LAbound
@LAbound2
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Joined July 2012
The wildest part?. There are folks that would legitimately bestow praise on Pelinka if he traded for Ayton/LaRavia/Smart rather than acquire them via buyout……. .
The surest sign somebody doesn’t really know how any of this works are the people who are sitting around thinking the Ayton/Laravia/Smart signings just fell into Pelinka���s lap out of nowhere. You don’t have to agree with him or even like him, but be a little bit for real here.
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I don’t think people truly understand this:. When you have 2 guys that soak up ~100 million of your cap, the foremost task in roster building is attaining cheap + productive labor . Pelinka has Ayton/Smart/LaRavia for less than 20 million dollars . That is a great off-season.
Getting Smart for free is a no brainer. Aside from just the much needed defensive production, he comes in as a culture setter. A respected voice on that end. Adds to a very productive and low cost summer.
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Tier I (30+mpg).Luka.Reaves.Lebron.Ayton. Tier II (likely 15-25mpg depending on performance/matchup).Rui.Smart. Tier III (12-18mpg).LaRavia .Hayes. Becoming difficult to see a real role for Knecht and it might be getting late early absent some significant strides defensively…….
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Obviously the Marcus Smart acquisition is tangibly good for the Laker defense this season . But beyond that, Smart is perhaps the most optimal tutor for Bronny. That archetype is likely what a fully realized Bronny looks like on a contending team.
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Pelinka is having an excellent Summer adding Ayton/LaRavia/Smart. Address biggest roster hole✅.Add legit perimeter defender✅.Add young wing that fits roster✅.Retain draft capital✅. The best part?. Lakers are in a privileged position come trade deadline time……. .
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James Harden overtly recruited Bradley Beal. “Man look at what the Clippers are doing with limited assets”. Luka overtly recruited Marcus Smart . “Pelinka got lucky”. Wild how the narratives differ so much with special scenarios . Groupthink is a powerful narcotic….
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For this iteration of LAL, Marcus Smart is a better acquisition than Bradley Beal. Beal clearly more talented, but would be redundant for this roster while exacerbating existing deficiencies. Even a slightly diminished version of Smart is a considerable uptick defensively for LAL.
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I’m not here to tell you Rob Pelinka is a top 5 GM in the league, but post-Russ trade he’s been above-average at minimum . And to be completely candid, you can make an argument that he’s been good in that time period.
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Deandre Ayton.Jake LaRavia.Marcus Smart. Rob Pelinka acquired the services of all 3 players for less than 20 million dollars……. COMBINED. Miss me with that “he’s a horrible GM” narrative. The man has largely been an above-average/good GM for the last ~3 years.
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In order for players to “fall into your lap”, one has to ensure that both money/requisite roster spot is available for that to come to fruition . It’s not “luck” or a “falling into your lap” when intentional strategy/moves must be made in order to have the available space/money.
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“Pelinka has no tangible strategy” is misguided IMO. There is absolutely a tangible strategy:. Do not expend assets in trades unless it *clearly* favors LAL. Absent that, exercise patience + utilize buyout market to plug holes . In short, prudence is indeed a strategic approach.
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It is May 1st, 2025. The crystal ball says the Los Angeles Lakers Summer will go as follows. Out:.DFS. In:.Ayton.LaRavia.Smart . Retain all draft capital without adding additional salary . This would be universally viewed as success . Kudos to Rob Pelinka.
BREAKING: Marcus Smart has agreed to a contract buyout with the Washington Wizards and intends to sign a two-year, $11 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers after clearing waivers, sources tell ESPN. A return to a grand stage for the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
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Fantastic stuff here from our guy @RajChipalu.
Vegas is not just the place NBA dreams begin, but are also rekindled. Darius Bazley has shined as the teams best player, hoping to prove he once again belongs in the league. My feature from Sin City on the Lakers Summer League star. @LakersSBN .
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Our guy @Tim_NBA is on a roll today, would definitely suggest you give him a follow and keep his page on refresh today.
Rim frequency difference for Luka driving right (vs driving left):. 2018-19: -14%.2019-20: +19%.2020-21: +29%.2021-22: +7%.2022-23: +22%.2023-24: +23%.2024-25: +15%. As many players do, he tends to drive stronger going one direction and pull up more going the other.
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This was the “just accept it, the team is better defensively without Anthony Davis” timeframe . What a time to be alive that was……. .
Bron's "luck" on defense was REAL bad through ~half the year, then improved a ton during that mickey mouse defensive stretch where the whole team benefitted a lot from opponent shooting luck. People were saying dumb things about AD, Hayes, & several others during that stretch.
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I didn’t necessarily think the AD trade was strictly about Davis’ ability to be a franchise player then, and still don’t think that’s the case now…….
I don’t think that was the Laker FO thought process at all. In fact, I think it may be more the inverse.
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Listen, as a defensive oriented guy I really like Cooper Flag . But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves when mentioning Flagg with Kobe Bean Bryant . This was Kobe against the greatest player of all time at age 19. He was already a three-level scorer + All NBA talent in year 2
Former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Cooper Flagg: "I don’t want to curse him by comparing him to Kobe [Bryant] because they’re not the same. But Kobe didn’t come in right away as a polished player. It took him two years to get it." @Sportskeeda
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I’d implore you to follow @iztok_franko if you like balanced analysis from both a quantitative + qualitative perspective . Merges eye-test and metrics very well. Have truly enjoyed his work since coming across his account earlier this year.
A couple of hours later… Cooper Flagg's debut and other Mavs-Lakers observations, including Ryan Nembhard, Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, and Darius Bazley, were dispatched to your inboxes👇.
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In conjunction w/size+length, Bazley is too good of an athlete to be that timid at the rim v SL competition. Generates lots of rim pressure, but doesn’t cash in as much as you’d like b/c he’s consistently looking to dumpoff/jumpstop/shotfake. Would like to see more rim aggression.
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