus Charlotte. But I started looking into some numbers for the Lakers offense the last few games without Austin versus the season as a whole, just to see what differences there were. And it was interesting it was they were basically the same, like with or without Austin for the last few games, It's like a few discrepancies, but nothing really that noteworthy. But then I started looking at the players, and I noticed how Lucas shooting percentages from the last two games after the Portland game that he missed.
Starting point is 00:15:32 And then really, since he came back from the original finger and leg injury, at Memphis, 14 to 27 from the field, 6 of 15 from behind the arc, 10 of 13 at the line, 44 points. That's obviously great. then Miami, 9 of 22 from the field, one of 11 from three, got to the line 12 times, 29 points. San Antonio, 9 of 27 from the field, 4 of 11 from behind the arc, got to the line 17 times. That entire game was one big free throw contest, 35 points, and then basically half a game against Atlanta, 7 of 17 from the field, 4 of 10 from behind the arc, got to the line 6 times 22 points.
Starting point is 00:16:13 those four games it's 42% from the field, 32 from behind the arc. And Luca is obviously still getting points. He's average 10 assists a game over those four, including the Atlanta loss where he only played again like half a game. So the issue is not that Luca's playing badly like at all. No, he is producing. He's generating offense. He is not playing badly at all.
Starting point is 00:16:40 but it has been much more of a personal struggle for him to score at an efficient clip. And it's made me wonder how much of this is maybe some lingering effects from the injury, how much of this is the byproduct of having to generate so much offense by himself, particularly in this stretch without Austin. I have no idea what the ratio between those two things are. If those are the two main things, what else could be, whatever. but it just really reinforced how much Luca could use more help and how much Austin's return in particular would provide a lot of help he could use.
Starting point is 00:17:19 Yeah, I mean, some of it I think is a matter of kind of water seeking its level. And in Lucas case, the level is quite high and there's a lot of water. But he's never shot over 50% for a season. You know, he had one where if you round up, it was 50%. But he's never cleared that bar. And generally, you know, a good Luca season somewhere in the 47, 48, 49%, which by the way, given what he does, actually quite good. It's excellent. It's excellent.
Starting point is 00:17:49 It's not a complaint about that. But the idea that Luca was going to shoot 55% this year is just was unrealistic. But I think the efficiency aspect, there are two things I think you look at with Luca. One is efficiency and the other one is getting the line. Because again, like the trend, the drift outward to, you know, from the hoop to the three point line, I think if you were looking for, you know, Nico Harrison style warning signs that Luca just isn't going to be the player going forward. Like not being at the rim, not finishing at the rim as much is a place to look. And, you know, yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:33 So seeing him get to the line a lot is a great thing. The downside to that, of course, is definitionally to get to the line. You're absorbing contact. You know, it is more physical. You take more of a pounding. And over time, you know, you wonder if that takes a toll. The other thing is obviously efficiency. And both of those things, I think, are helped by having a player who has been playing
Starting point is 00:19:02 at the level of Austin Reeves. It'll help when they have, you know, him and LeBron. but just getting AR back on the floor at the level that Reeves was playing really does, I think, open up significant things for Luka and obviously makes things much easier on Reeves when he's playing with Donchich as well. Let's take a break, and when we come back, there's one other possibility that just occurred to me in real time
Starting point is 00:19:30 that maybe could explain a little bit of the dip in Luka's efficiency and if this is a reason, it's actually something that in the long run, I think is actually a good thing and a good sign moving forward and something maybe for Laker fans even to be excited about. So getting that coming up next.
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Starting point is 00:21:01 So you look around, Annie, one of the big things here is when Reeves is out of the lineup, And there is no Gabe Vincent. Vincent, by the way, is they're still hoping he can return. He's gotten back on the floor doing sort of basketball stuff. And the hope is maybe he returns before the end of that two to four week window, but obviously we'll have to see. But when you have missing AR and you're missing Vincent,
Starting point is 00:21:35 you know, you're kind of at that point down to Brani. who I actually think is done a quote. Well, Mark is Smart. Mark is Smart. Right. But, you know, I forgot. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:43 But you have smart is an experience in some ways and is less of a floor general, I think, than, you know, he is another thing is, you know, he's a good pastor and all, you all that stuff. But it's a different kind of point guard, I think, to say the least, or, you know, guard in general. you are short on guys who can sort of organize and run and really move the ball from the back court effectively. And so it stands to reason to me that those guys really benefit Reeves and Luca from the presence of each other. And it's been a really small sample size, but I do think that the limited amount of games that we've seen,
Starting point is 00:22:32 especially if Reeves plays at the level that he has been, changes the sort of the calculus on what the Lakers might do next year if LeBron goes. Like what kind of player would you, or players, would you feel like you need to pursue? Does it go from, obviously, if you can get Nicola Yokic, you're all in on, but like, do you need to find yourself that kind of star? or would an OG Anonobie type guy be as, you know, a couple of those dudes around be like a better feeling? I feel like the tilts now more towards,
Starting point is 00:23:15 you have more options if this is what Reeves is going to look like going forward and the combination of those two could look like going forward. I think it also, too, to be honest, I think it affects the calculus on, you know, how hard they look to retain LeBron and at what price. I mean, because they, I am assuming that when LeBron comes back,
Starting point is 00:23:37 he's going to play well. I know that at some point, he's not going to be able to keep this up. His body will not cooperate. But I, if nothing else, I am not expecting a dramatic falloff. I don't mean to even interrupt you,
Starting point is 00:23:54 but like to even accentuate it, because I know I've been, you've been I think maybe more circumspect about LeBron than I have. I will stipulate to when he comes back, he's going to play well, he'll make the team better. You know, they have an enormous opportunity in front of them. All those things can happen. He continue to play with, and you still have to make a decision next year about bringing him back and how much money you're going to be willing to pay.
Starting point is 00:24:18 Yeah, and in a lot of ways, I think the money is going to be the number one factor. And for how long and whatever, you know, I've been on this train for it. a few years. It was the reason why I've said, if nothing else, the Lakers needed to stop the open-ended one-plus-one contracts because with somebody at LeBron's age, and then especially with Luca in his prime, looking to build and maximize his prime, you can't have that much money unaccounted for on a year-by-year basis. But, you know, I think it could affect the, for lack of a better way of putting it in desperation that exists to keep LeBron. But I agree with you. The two of them so far, if nothing else, offensively, there has been a lot of potential there.
Starting point is 00:25:03 And we are really seeing what you miss in Austin during those moments where Lucas simply has to sit because the offense without Luca, I mean, you think it used to look bad a few years ago when LeBron would sit. It looks like the 2017 warriors compared to what goes on now when Lucas sits. I was saying before something like you know you can put Marcus Smart on the floor for that but that's too much smart offense like that's that's not what you want you want it's secondary you want him as a secondary player in your offense where he can score because he can score a little bit you can put the ball on the floor there's a surprising burst sometimes when he gets in the paint but you don't want to put your offense in a position where Marcus Smart is a
Starting point is 00:25:53 primary weapon well it's also too it's not just that you don't want Marcus Smart to be the primary generator of offense, like in a perfect world. If you're going to do that, it needs to be with better offensive players that are out there when Luca is sitting and Austin is unavailable. I love the way Jake Laravia has played for this team, or, you know, Rui, Atlanta notwithstanding, has been incredible offensively or Aiton, but you don't want any of those guys to be the primary score for long stretches. Ideally, yeah. Yeah, not because they're not good scores.
Starting point is 00:26:33 They are, but just simply because it's not really their station in the NBA. And too much of it, as you often point out, the returns diminish. But something that occurred to me in real time when we were talking about this with Luca and the dips in his efficiency over the last four games as a score and those particular struggles, even acknowledging, again, he's playing very well. It's just, I mean, they're not very well. I mean, that right. Excellent. But there's elite elite. Right. But for like all superstars, like the elite superstars, there are even degrees of elite and also how easy or not easy it looks. And right now, if nothing else, it's a period where the scoring piece of this doesn't look easy
Starting point is 00:27:16 for Luca. I do wonder if some of this is at least a piece of it is a byproduct of of how much Luca's putting into the defensive side of things. And that effort that has been there on a consistent basis game to game that certainly his detractors and the whisper campaign folks over in Dallas would say has not been there on a regular basis. He has, I think, defended at an attentive and dialed in level that you have not always seen from, Luca, that even acknowledging the conditioning and skinny Luca of it all, it takes something out of you when it's new. And I wonder if maybe a piece of this is just him figuring out how to play at that level on both sides of the ball. And the good thing is, like all great players, I think you'll figure it out. So once he starts becoming used to that, and that's more of the
Starting point is 00:28:17 new normal, I think, like I said, it's something for Laker fans to get excited about. If this is a piece of it at all because I think eventually he will work through it and it will become just what he does. Yeah, I just, there's, there's some Evan flow here. Like, he's going to have a two-week stretch where he shoots 55% from the floor. And a two-week stretch where, you know, six games where it's down to 42% and then three where it's 54 again. Like, you know, in the, in the, and when it's all said, done in the wash, he'll shoot 48% this season. like I said, I'm very interested. And it becomes easier really quick to play on both sides of the ball when you've got more help around.
Starting point is 00:28:58 That's what I was going to get to. So beyond the sort of normal ebb and flow, it's just over 82 games, it is really fun to see Luca or anyone else put up these bananas numbers on a night in, night out basis. they've been watching it in Denver for like three seasons now straight where every year Yokic's numbers seem to be as good as they could ever get and then he does better the next year and he's shooting something like 70% this year. It's like but every year they're like we got to make this so it doesn't need to be this way. Lakers tried forever. We got to get Kobe a little bit more help.
Starting point is 00:29:48 We got to move him off ball. We got to go get Ramon's session. You know, and so like, the idea is not, is to know that Luca can do these things without being required for Luca to do these things. You know, when Reeves comes back, Luca is better protected. He's better protected offensively, which means he's got a little bit more effort that he can put out defensively.
Starting point is 00:30:19 And again, a question of being defensive player of the year, but the fact that Luca's been as invested, like you've noted earlier in the segment, makes a big difference to what the Lakers are trying to do, and he's getting his hands on a lot of passes and all that kind of stuff, piling
Starting point is 00:30:33 up steals. He's always been sneaky good at that, but he's doing it even better. But like Reeves takes a lot of abuse. Reeves needs Lucas gravity to open up those driving lanes, to open threes and all that kind of stuff.
Starting point is 00:30:49 both of those guys will be better protected when LeBron comes back because LeBron still has gravity. And assuming they can make it work. And they're all better protected when Gabe comes back. Assuming that was. Maxie Claib was back, by the way. We forgot to mention that against Atlanta. He's now active and back. Maxi's back again.
Starting point is 00:31:12 I always forget it is, you did a little dance to that. So, like, they'll have to figure it out defensively because the alignment you run into certain things. But again, with just like Luca can give a little bit more defensively, LeBron won't have nearly the offensive burden. And assuming he's healthy when he comes back and do it, like he actually can be part of a still of a very good defense if he's not carrying the entire load offensively. So I am extremely optimistic about what this can look like when. When LeBron is back on the floor, what I really would just love to see is two or three or four more games of Austin and Luca playing together with this group just to get more data on what that pairing is,
Starting point is 00:32:07 particularly against the three teams, like the get past Charlotte, you're looking at Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, and Miami. like New Orleans. I'm sorry, New Orleans. Like two good tests and a third professional in the 18. They're playing a little better lately, a little better. A little better.
Starting point is 00:32:29 A little bit. I just, I want to see it what it looks like. And I think to be, maybe they would or they wouldn't say it out of the Lakers absolutely would like to see more of it to get a better feel. But that said, if there's any question here at all, sit him against Charlotte. He's obviously too important. Sit him against Charlotte and figure it out in Oklahoma City. That's what I would do.
Starting point is 00:32:56 Just keep those dudes off the glass. You should be fine. Lockdown Liquors on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. We do appreciate you making the Lockdown Network, the number one network for all of sports podcast networking. It's mostly, if we're being honest. this show. About 85% of the network traffic is just us. Yeah, the network actually falls to 450th without us.
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Starting point is 00:33:40 We'll be see everyone after the game in Charlotte. Thank you.

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