Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Still Out Indefinitely. How Much Pressure is on Austin Reaves Vs. OKC?

Starting point is 00:00:00 There's still no timetable for Luca Donchich to return. So how exactly are the Lakers going to compete with the best team in the NBA? We'll tell you 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 joining Locked on Lakers. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komenetsky, lots to get into over the course of this show,

Starting point is 00:00:33 including Austin Reeves, again, in the... the spotlight. So this is, you know, for a different reason, perhaps, than he was in round one. So this is something that the Lakers are going to have to figure out over the course of the series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. They are coming off, of course, Andy, a really, really strong series in which they really defied the odds. I realized Kevin Durant didn't end up playing a lot of this series. Austin Reeves did come back in the series. In the series, series. But that said, this is still a first round matchup that most people expected the Rockets to win. Andy joining us in just a second having some microphone problems.

Starting point is 00:01:18 So I look at this and, you know, actually, you know what? Let's get the housekeeping out of the way first, which is the reports on Luca Donchage. Can you hear me now? I can. Yeah. Excellent. Good. The report, Sandy, on Luca Dajic still has not yet started any significant on-court work. He is still not expected to certainly won't be ready for the beginning of the series on Tuesday. But the update is kind of to some degree there isn't an update.

Starting point is 00:01:56 We're still got to wait. Yeah, JJ said that there's no timetable on him. Shams Sharania on ESPN said that they're treating him as if he's week to week. So if you are thinking about that in the most literal sense with this week starting on Sunday and JJ's comments, he wouldn't be available until game four at the earliest unless something changed within this week. according to Shams, he's been doing some light workouts, things like that. He is ramping up to some degree. Me too.

Starting point is 00:02:39 I've also been doing light workouts. Well, neither one of you seems likely to play it all this week. No, that's kind of my point. He still is not, Luke, doing anything involving full running or full contact. And I am treating this series with the assumption. even if it goes seven games, Luca will not be available. And I am open to being, I'm actually quite open to being pleasantly surprised, but I am not going to treat Luca's availability as something to even remotely count on,

Starting point is 00:03:17 again, unless they can stretch this thing out to seven games, which ironically becomes incredibly effing hard without Luca. Yeah. And look, I mean, I think the Lerner, Lakers are approaching it in much the same way that you mentioned. They do want to let people know that today's episode's brought to you by Fandul right now new customers can bet just $5 to get $150 of bonus bets if that first bet wins had to FanDil.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:03:44 But like I, they're not expecting to apply. And if he comes back and like, you know, and seems to be in a position where, you know, maybe kind of sort of you can push it or whatever, they're going to have to be real careful but where in the series they are. Because, you know, we talked about this when the injury happened. You don't want to risk something that's going to jeopardize Luca's summer. It's really important that Luca, particularly after this injury, gets a full offseason to rehab, to rest and to get this hamstring injury

Starting point is 00:04:28 as sort of clear as it possibly can be. These things are real tricky. They tend to be recurring, and sometimes there's not much you can do about it. But part of that will be Luca being able to go through his full off-season routine, be able to get in the kind of shape that he was again in the off-season last year for this year. All of this stuff really matters. Lakers can have to be really careful because this is not only an uphill series, if all hands were on deck.

Starting point is 00:04:57 It's also a lightning quick one. I mean, the NBA, after the short first round, Andy, they're pumping this second round out awfully quick. It is in every other day series. Yeah, and side note, I've always found that very weird about the way NBA series are laid out where you get the most amount of rest early on and then you start getting less and less games in between.

Starting point is 00:05:24 I recognize some of this may have to do with the amount of teams that start out in the beginning, but I also feel like, and I also understand. It's entirely based on television. It is, but I think there is likely a way that you could make the television work with fewer games in between round one. And I also understand that part of the challenge of winning a championship is that war of attrition. Like, it is supposed to be difficult, not just in the sense. of each round you play tougher opponents, but just it is more physically taxing on every player's body the further you go along. The flip side, though, is sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes

Starting point is 00:06:08 it can, I think, affect the quality of basketball because everyone's exhausted. I don't think there's any question. But nonetheless, it is quite the ringer this second round for the Lakers schedule. Jalen Williams, I've seen comments in the comments that that he's also dealing with hamstring strain, which is true. And Mark Dagenau said that right now his rehab is going well, didn't commit to Jalen Williams playing in game one. But the difference, though, is Williams' hamstring strain was grade one versus Lucas grade two.

Starting point is 00:06:43 I have no idea, just like everyone else, seemingly when Jalen Williams will return. But he seems much more likely to return unless the series is just turning in a way that they decide we don't need him, in which case, let's not risk anything. But he seems more likely to return at some point in this series than Luca. It does seem that way, but I do think the thunder from, you know, things I've read and whatever, just I think they're taking a careful approach with this

Starting point is 00:07:15 because they fully expect to be playing two more rounds of basketball. Absolutely. And not to completely downplay. the Lakers chances and all these other. They, I think, can go through a couple games and decide how much somebody like Williams is going to be needed. I think it is, I think it's a mistake to just assume the Lakers, you know, all the thunder will just roll them like, they don't need Jalen Williams.

Starting point is 00:07:46 They don't need whatever. Like they can run. No, I think they do. And the Lakers have, you know, showed against Houston. they will put a bar on the floor. They will try to make a team beat them. They will play hard. They will be perseverant.

Starting point is 00:08:02 They will do all of those things. The flip side is the Thunder absolutely annihilated the Lakers in their matchups this season, on average. And so they've got that already kind of in the bank where they understand like, we did pretty well. against this team and they also obviously then have more depth and so and got used to play played a lot of the season without jillian one jalen Williams like this is nothing new to them and other than Williams they're in pretty good shape so we really though it is important to note we should not

Starting point is 00:08:42 assume that Williams could play if needed as opposed to he really is progressing and no i think I don't think he's ready to play yet. Judging by what they've said and what they're doing, I don't think, I don't think he's at all ready to play. I just don't think there's as, I don't think there's a, a real urgency to try to like,

Starting point is 00:09:06 we're feeling like, like, oh, bleep. Like, we've got to get him back. Yeah. Even if he's halfway there for this series. So, I mean, but that's the nature of it. That is what this series is. I mean, the, the,

Starting point is 00:09:17 the Lakers are going to be over, overwhelming underdogs in this series. They were underdogs against the rockets. That is going to pale in comparison to the level of underdogness that they will be in this series. Well, a little spoiler alert later on in the show. We're going to be doing a read for our friends over at Fanduel. And if you're interested in the odds, according to Fandual, I will be listing them. And they do not, spoiler alert, contradict anything you're saying right now.

Starting point is 00:09:50 I think people would have been much more surprised if it was the other way. So look, I mean, one of the things we want to talk about, whether we get to it today or maybe we're going to do it for the short show on Monday, you know, in this show or later for Monday is just this idea. Like we've seen a lot of people talking about it. Oh, great. They beat the rockets. Now they get to go and get smoked by the thunder. Who knows? They might.

Starting point is 00:10:16 It kind of misses the point. So that's something we want to talk about over the course of this week. But next, Andy, I want to focus on Austin Reeves because he's back in the spotlight, I think, for this one for a little bit of a different reason. And I want to talk about that next. Lock on Lakers is brought to you by Better Help. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. An important reminder that whatever you're carrying right now, you don't have to go through it alone.

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Starting point is 00:13:19 Like, you know, this was obviously an important summer to see or spring to see what the lakers should do over the summer like what does the lucca austin combo look like in the playoffs when you really lean into those guys and feature them and all that kind of stuff um like you know okay so then lucca gets hurt the next best thing you could lean into andy is i well what does it look like when austin you know was kind of your number one like you're if not a one a one a world where lebron isn't going to put up up, you know, 35 a night at age 41 against top tier defenses. What's Austin going to do?

Starting point is 00:14:00 How is he going to look against these really, really rugged defenses? Then Austin gets hurt. Fortunately, the Lakers came back, you know, got off to a great start in that series. Reeves is able to come back. And now against Oklahoma City, we at least get that. We at least get to see how Austin responds against a top tier defense. as, you know, kind of serving as your one. And like, it's not going to be like people are going to look at me.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Like, Austin's worthless if he can't get the Lakers through the thunder. I don't think anybody's going to think that. But I do think it's reasonable fans think, and certainly I would agree, go play well, go have a decent series. The numbers may not be pristine because Oklahoma City. But, like, we'll be able to watch it and see, like, you know what, Austin had a good series. And I think that's important.

Starting point is 00:14:51 Well, I completely disagree with you that if Austin has a bad series, people won't say that he's worthless and the Lakers should get rid of him. We hear enough of that. If he has a bad series, they might. But I'm saying, no, I'm saying if he has a bad series, I mean, I think the bar for good is going to be pretty high given the amount that reportedly Austin could be making from the Lakers this offseason. So therefore, I think the expectations for what qualifies as good, whether you think it's reasonable, whether you think it's reasonable, whether you think it's reasonable, whatever, the bar is going to be pretty high. And in reality, if you are being set up to be the second best player on a team looking to win a championship alongside Luca or second best for the foreseeable future, part of that duo, frankly, the bar needs to be very high. And, you know, Austin, there is that, there is that concern. I don't think it's without, you know, reason how he competes against teams with really good, athletic, rangy physical defenders.

Starting point is 00:16:04 And can he perform at the same level? Because ultimately, that's going to be a lot of the teams you have to go through to win a championship. And- Exactly. Austin's splits for this season against the Thunder in three games. They're not good. A little under 15 points a game, around 43% from the field, 23% from behind the arc, 92% at the line, except he only averaged four free throws per game in this series, an assist to turnover ratio of 3.7 to 4.7, so not good. Last year, he was better from deep, 37.5%, but still not good overall.

Starting point is 00:16:43 42% still have the same ratio of more turnovers than assists. Got to the line a little more six times, but against the thunder, there's only so much you can count on in terms of getting to the line. And Austin actually had some interesting comments during Sunday's practice about the thunder and files going in either direction. You know, the amount of files that they draw, the amount of files that they aren't called for, are called for, whatever.

Starting point is 00:17:11 it may help a bit for Austin in this series that Jalen Williams won't be playing. Putting aside, they still have a zillion other defenders that you can throw it, someone like Austin. It's one less high-end score for Austin to keep track of, the whole team, frankly, but just that can wear you down. And in the two playoff games Austin played in this series, with all caveats about injury, return, layoff, rust, yada, 18 and a half points a game. But his splits, little under 37% from the field, little under 17% from deep. It has to be better.

Starting point is 00:17:48 Like it simply has to be more of 16 in a two-game sample will ruin all your splits. But I thought he played, I thought he did some good things in game five. And played a pretty good game in game six. But like I said, I mean, people are going to look at this and expect them to play well. I think he played good in game six. I don't think he'd be like, we don't need, right. We didn't need to litigate. you know, how well he played.

Starting point is 00:18:11 But, I mean, I think we're both talking about the same thing. We, you know, he needs to have a good series. And, you know, if you, if you want to feel confident about Reeves', you know, role as a $35 million guy, you know, on a team with championship aspirations, maybe it's more important. Right. I mean, give a take. I mean, it's 35, 40, whatever it turns out to be.

Starting point is 00:18:35 Like, it is really important that he comes out and has a good series. Now, again, you're being guarded by Kaysen Wallace. You know, you might get Jalen Williams later in the series. They've got 17, you know, depending on the arrangements of stuff, you know, there are going to be matchups where he's got like Ludo. There's no like, there's no. Alex Caruso. Right.

Starting point is 00:18:57 She is a good defender. Yes, there's no place that you can try to target a switch or something like that where life is going to be much simpler for AR. And so, you know, the Lakers are going to have to try to figure. figure out. And I think this is going to be one of the incredible challenges of this series, especially given what we saw against the Rockets, who are, you know, an excellent defensive team, but not quite as good as Oklahoma City. You know, how are you going to get Reeves in places where he can have a little bit of breathing room against some of these defenders? But again,

Starting point is 00:19:34 I agree with you. Ultimately, like, you need to look back at this series to feel comfortable. of me like you know what the lakers lost or maybe even the lakers got their kind of their butts kicked you know we were sort of expecting it but austin showed up and you know he was pretty good and you know what what austin and lebron quite frankly will need to do to win the series i i mean i i can't even begin to try to put that level of expectation on anyone i mean it's going to be the whole team Like it, oh, sure, but I'm just clear. Oh, it's the whole team. But there's no way the Lakers are going to be able to be competitive in this series without both LeBron.

Starting point is 00:20:19 Yes. And Austin putting up really impressive numbers for at least five games, you know, five or six games. Like it's just like, I'm not talking like, well, pretty good numbers. I'm talking like, damn. And then you're going to need Rui and you're going to need, you know, a Laravia game. and you're going to need DeAndre Aiton to continue performing as he did in the first round. And then you're going to, and the end thens just go on for another six weeks. But like, it, it, they got by in, you know, game five for, well, no, they didn't really.

Starting point is 00:20:55 But like, you know, they got by in a couple moments with, you know, lesser performances from some guys because they didn't need to put up, you know, in game six, for example, it didn't matter that Austin didn't score 35 because Houston scored seven. But that won't work against the Thunder, who are a significantly better offensive team while also being just as good, if not better defensively. It's why the Lakers are going to be so heavily favored to lose. Again, Fandole coming up in just a second, I'll share some numbers. But when we get back, though, I want to share some thoughts that awesome. Austin and JJ both said during Sunday's practice that speak to the challenge in front of them with the thunder. But I also thought Austin had some interesting comments about SGA and drawing free throws that in some ways were Austin complimenting SGA, but also I think trying to send a little bit of messaging that could benefit himself.

Starting point is 00:22:05 So get into that coming up next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul. Fandul, the NBA playoffs are here. Every possession matters if you're looking to get even closer to the action. Fandual has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers, you bet just $5. Five bucks. You get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins.

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Starting point is 00:24:54 club, Lockdownlakers.com, or it's in the show notes as well. It was interesting. Austin, during practice on Sunday, was asked about Jake Gilgist Alexander's ability to get to the line, which, depending on who you ask, is anything from elite

Starting point is 00:25:11 otherworldly skill to grifting and cheating the game. And Austin is also somebody who gets to the line has been accused of free throw merchanting himself, although not at the level of SGA, if for no other reason, then Austin is not at the level of player. He certainly would if he could, but he can't. Well, that's actually sort of what I'm getting at.

Starting point is 00:25:34 You know, and Austin is not at SGA's level, frankly, anything as a player. But he is somebody that is among the lead leaders in getting to the line. And he said in so many words that, you know, SGA's methodology or approach to drawing free throws or the volume doesn't bother Austin. If he could get as many free throws as Shay, he'd gladly take him.

Starting point is 00:26:00 He said, quote, I don't think there's any bad intentions with trying to get to the line. And there's an unspoken part of this, which is given how much Austin himself relies on free throw points, take the last series, for example, game five, Austin scored, I think, 11 of his 22 points, something like that at the line in game five, 12. So more than half of his points in that return came at the line.

Starting point is 00:26:29 He was otherwise 4 of 16 from the field. In other words, Austin, or excuse me, in other words, SGA, he ain't the only one out there who will be trying to, quote, grift if that's what you want to call. it's not what I would call it but I can speak the language I look at it this way I have never been somebody who looks at the foul grifting thing I think in this moment I've even I have a higher tolerance for prime James Hardin than most people do where like you know it's it's like I I think I'm weird in this among NBA fans whether it's prime Hardin whether

Starting point is 00:27:10 whether it's SGA, whether it's Reeves, I really have an enormous amount of respect for the skill that allows them to get to the line, the change of pace, the hesitation, the spatial awareness to understand, you know, when there's a guy right on your hip or wherever it might be, to know how to move your body now.

Starting point is 00:27:32 I think generally these guys are trying to score while drawing contact, and at their worst, and we see this from Austin somewhere. sometimes, that gets backwards. They are trying to draw the contact, not really trying to score. All they're trying to do is get the foul. I think that's actually when Austin is at his worst as an offensive player.

Starting point is 00:27:54 But generally speaking, like, the reason Shea draws so many fouls is because nobody can cover him. He's not doing anything illegal or immoral or unethical from a basketball standpoint. and I feel the same way about Austin. He is not doing anything illegal, immoral, or unethical from a basketball standpoint. It's not as good at it as Shea, but I respect the skill. Well, the difference to me between Austin and SGA versus Prime Harden is Prime Hardin did a lot more foul baiting, if you want to call it that, around the three-point art. Basically, he was just trying to draw rip-through files.

Starting point is 00:28:38 and after a while, I think that can, it becomes more, I think, aesthetically unappealing. I agree. Which if you combine with elements of Hardin's personality that people found unappealing. Because none of that's not like the same way. When you guys get in the lane and they're doing stuff and they're moving their body,

Starting point is 00:28:59 that's different than just waiting for somebody to get their hand in the cookie jar. Yes, exactly. And not that SGA or Austin don't ever do that, but there is much more getting into the lane and drawing contact in the paint or closer to the basket with Austin or SGA than I think there were at times during Prime Harder. Well, part of the reason is because they stopped calling it because of Prime Hardin. Like they changed how they call that play and the rules are out of. But regardless, though, Laker fans should be very, I think, careful. with, you know, wish, be careful what you wish for with the idea of just letting them play

Starting point is 00:29:42 because maybe it leads to a few more or a few fewer trips to the line for SGA, but you're probably going to see it hurting the Lakers more than I think it'll hurt the thunder. Also, JJ talked about their ability to foul or their ability to defend without fouling. And he said, quote, they don't foul. So the whistles aren't going to be there. You have to accept that. You don't foul later talking about their top five in every category that's disruptive-based, steals, blocks, turnover, bit forced, and they don't foul,

Starting point is 00:30:19 which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history. There is some degree of deadpan sarcasm going on with JJ there, perhaps some messaging to the officials about, you know, how do they manage to do all of this defending without ever, committing a single foul. How exactly is Lou Dord and Alex Caruso and these guys are some of the easily the top 2% physical defenders in the NBA? Right.

Starting point is 00:30:46 Yeah. Right. And what's interesting about this is one of the only teams called for fewer fouls in the Thunder thus far in the playoffs, albeit by 0.1 per game. He's actually the Lakers. They were and they were playing some pretty physical basketball themselves versus the Rockets. But whether you think JJ was praising the Thunder's defense, which I think he was to some degree, being very sarcastic controlling, which I think he was to a large degree, there was

Starting point is 00:31:19 one truthful statement in there that I think he was being 100% sincere, which is when he said, you have to accept that going in. And that is really important. Like, the Lakers need to accept this as a reality and bitching about it. especially preemptively, will only help the thunder. Like if you go into this thing with, you know, your antenna up for the calls that you're not getting or what OKC is able to get away with that you can't, you've already lost this battle before the games even start. Yeah, for sure.

Starting point is 00:31:53 I agree with that. I'll make two points here. Then we can quit. But like the first one is it's also an opportunity for you. And the Lakers aren't, the Lakers don't have Dort and Caruso and, you know, Hartenstein. These are very, very physical players. But you can try to move into the space that the referees are theoretically allowing when they get that kind of physicality that they're letting go.

Starting point is 00:32:20 And it's the playoffs. So you naturally get a little bit more of it anyway. The refs tend not to call quite as much. They like to let teams play. The games get a little more intense, a little bit more physical. So the Lakers can try to take advantage of that themselves and try to match some of the physicality, at least feel that they can raise what they're doing. And then, okay, if the referees make them dial it back, you try to dial it back.

Starting point is 00:32:46 But you could look at as an opportunity. The other thing that I think that I just want to mention about Austin and the calls, the fact that you don't get to the line as much in the playoffs, that it is harder to draw foul and get foul. and stuff like that, I think is another part of that test about Austin. Like, how do you perform when one of the things that you do really well is a little bit harder to come by? You know, can you elevate your outside shot?

Starting point is 00:33:18 Can you, you know, I mean, playoff Ru, we'll talk about Rui Hotchamura before the series starts, but like, playoff Rui at this point is just a guy who hits a lot of three-pointers. Like, that is like, he's just, he does. Like, at this point, his three-point shooting is stellar in the playoffs. He is, Rui is right now the all-time three-point percentage leader in the playoffs. And I don't mean for the Lakers, I mean,

Starting point is 00:33:41 right anywhere. He's a little under 51%. And the difference between Rui and me is if I was the leader in that category, I would stop shooting them because I'd be afraid to lose my status. Rui will keep shooting because he's a pro. But like, I am interested to see, you know, in game five, he did get the line 13 times.

Starting point is 00:34:03 Can you continue to go downhill and draw contact and get contact, play through it, adjust when you're not getting those calls and all that kind of stuff? That's one of the things I'm really interested to see from Austin because it is an important part of the game. I'd say the same thing about Luca because it's just a little harder to come by some of those whistles in the playoffs than it is in the regular season. It's easier for Luca than AR, but it's still hard. So that's one of the things I'm looking for. Plenty more to come.

Starting point is 00:34:39 We're going to do a crossover episode to get ready for the, for game one on Tuesday with Ryan Stiles. Ryland. Ryland Stiles. Thank you. Locked on Thunder. So we'll get that ready for you on Tuesday. All the stuff you need before the games begin.

Starting point is 00:34:59 Not a pretty quick turnaround between the end of the series. in Houston at the start of this one. Locked on Liquors on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 38,000 subscribers to the channel. We'll see everyone next time.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Still Out Indefinitely. How Much Pressure is on Austin Reaves Vs. OKC?

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