Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - POSTCAST Lakers beat the Kings 132-122

Starting point is 00:00:06 You are a Locked-on Lakers Postcast. Part of Locked-on Sports Los Angeles on the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. James is out. Anthony Davis is back and the Lakers shoot the lights out. We talk about it all on the Locked-on Lakers Postcast. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandul, America's number one sports book, because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Big night for the Lakers. They continue their winning ways back home for the first game of four games at home for the Lakers. So it's a good time for the Lakers as they keep winning heading into the new year. Again, the Lakers will wrap up the 20-24 season, sort of speak, at least the calendar on New Year's Eve. The Lakers will host the Cleveland Cavaliers. We'll talk more about that game coming up, but should be extremely exciting. For the Lakers, they win again, 132, 122. and let's look at what happened because we find out throughout the day that LeBron James wasn't going to play.

Starting point is 00:01:12 LeBron James is sick due to illness and you find it out, as you know, so many of your friends and family, all of a sudden around the holidays, they're extremely sick. So it was disappointing to hear that LeBron wasn't going to be there after he played so well against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. So the Kings are going to see what you can do against the Kings as the Lakers have now faced the Kings three times in like eight days. it's been a lot. A lot of Kings basketball, but at the same time, I'd face the Kings every single night if it means getting a win. The King has come to town 13 and 18 on the season. They just fired Mike Brown, former Laker, former King, Doug Christie is the new coach for the remainder of the year. The Lakers coming to the game at 17 and 13, and he have a new starting lineup

Starting point is 00:01:54 because LeBron James isn't available. Anthony Davis, he is back. Thank goodness. That ankle injury only lasted one game against the Warriors. He's back. Ruiz was there. Austin Reeves, Max Christie and Gabe Vincent is the one that was able to step in in the LeBron James spot in the starting lineup. So the Lakers, as we know, 10 and 2 coming into the game against teams with a losing record. Those losses, of course, against the Pistons, still not over those losses. First quarter for the Lakers, though, you look at to see what were they going to do? What kind of reaction would this team have?

Starting point is 00:02:25 Kind of actually the reaction I expected. Many times when you see a superstar that is not there, it's an opportunity for guys to know, number one, they have to pick up the pace. They have to sit there and cover for the person that's not there. But also, it's an opportunity, an opportunity of how many times you don't shoot the ball or that you rebound or you're looking for assist for that superstar. It's a chance for really guys to kind of make a name for themselves. And so whether that's a Max Christie, whether it's a Gabe Vincent, guys that figure,

Starting point is 00:02:53 you know what, I know I'm an NBA player. Maybe you'll never be LeBron James, and chances are you won't. But it's still an opportunity to impress either to the coaching staff that you have, that there's an opportunity for more minutes, or who knows? We talk about trade deadlines. Is there a player on this Laker team that maybe can become an asset for another team

Starting point is 00:03:11 where they get more minutes and a chance to show what they can do? And there's not a player in the league that doesn't think they're being basically underutilized. And so for the Lakers, they're starting five that came out, they came out on fire. And it really started with Austin Reeves and his ability to distribute the ball.

Starting point is 00:03:28 Austin Reeves was outstanding in the first quarter. We'll get into how his game finished up. But in the first quarter, Austin Reeves was amazing. Anthony Davis was amazing. He picked up the pieces as well. So the way it ended up was Austin Reeves and Anthony Davis, both guys had 10 points in the first quarter. AD was perfect, five for five from the field. And this is kind of what you want to see from AD.

Starting point is 00:03:50 And for years, it has always been talked about that LeBron James was going to basically hand over the torch, the Laker torch to AD. And then, you know, the chance we've heard in the past, the MVP, MVP. AD doesn't always play like an MVP night in and night out. And then he has the history of being injured. The last year and a half, he's been better than he has been in his previous years with the Lakers as far as staying healthy. But when you see a non-contact injury and he goes down against Golden State, it becomes extremely frustrating in a game that, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:18 we want to beat the Warriors. And at the same time, it's Christmas Day. And not saying a player is ever Jake can get. It's just you wonder how tough is AD, especially at his age. Big guys often retire much quicker than the small. smaller guys. And so you wonder how long can AD play at a top performing level? Only five for five in the first quarter. That was outstanding. Austin Reeves, though, not only the 10 points, but the six assists. So you know it's going to be a big night for him.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Six assists in the first. That's like LeBron James big time numbers in the quarter. And that's what, you know, you need. That's what the Lakers need right now. That's what they weren't getting from Daniela Russell when he was in the starting lineup. So Austin Reeves, you know, you can argue that he's probably the team's best point guard at this time. Lakers shot fantastic, by the way. 74% from the field, 6 of 8 from behind the arc in the first quarter. Just amazing, how well they shot. The Kings did not shoot bad at all either.

Starting point is 00:05:13 I mean, the Kings on any other night, and for a Laker team, I would take this any other night, 59% from the field, 5-11, 3-point shooting range. But at the same time, the team lost the quarter, 40 to 31. So Malik Munk, Darren Fox, They led the Kings with eight points each. The Lakers, though, went on an 18 to 8 scoring run to end the quarter, which was outstanding. And you're going, this is going to be one of those nights the Lakers need where maybe they can rest a little bit.

Starting point is 00:05:40 They're back at home. And we can look at some of the bench guys. Well, it didn't exactly go that way. The Lakers did not win every single quarter. They were on and off. Second quarter was extremely sloppy. Lakers were outscored 35, 25. In the second quarter, Lakers went over four minutes without scoring a point at one point.

Starting point is 00:05:58 the quarter and that that was extremely frustrating like how can this be how can you go over four minutes in NBA game and not score missing free throws turnovers sloppy all over the place the lakers were terrible at the line and the sloppiness with the turnovers and not scoring that becomes frustrating what becomes even more frustrating I'm sure from the coaching staff and I know for fans because you know one thing to be a fan and know that hey I'm not good enough to be out there but at the same time I know what good basketball is but when you're seeing guys on the team that aren't going after loose balls, that becomes frustrating. Whenever you can question a player's effort,

Starting point is 00:06:32 that becomes extremely frustrating for a coach, for a fan, and you saw it tonight in the second quarter, because not only they're loose balls, but when I say, you know, go for a rebound, and the ball bounces on the floor. When you have guys are to this big and their wingspan, the ball should never bounce on the floor, basically. And for a ball to bounce away from a Laker player

Starting point is 00:06:51 and they've been rebounded by Sacramento King, it's frustrating. And you saw it over and over again in the quarter, and that's why they were outscored by 10 points. The Lakers thought they had this game in the bag after one. The energy level dropped a tremendous amount, and it was frustrating to see that the Lakers let the Kings back in this game. Anthony Davis had seven points,

Starting point is 00:07:11 Rui had six in the quarter, but the Lakers give up nine points on turnovers. The Kings gave up zero, the sloppiness right there. And so I'm kind of curious to know what was said at halftime. What was the message at halftime to point out to them that, hey, this isn't the effort we need, we need to come out and play like we did in the first quarter.

Starting point is 00:07:29 The game is not over till it's over. Everything that JJ Reddick, Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks, any of those things, those guys might have said of the players to get them to come out because at the half, the Lakers were losing 66, 65. So when you're down by one after you're facing a team that just fired their coach and a team that you just swept in their home court and back-to-back games, how does that possibly happen?

Starting point is 00:07:51 Lakers at the half looking at the numbers, Anthony Davis had 17 points. Again, he was fantastic. seven of eight from the field, eight rebounds. Rui was great, always the most underrated guy, maybe in the NBA, 13 points, three of three for three point shooting, four rebounds, Austin Reeves, 13 points, five to six on his shots, seven assists, but the three turnovers are frustrating.

Starting point is 00:08:14 And that's where it's always frustrating with the Lake turnovers. And people who want to say, well, LeBron, man, he has too many turnovers. Austin Reeves is doing the same thing. At that point, the Lakers only had six turnovers at the half, three of them were by Austin Reeves. So as well as he was playing, he was still hurting the team with the turnovers because those turnovers can either turn into two

Starting point is 00:08:32 or can turn into three points every single time you do that. So assuming, let's say, worst case scenario, there's three turnovers, equal nine points and you're down at the half. You point the finger at number 15? I don't know. Demardo Rosen, 14.6 assists. He was the high point man

Starting point is 00:08:49 for the Kings at the half. Darren Fox 12.6 assists. Subonis, 5.7, to rebounds three assists. Now, I always look at Subonis when the Lakers play the Kings because Subonis always gives Anthony Davis a hard time. He's one of the toughest matchups for Anthony Davis and he's a tremendous player. He's in foul trouble the entire night before he eventually fouled out. But that was big right there for the Lakers as far as Sabonis is struggling with the fouls. But again, the five points that Anthony Davis had a big first half and Subonis only had five

Starting point is 00:09:20 that shows he again that Anthony Davis was playing his best basketball. field goal percentage. Both teams shot very well. Lakers 59%, Kings, 54%, three-point shooting. Lakers were 9 to 17, 53%. I mean, through the roof right there, that's exactly a dream for JJ Redick, who preaches three-point shooting all the time. The King shot 26%. Assists, Lakers 15. Kings at 24. I was like the assist numbers, you know, became a huge fan of the stat because I was a Magic Johnson fan. But when you get your teammates involved, you'll see the energy level seems to stay up the entire game. Turnovers Lakers, six at the point. Kings had four. The Lakers scored only six points off the King's turnovers, while the King scored 11 points

Starting point is 00:10:01 off the Lakers turnover. So very frustrating. And a surprising number was the points in the paint. The Lakers had 26, but the Kings had 38. 38 points in the paint. And this is what we talk about all the time with the Lakers. You're hearing all the rumors that they're going to make a trade for a big man, somebody to help Anthony Davis out.

Starting point is 00:10:21 But at the same time, 38 points in the paint. That's one of those where Rob Polenka, you're thinking, is he pulling the trigger sooner than later on making a trade? Because even though they're going to get Jackson Hayes back, this Laker team needs to do something as far as bringing players in to help round things out to basically make them a more dangerous team, a team basically that they can count on to say, you know what, this is not just a team that beats teams under 500. This is a team that you can count on to make a run in the playoffs. We'll get to the third, fourth quarter, and of course, everything else in the, in the, this show. Also, I have some players that I put together, possible traits. So hang on throughout the show as I'm going to throw different trade scenarios at you and you tell me what you think. If you want any of these guys on this Laker team, we'll get to, of course, everything that's going on with the Lakers and what they have going

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Starting point is 00:12:28 Why is this team continue to struggle, you know, depending on the quarter, because they did great in the first quarter, outscoring the Kings 40 to 31. Second quarter, they're outscored 35, 25, 25. Kings lead at the half, 66, 65. Guess what? Third quarter, this is exactly what we've been waiting for. As Laker fans, we expected this team to play better, and they couldn't have played better. the Lakers came out.

Starting point is 00:12:52 You found out that Gabe Vincent with the Bruce side slash ribs. He wasn't going to play. Of course, we saw the collision between Gabe Vincent's a bonus and Gabe Vincent wasn't able to go. Even when you looked at him on the bench, you look like he was in pain. Cam Reddish, we heard he was questionable. He was going to come back with the back spasms.

Starting point is 00:13:10 Well, he did come back. Cam Reddish did come back, which was great. Return of the game halfway through the third quarter. The big news for the Lakers, they went on a 19 to 4 scoring run. At one point, the Lakers were up by 20 points. in the quarter and also good news for the Lakers. Sabonis left the game midway through the third quarter with five fouls. At the time, he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists in just 22 minutes, but he was gone

Starting point is 00:13:32 because he was in foul trouble. Anthony Davis, 11.6 rebounds. He had 28 points at that point of the game. 14, or excuse me, 14 rebounds for the game as well. Rui, again, great. Understated, he had 21 points at 4-4 from behind the arc. Perfect. You think about three-point shooting.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Yeah, he's a guy that can put it up, but you don't think of him as, you know, Larry Bird status, four-fourth three-point range for him. Austin Reeves, 21 points, 13 assists to three-quarters. Again, DeMarge Rosen led the Kings with 23. Some of like, Demard de Rosen's been around forever, and he's 35 years old. But DeMarie de Rosen was fantastic.

Starting point is 00:14:10 And so when we look at everything that the Lakers had to do, they played a great, great third quarter, where, I don't know about you, but you're starting to breathe a little bit easy. At the same time, this Laker team is not the Laker teams of the past. And you wonder, can this Laker team continue to pull it together? And then all of a sudden, with the big lead the Lakers have, again, at one point up by 20, and the Lakers start to give it back.

Starting point is 00:14:35 And I don't know if you watched the game the other night when it was the Chicago Bulls and the Hawks where the Bulls had like a 17-point lead with less than five minutes to go. And the Hawks win the game by eight. And it's going, oh, my goodness, am I about to watch? the same game back to back because the Kings were on fire. And you look at Darren Fox and how great he is, um, absolutely, absolutely insane to see what was going on and then just the nervousness because you just don't know what's going to happen on this Laker team. And there's always that go-to guy. Like Anthony Davis is great, but you still got to get him the ball. If you have a guy like LeBron

Starting point is 00:15:11 James on the court, at least LeBron, when things are going to get a little bit out of hand and you aren't going to waste a time out, at least you put the ball in his hands and he can control the rhythm in the game and there's no LeBron. So you don't have LeBron. You're looking at the other guys. You're looking at Austin Reeves. You're looking at some of the other guys. The team normally doesn't rely on for crunch time. And you're saying, okay, it's up to you guys to sit there and make this thing work. So even though the Kings got close and you're a little bit nervous and you're looking at the time left on the clock and you're saying, what do the Lakers have to do? The game got close. The Lakers were able to answer back. And that was big. That's the side of

Starting point is 00:15:46 maturity. And so that was a good move right there. I think overall this win, I understand it, Sacramento. This win against the Kings is big because the team grows. They proved that they can play without a superstar. The other day, they played without a superstar and Anthony Davis. But LeBron James and Austin Reeves, they set up big time. It's different when you have, you know, Anthony Davis, who's not going to be a guy that shoots up three-pointers.

Starting point is 00:16:09 He did make one tonight, one of one. But that's not him. Anthony Davis is a guy that even though he's a big guy, he's tough to control the tempo of the game when you're the big guy. it has to be the guys that are outside the arc that control the tempo or the game, especially when you're trying not to lose it. So we've spoken about this before as well. There's a big difference in pro sports or even college sports

Starting point is 00:16:30 when you see a team that's trying to win and a team that's trying not to lose. And it felt like in the fourth quarter of the Lakers, we're saying, we're just going to run out the 12 minutes and we'll try not to lose. Well, the Kings weren't going to let that happen. The shot clock, it's almost impossible to go that route. So let's look inside the box score and see how, things played out for the Lakers, okay? So Anthony Davis had great night,

Starting point is 00:16:52 like career night for Anthony Davis. He had 36 points. He had 15 rebounds, eight assists, just like you, I'm sure you guys were all rooting for him to get that triple double. So was I, you know, as I always say, it's about the final school board that matters most, but the individual stats are one of those situations where, you know, when you see a guy coming back from injury,

Starting point is 00:17:11 you like to see him do something great. Anthony Davis was awesome. 38 minutes, he had 36 points. Big night for him. Austin Reeves. Not only did he have the 26 points, Austin Reeves finished with 16 assists. 16 assists. That's a career high for Austin Reeves. That was great to see. He had no steals for Austin tonight. He did have the five turnovers. I'll tell you that's what bothered him. I bet what bothered him even more were the three missed free throws. There was a stretch there where

Starting point is 00:17:36 he wasn't making his free throws. So that was one of the things we pointed out when they beat the Warriors. The Lakers went 18 from 18 from the line the other night. Well, tonight they started missing free throws and they're missing free throws early and it was frustrating. Anthony Davis missed two of them. Austin Reeves missed three of them. Cam Reddish missed two of them. And kind of frustrating there to see that the team finished 78.8% from the free throw line. So for the Lakers, it wasn't perfect.

Starting point is 00:18:01 It's things they can work on for an NBA team. You expect them as a team to shoot over 80%. It's just the good teams make the free throws when you need them and to have a team that misses free throws, especially at home. It's kind of like what is the excuse? How does that possibly happen? Lakers assist-wise, as I mentioned, the two big guys, Reeves was 16, Davis with 8, and otherwise it was kind of sporadic on the way it worked around.

Starting point is 00:18:28 Some of the other players that stepped up, as I mentioned before, gave Vincent started, but he didn't play much. Gabe Vincent only played seven minutes before the injury, finished with zero points, only shot the ball one time, and got one rebound. Unfortunately, Gabe Vincent, his night was over as an opportunity for him to shine. At the same time, what did that mean for the first? other guys were able to step in.

Starting point is 00:18:48 Dalton Connect, thank goodness. Dalton Connect is starting to look like the player the Lakers thought they were getting. Dalton Connect had 18 points. Again, Dalton Connect, 18 points. 6 of 10 from the field, 205 from three-point shooting, and he made all four of his free throws.

Starting point is 00:19:04 That was great that Lakers need him. DeAngelo Russell, you never know what you're going to get, but DeAngelo, really not the three-point shooting because he was only one of four. DeAngelo played pretty well. DeAngelo, I understand it was only nine points, 27 minutes. wasn't terrible in the fact he only committed one turnover, one turnover in 27 minutes, not bad for D'Angelo.

Starting point is 00:19:21 We'd like to see more points. I'm sure Laker management would like to see more points from D'Angelo as well. Again, this is a guy that's a former All-Star. He's not old. It's been in the league forever. He's not old. But for the Lakers, you'd like to see more points. Lakers ended up with 33 total points off the bench, which was nice to see.

Starting point is 00:19:40 Again, Jackson Hayes, who was eligible to play, did not play. It doesn't sound like he's in game shape. he's not exactly ready to go, but he's a guy that in the meantime, until they trade for a big guy, Jackson Hays will be a guy that will step in and kind of help defend the middle, something that the Lakers can need. Again, the guy can jump very high with long arms, a guy that basically creates an obstacle in the paint for the other teams. So for the Lakers there, it was nice to see that the team was able to rally without LeBron. At the same time, the guy stepped up as soon as Gabe Vincent went down to without basically two starters right there.

Starting point is 00:20:15 in the same position right away. So for the Lakers, again, it was nice to see that they able to step in and make some moves and get a little bit better. We're going to go through exactly what happened on Sacramento side in a second, but also I have some trade scenarios for you that you're going to want to hear. Kind of curious to know what you think about the trade scenarios. Who do you want to see come to the Lakers? I have a couple of ideas for you.

Starting point is 00:20:39 We'll get through all those as well. First want to mention Fandul. Don't forget NFL playoffs are almost here. both LA teams won today. Chargers one in the morning, Rams won at night. It's a good night for L.A. sports, actually, with the Lakers winning as well. But again, the NFL playoffs almost here. It's not too late to get on in the regular season action with Fandul, America's number one sports book, because right now new customers can finish the season strong

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Starting point is 00:21:52 So here's the deal. Lakers win, as you said, most importantly, 132, 122. And when you look at everything that's going on right now with the Lakers, I think a lot of people are saying, hey, it's fantastic. This team is winning games right now. But what else is out there for this Laker team? Can they be better? Absolutely, this team can be better.

Starting point is 00:22:10 So looking at what the Kings did against them, it's the main guys, right? It's Darren Fox, who had 14 of the fourth quarter. He ended up with 29 points in 38 minutes. Darren Fox is awesome, all right? 29 points, 12 assists, four steals, one of the fastest players in the league. He's basically a mismatch for every player in the league. He's very hard to cut to guard. And then when you look at Damar de Rosen, again, you know, L.A.'s own, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:36 again, DeMar de Rosen, the guy that always, he hears talks, you know, wanted to be a Laker never worked out between the raptors, the Bulls, now the Kings, still not a Laker at age 35. Well, DeRosen look great, you know, 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds. The pros, pro. I mean, Dermar de Rosen with 41 minutes tonight and steps up big for Sacramento. And he steps up, he's the most consistent guy in the league. He's your guy, not a great three-point shooter, but D'Amar de Rosen is a guy that hits the mid-range shot, a guy that adds points, a guy you know what you're going to get, that

Starting point is 00:23:08 spark and the Lakers definitely need another score. So here you go. I'm going to throw some scenarios at you and you tell me what you think right here. I'm going to throw a couple names at you. I'm going to give you five names. Okay. So here we go. Possible trade targets for Rob Polinka. 35-year-old DeRosan. He averages 21 points a game, three rebounds, three assists. He shoots 48% from the field, 31% from three-point range. Not going to take a lot to get a 35-year-old. Okay. Leake Monk, who I always thought the Lakers gave up on too soon. I liked Malik Monk when he was here. It seemed like Malik Monk has been in this league forever, and he has.

Starting point is 00:23:45 A leak monk's only 26, only 26 years old, 16 points, four rebounds, five assists, choose 44% from a field goal range and again, 35% three point range. You have Darren Fox. This would be a dream. I understand this is a stretch. It should be tough for Sacramento, but Sacramento is in rebuild mode. The same time, the owner, you know he's not going to want to make a trade with the Lakers to trade his best player to the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:24:10 But we've seen the Lakers pull off some crazy deals where you're going, how do they get that guy? Look, I understand it's not Jerry West that's pulling the trigger anymore. But if D.A. Fox is available at 27, you're 26 points a game, five rebounds, six assists, never really played on a team that's a high profile team like the Lakers. Also at the same time, a chance to be on a team that has Bron and AD and a chance to maybe make a run at a championship. Things change in the West dramatically if you can get a number.

Starting point is 00:24:38 of the superstar to the caliber of a Darren Fox. Again, 48% from field goals and 33% from three point range. And two more guys that I think actually are very attainable. It's Lori Marketing for him, the Jazz, the Jazz Stink. Lori's only 27 years old, 20 points a game, seven rebounds, a game, only two assists per game. But again, when you look at him, he's a guy that knows the game. LeBron's a fan of his game.

Starting point is 00:25:06 I'm a fan of his game. It doesn't matter what I think. I understand I'm not the one doing it, but if LeBron likes him, and he's available on a bad Utah jazz team, and you can pull off a deal to get him, again, he's only 27 years old. I think a lot of people who follow West Coast basketball,

Starting point is 00:25:19 you all remember him playing at the University of Arizona. Very good player, and I've pushed this almost every single night, but the more you look at him and he's on a horrible team, is it time to bring back Brandon Ingram? Ingraham's 27 years old, 22 points a game, six rebounds, five assists, He's shooting 47% from the field, 37% from three point range. Any of those guys right there, are they interesting for you to say,

Starting point is 00:25:46 hey, Rob Polinka, you need to make that move. Who would you like to see the Lakers make a move for? I would love to see it. Craig says he'd like to see the Lakers bring in a big guy. He says you'd like to see them look at the Chicago or Atlanta Center. Either way, look at a big guy. Chicago is looking to make moves. You've heard a lot of talk that Chicago is looking to trim that roster

Starting point is 00:26:07 down, what they have isn't close to a winning team, a winning franchise. Chicago needs to make a lot of moves. It's funny, when you look at championships in this league, you always think of the Lakers, you think of the Celtics, and then Michael Jordan's run when he had six of them. But besides that, the Bulls have been an embarrassing organization. Michael Jordan won his last championship with the Bulls all the way back in 98. You have many guys in the league were born after in 1998? A lot of them.

Starting point is 00:26:31 So, I mean, for them, when they hear about the Bulls and everything else, that's long, a long time ago. If you're a long time NBA fan, it doesn't seem like a long time ago. It's a long time ago when so many guys in the league weren't even alive to see it, that the Bulls are in a situation where they're looking to get rid of players. You're hearing about ball possibly coming back to the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:26:49 Different moves that are going to happen. Rob Polinkin promised something was going to happen in December if things weren't working out. I can't say things aren't working, but you've got to make that decision, right? You hear the saying all the time. Are you thriving or you surviving? And the Lakers are surviving. They aren't a thriving.

Starting point is 00:27:05 team. They're surviving right now. They need something. Craig can't, can agree with you more. They need something. If they want to compete with teams like Denver and Boston, the Lakers have to make a move. And so I appreciate the comments, but at the same time, the Lakers need to make a move sooner than later. And if that means trading draft picks and some people look at draft picks as they're gold and they're untouchable, I understand that. But it can't be that way with this Laker team because LeBron James is going to be 40 in a couple days, right? LeBron James is going to be 40 and Anthony Davis is 31. Your best players are old.

Starting point is 00:27:37 Consider old for NBA standards. There's no rebuilding for this team. There's no waiting for Dalton Connect to be in a six year before he might be an all-star. That's not where this Laker team is. This Laker team has to try and win this year and next year. And if that means sacrifice and draft picks, then that's what you have to do. You can't waste the last few years of LeBron James career and Anthony Davis in his prime for what this roster is around them right now.

Starting point is 00:28:01 This team right now has major moves that they need to make moving forward. For the Lakers, again, as I mentioned before, this is the first game of four games in a row at home. They have the calves on New Year's Eve who are playing great basketball. They have the Blazers, and they have, who am I missing right here? I'll get that to you to one second. Who do they have? Oh, here you go. Blazers and Hawks.

Starting point is 00:28:25 And the Hawks are playing better basketball right now, okay? as we've seen the Hawks that upset the Lakers earlier in the season. So again, you have the Kings tonight, you have the Cavs, you have the Blazers, and then you have the Hawks before you hit the road to go to Houston. So for the Lakers right now, looking at the standings, as I tell you all the time, as I'm going to look at it right now and tell you that the Lakers, I want them to be a top four team in this league in the Western Conference going in the postseason.

Starting point is 00:28:49 It benefits them. The Lakers right now are moving up. Things are going in the right direction. They're at number five. As of right now, this team is at number five. So pretty good. They're 18 and 13 at number five. Who's in front of the Lakers that the Lakers can pass?

Starting point is 00:29:03 I'll tell you right now, number four, where I want the Lakers to at least be at a minimum, it's the Dallas Mavericks. We all know Luca's going to be out. Looks like probably close to a month. Luca, with him out, can the Mavs continue winning?

Starting point is 00:29:16 It's going to be a little bit tougher. The Mavs are 20 and 12 Lakers are a game and a half behind the Mavericks right now. They can be there. Right now the schedule benefits the Lakers to make a run in January. The team in front of the Lakers, and the Mavs are the Houston Rockets at number three.

Starting point is 00:29:31 They're 21 and 10. They've lost their last game, but they've won six of their last 10. So six and four in their last 10. Memphis is playing great basketball, eight and two in their last 10. They're the two seed. And Oklahoma City, 10 and 0 in their last 10 games, continue to win. Oklahoma City is running a 10-game win streak. Again, 25 and 5.

Starting point is 00:29:52 I think if you ask people even Oklahoma City, they're probably ahead of schedule what they thought the franchise was going to be. again missing Chet Holmgren for the majority of the first half of the season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder continued to run. Behind the Lakers, I'll give it to you real quick. The playoff team's Clippers are six, nuggets are seven, Minnesota's eight, San Antonio is now number nine and Golden State is 10. Phoenix Sun's not in it.

Starting point is 00:30:18 Is all the talk that Kevin Durant could be traded again? Could the Lakers be a team that makes a run at him? Telling you right now, the Lakers get to rant. We have LeBron, Durant, Bron, Durant, and AD, that's now your favorite to win the NBA championship. That would be amazing right there. As you said before, the Cavs are the next team to come to L.A. on New Year's Eve.

Starting point is 00:30:36 That's 6 o'clock tip-off. The Cavs are the number one team in the NBA right now at 27 and 4. Continue their winning ways. They're 9 and 1 in their last 10. They've won six games in a row. Cavs also play well on the road. They're 10 and 3 on the road right now. Again, it's a long trip.

Starting point is 00:30:52 For LeBron James, we hope he feels better. We know LeBron wants to beat his form. teams. Nothing like wins for LeBron against Cleveland against Miami. And then, of course, you have the Boston Celtics or the number two-seat. But really, it's a two-team race. I think as far as people that honestly feel who can win a championship in the East, and it's the one and two teams. It's Cleveland and it's Boston. Whereas in the West, it is much tougher all the way around. And so for the Lakers, the number five C tonight, that's exactly where they're at. That's, they're moving up. The way the schedule benefits, the Lakers moving forward, things should be

Starting point is 00:31:26 going in the right way. So we'll figure it all out right there. So again, join me on New Year's Eve. If you're around, again, the game's a six o'clock tip off. You have plenty of time to watch the game. You got 30 minutes for me on the Lockdown Lakers post game show and get a chance to talk a little Laker basketball. Again, I want you your suggestions.

Starting point is 00:31:46 Who do you think they need to make a trade for? I say all the time. I see BC in the chat says, big win. You got the Rams winning. You have the Lakers winning, Kings winning. Chargers win as well. look two NFL teams in LA both of them are going to the playoffs

Starting point is 00:31:59 you got two New York teams neither one's going to the playoffs absolutely love it love the fact to Oscar Hernandez is back with the Dodgers I'm a huge Dodger fan as well so I know most Laker fans you guys are Dodger fans with me two more things on our wish list for the Dodgers I'll throw it out there two more things I want

Starting point is 00:32:15 Tanner Scott really bad the lefty pitcher that was with the Marlins and Padres last year and I want Suzuki we get Tanner Scott we get Suzuki Dodgers are running this thing back they might run it back anyway, but it was great to see to Oscar Hernandez re-signed with the Dodgers and move forward. So, again, this is a city of champions, man. We love our L.A. sports.

Starting point is 00:32:33 We love our L.A. teams. And it helps when teams like the Lakers win when they're supposed to win on Sunday night. So we'll get on out of here. Again, thank you so much for joining me. Again, listen to Brian and Andy if you want to catch Lockdown Lakers every single day. Again, they do a great job talking Laker basketball with you. I'm Dave Pallet. I'm here for all the post game.

Starting point is 00:32:52 Again, Lockdown Lakers post game with me. I appreciate your comments and you guys sitting there with me throughout the season. We'll see you on Tuesday night and give you plenty of time to go out and enjoy the new year. Take care, everybody.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - POSTCAST Lakers beat the Kings 132-122

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