And you’d be a worse GM than Phil Jackson.
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Perhaps.
I’m not in the camp that Simmons is the best rookie ever. I’m not in the camp that thinks he is the best rookie this year.
I’m not as convinced he is going to be the player everyone says he is. He has no momgrel, almost Paddy Ryder like and these kind of player never seem to completely 100% fulfil anyone’s expectations.
I love watching Kuzma play. Ben just frustrates the hell out of me.
Agreed.
Ben has been amazing this year (I’m a Lakers fan who thinks Kuzma will be a star too).
You couldn’t ask for more from Ben than what he has done this year.
Even LeBron struggled with his shot early in his career (admittedly nowhere near as bad as Ben but players have turned around horrible shooting before).
Ben will develop his shot over the next 18 months.
If he is still shooting it like he is now then yes, by all means panic but until then, just enjoy watching him play.
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He’s clearly rookie of the year.
However, I think he’s just a natural stat stuffer. He is the closest thing to Lebron James that there is in the league.
If things go right, he could end up just as good or better than Lebron and be one of the top ten players of all time (if not top five).
Worst case, he doesn’t quite make it due to injury and ends up like Grant Hill.
I don’t think Kuzma could ever be great enough that you build a team around him. At best, he’s a very good support player.
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Yeah that’s pretty much it, I really like Kuzma too but he has 3 years of collage under his belt plus a red shirt year. I don’t wear this Simmons has had a year in the system to prepare when he spent the large majority of it in a moon boot.
And yeah, LeBron couldn’t shoot in his first year, neither could MJ.
Stats don’t lie. He is the best Rookie in Nba history after Oscar Robertson, the most double doubles in his first 30 games other than Shaq, equal to the most triple doubles in his first 30 games, plus. The Sixers can’t shoot as a team or he would be even higher on those lists.
It’s only the TPS guys talking this rookie season down
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But also a lot more points to be had, so I’m actually more impressed by rebounds and assists than I am points
Hope that one man tent is comfortable.
Which is why the team records for assists all date back to the 70s & 80s?
Teams have ~22 assists per game now.
Was ~20 in the mid 2000s.
~22 in the mid 90s.
~25 in the late 80s
Nothing at all suggests guys or teams are stuffing assists.
You’re right and I’m totally wrong.
Was sure I read/heard a stat saying that pace is at an all time high. Ball reference proving that to be wrong.
Pace - maybe. As in the %age of fast break vs half court?
But that’s not the same as scoring totals or assist totals, both of which are higher than they were mid-00s, but about the average historically.
I think this is the article I had read. Highest pace in 25 years, plus long boards & low o-board rates mean we’re seeing lots more trip/double doubles.
I dont think Simmons is the same lock for ROTY that he was a month ago but would still be leading the pack. The amazing thing is not just what he does but how much room for improvement he has in his game.
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RIP Thon.
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And OKC still lost.
George a bit salty that the winning basket might have been a travel, and almost certainly stepped oob.
at last Thon made the highlights!
It is damn painful being a Lakers fan right now.
We have not improved 1 skerrick over the past 4 years and are still defying basketball by continuing to go backwards.
Walton needs to go, he is damn plonker of a coach, just as he was a player.
Ingram, Kuzma, Lonzo & Nance are the only ones I’d keep, the rest I think should be looking for work in the NBL.
We need two high caliber players this off-season MINIMUM and I’d say that is damn unlikely considering how we are playing/how little improvement we have shown and our management which has been ■■■■ poor for probably 6-7 years now.
We are actually REALLY struggling with Lonzo out of lineup at the moment, the offence was god awful before but without him it just seems to be even more stagnant and mind bogglingly bad.
Praying for a miracle.
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Praying for a number 1 pick?
Perhaps lakers have a new ‘peocess’!
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We traded away our first round pick, so there is no possibility of tanking.
I’m a Lakers fan too.
Up until a week ago, I thought we were tracking well. Maybe not good enough to make playoffs, but certainly better than I thought we’d be.
The last week has been terrible. Goes to show that even though Lonzo has played poorly personally, he’s capable of making the rest of the group play far better with him than without him.
I thought we’d be a bottom 5 to 10 team in the league and it appears that’s where we’ll end up.
I’m not an Ingram fan, but he’s certainly improved this year. Lonzo is a keeper. Kuzma can be our current equivalent of Cedric Ceballos. I also have liked Nance Jnr since he was drafted.
I haven’t been a Randle fan. He’s an undersized power forward that doesn’t have much of an outside shooting game. Something an undersized power forward needs in modern NBA.
I still don’t get the Luol Deng signing.
I don’t think Paul George is the answer. We have Kuzma, Ingram and Lonzo so we need a power forward and centre. Whilst Paul George would be a great addition, I think by the time he starts declining, will be the time we’d want to be challenging.
Lebron is no chance.
If we could somehow get Anthony Davis, then we should go for it. If it meant trading Randle, Ingram and Clarkson then I’d do it (doubt it would be enough).
The only way I’d support getting Paul George is if we could somehow dump Luol Deng to OKC for him or if we somehow got Anthony Davis by trade.
Other than that, we should take notes from New York and just wait it out until we draft some more talent.