Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Giannis to LA Rumors Are Surfacing Again... Does He Makes Sense for the Lakers?

Starting point is 00:00:00 If it's summertime, it means rumors about Janus to the Lakers, but is it a good idea for L.A.? We'll talk about it 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 stopping by Lockedon Lakers, Brian Komeneski, Andy Kaminetsky. Today's episode's brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Plenty of stuff to unpack as we head into the weekend.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Try to get to some interesting questions about Rui Hachimura that really are about more than just Rui, as so many off-season questions are for the Lakers. We've got to start with the big names. Earlier this week, the Athletic with Dan Wojki and Sam Amick, in a sort of post-mortem about the Lakers season more generally, had a little nugget in there about, the potential of, you know, the Lakers exploring Janus, a Janus deal from the Bucks should he,

Starting point is 00:01:13 when he becomes available. It was interesting, Andy, though. It was in the context initially of Austin Reeves and Lucas desire to have Reeves back. Basically, yeah, don't trade Austin if you're going to get Janus. That was the sort of the entry point. Yeah. And I have seen, because we've talked about this before on different shows, not through the prism of Janus, but just the idea that Luca really wants Austin to stay and really wants the Lakers to keep him, much less the idea that Luca would not want Austin traded or included in a trade that would bring in Janus. I've seen a lot of our viewers and listeners call BS on that and just say that they think that's.

Starting point is 00:02:01 either ridiculous or floated by team Reeves or whatever, just the idea that you wouldn't include Austin in a deal for Janus because Luca likes him that much or that Luca would even want him that much just strikes him as far-fetched. What I think is interesting about this is there can be some devil in the details, and a lot of this depends on how you're thinking about it in the first place. First of all, just so it is clear, Regardless of how Luca feels specifically about including AR in a trade for Janus,

Starting point is 00:02:38 the piece about them being legit close is real. That is absolutely accurate if you spend any time seeing them in practice, if you watch them after games, during games, anything I've ever heard from anybody around the team, those two are legit type. So just establish that often. And too, just to your earlier point, like, there's also a difference between I wouldn't want Austin included in a Yannis trade and don't trade for Yannis. Those are not necessarily the same. It's not a reflection pro or con on the idea of having Yannis in L.A.

Starting point is 00:03:16 It just is a report that he would, Luca would not want Austin to be included in that deal, which by the way, makes a lot of sense because the whole point of these trades is to gather as many good players as you possibly can. And you don't want to, you know, take good players away from, from Luca's perspective. Right. He may feel, yeah, I mean, I think it is very believable that Luca could feel like I really enjoy playing with Austin. Austin and I play very well offensively. We complement each other well, at least when we have the ball. And I don't think swapping in Janus for Austin makes us that much better. if you want to find a way to bring in Janus, cool, just do it in a way that keeps Austin.

Starting point is 00:04:05 Like, that is a believable scenario, even if, dear listener, dear viewer, you disagree with that assess. And the other part of this equation, of course, is it doesn't, it actually matters less if Luca would want AR included in a Janus deal than if Reeves would actually want to sign a contract. Oh, it goes further than that, Brian. It goes much further than that. Step one is Austin actually has to agree to go play in Milwaukee. Yes, which is why I think the detail about Luca not wanting Austin included in a hypothetical deal for Janus, I think is interesting and I think it is likely accurate. But I also think in a lot of ways it's a moot point

Starting point is 00:04:53 because A, I don't picture Austin agreeing to a sign and trade where he spends his prime years in a serious and messy rebuild. The only way he's going to agree to this is if it's part of a sign and trade where Milwaukee gives him the full max five years 241, which makes no sense for Milwaukee as a team truly starting over. They do not have any need for Austin at that price in his late 20s, early 30s. He's a very good player, but he's not good enough to be the focal point of a rebuilding team, unless they plan on flipping Austin later, like in six months after signing him.

Starting point is 00:05:32 But that is a risk because if he does not seem worthy of nearly 50 mil a year, good luck moving in. We're entering an era where teams are getting much more cautious about, hey, who around here makes X percentage of our cap, even beyond the raw dollars? And that's before you even factor in the idea of Austin, who's not stupid, agreeing to this type of deal, knowing getting flipped is a real possibility in which case he loses total control over this. Right, which he might say, you know what, it's worth it for an extra, I don't know, make up a number, $80 million or so that he might choose that. But there are a lot of hurdles there that would need to be. I will say this.

Starting point is 00:06:19 You know, the theory of, you know, man, if you could keep Austin and get Janus, it, like, that would be really cool. Like, I'd take that as my big three in terms of, I mean, the reservations about Janus, which we'll get to here in a minute. But like, you know, just like for next, just talk about just for next year. You know, the combination of those three guys, at least on offense, because it slots Reeves back into a true number three. it lets him slash off the perimeter from, you know, from, you know, penetration and go against scramble defenses.

Starting point is 00:06:59 You would presumably at that point are replacing Janus for LeBron, but you still keep the, you know, the freight train aspect of transition play, all these other things. So, like, you can, you can, you don't have to work too hard to wrap your arms around at least what that would look like from an offensive standpoint. But that said, and we can sort of set this up now and get into it next, there are legitimate questions for the Lakers about whether or not you want to get into the Janus business and presumably the paying over the long term. Oh, there's no presumably about that. That is a mandatory piece of this. They're not doing this to rent Janus. They are doing this to extend Janus into what talking about. A very expensive.

Starting point is 00:07:52 So let's get into that, whether or not it even makes sense for the Lakers to be engaging in this type of star bleepery. And we'll talk about it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time there. It's nothing like playoff basketball live. Trust us. We've both been there many, many times. It is spectacular. The intensity, the crowd, the rivalries.

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Starting point is 00:09:50 Lockdown-Lakers is brought to you by Indeed, you got workplace chaos, the deadlines are stacking up, the inbox is overflowing, and there's still one position that you got to fill, and it's open, and when the pressure's on, you need the right hire, there's a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsored jobs helps you reach people who actually fit what you're looking for, right? skills, right experience, right location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles magically across your post because of hashtag reasons. And here's the stat that says it all. The minute that I'm going to be talking with you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide, spend less time searching, more time actually interviewing candidates who check all the boxes so there's less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

Starting point is 00:10:40 listeners of this show, you get $75 in sponsored job credits to help you get the job, your job, the premium status. It deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast. Right now support our show. This is really important by saying you heard it here on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Okay. So off the top of what I think we can both agree that Janus is still a very good player. You know, in his age 31 season, he'll turn 32 in December, 27 and a half points, 10 rebounds, about five and a half assists a game, playing only about 29 minutes a game for reasons that we'll discuss. But on a permanent basis, and by the way, the worst statistical year he's

Starting point is 00:11:29 had since, you know, probably the, you know, at least six or seven years, and playing on a god-awful Bucks team. Like, this was a... not a team that had a lot of stuff around him. The flip side of that, though, is Andy. In the year before, he should note, his numbers were 30, 12, and 6.5. So, you know, the production is still quite good. The problem is that it's been a very long time since Janus played, you know, 75, 80 games about almost 10 years since that happened.

Starting point is 00:12:06 And last year he was down to 36 in the season before it was 67. The injury trend is definitely going in the wrong direction. Yeah. And this is one of the big concerns I have about, and frankly, big reservations I have about going after Janus because it's not just what you know, what you get from him right now, assuming he is healthy, which is becoming more of an assumption, but nonetheless, he is still a very, very good player. And he addresses certainly some needs that the Lakers have when you're talking about defense, when you're talking about rebounding, another guy that can make plays and, you know,

Starting point is 00:12:47 help keep teams in the blender off, you know, defenses in the blender offensively, help the Lakers keep things moving. Like there's a lot that he can do there. He is still a very good player. But you're talking about an extension that the Lakers are going to have to give Yannis. and it's going to be top dollar extension, in all likelihood, or at the very least, you have to count on it being top dollar. That's going to be close to $70 million a season for Janus in his mid to late 30s. And he's obviously a really great player, but health is becoming more of a concern for him. I have a lot of questions about how a game that is predicated on extreme athletic

Starting point is 00:13:33 in part to offset a non-existent jump shot is going to age as he gets older, as the injuries, even after he recovers from them, they're still going to have an effect on his body. And even if you manage to keep AR while adding Janus, you're going to be talking about an extremely top-heavy team that you are going to have to nail. I mean nail every single single. supporting cast contract and player that you bring in. You're going to have to get right on like 90% of them, whether you're talking about skill sets,

Starting point is 00:14:14 whether you're talking about price, whether you're talking about fit, all of that stuff. And, you know, this gets back to... Without a lot to work with, by the way. Right. Digging out of the low, the exception slash, you know, minimums and things like that.

Starting point is 00:14:28 So tough places to go fishing. Well, this gets back to when I asked Rob, during the exit interview about there are a lot of teams right now, particularly teams doing very well, but there's been much more of a trend towards building through the draft, trying to have more cost-controlled contracts in a CBA that's becoming much more punitive. Why does he remain confident that the Laker way, which is very antithetical to that, whether you agree with it, disagree with whatever, antithetical. Why do you feel confident that it's still viable?

Starting point is 00:15:05 And while Rob said, he thought one of the biggest obstacles is finding a player like Luca and they have him, he acknowledged it often means trying to thread a needle. If you have a roster as top heavy as what Luca, Janice, and Austin represents, you're going to be threading a lot of needles. So you have very little wiggle room that way. and one injury likely means you're screwed. Well, and I would say, too, the other part of this is, too, even if you say, well, if you get Janus and you just have to let Austin go, you still don't have a ton of flexibility because you still have a, whatever that is, like between 110 and 120 wrapped up in two players.

Starting point is 00:15:51 Might even be a little bit more than that. So just that doesn't leave you with a lot of room. I kind of my fear with Janus I think you can make it work on the court with those guys I do like the idea of Janus being paired with someone like Luca who will make his life easier as an offensive player he's not going to have to do

Starting point is 00:16:17 as much orchestrating and as much like he can find ways to slash and move and run and play and transition and do all that stuff but will not be relied on to necessarily to be the engine of the offense. It does call into question, what does Janus look like if he's not doing those things? Which I think is a legitimate question in terms of the fit that, you know, I, talking about it in the first segment, it's like, I can see how it could work. I can also see that, you know, potentially Janus, you're paying 70 million to do what. And I think the what here would actually be rebounding, anchor defense, block shots, and do all.

Starting point is 00:16:56 that stuff and really be a star as much on the other end and its points per game would drop down to you know 23 24 a game which is fine um i worry about something that gets into a joel mbd type situation where you know when when the sixers have mb they tend to be quite good um and mb tends to be quite good but like that doesn't happen very often. And you have to plan for basically half of your season being without him. I don't know if that's going to happen to Janus, but it could. I just, to be clear, we're not there yet with Janus, but the fears of it are reasonable.

Starting point is 00:17:42 The fears are reasonable, particularly, you know, his knee injuries mount up and he gets more into. Now, this year, for all of Janus's protestations about his health and the bucks aren't letting him play and all these other things. know, I don't know if we'll ever really know, like, how much was Janus being sort of just sitting out because he couldn't play? How much was the Bucks keeping him out even when he could play? What would his numbers have looked like if the team around him was better? All that stuff. You know, this was such a bad year for that. But I think it's, they are questions that are worth asking.

Starting point is 00:18:21 I don't, I don't want to get so wrapped up in those things that I forget. just how good a player he is. You know, you're talking about acquiring another guy who is, again, when healthy, arguably in the top five. The Lakers would have two of those guys, one of whom would be the type of defensive compliment to Luka that they currently don't have. So, like, you can, it doesn't require like, okay, I got to do a ton of mental gymnastics to understand why this would be an appealing idea.

Starting point is 00:18:56 Just from a basketball standpoint, it really is financially and a team building thing. In 10 years ago's CBA, this is a no-brainer, I think. Absolutely. In today's, it's much more complicated. And that would be my hesitation. The good news, I don't think there's a chance in hell the Lakers can put together a deal that would land them, Janus. Me neither. I don't see how that happens.

Starting point is 00:19:24 but we have to entertain the possibility because the Lakers are apparently entertaining the possibility. And look, as much as it... You should kick your fire on this. Yeah, I was going to say, as much as the, this is the star effery situation with the Lakers where the jokes write themselves, but there's not a team.

Starting point is 00:19:46 This is the like hypothetical use case for you to describe like your sort of reservations or problems with how the Lakers have approached things historically, if you drew it up in a lab, it would look like this. I mean, this is the photoshopping of jerseys as a front office exercise. But to be fair to the Lakers, there's no team in the league that if they even think they have a semi or quasi-semi chance or opportunity or reason to get Janus, that they would won't talk about it. Because the cost would be the cost in stuff for a player of his caliber would be low

Starting point is 00:20:30 because the Lakers don't have anything. So it would be, you know, presumably they'd try to get Reeves to sign with them. If that didn't work, I guess you're talking about salary filler of one form or another to try to get the numbers to match up in ways that you need. I think the Lakers would be looking to trade Janus into their space. Right. Right. Whatever players Milwaukee would wants. You would probably need to try to give up and save Luca. I just hope the Lakers really hold the line on at least some of their appealing players for a team in a total rebuild. I mean, I know they're going to have to give up several, but they got to hold the line at least a little bit. All the Lakers would be doing is trading him for three first round picks because that's what they

Starting point is 00:21:17 can offer. My point is this is not like when the Lakers traded for Anthony Davis. And the Lakers really did by multiple accounts work to keep Kuzma out of the deal. You know, they gave up three young players in Lonzo, B.I, and Hart. The Lakers don't have those type of

Starting point is 00:21:36 player choices, and we got to pull the line on this. Once you get past a due and maybe Dalton, there's nobody else on this team that even makes sense. And even those guys, it's like, you know, essentially the cost of the Lakers, well, I guess would be a due thero.

Starting point is 00:21:52 and three first round picks because again, that's what the Lakers have. In a trade into the space scenario. Right. To acquire Janus for essentially what are three picks that can reasonably be expected to be in the mid to high 20s because you're building a team around Luca and Janus. One of them would be this year's pick. So like two future picks.

Starting point is 00:22:19 Like that's not a lot to get Yon. some swaps and whatever. Whatever. But like the the the swaps that are unlikely to ever materialize. Exactly. Because Milwaukee should be worse than the Lakers for the next half decade. So like the cost, this is why you have to really pay attention. Like because the cost is just absurdly low to try to get Janus.

Starting point is 00:22:47 They run management in Milwaukee out on a rail if this is the only package they got for him, but that's not my problem. So, you know, you have to pay attention to it. But I do have, I share your concerns about the money. And if this were to go bad, how badly it could go bad and how hamstrung the Lakers would be if it did. So this will not be the first or last time that we talk about Janus on this show. And we'll see. how this develops over time locked on lakers on youtube is where you can hang out with over 38 000 subscribers to the channel we will see everyone on monday

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Giannis to LA Rumors Are Surfacing Again... Does He Makes Sense for the Lakers?

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