Rumor: Lakers Secret Weapon Next Season

I am totally confused. As a coach?

A joke!

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this the Teagle from this Forum?

That would be funny. Haven't seen him around in years tho.

Anything funny regarding the Lakers is welcome. The spiraling is starting to whistle.

2022 will be 'All Hail LeBron' with a single offensive set. Everyone clear-out to opposite corners and LeBron takes entire opposting team one on one.

2023 will be Everyone clear-out to opposite corners, and LeBron will set picks for Bronny who will take the entire opposing team one on one.

2024 will be the year Pelinka admits that he fired Frank Vogel rather than himself just before he falls on his sword.

2025 Magic and his narrow eyed Manhattan crew will purchase the franchise for pennies on the dollar and his undermining of the Lakers will be complete.

So catch you in 2026 when the Lakers start a legit rebuild.

Do you all know that Luol Deng was the 5th highest paid player on the roster this season...

Me, I say trade LeBron back to Cleveland now, so a rebuild around AD and Russ can start immediately.

LeBron had an amazing year offensively, but an 'it's all about him' season or two will utterly ruin the next few seasons.

Horton-Tucker disappears when LeBron is on the floor or when he's marginalized for any reason, With him out he scores 40! No mystery at all. He's a star waiting for the right situation. He will therefore be traded!

Think about who the Lakers gavce up over the past 4 seasons. Championship caliber team grown from the draft. All they had to do was be patient...

Deng was our 5th highest salary? Also amusing lol. At least it's gone now. Tho $5mill doesn't buy a lot of good players these days. But that would pay for Howard and Cousins. Who should be our front court. Since we can't afford anyone else. Unless a trade involving Capella is made. So you think we should keep AD? I'm not in favor. But I am curious how Russ would fare with the young runners we had on the floor last 3 games. In fact I'm not sure why Frank didn't put him in to try that out. It was more his type of game. He might have thrived. Pity we'll never know. I am all in favor of trading LBJ however, before he drives thi team into the ground. If they offer him a 2 year extension it will hamstring the team again financially. How much can he get? You know whatever it is he'll want every penny of it. Looks like $97 mill for 2 years. $50mill his last season at age 40! And we all cried about Kobe making $25mill his last season. Yikes. https://sportsnaut.com/lebron-james-could-make-50-mil-in-2024/ We absolutely CANNOT pay that man. Either he rides out his last season with no extension, which he won't tolerate most likely (meaning he walks for nothing next offseason btw. Not a good option). Or maybe he will since it means free agency and he can follow his kid. Or we trade his assiness. If the Lakers give him that kind of money, I will stop watching this team. So now that I know that, I am somewhat optimistic they will trade him. And CLE would be fine with me. What would that trade look like? "According to Pincus, a package centered around Collin Sexton (PG), Lauri Markkanen (C), and one or two first-round picks might....

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Never been a great fan of AD. Would much rather have Brandon Ingram back. ADs defense is over rated as well.

To lose both AD and Russ though would be the ridiculous scenario I wrote above. Kobe's last season 2.0.

So I figure between the two of them and Russ's bad experience here that he will opt in with the condition that he be traded, and again, can't lost them both.

Backcourt, no idea? LeBron's domination tends to nullify LA point guards so it's really #2s we're talking about and backups.

Jeannie has no clue so she relies on Magic who is playing management like a fiddle. A rebuild has to include the end of the Buss influence given the incompetence of the kids.

That though is asking them to admit their incompetence which took how many years with what's his name Buss? This will not happen until the franchise is sold which Magic is hell bent on achieving.

In the meantime, agents and players have more pull than the front office so that too must change for the Lakers to be properly balanced and with an upward trajectory again.

The quick solution is to trade them all and choose from the haul that comes back. What if all three were sent packing?

LeBron to Cleveland - Must grab either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, Sexton is like DeAaron Fox, and Dean Wade who is a sleeper (Kevin Love 2.0) plus at least one first round pick.

• Lakers don't need Sexton (would have preferred Kevin Porter) but either of the bigs and picks makes it worth the backlog at PG.

Russ to Orlando (who are terrible) - Franz Wagner and likely Markelle Fultz and a bag of picks. Perhaps Jalen Suggs instead given that Russ would displace him as the starter.

• Franz is a solid 3 and Markelle Fultz is waiting to happen. Needs the right situation and coach.

AD to Golden State (like the KD trade - always seeking a reliable big man) - WIggins, Kuminga and Jordan Poole and some cash... and AD would fit well there given his guardlike tendencies.

• Kuminga is a super athlete with a very good 3 point shot, so he will become an exceptional stretch 4.

Try to get Julius Randle back

• I don't like Wiggins but who else would they include as a slary filler?

• Jordan Poole is like Jordan Clarkson with a better formal skillset so he's buckets and would merge well with Malik Monk I figure.

I figure nearly every team would inquire about AD so there's many possibilities including 3 way and 4 way trades.

I'm sure we'd all take JP, Kuminga and Wiggins for AD. That would be highway robbery.

Russ for Wagner, Fultz and picks, ok (but would Fultz whither in LA?)

LBJ to CLE.

Like them all. Let's do it!

Over the weekend talk emerged that the Lakers prefer Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre rather than gimpy Gordon Hayward.

Given that 28 year old Rozier would become 3rd string (Isaiah Thomas 4th string) with the arrival of Westbrook, seems like a win win to me.

Probably not good news for Kendrick Nunn, but you can't lose what you never had I suppose.

"Make it so," said Jean Luc.

Re Fultz, his issue is clearly emotional/psychological and I recall LeBron giving him a 'dayum he's good' last time the Lakers faced him.

He's waiting to happen and was not the number one pick for no reason. He was selected before Jason Tatum!

I think it's an epic case of stage fright so maybe LA is not the best place for him, but... I'd rather have Fultz than Westbrook right now as a better fit. Given the Charlotte scenario, this is likely a non starter.

I gotta say it though, given the salary dump given the upcoming huge payouts to Ball, Washington and Bridges, how on Earth can Westbrook and Ball coexist?

Westbrook will be $47m 2nd stringer! Their problem if it goes down.

So all I see every darn day is who are the Lakers going to trade? Is it Westbrook, LeBron or AD. All are making headlines. Saw one of AD for Lillard on a three or four team being involved on the trade. Then there was LeBron to the Cavaliers for Sexton and the other was Westbrook for just about anybody that is willing to take his contract.

Well one thing I think we can rest assured, Dame isn't coming to the Lakers. Why would he? Lebron will never give up the rock, "from my cold dead hands". And a true PG who can shoot lights out isn't going to be happy here. In a way that's why Rondo was the perfect PG, other than being too old. And Ball would be perfect probably, that's why Magic wanted him. Pass first.

Well Magic really screwed up when he insisted on Ball when we could have had Tatum. Tatum is probably top three small forward in the NBA. That guy can play power forward, small forward and guard. Instead Magic was the voice that convinced the Lakers to get Ball. I guess he liked Ball because he reminded him of himself when Ball was playing at UCLA.

And, to be fair, it wasn't the worst choice the Lakers ever made. Nobody knew Tatum would emerge as a star. And everyone thought Ball would. I didn't like the Ball selection at the time coz of his dad. Who's now appearing in LaMelo's tv ads. Ughhh. ANyways, we all knew why Magic liked him, and we needed a proper PG, so it seemed ok at the time. Just goes to show the Lottery is a crap shoot. We could have chosen D'Aaron Fox also, or Fultz.

The only secret weapon that will effectively work for the Lakers is to GET RID OF LBJ, AD, Westbrook plus all those Oldies which are not even qualified in the Harlem Globetrotters team.

lol

Ain't no secret WEAPON.

You are giving them way too much credit affiliating them with the Globetrotters. They couldn't even make the cut for the Washington Generals.

Here is a new one that will blow your minds.....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/lakers-rumors-former-la-head-coach-linked-to-coaching-vacancy/ar-AAWobgo?ocid=uxbndlbing

Sure wish the Lakers had kept Ingram. He was awesome last night against the Sun.

They couldn't have kept him. The Pels weren't doing a deal without him being included. They also wanted Kuz at the time as well. At end of the day we shouldn't have traded none of those guys. What they should've done was let Davis be traded to another team for 1yr and then we signed him in free agency. Instead we caved to the pressure of LBJ and Klutch.

My thoughts exactly... The Lakers have a championship caliber team although the players are now spread all across the NBA due to impatience and Magic's influence. He represents a NY Group who want desperately to own the Lakers. Mark my words that the truth of this will emerge once Jeannie and the boys sell out.