Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - How the NBA Draft Lottery Impacts the Lakers: Mavs Gets #1 Pick, Spurs #2

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Tuesday. Brian Komeneski, Andy Kaminetsky, the Mavs get the top pick in the draft. The Spurs get number two, how all of this impacts the Lakers, because it does. 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 Locked on Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through

Starting point is 00:00:31 Friday, no matter how where you get your podcast, this one's always free. behind a paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where 35,000 plus subscribers are all wondering just what happened tonight in the NBA with the draft lottery. What was orchestrated, perhaps? Maybe, maybe, because the conspiracy theories certainly have a lot of ties to the Lakers. Do want to let everybody know that today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when you're first $5 bet wins, like that parlay that you had of the Mavs, Spurs, and Sixers in the

Starting point is 00:01:12 draft lottery tonight. Congratulations to you. I saw Andy that had something like a 0.0018% chance of happening, something crazy like that. We'll pick the conversation back up, whether later in this episode or for tomorrow, because it actually is sort of related here, but you know, thank you so much to everybody for leaving so many questions and comments and thoughts after Monday show about Austin Reeves and what the Lakers ought to be doing with him. Now, Andy, this situation is, I think, even more intriguing when around questions like Austin Reeves because the draft lottery dropped a grenade into the NBA.

Starting point is 00:02:00 There's just like the seismic nature, to use the term that when Luca, was traded to the NBA, traded the Lakers that Rob used. This is about as seismic as a draft lottery can get. You take the Dallas Mavericks who did all the right things and then, you know, just

Starting point is 00:02:21 did, it's one of those classic cases if you do everything right yet it doesn't work out for you. So I guess carmically, they're really getting what they deserve. Well, I mean, certainly I hope Nico Harrison is smart enough to not go see see I told you but you know you're now adding Cooper flag to a team that is pretty good I mean like if you know depending on the

Starting point is 00:02:49 components that they have you know with with Anthony Davis obviously and lively and Gafford and eventually Kyrie Irving will come back and and all of these things pretty good team for to to land Cooper flag it's a big difference between him and they say the Washington Wizards um And then almost equally important is that San Antonio jumps up to number two, because now you're talking about Cooper Flag landing on an already pretty good team, making the Western Conference that much harder. And the Spurs getting one more phenomenal asset that they can roll into a potential Janus trade,

Starting point is 00:03:34 and oh, by the way, Shams reporting this week that Janus really is considering finally, for the first time ever since he got to Milwaukee, the idea of a place that may be a better fit for him to win. So the already difficult job,

Starting point is 00:03:53 Andy, the Lakers had in front of them to improve enough to jump over teams in the West just got way harder. We'll get into the machinations of what may come next and the different obstacles for Lakers, but I just got to ask because I know it's the question that a lot of people are thinking. We just talked about those dramatically small odds of Dallas getting the number one pick. They had a less than 2% chance of getting the number one pick, and they happened to get much less than 2%. No, it was one point eight.

Starting point is 00:04:31 I was making a joke. It's very small. It's a very small number. Yes. 1.8% chance of getting the number one overall pick. This right on the heels of the Mavericks seemingly without any reason and certainly with no warning. Torpedoing the entire franchise because hashtag reasons. and everybody in the building seemed confident that they had a pretty good reason for doing that.

Starting point is 00:05:04 And even if you believed that, no, really, there were a lot of red flags about Luca and conditioning and things like that, there is nobody, I mean, nobody who thinks that that was enough of a reason to trade Luca Dantzich to the Lakers. that if you believe reputations needs no help getting a player like Luca, they are typically the destination spot for a team like that anyway. If perhaps you knew that the number one overall pick was coming because this was something that had been pre-orchestrated months in the works, which would explain, by the way, why it was apparently very important in Nico Harrison to not talk to anybody about this,

Starting point is 00:05:52 like that he really had to keep this extremely quiet. So Dallas ends up out of nowhere against 98.2% odds getting the number one pick and an avenue towards a potentially franchise changing cornerstone young big can't miss prospect in Cooper Flagg coupled with San Antonio beating tremendous odds to have another asset. to add to Victor Wemann Yama and Stefan Castle and all that. I just got to ask, do you think Adam Silver ordered the code read? Do I deep down in my soul think it, like in the core of my being, Andy? Probably not, but I'm going to live in the world where it absolutely Adam Silver did it because it's way more fun.

Starting point is 00:06:51 You know that this is the 40th anniversary of the frozen envelope. It is. The whole thing is just, I mean, it aligns so beautifully. And because it is, you can't have a draft conspiracy theory. It doesn't, like a really good one. It doesn't involve Lakers. So because there is so much to it, I love it. But, yeah, I mean, it is, it is, this lottery is such a disaster

Starting point is 00:07:21 for the NBA on on some it's like so wonderful on some levels because what's being rewarded for just cropping the bed multiple times and making well yeah because for people don't realize this one's a little more subtle if the sixers fell out of the top yeah sticks their pick would have gone to Oklahoma City yeah um that Oklahoma City will be fine they'll just wait for another one uh they'll wait another year and they'll get it but the um the they moved up a spot to keep that you know I think it was one spot to keep that, and they didn't fall out, which would have been a disaster for them. Obviously, you know, San Antonio jumped up, I think, six spots and Dallas jumped up 10. And so in some ways, it's like the best thing that could happen to the league because Cooper Flagg doesn't end up in, I don't know, Washington, where careers go to die.

Starting point is 00:08:14 You know, and something like that. You take one of your great young players and you send him to a, I don't know, one's proud. I mean, all things considered, a successful franchise with good players on it. You then take the Spurs who are right on the cusp of being something really good and you add one more ingredient. Oh, by the way, like I mentioned, whether it's just to draft, you know, it's the Ace Bailey or whoever. You know, the other kid from Rutgers, the guard. We don't know anybody but Cooper Fly. We don't matter.

Starting point is 00:08:51 It's, I know the name Ace Bailey. I don't know who he is or who he plays for. I just, I know he exists and he's apparently a really high prospect. Yeah, he's going to, he's being in the top four, top four, top five. I just for some reason, I can't remember the name of the kid. No clue who he is. That is second. It is Dylan Harper is the name of the kid.

Starting point is 00:09:11 Oh, yeah, Ron's kid. supposed to be drafted right behind Cooper Flag. So they could either take that guy or more likely trade the pick, whether it's in a Janus deal or to a different team, get more assets, get a different, whatever it might be. You've now handed a team that is already pretty well situated to continue getting better with arguably the best player in the league under 25. in Wembe, and you've handed them another asset.

Starting point is 00:09:49 So in that sense, it's the greatest thing for the league because you're taking good players and putting them on good teams. It's just bad for the league because the conspiracy theory stuff is going to be through the roof. Except the league loves the conspiracy. I actually don't think they like the conspiracy theories. I think they like some of the other things. I don't think they like this.

Starting point is 00:10:07 I don't think they like the idea. I mean, if they really didn't like it, they changed the entire draft lottery system. Well, that's a different. That's why I think the most intriguing question to me, not to be like Mr. No Fun, isn't whether or not like Adam Silver Rigged the lottery, because no, I don't think he did. But there's a really, really good conversation to be had about does any of this work? Like you keep seeing all of these statistics. And I'll point a couple of them out. We'll get back to how all of this impacts the Lakers next.

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Starting point is 00:13:25 That's Monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. To me, Andy, the most interesting conversation about this is whether or not the lottery actually works, because during the season, all you get is, you know, when our team's going to start tanking and they start in the play in has helped a little bit, keep teams. in longer. But I think that I think it was the jazz I saw or like have never moved up. Nope. The Wizards have gotten crushed like well the jazz I'm the jazz have potentially moved up. They've never gotten the number one over not up to number one like they've you know you

Starting point is 00:13:58 like the the the the record for teams that tank their seasons like really tank it. And it's like it's really quite bad like it. it just doesn't work in the way that teams yet they sort of do it anyway and so the league is kind of getting the worst of it because like you really do need if you're a team like the wizards the cooper flags of the world to turn your franchise around like the NBA is just one of those leagues where you need superstar talent somewhere and you generally don't find that at 12, 13, 14, 15, or sometimes even 6, 7, 8, 9 in most years. Sometimes you get lucky.

Starting point is 00:14:44 But generally speaking, you got to be in the top five to get kind of a surefire guy. You still might miss. So, like, the NBA is just going to have to have a really tough conversation about what exactly is the right solution to this that keeps competitive balance during the year, but also lets bad teams potentially get better. But I just, I, the first thing I thought of when I saw this news was, Oh my God, the Western Conference has gotten even better because Dallas, in theory, could have slid a little bit last year, but now this is, if not, if nothing else, an enormous boost.

Starting point is 00:15:20 San Antonio has a huge opportunity to land Janus out of this deal. If Janus is interested in going to San Antonio, they've got stuff to do it, and one of the only teams that can put together a really compelling package. And meanwhile, too, from Dallas's standpoint, the Daniel Gafford chatter about them wanting, you know, Gafford wants starters money. They've got lively there. They've got AD there. Now, you know, Cooper Flag is not seven feet tall, but he's six eight with a seven foot reach. Like the noise.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Is that going to move Anthony Davis more to center now? Wouldn't that be ironic? But like the noise and the chatter about Gafford out of. of Dallas is going to get louder. And obviously, you may have heard, the Lakers need a center. If that call happens again, there needs to be a camera crew and like a 30 for 30. Like Robin Nico part two, that is really a what if I told you? Like, I got to see how that goes again.

Starting point is 00:16:24 And I don't even know what the deal would look like. you know, and we'll, we'll get, you know, our friend Nick Angstad on the show at some point, you know, as the season winds down and talk about Gafford and how he might fit and, you know, what he looked like with Luca and all that other stuff. But like, this, for a team that had no chance of winning the lottery, this lottery impacts the Lakers in a lot of ways. Because now in a harder Western conference with St. Antonio potentially jumping up, you know, and the Maverick's not. really falling off and you know if new Orleans ever stayed healthy maybe they've got a chance to be good you know um i know it's a long shot but you know Portland was sneaky competent at the end of the season there are ways off before they are but i'm saying like the progression of these teams golden states still hanging around like they're not you know they got jimmy next year and like the the lakers are going to have to not just fill some holes, but probably improve fairly significantly to keep a third seed, to stay ahead of some of

Starting point is 00:17:37 these other teams. It was one game, two games. They could have been an eighth otherwise. They've got a lot of work ahead of them, and it just got harder. I would like to think that they understand that anyway, like well before the draft lottery happened. I mean, Rob Polinka during the exit interview, him and JJ Reddick seemed very, very, both sincerely conscious and sincerely transparent about the fact that the Lakers need reinforcements

Starting point is 00:18:05 both in the middle and along the perimeter defensively at the very least. Like they seem to understand that this was not just a matter of bad matchup against the Timberwolves, even though I think in retrospect it was a horrible matchup for the Lakers. It wasn't just a matter of LeBron and Luca and Austin all dealing with certain injuries, even though those injuries did make a difference. Like the Lakers are a good team. Good is not nearly good enough in this Western conference. And again, we will see what actually happens during the offseason.

Starting point is 00:18:46 But said it before, I'll say it again. I found it very striking how out on a limb. Rob went when it came to saying there's going to be action this off season and we are going to be in the middle of it. Like Rob could have gone into somewhere between under promising and over delivering, which he sometimes does or tries to do or hints at the assets that they have, but not necessarily action that's coming with it. This was a promise of action that Rob rarely goes to. Well, it was on top of though, because he did do it the year before. He was like, you know, well, we didn't, we didn't remember the trade deadline previous. He was like, oh, we didn't do anything because we're going to keep it, keep our assets because it's going to be even bigger in the summer.

Starting point is 00:19:36 We're going to have more flexibility to be able to do more things and all that kind of stuff. Kind of pass the buck that way to the summertime. This was less passing the buck more. We are going to do something. Right. That's what I'm saying. But like he set up an expectation. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:50 Last summer that the Lakers were going to be due. something and they didn't and the backlash from it was really strong like Lakers fans were ticked the the thing about it though is the landscape we whenever there is a player like Yannis that is potentially available things stop a lot stops and you know so we'll see like it could be a situation where you know maybe the big stuff goes slowly, which actually, I think, could benefit the Lakers because they're probably not in the big stuff business unless you maybe start throwing Austin Reeves into the picture. Probably depends on how you define big stuff.

Starting point is 00:20:36 Is Daniel Gafford, you know, quote unquote, a big move? It is for the Lakers. You know, it's not an all-star name. The Lakers should be able to get Daniel Gafford without including Austin Reeves. I'll be honest. Well, no, I understand that. But I just mean teams are, what we've seen year after years, oftentimes when there are big names on the market, nothing shakes loose across the whole thing until that stuff is done. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Starting point is 00:21:06 But it also got me thinking about the conversation we were having about Reeves, the way that this lottery and the sort of the continued arms race in the Western Conference. is escalating and so we can get in that next. Walked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul. The NBA playoffs are in full swing. Every night delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts, can't miss moments. And whether it's a game-winning shot or breakout player, there has never been a better chance to get in on the action.

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Starting point is 00:22:12 place your first $5 bet, just something really obvious and easy. Because if it hits, you get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more. Fandul and official sports, betting partner of the NBA. So, I mean, I think you're, I think you're right. I mean, you've got to figure the Lakers would have understood what they were looking against because, you know, I know something I've been thinking about and you know, you kind of touched on it in the last segment, Andy, it's like Minnesota was a bad matchup. Denver was a bad matchup.

Starting point is 00:22:49 Like you keep running in a bad matchup. So there's also clearly something wrong with your team. And I realize it's two different teams and they're hard to compare. But, you know, at some point you have to look at your roster to be like, are we continuing to have certain deficiencies, certain weaknesses or certain things that we're bringing out every year that good teams in the playoffs can exploit? And so when I look at it like the Reeves question, my position, and we'll get more into this again on Wednesday because some of the comments and stuff that we got on the

Starting point is 00:23:23 on the YouTube page for Monday's show were really great. But my thinking was you can improve the Lakers enough to keep that core around. You have to shore up the areas that need help. You need a little more athleticism on the wing. You need, obviously, you need center help if you're going to keep those three guys and all that. Well, you need center help if you're not going to keep. You need center help anyway. Right.

Starting point is 00:23:50 I need regardless. You can shore up. up certain things because I you know people like you're being too hard on Reeves defensively I don't think Reeves is a terrible defender I think he's a very hardworking defender with some limitations and those limitations can be made worse depending on who he's playing next to yeah and so we both said we don't think Luca is as bad of defenders as his reputation correct you know but again depending on who he is teamed up with along with the reality that he's even if Luca is not as bad as his reputation,

Starting point is 00:24:26 at least in terms of what we saw with the Lakers, he is not somebody who is going to elevate your defense. Neither of them are plus. Neither of them are plus defenders. And so, and that's fine. And that you can, you can get by with it.

Starting point is 00:24:38 But again, it depends on who else is around. And so I'm not looking to trade Reeves, but what I think, the language coming out of El Segundo has always been, Reeves is untouchable. Reeves is untouchable, Reeves is untouchable. And I think the events of the lottery on Monday really do reinforce that he can't be.

Starting point is 00:25:05 You can't make a player that has value around the league when you have holes that you have to fill untouchable. The Lakers, if you can get a player of equivalent talent that fits your rights, roster better and fills needs more. Yeah, I think you've got to make a thing. I'm not looking to trade Rui. Trading Rui Hachamura potentially opens up holes in what you're doing. You want shooters around Luka, for example. But if you can trade Rui and fill a hole that's actually bigger than that one,

Starting point is 00:25:46 then you need to trade Rui. Like they just have to be open to everything. nothing should be off the table. They have to be open to everything, but the reality is Austin Reeves is not good enough to be untouchable in the first place. And I think the organization, I've talked about this before.

Starting point is 00:26:03 At times, I think Austin's contract has been too good for the Lakers' own good. Because it's such a, for his production in this NBA, he's a bargain. Like he absolutely is even if you think. Oh, it's like a staggering bargain. Right.

Starting point is 00:26:19 even if you think the national and local consensus on Austin Reeves overrates him. Fine. I'm not even looking to go down that debate. It is inarguable that for his salary, his production, absolute bargain. But I think there were times where the Lakers were so attached to that bargain and the flexibility that it did, at least theoretically, provide them for adding other pieces, that it made Austin a bit too high. untouchable or too close to untouchable. I also think they like the story of Austin Reeves and they're part of the story with Austin Reeves. Sure. You know, this is an organization that, I mean, they're not alone like this. All organizations like when they have these sorts of stories and the

Starting point is 00:27:06 victory laps. And he's really good. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. They, they, they don't love the story simply because he's adorable or something. He's helpful out on the court. But there's no world in which Austin Reeves should be untouchable in the first place. I mean, like, my God, if Luca Donchich can get traded, even if it seems inexplicable that he did, if that can even happen, the idea that Austin Reeves would be untouchable is nonsensical. It's also, too, and this is where this is going to be the sort of the other component of the target. we're not going to get far enough into it. And we'll just keep the conversation going over the course of the week.

Starting point is 00:27:53 The money changes. And, you know, Reeves is about, you know, what is it, a year away from being able to. It's one, this is the last season before he can opt out. And, you know, when he does, he could, I think under the new CBA, it's something about, it's over 40 million he could get. I don't think he's necessarily going to get 40 something million dollars, although you never know. Like with what teams might have to spend and all that kind of stuff,

Starting point is 00:28:29 there are teams out there that may get close, especially if he has a really good year next year. But you're going to have to spend on him. The bargain aspect of it is going to go away. I don't necessarily think if he put out, you know, 26 and 6 again, if that becomes his baseline, you know, on a team with two other really good players, and you're still putting up, you know, those kinds of numbers, you shoot around 40% from three, you get to the line, you do all that stuff. In today's NBA, yeah, that's a 35 to, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:01 $40 million player. I mean, like, that just, that's what we're doing. And the most, it should be noted. The most the Lakers can offer him for an extension this offseason is about $4 and 90. Like, That's the most because of- Which they'll offer and he'll say that. And if Austin will accept it, they will gladly take that because, A, it's still probably below market level, assuming Austin continues to play at this level. And then also, you have more control over Austin as a tradable asset moving forward. Oh, if that's about four 90s, like 22 and a half a year.

Starting point is 00:29:35 Yeah. That is for his production this season, that would still make him a relative bargain. Right. He would then have one of the best contracts again in the league. But nobody's expecting him to take that money. He's not going to do it. And so, nor should he. And so the problem with Reeves, it's a little bit like the problem with Gafford. And we'll get into the, you know, with him as we talk about it.

Starting point is 00:30:00 Or if you want to, you know, hop back in the wayback machine, part of the reason you wanted to trade, I really wanted to trade Andrew Bynum. It's not because he wasn't good. it's because that next contract could be problematic because you didn't want to be the guy who signed Andrew Bynum to, you know, a big deal because of the injury risk. Now, Reeves isn't the same injury risk, but the part about him being such a bargain isn't as a thing when he's being paid $39 million a year or $40 million a year. Now you really are having an impact on how else you can consider. construct your roster and what else can be around you and all that kind of stuff.

Starting point is 00:30:44 You have to, if you're not going to trade Reeves this offseason because you're unwilling to, not because the right deal doesn't come along. That's not what I mean. But because you're just, nope, we're not, like we love Austin too much. We're not willing to do it. Then you have to go into next season with the willingness to sign him for whatever it takes to keep him. Well, the other thing, too, is if Austin does not, as expect,

Starting point is 00:31:10 totally understandably, does not sign this extension that the Lakers can offer, the max for years, about 90 million, then Austin, to some degree, becomes a potential flight risk as well. Like, he is somebody that you have to think, no, it's true. No, I know. I just, I love, I just love the expression. Like, you have to think about the possibility that as an unrestricted free agent, depending on where the Lakers needs and finances are, who they may add this offseason, who gets extensions, LeBron's situation, like whatever, they may find themselves in a position where Austin either another team dramatically outbids them or Austin decides, you know what?

Starting point is 00:31:51 I want more of an opportunity that I'm not going to get with the Lakers. So they have to think about the idea of if he doesn't sign this extension, which totally, again, understandable, there could be ramifications from that. And then there's just that. That's what I was getting up. Like you have to be willing to say, if you're, if you're not willing to trade him because he's untouchable, because you just think he's too good, whatever, then you have to be willing to pay what is required. Right. But you can't make him sign a contract. Right. You can't, right. You can't guarantee that he'll be. But at the very least, you have to be willing to give him the money that, that, that it would take. And there's also, too, just that question of if the Lakers want to make dramatic,

Starting point is 00:32:38 Upgrades beyond just the idea of adding a far better center than Jackson Hayes, for example. But Nick Claxton has been very logically connected to the Lakers for a while. I would be stunned if conversations between the Lakers and Brooklyn don't take place this offseason. The Lakers should be able to get Nick Claxton without giving up Austin Reeves. But like when we talked about that piece that Bill Plashky wrote for the other times about the reasons the Lakers need to trade Austin Reeves. He mentioned you can't get Janus. Were that even a possibility, which Bill even acknowledged, probably not.

Starting point is 00:33:16 But were it a possibility. You can't do that without Austin Reeves, which Bill is correct. He also mentioned you're not going to be able to get Joel Embed without including Reeves. We both don't want them to go in that direction. But the point being, the space between somebody at the level of Nick Claxton, who is a good center, not likely to end up an all-star in his career, not likely to end up any awards, but he's good. The space between Nick Claxton and a Janus Embed-level player, somewhere in between that space,

Starting point is 00:33:53 that may be the point of delineation, Austin Reeves or no Austin Reeves. And if you are only willing to stay on the side of no Austin Reeves, I would argue you are either not serious about upgrading this roster or you truly believe in Austin Reeves in his talent and also believe that Austin Reeves will never leave. It's a, it's just a fascinating day in the NBA. It's an interesting time the Lakers are in. They've got a unique set of problems with a unique core of players at the right now where, you know, you look at it and you could picture these guys being together for a couple more years. You can picture the whole thing being different in, you know, in 18 months. So plenty to continue talking about. We will continue with this Reeves question,

Starting point is 00:34:45 responding to some of the comments, get into some of the other remaining issues about it, but also, too, it's like this is a huge, huge, huge, huge deal in the NBA. What just happened on Monday with the draft lottery. Lock on Lakers on YouTube's where you can go, by the way, congratulations Nick Engstead. Yes. And our friends. If only Cooper Flag was Slovenian, then Nick could really res- I'm not joking. I'm not joking. I actually did a maybe five-minute Google search trying to basically Cooper Flagg

Starting point is 00:35:20 ethnicity heritage because I want to make sure that that kid does not even have like 1% Slovenian heritage because I'm sorry, Nick. I'm sorry, Isaac. I'm sorry biased. We're not giving you back our Slovenian family. They're our friends. Yeah, like the people that we all said Zradrabo to. These are our people now.

Starting point is 00:35:43 My grandfather traveled near Slovenia during the war. No, no, no, no. All that came up was white American, which I could have told you. I'm not joking. Every single search that I came up. That is coincidentally, also the cheese that we get for grilled cheese sandwiches for our children at Ralph's every week, white American. They have a lot in common.

Starting point is 00:36:05 Locked on Lakers on YouTube again, 35,000 subscribers talking about cheese, talking about draft lotteries, talking about potential off-season trades. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - How the NBA Draft Lottery Impacts the Lakers: Mavs Gets #1 Pick, Spurs #2

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