(07-22-2025, 08:06 PM)Winter Wrote: I was listening to Jason Timpf's podcast about the Lakers moves this off-season.
Essentially, he said this could go pretty bad given the history. The Lakers are relying on the health and professionalism of LeBron who's over 40, Doncic who is frequently out of shape, Ayton who has real maturity issues, and Smart who had had trouble playing half a season for the last six years. Even LaRiva has had trouble staying healthy in his short career. The Lakers are relying on perfect health to be competitve in the playoffs.
And of course, none of the players mentioned have played a full season together.
You picked a very pessimistic interpretation of what he said
He said that Lakers have a big variety of possibilities, extremely high variance. Everything goes well, they are a contender. Things don't go well, they can even miss the play-in.
Timpf is a bit dissapointed because he thinks Lakers are holding back pick and Knecht, saving them for potential star trade (Giannis or Jokic) next season. I am not so sure that really is their plan. I mean, they already traded those assets in the unsuccessful Williams trade. I think it is totally possible, that a high level starter was never available. You don't use these assets on guys like Thybulle. You need a high(er) level starter. One such player that was traded was Bane and he cost 4 FRP. Perhaps Cam Johnson would be an upgrade (I am not convinced he is a good enough defender for what Lakers need) as he was traded for 1 FRP, but not sure what value BKN saw in MPJ. There was no other high level starter that was traded this summer that Lakers could afford and would make sense on Lakers. For example Collins, Simons - none of them makes much sense for Lakers.
Lakers biggest need is an athletic 3-D wing that is at least decent on offense. What player that fits this description would be available? It was reported Miami wanted FRP and Knecht (and Hachimura) for Wiggins and I doubt anyone thinks that would be a good move for Lakers. What kind of wing can you get for a FRP and Knecht? Do the Lakers become surefire contenders if they trade the FRP for Thybulle? I think Lakers would trade for such a guy immediately if the price was lower, but it just seems it is not.
Part of the problem is, that there are only three clear tanking teams in Utah, Washington and BKN. None of them has a player that would fit what Lakers need. Everyone else is at least hoping they can compete for play-in at this point. Based on that, they are only willing to do business if they get a very good price in return. My guess is, we will see more opportunities closer to TDL, when some teams will inevitabely see their season sucks and might start selling off some pieces for more future assets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e69Abx03lzY