2025-26 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

yeah, i wonder if he tells rob to do nothing at the deadline except search for his co-worker (or replacement if he doesn't like the idea). "hey rob, on these trade calls--ask the assistant gms if they're happy where they're working".

 

Yes I have defended Pelinka on occasion, but it's time to sweep the room clean and bring in a new management team with a new, clear and cohesive strategy. This Sommer will be absolutely crucial, and we need the right people behind the wheel.

 

Well I agree with the spirit of that, but punting on the season is a loser's mentality IMO. We have to make some moves now, options will be even more limited in the offseason.

 

Or..." Hey Rob...you've had Luka long enough, to formulate a cohesive Luka roster blueprint" "Show me something, or I will find someone else who can" " "Jeanie can not save you "!

 

i'll still defend his moves this summer--we did better than we should have, tbh. it just wasn't enough. and we all said that at the time (except maybe a few folks that said ayton would be an all star or something).

but we've been fully dysfunctional and behind the times in the FO for a while. i don't think that's fully rob's fault, and i think we could be fine if he stayed. but he can't do the full job alone. other teams generally don't work this way, and there's a reason. so if his issue with magic was that he can't work with anyone, he's gotta go. if his issue with magic was that magic was a d******, that's ok. he was. there are people we could hire to help who wouldn't trade zubac for muscala. but we need to do that. get on board or start updating the client rolodex (/1983).

having to make moves now is how you paint yourself into a corner.

unless something materializes that clearly puts us in the okc/denver tier, i'm good with entering the summer with luka/AR/jake/ayton/smart/hayes/thiero/bufkin (yeah i said bufkin) and nearly 50 million in cap space, perhaps with a revamped management team to boot.

i'd actually move knecht for a vet min veteran and a second or two if possible, and if teams would really consider it, i'd copycat the suns with the three-for-one pick trade (2032 for picks coming up).

my one fear on this last part is that phx is looking smart for doing that right now, and nobody wants to make the lakers look smart.

but it's time to start taking the draft seriously again, imo. our bad choices and impatience there lately has really hurt us. pick herb jones with our own late first, don't trade two future firsts for herb jones.

 

He didn’t have a bad off season. Ayton was a great pickup. LaRavia was a great pickup. As much as people wanna say this about LaRavia he’s helped us since Austin went out.

let’s see what we look like when Austin Reaves gets back.

We still got moves to make Rob will pull something out. Maybe Collin Sexton or this.

2032 first round pick unprotected. Dalton Knect other 1st round pick.

Orlando Anthony Black or Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Issac something like that.

Rob ain’t going out like no b****. He’s gonna make a move to make us better. I can promise you that.

Orlando doesn’t want to pay luxury tax.

we can still get a GG Jackson.

we can still get a Noah Clownley

We can still get a Michael Porter Jr.


did I mention the Dodgers got Kyle Tucker???

 

I get this but my concern would just be making a move that puts us in some kind of hole. Walter can certainly overrule anything he doesn’t like but I just like the thought of wiping the slate clean and letting new leadership and scouts do their thing.

 

this team is disappointing

fading Lebron cares about his stats, but isn't showing he's capable of changing his game around Luka.

The defense is non existent. We miss AR

Unwatchable ball lately.

 

I’m with you. We need to find guys who can be part of our next Chip team- not just stop gap players. We have enough of those.
Kuminga does have talent and is athletic, but he’s missing even a decent level of bball IQ.
Hard Pass.

 

We miss AR offensively.

We were nearly the bottom of the league defensively with him, too.

This team needs to be revamped with better depth.

 

Yeah. We've had some success rehabilitating guys but we need to shift to really building a team with an identity. If Kuminga fits whatever that identity will be, then fine. I'm not sold on just adding him because he's there even if he is talented.

 

Also agree with @abeer3 and @Kobeluka99 that we had a good offseason and I still like the moves we made. Anything I would take back like Goodwin is just hindsight.

 

If this coaching staff can't win, with this group healthy, they should be fired immediately, upon the end of the campaign. Rob's neck should be on the block too.

 

the group has been healthy for like, 3 total games.

 

I don't care about right now, we'll win our share of games by regular season's end. Look... We finished 3rd last season, and then got bounced in the 1st rd. I'm not obsessed over seading, but I expect to finish somewhere 4th-6th. No excuses for failure to advance, in the post season allowed.

 

this past week we've been fumbling an easier stretch of games, and it looks like we're heading for the play-in and a date with denver or okc in round 1.

projections have us/gs/phx fighting it out for 6, but as i've said, i think gs is going to pull a big deal for immediate help at the deadline, so those projections are probably underselling gs.

 

Another coaching search does not excite me at all. If we do go that route, no one involved in our last few coaching hires should have input. We can not keep bringing guys in, especially those with no head coaching experience, and yanking them.

We've watched three straight staffs struggle to field line ups with the rosters we've had including a staff that won us a title. I've got my criticisms of JJ, but I'm not sure how much better a new coach could utilize this roster given what it lacks.

 

I think the opportunity is there for the Thunder to repeat. Only real threat to them I see is the Nuggets if Jokic comes back.

 

I'm certainly not a Rob defender but how many Luka prime years are the Lakers willing to throw away? It's getting lost in the Rich Paul stupidity but Lebron has been actually been playing real well lately - he's back to an all star level. You're going to lose talent if he retires.

I guess I'm alone on the island in that I don't think Lebron/Luka/Ar are the issue here. I like the centers. I like Laravia and Smart. They just need more capable bodies to give a real push in this season. Consistent problem is that 4 or 5th best guys go off on the Lakers because JJ is throwing guys like Kobe Bufkin, Knecth, and Gabe out there. These are not NBA level players I'm sorry. League is too talented where you can put guys in who literally have no above average ability in anything an expect to win.

Such a thin line nowadays, you replace those guys not with stars but another Laravia or Smart like player and suddenly it's the Lakers who are blowing out other teams