Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Offseason Breakdown! Good Free Agency Work for Rob Pelinka?

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

July is nearing a close, which makes it a good time to take stock of the work Rob Pelinka has done since free agency began. Has the Lakers' roster sufficiently improved when evaluated against realistic expectations? What moves could (or should) Pelinka have made instead of adding (thus far) Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Adou Thiero, and (a re-signed) Jaxson Hayes? Does his approach offer room for more growth and (just as importantly) creativity? To discuss this and more (including the case for LeBron James being best situated to win a title by staying in L.A.), Andy welcomes Harrison Faigen (SBNation, Silver Screen and Roll). Segment 1: Evaluating Rob Pelinka's offseason Segment 2: More on Pelinka's moves, plus the whole "2027 plan" reports. Segment 3: Andy and Harrison discuss why LeBron's best chance at winning a title may be with the Lakers.) Monarch Money Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Right now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL 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)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

up and thanks for joining Locked on Lakers for a Wednesday, Andy Kaminetsky and special guest, Harrison Fagan from SB Nation. What should Laker fans make of the Lakers offseason so far? We'll get into that and much more coming up next. You are Locked on Lakers, your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. And thanks for making Locked on Lakers your first listen every day, Monday through Friday. always free, never behind a paywall, wherever you get your podcast. And there's also Lockdown Lakers on YouTube for the Sickos who like to watch a community of over 36,000 subscribers coming together, watching the show really funny, engaged, smart group of people, often leaving comments, which we try to use in the show, make your voices part of the programming. However, you're

taken in Locked on Lakers, we appreciate it very much. My brother, Brian, and co-host is on vacation this week. So today sitting in with me is Harrison Fagan of SB Nation. You know his work for years at Silver Screen and Roll, his pop-ins on the Lakers Launch podcast hosted by Anthony Irwin. You can follow them on Twitter, HM Fagan, a great source of Lakers info for years. Harrison, man, how are you? I'm doing well. I mean, really, if we think about it, you're the special guest. I helped found this podcast. That is true. So, you know, like I am. I am. the podfather. You're the ongoing special guest. Well, I mean, if we really want to unpeel the layers of this onion, Brian and I were first podcasting at like ESPN and other outlets well before it was

fashionable. And quite frankly, I'm not going to say when David Locke was still in diapers, because he's older than me, I think. But we really laid. I might have still been in diapers. We sadly you might have been. We we really laid the groundwork for David Locke to build a network which included the house that you built that Brian and I eventually took over. Yeah. You laid the you laid the foundation for the house. Exactly. Exactly.

We what we created the germ of an idea for David Locke to frankly, if we're going to just torture this house metaphor. He built a real estate empire. and your home, the home that I guess you and Anthony built, you and Anthony Irwin, that became the first house and then Brian and I eventually took it over. But as much as it would be great to fill 30 minutes worth of house metaphors, let's get into the actual... We're not in August yet, so we don't have to do that. That's true. We're not desperate enough.

That is August, or at least until Eurobasket, whatever that is, starts. I want to talk about the Lakers offseason, which may not be completely done, but at least via free agency, the Lakers moves, likely made unless Rob Polinka opts not to keep an open roster spot, which typically does. Dorian, Finney Smith, Sheikh Milton, Jordan Goodwin, Alex Len, Keith out. DeAndre Aiton, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Du Tiero, and a re-signed Jackson Hayes in. What do you make of the work Rob Polinka has done with July about to close? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, this is a sentence that I've said many times and then it ends up blowing in my face, up in my face. But I think you have to hand it to Rob in this case.

And, you know, I will say I was critical of Rob at the start of the off season. And as LeBron, I don't think LeBron's maybe clapping yet. I don't know. It's like, can we find a clip of like Luca clapping? I don't, you know, it's work on that while I'm, uh, that's close enough. I was critical of Rob when the offseason started and the initial sort of thing was, you know, hey, they signed Jake La Ravia, nice player, you know, all that stuff. But then it's like all this stuff is coming out about how they sort of completely maybe botched

the Dorian Finney Smith negotiations. And I was, my red flag sort of went off, not because I think Dorian Finney Smith is irreplaceable, but because I was like, well, that's like Luca's probably best friend on the team. You know, maybe Maxie Kleber, I don't know. but either way, like probably not a guy that you want to leave with a ton of hard feelings and bad things to say about you on the way out the door, I guess unless Luca understands, this is a business, and Dorian Finney Smith getting four years or, you know, really he got two years, but Dorian Finney Smith getting like two to three years did not make a ton of sense if you're

trying to rebuild the roster on the fly when he's age, you know, 32 or whatever he is. And that maybe, you know, if you can trade out Dorian Finney Smith for Jake La Jolla, DeAndre Aiton and Marcus Smart, you know, that's something that maybe Luca can get behind, even if, you know, is sort of cold and calculating as that would be. But he's a competitor and he knows how this works. You're actually hitting on something that I've talked about a lot during the offseason. Just the idea that in a perfect and I think well-run world, Rob is not guessing how Luca's going to feel about this stuff, because Rob is in communication with Luca and with Bill Duffy and just taking his temperature on a lot of this stuff,

which is not me saying that I think Luca would be cavalier about the idea of Dorian Finney Smith, one of his close friends, leaving the Lakers on bad terms, if that is ultimately what happened. But more just the idea of they should not be trying to read Luca's mind or like, you know, you often hear this refrain of, well, the Lakers can't possibly do X during free agency or why. or like they can't sit pat here because they've got this extension coming up with Luca and, you know, they got to dazzle him. Like my thought is always, they should know how Luca feels about all this stuff. And based on the fact that Luca reportedly played a role in, you know, recruiting DeAndre

Aiton Martin's certain Marcus Smart, it seems like he is on board with what they're doing because he's actually participating in what they're doing. Yeah, Luca is, we're going to find out if Luca is like the coldest dude alive, if he does not sign the extension and he's like, yeah, that's right. I recruited you all here, but I don't know if I want to commit. I mean, it's the best option for you guys. It doesn't mean it's the best option for me. I have a lot more options than you do.

And so you guys are way more pathetic than me. Yeah, he's like, look, you're not as good as me. And, you know, he'd be right. I sort of assume that Bill Duffy has moved into the, if not literal, but figurative office that Rich Paul held at the Lakers facility. and it's, you know, sort of one of those things where it, you know, they're aware, they're being made aware of every single thing that the Lakers are doing and, you know, are potentially, given how many Bill Duffy clients they're signing, like potentially

signing off on that. Which of the offseason acquisitions are you most excited about and why? You know, I'm honestly, it feels gross to say this, but Mark is smart just because I do, like he is. Why does it feel gross? Long time Celtic, you know, it's just like, it's the type of guy that like, you know, again, it's the cliche of like you would hate him if he was not on your team, but you love him when he's on. Like, I love those guys, though.

It's like card carrying Pat Bev Hater for almost the entirety of his NBA career, except for like the four months he was with the Lakers when I found him hilarious. And so I love a good troll. This will not surprise anyone listening to the podcast or you, Andy. And so I am excited about the Marcus Smart experience and seeing like not just like what shenanigans he can get into on the court. But, you know, if he can stay healthy, that is theoretically like exactly the type of guy that the Lakers need and could use to have around Luke and to make the team a little bit more versatile. You know, and it's just honestly, part of this is the, you know, the dearth of options. Because even though I said, you know, trading out the, if you're trading out DFS for Aten, LaRavia and smart, that's a good trade. it doesn't mean that I'm like hyped about the DeAndre Aten era.

I think there's a lot of ways that that can go wrong and, uh, and very well might. And Jake La Ravia, you know, I'm just going to be honest. Like we'll have to see him play. Like I'm not, I'm not going to claim to be a Jake La Ravia X. I apologize. I was not familiar with your game. Yeah, exactly. Like if he's good, I'm going to be like, wow, I knew it the whole time.

That was I said that was under the radar signing. And then if he's bad, I'm going to be like, you know what? This is why I didn't watch film on that guy. I'm not interested. I, you got to prove it. to me, you got to prove you know how to win as a Laker, you know. What it means to be a Laker. I, by the way, speaking of Marcus Smart, I've actually seen some NBA pundits saying that they

think the Lakers would have been better off just keeping Jordan Goodwin, who they ultimately had to waive to create the biannual, full biannual exception to have the room for Marcus Smart. like Jordan Goodwin has kind of been Marcus Smart light so far in his career, but he's younger. He is seemingly less injury prone, at least potentially more room to grow does a lot of the same things. Do you buy that train of thought? No, I understand it because Marcus Smart has played like, I think it's what, like 57 games

the last two or three seasons. You know, he just has not been available. And some of that was at the end of last year, he was on the tanking wizards and they're like, Marcus, you know, your hand nail, not looking too good, buddy. I think you got to sit down. And so some of that, and like the Grizzlies were tanking for a good chunk of when he maybe would have come back for them. And so there's definitely some noise in that stat, but he certainly has not been available. And he was a guy that got hurt a fair amount in Boston too.

And so part of that is like, you know, we used to talk about with Caruso, the reason the coaching staff would always say they couldn't play him more than like 20 minutes a game or whatever was because they're like, this guy is going to kill himself if he is playing that hard for that long. And I feel like Mark is smart as a guy that almost might need those sort of gloves on his minutes where it's like, you know, dude, if you're going to play this hard, you are not going to hold up like into your 30s, you know, at this level of effort. And so that's why we have, you know, a bunch of guard options, like some wing options to rotate in for you. But he is the type of guy that, you know, again, I think would be very fun to root for if he does turn out to be good. And I think the Lakers have just been sort of missing that kind of dog to be that loud in the locker room. I think that he's a guy who absolutely will not be afraid to call out LeBron. And I also think that it would be incredibly satisfying if Celtics fans' beloved, you know, favorite son ended up contributing to a Lakers title in some former fashion. It would be incredibly fun to witness. Coming up, I want to get more into the offseason, in particular what Rob Polinka has done, has not done, should be doing. That'll be coming up also, interesting piece up at Silver Screen and Roll about LeBron and the Lakers that we're going to get into. so that is all coming up next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul.

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So just pick something super obvious. Open the Fandul app today or visit Fandall. to get started. All things being equal and I think realistic, I think it's been a pretty strong offseason for Rob when you consider the limited means for upgrading the roster, not a ton of cap space, not a ton of coveted assets. Like the Lakers managed to get better without completely emptying the cupboard for reasons that could be good, could be bad.

We can get into that. But I asked you, if you would ask me before free agency began, if this was even possible, I would have been doubtful. Like just in terms of what has happened so far this offseason, A, do you think the team is better than when it ended after the first round of the playoffs against the wolves? And how much of this is more than you just expected to see take place? Yeah. So this is a little bit of a cop out.

but I think it remains to be seen if better because we have to see the biggest factor in that is not the offseason additions. It's how engaged is LeBron and how bought in is LeBron after the Lakers, you know, sort of, you know, had this contract snafu with him that we're going to discuss in a minute. But, you know, and also, frankly, can LeBron keep up this level? I know we talk about this every offseason and then every off season he does. But, you know, at some point he's not going to. And so whether or not the team is better, I think is very much TBD and is like that that's the biggest fact. there. But again, like, to go back to your point of like, I wouldn't have thought this was possible, you know, the Lakers, some of these guys were guys that were being talked about potentially

trading assets for. And the Lakers, to be able to get DeAndre Aiton for free is a good move. I would have been extremely upset if the Lakers had traded like Rui Hachamura for him because like, again, like I just, I would not be giving up assets for that guy when he is proven to be this unreliable. But if you can sign him for free, of course, go do it. You know, Jake Luravia, good under the radar side. Every NBA nerds favorite player seemingly, except mine. I have not watched him. And then like Marcus Smart, again, like a good buy low candidate on a buyout. Like I would not have wanted the Lakers to trade for Marcus Smart. But even if you, you know, I've seen some people talking about, you know, you gave up, Dorian, you gave up, you know, a boatload of second round picks and

DiAngelo Russell for Dorian Finney Smith at the deadline. But like, if you're even to just go back and do the math of like, would you have given up DeAngelo Russell and three second round picks to go and make the moves that the Lakers did this offseason? Like, I think a lot of people would have said, yes, they would have traded DeLoe in three seconds for Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, and DeAndre Ait. Yeah, I mean, that is one way of looking at it. And to be fair to Rob, even if, I mean, I don't know the exact timeline of

when CoffeeGate took place between Rob and Nico and when that matched. They're keeping it close to the vest. Right. And, you know, when that matched up to the trade for DFS and all that. like Luca, Luca being part of this team added an element of change that I'm not sure Rob could have completely planned for when he made the DFS deal. And, you know, as much as, I mean, Brian and I have been,

and I know you and you have been as well, like critical of Rob for not being particularly good at managing assets. And I think they've let a lot walk out the door. I think they've used too many as sweeteners to, essentially correct their own mistakes or sometimes like in the example of the rust trade, forget just the rust trade. The most inexplicable part of that may have been that the Lakers were sending out a first round pick in that deal.

Like I remember when I kept reading all these different reports, I'm like, they all must be wrong. Like there's no way that they're sending, they're getting a pick, right? Like, like, which was insane to me. But every single transaction can't be just through the lens of, asset management, you know, particularly when you hear from a lot of Laker fans who want to see them just go all in, push all the chips in the middle, that in and of itself means you have to have a certain amount of reckless abandonment towards the assets. You know what I mean? Like it can't be

both ways. There's not that many assets to push into the table right now, which I think is part of the thing. Like we could, we'd be talking out of both sides of our mouths, which as podcasters, we do all the time. But like, if we, you know, if we were saying, Rob, you've done a terrible job managing assets, but also Rob, you should throw in assets to upgrade this team that we're not sure that there's like a move on the table to make them a title contender with a trade. And so I think what he is trying to do pretty clearly. And this is sort of obvious through the leaks. And it's obvious if you just are like looking at what they're doing is they're trying to build out for next summer and trying to prepare themselves for like a potential trade demand next summer or at least to have a more

picks able to be used when Luca's theoretical future co-star demands to be. move via trade. And so like the whole cap space thing, I think is like a little bit of a ruse of like, you have to have the ability to sign the guy to make it a credible threat to the team and get them to trade him to you. But this is how star players move now is in trades and you have to be able to put an offer on the table to where they can say, well, you know, we got multiple first round picks for Janus. You know, he was going to leave. Well, okay, it's interesting you bring. I planned on mentioning this anyway, but like the reported 2026 or even 2027 plan where the Lakers are refusing to take on any long-term money because they're saving cap space for

Janus or Yokic or Superstar X, like the grand star effery that we've come to expect from the Lakers. And I would never put it too far past this organization to be that myopic in the way that they see roster building. And, you know, there is a track record for that. But I've also made this point many times in the show. I'm taking these reports. with a pretty big grain of salt because they honestly feel conveniently stupid to me. Like there's, it's such a ridiculous plan. Like the idea of basically sitting on two years of Lucas Prime and crapping it away because of the potential of locking up Janus from age 33 to 36.

Like it feels conveniently dumb. And to be honest, it also isn't something we really started hearing until. after Rich Paul's statement that made it clear that they were not happy with things going on with the team right now. So felt a little bit connected to me. But beyond that, though, regardless of how you feel about that as a plan, good, bad, whatever, there still has to be a move that they theoretically should be making, could be making right now all in.

And for all the criticism of this reported plan, I honestly don't know what they would be doing. otherwise. Like I've yet to see anybody bring up who they should be going all in for and they're refusing to or seeing somebody that moved that the Lakers could have gone in all in for and should have and I guess didn't. Like it's beyond the whole Rob Polinka, you can't buy a house that isn't for sale thing. It's like you can't buy a house that doesn't exist. Yeah. And that's why David Locke has to build it from scratch on the foundation set by the Kamenetsky. others. Exactly. Like, I'm not trying to cape up for raw. I mean, our no, I agree. I don't know what he's supposed to be doing right now instead of this. That was sort of why I was fairly myopic

going into the offseason of, you know, I don't know what this team does to make itself better with its current assets. Like, like maybe, yeah, not to say that they couldn't have gotten better. They could make themselves a little better, but better enough for it to actually matter and for them to put them into the title contention case. And it's like, you know, there are people bandying around like, you know, DeAndre Aten, trade ideas, all that stuff. I'm like, I'm not like giving up assets to go and trade for, and like, and then the, it's not just the asset cost. You could think DeAndre Aten is worth a first round pick if you're looking sort of pie in the sky, but it's, it's not just that you're using a first round pick on him. It's that

you don't have that first round pick to stack on top of other first round picks down the line. And that's the real opportunity cost there of, you know, just saying, oh, well, why can't you just throw in, you know, a pick for Walker Kessler or whatever? And it's like, well, does Walker Kessler get you all the way there. And I think the thing that maybe you could criticize Rob for, if you're going to, is, you know, sort of the thing that you touched on of that, you know, there's just a distinct lack of creativity sometimes. You know, you, you talked about like the star effery of like, hey, we're going to punt two years to like to like sign Janus in 27 or whatever. Obviously, that's not their actual sort of plan A is to punt the fully punt the next

two years and then hope to sign Janus. But it is, you know, they're the only team that we hear about like, oh, well, they're afraid to take on money on their long-term books because, like, they need to have the highest number possible for 2027. And it's like, we see teams take on salary all the time and then move that salary out the door. And so I think if you were going to be critical of Rob for something, it's sort of the lack of creativity in terms of being willing to take on long-term money that you can then flip in a

trade or, you know, aggregate together in a trade with other guys to. to, you know, and assets to, you know, sort of free up that cap space down the line or use that person as salary ballast in the eventual trade you want to make or those sorts of things. It's like, it's almost like, you know, like, well, we can only do this if we have the cap space. And it's like, well, that's not the only avenue to talent acquisition. No, it's a very 2007 way of going about building teams and clearly not in the direction the league is going. could that potentially be a reason that LeBron is theoretically or seemingly unhappy, unsatisfied with the direction of the team? And is LeBron actually wrong about it?

There's an interesting piece up at Silver Screen and Roll that I know you wanted to discuss Harrison. So we're going to get into that coming up next. All right. So Darius Soriano, co-host of Lakers Film Room, friend of the show, awesome podcast, by the way, Lakers Film Room. I don't love promoting the competition, but I've said many times. There's is really awesome. He wrote a piece for Silver Screen and Roll about despite all of the consternation about the relationship between LeBron and the Lakers and drama that I think a lot of people are expecting for what it's worth. I don't think it's going to happen.

The Lakers might actually be LeBron's best chance for winning another title. you thought this piece was worth discussing. Why? Because I think that it's an interesting viewpoint and it's something that I thought that Darius espoused the other day that like I haven't seen talked about a whole lot. There's been, you know, as he got into a lot of talk of, oh, LeBron, you know, because of the Rich Paul statement. And this is again, this is not, this has not been inflicted upon LeBron and, you know, Rich Paul and whatever. Like they, you know, it's one of those like our statement is leading to lots of questions that we don't want to answer that weren't answered by the statement. And so, you know, they've done this to the, to a certain degree. And I think some of that was to put pressure on the Lakers to go and make moves and whatever, they felt like it was their only option. But, you know, for all the idea of the Lakers are building for the future and we understand that and whatever, it's like, show me the destination for LeBron where he has a better chance to win right now the next to Luca Donchich. You know, it's like, it's there, you know, especially an organization that would have to send out 50 plus million dollars in salary for him, you know, while he has a no trade call.

So he can try and, you know, say, like, let's just say theoretically it's the calves or whatever they got under the second apron and they were able to aggregate contracts. It's like he could say, no, I want to play with Jared Allen. I don't want to get traded there for him and Darius Garland. Like, I don't want you to use all those assets on getting me. I want you to use those assets on getting me more help once I'm there. And so, you know, a team would have to gut itself so much salary-wise to make room for LeBron that it's like they're really, I don't think unless the Lakers were willing to just say, hey LeBron, you brought us a title in 2020, we're buying you out of this contract because we just feel like we owe that to you as a star who picked us when you didn't have to and we just want to do right by you. Barring that where he can just go pick and play wherever he wants, I don't see a realistic path to a better contention situation than the Lakers are right now for him.

And so I think that all of this sort of, you know, drama, you know, shot subtle, passive aggressive, whatever stuff. You could say we're reading too much into it. You could say, you know, not enough, whatever. But I think all of this is coming from the fact that this is a 40-year-old man who has never experienced not being someone's priority before and is sort of lashing out in some respects and reacting like you would expect someone who has never experienced rejection like that before to act. And just being like, well, wait, hold on. You're saying you'd rather just have me leave next summer than lock me in for another potential year. Like you don't, wait, you're calling Luca about the moves now and not, I didn't, I didn't get. a call about DeAndre Aiton.

Yeah. Okay. There's a lot in there and a lot in there that I think you've hit on that I agree with. First of all, the idea that the Lakers would buy out LeBron right now is just frankly insane. Like there is zero reason for them to do that. It would be one thing if he was just on a long-term deal. It's another thing when you opt in to the money. And then you're like, hey, can you pay me this to go play somewhere else?

And it's like, no, you just opted in. That's what the opt-in was for. You opted into this team. Now, what I would say, and I've said this before, if say the season was just for whatever reason not going well, and by January, you know, they're a 500-ish team kind of sputtering around. And it's very clear. Like the season is going nowhere special. At that point, I would not, if he wanted out, I wouldn't even buy out LeBron. I would weigh them.

And I would let him keep every dime as he goes to whatever team is eligible to bring him in as, you know, a buyout candidate. there are certain teams that can't because of aprons, yada, yada, yada, yada. But that would be how I think the Lakers could and frankly should do right by LeBron in terms of the championship, what he's meant to the league, all of that stuff. Like I think LeBron has earned that. But the idea that you would, out of respect to LeBron, after he opted into this deal, essentially cut off your own season at the knees with like $40-something million worth of dead money, is crazy. I mean, just that would just be stupid and honestly spineless. Like you be,

there is no justification. The only argument for it is does that get a star, does that get the next star to demand their way to you when they see that you just sort of were working with him as a true partner and you were like, hey, you don't like it here. We're willing to pay you all this money to go away. That's how much we love you. No. I mean, if I'm another star, I'd look at them and go, they're willing to make their team worse with another star in his prime. like this was a 50 win team match. Like I would look at that as just that's bad front office work. Like yeah.

So to your point, I don't think there's really anywhere else for at least right now, LeBron to realistically go that could be better. I do think there is something to the idea of this being the first time where LeBron has not been kind of the center of the universe in a basketball existence, probably since he was like 13, 12 years old. Like, and it's, it's not even so. Not to go too deep on the psycho analysis, but he's even an only child. Like, he never had a sibling where they were winning like an argument or being

or like winning over him on like for resources. Yeah. I mean, I, I don't, I don't want to go too far down the, the rabbit hole of LeBron's psyche in ways that I'm frankly not qualified to do. But no, I'm just going to say you and I as people with siblings. more selfless than the brawn. Like we've known what it's like to lose a family argument, you know, and not get what you want.

You might, Harrison. I don't. Not with my siblings. I don't actually know what that's like at all. Perhaps your siblings better competition than mine. I have not. But like, you know, this is a totally, I think, if I had to guess, I mean, speculation, you know, not anything.

source, but just like the idea of having a reasonably good idea of, I think, how LeBron has approached stuff from covering him for several years, respecting him as somebody that can evaluate a basketball situation. I don't think LeBron would look at this team and say that it's trash. Lukia Donchich is one of the few players in the league that I think the general consensus is better than LeBron. Like, there are not many in the league. Even LeBron, closing it on age 41. There are not many players better than him. Luca is one of them.

So the idea that you'd be playing with one of the few players in the league better than you and probably the only team you could realistically get to that has a player better than you, like that he would ought to, you know, by all appearances and accounts, LeBron loves playing with Austin. Like, there's a foundation here. You know, he's taken Rui under his wing before. Like, he's worked with Rui in the offseason. Like, there's stuff here.

literal son is on the team. Yes, who, by the way, and it has been improving under the Lakers' watch. Like there is a lot from a basketball perspective for LeBron that may not be perfect. Like, it's not

perfect. And they're not front runners right now. But it's not trash either. I think this is more about LeBron like you said, kind of recognizing that things don't revolve around him in the way where he's the most important person.

Like, he's still important. I think the Lakers still consider him important. I don't think they're necessarily trying to run him out of the building, but not offering him the standard one plus one in perpetuity forever is new. And I think for what it's worth, the Lakers needed to do this because you can't properly plan with that type of uncertainty year after year after year. But it's not what LeBron is. used to. And I think some of the stuff that he's been doing, the messaging that he clearly

wants us to interpret it this way, these are just attempts at trying to regain leverage because he's used to having it. Yeah. And again, when has he ever not been, has the contract negotiation not been, LeBron, what do you want? Yeah. That's been, I mean, that, that's been, Rich Paul's been getting like a 10, 15% commission for, for just doing what LeBron wants, you know, for the last several. Obviously, he's proven himself a capable agent. Otherwise, I'm not saying, but it's like, they've never had to have a hard negotiation with LeBron's team specifically. And, you know, as far as like what the contract particulars, he's going to secure and all of that stuff is, because the stance until now has always been, of course, whatever you want. LeBron, like, yeah,

you want the max. You want to take a little less to help us get under the first apron? That's great. You want to take a little less to help us, you know, like sign other players under the cap. That's cool. You want the max? Okay, that's fine. We'll give you. the max too. Every single dollar we can give you. And like that's sort of been the status. You want to no trade clause? Sure. And, you know, I think that it's one of these things where it's honestly, like, I don't know how much negotiation even goes on there between LeBron and the Lakers where it's almost like, I think the message can be sent by almost the lack of negotiation where it's like, wait, you didn't proactively come to me and just say, hey, you want the one plus one, no trade clause, whatever.

It's like if it's not being offered, you know, they may feel like we also don't want to ask for this. Like, this is not something we've had to ask for before, and that's weird. Well, especially if you might get told no. I think they really do not want it to get out. And I understand why, like both for appearances, but also future negotiations, you don't want it getting out that you were told no. So I don't blame them. And what's ironic about all this Harrison is I think once the dust finally settles in the form of training camp and stuff like that, I don't expect there to be much drama. Like, I really don't. I also think that. LeBron, you know, what has LeBron been doing ever since the Lakers' 2020 title?

And even really since he got to the team, he's been trying to find a playmaker who can take the burden off of him. It was behind the Russell Westbrook move. It was behind the Dennis Schroeder move. It was behind the Lakers signing like Lance Stevenson and Michael Beasley and like a million other guys like, yeah. All of these moves have been about like, can LeBron find someone that allows him to get off the ball a little bit more? And then how it's always gone is by midseason, LeBron's like, that guy is not as good as me. I would like, to dribble the ball again. And, you know, this is really the first time where he's going to be able to look across and be like, you know what, that guy is at least as good of a playmaker

as I am. And so I, you know, I don't feel like I have to step in and sort of take back over the offense because DeAngelo Russell isn't getting it done. So, you know, I think that there is a very, there's an appealing enough basketball situation here to where you could think that, you know, once, you know, sort of your ego's massaged and you've had some time to deal with like that sort of like pseudo rejection, whatever, that you're able to look at this situation and go, you know, I can get behind this. Like you said, they're not going to be the favorites to win the title in Vegas. But, you know, look, we got Marcus Smart.

That's a guy that I feel like as a veteran I can go to war with. You know, we have Luca who's really good, you know, like DeAndre Aten is better than any center that we have. I don't know how enthused LeBron is about the DeAndra Aton signing. But like, given that he's close friends with Chris Paul. But, you know, it's like maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But either way, it would be hard for LeBron to look and be like, well, that guy's worse than Jackson Hayes. So it's, you know, they've clearly improved.

And, you know, there's room for them to continue to improve if this team plays well. And so I do see him. I'm with you that, like, I don't think that this is going to be something that drags into training camp. I mean, maybe he says something weird on media day or whatever and then, like, claims the media took him out of context and all of that. But like, I don't think that it's going to be something we're three weeks in. We're still like on LeBron buyout, LeBron trade, whatever watch. No, I mean, certainly I don't, you know, the idea of, well, would he show up to training camps?

I'm putting aside the fact that LeBron, I think he's also so professional. Like, I don't think he would do the holdout. That's, I was literally about to say that. I think LeBron is too professional. He's just, he's not wired to be that type of problem, but also too, he only has a couple seasons left. I think he would concede this. Are you really going to crap away one of them because your, your 50 win team isn't a 55 win team?

You know what I mean? Like it just, yeah, there'd be no point of it for LeBron. And to your point, I think he's too professional to do something like that in the first place.

It's too smart. And so he's competitive enough that he's going to get around these guys and feel like I have a chance. You know, whether or not we think that they have a chance to win a title, you know,

whatever, like when it all shakes out and how well they're, like he's going to see all these guys in training camp and say, you know what? Like, I have some guys that I can go to battle with and like, I,

who are you picking over us on any given night? And it's like, well, you know, maybe the Thunder, maybe a couple of these other teams, whatever. But LeBron's going to feel like he's not going to feel like the Thunder unbeatable. You know, he's not going to look at any team in the league and say with this roster that he couldn't beat them in a seven game series.

He is Harrison Fagan. He is with SB Nation, Silver Screen and Roll. You can check him out on the Lakers Lounge with Anthony Irwin. As always, man, appreciate the time. Thank you very much. No, it's always, it's always an honor to come back. And I'm always happy to fill in for Brian any time. I am always happy when you fill in for Brian as well.

All right, coming up for Thursday, we're going to do a DeAndre Aiton scouting report. Maybe Harrison can have his skepticism assuaged or amplified, depending on what Sean Hiken from the Rose Garden report and Mike Richmond from Lockedon Blazers have to say about Aiton. That's coming up for Thursday. Until then, again, listen to Lockdown Lakers, wherever you get your podcast. Check us out on YouTube and see everybody. on Thursday.