Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Will the Lakers have to Pay Extra in Trade as "Punishment" for getting Luka?

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

The Lakers have some work to do this summer to improve the team enough to realistically compete for a title, but multiple reports indicate that might not be so easy. Why? Not just because the price f...or certain players (namely centers) might be steep, but because the rest of the league might be in the mood to punish them for being gifted Luka Dončić at the trade deadline. The Athletic's Jovan Buha (among others) reports that the "Lakers Tax" might be in play this offseason, as teams are at the very least sensitive to the idea of making a team that was just gifted Luka Doncic better. So if the Lakers want Daniel Gafford, the Mavs might insist not just on Dalton Knecht, but also a first rounder (and balancing salary). That's a lot for a guy who has never been able to establish himself as a starting center in the NBA. Plus, the Lakers are going to have to pay him next offseason. Do they like him that much? Broadly, how much can/should the Lakers overpay for a center, if at all? Are they in position to overpay at all? Meanwhile, Giannis is reportedly staying in Milwaukee. How does that impact the Lakers? Plus, we open the mailbag to talk LeBron.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: The Lakers and Daniel Gafford. Is an overpay coming?  SEGMENT 2: Can the Lakers overpay for anyone?  SEGMENT 3: Giannis, trades and the Lakers.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!OLIPOPGet a free can of OLIPOP! Just buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one. Head to drinkolipop.com/LOCKEDONNBA to claim your free can and find OLIPOP near you.  WayFairGive your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.Door DashSign up for DashPass and when any player scores 50+ in a playoff game, DashPass members can grab a free 3PC Crispy Tenders Combo from Wingstop the next day, with a $20+ order and code WINGSTOP50. That’s DashPass: your door to more savings, more flavor, and more ways to win. Terms apply.Valid only at participating Wingstop locations. Fees (including service fee), taxes, and gratuity still apply. Orders must have a minimum subtotal of $20, excluding taxes and fees. Offer valid on 4/15/25-6/22 /25 or while supplies last. Valid for one (1) promotional redemption per customer. DoubleDash promotions apply only to your DoubleDash add-on order, not your primary order. DoubleDash orders are not valid for the purchase of alcohol. No cash value. Non-transferable. Discount applies to subtotal only; does not apply to fees, taxes, and gratuity. Not valid for pickup. Limit one per person. Not valid for the purchase of alcohol. Fees, taxes, and gratuity still apply. Must have an active DashPass account. Use promo code WINGSTOP50 to redeem. See full terms and conditions at drd.sh/qnAXuU Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first yearGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use codeLOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Monday. Brian Komeneski, Andy Komeneski. The Lakers are going to have to overpay for Daniel Gafford in a trade or everyone else, for that matter. That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, everybody for making Locked on Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcast, this one's always free and never behind paywall.
Starting point is 00:00:34 Locked on Lakers on. YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 35,000 subscribers to the channel, Andy, all of whom are wondering how exactly the Lakers are going to get better this off season. One Avenue is trades, but is the league going to punish them for their lucid d'anjic deal? Other teams around the league. We'll get to that in a second. I want to let you know that today's episode's brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money.
Starting point is 00:01:02 Use the code locked on NBA at monarchmoney. come for 50% off your first year. So it starts in Dallas, Andy, where they have one of the perceived centers on the trade market, Daniel Gafford, a good shot blocker, good rebounder, good vertical threat. He's on the list of guys the Lakers might go after. And apparently the price is going to be steep. I mean, what I think is really interesting about this, first of all, before we drill down on the idea of Dallas and Daniel Gafford and the perceived politics that go along with the Lakers making
Starting point is 00:01:41 another deal with Dallas, the optics, etc. As far as anything league-wide, like a tax being placed on the Lakers because of the Luka deal, I feel like that's really misplaced. Like, why are you not taxing the Mavericks? They're the one that actually made this deal. Every team around the league for the equivalent price of Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first, which, you know, Anthony Davis is an elite center. Max Christie, I think, is an emerging 3-and-D player around the league. And those are increasingly some of the most valuable type of players that you can have. And a pick, like, I don't consider that nothing.
Starting point is 00:02:25 But if you do, you actually should be taking this out on Dallas. And quite frankly, you should be redirecting that anger and energy towards trying to fleece Nico for whatever is left still on his roster. Like, why are you wasting your time punishing Rob Belinka for having been given, you know, or offered a very good deal? Like, AD is still on this roster. You can probably get him for cheap from Dallas. You know, if you like Gafford, get him for something good. Hell, you might be able to get Cooper Flag. Like, why are you wasting your time punishing the Lakers?
Starting point is 00:03:02 That's just saying, my bias aside, that doesn't actually make any sense. There is a certain lack of logic to it. This notion of a Lakers tax is nothing new. No. It's been revived over the weekend, Jake Weinbach from, you know, NBA reporters, worked for a variety of outlets. he tweeted out that the Lakers were, you know, league executives are angry at the Lakers were handed a gift.
Starting point is 00:03:33 And if the Lakers engage in trade talks, they're going to be made to pay a little extra. Like I certainly don't buy any sort of league-wide collusion against the Lakers in that way. I do think there's a possibility, though. The Lakers tax, to me, isn't so much that teams are unwilling to deal with the Lakers or literally insist on extra because, hey, man, you're the Lakers, you've got to pay the Lakers tax.
Starting point is 00:04:00 I do think where if there's any truth to it at all, and conceptually it's stupid, teams should make whatever deal they feel improves their team. Like if you think you can trade with the Lakers and get better, do it. But there, I think there is the possibility always for greater push. back on a franchise when they're being perceived to make the Lakers better, especially if you might be a member of the Western Conference, a potential contender, somebody who wants is competing for a playoff, whatever it might be. If you're perceived as a team that is doing the Lakers work for them, making them better, then you're helping the evil empire and all that other kinds of stuff.
Starting point is 00:04:49 So I do think there is some level of validity to the idea of a Lakers tax. This is nothing new. I'm just saying this particular. I don't think it operates in quite the way oftentimes people perceive it to be. But there is some truth to it. I just feel like everyone's anger is misplaced. All y'all, all other 28 teams around the league, you have done the exact same thing. Like, again, you're punishing the.
Starting point is 00:05:19 wrong party. If you feel like the Lakers... I think you can do what you're talking about here. The strategy you're talking about is doable in both ways. You can walk and chew gum. What you should be doing, I guess, is trying to punish the Lakers and then fleece the Mavericks. So you can do theoretically both.
Starting point is 00:05:40 You can try to steal AD while also not making it easy for Rob Polinka to improve. I just, I think as long at the idea that GMs will just be a little more sensitive to the idea of like, wait a minute, what's this going to look like? Are we going to look like we're doing something stupid in the media? Or they look like we're going to get screwed? Are we going to get backlash from our fans? We're going to become Nico light. We're going to become Nico 2.0.
Starting point is 00:06:08 As long as the answer to that is no, then I think the Lakers can make whatever trade they need because teams ultimately serve their self-interest. And if 28 teams decided that they didn't want to deal with the Lakers, because we're going to show them, they got so lucky with the Luka. The 29th would be like, sweet, market inefficiency. I'm going to go get myself a Laker. You know, that's going to help me. And that's how this would work. But an example of this, for example, we were talking about Daniel Gafford from Yovon Buhaz podcast.
Starting point is 00:06:40 I believe it's from the podcast as opposed to something you wrote for the athletic, but definitely from Yovan friend of the show. quote, my read talking about a Gafford deal is they'd have to overpay. It would probably have to be something like Gabe, Vincent, Dalton Connect, and a first round pick for Gafford. And that's a lot. And what it's worth, I agree with Yovans assessment. That is a lot. And it's important to remember with Daniel Gafford,
Starting point is 00:07:06 you have to really like him to make a deal like that, A, because that's the price to get him. And that price, I think, is high. for Daniel Gafford, but also, too, there's then the price to keep him because he's going to have a lot of leverage in that scenario. If you're not aware, Daniel Gaffert is in the final year of his deal. It's 14 and change for the 25, 20, 26 season. And the Lakers are not going to trade that much to rent Daniel Gafford. If for no other reason, then they are not, at least I need to see more to be convinced that they are Daniel Gafford.
Starting point is 00:07:46 away from winning a championship. So that's too theoretically, that's too high of a cost for a theoretical one season with Daniel Gafford. So then you got to start thinking about, are we comfortable paying close to 20 mil, 20 plus for Daniel Gafford? Like that could be what he's looking for. And in a situation like this, it might be what he's able to extract from the Lakers in order to justify making this deal in the first place. And Gafford, has never really solidified himself as a full-time starter in the league.
Starting point is 00:08:20 I am good. He's a good player. No, he's a good player. But I'm always a little bit suspicious. And I think you have to be a little bit suspicious of players who kind of put up impressive numbers and seem to be like really good per minute players and all these other things to and don't quite get past. that hump. Like, look, Derek lively is a really good player. But and so it's like to the idea that Gafford just had to split time with lively and all these other. It's like doesn't, it doesn't totally sort of impugn his character. And there's a as a player and there is a limit as to the type
Starting point is 00:09:03 of center of the Lakers you're going to be able to get. But I want to ask next about this question of overpayment. Like what? The Lakers have some really strong needs. Are they in a position where they might actually need to, like need to? Not it's like the league is making them, but in an effort to get better, is it possible that it would be in their best interests, perhaps, to overpay? So that's my question next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Monarch Money.
Starting point is 00:09:45 Have you ever checked your bank account and wondered, where are all the money, you know, between dining out, online shopping, entertainment, it's really easy to lose track. That's where Monarch money comes in. Your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control of your finances. Monarch money, it's not just a budgeting app. It's a complete financial command center. You can track all of your accounts, investments, and spending all in one place
Starting point is 00:10:05 so you can stop just managing money. And you can start building wealth. And instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track spending, even plan long-term goals. And managing your money with the partner is smoother than ever. You can track shared and personal accounts, set goals, and stay on the same page without the stress. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money.
Starting point is 00:10:27 Use the code locked on MBA at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on MBA for half off your first year. So I put, I never liked to be this guy. I put out the proverbial hypothetical. So let's, and we'll get to it. And I'll, I'll, you know, give my opinion on it as well. But like, the Lakers desperately need a center. in this hypothetical thing, you know, you're giving up Connect and a first rounder.
Starting point is 00:11:00 You know, the Vincent piece of it is less important other than when you use Vincent in one deal. You can't use Vincent in another because- And you need to find somebody to play back the point card. Right. The CBA is this isn't even an anti-Lakers thing. We're just not allowed to trade the same player twice. So how much of an overpay? I think in this particular case, Connect and a first rounder and, you know, that balancing salary is a lot.
Starting point is 00:11:33 For a guy you're going to have to pay especially. But how much of an overpay do you think is reasonable for the Lakers, given the extreme need that they have at this particular position? the scarcity of players available and the sort of limitations in the amount of stuff that they have to offer. It's not like, you know, Oklahoma City, Andy could overpay easily for a player if they wanted to with a little extra pick or something, if they really wanted that guy. The Lakers obviously don't have that much capital. I mean, I think in some ways the answer is what else or who else, I should say, are you going to be potentially bidding for, trying to trade for? maybe getting with your taxpayer mid-level exception, like all of those things, because while center is the most glaring positional need that the Lakers have, they quite literally
Starting point is 00:12:31 have no full-time NBA players under center. I mean, under contract, like Jackson Hayes is a free agent, Trey Jemison is under contract with a two-way, but he's not a full-time NBA player. Like they have literally nobody. So in terms of positions, that's the most glistency. but they have other needs as well. Like we've talked about, they need better two-way wings. They need better defense along the wings. Like they could use an upgrade when we were talking about the Chris Paul rumor,
Starting point is 00:13:04 which side note, it's pretty clear the Locked-on Lakers audience, not a fan of the Chris Paul acquisition theoretically, which neither one of us really pushed for that hard either. One of the main things I- It's like I need to know who else. just for recap people who didn't see the show on Friday. I am actually not.
Starting point is 00:13:26 Chris Paul played pretty well for the Spurs last year. And the chances are that on a sort of per minute basis, he's probably going to be better than most minimum salaried point guards you're going to find. What I need to know is who else are you signing? Because obviously a 40-year-old Chris Paul, who has never been, you know, a high-flying, you know, Alan Iverson, Waterbug athlete, you know, like that, even in his prime.
Starting point is 00:14:00 He was a different kind of player than that. You know, that guy is not going to solve the Lakers' problems of athleticism and defense. So, like, what else are you doing around? Like, the parts really need to fit together. So that's my, I don't object to Chris Paul. I sort of object to not enough information, Well, I mean, really, there's not enough information.
Starting point is 00:14:22 I'm just sort of more recapping my, my, my, my, my, I get that. I was going to say, just during the show itself, the, the, the, the, the, the points I raised is that I would even consider Chris Paul, depending on the other details, the context, all of that, um, potentially a good acquisition or a reasonable acquisition in a lot of ways says more about the need for an upgrade over Gabe Vincent than truly endorsing Chris Paul. But the point in even bringing this up at all is there's a lot of different areas that the Lakers are going to try to strengthen and they have very few means. So some of the idea of how much are you willing to overpay depends on who. And then a lot of the details. Like, for example, Nick Claxton has been linked to the Lakers. We'll continue to be linked to the Lakers until either he's traded somewhere else or the Lakers get a different center. Nick Claxton could end up presented the same way to the Lakers.
Starting point is 00:15:21 It could be, you know, we saw what you were willing to pay for Mark Williams. We know that you need a center. Therefore, it's going to be a potential overpay if you want to get Nick Claxton. That's what the Lakers would hear from the Nets. But if that was the case, I might theoretically at least favor getting Claxton. Because at the very least, I would overpay him. I would overpay for him only once because he's under contract for a few years, as opposed to someone like Daniel Gafford, who you may end up overpaying to get him,
Starting point is 00:15:54 then you end up having to overpay to keep him. At least with somebody over a barrel at that point, you've just given up all this stuff. And then to let him walk, you basically traded him for a year. Well, that was one of the concerns. I think the Lakers had with Mark Williams once they saw his medicals was like, okay, we're giving up a steep price to get Mark Williams. And in theory, that's fine. But we have to re-sign him soon to big money.
Starting point is 00:16:18 And clearly what was in these medicals scared the Lakers with someone like Claxton, if nothing else, the overpay happens only once. So I think that matters. And I think of the two, Claxton has been more of a proven entity as a starting center. Absolutely. So I mean, Gafford is, again, he's one of those guys. And we'll get Nick Angstatt on, you know, from Locked on Mavs to talk. about this at some point is, you know, we get a little closer to the Mabbs. I tell you what,
Starting point is 00:16:50 Nick knows how to pull some strings. He's got, now he's got this whole Jason Kidd thing to support him. So, you know, that's, that's good for business. But the, I just, I am always suspicious of players who seem to put up great fantasy numbers, especially at a position that is relatively thin around the league. He has, I think the biggest issue in my watching. of his and viewing defensively, there are some, he's a good rim protector but center defense
Starting point is 00:17:22 and defense in the NBA now is not just about your ability to protect the rim. There's so much more that goes into it as a defender in terms of the instincts. This is where like and Anthony Davis was so impressive. You have to have those instincts from where to be
Starting point is 00:17:38 and read a play and call it out. Like your center, especially if you really are kind of trying to keep him as a rim protector, keep him close to the basket, whatever might be. He's your signal caller. He's telling everybody where to be. He's calling out things. He's seeing that like you need that level of understanding and defensive acumen,
Starting point is 00:17:57 if at all possible from a center. And I'm not comparing him to Claxton because we're going to need to do some of those previews as well. But my impression of Gafford is that he's always been a little bit short in that regard. He's good at the counting stats aspects of defense and has some times when he's dominant, but he's got holes in his game. And look, some of this could also be dictated by who the, let's say the Lakers don't like any of their options at Center for Trade. They have to think about, okay, who is potentially getable with the taxpayer mid-level,
Starting point is 00:18:29 whether, I don't know, Brooke Lopez or Stephen Adams or, you know, someone like that, you have to think about, A, does that strike you with somebody good enough to be a starting center playing anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes? Like, at that point, do you need to re-sign Jackson Hayes? Like, there's all, and if you don't like those answers, then you may feel like, you know what, we have to bite the bullet and overpay to trade for center X because we need a center. And even if we don't love the idea of committing to any of these guys, we also want to be good enough to, you know, really compete this coming season.
Starting point is 00:19:07 We're not going to be able to do it with any center available for $6 million or less. Yeah, it's it's it this is where the asset issue is this is a place where the asset issue really is problematic because you would want the Lakers if at all possible to you know if not you know not being going all in necessarily like doing crazy stuff but have the capacity to be aggressive. You know the Dodgers have done this before where like they don't necessarily they're really good at. actually not overpaying for stuff. But if they want something and they think it's something that they've fallen into a little bit of an over pay habit over this last season or so, but that's a side conversation for locked on Dodgers.
Starting point is 00:19:56 Yeah, I mean, it does fit better over there. Like, they're willing to throw money at stuff. But in terms of like if there's a trade that they want to make and like they don't usually let a player, if they identify the, they identify the, talent that they want. It's like, but part of the reason they can do that is, A,
Starting point is 00:20:16 they can spend essentially unlimited amounts of money, but also too, they've done a great job constantly replenishing. For all the trades they've made, they always seem to have three or four or five guys that are really well regarded around the league and are sought after. The Lakers have Dalton Connect. And Brony,
Starting point is 00:20:37 basically as your two young draft prospects. And while we don't know this for sure, I raised this point a couple weeks ago when I came up with my fake three-way trade with the Lakers, Rockets and Nets, trying to illustrate what I thought would be the most realistic radical trade the Lakers could make to just completely reconfigure the roster, try to balance it more on both sides of the ball. one of the things that I noticed while trying to balance the math is that if you believe Brony is never going to get traded as long as LeBron's still on this team. And so it's clear, I don't know that that's a fact, but I know it is a very commonly held belief. Then for all intents and purposes, Brony doesn't even factor into this, at least for the time being, as far as somebody that it's not just, it's not just that the, the, the,
Starting point is 00:21:33 Lakers may not trade them. It's that you're now you're losing it on both ends. You're losing it on do teams really want him? And this isn't a knock on. There aren't a lot of teams around who are clamoring for anybody's 55th pick. Look, forget whether they like Ronnie. I'm sorry, but this is my point. It's like you're not only, you're two young prospects.
Starting point is 00:21:51 You have Dalton Connect. And then the other one is a player that probably doesn't have a lot of value. And even if you did want to just take the contract off of their, off the Lakers' hands. The Lakers may not trade them anyway because, you know, these LeBron's. So there's $2 million. It's on both sides of it. Right.
Starting point is 00:22:11 You have $2 million that you can't add into a theoretical deal, which makes it even more complicated. So speaking of LeBron, we've got an interesting mailbag question there. And there's also some interesting reporting about Janus that will impact the Lakers. Get to all of it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by DoorDash, NBA fans. You know what time it is. It's the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:22:38 That means big performances, even bigger rewards. DoorDash is bringing the heat with a slam dunk deal for DashPass members during the 20, 25 NBA playoffs. Just now the finals. You've got to get on this now. It's called they swoosh. You save any time a player drops 50 or more points in a playoff game. SGA is really trying hard. DashPass members receive a free three-piece, Krispy 10-Brews combo from Wingstop the very next day.
Starting point is 00:23:03 Just place an order of 20 bucks or more. Use the code Wingstop 50 at check. checkout and that combo is yours. It's crispy. It tastes awesome and it's totally free. The offer is valid noon to midnight the day after the game terms apply. And if you ever looked at your deliveries and fees and thought there's got to be a better way, well, you're right this whole time. With DashPass, you get $0 delivery fees and exclusive perks like this one. And think how much you would save over an entire season. So sign up for DashPass to unlock this and more exclusive deals all season long. Any player scores 50 plus in a playoff game. DashPass members
Starting point is 00:23:37 get a free three piece, crispy, tenders combo from Wingstop the next day with a $20 plus order and the code Wingstop. That's DashPass, your door to more savings, more flavor, and more ways to win. Terms apply. So reports from a few different spots are that Janus, Andy, is leaning towards staying in Milwaukee, at least for the time being, or at the very least, not demanding a trade, which. I guess is basically the same thing because I just don't see the bucks trading Janus without Janus saying trade me. Even though all the arguments, you know, they'd be better off this aside.
Starting point is 00:24:20 They're not doing it unless Janus asks them to. He's the greatest player in franchise history and he's still playing at a top five level. I mean, I guess other than maybe Kareem, but the difference, if you want to split hairs between Yonis and Kareem, Yonis still has the chance to be a lifer where Kareem by definition wasn't. this does not impact the lakers in the sense that it takes them out of the yonis sweepstakes they were never in the yonis sweepstakes but what it does is let's say yonis does not get traded this off season that was a potentially one like to make this work eric pinkis for example at bleacher report put together a gigantic 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 player trade like a hypothetical Yannis deal. The Lakers in this were involved in it in this hypothetical trade.
Starting point is 00:25:18 They didn't get Yonis, but they used it to fill their center need with Jakub Pertl and then picked up a I think an upgrade, all health issues set aside an upgrade in pure player with Lanzo Ball over Gabe Vincent. And so you trade away a bunch, you know, Connect and Vanderbilt and shake Milton and a pick and some swaps and Gabe Vincent and some stuff goes out the door and you end up with Pertle and actually most of the picks and the swaps. Most of the picks were not coming from the Lakers. Right. The Lakers actually, assuming I read this correctly from Eric, they give up Connect, Shake Milton, Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and they receive Lonzo and Yon. At second, I think there's at least a second rounder in a swap. But it doesn't mean, that part is, you know, whether that's a good trade, bad trade, probably, you know, doesn't happen if Janus obviously doesn't get traded. And the point here is this is the type of thing that the Lakers, again, with limited assets,
Starting point is 00:26:19 like action like this where teams need other teams to be involved to do complex things, where there's a team at the end of it who really wants something to happen. You know, like we've got a chance to trade for Janus. and, you know, man, this is getting, but we're not, you know, it's like the Lakers with AD. Like you, you know, would we have wanted to hold on to Josh Hart? Sure. But like, are you going to keep that from making the deal happen? And so the Lakers can get involved perhaps in a deal like that and be one of the teams that helps facilitate.
Starting point is 00:26:52 Maybe you get a little better player back than you could in a normal trade with a, you know, one-on-one with a different team. If a trade like this isn't a choice because Janus isn't go anywhere, it's kind of just one less thing for the Lakers to be involved in. I'll make it even a simpler scenario. If Janus stays in Milwaukee, my guess is Brooke Lopez will end up being retained in Milwaukee because he knows the system. He knows playing with Janus. He is a part of that core.
Starting point is 00:27:25 He's done very well there. And if they are staying in Win Now mode, they may need more centers, but Brooke Lopez makes sense for that scenario. If they are trading Janus for pieces that will help them rebuild, then 37, 38, however old he is, Brooke Lopez makes no sense for the Bucks. And therefore, he could be available for the Lakers. I would be very surprised if Janus stays in Milwaukee and Brooke Lopez leaves short of a very big offer that would equally surprise me. So that takes potentially at least a center that might have been, might have been getable for a taxpayer mid-level off the board. The ripple effect for stuff around the league, you know, these little things, I mean,
Starting point is 00:28:21 I'm, you know, Janice taking himself out of the trade market is not a little thing. That's a big thing. But there are things big and little that you just don't necessarily automatically see tied to the Lakers that impact them. Like this is, if this is going to, I still need to see it. I'm going to need to see that this is going to be this gigantic super busy off season that everybody has been talking about and everybody's anticipating. I think it's possible. It's certainly possible. But I don't know.
Starting point is 00:28:57 I mean, I just, I don't think anybody is completely figured out how this new CBA is going to do stuff. It could be bonkers. I could see Chicago doing all, Boston doing all kinds of crazy stuff to just give themselves essentially a gap year in the Tatum thing, reset their clock and be ready to go. And he's kind of full strength. I could also see them doing almost nothing, you know, and just sort of playing it relatively safe. I could see, you know, there's just so much that could happen. But sometimes we're waiting for it and it's nothing. It's the mean with the guy poking the NBA in this case saying do something.
Starting point is 00:29:38 I mean, Rob Polinka, if nothing else, thinks it's going to be super active. And I found it very interesting that he really put himself out there with the activity that he predict. saying we will be in the middle of it. Like that was potentially putting himself on the hook to overpromise and under deliver. And that's not really Rob's style, certainly not as boldly and specifically. So the general consensus seems to be it's going to be a whirlwind. We shall see. But if nothing else, teams are starting to understand the CBA better,
Starting point is 00:30:16 even if they haven't completely mastered it, they're getting it better. I agree with that. I think what I'm more getting at is this idea of it's not, it's like how do we react to it? What are the things that we need to, what kinds of players do we need to jettison? What kind of teams do we have to build? What are the things that we value?
Starting point is 00:30:37 Do we have too many, you know, are we looking ahead? Are we going to look ahead one or two or three years now for guys that are in a position that we think we might have to sign them, that we just don't want to give that not necessarily. max contract to, but that next level contract, you know, the one that Austin Reeves is going to be looking for or things like that. Or do we have aging, you know, guys that, geez, man, the next, we got one really good player, like a star caliber player, but we're just not quite there. Demontas Subonis, I'm just making up a name where you look at the Kings. Like,
Starting point is 00:31:10 you got a guy like DeMontas Sponis, a very good player. Are the Kings going to be good enough to utilize Subonis in a way that really matters over the next? I'm just going to make up a number again, two or three years. I don't know his contract is up. Do you start to move guys before you have to sign them in their early 30s under this CBA? There's just all kinds of wrinkles. And different GMs are going to play it differently. And I think in four or five years, if we're still working under this structure,
Starting point is 00:31:41 a better idea and what the new cost layers are in the NBA. I just don't think we know them yet. But I hope it's a lot because activity, I still believe activity very much benefits the Lakers. Yep, absolutely. Lock on Lakers on YouTube is where we can go hang out with over 35,000 subscribers.
Starting point is 00:32:02 We get to these mailbag questions tomorrow about LeBron. We've got some other ones to get into. Keep sending them to here on the YouTube page. If you're that's how you, you can leave questions, leave comments. You can also send them to Cam Brothers on Twitter at Cambrothers. We'll see everyone tomorrow. Thank you.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.