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

Luka will come back playing like tucco from Breaking Bad.

 

Luka will come back playing like tucco from Breaking Bad.

 

We gotta get a split. Win game 1 ambush them. Maybe they get game 2. But Luka’s coming back game 3.

 

No, he isn't. Series likely ends in 5 if we're fortunate.

Giannis isn't coming. Reaves often injured and overrated a** will be resigned. LeBron will be back at a lower number, etc.

How it will be playboy.

 

I'll have to do a deeper dive check on this, but the first glance stats comparison I did at Tankathon between Krivas this year at Arizona vs '24 Missi at Baylor was overwhelmingly in favor of Krivas. I'd need to do more investigating on comparing '26 Krivas vs Missi in the NBA this year though.

I'm very bullish on Krivas as a prospect, even if he's not a natural lob threat. IMO we draft and develop Krivas if we're hoping to try and acquire a Center long term who can fit a similar mold to guys like Kessler or Zubac.

 

Didn't get the Knecht reference. Isn't that more JHS case?

I don't think we should gamble with a FRP. With 2nds sure, but with a first we must turn them into rotation pieces, by draft or trade. We don't have many so better maximize the odd one we got.

Even more when we won't give an environment for a young guy to get reps and grow through mistakes. They must impact winning straight. Hence why I rather turn that 1st into a guy that I can trust can give us +20 min on a nightly basis

 

AR played 82 games 2 years ago

 

Yeah, it would be great to get Missi for only the 24th pick. But I'm saying, if needed, I would be swap an additional 1st for a 2nd , if they take Knecht off our hands, which opens up a roster spot, and 2.5 mill or so in additional cap-room. That makes it worth it, imo. We have the 24th pick, it's not that great of a pick. We might get lucky, there are a lot of good bigs that fit our needs, but we need to be prudent about it.

 

I looked up the blocked shots per 36 minutes for a few of those bigs and compared them to Missi at the NBA level. I adjusted theirs's a little bit down- because college doesn't translate 100%. I also compared their measurables, and stuff like that. But nice job comparing Missi in college to Krievas in college, what did you find out? But I'll be honest, I feel like it would annoy Luka that the guy is not gonna catch his lobs, instead try to post up and do a push shot.

 

Guys, the Lakers need to start drafting and developing well.

We can't just keep botching our picks or trade them away willy nilly for win now moves. That means keeping picks, actually using them by drafting smartly and then developing and farming players in-house. I know we all want to win ASAP, but part of what will benefit the Lakers for the long haul is taking the time to start building up talent in house more regularly.

This helps us across the board, because if we start fixing this issue and develop a reliable farming system a la Boston, that not only gives us more depth and contributing players on the roster to winning basketball, but it also makes our talents far more appealing to other teams we might be interested in trying to trade with. Look at how JHS is already out of the league and how DK is set to likely either follow suit or at minimum cost us more draft capital in moving off of him before he can reset and potentially bounce back his career.

Whether we draft a Big like Morez Johnson, Mo Krivas, Patrick Ngongba or we draft a 3&D wing like Cameron Carr, Dailyn Swain or Isaiah Evans, I think it's important that we don't give up our pick this year and start develop long term winning habits in the Front Office moving forward by selecting a prospect with serious upside.

 

And you say you stay away from here because of how WE are? Continue to stay away then. WTH’s wrong with you that you can’t stop slamming him, and not all that accurately with your points. Over the top.

He gets dings because of how hard he plays … like AD. Like Smart. And played 82 two years ago.

 

Cry me a river. He isn't playing now. It's a "what have you done lately for me league."

Luka's fat a** better be in the gym too.

 

Yeah, Luka is at a In and Out and Reaves is playing golf while we get swept. Weeeeeeeeeeee

 

Go back to LG with their Reaves hating Borg. Just gets old man. You can have your concerns and everyone knows them. But the unwarranted attacks are something else.

 

Missi is an outlier to that thinking though, because he is still only 21, even though he has two years under his belt, was 2nd-team all rookie, and has played and contributed in solid minutes. I'm not saying just trade the pick for some random veteran player. Missi actually fits precisely what the Lakers need. Don't get me wrong though, if Mara is sitting there at #24, or if we have an opportunity to move up and get him, I'm taking my chances on that guy. Krievas might be it too though, I haven't studied thoroughly, but he just seems floor-bound to me, and we know that isn't conducive to a Luka led offense.

 

Well, if you'd like the full list of stats, here's the link.

But in short? Krivas is substantially better than '24 Missi at rebounding (11.6 rebounds per game vs 8.8), Free Throw Percentage (.78 vs .616), Defensive Win Shares per 40 mins (.105 vs .062), Win Shares per 40 mins (.226 vs .190), ORTG (131.7 vs 125.8), DRTG (93.7 vs 103.2), DBPM (5.9 vs 2.4) and BPM (10.9 vs 7.4).

Additionally, Krivas is notably better with Assists (1.6 per game vs 0.6). There's other stats and Missi was better than Krivas on a few, like Points Per Game, but all in all? Krivas is flat out a far stronger prospect defensively, at least compared to '24 Missi.

Completely agreed about Mara, but realistically, he's played himself into the lottery.

That said, I understand your logic on Missi, but I think we need to consider expanding our horizons a bit on what to look for in a Center to pair next to Luka. The defensive anchor part is undeniable; Luka needs someone able to constantly protect the rim and help clean up any defensive mishaps that happen out on the perimeter. That, far more than being a vertical lob threat, is the most important element we need to consider moving forward with looking at solutions for the Lakers at the Center position.

And I'd also argue that today's NBA is becoming more and more angled towards sheer versatility being a top quality for players offensively. Luka might prefer to be able to pair alongside a Big who can throw down the lobs he sends out, but having the option to pivot towards various Pick and Pop setups too genuinely would open up a lot of doors for him and the Lakers offensively.

So IMO draft Krivas and try to work on developing both his shooting and work on his lob game. He might not have much vertical pop, but he's very nearly as tall and long as Mara, so I'd like to think that it can be done. Try to develop him in the direction of guys like Kessler, Zubac and Hartenstein.

 

Wait, Missi and Krivas are the same age (Missi is about 7 months older). I hate to get all technical, but the more accurate comparison would be '26 Missi this past season per 36 vs '26 Krivas per 36. They are virtually identical, but Missi ads the important offensive element of verticality.But ypu also have to consider that Missi is doing it at an NBA level. Meaning, Krivas's blocks per 36 scale down. You could also compare their blocks per 36 minutes to their age 19 Freshman years'. Missi had 2.36 blocks per 36 vs Krivas 1.49 per 36. We all know that Luka prefers lob-catching bigs. The Lakers went as far to trade for Mark Williams last season after supposedly given a list of those types of players by Luka. He has proof of concept with players such as Gafford, Lively, and Hayes. I do agree that rim-protection is more important than lob-catching, but this is a combination that is not too hard to find in big men. It's like, you might as well get a big who could do both. We really only have one real vacancy in the starting lineup, which is the 5, so we might as well get it right. Can't afford to do a half-measure here.

 

either? jhs was just a bust. we don't know yet if knecht is, but nobody's trading anything for him. on draft night, you'd have gotten something for the 17th pick, though.

i just can't justify trading two first rounders for missi. expected value of those picks (particularly this year) is higher than missi, tbh.

 

It's not two 1st's for Missi. Lakers find a taker for Knecht, instead of possibly cutting him and having his dead salary. It's one late 1st this year, + one mystery 1st five years from now, + an additional 2.8 million in cap-room, + an additional roster spot in exchange for Missi + one mystery 2nd six years from now. Missi is not a bum. He has been mis-managed by New Orleans. He was 2nd-team all-rookie. He's a good player for what we need. Think, a higher-minute Jaxon Hayes with rim-protection prowess - that's valuable for Luka. Missi is still only 21. You can't just say, oh he's not Nic Claxton. You have to be able to project a little bit.

 

Shameful



There has to be an amendment made to 65 games rule that if the player logs x number of minutes he's still eligible.