Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - More on Lakers and Marcus Smart. Goodwin, Milton Waived. More Moves Coming?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Monday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky, the Lakers sign. Marcus, smart or will make a couple roster changes to make happen? Is this the team we're going to see going into training camp? That is next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day Monday through Friday, no matter how or where you get your podcast, this one's always free, never behind a paywall locked on Lakers on YouTube, is where you can go hang out with over 35,000 subscribers, Andy, all of whom are trying to figure out just exactly how good this reconstructed Lakers roster is. The Lakers making a lot of moves over the weekend.

Starting point is 00:00:51 They are set to sign Marcus Smart. Two years, 11 million, I believe, is the deal with a player option for the second year. Pretty standard stuff. Marcus Smart bought out by the Washington Wizards, if you had forgotten where he was. Lakers had to make a couple roster changes to make this happen. They released both Jordan Goodwin and Shake Milton, the latter being very expected,

Starting point is 00:01:22 the former being something they had hoped to avoid, but couldn't. Doing a lot of people know that today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Andy, your reaction when you saw the news, because we mentioned a couple times, like, keep an eye on the wizards, they've got 46 players on their roster, somebody's going to have to go at some point.

Starting point is 00:01:52 And Smart was one of those people to keep an eye on, but once this started rolling, it happened pretty quick. What was your reaction? Smart had been linked to the Lakers as one of those guys that could potentially end up a good fit with this team. I did a quick reaction slash emergency pod for Saturday, just a lot of my thoughts on this, but I really like it for the Lakers. First of all, it's a continuation of, when we may get into this during the show, what I think has been a pretty productive offseason for Rob Polinka in terms of maximizing, maximizing what are pretty narrow opportunities,

Starting point is 00:02:32 to try to improve the roster given the limitations that he was dealing with. And as much as you can argue, I think rightly, those limitations were self-imposed, not solely, but in large part by some decisions Rob made that didn't really back, that didn't really work out. The bottom line is the limitations are the limitations. And I think Rob worked very well within them. They managed to bring in now DeAndre Aiton, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia and Adieu Tierra without giving up any assets at all.

Starting point is 00:03:08 So the Lakers are actually in still as good a position as they could be in to try to upgrade the roster with the assets that they have. They're worth whatever they have. Their value around the league is their value around the league. And whatever they are can't necessarily get changed outside of maybe Dalton Connect picking it up. But the fact remains they've got what they had heading into this season while upgrading the roster in a lot of different ways. Marcus Smart is, I think, somebody that's going to be really helpful for this team in terms of rebalancing the starting lineup in ways that I've talked about a lot during this offseason wanting to see more diversity of skill sets, more defensive. I'll start for just a second because I think, you know, the.

Starting point is 00:04:00 the notion of like, yes, I think most people are projecting that smart will start, which would be you should. I think you should. I agree with you. Presently would move Rui to the bench. And so this, I don't think the Lakers are necessarily going to want to try to play smart 30, 35 minutes a night, 40, you know, like I don't, you know, he has had a couple seasons of minutes.

Starting point is 00:04:25 This is something we'll talk about the next segment, I think. A couple seasons in a row of major. injury issues. And, you know, he is after, you know, past 30 at this point. The Lakers are going to have to, I think, sort of be careful with him, put him on that list of guys they need to kind of shepherd through. But that said, he, I do think, will be slotted into the starting lineup. So you go, Luca Reeves, you know, kind of three guards,

Starting point is 00:04:55 but Luca obviously being a pretty big one. And Mark is smart for that matter. He is not tall, but he's. he's got length and he's really big and really strong. Last I looked, he was listed at 6.3, 220. He's a strong guy. He's a legitimately strong guy who has a track record of guarding up. Right. He can guard up and guard down. Like, you know, it'll be interesting to see how the Lakers use him defensively because obviously the defensive profile. He's one of a defensive player of the year. And all that's like the defensive profile is is there. There's no question. How much of that is,

Starting point is 00:05:30 left where exactly it can be most applied, you know, is a point of attack defender. How the Lakers deploy him and build a defense around, he's still a major upgrade. There's no question to what they're trying to do defensively. And I agree. I think you end up with a starting lineup of with him in it with Luca. And obviously, then you go back to LeBron and Aiton. And so, you know, there's a lot of playmaking in that starting lineup. you know, you, you're smart as a terrible shooter.

Starting point is 00:06:02 So, you know, you kind of wonder about that. But they ought to be able to support him because at the very least he's a better playmaker. He can move the ball and make the right pass, that kind of stuff. I think this is your starting five for the Lakers going into the year. Well, if nothing else, first of all, there's something I talked about during Saturday's show. Like, we, we had mentioned the need for the Lakers to get more two-way players and if possible to try to find more two-way utility in that starting lineup. And, you know, that was the potential obstacle with putting Jared Vanderbilt in the starting lineup or Jordan Goodwin when he was on the team in the starting lineup. The idea that you would look to build up that defensive integrity, but what offense you lose in the process, I don't consider Marcus smart to be a two-way player.

Starting point is 00:06:47 But I think he's a legit one-and-a-half-way player because of the ball handling and playmaking that you mentioned. he's averaged on his career about four and a half assists a game, about five and a half for 36 minutes. His assist to turn over ratio is like two and a half to one. And while I don't think he's ever been considered an elite level point guard, he is good enough to be like a secondary third playmaking option. He can actually be really helpful with other guys essentially spaced around him on quick reads, getting the ball back to LeBron or to Luca or to Austin, getting it quickly to the right spot with DeAndre Aiton.

Starting point is 00:07:31 And I think in a lot of ways, that's how he offsets the lack of shooting. And really, he's never been an efficient score. I mean, he's never been an efficient score from any place on the court. But he has, I think, enough legitimate offensive utility that I think it's a stretch to consider him just a one-way player as well. So that's why I say one one and a half way. But what I also think he does is whether Marcus Smart starts with this group.

Starting point is 00:08:04 And for the time being, I think he is at least fairly likely to. But whether it became Marcus Smart or Jared Vanderbilt, who has posted Instagram videos of him working out really hard this offseason. He's noted that this is the first off season in two or three years he's had where he's actually been healthy. and not recovering from some type of surgery or injury or both. So maybe Vando gets himself back to a place where he has enough offensive utility that you can get by with him. And Marcus Smart comes off the bench. What I love, though, about Smart, regardless of how all this shakes out, is he gives the Lakers another legitimate option towards just, again,

Starting point is 00:08:50 rebalancing the offensive and defensive scales on this team, diversifying some skill sets, and just LeBron, Luca, Austin, Rui, and Aiton. Offensive talent, great. Defensively, that's just going to be a mess. Something needed to change. And Marcus Smart gives them a legitimate road towards changing it. And look, I think the thing to remember here, too, is like, you know, it's smart is a risk. he has been a guy who is a little like Aiton in the sense that

Starting point is 00:09:23 the last couple seasons have not been kind to him. He's been, went from a great situation, obviously playing incredibly high leverage basketball in Boston to less leverage basketball. It didn't work out. To be fair, his first season with Memphis was the season of Jaws, multiple suspensions. Right, that's what I'm saying.

Starting point is 00:09:43 There's a lot of crap happening. All kinds of stuff going on. He ends up in Memphis and it didn't work out there. And then obviously you end up in Washington. And that's just like a, where hopes go to die. Pretty much. And so, you know, how much does he have left? Is he the player he was at 25 to a six or so?

Starting point is 00:09:59 No, I don't know he is. But like, you know, it's a little more ground down from there. But again, he is a big upgrade. And there's another factor in here before we get into how all of this fits together, what the Lakers had to do to make this happen. And why Lakers, you mentioned threading the needle, what that really means in context. It's important. I think we lay all this out.

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Starting point is 00:11:32 NDA at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year. So one of the things that I think is critical to mention here as a side note or perhaps a headliner to this. story about Marcus Mark going to the Lakers is that Luca Donchage has reportedly played a very significant role in helping to recruit. And so A, you are obviously doing something that Luca likes definitionally if Luca's involved in bringing the guy here. But also too, like, you know, this magic August 2nd and beyond deadline date, whatever you want call it looming, anything that really ties the Lakers and Luka together in a way that makes you feel that

Starting point is 00:12:29 Luca really gets it, is on board and all that, is really good for the Lakers. And so, you know, a recruiting effort from Luca this quickly into his Lakers tenure is a good thing. Yeah. Is it a blood oath? No. Like, does the fact that he reportedly recruited Marcus Smart, reportedly helped recruit DeAndre Aiton, does that mean that Luca is automatically obligable? obligated to sign this extension, whether August 2nd, the earliest after Eurobasket, whatever. No, but generally speaking, players do not recruit other players towards a situation where they're not at least somewhat stable with it. You know, like they don't go out of their way to do something like that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:13:17 And look, I mean, is it, and smart isn't, he didn't sign a, you know, nine year deal or anything like that. I mean, like everybody is kind of short term in that sense. And this is something we don't even get into today, but I want to talk about the sort of just this constant churn that Lakers have at some point before the season. I think we'll have time. But for right now, I think when you look at what the Lakers have done, the fact that they've been able to add smart guys with some risk to them, there's no question, but at prices that are well beneath what they would normally cost.

Starting point is 00:14:00 Like a guy like Marcus Smart, even coming off a couple lousy seasons, would still be a 10 to 12 million dollar player at least. And the Lakers are getting him for half that. Aiton is, you know, was coming off a $30 million deal, $35 million deal. And even if you think he's overpaid, he is not overpaid at $8 million a year. So like the Lakers just didn't have access to a lot of stuff. And look, they've been very smart in terms of seeing this new CBA fueled, I think, emerging market of buyout players that might not have been expected at the beginning of the offseason. But that market has come in to form in the Lakers have been very deliberate about waiting for players to become available that would allow them to punch a little bit above the weight that they had in terms of their assets. And now they still have the same amount of stuff.

Starting point is 00:14:55 It's apparently not very valuable because we'll get into this consolidation trade here in a minute. But they still have it. They still have the number one pick. If Dalton Connect can rehab his image, they've still got that. They've got whatever second renter, you and I are debating whether or not they can actually trade it. But if they have a second runner, it's one. So they don't have a lot of stuff. And so to be able to add without subtracting is a.

Starting point is 00:15:21 really big deal for this team. Absolutely. I mean, I am willing to go out on the limb and say that Bill Duffy gave Rob a heads up about DeAndre Aiton's potential buyout in part because I think it's something Luca wanted. And Luca is, I'm, I think at least Bill Duffy's biggest client. He's also helping his own client get a gig where the starting job, it doesn't even have to be promised to him it's common sense that he's going to get it. So this is like hands washing each other. I have no idea if Marcus Smart's representation gave Rob a heads up with something like this. But the point is they're watching the moves around the league. They've been patient. This, I guess, is the upside to not having a ton of coveted assets.

Starting point is 00:16:19 is you may be forced to be patient because you don't necessarily have a lot of different roads that you can take. But the point being, though, I think they've done, I think Rob has had a pretty good offseason when you consider the constraints that he was working against and what they've managed to accomplish. Like, you know, this. And I forgot to mention, I forgot to mention Arabia. I mean, like, they've lost one, one rotation player.

Starting point is 00:16:48 I mean, two, one and a half, depending on how you consider Goodwin. But they've lost, we'll even just call it two in terms of having to release Jordan Goodwin, but gained four rotation players. I'm sorry, three rotation players, but did a good job. You're saying you're high on Tierra, man. I've got them right to the top of the rotation. But they're plus one in rotation players, including a position. of desperate need.

Starting point is 00:17:20 They have managed to get better while surrendering nothing in the way of assets. This is an offseason where I think Rob has been very resourceful. And resourcefulness and sort of that creativity that can come along with resourcefulness is something that you and I have been very open and sometimes repeated in our criticism of Rob not really being that guy. And look, this is something I think people and Lakers, fans need to understand when you evaluate this sort of offseason. Saying that Rob, I think, and I think I'm speaking for you, has done good work this

Starting point is 00:17:57 off season doesn't automatically mean that you think Rob Polinka is the second coming of Jerry West. You can still think that Rob's weaknesses as a GM exist. You can still think, you know, you can still be upset about the moves that were made in the past. You can still think he doesn't ultimately have the vision. to be the guy in the seat long term, and that's fine. But this off season is this off season.

Starting point is 00:18:24 And if you're going to be, I think, rational and fair about this, all these things can exist at once. You can still have your doubts about Rob. And I think, again, I speak for Brian when I say, I still do. But Rob's done good work this off season, man. And I think you just have to give credit about it. I don't know what else really. I mean, is it a plus plus plus?

Starting point is 00:18:45 Maybe I don't know. But like, given... I don't even know if they were in a position to do A plus, plus, plus, plus. That's sort of what I'm getting at. Like, you know, the Aitin thing was extremely fortunate. I don't think there's any question about that. I don't think going into the off season, there was necessarily the expectation that Ait wouldn't get bought out.

Starting point is 00:19:07 I think he was a guy that people would be like, oh, yeah, they'll trade them, you know, in a heartbeat. But even in trading for Aiton, Even if you don't have to give up big assets, you still have to put together enough money to get to 35 million. And the Lakers don't have the ability to do that without giving up rotation players. And so I would have done that if you needed to like for the right center. But you know, for Ait and all those, if you're giving up rotation players and getting Aiton back, if you're giving up rotation players and getting Marcus Smart back, you know, like in a trade or whatever it might be,

Starting point is 00:19:46 that really mitigates the value. But if you keep your rotation players and all you're spending is money, I think somebody tweeted out, like, because there's been this question of like, you know, are you better like, you know, does smart make you that much better? I think he makes, I think he certainly could. But if he doesn't,

Starting point is 00:20:03 you still have exactly the same group of guys that you had, as this guy put it two hours ago, which is true. And I apologize, I can't remember who it was. That's really important. I think it was Steve Jones, Jr., They might have.

Starting point is 00:20:16 It sounds like something he would say. It's a smart comment. But, you know, and you look at it, like, the, you know, La Ravia was a smart signing, you know, a young player with some upside that they got it a nice number that hopefully can, I think, contribute on a level that is approximates a lot of what DFS gave them. Probably can do a few other things a little bit better. a few other things definitely worse. But overall, that combination of Aiton plus LaRavia, to me, is better than DFS.

Starting point is 00:20:55 It's just especially given the need that they had at center. This offseason, they ultimately swapped out DFS, shake Milton, and Jordan Goodwin for Dandre Aiton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart. It is really difficult. And I guess, and they kept Jackson Hayes. and they did some nice work. If you like the Tierra drafting, they did some nice work to put themselves in the position to get Tierra.

Starting point is 00:21:23 Yeah. I mean, people who are much smarter about these sorts of things than you and me, yes, like that, what they did there a lot. Let's talk a little bit more about what smart can do, how he might fit, any concerns that you might have, and then a little bit of the mechanics in play because there has been some disappointment

Starting point is 00:21:43 that Jordan Goodwin had to go. And so we'll do that next. So I, it is worth like the Lakers did release the Shake Milton thing. Everybody expected there was a July 20th deadline and everybody knew he was going to go, whether they had somebody else to fill that roster spot or not, just to make space. You know, shake Milton provided very little that they didn't already have. And just they needed the roster spot and the potential to fill it with something a little bit more useful for them. given the roster balance.

Starting point is 00:22:25 The Goodwin thing for people who may not understand, they had to get to Marcus Smart, his $5.1 million, the full biannual exception. The Lakers opened up, by the way, when they let DFS go. So letting DFS go brought them the ability to get Aiton, LaRavia, and smart by letting DFS go. So the reason though Goodwin had to go as well is because they didn't have an enough money in that by annual exception to sign smart to the money that they agreed to give him without letting Goodwin go. And it's disappointing.

Starting point is 00:23:04 They didn't want to do it. They've been trying to come up with what people have been calling us consolidation trade where you send three guys out to get two or two to get one. Nobody wants their stuff. The Lakers wisely did not want to pay essentially to find ways to keep Jordan Goodwin. It's just, you know, they don't have the assets to be giving stuff away. That's how they got into this mess to begin with. I think our everydayers know I have been the captain of the SS played Jordan Goodwin more,

Starting point is 00:23:36 particularly during the playoffs. I was pretty openly critical of, I think, JJ Redick giving up on Goodwin both too early and in my mind kind of inexplicably because I thought he played pretty well when JJ actually gave him an opportunity in the playoffs. and during the regular season, he was a pretty important, I think, addition to the rotation. That being said, though, when you only currently have one first round pick at your disposal to trade, you cannot trade that essentially as sweetener to dump Max Clave and Gabe or whatever for space for Jordan Goodwin. I really like Goodwin's potential a lot. I like what he did on this team.

Starting point is 00:24:19 That's just not good asset management. And again, if you want to be upset that they're in the position where they can't just say, screw it, let's burn maybe a protected first round pick in order to keep a guy towards the back of the rotation that we like. You can be upset about that if you want. The fact remains, it would have been terrible asset management in the moment. And again, I say this as somebody who wanted Jordan Goodwin to play more. It's just not justifiable. You can't do it.

Starting point is 00:24:48 You just can't. And, you know, I, I, I, don't mean this to demean Jordan Goodwin. And I think a guy like Gary Payton, who still, by the way, unsigned is a good example of this kind of thing. And granted Peyton had a really bad injury that sort of threw things off. But like, you can find players that kind of really fit what you're doing really well. Could Jordan Goodwin have developed into a guy who plays 25 to 30 minutes a night if he

Starting point is 00:25:17 needed to over extra? I don't know. You know, the shooting regressed. pretty significantly. After a really hot start with the Lakers, shooting has always been the thing that has kept Goodwin from being a regular NBA player. If he's a 38%, 39% guy,

Starting point is 00:25:37 he's a totally different player than at 31 or 32. And which guy would you have gotten there? I mean, I love the story, and I think he's a good player. There are Jordan Goodwin's around for them, you know, a very good scouting department to go find with one of the two ways they have. And somebody noted in the comments section, correctly that Jordan Goodwin was not eligible for a two-way deal. He's been in the league too long.

Starting point is 00:26:05 We can only do it if you have less three or fewer years and he's got four. He's probably, I think somebody will probably claim him off of waivers. I hope so, man. I hope so. He made such a little money that I wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. if he got if he got picked up but there are they have two two-way deals left the only guy right now is um well i guess technically is a two or one um colloco is still a two-way or is he with coloco

Starting point is 00:26:41 it's tricky i'm honestly not exactly sure i know jemison is on a two-way deal um i think Volko being on another one, maybe he can get... I don't actually know. I don't know the answer. Poloko can do one more. I don't know. I think because, again, the last year was technically, I think his second year in the league. So I think they can sign him to another one.

Starting point is 00:27:02 So even then, they still have one more two-way deal that they can use on a back court player who can do some of the same things that Jordan Goodwin did. Like the team has been very good about finding guys like that. And I think they can go do it again. it's disappointing to see him go, but Marcus Smart's a better player. And he's a more established player. He is seasoned. He is proven in a lot of ways.

Starting point is 00:27:26 And even if he's on the downside, rather than the upside, you're going to get a lot more out of Marcus Smart than you are. And, oh, by the way, your star player wants him. And you're getting him at a really good price. So these are kind of no-brainer sort of decisions that teams have to make. And I just think culturally, of Sky Falcon points. Coloco is a two-way on the table that he can sign.

Starting point is 00:27:53 He's trying to do a little bit better. The Lakers hope that he doesn't, I guess. That's what I mean. It's confusing to break down exactly the mechanics of how essentially like restricted free agency for a two-way deal works. I'm not going to pretend I understand it. Yeah. And, you know, go find Keith smart.

Starting point is 00:28:13 He can explain that. The question is just. he can explain it. Like last year, for example, is what you're getting with smart. Is, is without an indication? I think I'm willing to look at it and be like, you know what, a year where he starts off on a, you know, a team with all kinds of gets hurt. And that ends up in Washington. And the year before that was like you mentioned, just the mess in Memphis.

Starting point is 00:28:37 Do I expect him to return to 22, 2022 form? I don't. But he's going to bring a defensive intensity and a grit. and stuff. And like you say, balance moves LeBron down to better positioning for him. You know, either LeBron or Rui had to guard uncomfortably last year. You know, they have a legitimate big in Aiton who is going to improve them significantly as a rebounder. And so you look around and like smart, the one defensive thing that he doesn't do is rebound.

Starting point is 00:29:08 He's not a good rebounder, never has been. But the Lakers have Aiton. They have LeBron. John, who's averaged, you know, 10 rebounds in a game, you know, close to it over the course of his career. They have Luca, who has averaged, you know, had seasons of averaging basically 10 rebounds a night. And actually, AR is not a bad rebounder for his position either. They can support a bad rebounder. They've already done it with Rui.

Starting point is 00:29:39 I mean, it's like you're bumping Rui out of the starting line. He's a terrible rebounder for his size. Yeah, I actually think of the aggregate, there'll be a better rebounding team with this starting lineup than they were with Rui in it. Well, I think just by adding eight, and they would have been regardless of whether Rui stayed in the starting lineup or not, I think there could be ways where defensively they're just going to, they're going to become better rebounders, not even so much because you're taking Rui out of the starting lineup, but just with more defensive integrity, I think you could be in better positions to clean the defensive glass and end possessions that way. And again, that's an area where I think DeAndre Aiton, in and of itself, like, just having him on board, that's going to help. Like, I've seen a lot, too, just to address this in the comment section about the idea of keeping Rui in the starting lineup and playing Reeves off the bench. Brian and I've talked about this before. Maybe we could get more in depth with this in a different show, but I just wanted to acknowledge it because it's come up a lot.

Starting point is 00:30:40 it's something that I don't think the Lakers are going to do for a variety of reasons, some of which are I don't think they think it's the best basketball move. I mean, I understand the logic for playing Reeves off the bench, and I think you can make an actual basketball case for it with this roster and roster needs and how he might in some ways balance the roster better coming off the bench. But he's definitely a start, you know, he is definitely a starting caliber player. And just as importantly, Austin's a guy that they want to lock up this coming off season. And it is a dangerous game to take a guy like that, particularly in a coming off season where a lot of teams are going to have cap space and piss him off.

Starting point is 00:31:34 You know, like Brian and I covered the Lakers when Lamar Odom moved to the bench. and he was initially really unhappy about it, like openly unhappy about it in ways that were very atypical for Lamar Odom. And he eventually, you know, leaned into it because Lamar was an exceptionally team first guy. And I'm not insinuating that Austin isn't. I'm just talking about Lamar right now. But the offseason, it was the 2009 off season where they just won a championship and Lamar was playing off the bench,

Starting point is 00:32:07 his negotiations with the Lakers got really intense. It took about a month for the thing to get worked out, which is very long for a player of Lamar's stature with the obvious need with his team. There was one point where Dr. Bus broke off the negotiations, like pulled the offer because Lamar and his camp started talking to, I think Miami and Dallas. I actually ended up doing a long sit-down interview with Lamar.

Starting point is 00:32:36 There was some event. remember even what it was, but Lamar ended up talking with me for a while about it. He actually let me film it, which I was really surprised. But like, this got very contentious between Lamar and the Lakers. And in the end, it worked out. But it's a dangerous game to play, particularly if in any ways, if it's interpreted as trying to deflate Austin's value for his upcoming free agency, if it gets interpreted it that way at all for a team like the Lakers that whether you agree with it or not,

Starting point is 00:33:12 they very clearly want to lock up Austin this coming off season. It's just not a game that I think they're going to play, whether you, the audience, think they should or shouldn't. Yeah. And I mean, the other, speaking of that, we'll quit here. The other thing that they couldn't do, I've seen a couple of people, whether on Twitter or maybe in the comments section, like, why not just just hold on to Goodwin until you have.

Starting point is 00:33:40 They didn't have to release Goodwin today. They could have done it in a week. They could have done it in three weeks ago. Problem is you can't sign smart until you do. And you can't be like, give us a week. Give us a week and a half. Like he's going to go sign somewhere else. That's not how this works.

Starting point is 00:33:59 He clears waivers. I want to say Tuesday. He was officially put on waivers today. I think it's Tuesday. We're like, you got to be able to sign the guy. The moment he clears waivers, you have a contract. He signs it. Otherwise, guys will not, you just can't do business that way.

Starting point is 00:34:15 So if you want Marcus Smart, they tried to make a deal. They couldn't make it happen. It's not surprising. They've been trying to do this for, to be that their leverage got worse over the last couple of days, not better. You know, Dalton Connect, meanwhile, has turned himself into a non-asset. So, like, what are you going to do? I just, I think overall, this is a good weekend for the latest.

Starting point is 00:34:36 We'll see if now over time they can turn some of these expiring contracts into something maybe a little bit closer to the deadline, whatever it might be. But for the time being the Lakers, this is the team probably that they go into training camp with. And it's a better team than the one that they finish the season with. That's really all you can ask. I am out over the course of this week. Andy's got a great lineup of guests over the course of the week. So make sure you're checking those out every single day. Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out.

Starting point is 00:35:07 There are 35,000 subscribers. Please leave questions, leave comments, and see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - More on Lakers and Marcus Smart. Goodwin, Milton Waived. More Moves Coming?

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