Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Fantasies of Nikola Jokic Are Already Percolating In Los Angeles

Starting point is 00:00:00 It didn't take long after the Peyton Watson trade for certain Lakers fans and even people in the media to start thinking about the future of a potential MVP in L.A. I don't think we need to explain, but we'll explain next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for stopping by Lockdown Lakers, Brian Kiman. Andy Kemp Menetsky, lots to talk about today, including some questions about whether or not Jeannie Bus is going to try to keep her shares somehow. Stay on board as governor of the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:00:54 That is something we're going to try to get into. Do you want to let people know that today's episodes brought to you by Fandul. Join all the action at fendual.com play Dinger's Daily Diggers and make your free pick on who's a homer this MLB season, but first, Andy. So we spoke at length about the impact of the Peyton Watson trade, Watson being essentially salary dumped to Cleveland in exchange for a first round pick in 2013 and a second round pick, I believe, in 232. So plenty to look forward to if you're a Nuggets fan, but Andy, immediately people started

Starting point is 00:01:34 speculating about how this would impact the future of Nikola Yokic in Denver, who has not signed an extension. And of course, whenever anything like this happens, it's time for that person to become a future Laker. A hashtag future Laker, Brian, we're supposed to be experts on the topic. Let's use the language properly. It is hashtag Future Laker, hashtag Future Laker, hashtag Future Laker, season. ZN. But that's where we are right now, the Lakers off season ZN that now includes hashtag Future Laker, Nikola Yokic. Obviously now, for, I think, legitimate reasons,

Starting point is 00:02:20 while if I had to bet, I would bet on Nikola Yokic staying in Denver. He does not seem to be somebody that particularly wants to leave, who wants to start over somewhere different. He has said before that he wants to be a nugget for life. He said that he did not sign this past off season purely because of economics as opposed to dissatisfaction or waffling. That said, he might have expressed those opinions and reassurances when he thought they were going to keep Peyton Watson. And you never know how another season of a team that is built to be, at least for the time being,

Starting point is 00:03:04 extremely dependent on Nikol Yokic, as Yokic continues to get older, how much that could possibly weigh on him. And now folks are wondering whether or not he won't sign the extension this coming off season, whether he will put Denver in a position of needing to trade him. Josh Kronky actually, I think it was about a year or so ago, raised some eyebrows and honestly some what the F when he talked about how difficult the new salary cap structure is. And he's like, you know, we, you don't ever want to be in a position where you have to trade Nikoliyokic and everyone, their thought bubble was, sir, nobody asked to if you were going to be trading Nikola Yokic because we assumed that's off the effing table because he's

Starting point is 00:03:53 effingle Yokic. But obviously now people are on, people are on the lookout for signs of dissatisfaction. from Yokic. They're going to be monitoring Denver's season very closely. As we talked about for Thursday's show, we both think Denver now in terms of where things are going to shake out with the standings. They are in a worse position than the Lakers right now, all of which leads to Lakers fans naturally photoshopping Yokic into a Lakers jersey, noting that Nikola Yokic and Luka Dantzich appear to be friends. They appear to have a really good relationship.

Starting point is 00:04:34 Let's F and go, Yokic-Danchich era. Here it is. I mean, there's so many similarities that there's the Chich thing, and there's, you know, there's Serbia and Slovenia are both in Europe and end with ah, and start with us. I mean, they're practically countrymen. And they, you know, and so I just, you know, What's happening in Denver is a similar version to.

Starting point is 00:05:07 And I would say a more, if I had to pick which one, I would be more, you know, sort of have elevated concern. If I was a fan, I would say it's Denver. But whenever you have a star who is on his own timeline, he is not locked up. He is not under contract for the next four or five years. and he sort of has that ability to move without being traded, you start to look and you say, well, what's going on there? And right now the nuggets are not in a great place.

Starting point is 00:05:40 And it's a lot of it's just because they just aren't willing to spend money. And the Lakers have to look at Luca, who has, you know, a couple of years before he would pick up that option. I'm sorry, in theory, decline the option and then sign a longer extension. but you don't want to leave the door open for Luca to be unhappy with what's going on. And so, I mean, I think Yokic is more of a live possibility. But the part that I think is most interesting about this, it's really twofold because first and foremost, this thing, you know, we joke, you know, hashtag future Lakers, because it happens all the time. Anytime somebody, you know, looks like there might be dissatisfied, the assumption of, of, of, you know, among everyone in the other.

Starting point is 00:06:28 They just start putting them in a Lakers jersey because the Lakers are going to get that. Just to clarify, I really quote for it when you said it happens all the time. The wish casting happens all the time. That's what I'm talking about. Not the person ending up here. Just the notion that this person is clear. Sure. That this person is next to be, you know, the next going to be the, you know, the next Laker, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:48 because the Lakers just get all the stars. It's, it's typically though, at least over the last few years, what that has been accompanied by, or at least frequently has been accompanied by, is a tendency on the part of management to sort of keep our options open, to say, you know, I don't know which star it's going to be, but in the summer of blank, there are going to be three or four guys or two or three guys or one guy or whatever on the market. And we want to make sure that we have the space to be able to go out. and get that guy.

Starting point is 00:07:28 Because cap space is the only way you can get guys. Correct. The way this front office is typically operated, the only way you can get players is by having gobs and gobs of cap space. It's the one way you can build a team. And so, you know, or like, you know, well, we got three first round picks or something. We trade one now, but like we got to hold on to because we'll control more picks.

Starting point is 00:07:54 So, like, there has been this, optionality has always been pointed to or frequently has been pointed to. I don't want to speak in absolutes. Frequently have been pointed to the idea of let's keep our powder dry because big fish might be available this summer, next summer, whatever it might be. And we don't want to get in the way of that. That is not a healthy way to operate. It is not a good way to run a team. It is not a good way to build a team and it is a terrible way to do things when you have a guy under contract who is expecting you to be good as fast as possible. It's bad signal to send out. And so I think the good news here, Andy, certainly can carry some of this past the break, is that the Lakers aren't in a

Starting point is 00:08:50 position right now where they could really even do that if they wanted to. They don't have any of their own picks that they can control and hoard right now. I guess you could hoard a pick swap in like four years. That's about it. And the three second rounders that you have. You don't have any cap space coming up in the near future because you have Luca under contract and you've got Austin Reeves under contract. And most of the rest of your core is signed for much of the rest of your core is

Starting point is 00:09:21 signed for another three or four years. So this is actually a time where even if the Lakers were inclined to do this thing that they've done before, which would be a bad thing, they kind of can't. And as an observer, I find this to be a very refreshing position. They need to be aggressively trying to be good in the moment. They built a roster that, as we've discussed many times, we both think it is a good start moving forward. There obviously are flaws. There's going to require a transaction cycle or two to really reach the place that they want to be. But it's a good foundation and it's a good place to begin moving forward. And it required commitment to permanence. And I will say I do think some of the

Starting point is 00:10:15 keeping our powder dry maximum flexibility, optionality over the last couple years, some of that has been the front office and ownership previously not wanting to commit any more to the LeBron era because they had lost faith in it. They thought that the window had shut. They, I think also had doubts about Anthony Davis as the next transitional star moving forward. Obviously, the LeBron age factor, the tension back and forth between front office and clutch, all of those things. But they also were too chicken bleep to actually pivot off it because they don't know what to do with themselves unless they have superstars. So there was a lot of, I think they also, just to piggyback on that and you know,

Starting point is 00:11:02 you can take us to break. But like it's not just that they're true. It's also that they don't like they lack the confidence to do anything, have lacked the confidence to do anything but the obvious. Right. So I, I think some of the, again, signaling about flexibility and, you know, draft picks available and, you know, optional, yada, yada, yada, yada. It was them just kind of tap dancing and stalling and trying to figure out what we're

Starting point is 00:11:34 going to do as we stall out this era that we don't believe in. And I said many times, and I proved to be correct. This was the first offseason where when Rob has talked about optionality and using it, that he actually meant it, but they are, I agree, they're not in a position where, they can sit on their hands, even talk themselves in this sitting on their hands because they're hoping for the opportunity for Nikola Yokic and that is a great thing. There is one more aspect of this that makes it folly, Andy, I say, to, to, as an organization to start kind of playing this game and, you know, leaving yourself the space to make the

Starting point is 00:12:21 pursuit. we'll get into that. And the latest on Genie's efforts to perhaps buy up shares of the Lakers, see if that's a reasonable possibility next. Lockdowne Lakers is brought to you by Fandul, baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today. FanDuel is giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers. Easy to play.

Starting point is 00:12:47 Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. Daily Dingers is another fun way to stay engaged with everyday's games, whether you're following your favorite team or just keeping an eye on matchups across the league. Every game has somebody that's capable of going deep and you get a chance to make your prediction now before the first pitch and certain players, there's always the possibility. If you're a Dodger fan, I'm sure a lot of people listening now, think Shohei Otani, good candidate for this thing. Good candidate for Daily Dingers every day.

Starting point is 00:13:26 brings fresh matchups, new storylines. Another reason to pay attention before the first pitch. Are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action of fandual.com. That's fandle.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer, play ball, swing for the fences on Fandul,

Starting point is 00:13:43 an official partner of MLB. There is one other critical aspect of this that makes, I mean, look, you can do it every one. It's fun. I mean, a lot of times I think Lakers fans, when they play this game, we're doing it to troll fans from other teams. So it can be fun.

Starting point is 00:14:04 But as a fan, you can engage in whatever sort of fantasy acquisitions that you want. As front office, it's different. There's one more reason, Andy, that the front office really shouldn't be spending any time thinking about whether or not this could happen. It's because they really can't. Like, they can't make it work. Like, let's say, I mean, it's never, nothing. Nothing is ever impossible.

Starting point is 00:14:30 If Nikola Yokic says, I am only going to, I want to be traded. I'm going to go sign with the Lakers. If you want to get anything of value, you know, you trade me now. Like he does that thing. Let's just say he does that. The Lakers would then have to engineer a trade or figure out a trade that actually would be worth Denver taking as opposed to perhaps just letting him walk and, you know, getting the space and blowing the whole thing up or whatever it might be.

Starting point is 00:15:04 The Lakers would need to figure out a way to rope in second teams, third teams, possibly fourth teams. If you want to put together a package, that would be tempting, I think, to the nuggets. Like it's not going to be Walker Kessler, pick swam, and three second rounders. Jared Vanderbilt, who's probably still under contract at that point, like that's not going to get her done. So they have so little to offer that short of tearing down what they have to get there, which is a colossally bad idea and one they won't,

Starting point is 00:15:50 a path they won't walk down. They don't even have the stuff to pretend to make this work, at least in terms of draft capital and things like that, maybe if Cam Car turns into a star real fast or Thero blows up. But likely there's just not a trade package the Lakers can put together without a lot of help. I mean, it's all to make something like this work. Forget just the draft assets and trade assets and whatever. It's difficult to come up with a deal where you're having to match Nikolokic's almost $60 million.

Starting point is 00:16:28 in the salary in 2027 or 62.8 if he opts into the next deal or whatever. Like it's very difficult to manufacture something. Like Walker Kessler would need to be involved. Like forget the idea that if you're bringing in Yokic, you at that point have no more need for Walker Kessler because the two of them can't play together. You need to include Walker Kessler purely because of the $30 million. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:16:54 It just would be extremely difficult. difficult from a math standpoint before you even get into the, what do the Lakers have that Denver and third team, fourth team X would actually want. So right, which is, which again is a great place for the Lakers to be because it removes the temptation of current and probably future management to get themselves engaged in this sort of snipe hunt. And so with that, Andy, it's talking about, as we talk about management

Starting point is 00:17:35 and current and future ownership groups, Jeannie Bus is still trying real hard to hold on to her piece of the Lakers and retain this governorship. And it would, one of the potential avenues that's been talked about a little bit, and has at least been reported as something that Jeannie Bus would be interested in doing is buying up the shares of her siblings, you know, enough shares somehow to keep over that 15% threshold, which is the minimum for her to retain the ability to be a governor for this team, setting aside the, would you be invited? But like this idea, do you see any path for her?

Starting point is 00:18:26 to get enough people to sell to her? I think it would be extremely difficult. I mean, because the starting point is tough in and of itself because by all appearances, anybody I've asked, she does not have the capital to just buy out her siblings right now. So like it requires raising capital before you can even do this. Like she, putting aside, you know, whether or not, you know, given the relationship right now,

Starting point is 00:19:00 that's pretty poisonous between her and her five brothers and sisters, like, and just the idea of would they even sell to her, allowing her to get her way again, you know, on top of the other again and again and again. Can I answer that one for you? It feels unlikely. She's fired all of them. I don't think she technically fired Johnny. No, she just sued him.

Starting point is 00:19:29 Right. She sued him. Right. So I don't think Johnny at the time had an actual job that she could fire him. He didn't have because if he did, she would have fired him from it. No, but the point being, there's literally not one sibling here that has a piece of ownership that she has not fired her suit. No, Johnny's court summons was sent to Hollywood Park. He was hanging out over the track when he found out that he was in the middle of a lawsuit.

Starting point is 00:20:00 But like, that piece of it, I think, will be very difficult. So she has to then, A, raise the liquidity and then B, find somebody within the organization that is willing to sell to her. she can cross Patrick Sun Cheng off the list. His 4% he has gone on record through his attorney who is somehow nicknamed Tiger, not a joke. But his 4% is not on the market. Like absolutely, he has apparently a really good friendship with Bob Eager and Josh Kushner. And he is not interested in selling.

Starting point is 00:20:44 I would not be, this is speculation on my part. I want to make this clear. However, it doesn't feel like reckless speculation. I have a feeling there could be a memo inside that building from Kushner and Iger saying, we would prefer you not sell these shares. Maybe. If he thought, you know, the explanation that Tiger gave, I mean, look, when you need the law on your side, Andy, you don't want a regular cat.

Starting point is 00:21:10 You want a tiger. I think he says that you believe it's an appreciating asset, which. which, you know, he certainly can make that argument. It went up $2.5 billion in two years. He doesn't really have to do anything, but sit there and watch the investment grow. It's not like it requires a lot of time and effort. It's a great asset. It did go up $2.5 million because the previous owner is facing legal and financial jeopardy.

Starting point is 00:21:38 It got sold. I'm saying the market value that it's sold for in a year and a half went from a, you know, 10 to 12 and a half. I know. I'm just saying it also, there's, it's, you know, it's just saying. There was some context. I don't think that had. I don't think the appreciating has much to do with Walters.

Starting point is 00:21:55 Anyway, it's neither here nor there. But the point is, you know, if you don't want to sell, you don't want to sell. He's got no reason to sell. And the Bus Brothers, or the Bus Brothers plus Janie. Janie. I said the Bus Brothers plus Janie. Yeah. They have no incentive at all to help.

Starting point is 00:22:17 help Jeannie keep what she wants to keep. And all of this, of course, is before you get to the question of whether or not new ownership. And again, we talked about this. I think it was front office sports reported on Wednesday that, at least according to two sources that they quote, the bus issue here will not have any effect on the rest of the sale. other people have contended it could have an impact it. It's great to hear that it might not. But let's say that's true.

Starting point is 00:22:53 If Jeannie wins and let's say she could even get that 15% threshold, I don't know what the Lakers could do to keep it from happening. But I also don't know after any of that why on earth they would want her to remain in that governor position, which is something that we can talk about next. I think it's fair to say, Andy, that the harder that Jeannie has to work to keep this, you know, this, you know, 15% threshold alive for her to fulfill this role, the harder she has to work, the more drama there is,

Starting point is 00:23:42 the more court time there is, the more unappealing it becomes for Kushner and Eiger to actually keep her around. That's why I was saying earlier. Like, again, it's speculation on my part. I'm not reporting anything. I just, to me, it stands to reason and common sense. And I guess a little bit of what I've heard,

Starting point is 00:24:06 but I'm not going to get into detail of it. But I get a very strong sense that internally, certainly Iger and Kushner have decided it's time to just turn this page completely. and if you just look at this from a logistical common sense standpoint, and the fact that Iger and Kushner do not need Jeannie in a governor role, to whatever degree that you think Mark Walter needed it, didn't need it, whatever. Like Mark Walter, if nothing else, doesn't know the players around the league. Like, you know, he doesn't come from the NBA world.

Starting point is 00:24:48 He was an outsider from this perspective. Bob Eiger knows all these people. He has done business in the NBA. He and the commissioner are very good friends. He doesn't need Jeannie as a liaison. So the idea of, like, she's basically working really hard to be the franchise appendix, in all honesty. Like, that's really what she is desperately clinging to at this point. Like the idea of remaining a part of this body despite having no immediate need or purpose.

Starting point is 00:25:26 Like, because the point of this isn't that she, and we'll get to some of, you know, the impacts of just the sale drama generally in terms of how it could impact the Lakers going forward. But like the issue, it's not that she's like, you know, guys, I just want to hold on to my portion because, you know, my. three percent or my four for whatever it is you know her each individual piece of this you know it's I feel it's a real tie to my dad or to our dad and I want to stay close as close as possible the franchise and maybe you know Steve I'm not in charge you've been I'm not the governor I can still work in a consultative capacity in the front of it's not doing it all of this is designed right to I'm sure if they say if there was some sort of agreement was like

Starting point is 00:26:17 I the other bus kids want to sell and and you take advantage of this and Jeannie could keep her 3%. Right. If it's all about probably that would probably be okay. If it's all about staying close to the franchise and the family legacy and yada, yada, yada, then just let the other brothers and sister walk cash out. You remain a three or four percent, whatever. I don't know the math off the top of my head. You have a connection to the team. You'll, be on the company emails like whatever i'm just like if you if all you could even have you could even have a role in the front i have no idea but the point is you wouldn't be but what you can't be right is governor and that seems to be the thing that she is is is holding on to and i just don't see an end game here the other the part of this we touched on it really in the first segment like what what happens with the basketball part of this like is nikola yokic something that oh yeah okay well future ownership

Starting point is 00:27:17 might want us to keep that door open or something like that. Don't make any big moves because future ownership might want to make a run at Yokic. Well, that's not something we need to worry about because they're, as we talked about earlier, there's really no, there's no table setting that you can do to, to, you know, prepare the franchise to make this work in a way that won't drive Luca out the door. So it's not going to happen. It's not something you need to worry about. oftentimes with new ownership coming in, those kinds of things are a consideration.

Starting point is 00:27:51 So it's good that the Lakers don't have to do it. The same hamstrung thing that keeps you from laying groundwork for Yokic kind of keeps you from doing anything particularly big, at least for a few months, because if for no other reason, the players that you just signed can't be traded again until the winter. So, you know, there's, their Lakers can't do a whole lot in between now and then that's super, significant. So that part at least is good, but that doesn't mean that the sale can't have an impact. Well, in the short term, I don't think really much when it comes to the actual basketball. In the short term, I don't think this is going to affect much. Do you mention the roster,

Starting point is 00:28:35 it's not just largely constructed. They're capped at the first apron by virtue of the Kessler sign and trade anyway. So for all of the reasons that we have discussed, at length. There are only so many moves they can make right now anyway between the apron issue, the assets issue, the fact that so many of their players can't be traded right now by CBA rule until mid-December. So a lot of the roster works done. JJ is not for any glaring reason, if nothing else, coaching for his job right now. And this roster feels like it matches his ethos more than previous ones. Like he, I think, should be. able to operate with his best foot forward. And I doubt Luca, who is really the guy that matters

Starting point is 00:29:23 the most in all this, is in freak out mode as of today. That doesn't mean that he can't grow dissatisfied in a year or something like that. But again, for the immediate with the basketball, I think things are going to be fine. I don't think this is going to be something that's going to be hovering over the players and having them concerned. In the long run, though, like any whether you're talking about whatever could complicate the sale or the bus factor and that whatever, it just, it makes it more difficult to attract new people, um,

Starting point is 00:29:57 you know, because of, uh, the transition and, you know, it, anything that appears on, Rob,

Starting point is 00:30:05 it's me hard. Rob, you know, you go in your interview if you're, you know, the assistant head of basketball operations or whatever, the deputy, whatever they want to call it.

Starting point is 00:30:14 You're interviewing with Rob. And Rob may not have a job in six months. Right. And so that the position becomes less appealing unless you are hired under the sort of umbrella of new ownership. Right. And, you know, like we said, front office sports is reporting. They don't think that this is going to delay anything. Like, you know, that the bus piece of this won't delay anything.

Starting point is 00:30:42 And hopefully they can try to fast track what's going on with Cushner. and Iger in the transition from Walter. ASAP, I'm sure the league will try to make this happen as quickly as they can. I'm sure they're going to vet Kushner and Iger very carefully given what just happened with Mark Walter, but at the same time, Iger, if nothing else, is a super easy guy to vet. Sure. And then though, this is something that I saw, like just in terms of, we've talked about this before, Brian, this situation with Mark Walter and having to sell the team,

Starting point is 00:31:17 It is not ideal, like it is not happening under ideal circumstances at all. But that being said, if it was going to happen, it is best that this happened so quickly, even if so suddenly, and that we learned about this now as opposed to, say, him maybe being under federal investigation for another year before this, the news breaks or whatever. This from the athletic, it's a couple paragraphs, but I think it's worth reading. and I hadn't thought about what's about to be mentioned in kind of A to B connection, but it's interesting. Quote, Walter's purchase of the Lakers was supposed to lead them from their family ownership passed into a new era of modernization. Essential infrastructure was to be bolstered, innovative ideas regarding analytics, scouting, and medical were to be assembled to those around the NBA.

Starting point is 00:32:06 The influx of capital and brainpower was a formidable combination. The Lakers who already enjoyed geographic and brand recognition advantages were now getting a heaping of basketball's best front. office and ownership group, but at least on the basketball side of the operation, few of those changes took hold. The bigger moves under Walter's leadership were designed to increase profits. The Lakers conducted multiple rounds of layoffs and announced a significant increase in season ticket prices, some raised by more than 40%. It was a weird vibe last year. One well-placed league source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, the Lakers also moved their G-League affiliate from inside its Elsa Gondo facility to the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs,

Starting point is 00:32:47 a business decision that frustrated Lakers basketball executives because it distanced the team from its developmental players and coaches. The Lakers often utilized that arrangement, such as last season when LeBron James needed full contact practices from returning from injury. The business department led by Walter's longtime Dodger associate Lon Rosen, negotiated sponsorship deals for the Lakers jersey and an organizational first for the Lakers girls dance team. They also added more court side seating and relocated members so teams could sell those lower level seats. And you and I've talked before, Brian, by the way, about how thus

Starting point is 00:33:24 far the Walter era had been far more about the business side of the building than the basketball in the front office. Like we commented many times, hey, you guys plan on filling out the scouting department anytime soon? No, no. Going to, going to you know, add any more people in the front office. And at the time, that just felt, that just felt on the surface like, hey, they're just starting with a lot of the Dodger people that they already know from the business side, bringing them in. But in light of what we know now, it feels like Mark Walter, knowing he was under investigation and trying to raise as much capital through the Lakers as possible and not being as focused on the actual basketball because

Starting point is 00:34:12 the actual basketball wasn't as urgent to him because he's under financial and legal investigation. I get you can I don't know if I agree with the the you know sort of the a plus here but I just because I don't think that's sort of the liquidity there's no there's the money he's gaining from this doesn't go, you know, paying, you know, you're paying back the incremental gains you get from better sponsorships and stuff. Don't go, you know, it's paying back those loans. But I, I just think they were, they were using the part of the model that, you know, that everybody focuses on if you're a Dodger fan is the fact they've won like, whatever

Starting point is 00:34:55 it is, 14 division titles in a row. And they're back to back World Series champions. And, you know, they won in 2020. here and they're 21 or whatever it was and like all of these other things but the other half of the model is monetizing everything the cost of going to games at dodger stadium has exploded over the last few years it's a significant it was never cheap but it's a significantly more expensive net product now than it used to be um and so like all of that stuff is that is part of the dodgerification of the Lakers as they imported that the business model.

Starting point is 00:35:33 That's the part that you can do quickly. And they dialed that in and, you know, we're able to import it. I think, you know, so I don't know if I would draw that same conclusion that you are. Well, I mean, I'm not the one who came up with it, but I'm saying I think whoever came up with it, I don't know. The athletic. But what? I think it's interesting.

Starting point is 00:36:00 I will say in retrospect, I think it is interesting that so much was immediately focused on the business side, the monetary side, at a time where all we kept hearing about was rightly the importance of this offseason. And to be clear, they made big moves. But we heard a lot of expectations about bluffing out the basketball side. And it did not happen. But that, I don't know. I don't think those two things are mutually exclusive. Like unless, I guess look, if there's a memo floating around. They don't have to be, but they can be.

Starting point is 00:36:36 If there's a like I said, if there's a memo floating around somewhere that says don't hire somebody in the front office, you know, to the effect of don't hire people, don't hire a scouting department, we need to save the money. But I, you know, I would agree with you. But I just think one is much easier to do faster than the other. And there are reports the Lakers have been turned down by candidates as well. So like they have been interviewing for people and have been turned down.

Starting point is 00:37:02 Like you hire those guys who then turn around and hire the scouts. You don't hire the scouts and then hire the GM. You know, you hire the heads of these departments and the managers of these departments before you hire the people below them. I think. But I just it's a faster process to do the business. But you know, there's there's just a, you know, what you hope you don't have is a long delay like if the sale is completed by say January 1 which is probably a

Starting point is 00:37:38 little quick but let's just you know call it that then the lakers are probably in pretty good shape because the new ownership group can come in they can you know they'll be at the very least andy very well well situated for the following off season for next summer they probably you're not going to interview a ton of candidates inside the season anyway for some of these basketball jobs because people are hired. And so maybe somebody who's not currently employed, you might have access to, but that could still happen in January, February, whatever it might be. It's just if the sale gets delayed into the spring. If it takes longer to vet Kushner, if it takes longer for him to liquidate the shares that he owns the heat, whatever it might be. The Lakers,

Starting point is 00:38:26 are in a bit of a holding pattern for, you know, however it is that they're going to be built out in the future, which what we hope is something similar to the Walter model where you become a first class franchise of everything that isn't related to the salary cap, except for the part about being investigated by the SEC in the Feds. So you hope it's similar. But we'll see. This thing came together so quickly. It was inevitably and be slowed down just by them kind of filling in some of the other details, dotting eyes, crossing T's and things like that. So, oh, man, I just, what was it? Three months, give or take between the announcement of the sale of the bus family to Walter and the thing being sold there was a little longer than that. I forget.

Starting point is 00:39:18 At the top of my head, I want to say that the. The news broke in May or June of 2025 and the sale happened. I know it happened in late October. Okay, June, July, August, September, October. So about four months then. Hopefully, that timeline would work here. That would be okay. So we'll see.

Starting point is 00:39:43 I mean, hopefully it happens something like that, but slower than that, it becomes a potential problem. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where I can hang out with over 39. thousand subscribers to the channel. If anything happens over the weekend, we certainly will butt into whatever it is you're planning on doing and bring you some news and analysis. Otherwise, everyone enjoy your weekend and we'll see you Monday.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Fantasies of Nikola Jokic Are Already Percolating In Los Angeles

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.