NBA 2018/19 Ben Simmons is ROTY. MEGA THREAD!

The thing I can’t believe is every team is averaging 100 points. The majority of teams are 110+.
Hasn’t happened since the 80s if I’m not mistaken.

It’s what happens when the NBA makes it almost impossible to play any form of physical defence now.

Heck. The most broken form of Derick Rose imagineable dropped 50 the other night for crying out loud.

Most games look like ABA score lines

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Lakers to sign Tyson Chandler once his buyout with Phoenix is completed.

EXACTLY what we need considering we have no NBA caliber backup option at the 5.

Just need someone that will protect the paint, grab boards and run the floor which Chandler will do.

Hopefully he’ll help us turn this around.

Should’ve just kept Randle

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All they had to do was not re-sign KC-Brick and they would’ve had the space to do that but his role was going to change with LeBron coming in and Randle didn’t want that.

If Randle was there, either Ingram or Kuzma come off the bench (if not both).
Randle would also have restricted the free agent available to us next year.

Defensively, I’d prefer Chandler than Randle.

Is Bosh retired or just injured? He’d be okay even though he hasn’t played for a few years.

Bosh has a heart condition and it’s very likely playing and maintaining an athletes lifestyle will kill him.
This heat hawks game is very good

I think Randle would’ve been either the backup 5 or starting 4 moving Ingram/Kuzma to the bench as you say but mainly I’d see him being our small ball 5 and playing huge minutes.

However, I believe this was suggested to him and he said that he’d rather walk.

Bosh I believe has to be cleared by the NBA before he could come back and according to reports, the NBA is VERY unlikely to clear him due to the danger of his condition.

Absolute shambles in Portland.

People think that the Warriors and Rockets get an armchair ride, the Blazers on their home court is basically like having an 8 v 5.

Genuinely I cannot understand why Lakers supporters have expectations and why it matters that you’re picking up Chandler. It’s not even newsworthy, this year is solely about developing the young core and seeing who’s going to be playing next year. The Lakers will probably finish at .500 and that’ll be it. It’s all about next season.

Talk about Bosh is ludicrous, the guy hasn’t played in years and he’s not gonna push you over the top to being a contender. There’s no points in keeping Randle, he doesn’t fit into the squad or factor in to future plans. Lakers want all-stars, Magic said give me two years in the preseason just gone. There’s a plan, and the plan is get through 82 games this year, if you make playoffs that’s a bonus, if not who cares.

There’s no point in riding every game this year like its this season or bust, it’s ok. It’s not about this season.

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LeBron James is 33. About to turn 34.

Yes, I agree that the Lakers are planning ahead for next season when they can afford another max free agent and until then it is about developing the younger talent to mould around LeBron.

The fact of the matter is that LeBron isn’t getting any younger and the Lakers simply don’t have seasons at a time to throw away to “figure it out”.

Considering how poor the Lakers have been since 2012/13 and how long it has taken them to get to this point in time and now having the best player in the league (for how long, no one really knows) as much as the Lakers are preaching that “we need to figure out what this is” and “we have time”, common sense says that they don’t have any time at all to make this thing work, especially considering all the signings they made this past off-season around LeBron.

Also, maybe the reason so many Lakers fans are “riding every game” as you put it, is because LeBron James is now on their team and that with that it automatically brings the biggest expectations that a franchise can possibly have with it.

Regardless, it’s damn nice to have B-Ball back!

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Also…
Reportedly, Magic (the guy who has said ‘we’re going to be patient’ has had some words with Luke Walton apparently expecting better results.

The biggest concerns I have about the Lakers are…

  • Defense. That’s obvious. How you give up a 20 point lead in the last ten minutes of a game is astounding. How you give up an 8 point lead in 40 seconds is incredible. Both events have happened in two separate games.
  • Ingram. I don’t know where he fits in. He looked good with Lebron during pre season, but he’s struggling during the season. They are playing him at shooting guard which doesn’t suit him. He’s a small forward. He looked great last year as a point forward. I’m almost tempted to trade him away if we could get a good deal in return.
  • Rondo. He shouldn’t be a starter. He should be playing whenever Lebron is on the bench. He’s a liability because everyone plays off him and let’s him shoot.
  • KCP. I didn’t rate him before he came to LA. He was okay last year but he’s been terrible this year. I’m glad Josh Hart was moved into the starting lineup.
  • Svi. I’m a big fan and patient. He was great in summer league. He looked so confident. He barely played in preseason and the small parts of regular season time, he’s looked way off pace. I think I saw him airball a shot.

The positives…

  • Kuzma. I liked his game last year (just like everyone else) but I didn’t know if he has it in him to be an all star. His start to the year has shown he has that in him.
  • Josh Hart. He’s taken his summer league form into the season. Should be starting because he helps space the floor.
  • Lonzo. Surprisingly his three point shooting has been okay. He needs to find a way to score off the dribble. He’s still a poor free throw shooter and his intensity sucks, but there are some good signs there.
  • No blow-outs (yet). Whilst the losses have been disappointing, every game has been competitive. If they can keep that intensity up the next month, then they’ll be okay once Lebron goes into beast mode.
  • Lebron. He’s looking to have his worst year for a while. Oddly, I’m glad he’s restraining himself and trying to find out who else has the competitive fire when games really matter.
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I trust LeBron knows what he’s doing, so you shouldn’t be concerned. He has faced GSW enough to know the reality of the league this year, and it’s important to realise this year is just about the development of Hart, Lonzo, Ingram and Kuzma. That’s all that should really matter at this stage. The rest is just a facade.

I personally think Kuzma has gone backwards this year and is a huge reason as to why our defence is so poor. He literally only shows up on one side of the court and he really needs to focus on that as the season goes on. Considering he apparently “focused” on his defence this year and went over tape with Rondo in the off-season and was “disgusted” with his defence, he has somehow gotten infinitely worse in that aspect IMO.

Personally I think Rondo has been good so far and is even knocking down shots when the defence backs off of him. He is a great ball handler and a great pick & roll player which suits our game style. He is also a dog on defence. We don’t beat Portland today without Rondo. Plain and simple.

Lance Stephenson has been supreme off the bench also and just seems to fit like a glove in LA. The fans love him and he is playing as well as he possibly could be right now.

Lonzo has also improved but Walton seems to be favouring Rondo a lot more as he does seem to be a coach who prefers to rely on veterans. He barely played Lonzo in the second half even with Rondo in foul trouble which was a bit concerning, but I do think they are still managing him, especially with a back to back against Toronto coming up tomorrow as well which could have played a factor but it was still concerning nonetheless.

Ingram has been hit and miss but I think being suspended did shake him a little bit. He does seem like our second best scoring option behind LeBron but he does need to start having more of an impact over 4 quarters and knocking down his shots with more regularity if he is to maximise his potential.

As much as McGee can ■■■■■ me at times and I still think he could be doing more to protect the rim (he is averaging over 3 blocks a game so far, I know) as he seems to let guys who are half his size go up against him at the rack and it’s like he goes out of his way to not make a play on the ball when he could still get an easy block. He is also a liability in boxing out and grabbing rebounds IMO as well, but he does run the floor really well and had another 6 blocks today with the sealing bucket down the stretch by throwing it over his head over Nurkic which was unbelievable.

All in all, it is coming together slowly but surely.

But as you and I have said, the Lakers can preach the “slow and steady” line as much as they want, the reality is this isn’t the case and they know it, hence Magic turning the screws on Luke already.

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76ers go down to the Nets - allowed the nets to score 41 in the 3rd. Let that sink in.
Brown will be under some heat now.
Fultz is bust, pure and simple.

Ben really needs to start making jump shots. It’s verging on pathetic that he’s not even willing to shoot outside.

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Lakers down by 30 after 1 quarter to the Raptors…

Disgrace.

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He clogs their starting lineup at to much.

Needs to go back to the bench

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