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

The return of the Mack… I mean slick.

 

So... how's Russ doing these days?

 

NBA stands for National Bi-Polar Association now.

 

Can you imagine having money on Houston in that game. What a Roller Coaster.

 

I mean, the NBA has to drum up interest in the small market teams for revenue’s sake. What better way to pull a Harden for OKC and gift Wemby to Los Spurs via the rigged lottery?

 

The NBA presented three comprehensive anti-tanking concepts to its board of governors Wednesday as part of this week's meetings in New York, with modifications expected to each before a formal vote in May, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.
Each of the three concepts would be radical departures from the current setup. They have one thing in common: bringing teams that make the playoffs into the lottery process. From there, they change dramatically.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...esents-3-comprehensive-anti-tanking-proposals

 

Most underrated title team of the decade. The bubble is held against them - which is funny as hell because they handled adversity better?? Most pure basketball - no travel, no distractions and they came out ahead

I think that team is frankly favored over every single title team since then as well. Just too much size and defense combined with depth of roleplayers

 

I forget who made the comment a couple days ago ..... maybe @Pioneer10 or @svtzr or ? ..... that our 9 game win streak and the basketball being played now was in their opinion the best the Lakers have looked since the year after the Bubble ring. That team before all the injuries hit was rolling too first part of the season and quite possibly could have won a ring. Pelinka is always trashed for not bringing back the championship team. I think Dwight was supposed to be back but maybe the communication broke down with that and rather than wait while the Lakers took care of their most earnest targets in FA he got impatient and signed elsewhere. Even after ALL the injuries to LeBron and AD and Gasol, once we got to the Phoenix series we looked like we were going to win that until again AD went down.

 

I've always defend the offseason after the bubble. I think signing Gasol and swapping Green for Schroder were good moves. LeBron carried a huge playmaking load in the 2020 season, I don't think that was sustainable. We needed another ballhandler (Schroder) and more collective playmaking (Gasol). I wanted to keep Dwight over signing Harrell, but Harrell had some good moments in that regular season to help keep the team afloat while we were ravaged by injuries.

 

@sk2408 .... guess it was you that said it. Not a whole lot of us out there that liked that team and how great we started the season toward a repeat ring.

 

I don't think I was the poster you referenced who made the point about this being the best the team has looked since 2021...but I agree with them! The 2021 team was awesome when our players could actually play. It still bums me out that the title run and the title defense weren't in front of packed Staples Center crowds. I think the whole LeBron/AD era would be remembered a little more fondly if they were, even if 2021 was still marred by injuries.

 

I am glad the Spurs didn’t get Kon Kenepel. That Kenepel and Wemby tandem would’ve been devastating and unguardable. Because the spacing. Wemby has to have two three guys guarding him. And leaving Kneupel that great shooter open would destroy your team.

Harper is nice but he ain’t Kneupel and he ain’t shooting like that. San Antonio is not shot makers. So glad we avoided that. Essentially puts everyone in their place.

Fox Kneupel and Wembyama.

 

a perfectly assembled roster

pelinka saw that and said nah, let's blow it up for the guy they were leaving open from 15 ft in the playoffs. drives me absolutely crazy

 

Yeah I said it, to me this is the most I’ve been interested since then and I’d say it looks like the team is the most invested too.

I’m hopeful of good things happening in the post season provided health.

I also agree with sk, and I think mr beer and I have spoken about it at length. That was a really good offseason.

 

yeah, it's primarily slick (and i guess 432j?) who trash that team. i think it was as good or better than the team that won; just everyone was hurt all the time. we'd have beaten phx had AD not gone down, then gone back to the finals where i think we probably beat that bucks team, too. i also think that without all the injuries, we never make a desperation westbrook type move, and the rest of the lebron/AD era isn't annihilated.

and this is definitely the best we've been since then. the brief period right after we excised russ was fun, then sort of crashed and burned. we're currently back that the point where i think we should win most games and have a chance against the best. makes following the games more fun, for sure.