Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Finishes 4th in MVP Voting... Plus, Why Rui Hachimura Is a Complex Problem for the Lakers

Starting point is 00:00:00 Luca Donchich finishes fourth in MVP voting and will tell you why Rui Hachamura is the living embodiment of the complex choices. The Lakers have to make this offseason. That's 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 Lockedon Lakers, Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky. Hope everybody had a great weekend. And plenty to talk about this show and through the rest of the week,

Starting point is 00:00:39 including some intriguing thoughts about Rui Hachamura and where he fits in not only with the Lakers free agency this offseason, but also the rest of the league in a year where Rui had a really nice playoff in which he acquitted himself well, Andy, and it's a terrible, terrible year for free agents. And so he's going to get a lot of attention. We have one of the great backhanded compliments ever delivered by Dylan Brooks towards Jared Vanderbilt, which we'll cover maybe in this show, if not perhaps for the short show.

Starting point is 00:01:11 But we'll start here, Andy. Fourth place with a bullet for Luca Doncha, chief. I think you would agree. This is where I think most people expected him to finish in the MVP voting after it was released on Sunday. but Luca, a very, very distant third place. The surprise here, I think, for a lot of... I'm sorry, fourth place. The surprise here, I think, for a lot of people,

Starting point is 00:01:39 was that Yokic finished ahead of Wembe, but Luca and fourth, I think, is what most people were expecting. Yeah, and it is for what it is worth, what we tried to prepare our audience for for at least a few weeks, certainly once it was announced that the final were SGA, who ended up, not surprisingly, winning his second straight MVP, Yokic and Wembe, that Luca was in all likelihood going to be in fourth. We both would have been, frankly,

Starting point is 00:02:10 pretty stunned if he was not in fourth. He finished with one second place vote, eight third place votes, 64th place votes, and 23 third place, yeah, 23 fifth place votes. He did not receive a single first place vote. Kate Cunningham, who finished fifth, got two first place votes, but less than half of the overall points that Luca got. So, as you said, it was kind of distant between Luca and Wembe for third and fourth, but also pretty distant between Cunningham and Luca for fourth and fifth. what's funny about Yokic finishing ahead of Wembe, and I think in a lot of ways this speaks to fairly, unfairly, logically, illogically, however you want to put it,

Starting point is 00:03:00 but predictably why Luca finished fourth, if Luca had not gotten hurt, which A, in and of itself, hurt his MVP showing in a particularly tight year where you're going to be splitting hairs, Luca not playing in April, split those hairs against his favor for a lot of voters. But also, Luca finishing, I mean, Luca being injured along with Austin and the issues the Lakers had to deal with, that basically cut out at the knees any chance of getting the three-seed

Starting point is 00:03:35 and passing Denver. Had they have passed Denver, I actually think Yokic falls lower than Luca. I think actually Wembe ends up going to second Luca ends up going to third and Yokic goes to fourth. Were I to guess, I think that is a, if nothing else, a real possibility.

Starting point is 00:03:58 I guarantee there's going to be a lot of our listeners and viewers saying what effing difference should that make? I'm not saying it should. I'm just saying I've watched a lot of MVP voting over the years and where your team finishes, particularly for a guy like

Starting point is 00:04:14 Yokic, who has so much built in respect, I think it would have made a real difference, but Yokic's team finishing ahead of Luca's team, I think created a, I don't know if it's a reverse ripple effect or however you want to put it, but I think it played a big role in how a lot of these things shook out and for Luca. Yeah, I think too, just the the play of Yokic down the stretch was really good. I mean, the playoffs, he had certainly had by his standards a rough series, but up to that point, he, you know, his last 15 games were pretty insane helping Denver stay afloat.

Starting point is 00:04:59 I mean, they've had tons of injuries and this and that. To me, I look at it, like, Shea was going to win. I think everybody understood that. And, you know, short of the spurs passing the thunder, Shea was going to win this thing. Right. And again, I thought Wembe was going to finish second, not third. So I'm certainly not surprised to finish ahead of Luca. Yokic had, by his standards, some people thought like a tiny bit of a down year. But, you know, his numbers in, you know, again, averaging a triple double, averaging 57% from the floor.

Starting point is 00:05:36 So it's like I'm not getting, I'm not getting wrapped up in like this person deserves that that person doesn't because all of these guys are worthy candidates. I think the important thing from the Lakers perspective is that after a challenging last season where he's traded halfway through or the injuries are a problem and he's good with the Lakers but not great with the Lakers, he comes back, has the summer of Luka, does all of that stuff. And look, the hamstring thing at the end of the year sucks. it's something to monitor for sure.

Starting point is 00:06:14 But when Luca was on the floor, he was an MVP caliber player. It's sort of like being an All-Star. Only one guy can win it. That doesn't mean other people aren't playing MVP-level basketball. Because we all know what that looks like. There's a difference between, you know, All-Star and MVP candidate.

Starting point is 00:06:34 MVP candidate and like real MV? All of these things have tiers, and you can see them. And for the Lakers to have in their first year, Luca essentially leading this team to what would have been a three-seed, playing MVP-level ball after showing incredible dedication to get his body and mind in the best possible condition. That is a fantastic sign for the Lakers and a great first full season. It's everything you could ask for other than the bleepy luck at the end with the injury.

Starting point is 00:07:09 And not winning a championship, just because that's always the goal. Sure, but like, you know, but that wasn't going to. No, just when you said it's, sure, I don't disagree. I'm just saying when you said everything you would hope for for this season with the Lakers. Yeah, I mean, everything you would hope for. I guess I had already self-edited out the idea that they were going to win a title this year. So.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Right. Sure. But the bottom line is it was a good season for Luca combined with the fact that he has said on many, many occasions. He is happy here. I think he is used to being here. I think he's comfortable now with being a Laker. He helped recruit DeAndre Aiton and Marcus Smart during the offseason. I expect that he will, to the levels that he thinks are appropriate and or necessary,

Starting point is 00:07:57 be trying to keep key players around next season or recruit new faces. I think he takes the idea of being the franchise face of the Lakers very seriously. It's something that I think he enjoys being. I think it's also just this is something we insisted to a lot of our listeners and viewers, and we saw from the comments section or people hitting us up on Twitter at Cambrothers, some skepticism or people being on the lookout for media that doesn't like Luca or whatever. We've said this is, Luca was a lock for first team all NBA. this showing for MVP reinforces dude is going to make first team all NBA.

Starting point is 00:08:45 He absolutely should be. It's why it was important that the league ultimately made the exceptions for him and Kate Cunningham because I think both of them put up worthy seasons. And it's ridiculous that playing 62 games or 63 games or 64, whatever it is, versus 65, would, would disqualify them for the honors that they clearly earned is just dumb. But he's going to be first team all NBA. And for what it's worth, because I know there's a lot of, I know there will be a lot of Laker fans who feel like it's disrespectful

Starting point is 00:09:26 that Luca didn't get at least one first place vote. And I understand. I understand it. But I mean, I don't get caught up in this stuff. But I understand it. I get it. And particularly if you are a Laker fan that is short for a fanatic, you're going to cape up for your guy.

Starting point is 00:09:43 I get it. If it's any comfort, nothing off the top of my head that I've ever seen an MVP voting was more disrespectful that in 2006 when Kobe, like Luca, led the team in scoring and in retrospect should have won MVP that year, I think the collective wisdom after 20 years is it should have been Kobe's. He finished fourth that year behind Nash who went back to back. LeBron, Dirk. Four, fine, whatever.

Starting point is 00:10:13 Kobe's team was the worst of the four. Someone left Kobe off their ballot. I remember that year. There was a voter who did not put Kobe on their ballot for that season. That may be the most disrespectful showing. Pretty bad. That was, I still remember it like 20 years later because it was like, wait, I kept double in triple checking this because I'm like there there's no way someone didn't put Kobe on their ballot like

Starting point is 00:10:42 people do weird things making yeah you first you know and you know best that turnaround you can sort of see it that turnaround the Detroit had although their you know season ended a little unceremoniously on Sunday you know he was the leader of this you know first seed in the eastern conference and blah blah blah it's a weird award uh luca I think finished where it's certainly respectable. I don't have a lot of problems with it. But it, again, it reinforces what the Lakers have, and I think what they can expect to have

Starting point is 00:11:18 at least the next few years going forward, which is a great sign for them. Rui Huchmur, Andy, how much money is he going to make? Because the bigger that number gets, the more complex things get for the Lakers. We'll explain next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by five-hour energy drink. If you've got a sweet tooth,

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Starting point is 00:14:01 are interested in, just changing the experience, but also you get access to the Discord channels, talk to other Lockdown Lakers fans. You can talk to other NBA fans from around the Locked on NBA network. So check it out, see if it's for you. If it's not, that's okay. We love you just the same. Keep experiencing the show as you do now. So, yeah, Andy, how much money Rui Hachamur makes is going to be a major, major consideration for the Lakers? Because in a season where the market is quite thin on players, and Rui is coming off of a

Starting point is 00:14:40 playoff where he made himself seem like a very appealing fellow to have around in, say, the springtime of an NBA calendar, how much money he makes is going to, in a lot of ways, dictate a ton of things that the Lakers can do, assuming they want to hold on to him. Yeah, you mentioned the playoffs, in particular, the playoff shooting. Rui's only had, isn't in his entire playoff experience, which, believe it or not, does include one season with the Wizards. They went to the playoffs one year. I believe they lost to the Sixers,

Starting point is 00:15:17 but that is actually a thing that happened. Rui only has one season where he shot below 48% from behind the arc. And by the way, one of the seasons that he shot above 48% was actually with the Wizards before he'd even established himself as a three-point shooter. The last three seasons, excuse me, Rui, the last two seasons, his splits overall 49% from the field, 48% in 25, and then 55, 57, this past playoffs, which is just insane. 55% from the field, 57% overall. The 2023 postseason where the Lakers went to the Western Conference finals overall,

Starting point is 00:16:05 Rui shot 56% from the field, 49% from behind the arc. And the last three regular seasons, Rui has shot 41% or higher from behind the arc, but also 51% or higher from the field. So there is a real consistency that has developed from Rui over the last few seasons that at this point, this is who he is. And, you know, Rui has faults and we'll talk about them. He is not a perfect player, although I do think he has. has at least improved in some of the areas that are considered weaknesses, namely defensively, I think he's gotten better. But the things that Rui is, yeah, I think overall Rui has become a better defender. He's not perfect. If nothing else, he takes it a lot more seriously and he tries.

Starting point is 00:16:56 Well, part of the problem too, in fairness to Rui, and this is something I think we're going to talk about in terms of the questions with bringing him back and why roster construction matters. He's often been asked by design because of the other players out there with him to guard guards or wings, like quick wings. Yeah, out of position or guard up. Guards. Guards centers, guard there. Yeah. I mean, he does get challenging assignments. There's no question. And that's not a fair or even realistic ask of him. But he's proven to be a very consistent, reliable player. He is.

Starting point is 00:17:35 predictable in the best and even weaker ways. He has also, I think, become a really important part of this team's culture. He is very well liked in the locker room, very well liked among teammates. I know the brass likes him a lot. So on paper, there are a lot of reasons to bring him back. But like we're going to talk about, there are also complications and questions that go along with it. I use this. I believe he is an independent.

Starting point is 00:18:04 It works independently. But Evans, is it cidery or citary? I don't really know. Not sure. It doesn't really matter for our purposes. I saw he put out a tweet on Sunday. The Rui is expected to make upwards of 20 million or more in the off season. And the point isn't to debate the number or his sourcing, whatever.

Starting point is 00:18:23 But I think a lot of the consensus sort of in Lakerie circles was that Rui, who made about 17-something this year, was not going to make more than that next year. It was not going to get a raise next year. Given how he performed consistently over the regular season as a legitimate three-point threat, given that the playoff performance is at this point, like you say, at the very least you can buy him as a guy who is not going to be afraid of the postseason.

Starting point is 00:18:55 And given that there aren't a lot of choices out there for teams that want to get better, the idea that he could now get a raise a modest one but you know go from 17 to 20 17 to 21 somebody could give him 3 and 60 is not crazy I don't think I think that's that that's not insane I mean if he signed for 15 somewhere wouldn't shock me either but you know three and you know three three three for 60 I think you know for the from the Lakers perspective though the idea that Rui could cost a little more next year that he did last year probably throws off, if not the internal accounting that they have now.

Starting point is 00:19:42 But if you go back to what the whiteboard looked like in November, I guarantee you they didn't have Rui on the whiteboard for more than he was earning now. Well, this is interesting too, because I remember Ruey is still, by the way, for those unaware, extension eligible. And the Lakers could give him an extension on his current contract now. And there were questions heading into this season about whether or not the Lakers should extend Rui. And the prevailing sentiment at the time was largely along the lines of, you know, you want to keep cap space and flexibility for this offseason with so much importance riding on it. Like Rui could be a nice player to keep, but he's also not essential, like not worth cutting off

Starting point is 00:20:27 optionality this early on it. I think this was a justifiable school of thought, although not necessarily a slam dunk. I know I certainly raised, you know, the question of maybe they should consider doing this with Rui, especially if they, if they think at all, they could be keeping him long term. It could be very much worth doing this now. And then you have them under contract and one of the depending on obviously, depending on what the number is. Depending on the number, it could be worth just having him under contract. And you have that question answered whether he remains part of your long-term picture or ends up being a tradable contract, which the Lakers lack. But given how well Ruey performed in the postseason, like you said, the weakness of this free agent class, it is fair to question whether or not it had been better off just finding a number to lock him up heading into the season.

Starting point is 00:21:25 Oh, sure. Yeah, like, you know, do you think before the season started would really have agreed to three and 45? Like, it possible? I mean, I think he would have agreed like three and 51. I think like three and 51 or even like three and 54, basically your current salary. Your current deal. I think there's a, I think there's at least a decent chance he would have agreed to that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:21:47 And look, I mean, I think, you know, in hindsight, it'd be like, wow, you know, at least in you know, you'd have them locked up. You know what it looks like. You can start predicting and all that kind of stuff. I think they were worried a little bit about a vando type contract or something because you're you're right like it's he's gotten better at certain things he's you know still averages about an two or three assists a year he is for his size a bad rebounder although I will say this I think his attention to rebounding and attention to things like boxing out gets better down the stretch and in the play I think he is a player who benefits from that sort of intensity of focus and things like that, where everybody has to elevate a little bit. Like you go back and you watch the tape a little bit, OKC. There are a lot of times when Rui's doing his best to put bodies on guys and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:22:41 And meanwhile, his offensive game as a both a mid-range player, you know, pump fake, two dribbles, shoot at the elbow, knock down three-pointer. Like that's a $20 million skill, to say the least. The problem, and we can talk about this next, but the problem that the Lakers are facing is that every, if you want to keep Ruey, you're right, it makes sense to sort of maybe do it now and kind of lock that in. I don't know if Rue,

Starting point is 00:23:14 the question isn't so much like if like $20 million is the right number or not, it's whether or not Rui's people think it is. or if there's a little bit more out there for that. Like what it looks like on the open market once you get there could be really tricky, but there's a downside for the Lakers as well, which we'll discuss next. Locked-on Lakers is brought to by game time. There's nothing like basketball, playoff basketball live. The intensity of the crowds, the rivalries, it's a completely different experience when you're in the building.

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Starting point is 00:25:48 out of your position. For a limited time, download the Calci app and use the code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10, KALS-H-I-K-K-S-H-I-K-C-T trade on anything. 18-plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risks may not be suitable for all investors, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see calci.com slash regulatory. Okay, so, Andy, the basic it's going to get more clear as we get closer and closer to free agency that like how the

Starting point is 00:26:35 lakers are going to do stuff like if they agree to a contract with ruy they got a number like but does he sign it right away or do they wait because you know you sort of you have the number agreed to and then you go out and use your cap space and sign ruy afterwards and all that other secrets they have his bird rights and so like but the order of operations here is going to be really significant. On the one hand, if you lock up Rui now, let's say, he said, you know what, three more years at 17 million. I love it here. I'm happy to do it. Lakers say, let's do it because we don't want to risk him getting out on the open market. It's a defensible position to say the least, but problem is now you've sucked out $17 million from your, from your available space.

Starting point is 00:27:20 and with each one of these little things that the Lakers are trying to do, whether it's engineering a new contract for Marcus Smart, coming up with a number that makes sense for LeBron, all these other things. This sort of mythical $50 million figure that they have shrinks down really, really quickly. And you lose not just the flexibility to sign free agents, which I actually don't think is going to be that big of a deal because I don't think there are that many really good free agents

Starting point is 00:27:50 to sign. It does limit your flexibility, though, with what you can do in trades, bringing guys into that cap space. Some of the stuff the Lakers are going to have to negotiate are so complicated from a cap standpoint. I don't even like getting into the hypothetical details of it because I'm afraid I'm going to get something wrong with all the nuances of what they have to think about. Well, I, Brian, am not afraid to be wrong about anything. I just dive head first and I let everybody else. No, I respect that and so does our audience. Well, here's the thing, too. There are plenty of times when I'm dead ass right.

Starting point is 00:28:25 And all these people tell me I'm wrong anyway. So who the hell cares? You're wrong and you do it with confidence and people. Absolutely. Realize it. Oh, not to sell it. Not to let people behind the curtain, but the most important part of this job is not being accurate. It's being compelling.

Starting point is 00:28:41 We just try to do both. Impelning and confident to sound like you. As George Bstander once said, it's not a lie. if you believe it. Right, but we don't lie to our audience and we actually try to be both compelling and accurate. But I feel like given the cap space that they're looking to preserve and also the likelihood that at least some of their free agents,

Starting point is 00:29:06 they're going to be looking to retain. And the fact that Rui's cap hold is $27 million, which will count into their available cap space, I would be stunned. if Rui could get 27 per year annually. I would find that shocking. I mean, congrats to Rui and the entire Hachimura family,

Starting point is 00:29:28 but that would be stunning to me. I think you get a raise. He's not going to get a $10 million. Right. Right. But the fact that his cap hold is considerably higher than what I think is AVV is going to be. If the Lakers are interested,

Starting point is 00:29:47 if the Lakers are interested in keeping Rui, I think it makes much more sense to work out some type of extension, do this early, so they can end up resigning Rui with his bird rights, and you have that number out of the way, and it won't ultimately count against the cap because you will be resigning your own guy. No, I mean, yeah, it will.

Starting point is 00:30:15 Like, it eats into their real. But you can go over the cap to sign your own guy. That's the difference. If you come up, my point is if you come, but that's, that's, that's different than extending. The point being if you, if you extend him before that, if you extended before the free agency period begins, his new salary, I must have wrong about this, applies into that space because he's under contract. If you agree on a number and then wait, then you can go over to sign him. I'm not 100% sure, but regardless, I think it will be better to get this out of the way with Rui early because you can be flexible with the accounting after that in terms of going over the cap, things like that.

Starting point is 00:30:59 Once you enter free agency and Rui is a cap hold, he's either eating into that cap space until you eventually work out some type of number or you have to renounce his rights. but then if you want to bring him back, you can't actually go over the cap to bring it back. He counts against your available. Right. So I think it is better to do this with Rui, assuming they want to keep Rui.

Starting point is 00:31:28 And they think in all likelihood they're going to work out something with Rui. I think it is better to figure it out on the early side than to go into free agency, like deeper into it. I think it'll just make it more complicated. Well, I mean, we'll, and as we get closer to the moment, we'll bring in the Eric Pinkaces of the world and the people like that and just pepper him with questions about this sort of stuff. And that way, any misinformation will stop being happening at that point. What we're talking about here, though, is gets to what I was saying earlier in the show. Like, Rue is why this offseason is so complicated because it's not that, like, you know, like, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:12 is Rui Hachamura a reasonable person to bring back at $19 to $22 million a year? Yeah, probably in the modern NBA with that skill set and a proven three-point shooter who has a little bit of variety in his offensive game and all of that stuff. Yeah, I think the number makes sense. But the Lakers are trying to build in a very specific way around a very specific player. And on the one hand, locking up Rui does, you know, gives you some, some certainty, like you know, okay, we've got Luca and we've got presumably Austin Reeves and we've got, okay, now we've got Rui and then, you know, we're not sure about LeBron

Starting point is 00:32:55 and LeBron impacts Rui. The more you start to try to figure out, well, what about this, you know, these five players over here, you might want two or three of those guys to try to go after, but are they, is Rui a good compliment to those players? Do you need to maybe think if you sign player A, maybe Rui isn't as good of a fit. Like I'll use Peyton Watson or Tari-Eason as examples, although I do not believe the Lakers are going to end up in either one of those guys. I think both of them will end up back in the place they're out. But I saw somebody kicking around today, you know, what if Aaron Gordon gets traded?

Starting point is 00:33:33 What about Aaron Gordon and the Lakers? If you have Aaron Gordon, and I'm again not advocating to this, I'd stay away from Gordon that, you know, inching up injury has. Mr. But just thinking of the player profile, if you have Aaron Gordon, you know, he's kind of a 3-and-D guy. He guards the same position. He plays. Do you want Rui and Eric? And we can work through some of these scenarios.

Starting point is 00:34:00 But I think you're getting what I'm getting at, which is the dominoes that are to fall later to some degree would dictate whether or not bringing back Rui is a good idea. And so the Lakers are in this weird position where they are trying to do something very specific, but may not be able to do things in order to be able to do it. Well, this is one of the things that I think will help them cut to the chase when it comes to Rui, because whether or not LeBron returns, whether or not the Lakers bring him back will in some ways affect, not necessarily the decision to bring back Rui if you want to bring him back, but it will affect his role because we saw over the course of this year.

Starting point is 00:34:47 Like there are defensive problems when you start LeBron, Luca, and Rui because all three of them ideally guard the same type of player. That gets back to earlier what we were talking about, where Rui ends up out of necessity, if not practicality, guarding a lot of guards, and it doesn't work. So you have to, I think with Rui, both from Rui, Rui's perspective and the Lakers perspective. Both of them have to be okay with, we're paying Rui X amount of money that at times could seem on the high side for somebody that could be coming

Starting point is 00:35:26 off the bench, like a key player, like a key player of our rotation and someone that we know we are comfortable starting. If we need to start Rui, he is a starting caliber player. And that's part of the luxury of him being on the pricier side of this, but him being on the pricier side of it and keeping him allows us to use him in a variety of different ways. We're comfortable with paying that off the bench. Is really then comfortable with the idea of your role is always going to be important, but it may be flexible. You may spend half of your next contract or more with the Lakers not starting. Not saying that's going to be the case, but it could be. Are you, okay with that depending on yeah I'm getting on with a we'll talk we'll get into Jared

Starting point is 00:36:13 Vanderbilt maybe for the short show for Monday but the you know the notion of paying Ruey say 18 or 19 million to come off the bench if you know he's going to be productive was a lot more palatable than paying Jared Vanderbilt 11 million dollars or 11.5 whatever he makes next year not to play so sure the irony of all this is and we'll close here is that just you know the a lot of these questions about Rue were simpler to answer in November or December or January when everybody thought LeBron was gone. So LeBron potentially coming back, it could be good for the Lakers, but it doesn't complicate

Starting point is 00:36:47 this situation. LeBron is a complicating factor with free agency. No matter how you feel about LeBron, whether you want him back, whether you want him gone, whatever. And it's not even a dig at LeBron to say he is a complicating factor, but he is in fact a complicated factor. If for no other reason, then there's no template or a manual for the Lakers to use to figure out what do you do with a 42-year-old player producing at LeBron's level. Right. Who's still an all-star 42-year-old. It's but, but there are complications.

Starting point is 00:37:28 There are things that need to be done. All the stuff we've talked about before. It is complicated. LeBron's complications, like we said, involve Rui and other decisions. as well. Lockdown Liquors on YouTube is we're going to hang out with over 38,000 subscribers to the channel. We will see everyone next time.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Finishes 4th in MVP Voting... Plus, Why Rui Hachimura Is a Complex Problem for the Lakers

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