The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Lakers Eulogy: Will LeBron leave? Darvin Ham gone? LA's Nuggets problem & future

Episode Date: April 27, 2024

Jason Timpf is joined by Jovan Buha of The Athletic to react to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers facing another playoff sweep at the hands of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets. How has Denver dominated over the course of their 11-game win streak over LA? Timeline (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements): 04:00 - Introduction 06:18 - How Nuggets have owned Lakers 16:45 - How Lakers role players have fell short 29:45 - D'Angelo Russell's future with Lakers 42:12 - Is Darvin Ham on his way out of LA? 55:05 - Lakers offseason plans 63:50 - Chances LeBron leaves #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We're going to do a good old-fashioned obituary on the Los Angeles Lakers. Technically, it's not over, but I have a feeling they're going to get swept on Saturday. I don't think they have the fight to beat these guys, especially after how they looked in that third quarter. Maybe I'll be wrong. Maybe they'll get one. But no matter what, NBA history tells us that the Los Angeles Lakers are done. So we're going to talk a little bit about what separates them from the Denver Nuggets and where they go from here. And I can't think of anybody better than a good friend of mine and somebody who covers the Lakers for the athletic, Mr. Yovan Buha.

You guys know him. He's been on the show a bunch. We're going to break it all down. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you guys don't miss any show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under hoops tonight. Keep dropping mailback questions.

In the YouTube comments, we're going to hit a couple mailbags a week throughout the end of the season. And the last but not least, before we get started, as I've been saying, this is the time of year when you've got to get out and see these guys playing in person. LeBron James, like, it's very possible that Saturday is his last playoff game that he ever plays. It's certainly on the table. And, like, as great as it is watching these games on TV, there's nothing like being there in person, especially during the intensity of the NBA playoffs. This is where I want to talk to you guys about game time, an amazing ticket buying experience. They have all in pricing.

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But I want to kind of start with the Nuggets a little bit because in the Lakers' pursuit of trying to address these issues, whether it's them trying to reconfigure around LeBron and AD this off season to try to make another run at it, or if it's a pivot, I think a great team for them to try to emulate is the Denver Nuggets, a team that I think is not just the defending champion, but I think the legitimate favorite this year for a reason, and a team that I believe has a real chance to go on an extended dynastic run here. And so what has this series taught you about the difference between a real champion, team like the Nuggets and the Lakers.

Well, to me, it's been the killer instinct of the Denver Nuggets. Before the game, I asked Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone, you've beaten this team 10 straight times. Like, how do you battle the complacency with your group just not thinking we're going to show up and beat this team? Because we've done it 10 times in a row. And at some point, human nature starts to kick in with a certain level of complacency. even in a playoff setting.

And he essentially said, you know, as a coach, that is what I have to battle. And the message has been we were down 12 in game one. We were down 20 in game two. We're now on the road. We're facing a hostile crowd. And, you know, the Lakers want to beat us after losing 10 straight times. So like the message is don't get off to a slow start. Don't turn the ball over and keep the crowd out of the game.

And the Nuggets did none of those things to start that game. The Lakers got off to an 8-0 run. The crowd was as loud as I've heard it all season. It was deafening pitch. And it was the start that the Lakers needed if they were going to win a game against the Nuggets. And lo and behold, in my opinion, Denver had their worst half of the series in that first half of game three, turning the ball over, missing open threes. and really just struggling on both ends, yet they were only down four.

Then they opened the second half with a 24 to 10 run. And to me, this team has just won the mental game against the Lakers. They have gotten stronger in second halfs. They've outscored the Lakers by 31 points through the three third quarters in this series, plus 42 overall in the second half. So we've seen it. The Lakers have thrown their best punch early, and they've gotten out to these double-digit leads.

They've led it half time in all three games. They've led at halftime in seven of the 11 consecutive losses to Denver. And then Denver just takes over in the second half. It's the same movie on repeat. But for Denver to have that level of just killer instinct and seriousness and professionalism and lack of complacency to do the same thing over and over again. And regardless of LeBron's getting downhill in transition, 80s cooking them with 14 consecutive made shots in game two like they don't care they run their offense the same way everybody

is locked in they're they play team basketball on both ends and you don't see guys complaining you don't see guys pointing figures you don't see guys going at the refs and they just play a serious brand of basketball reminds me a lot of ways of the san antonio spurs and the way that they built that dynasty of didn't matter who's doing what like obviously you had tim duncan as he had of the snake in this case, it's Nicola Yolkich. You had Tony Parker and Jamal Murray is the analog there. But just the level of no matter what's happening, they're never rattled. And that's why you see them close a game to making seven consecutive shots against

the Lakers. Like they are one of the best crunch time teams I've ever seen, period. I think like we can talk about where they rank all time. And I think they're higher than I think most people would assume at this point. But to me, the crunch time, the focus and just the mental. advantage that they've had on the Lakers through these 11 straight wins, that to me has been what has stood out the most. Yeah, you know, that specific piece about that first half and that being one of the worst halves they've played, I agree as it pertains to their ceiling, but their

floor is still so high. And that first half was really a great example in the sense that like, no matter what, whether or not MPJ is hitting the threes he normally hits or it, or it's, if Jamal Murray and Nicole Yokic and their kind of decision making is as sharp or as sloppy as sloppy as it can get from time to time. Like Aaron Gordon is still 610 freaky athletic and working underneath the basket. And so like even though like even if you look within that first half, like the Lakers were sharp in a lot of areas in that first half. But a specific area where they were weak is LeBron James on the back line was just doing a really poor job of reading that. like there is a read and react with that low man position in the sense that like there you do have

help responsibilities but you also have Aaron Gordon responsibilities and you kind of have to tow that line between the two and for the record in the first two games I thought LeBron was really good in that role but I don't know if it was just I don't know if LeBron lost faith after after the collapse in game two I don't know if it was just literally just a bad night but literally from the opening tip he just wasn't sharp in that specific area. And so like, it's like the Lakers had all these areas kind of tied up in that first half, but that one opening, Aaron Gordon just smashed through and dominated the first half of that game, right?

Like there was a, like, Jamal Murray, even though he was relatively inefficient throughout the series, inefficient throughout the series, he just had these little stretches in each series where he was really good. I thought his shot making was really good in the third quarter of game one. Obviously, down the stretch and crunch time of game two. I thought in the second quarter, early second quarter of game three, he just hit a bunch of timely shots, right? And like one of the things with Denver is their floor is so high that like even if you manage to kind of outplay them for stretches, as soon as you dip and if they just start to gain ground, right? And then honestly, I thought Denver threw a really good punch in that early third quarter stretch.

And then you could just literally see the Lakers like go of the rope. And that's where I want to get to the part you talked about with being serious and being professional. because that to me was the biggest thing that that stood out to me about this particular matchup. The stuff about floor versus ceiling, that to me is more of a total first round kind of like takeaway. In general, I think we're learning that like players with higher floors are more valuable in the postseason and then players with higher ceilings. KCP doesn't have the ceiling that Delo has, but night in night out in the playoffs, he's just a more impactful player. His floor is higher, right? But as we go to the seriousness, when it comes to the nuggets,

one of the most important parts about a championship team, in my opinion, is like the discipline and focus on a possession by possession basis by each player within what their job is and what they're expected to do. Aaron Gordon, after the game talked about this. Like, I'm just doing what my team needs to win. He dominated that game, not by dominating offensive possessions, not by being this devastating on-ball defensive threat that was just putting his on his offensive.

player in jail. No, he just, his job within the scheme is to kind of like clean up stuff on the back line offensively and clean up stuff on the back line defensively. And, and like, he just capitalized on what was happening within that game and he kind of broke through that opening like we talked about, right? He did his job. And within that context, he was the hero of that particular game. But he wasn't trying to be the hero. He's just doing his job. Every single one of these guys has a job. Even Michael Porter Jr. as gifted as he is offensively, Like one of the most important roles he has on this team is he's a dominant rebounder. And that's what they got 49 points and 25 rebounds out of Michael Porter Jr.

And Aaron Gordon last night. That's completely insane. And when you look over at the Lakers side of it, it's like there's always these random possessions where a random player will just kind of bite off more than he can chew offensively and take an overly difficult shot. There is like 10, 15 possession stretches where they're really laser focused on all the details and then there's 10, 15 possession sequences where they're not. It's not a consistent part of their basketball character. And when you talk about professionalism and serious basketball,

to me, it's about that possession by possession, do your job every single time. If you see them make a mistake or go off script, it's usually like they'll do it once. And then Mike Malone will lose his mind and yell at them. And then they're right back on on track by the next possession. And like, That just was not, you know, it ironically, and this is the last thing I'll say about it, it ironically reminded me of just the entire Laker regular season, which was like if you caught them on the right night and you watch them, you're like, this team has championship potential. Look at how serious these guys are. Look at how focused they are.

This is what they're capable of. But then two nights later against Brooklyn, they would just be terrible. You know, like they were never a team that could hold on to the rope. consistently like a real championship team for the entirety of the season. You know what I mean? And so within these games, if you watched a 10-minute sequence, you'd be like, man, the Lakers are right there with Denver, but then eventually they'd let go of the rope and Denver's serious approach would take

over. And I think it was really, really informative, not just about what the nuggets are and what makes them so great, but also just like team building and coaching and different aspects like that that I think set the, that are preventing the Lakers from getting where they need to go. On that note, kind of moving towards the role players, obviously that was the biggest gap in this series. I pulled the numbers last night.

I'll pull them up again here in just a second, but it was a complete in total outclassing by the guys down the roster. As a matter of fact, non-Lebron A.D. Lakers had 131 points and 56 rebounds through three games. Non-Murray Yokic Nuggets had 180 points and 83 rebounds. So what did you learn specifically about the Laker role players in this series? And where do you think they fell short compared to the championship baseline? First, to me, the Lakers are just too small.

And that was a concern for me entering the season. And I think that has played out specifically in this matchup. If you look at the starting lineups and compare them head to head at each nominal position, the Nuggets have the size and physicality advantage at all five spots. Nicola Yokich is bigger and stronger than Anthony Davis. Aaron Gordon is bigger and slightly stronger than LeBron James. I think they're pretty similar, but he's slightly bigger. Aaron's about an inch taller.

Yeah, he's about an inch taller. And like, I mean, in terms of who's won the paint battle, uh, battling for rebounds and stuff like Aaron Gordon has dominated that. So, uh, Michael Porter Jr. is not as strong as Rui Hachamora, but he's taller than him and he has dominated the rebounding battle. last you just mentioned it last night mpjay had 10 rebounds ruy hachamora had two and mpj did play more minutes but it was about a 10 minute difference so it wasn't like enough of a difference to warrant the eight rebound gap there austin reeves and kCP are similar sizes but kCP plays with more verve and

physicality and just more athleticism and then d'angelo russell versus jamal murray i think that that one i don't even have to go into but jamaal similar sizes again but jamaal plays with a certain level of toughness and physicality. So like just that's before you've got to get to the bench and like Peyton Watson, Christian Brown, these guys are coming in, hounding ball handlers, getting offensive rebounds, blocking shots, finishing and transition. So like I thought the Lakers got dominated from, I mean, we talked about the mental side and clearly Denver has them in a psychological chokehold there.

But on the physical side, like Denver is just bigger. They're stronger. They're more athletic. And they use their physicality in a better way. I think something that hasn't been talked about enough is Denver's won the free throw battle in two of these three games. And like, that's supposed to be one of the few strengths the Lakers had over Denver was they get to the free throw line way more than them. They don't foul as much, obviously. So like the Lakers, I know you've touched on the free throw differential before, but like that is an advantage for the Lakers, you know, based on how they play offensively and how they don't foul.

Yeah, Denver's won the free throw battle in two of the three games. They've won the points in the paint battle in two of the three games. So Denver has beaten the Lakers. Like they've played their style of basketball, but they've also beaten the Lakers at their own game. And when the Lakers have played smaller front lines or like-sized front lines, they dominate them and they kick their ass and they look great. When they play a team that's bigger than them, it's been the opposite.

And I think for me, the fact that Jackson Hayes was a DNP CD in game three just shows like the Lakers never really addressed the backup center spot. Jackson had some nice moments over the last couple months. months of the season. Christian Wood, to me, like never really panned out and shot 31% on threes, had some good moments as like a rebounder and defensively. I think about like Kevin Durant against the sons, but like that was the beginning of the season. And you know, I think Christian Wood overall was a bit of a disappointment. So the fact that the Lakers never really added another big man that was defensive minded, you know, a clear plus rebounder, a guy who could just innings eat for eight to 15 minutes. And so, the fact that.

Spell AD and defend Yokic and give him a few hard fouls similar to what Dwight Howard did in the 2020 series. That to me what was a weakness of this roster and the fact that Rui Hachamora in an elimination game is playing 28 minutes and you're going small with Tori and Prince at the four or you're going with these three guard lineups and you're giving up all these offensive rebounds and again just getting physically dominated. Part of that's on the coaching staff and the way that they're deploying these guys, but part of that is a roster construction issue.

So to me, biggest takeaway overall was just too small, but also I think just not good enough. And if we're ranking the starting lineups in terms of the best players in the series, like five through seven, five through eight might be all of the rest of the nuggets starting lineup. And the fact that they arguably have the two best players in the series, depending on, you know, especially in crunch time, obviously with Jamal, but like they have the best player. Jamal has outplayed LeBron and AD for stretches. and then you have Aaron Gordon, KCP and MPJ all thoroughly outplaying Austin, Dilo, and Rui. Like, that just can't happen.

And I even think the bench outplayed L.A.'s bench. Like, I think Christian Brown and Payton Watson have been more impactful than anyone off the Lakers' bench just with, again, their defense, the rebounding, their energy, and they're finishing in transition. So, like, from top to bottom, and then the coaching, the adjustments, like, Denver has decisively won this. I think it's even been more of a gap than the scoreboard indicates. So I just think Denver is bigger and they're better. No, I agree. The piece about the role players off the bench actually, like Christian Brown and Peyton Watson, kind of brings me back to that seriousness and professionalism piece.

Like those two guys just come in and it's like, all we need you to do is be athletic wrecking balls within the context of these specific responsibilities on the floor. Those dudes come in and they buy in and they do it. And so once again, those guys have a certain floor. Like you can expect Christian Brown and Peyton Watson to have a certain amount of impact just with their athleticism, whereas it's like, okay, Spencer didn't what he checked in. It's like, maybe these threes will go in. And we'll see what happens, right? I also, the bit about Jackson Hayes, like, in the moment last night, I'm sitting there thinking like, this to me was one of the fundamental issues with Darwinham during the entire Darwinham experience. And we're going to talk about Darwin in a bigger context later. But he just always defaulted more towards offensive skill and speech. and not towards size and athleticism. And I thought last night when the chips were down, him being like no Jackson,

just a lot more three-guard lineups, was a pretty strong indicator of like Darwin's kind of basketball philosophy, which I think is flawed. And then also like that within this particular matchup, that was a death wish. And one of the problems too is, you know, the Lakers just their guards weren't playing well. So like you're leaning into guard play when your guards are getting their ass kicked.

It didn't make any sense to me in the moment. But you know, you mentioned size. I agree. I think it's a little deeper than size. And I would just call it like overall physicality in the sense that it's not just height. It's even at these specific position, these positions these guys play with more force. Like you mentioned KCP versus Austin Reeves. Like Austin, and we're going to talk about Austin.

I thought Austin and Rui were trying to do their jobs. I just thought they didn't play well. Like Austin and Rui both just had Nightmare Series. I saw that clip of Austin hugging feel handy, and it looked like he said it's my fault. And like you could just tell he was heartbroken. And I felt bad for Austin because like Austin really defended Jamal Murray well for the first seven quarters of this series.

And I thought he did his job. He just couldn't make shots. And Rui, I thought, was given a really difficult role, too, to guard Yokic to start the series. And you could tell that kind of sapped him of his confidence. And then he was just never able to regather it. But like other than those guys, it was a lot of unserious basketball. But above and beyond that, it was the lack of physical force that they could bring to the table. KCP brings physical force.

Aaron Gordon brings physical force. MPJ with his length brings physical force to the table. Christian Brown brings physical force. Peyton Watson brings physical force. Austin doesn't. That's not in his toolkit. Delo doesn't. That's not in his toolkit.

Rui does, but they stuck him consistently in matchups in this series where he couldn't. You know, because they were using it. They were basically using him to eat up minutes, right? On Yokic for about half the series to this point. But like, Spencer Dinwiddie is probably the best athlete of the role players, and he's not a very good athlete, right? Gabe Vincent has a certain force that he brings, but he's just small, you know? And so like that, that to me was the big thing that stood out.

It just is like down the roster, there's just not enough physical force. And when you go back and you look at the 2020 Lakers, that was a huge element of what made them great. Alex Caruso, Contavius, Caldwell, Pope, Dwight Howard, Kyle Kuzma. That was a huge part of what made them great. Even Danny Green. He was just a big, strong two guard, right? And, you know, honestly, it was funny when I was looking back, when I was, I look back at kind of the last few years, even if you just erase one singular mistake.

Like, there was a lot of panic trades and stupid stuff that happened over the last couple of years. But if they had just held on to Caruso, if they had just held on to Caruso, which, by the way, wouldn't have cost you any asset or anything. It would have just cost money out of Jeannie Bus's pocket. A lot of money because of the luxury tax, but money. and money that probably she would have recouped through the success of the team, in my opinion. So if they just had Caruso and you're looking at Austin Alex as your back court instead of Austin Delo, fundamentally changes the athletic profile of the team, slots everybody into easier roles defensively. Now instead of Austin have to chase around to Jamal Murray, it's Alex Caruso chasing around Jamal Murray.

And instead of DeLo and him, you know, space cadet trying to chase around KCP, it's, It's Austin Reeves, who's a very focused defender who would be guarding KCP, and then everything makes so much more sense. And so, you know, there's a lot to dig into with eulogy here. But like that piece, that piece about physical force off the ball, especially within the context of the physicality of the postseason shines through. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What did you make of DeLo's night last night? Where are you at with Deelow as a player? And where do you think the team and the organization is at with Delo right now? I mean, I just don't know how you can move forward with Delo on this roster if you consider yourself a serious championship contender or at least have serious championship aspirations. because this is now two out of the three games in this series where he's been harmful. And I think he was actually probably more harmful in game one because he was taking possessions away from LeBron and AD and to me calling his own number a little bit too frequently.

And, you know, did have a poor shooting night. But I thought more so I thought inside the arc this series, he was oddly, you know, kind of calling it like looking for those little mid-range pull-ups and stepbacks. and fadeaways that he never was able to create separation with. So they always ended up being either, you know, contests from the front side or rearview contests where a KCP, a Christian Brown, a Peyton Watson were able to stick with him, slither around the pick and roll, and then bother him from behind. So I thought like the three point shooting is what it is.

Like he got a bunch of good looks, didn't convert. But to me, him kind of calling his own number in the pick and roll, what was ultimately harmful and he just was never able to create the separation necessary to make those shots because to me, DeLo is a guy who does need a level of separation. And if you can get into his airspace, you are going to bother him as we've seen in this series. But to me, it's been six of the seven games in the last two playoff series against Denver. Like he was, I mean, go back and look at the Western Commons finals. He was bad in all four games. He's been bad in two of the three games got bench last night.

There was the video clip of him off to the side of the huddle. He does do that sometimes, but I think optically that was a terrible time to do that. And he just looked incredibly disengaged at that point. He ducked out on media last night. We requested him. He declined to speak. He also declined a couple times in the Western Conference finals, declined at times earlier this season.

So like when he's not playing well and things aren't going well, he kind of ducks out. And I think that just that and the like he's not like we talked about you're you just mentioned Austin and Rui and how those guys just had tough series like but they were still trying and trying to do their job and being competitive. And I look at Austin of like how much has defending Jamal Murray and chasing him around screens and getting smacked by Nicola Yokic in screens like how much has that sapped his legs and affected him? And I think Austin, he's had a couple games, a couple good rebounding games. He's been competitive defensively. And I think even though he's missed shots, he's brought the requisite competitiveness and spirit. That has not been the case with Delo. And you've seen him shrink, I think, in both game one and game three.

And even in game two, I thought he got off to a hot start, obviously had the six threes in the first half ends up making seven. But had a very quiet second half and rest of the way. So I just, I think this is exposed a bit of the ceiling on the Austin Dilo pairing. I think those two probably have to be split up as we had kind of talked about at times this season. I don't think you can have those two be your back court. I think a guy like an Alex Caruso or someone with a bit more force and maybe a bit more defense would fit better next to an Austin.

But to me, like you and I talked about this. I will read through the comments on our videos, and sometimes there are people going at us for, you guys don't like Delo. Delo is clearly the third best player. I don't want to hear that anymore. Delo is not the third best player on this team. Just get the fuck out of here with that.

Austin Reeves is better than him. He's a better playoff performer than him. And it's not to make it in Austin Delo thing. It's just that there was a reason why we were talking about the Lakers trading him. There's a reason why the Lakers were strongly considering trading him for most of the season. So in terms of where they go from here, Delo has an $18.7 million player option.

I think he's cost himself money with this series. I think, like, you can still make the case. He's a $20 to $25 million a year player. I don't know if that is a $20 to $25 million player on a good team, on a contending team. I don't think it is.

But if you're a lottery team or a team looking to kind of take the next step into maybe we're a 9-10 seed and we want to be like a, 7-8 seed. I think Dela makes sense for you. So I would not be surprised if he still has a competitive market this summer. But if you're the Lakers and you are serious about trying to win a championship, I do not see how you can make any reasonable argument to bring back DeAngelo Russell. When you know Denver's not going anywhere, they're going to be here for the next three to four years and you're going to have to go through them to win a championship. And I just don't think he can play

in a series against Denver, which is really like a conference finals, final series. I think he's fine. first round, second round against normal teams. Even then he's a bit up and down. But against serious high level conference finals finals teams, I don't think you can play him. And that's a problem for a guy that the Lakers have been kind of billing as their third guy. And he's just completely shrunk. And this is honestly not that surprising.

We saw it last year. We've seen it at times with him in the playoffs. And I think the Lakers, whether it's a sign and trade, whether it's letting him walk or whether it's he opts in and trading him. I think you have to move on. It's just a matter of how that happens and when it happens. Yeah, you know, when it comes to DeLo, I think that, I think you and I both were aware of this going in into the postseason. If you go back to the trade deadline, you and I both talked about, like, we already know that this Austin Deelow pairing has a certain ceiling to it.

And by the way, going into the season, going into the regular season, you and I were like, Lakers are a second tier championship contender. and if they make a trade to address the Austin Dilo pairing, which we knew was flawed after the Denver series last year, then they might be able to enter into that top tier. If they were to get a Bruce Brown, if they were to get a DeJante Murray, a real athletic two-way player at that two-guard position, right? Like, how much better would DeJante Murray have been in this series

for the Lakers to try to hang? Just think about what we watched over the last three games and replace Dilo with DeJante Murray and just imagine how different the series. series looks. It's very, very different on so many different levels, right? Not only does Dejante guard Jamal Murray, the whole series, he's a guy that brings dribble penetration, which would have helped a lot within these half court kind of slow down environments. The two-man game that him and LeBron could have had in a lot of these situations, it would have

been really effective. Right now, here's the thing. I'm not talking about the deadline per se, because here's the thing. I think the, I think the Lakers went after DeJante and couldn't get him. So I'm not trying to criticize the front office in that specific context. My point is, is just we knew Austin D-Lo had a ceiling, and we knew that if they could have upgraded D-Lo, they would have been better off. They couldn't because of just the landscape. And I don't think they could have gotten Bruce Brown either,

just by virtue of the price tag on all this stuff. So you and I kind of went into this postseason knowing, like, like they got their punchers chance if you happen to get a really hot Dilo performance, but there's not really much there. And like what's really stood out to me with D-Los, he took his humiliation at the hands. of Bruce Brown last year, and he took it into the offseason and worked on his ceiling. I think he worked on his jump shot. He worked on some of his pick and roll playmaking

stuff, and he definitely won up a level this year. DeLo played the best basketball of his career in the springtime. There's no doubt. But he never addressed his floor. And this is where I think the criticism is fair, because Deelot talked a big game. Not only in this series, did he say after game two that he thought that they were still going to win. But if we go back a few months after a big night. He talked about how he wanted all the smoke. Straight upset it. He said he wanted all the smoke.

Go back to the beginning of the season. He was in the training camp pressers, the media day interview, saying, the guy I want to emulate is Derek White. He's the guy I want to be like. No, you don't. Derek White didn't put in work to address his own individual ceiling. Derek White's floor is what makes him great.

It's all about his focus and attention to detail in the margins of the game, not how good he is running a pick and roll or how good he is attacking closeouts or hitting spot-up threes. That's not what made Derek White great. And so Delo talked about all this stuff, but it's abundantly clear with what happened that he doesn't actually get it. And because he leaned into his ceiling, there was a certain volatility with it. And it's interesting because if you actually go back, the Lakers have played a bunch of big games in a row. They've played seven massive regular season games, or eight. massive games in a row, right? You have the Golden State game. DeLo was abysmal. You have the Minnesota

game. Delo was abysmal. Those were really important games. If you win one of those games, you're the sixth seed and you're playing Minnesota right now. And I would have picked the Lakers to beat Minnesota. You win one of those games. Instead, you get two stinkers. He doesn't play well, right? Plays really well against the Pelicans in both games. We can agree on that. Then he's abysmal in game one, pretty good in game two, abysmal in game three. So like four times in this last seven game stretch where they were playing all of these monumentally important games, he was not just bad, but like damaging bad. And that's the problem is it's not, it's not the ceiling. We all know what DeLo's ceiling is. His floor is just so incredibly low. And when we talk about the off

season, I actually disagree with you as it pertains to him being a 20, 25 million dollar player. Maybe I'll be wrong. And maybe it'll be a bad team that swoops in and offers him some money. I do think he has some value as a regular season skill guard. A lot of value as a regular season skill guard. I think on a you can probably bank on 50 pretty good games out of him. And that's going to give you a chance to hold some ground in the standings. But like, when I really look at an NBA team looking at skill guards that are not necessarily guys that you're going to lean on in your closing five in a big playoff game. The market last year for that type of player, that was kind of the Gabe Vincent Dennis Schroeder tier, right? Like, and those guys were making the mid-level

exception. That's what they were making. And so here's the thing. I think if Deelow opts out, right now, I think he's on the books for 19 million next year, like 18 and a half million next year. So like, like, if some team offers him three years for 36 or two years for 25 or something like two years for 24, whatever it is, the MLE, I think that'll be a deal that he potentially looks to take, because I think after next year, it's possible that he enters into the veteran minimum contract territory with some of his limitation, right? But like, I don't know that he'll get 20 to 25. Maybe he will. But like if I'm, if I'm looking at Delo as an asset league wide next year, I'm looking at him as a sixth man, a guy that is clearly not in my top five so that I know that

when push comes to shove, I'm closing with my closing group. But I can make some night to night calls with him with his minutes based on whether or not he's engaged in hitting shots. And more importantly, I'm using him as a regular season innings eater. So I think there's some value there. But yeah, I don't, I don't, I think I agree with you entirely. If you're a serious basketball team, you cannot, you cannot have this guy in your top five players. You just can't. Like, it's just, he doesn't get it.

He doesn't get it. And I thought the best example of that was him talking about Derek White before the season as his own little player comp. And then his lack of attention to detail in the margins of the game during this postseason run. I think it's been, it could not be more stark the difference between what he's actually doing on the floor and the game that he talks. And I think that that goes to show you that there's actually a disconnect mentally between where DeLo needs to improve and where Deelow thinks he needs to improve. and I think those are going to be areas that kind of hold him back. Moving on to the off season. So obviously the Lakers have a lot of questions to address.

I want to start with Darwin. So here's the thing. I don't think Darwin is responsible for the Lakers losing to Denver. I do think he's responsible for the Lakers having ended up as the seven seed. I've said this on the record, but I think his mistakes with the rotation in late December and early January probably cost the Lakers three, four games in the standings. Even if it's just two or three games, you're out of the plane.

So, like, I think they would have been in that Clippers, Mavs, Sons, Wolves kind of tier there in the, or I should say Clipper Sons Mavs tier in that four through six range, right? And I think that that is fair criticism of Darwin. I think the reason they lost to Denver is Denver's a better basketball team. that said, I do think you saw some of the jarring elements of Darwin kind of being in over his head in this series. Example number one, Mike Malone, super active coaching on the sidelines. Accountability with his players, every time someone makes a mistake, he's screaming at him, he's yelling, there's accountability, there's active coaching on the sidelines.

Darwin is very much passive staying in their hands in his pockets. He's very much like a positive kind of motivator type of guy, right? which by the way, just like, like you, there's a certain intensity and verve that you're expecting from the players. And I think it makes sense that the coach kind of matches that. Watch Eric Spolster on the sideline.

How is he coaching? How animated is he? Watch Greg Popovich on the sideline. How animated is he? Watch, you know, Tyrone Loo on the sideline. Watch these guys on the sideline. And you'll see the difference in just their overall level of engagement with the team compared to,

compared to what Darwin brings. Secondly, just a, a basketball ideology that doesn't match your personnel. I'm a big believer in like a coach has to be very careful with his individual ideologies inflicting them on a roster if the roster's not capable of it. So for instance, Darwin's kind of obsession with speed, quickness,

and skill at the guard position and kind of leaning into that. That's not the strength of this roster. They do not have a guard core that is particularly fast, that is particularly good defensively, and that is star caliber and offensive creation. And so all you're really doing is playing a bunch of small guys that can't defend and can't score. And he had athletes on the roster. He had options that he could go there.

One of the biggest strengths of this Laker roster, they got some big athletes. Rui, LeBron, AD, Jackson, Hayes. He could have leaned into those lineups as much as possible. And I thought him kind of leaning into, again, we always talk about adversity brings out the true nature of who you are as a person. And like, here we were, game three. All the chips are down. And he benched Jackson. and he played a bunch of three-guard lineup.

So that's a pretty strong indicator of where he's at there. And then lastly, like, I thought, I thought, and you know, you and I were talking about this a little bit before we started recording today. But like, yeah, it was, it was bullshit that when AD made a comment that was clearly in a moment of frustration, that was clearly not aimed at anybody in particular. I thought it was just like a, I thought the comment about us not knowing what we're doing on either end of the floor, I thought it was more directed at like some of the role players. and just them going off script and not sticking to the game plan and not doing their jobs.

And yeah, I'm sure there was some criticism levied towards Darwin there. I thought it was just kind of like a general frustration with not being a serious basketball team because like LeBron said after the game last night, LeBron and AD know they've won together. They know what it's like to be a serious team and to make a deep run. And so they are frustrated because they know this team doesn't have. have it. And then for Darwin to come out in the, what was it, the shoot around yesterday, and then to basically be like, yeah, we're going to agree to disagree on that and we take great pride and like basically cover his ass rather than just simply saying like, like, yeah,

80's pissed off. I'm pissed off too, which would have been a perfectly normal response there. And so I don't blame Darwin for the Lakers losing to the Nuggets. That said, I don't think he's a championship level coach. And so, So I do think the Lakers are going to have to address that in this off season. They're going to have to make a move in that specific area. Where do you think the organization is right now in terms of the coaching situation? Is there some internal frustration? Yeah.

They are frustrated and disappointed with how this series has gone and with how this season has gone. I think there has been an acknowledgement that Denver is just a better team. And this is a bad matchup for the Lakers, but to your point that they shouldn't have even been in this position in the first place and the fact that they finished as a seven seed and had to play Denver in the first round was a reflection of mistakes earlier in the season. And I go back to early January when the Lakers lost four consecutive games. And I had the report with Shams Sharaniah of the Athletic.

And I came on this show and we talked about it. of the disconnect within the locker room between the players and the coaching staff and the frustration with lineups and rotations and just the identity of the team not necessarily aligning with the player's strengths. And those are all things you just hit on. And those are all things that never won away. Like they got better for periods. I think winning can paper over some frustrations and some disagreements internally.

And that's why you'll see like, Kobe and Shaq can not get along, but they are so talented. And Phil Jackson is such a great coach. And they had the right role players where you can still win championships, despite not being on the same page and having internal discord. But that only covers you for so long when you run into a team that is better than you and is embarrassing you. And really, like, the Lakers have been embarrassed in this matchup with Denver.

I think, like, it's not just losing 11 straight games, but it's losing them the manner in which they lose them. It's completely falling apart in second halves. And I don't think that's on Darwin. And I don't think people are putting that entirely on Darwin. But I have heard conversations with people once again, referencing the three guard lineups or Tori and Prince at the four and just them not lead. Like there had been a shift in early February where they went back.

They started Rui. They started leaning into the bigger lineups because all year, the lineup data has said, if you go big with the front court, the Lakers win those minutes. The data was undeniable. It's undeniable. And it's facts over feelings, right? Like that's been the motto of the last couple of years.

It's facts over feelings. And the facts have been there. And the facts have been, Lakers play bigger, they are better. Lakers play smaller, they are worse. Yet, as you've said,

in big moments this season, even going back to parts of the Pelicans games in the regular season finale and the playing matchup, they've gone small. And it just, like there's clearly been a lack of trust for for jackson for i think for ruy like i know ruy did not have a good game last night but ruy should not have played 28 minutes like there's

no in my opinion credible argument for playing ruy 28 minutes in an elimination game or essentially elimination game when the two alternatives are playing jackson who's worse and they just didn't even play him or just going super small with more tornean and more three guard lineups and like that just it doesn't work against the Denver Nuggets. Like we already went through the head-to-head matchups of how they are smaller and less physical and less forceful at each position. And then playing smaller leans into that even more. So I think, you know, I would not put this loss on him per se, but I think this loss

has revealed some of his stubbornness and some of his weaknesses as a coach. And from my understanding, whether it's, you know, the series is likely over in four or five games and I would probably lean toward four, Lakers are going to have some reevaluating to do in the next few days in terms of the direction of the franchise. You know, can Darwin lead them to the next level? And because again, as I just said in the DeLo segment, like the Denver Nuggets aren't going anywhere. If the Lakers want to win a championship and who knows how much longer they have with

LeBron, it could be a year, could be two years, could be three years. Who knows? Could be zero year. He could leave this summer. Like, if they want to win a championship, and are serious about that with LeBron and AD, I think they have to look at the future of, you know, Delo, Darvin, and really just some of the peripheral pieces here.

So, you know, from my understanding, they are going to be reevaluating things in the next few days looking at where this season went wrong, where this series went wrong, and then having to make potentially some tough decisions. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

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and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, you know, the Tori and Prince piece to me is the kind of like the bellwether for where this team could have gone in terms of an identity. You mentioned the size was the primary source of success for this lineup all year long, right? Torium Prince at the four next to three guards versus Torium Prince at the two, which was always a look they could have

gone to. Like, Dilo is not playing well. you could literally go AD LeBron Rui who Rui can play in the five out Torian Prince who here's the thing I think Tori and Prince all season has been more like the seventh or eighth best player on the team but within the context of this series

he was the most confident and successful bench player so like a good series you make a read within this context of these first two games going into game three and it's like okay Torian's my one guy off the bench that's like really playing confidently and well when he comes into the game

So like if Delo is not playing well, like I would have just slotted Torian at the two. I would have gone with Austin and Torian with Rui LeBron and AD. That lineup hasn't played a single minute in this series. So like that that by the way has been your five best players within this series. Like Torin's not one of your five best players,

but within this series, that's your five best players. They never saw the floor. But it's because of a basketball philosophy that Darwin was trying to inflict on his roster rather than trying to cater a basketball philosophy to the strengths of his roster. And again, like, it's not, it's not about blaming him necessarily.

It's more just about acknowledging the reality that, like, if you're going to continue to try to win with the LeBron and AD build, he's not up to the challenge. And they're going to have to address that in this offseason. So before we get into, we're going to do a little brief chat about the off season, then we're going to get out of here. Before we actually get into the off season, though, what is your sense behind the scenes as to where ownership in the front office is with the LeBron and AD core. Do they view this year?

Because like here's the thing. I thought last year, LeBron and AD got soundly outplayed by Yokic and Murray, and that was the major difference, right? This year, AD has gone toe to toe with Yokich. And LeBron, like, I think, because Murray hasn't shot well, and LeBron has had some bad stretches too. I think LeBron and Murray have been more or less the same.

You know, Murray obviously hit the biggest shot of the series in game two, but LeBron was incredible down the stretch of that game. So like, it certainly wasn't LeBron's fault that they lost that game, right? So like, I view the star matchup is relatively even in this series so far through three games. It's been the role players that have gotten, you know, demolished. So where is the Laker front office and ownership group, in your opinion, in terms of their optimism around giving another? other shot to the LeBron and AD core.

For my understanding, that is the plan. They want to keep LeBron James and sign him either re-sign. He is the option to either opt out and resign or he can extend. So that is still their goal moving forward in terms of having LeBron for at least another two years, maybe three years, and going forward with this LeBron AD core. But from my understanding, it's been similar to the approach. at the trade deadline in terms of you have three paths. You can run it back and keep largely the same group together,

which I think would be a mistake based on how this series has gone and really how the season has gone overall. Two is you can do a like small to medium upgrade in terms of maybe that's flipping D-Lo with a pick or two picks for a first, you know, a starting, you know, lineup upgrade and maybe you bring in a a caruso type not necessarily caruso but maybe caruso uh but like you do more of like a marginal upgrade in terms of you add a new starter and maybe like a key bench guy and you sort of run it back but you are making a couple of upgrades and then path number three is let's go star hunting and let's go get a tray young uh let's see it happens Donovan Mitchell and Cleveland.

It looks like they're going to make at least the conference semifinals, but there's been a lot of buzz about him not staying in Cleveland. And then what happens with Dallas and the Clippers? And does Dallas lose in the first round? And now you, you know, we've talked about it before, but like do they go in a different direction and pivot away from Kyrie and Luca as a pairing?

And then there will likely be other stars that potentially come available. And I think Mikhail Bridges is an interesting name of like, like what direction is Brooklyn going in and he's kind of in between path number two and path number three but for the most part like those are the three directions that from my understanding the Lakers are weighing it sounded more recently like they are in between path number one and path number two and we're we're trying to lean away from the three star build although there's been a lot of Trey Young buzzed with them but I don't see how you can do path number one I don't see how you can run this back.

If you run this back, you are once again a Denver matchup away from just losing whenever you face them. Like this team is not, if Rui, Dilo, Austin, they can all come back better. And I still don't think they could beat Denver. And even if you add like a better bench player, I still don't think you can beat Denver. So I think it's between path number two and path number three. If I had to pick one, I would probably lean more toward the marginal upgrade and that likely being Dilo and Rui potentially move.

moving that those are the most movable contracts that they have. I think they're going to try and keep Austin. But again, it's, they're in a tough spot because on top, like, Dilo's got a player option. Cam Reddish, Christian Wood and Jackson Hayes all have player options. I think you can argue that they're still all minimum players. Like maybe Jackson has outplayed it to like a mini mid-level, you know, four to five million dollar player. But I'm not even sold on that. He just was a DNP CD in a playoff game.

Christian Wood and Camp Reddish, I think, are both clearly minimum guys. So, like, those guys are probably opting in. Max Christie's a restricted free agent. So, like, the Lakers already have a bunch of money committed to the core of this group, LeBron, 80, Austin, Rui, Vando, Gabe Vincent. Then you add in some of these guys that can opt in. And, like, they're kind of limited in terms of what they could do in free agency. And then when it comes to trading, it's going to have to be Delo, Rui, maybe Austin,

depending on, you know, who's involved. but they're kind of limited in terms of like what they can actually do. So while I think they'd love to do path number two or path number three, it ultimately might come down to like how the trade market plays out, how free agency plays out and some factors that are ultimately out of their control. Yeah, I think it comes down to it's got to be a two-way offensive player rather than just an offensive player. So like I I think they definitely need a high level offensive player

because LeBron and AD during the regular season just don't have the the ability to put the foot down to the pedal and impact the game athletically for 82 the way that they used to offensively. I obviously am such a huge believer in those two in the context of the playoffs, but within the regular season, 82, they need to get a high level offensive player.

But to me, the perfect kind of line of delineation in terms of this archetype is like the Trey Young versus DeJante Murray type of thing. And I'm not saying that those two players are the only options as you just laid out so many good options. but like, Trey Young is a player that has a significantly higher offensive ceiling than DeJante Murray.

But DeJante Murray, like, no doubt within the context of a LeBron and AD pairing is going to be a more impactful playoff player and a more useful playoff player with a higher floor, right? And so that's kind of what I look at. Like, that's why I like the idea of a, Mikhail Bridges. That is an athlete that can really impact the game with a high floor, but that also has the ability to run action and be a useful, a guy that could run two-man game with

LeBron and, you know, that sort of thing. There's a lot of different upside to that type of pairing, right? So, like, I think that's going to be the key for them is I think they need to target a legitimate two-way player to put in that in that two or three spot, which is something we've been talking about all damn here, really. But, like, I'm a big believer in Austin. I think a big part of what led to Austin's poor offensive series was the fact that last year in the postseason, it was Dennis Schroeder that was taking most of the high leverage defensive assignments. And Austin was able to focus his energy in his best skill, which is, you know, being an offensive skill guard, right? And this year, that's not the case. And to his credit, I think he actually was a really useful perimeter defender for the

Lakers of the last couple of years. And I think that will serve him well in lower leverage assignments throughout the rest of his career. But you got to find a way to free him up to focus on the offensive end. And the only way you're going to do that is if you bring in a real high leverage athlete at the two and the three. I like Rui at the three in the sense that like it does bring a big physical imposition to the game. But there's something to be said about having two forwards like LeBron and Rui that aren't necessarily great screen navigators or that can move their feet on the perimeter. And so that to me is going to be like the area of opportunity, essentially turning Dilo and Rui into more compatible, compatible players at that position. DeJante Murray is a player that

really like for them to take another look at. I know that the Hawks are going to be considering blowing up things this summer. I just think he could be relatively affordable compared to some of the other options out there. Obviously, Donovan Mitchell would be a home run. If you get Donovan Mitchell, you're celebrating for a long time after that. But I just think that there's going to be a big market for him. And like the idea of maybe three first round picks and filler, I don't think necessarily is going to be able to compete with some of the other offers that are out there, especially when there's so many teams that feel like they're close, right? But we'll see.

Like you said, there's so many things that can happen over the next month. Like the suns could have a catastrophe. The Mavs could have a catastrophe. The Bucks could have a catastrophe. Like there's so many different negative things that could happen over the next month and that's going to color what ends up being the strategy. Our last note before we get out of here, do you think there's any chance that LeBron James,

looks another direction this offseason. I think there's a, there's always a chance. So I would say there's a small chance, but everything I've heard has been that LeBron wants to remain a Laker and that the Lakers want him to remain a Laker. And that's why they're willing to pay and commit, you know, two to three year deal or two to three year extension for, you know, $50 plus million annually to keep LeBron despite not knowing this like we're in uncharted territory with lebron right like it's going to be year 22 year 23 year 24 depending on how long he resigns and like we've seen even hall of fame top 10 top 20 level

guys at some point later in your career there's the off season that you just fall off randomly and i think based on lebron's track record that's not going to happen and he's likely going to go out on a high note and whatever he decides to retire it'll just be he's still a really good basketball player and maybe not quite top five or top 10 or whatever, but it'll still be a high level, star level basketball player. But within that, like the Lakers are willing to commit to that. So I think the thing with LeBron is going to be, and we've touched on this before, but if he's had his way, I think this team would have a third star, whether it was last season

or this season. He was a big proponent for Kyrie Irving. I was told he was a proponent for DeJante Murray and Zach Levine earlier in the season. So he's clearly on some level wanted a third star and that third player who could help alleviate some of the offensive burden, you know, a player that similar to what you were just talking about. So I wonder like now that he has some of the power back in terms of he has a say on his future and the direction of the Lakers, like how much does he yield that?

Right. And if we see the team make a change at the coaching position and then go get a third star, I think it's kind of showing like LeBron like the power sort of back and that he is in influential force in terms of the direction of the team. And it's sort of like what we've done the last couple of years has not worked. And yes, we made the conference finals. and that was a nice run and we had a nice turnaround this year

but like we have not been at a championship level and with LeBron historically when he doesn't feel like his team is at a championship level he wants wholesale changes and more often than not it has worked right he's won a championship everywhere he's been but I think for the Lakers it's again kind of you know how I'm just interested

to see how much they actually allow him to yield that this offseason if it is a power struggle at all maybe it won't be maybe it's a simple as if you're willing to resign or extend, we will do XYZ to keep you happy. And we know the Lakers are a franchise that prides itself on keeping their stars happy and being partners with their stars. But I don't think that has necessarily been the case in terms of like personnel moves

as much the last couple of years. And I think if you start to see the team go in a different direction, maybe a more drastic direction, that to me is a sign that he is more so getting what he's wanted. compared to the last couple of years. So I think he now has some leverage over the Lakers that he did not have at the trade deadline. He did not have last year. And I'm interested to see just how all that shakes out because it's, you know, it has been too. Like I don't think they've always seen eye to eye.

I'll just say over the last couple of years. And now that he has some of the power back, I want to see how that all plays out. Yeah, selfishly, as a LeBron fan, I want him to leave, mainly just because. I feel like the Lakers have let him down in a big way. I understand that he pushed for the Russell Westbrook trade, but it didn't take a basketball savant to realize that was a bad idea in the moment. You know, like I can't think of a trade that was more universally panned at the moment. And then immediately ended up being a disaster.

Like from game one of that season, you're like, oh, no. I think they're still paying for it right now. Like, I think this whole all of this has been compounding. mistakes since the Russell Westbrook trade? We talked about a small mistake that could have been undone that could have saved some of this heartache in the Alex Caruso situation. But there's no doubt if you're pointing to one singular incident that was the downfall of the Los Angeles Lakers, it was the Russell Westbrook trade. Not Russell Westbrook. I mean, Russell Westbrook was always Russell Westbrook and that evidence

was there. And so I don't necessarily blame him for coming into the Lakers and being Russell Westbrook and it being a bad idea, right? Like that was on the, Like, there's just no universe where any serious front office would have watched film of Russell Westbrook and been like, this is a good idea. Let's do this. Like, there's just, there's just no universe where that would have, that would have been the case. So like, when you get, when you're giving up a draft asset, you're like, if I remember correctly, the buddy healed trade was, I want to say, Kuzma Harrell and a pick. So they would have kept KCP. Yeah, they would have kept KCP. Like, it would have been a significant, a substantive. financially better. And Kuzma, by the way, kind of like Rui, was a redundancy with LeBron. And so there was some concern as to whether or not that was really a good fit to begin with. But like pivoting to Russ, which forced them to include KCP, that was really the downfall of everything. And, you know, between that,

between letting Caruso go, between signing Tailing Horton Tucker, which, by the way, I had no real problem with signing Tailing Telen Horton Tucker. It was signing Tailing Horton Tucker without retaining Alex Caruso that I thought was a disaster. between all the mistakes that Magic Johnson made in the early phase of his president of basketball operations kind of stint there. This was a team that should have been a conference finalist year and year out for a four-year period. And instead, they got one additional conference finals trip off the tail of an incredible defensive run from Anthony Davis, right? And so it just kind of felt like a waste. So part of me wishes LeBron would leave just because I want to see him play in a competent, competent environment and give it a real shot. But I agree with you in the sense that like I just have a hard time believing he will. As far as the building thing goes, it's so funny because over the last couple of years like in the 2021, 2022, 2022, 2023 off seasons, it was like don't go start hunting. Just get a quality role player. Just go get some athletes that can help LeBron and AD. But like now that we're tilting into the later portion of LeBron's career, now we've been in the later point.

portion. But now that we're into the preposterously late portion of LeBron's career, year 22, like you almost have to go star hunting because, like, simply put, like, part of the issue is, I think LeBron could have a really useful year 22, year 23, if he can pick his spots. But he could not pick his spots on this team. They desperately needed him to be great. And to his credit, he was. Post deadline, he was the only player in the NBA. to average at least 27 on 50% from the field and 40% from 3. He was one of only three players in the league this year to average at least 25, 7 and 7. I legitimately think, like, he was bad in game 3.

He was bad in game 3. There's no way around it. He dropped the ball on the defensive end. He let his team down. But outside of that game, pretty much for the last two or three months, he's been playing at a top five level. And like, and like legitimately, it's ridiculous that they needed him to be that. If they could have managed this in a way that lessened his workload and kept him in a position where he could pick his spots,

there's a version of this where this could be sustained success. And so obviously there's always going to be a part of me that kind of like wonders what would have happened if he was in a more competent situation. But if he stays, I think at this point you have to start looking for higher firepower guys that can lessen his workload. All right, we've gone for like an hour already. So we're going to get out of here. Yova, why don't you tell us what you guys are working on over? at the athletic right now. Yeah, so I will be monitoring

this whole situation in terms of the sweep and the fallout or the potential sweep. Brodian slip there. The potential sweep. And all the fallout from it, all the offseason stuff, we'll have a big piece at the athletic

coming out whenever the season ends. So be on the lookout for that. And also be sure to check out my YouTube channel. Just search Yovang Buha, J-O-V-A-N-B-B-H-H-H-E-H. A, I have my podcast there, Buhaz Block. I'm doing post-game reactions after every game. And then I will also be reacting to whatever happens with this off-season,

going directly to YouTube and doing reaction videos there. So be sure to check that out and subscribe if you have not done so yet. All right, guys, that is all we have for today. As always, we sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show. We're going to have Yovan on a bunch of times over the course of the stretch right after the postseason when we get into the draft and free agency and everything like that. We are taking tonight off.

I'm dealing with a personal family matter. Tomorrow morning we'll have a breakdown of tonight's games and then Saturday night will be going live after the final buzzer of Lakers Nuggets. I'll see you guys then. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David

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