The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - What do LeBron James and the Lakers do next?

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Jason Timpf breaks down the Lakers 2022-23 season, how it was a resounding succes and discusses what moves they could make in the offseason to maximize one more year of LeBron James. #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at The Volume. Happy Thursday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are having a great week so far. Coverage of the NBA playoffs here at Hoops Tonight is brought to by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? I should actually say happy Friday, because I think this is going up on Friday morning.

But today we're just going to be doing an obituary on the Los Angeles Lakers that took several hours on Thursday morning to just kind of stare at everything about this season, kind of recapturing what I thought was a really interesting and up and down Laker season. We're going to talk a little bit about Rob Polinka and some of the narratives surrounding him in this season. And then we're going to go into the roster and what I think are its strengths and weaknesses in the way that I would go about addressing this offseason. You guys know the joke before we get started. Subscribe to the volumes 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. And if for whatever reason you miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish,

don't forget you can find them wherever you get your podcasts under hoops tonight. All right, let's talk some basketball. So I want to quick do like a little review of this Laker season because I think even in the disappointment of losing in the conference finals, I think it was undeniably a success, certainly relative to expectations. I tend to disagree with the Janus idea that there's no such thing as failure. I would argue any season with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster that ends without a championship is a failure. And I believe that LeBron and AD probably feel that way. And I think some of the reporting coming out of the demeanor of those guys after the game probably solidifies that.

That said, if you really look at the roster that they came into the season with, there was no chance in hell. They were winning an NBA championship. Everything was based on a potential trade. Everybody knew it had to be an absolute home run. We knew a million things had to go right. And it's just really hard to have a million things go right in a season. And so I don't think it's a failure relative to expectations, but obviously anytime you have that type of talent, top end talent on the roster, technically it's a failure relative to your goals of winning a championship. They started 2 and 10. In large part because of the front office, that was their toughest part the schedule, just go look at the Lakers' first 12 games and look at their opponents. And when you

really factor in that they had no shooting on the roster, no perimeter size, and the janky Russ fit, it was just going to be really difficult for them to win those games. They dig themselves in a two and ten hole. Now, one of the most under-discussed stretches of the Laker season was everything that happened from then to the trades. Because there must have been some sort of a message that was communicated from the top down to LeBron James and Anthony Davis that they were going to make a trade because there was a level of effort and give a shit, so to speak, from LeBron James and Anthony Davis that didn't really match up with what their roster was and what their capabilities were to start the season. And both of those guys had independent stretches

where the other was injured and they floated the ship just well enough to keep them alive until the trade deadline. So everyone knew they had to make a trade, but they knew that we all figured they were going to wait until the deadline. It was known before the season, but it is what it is. We'll talk about that in a little bit, but they had to stay alive. From the day the Lakers woke up 2 and 10 to the day they started playing the players that came back in the Rust trade, the Lakers went 23 and 21. So over 500, over a 44 game sample size. Doesn't seem like much, but when you factor in the the rust fit, the imbalances in the roster, the lack of perimeter size, LeBron James and Anthony Davis both missing

significant chunks of that stretch. Going 23 and 21 is a slant. him dunk home run. And again, both of them, there was a stretch where LeBron was out with a groin injury. Anthony Davis kind of kick-started the run. That's when he had that 50-point game in Washington. He was incredible. Then Anthony Davis gets hurt, and LeBron James and even Russell Westbrook, as critical as I was of him over the course of the year and a half, he was a Laker. That stretch there when Anthony Davis was hurt, Russ was pretty good, and that was a big part of why they won as many games as they did. And they just stayed enough in reach for the trade to give them a chance. So then they make the trade. LeBron misses the first two games. They go one in one.

They beat the Warriors in Oklahoma City, or they beat the Warriors in Golden State, and then they lose to the Portland Trailblazers. Then LeBron comes back, and they go three and oh in three games, including that big comeback win against Dallas, but LeBron hurts his foot and misses the next 13 games. During that 13 game stretch, Anthony Davis goes for 27 and 13, on 56% shooting with two blocks per game, and the team goes eight and five without LeBron. And that was with a couple of games in there that they basically tossed away the one to the Mavericks with the game winner from Maxi Kleba and the game where Anthony Davis sat out on the road in Houston. Then LeBron returns for the final eight games of the season. They go six and two.

And improbably, after their two intense start, they finished the year at 43 and 39, get the seven seat. They beat the Timberwolves in the plan. They beat the Memphis Grizzlies who had the fifth best record in the league without home court. They beat the seven. They beat the numberwolds. They beat the beat the defending champion warriors without home court, and that's the same core seven players that hoisted the trophy last year, and then they lose to the Nuggets. Now, they got swept, but all four games were relatively close. Like, it was clear that the Nuggets were the better team, but it wasn't like a complete outclassing, you know, within the confines of the series. Every game was competitive. The Nuggets just pulled it out. As a matter of fact, the only game that didn't include a clutch

situation, which is within five with less than five minutes left, was game two. when the Lakers held a double-digit lead in the second half, and it was just that crazy shooting spurt that put it away. So the Lakers were right there. So the way I'd look at it is it was an absolute success relative to their expectations. They were one of the final four teams standing. That's not nothing. That's top four out of 30 NBA teams.

But they also clearly need to get better if they're going to beat Denver. Denver has all five starters coming back next season under contract. And they will probably lose Bruce Brown, just because he played so well that he'll probably get an offer. but who knows, maybe they can retain him. And no matter what, if they win the championship, which I believe they will, they're going to be able to bring back a couple of solid bench players at discounts like you typically see alongside a unselfish playmaking superstar

with a team that actually has a chance to win a championship. They'll struggle a little bit with it being Denver, but I have a feeling they're going to be able to bolster their bench a little bit. So not to mention when you have the confidence of being a champion, you play better. So Denver's better, and the Lakers are going to have to figure that out. So the question is, how do the Lakers improve their roster enough to knock off the nuggets and win a championship next season? We're going to look at every single position group and take a look at how I would approach this offseason. Before we get there, though, I want to talk a little bit about Rob Polinka.

So Rob Polika got a ton of praise after the deadline. The phrase executive of the year was thrown around a lot, even by some people that I respect a great deal. but I think a lot of people looked at that whole situation with rose-colored glasses in a lot of ways. So I want to try to give a fair encapsulation of this season for Rob Polinka. Here's the good thing. They managed to pull off a relatively successful Russell Westbrook trade with only one first-round draft pick. That's very good. Also, Rob Polinka straight-up stole Rui Hachamura from the Washington Wizards,

who is a pivotal top-four kind of like pillar of the team. and so that's an absolute home run for Rob Polinka. And again, as we shift over to the details, a couple of things I want to kind of establish. First of all, Rob Polinka was supposed to block the rest of Westbrook trade. At the time of the trade, Kyle Kuzma and KCP were both better players. I said that at the time, most Laker fans felt similarly. Most Laker fans were targeting more of a kind of a one-for-one type deal

what was going to be Kyle Kuzma and Montreys Harrell for Buddy Heald, where Kyle Kuzma obviously was a very good player, but the Lakers just needed a little bit more shooting. So it was like flipping one role player for one role player, and the Lakers were kind of done with Montreys Harrell anyway because he didn't really fit into their playoff rotation, right? But for whatever reason, I'm sure there was a lot of pressure from LeBron James, and I'm sure there was a lot of pressure from Anthony Davis. But as the executive of the team, it's your job to filter through that and stop that from happening. He did not. And he shift off all the team's depth in the process, undercut the team's championship ceiling. So that is an important part of the story.

But even then, even just forgetting that, coming into this season, there was risk in waiting to trade Russell Westbrook on a bunch of different levels. If you guys remember, I said before the season, I said, I am sure that Rob Polinka can get 20% better return on a Russell Westbrook. trade if he waits to the deadline. But those of you guys have been listening to the show for a while, you remember, I said, but I view a great deal of value in training camp to establish continuity that you use during the regular season. And I thought it was going to dig them a hole in the standings and where LeBron James and Anthony Davis out. All of those things came true.

They dug a massive hole in the standings. They had to play play playoff intensity basketball for the last third of the season. And LeBron James in particular had to play through a foot injury. And it absolutely impact him in this playoff run. Before the injury, LeBron James averaged 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on 50% shooting. After the injury in the regular season, he averaged 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists on 49% shooting. Then in the playoffs, he averaged 25 points again, 10 rebounds, seven assists on 50% shooting. So clearly a 30 point per game guy before the injury, a 25 point per game guy after the injury. It undeniably took a level off of what LeBron James was capable of. At the time that he injured his foot, he was dealing with a stress

injury in his left foot. As many of you guys know, when you have an injury in one of your feet, you compensate by putting a lot more force and impact absorption and all those things on the other side of your body as an attempt to save your bad foot from taking contact. And literally his right foot gave up on it. And so had they made a trade before the season, I think it's far more likely that they end up in a situation where they can take it easy throughout the season. And LeBron James can take a little bit more time on any one of those injuries.

Anthony Davis can take a little bit more time. And they have a better chance to go into the postseason with a healthy LeBron James. That's a important part of this story. So they absolutely saved a pick, but in the process they hurt themselves in the standings force their stars to play through injuries, and you had to play three consecutive really good opponents on the road in the playoffs. So for instance, the Lakers had to play, not only did they have to try the

end of the regular season, they had to play a play in game against a very good Minnesota Timberwolves team. That was a knock-down, drag-out fist fight. Then they had to play a top five team in the league in the first round without home court. Then they had to play the defending champions without home court. Then they had to play Denver. What did Denver have to do? They coasted the last. third of the season. They played the worst team in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then they played a Phoenix Sun's team that was a middle seed that had some flaws, and then they got to play the Lakers. So Denver, even though I do believe they were better, they were also fresher. So again, as we talk about the trade from Rob Polink of the summer and

the job that he did, it's undeniable that there's a lot of good to it, but there's another side to the story. And it was another side of the story that we all knew was the case before the and was really under-discussed for a while. Now, I want to just pretend for a reason, just for as an exercise. Let's pretend that before the season, the Lakers make the buddy healed in the Miles Turner trade. Now, you have to remember, the real reason the Lakers made a long playoff run was they got Russell Westbrook off the roster, which kind of invigorated the team and helped them with their chemistry and with their on-court chemistry and off-court chemistry. Also, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were legitimately held

and locked in. At least LeBron James was the level below, but the two of them were healthy. The previous seasons, LeBron and AD could not even play to end the season, right? LeBron couldn't finish last season. Anthony Davis couldn't finish the season before. So this year, both guys were actually available to play in the postseason, even though LeBron was somewhat limited. And then the third big reason was Austin Reeves. In the absence of Russell Westbrook, Austin Reeves got moved into the starting lineup, became a primary ball handler, and was awesome. Okay? That's why the late. makers made a long playoff run. Malik Beasley was completely out of the rotation by the end.

DeAngelo Russell had some playoff moments, but he also was unplayable for stretches, and the same could be said about Jared Vanderbilt. So again, did the trade help? Yes, not as much as people were leading you to believe. So now let's pretend, as this exercise, that they make the buddy heel to Miles Turner trade in the offseason. Now you have a legitimate backup center that allows you to be more functional when Anthony Davis rests games, gives you a bench big, so LeBron doesn't have to play center in the bench groups and gives you a too big look because Miles Turner could shoot so you had this other identity that you could have had with two centers on the floor like they did in the 2020 season. It's also a more complimentary roster was shooting around LeBron James because

you're going to have Buddy Heald and Austin Reeves in the back court. And they could still make the Rui Hachamura trade using the Kendrick nun salary, right? As a result of that, from the start of the season, they would have had a more talented roster that was more complimentary. and ready to go from day one, which would have given the Lakers the ability to ease their way through the season. So I just think as we're talking about Rob Polinka, he still has, in my opinion, a lot of work to do to make up for the damage that he did to the 2020 roster, which was a bona fide championship roster. And so as we're talking about Rob Polinka, I think it's inaccurate to just say that it was an executive the year type of season where he solved all the Lakers' problems.

No, he dug the Lakers in a really big hole. He made some progress getting them out. He still has a lot of work to do. And so this summer is going to be a great opportunity for Rob Polinka to establish himself as a respected GM in this league, in my opinion. Because what he has is he's got a bona fide pairing of stars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He's got a couple of really good starters in Austin Reeson and in Rui Hachamura, and he's got a boatload of options this offseason.

A bunch of middling salaries we'll talk about. He's got a couple of draft picks he can use. He has, he's got a really good hand of cards here. And if he plays these cards right, the Lakers have a chance to win a championship next year. And so the opportunity is there for Rob to kind of flip the narrative about himself. So let's go by position group here. I want to start with the stars and then we'll go centers, wings, and guards.

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 huge. human potential. Either way, the podcast 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 I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's

me, Clever 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. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim?

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I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you're just so you. y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. So, oh. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Angie's list is now, Angie, your home for everything home. Angie doesn't just get your home projects done.

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That's A-N-G-I-com. So with the stars, Anthony Davis got his ass kicked by ass-kicked by Nicoliochich, but he still proved he's a top 10 player in the league, in my opinion. Clearly it was the very best defensive player in the entire playoff field. And it's probably the most devastating defensive weapon in the entire league when he's healthy. I again, the only time I've ever discussed trading Anthony Davis was during his times when he couldn't stay on the floor healthy. He demonstrated that he could finish a season strong and stay healthy throughout. And so at this point, there's no point in trading Anthony Davis.

As soon as you trade him, you immediately lose your championship ceiling because of what he does with rim protection and all the defensive versatility that he brings to the table and his ability to be complimentary with your ball handlers in pick and roll and to score effectively. in pick and roll, which is where most of his scoring comes these days. So, like, when we're talking about Anthony Davis trades, like, it's just a non-starter for me, unless AD just has a serious injury again, at which point that's something that you have to start thinking about. But he's healthy, he's going to have a full off-season to work on his game.

You have to continue to build around AD. The big thing that I want to see from him this off-season is he needs to polish up his perimeter game. He does not need to be what he was in the bubble. I also think that was an outlier. but he doesn't need to be a liability either. He needs to be an effective knockdown jump shooter. And he needs to be in a situation where you can toss him the ball in the block

or in a face-up situation and he can score close to a point per possession. In this postseason run, an Anthony Davis post-up or ISO, including passes, was good for only 0.78 points per possession. Just not good enough for a player of his caliber. He's capable of much better, needs to get in the gym this summer, and round all of that stuff out. LeBron James, first of all, no, I don't think he's going to retire. I think that LeBron, like most competitors, can look discouraged and kind of succumb to the fatigue of it all after a season.

There was a moment after the 2014 finals when they lost to the Spurs where LeBron had some similar comments where he was like, or no, it was in 2015 after they lost to the Warriors. So he loses in heartbreak to the Spurs and he loses in heartbreak to the Warriors. And in the post-game presser, he's basically like, this is really hard. And I can't remember the exact words. But basically he said it's like to get this close and to come up short is like devastating to his body and to his mental. Like it was just really, really hard for him. Right.

And I think that that's probably what happened. He gave it all, wrist his body literally, because of the foot injury, to try to make this happen. And it didn't work. So I think he was just discouraged. But a couple things. He's way too competitive to give it up, especially since. the Lakers have a legitimate championship roster to work with next year. Two, he's going to make $50 million a year the next two years.

So, like, I think LeBron's going to play at least one more year, if not two. Even with the foot injury, he was still a top 10 player in this postseason. I know he joked after the loss to the Nuggets. He goes, I'm better than 90% of the league or maybe 95. It's more like 98 because he's clearly one of the top 10 players in the league. I'll ask you guys this. And if you disagree with me, I want to see it in the comments. how many players in this playoff field were definitively better than LeBron?

Not maybe better, definitively better. I had four. Jimmy Butler, Nicola Yokic, Steph Curry, and Anthony Davis. Those are the four guys that I thought were better than LeBron James in this postseason run. Everyone else, same level or worse. Like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum, if you really look at the impact that they had on winning, on both ends of the floor, LeBron was right there with those guys. So even if you put him at the bottom of that list,

he was the eighth best player in the league in this postseason run. And I'd say he's probably closer to that 5-6 area, right? Even when he's injured, he had the defensive versatility to be able to help on the backline, to be able to have some success guarding Nicola Yokic. He was an incredible playmaker in the Denver series and throughout the playoff run. He rebounded at a high level when they needed to.

He applied its hunt of rim pressure. LeBron James ran a 130 post-ups and ISOs in this postseason run, including passes, and scored 142 points. It's well over a point per possession. And we were just talking about how Anthony Davis couldn't do that. So he's still a bona fide top 10 player in the league, in my opinion, and probably closer to top five when he's healthy. Because I just broke down how he's the top eight player in this postseason run when he was clearly hampered by a foot injury. So you are starting from a very good starting point with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Just these versions of these guys are both top 10 players.

And I think both of them have an opportunity to get much better this off season just in the sense that they need to fix their jump shots. LeBron James has been a great jump shooter, his entire tail end of his career, except for two seasons, 2015 and 2023. My guess is he comes back next season, a good jump shooter. Anthony Davis. My guess is he comes back a functional jump shooter. So if that's the case, they're clearly one of the best duos in the league, if not the best. Right? Like I had a lot of Nuggets fans being like, oh, Jamal Murray was better than LeBron.

No, he wasn't. Jamal Murray is a great pull-up jump shooter who hit a lot of shots in Denver's offense. He was an absolute defensive liability, and the Lakers attacked him nonstop. And Denver had to do a lot of stuff to hide him. Jamal Murray's moved up a lot. And when we rank players this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he's top 15. But he's not better than LeBron James. And he's not better than Anthony Davis.

And so you have, as your starting point for the Lakers, the best duo in the league, in my opinion, because I think they're better than Jay and the Brown and Jason Tatum, too. So that's a great foundation. Let's look at the position groups. Center. LeBron is too old to keep playing backup center. you know, unless you're playing against a team that doesn't have a backup center,

which just doesn't happen frequently enough. So that's a position of great need this summer for three reasons. One, it allows you to play functional basketball when Anthony Davis sits out games. Instead of trying to play small ball all game, you can run some traditional pick and roll coverages and kind of maintain the same identity you had with Anthony Davis, even if you won't be as good. You need a backup center to be able to do that.

You want to have a too big look. A too big look would have been really interesting to unleash against Denver. They unleashed it against Denver almost nonstop in the 2020 bubble. And they didn't have that look this year. And then last, it prevents LeBron from having to take on those sorts of responsibilities, even when Anthony Davis is available but is on the bench. So I think they need to get a backup center. Now, I don't think Mo Bamba is that guy for the postseason,

but I think he can eat those innings during the regular season. I also would consider bringing Tristan Thompson to camp. I thought he looked decent in that game against Denver. Just bring him to camp. It doesn't hurt anything. He's not going to get an offer. anywhere else, bring him to camp, let him see if he comes into camp in shape, see if he can help your team. That's an interesting option. You can look at the veteran minimum market. I would see if

you could poach a guy like Brooke Lopez from Milwaukee for the taxpayer mid-level exception, or you could be aggressive in the trade market for someone like Miles Turner. But no matter what, you can't finish next season going into the playoffs without a solid backup center. I think they can get away with a less than solid backup center during the regular season, but during the playoffs, are going to need a solid backup center. Look at the forward position. I think LeBron James, Jared Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachamura is about as good a group as you can find there around the league. It's a really good group of forwards.

The only downside is Rui has some defensive limitations, depending on the matchup, but really only against super small teams. I thought he was effective in two of the three playoff series that they had. And even in the Warriors series, like, yeah, it sucks when you're asking him to chase a guard around screens and stuff, but I still think that he could have played more in that series had they needed. him to. And then Jared Vanderbilt obviously had some issues in the offense with teams ignoring him and conceding corner threes. So a couple things. Rui working another summer with Phil Handy getting better as a score. I thought he made huge strides just in one half season with Phil Handy. I would imagine

Wizards fans are devastated to see Ruey look as good as he did. So one more summer with Phil Handy goes a long way. Jared Vanderbilt, just shooting a million corner threes this summer would go a long way. towards helping him be playable, and then LeBron James fixing his jump shot. So I think they're already a really good group of forwards, and it's only going to get better this season as the guys get in the gym. I think the Lakers are in good shape there. Where things get interesting is then the guards. So I'm going to split it into two groups, on ball guards and more like second side,

you know, off ball guards. So the only on ball guard that they're most likely going to have back next year is Austin Reeves. Who knows if someone's going to offer him a giant contract and the Lakers have to match, hopefully the Lakers can get him for that four years, 50 million or whatever that they're hoping for. But we'll see either way, I expect Austin Reeves to be a Laker on next year. He was incredible in his first playoff run. He averaged 1.21 points per possession in spot-up situations, still one of the best shooters and close-out attackers in the league. He shot 69% effective field-go percentage on catch-and-shoot jumpers in the playoffs.

49% in effective field-go percentage on pull-up jumpers in this postseason run. He was solid in pick and roll, just under a point per possession. He was over a point per possession in isolation. He averaged 17 points per game on 62% true shooting, averaged five assists per game, and had a 2.9 assist to turnover ratio. And I thought he held up really well defensively. So that's like five stars for a young undrafted guard in his first playoff run.

I think he's the perfect starting guard, starting two guard, probably to have next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Off ball guards. And again, I'm not talking about the guys that they could retain. going to focus on who they are for sure going to have for now. So the only guy I think they'll for sure have back is Max Christie as an off ball guard. I think he's going to be a big rotation piece for the Lakers next year. Allegedly he's grown a little bit closer to 6-7.

He was a knockdown three-point shooter this year. He shot 42% from 3. He's a very good defensive player. He's got good length, quick feet, navigate screens well. I expect him to play a lot next year. Wouldn't even be surprised if he played some small forward for them if the muscle mass that he's gain and his length has improved as much as it has. So a couple of really good options there,

but you're going to need three more guards. A couple of specific types that I'd look at. I think they need a really good athletic guard, and I mean with some real, like, strength to him. Lonnie's a good athlete, but he just couldn't hold up in the physicality against some of the bigger, stronger guards. Kind of like what Bruce Brown was for the Nuggets this year. Or what Alex Crusoe was to the 2020 Lakers,

a guard between 64 and 6-6, 6,000, who's like a solid 215 pounds or more that can move his feet well and can just be a functional smart offensive player. Both Bruce Brown and Alex Cruz are excellent cutters. That's kind of like more important than them knocking down spot of threes necessarily, although that obviously helps. Then I think they need another guy who can take on primary ball handling responsibilities. We'll talk about that in a second, so I'm going to pause there.

And then they probably need a third guard just off the bench for depth. And that's probably going to be a veteran minimum guy. So as we zoom out, I think they desperately need a backup center, and they need to fill out that guard rotation. Now, a lot of people are talking about Kyrie Irvin. And look, I agree. He's literally perfect. He fulfills the roster's biggest weakness, which is over-the-top shot-making.

He's great on and off the ball, super complimentary with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and when engaged, he's actually a solid defensive player. But it's just unbelievably unrealistic from the standpoint of obtaining him without giving up too much. So I think Laker fans need to move on from that idea, at least for the time being. So yes, we'd love to see Kyrie in a Laker jersey, just don't think it's realistic. So what would I do if I was running the Lakers?

I would just bring everybody back and I'd hang tight and I'd wait for the perfect trade. So let me break this down for you guys. I'd match any offers for Rui Hachamura and Austin Reeves. Hopefully if you're lucky, you can get them both for about $30 million a year combined. I'd pick up Michael Beasley's option. I guarantee Moamba's contract. I guarantee, I'm having trouble talking today. I'd guarantee Jared Vanderbilt's contract.

And I'd try to re-signed DeAngelo Russell on some sort of team-friendly deal, which I think you're going to be able to do after how much he struggled in the postseason. So why? Because the shortcoming of this roster that we saw against Denver was over-the-top shot-making, right? Yokich and Murray beat them making jumpers over contests when LeBron James and Anthony Davis could not. That was the fundamental biggest weakness, in my opinion. Obviously, you want Anthony Davis to defend better. You like to have another body to throw at Yokic.

Obviously, when you get swept, there's more than one reason. But the biggest reason, in my opinion, is the lack of over-the-top shot making for the Lakers. So, that's not going to bother you in the regular season. That's a playoff problem. In the regular season, the Lakers as currently constructed are going to win a shit ton of games. So this is not a problem you need to solve this summer. If you bring back DeAngelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba, Jared Vanderbilt, and you run the same group, you're going to win a shit ton of regular season games.

You're going to be sitting at, you know, 37 and 22 or something at some point during the season. You're going to win a lot of games. So that's the route. Then you have all of this tradable salary. Malik Beasley's contract, 16 million. Mo Bomba, 10 million. Jared Vanderbilt, 5 million. DeAngel Russell, probably around $20 million a year, right?

So even if you don't get D-Lo, that's $31 million in tradable salary, that's tradable immediately this summer. And then if you wait until the deadline, you get that plus whatever DeAngel Russell makes. Let's just, for the sake of making the math easy, let's call it $50 million and total tradable salaries there. You can attach them, that's a bunch of different sizes, right? I've got a 20 million salary slot, a 16 million salary slot, a 10 and a 5. You can piece those together in any combination to get any type of player that you need. You have two available first round draft picks as of draft night to trade and a bunch of second round picks.

So I would be patient. I've heard a lot of people mentioning guys like Fred Van Vleet, for instance. I don't like that idea. Fred is a solid defensive player, but he's an inefficient score and he's small. so he doesn't help them in their contested rebound situations, which were a big problem in, really in every playoff series. If they were to go the route of just getting some mid-level guard, I'd go after a guy like Terry Roseer, but even then, I'd wait.

I'd wait. Unless you can easily get Kyrie Irving without sacrificing death, I'd wait. So, again, I think if you can float in the regular season, you just see what pops up over the course of the year. And I wrote down a couple of options. So let's say, for instance, somebody like, let's say like the pacer's struggle this year. And you can poach Miles Turner for Mo Bamba and, you know, Malik Beasley and three seconds. Like, that's a fantastic trade that gets you a backup center that costs you almost nothing and doesn't affect your rotation.

Like, that's a really interesting deal that I look at for the Lakers during the season. Maybe it's a smaller move for a guard like Terry Rozier like I talked about. Or maybe you get lucky in someone like Damien Lillard comes available or someone like Bradley Beale becomes available. And then you can offer the salary filler, but you can offer two first round draft picks and a second round pick or three second round picks or whatever it is. Whatever that option is that comes available over the course of the season, you are poised to jump on it when it arrives, right?

that to me is the best route. You already are good enough for the regular season. That's a problem you just need to solve by February in terms of that top end shot creation. So just be patient. Hang tight. You never know what's going to happen during the regular season. Maybe some superstar gets hurt on a team that like maybe Kauai gets hurt again. And the clippers are like, we're looking to get rid of Paul George.

Maybe you can jump on Paul George. Like you don't know what you never know what's going to happen. And so I don't think they need to be super aggressive to make a big move this summer on some ancillary piece that's not going to really move the needle. When DeAngelo, Austin Reeves, Jared Vanderbilt, Rudy Hachamur, whoever it is that plays the three, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, with Mo Bomba off the bench and Max Christie and Malik Beasley, you're going to win enough regular season games. You just are. There's no rush. So I would be really patient and just kind of look to pounce on the right move this summer. and I'd go big. I'd go for a really good shot creator that can be the guy that goes

toe to toe with Jamal Murray running spam and pick and roll at the end of a game with, you know, Anthony Davis in the dunker spot in LeBron James setting screens or LeBron spotting up and Anthony Davis setting screens. That's the way that I would go. Or hell, LeBron James run and pick and roll with whoever that star player you bring in it, bring in as the screener, you can open up a lot of stuff there that Lakers had a lot of problems with the Nuggets hiding Jamal Murty on Dennis Trotter, for instance, for that very reason. So I would be patient. So as we zoom out, the concept of the team is you have four core players, right? Austin Reeves, Zerichamara, LeBron, James, Anthony Davis. You need a reliable fifth starter that you can run in closing groups,

right? And you need a backup center to reach your eventual playoff ceiling, right? But you have DeAngela Russell, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba, maybe a guy like Tristan Thompson if he does well in camp, to fulfill those responsibilities during the regular season, eat the innings until the right move pops up. I just wouldn't cash in all the chips for an average player before them. I think this team is the clear number two to the Denver Nuggets heading into next season. They have a bright future with a bunch of young players around their older LeBron James. I think LeBron still has two good years left. So it's an exciting time to be a Laker fan. And there's a lot of opportunity in the next calendar year for the Lakers to do some damage in the NBA.

All right, guys, that's all I have for today. I will be back. Actually, I'm not sure what we're good. I think we might be taking the weekend off. It just depends. I'm recording this before game five of Celtics Heat. So it might be game six Celtics Heat or it might be a weekend off before we get into NBA final stuff next week. As always, I appreciate you guys. And I'll see you then.

The volume. 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 Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's My God. Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Now, I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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