The main pieces are the same but the role players changed. I don’t know why a team would completely overhaul their team because of 4 close loses in the playoffs.
msf97
The article acknowledges it was a close sweep last year, but the counterpoint is that Nets-Celtics 22 was even closer(by 6 points)
The Nets blew up because of off the field stuff. Great team when healthy. Lost 1 playoff game when Tatum dropped 50 in the Garden. Won every other game.
As for the Lakers, what moves were there to be made? The Westbrook trade limits them to this day.
Sweaty_Mods
Elite management from the ever consistent Lakers FO.
lakers082433
Every other team in the west preety much running it back other than maybe phoenix and they about to all be watching Denver in the finals again. So it don’t even matter lol
A_MASSIVE_PERVERT
Westbrook trade fucked them over so unbelievably badly
CantaloupeCamper
Lakers have some fundamental flaws, but … there is chemistry and you can’t swing for the fences every year.
I don’t know what you do when LaBron and AD are getting older and only have X amount of gas in the tank can’t drag the team to wins every night. They’re playing 4 quarter games, and heavily invested in guys who sometimes just have 3 or 3.5 quarters in them. Can’t just have real stars on the bench behind these guys waiting to fill in … and those guys like AD and Labron… don’t play off the bench. So then wat?
Still, fundamental flaws, article not entirely wrong.
420BongsAway
Run it back again third time is the charm.
JTenjouNi
Aren’t they healthy this year? Lakers fans have said LeBron and AD were injured last year
LoWE11053211
because it was more competitive than a nomral sweep
so they may convince themselves they have a shot.
And they did not choose to play the nuggets
Based on how AD played in this series.
I honestly think they would make the Thunder series a very interesting one.
hansislegend
There wasn’t much the Lakers could do tbh. The team WAS better this year than last year but not by much and Denver didn’t get worse. No one realistically expected the Lakers to win. As fans we have to be delusional though. It’s part of the fun.
CaramelRice
This roster matches up even worse this time around because AD is the only big man the Lakers have. At least last year they signed Tristian Thompson
Checkmynewsong
To be honest, this team with half decent coaching makes this series competitive. Well coached teams don’t blow 20 point leads in the playoffs. Ham has weird lineups out there, some of which haven’t even played during the regular season. It’s malpractice what he’s done with this squad.
Hoop-Dee-Doo
The Nuggets are the best team in the world so not beating them is an unfair standard for a team that has to fight for a playoff spot. The Lakers are just trying to compete so the fact they have played the nuggets well is an accomplishment. This is not a great team and I honestly think they got about as much as you can expect out of the guys they have.
BillPaxton4eva
Did they really expect it, though? I’m sure they hoped, but “expect” seems strong.
WilliamPSplooge
What were they going to do? They have 1 tradeable first, no one is taking on Russell or Reeves at their value-to-cost. They didn’t have anything that could be done. Unless there was a buyout they were locked in. And I would never count out a team with LeBron and AD. If the Lakers were playing anyone else in the West this would be a series.
Mamba-0824
Ham gets blamed all the time, but the roster just fucking sucks.
captaincumsock69
Honestly not sure what the lakers are really doing. LeBron and Davis aren’t getting any younger or healthier. Are they just content to fade away?
scroto_gaggins
Idk why yall clown the Lakers when none of ur teams were able to beat the nuggets last year and this year outside of maybe 2-3 teams even have a shot. Lakers got unlucky having to face them in the first round.. they would’ve made any other series competitive at least.
It’s pretty clear what they need. First of all, fire Ham like everyone’s been saying for a year now. DLO gets a ton of shit but that’s because they want him to fill a role he can’t fill. Get a true PG and don’t expect him to be your 3rd best player. Reaves and Rui are the best guys to be the 3rd option but they’re too inconsistent. Neither of them stepped up these playoffs like they did last year. Last and most important thing, get an actual center. Someone physical who can match up with Jokic and let AD play the 4. That’s probably all easier said than done but the FO needs to acknowledge the problems.
Argyrus777
They thought they got the free throw hack perfected 😂
averageskills
That was a pretty good article. I was always confused by the Lakers changing all the things that worked in 2020 and this details all those mistakes well
kushjrdid911
Lebron and AD thought all the crying that they do to the refs would be enough to beat the Nuggets this year. Even with the laughably obvious preferential treatment that the Lakers receive they still probably get swept. Funny stuff.
We can look forward to Lebron crying about privilege in America while simultaneously crying about how his subpar D1 level son is not getting drafted in the first round.
petarisawesomeo
but they had conversations in the offseason
betweenthebars34
For how much the traditional media & social media & Lebron’s PR people want to endlessly debate what the public perception should be of him (ya know, we can’t just leave history to work out, like thousands of years prior) … not many legit talent dudes want to play with him. When it’s a toss up whether fucking Dinwiddie or Russell or overrated Reaves is going to be the third scorer … the plan’s gone wrong.
polywiz
The roster is actually worse
StarsCanScream
The time to blow up this roster was 3 years ago.
But what’s another year at this point.
SprayLeft3220
Because apparently AD and Bron talked and figured it out, and couldn’t wait play them again.
YesOrNah
Lakers don’t even sniff the playoffs without the historic FT differential this year.
They just aren’t good. That Reaves contract is just as awful as expected.
StubbornKindOfFellow
You don’t understand. It was a competitive sweep!
coldpizza87
All I kept hearing during the offseason was how the lakers secretly won free agency so there’s that…
Bloody_Corndog
Everyone was saying they did a good job in the off season
30 Comments
The main pieces are the same but the role players changed. I don’t know why a team would completely overhaul their team because of 4 close loses in the playoffs.
The article acknowledges it was a close sweep last year, but the counterpoint is that Nets-Celtics 22 was even closer(by 6 points)
The Nets blew up because of off the field stuff. Great team when healthy. Lost 1 playoff game when Tatum dropped 50 in the Garden. Won every other game.
As for the Lakers, what moves were there to be made? The Westbrook trade limits them to this day.
Elite management from the ever consistent Lakers FO.
Every other team in the west preety much running it back other than maybe phoenix and they about to all be watching Denver in the finals again. So it don’t even matter lol
Westbrook trade fucked them over so unbelievably badly
Lakers have some fundamental flaws, but … there is chemistry and you can’t swing for the fences every year.
I don’t know what you do when LaBron and AD are getting older and only have X amount of gas in the tank can’t drag the team to wins every night. They’re playing 4 quarter games, and heavily invested in guys who sometimes just have 3 or 3.5 quarters in them. Can’t just have real stars on the bench behind these guys waiting to fill in … and those guys like AD and Labron… don’t play off the bench. So then wat?
Still, fundamental flaws, article not entirely wrong.
Run it back again third time is the charm.
Aren’t they healthy this year? Lakers fans have said LeBron and AD were injured last year
because it was more competitive than a nomral sweep
so they may convince themselves they have a shot.
And they did not choose to play the nuggets
Based on how AD played in this series.
I honestly think they would make the Thunder series a very interesting one.
There wasn’t much the Lakers could do tbh. The team WAS better this year than last year but not by much and Denver didn’t get worse. No one realistically expected the Lakers to win. As fans we have to be delusional though. It’s part of the fun.
This roster matches up even worse this time around because AD is the only big man the Lakers have. At least last year they signed Tristian Thompson
To be honest, this team with half decent coaching makes this series competitive. Well coached teams don’t blow 20 point leads in the playoffs. Ham has weird lineups out there, some of which haven’t even played during the regular season. It’s malpractice what he’s done with this squad.
The Nuggets are the best team in the world so not beating them is an unfair standard for a team that has to fight for a playoff spot. The Lakers are just trying to compete so the fact they have played the nuggets well is an accomplishment. This is not a great team and I honestly think they got about as much as you can expect out of the guys they have.
Did they really expect it, though? I’m sure they hoped, but “expect” seems strong.
What were they going to do? They have 1 tradeable first, no one is taking on Russell or Reeves at their value-to-cost. They didn’t have anything that could be done. Unless there was a buyout they were locked in. And I would never count out a team with LeBron and AD. If the Lakers were playing anyone else in the West this would be a series.
Ham gets blamed all the time, but the roster just fucking sucks.
Honestly not sure what the lakers are really doing. LeBron and Davis aren’t getting any younger or healthier. Are they just content to fade away?
Idk why yall clown the Lakers when none of ur teams were able to beat the nuggets last year and this year outside of maybe 2-3 teams even have a shot. Lakers got unlucky having to face them in the first round.. they would’ve made any other series competitive at least.
It’s pretty clear what they need. First of all, fire Ham like everyone’s been saying for a year now. DLO gets a ton of shit but that’s because they want him to fill a role he can’t fill. Get a true PG and don’t expect him to be your 3rd best player. Reaves and Rui are the best guys to be the 3rd option but they’re too inconsistent. Neither of them stepped up these playoffs like they did last year. Last and most important thing, get an actual center. Someone physical who can match up with Jokic and let AD play the 4. That’s probably all easier said than done but the FO needs to acknowledge the problems.
They thought they got the free throw hack perfected 😂
That was a pretty good article. I was always confused by the Lakers changing all the things that worked in 2020 and this details all those mistakes well
Lebron and AD thought all the crying that they do to the refs would be enough to beat the Nuggets this year. Even with the laughably obvious preferential treatment that the Lakers receive they still probably get swept. Funny stuff.
We can look forward to Lebron crying about privilege in America while simultaneously crying about how his subpar D1 level son is not getting drafted in the first round.
but they had conversations in the offseason
For how much the traditional media & social media & Lebron’s PR people want to endlessly debate what the public perception should be of him (ya know, we can’t just leave history to work out, like thousands of years prior) … not many legit talent dudes want to play with him. When it’s a toss up whether fucking Dinwiddie or Russell or overrated Reaves is going to be the third scorer … the plan’s gone wrong.
The roster is actually worse
The time to blow up this roster was 3 years ago.
But what’s another year at this point.
Because apparently AD and Bron talked and figured it out, and couldn’t wait play them again.
Lakers don’t even sniff the playoffs without the historic FT differential this year.
They just aren’t good. That Reaves contract is just as awful as expected.
You don’t understand. It was a competitive sweep!
All I kept hearing during the offseason was how the lakers secretly won free agency so there’s that…
Everyone was saying they did a good job in the off season