The Blueprint - What Kind of Team is the FO Really Trying to Create?

Car54 · Franchise Player Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 14424

They had a lot of talent that didn’t look like it fit. They won a lot of games and won a championship.
Derek Anderson Shandon Anderson Wade Haslem Walker Posey Shaq Mourning etc... I’m hoping Luke can find away to make these players fit
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999 · Franchise Player Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 20266

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Car54 · Franchise Player Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 14424

LandsbergerRules · Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 5:59 pm Post subject:

One of the kids (or Kawhi if they trade for him) is going to have to play at an All-NBA level to make this comparison work.
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Car54 · Franchise Player Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 14424

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LandsbergerRules · Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:37 pm Post subject:

Steve007 · Franchise Player Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 13221

Miami played in a much weaker conference and didn’t have to beat Golden State. When they won the championship they only won 52 games and that was still good enough for a #2 seed. They didn’t have to beat the Spurs and Suns that year.

In this situation Lebron finally moved into the tougher conference.

AirKobe8 · Star Player Joined: 30 Jan 2005 Posts: 8586

I love how people are freaking out about how our end of bench guys don't fit together, when our top8 will likely be LeBron/Ingram/Kuzma/Ball/Rondo/McGee/Hart/KCP and they fit REALLY well together.

Who cares if Beasley or Lance are our guys playing garbage time? The Beasley signing for me is the most symptomatic. If the Warriors signed this guy, everyone would be like "OMG GSW signed another scorer for cheap, the NBA is over, (bleep) you KD".
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audioaxes · Franchise Player Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 12573

that heat team still had 2 all NBA level players on it. Outside of Lebron we dont have player who can even make the all star game yet.
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LandsbergerRules · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 7:33 am Post subject:

GTL · Star Player Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 9839

More like the Bad Boy Pistons 2.0.
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cathy78 · Star Player Joined: 21 Jan 2013 Posts: 1415

I can't see anyone even half the size of Shaq on the current roster. And the only player in the league challenging Free Throw Wade is Harden.

But if you want to compare them winning a championship I'm all with you. Just don't fire Luke on the way.

slavavov · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:22 pm Post subject:

I don't see any real comparison to that Heat team.

Instead, I think Magic is trying to recreate his own Laker teams from the mid 80s. He and Pelinka constantly talk about how we will play fast, and now we have the depth to constantly have guys on the floor who are between 6-5 and 6-9 and can run, score and (hopefully) play D.
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slavavov

I've seen threads comparing our current roster to the 2004 Pistons, 2005 Heat or even the late 80s Pistons. I see no comparison to any of those teams.

The closest model I see are Magic's own Laker teams from the mid 80s. Except for Rondo, most of our rotation guys are between 6-5 and 6-9 and can run, score and create off a dribble at least a little bit, just like those showtime teams. I also feel like the emphasis will be on defense, especially later in the season when these guys have figured out how to play with each other on offense.

Other than Ingram and/or Kuzma becoming Lebron's sidekick or co-star, I think defense will be the X-factor for this team. Magic has said he wants us to play even faster than we did last year. As they say, you can't run if you don't have the ball. I wonder if we'll be a good enough defensive rebounding team for our transition game to reach its full potential. I also hope we see some pressure D at times, where we trap guys and play full court D like how Magic's showtime teams did when they really wanted to speed the game up.

To do all that, you always need fresh guys in the game who can run and are skilled at both ends. The Warriors don't have a bad bench, but their bench isn't exactly great either. We may have the makings of a bench that can extend leads and put the pressure on the Warriors. This can also allow Lebron to only play 33-35 minutes a game.
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GTL · Star Player Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 9839

I agree that the emphasis will be on defense, but the comparison to the bad boy pistons is in relation to the defense being more gritty than what you see in modern nba, without the frustration that may lead to psyching ourselves out of games. Our bench can also be a defensive force with the second stringers keeping the pressure on the opposition. I also think that’s where the offense and play making comes into effect. Yes, we can be gritty defensively, but we can also score the basket and pass better than anybody else. We have elite playmakers, with the best of the best in LBJ. He also collapses opposing defenses and opens up the floor for everybody else.

So while defensively, we will put the pressure on guys, offensively, we can score 100 points at the same time.

In my opinion, it’s a recipe for success, regardless of what the media says about the alleged “character flaws” of our guys.
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slavavov · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 11:09 pm Post subject:

GTL · Star Player Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 9839

GTL · Star Player Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 9839

Nobody is going to attempt to push around Kuzma, Lonzo, Hart or BI.

And I’ve said this multiple times but, we’re the team no other western conference team (sans the GS All Stars) wants to play in the post season.
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venturalakersfan · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:09 am Post subject:

The blueprint for this team is to hope we score again next offseason.
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Wilkes52 · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 6:26 am Post subject:

It's remarkable that the Showtime team comparison gets hauled out. Sheesh.

This squad is nothing like those guys at all. How easy it is to forget (it seems) that before Magic Johnson was drafted to the club, the Lakers had two all-NBA players on board (Wilkes, Abdul-Jabbar) who each already owned key roles on past college and NBA championship teams. Each has been RoY. The Lakers were making regular trips into the playoffs before Magic arrived. Kareem was a scoring god in this league, and Wilkes was in his prime physically. We have no one accomplished like that at all here today, except LeBron (who will be age 34 before New Years.)

Adding LeBron to this crew isn't like adding Magic to the '79-'80 team, tempting as it may be to imagine that it is.
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ingle · Starting Rotation Joined: 17 Mar 2017 Posts: 960

I wouldn't read more into it than what's necessary, we aren't gonna beat GSW this year and that's that. Personally I think the FO knows this year is a write-off from the perspective of contending for a championship, and deliberately filled the roster up with easy scapegoats on 1 year contracts to serve as distractions for the media.

We all know that with any Lebron team comes a media circus and witchhunt for the ultimate scapegoat, we also know we have a very talented young core that needs 1-2 more years of development before they're able to threaten the real contenders in the playoffs.

Hence while Javale, Rondo, Beasley and Lance aren't bad players, I think they are just the decoys for the media this year so that our young core can keep developing without attracting the media backlash that comes with being Lebron's teammate.