LA STRUCK GOLD with Marcus Smart?! 🔥 Lakers Insider Mike Trudell Explains Why!

LA STRUCK GOLD with Marcus Smart?! 🔥 Lakers Insider Mike Trudell Explains Why!

Um, so I want to hit you with some Laker stuff and just see if you agree with me. I’m ready. All right. First one, the Marcus Smart signing. I know he hasn’t really done much over the past two years when he was with Washington and Memphis. Three years ago, he was the defensive player of the year in Boston. I love this signing, Mike, because of the contract. two years, 11 million. And I know this sounds ridiculous if you’re listening and you’re driving trucks, but 11 million over a two-year period in the NBA is peanuts. It’s not a lot of money. So, they’re taking a flyer on a former defensive player of the year that is a point of attack defender in a Western Conference that is loaded with elite scoring guards. Whether it be Steph Curry, Devin Booker, De’Aran Fox, John Morant, you know, I Anthony Edwards, Jamal Murray, I could go. Almost every team has an elite scoring guard. This gives JJ Reic another body, maybe even a body to start on those guys that can use his fouls. I like the signing a lot. Am I overly optimistic about the Marcus Smart signing? No, I don’t think so. I I would group it into the DeAndre Aton signing as well and think about what were the two biggest needs for the Lakers last season. Center. Obviously, center was the biggest one, and they were able to get Aiden, who was considerably more talented than anybody that you could have gotten for that price point. And you didn’t have to give anything up to get him, right? No picks went out because of the buyout that he reached with Portland. So, and no uh no players, no, you didn’t have to shed any salary. You’re able to bring him in a player who’s worth a lot more than the money that they that they did. Roll that same thing back for Marcus Smart. Now, the the reason that you’re able to do that, of course, is because the question marks you just hinted at it, John, with the games that he’s missed. So, in the 23 24 season, let’s see, overall, let’s see, he played 61 games in Boston and then the next year played 20 games in Memphis. Uh, and let’s see, the year after that, he was banged up. I think Washington, he played 15 games in Washington after only 19 in Memphis. So, he’s basically been dealing with these injuries now for the better part of the two, right? Don’t forget, Mike, and you you and I have been around this for a long time, that in the case of Washington and Memphis, those were bad teams, at least then they’re both improving. Well, Memphis wasn’t. Memphis, remember, they gave up a lot to get him and then he just got hurt. So, like injuries, it was in Memphis. Washington was a bad team for sure. So, they weren’t at the end of the year, even if he could play, they didn’t necessarily want him to play because they were trying to get a better lottery pick. And I So, I asked a couple people and I I went back, I watched a couple clips. I basically my question to some of the people in Washington was was sort of like all right what once you felt like he was relatively healthy what did he look like how close did he look to the player that we remember from Boston and there like it’s a little bit closer than you think so there’s some optimism there he is he’s not he’s still young remember he was Julius Randle draft class right right he went right before Randall to Boston so yes he has been I think he went six to Boston and Randle went seven to the Lakers so like he’s not he’s still in very or I think he’s either 30 or 31 and he like the type of player that he is as you referred to is exactly what the Lakers would want. Somebody that you can play next to Luca or next to Austin or even with both of them since he can defend up like Smart is a strong guy like he can defend, he can switch, he can hang in there on bigs. The question to me is just is how much can he go out and defend the kind of the smaller point guards as well like all those guys I listed. Yeah. Dear Fox, Anthony Edwards, those dudes. And so what what is his range, right? Is he is he one to is he 1 to4? Is he 2 to four? Is he three to four? And then some centers he’ll bang with. Like we need to kind of see that. And I think that the one thing that you do hear consistently about him though, he is a winner. He is a competitor. He’s a guy that’s not scared to speak his mind in the locker room. He has leadership qualities like that. So he’s going to give you his best. We just have to see what level of health that he has, what level of fitness that he has. And I think that like DeAndre Aton, they want to show that, too. Well, let’s be honest options. I was just going to say, let’s be honest about about both Smart and Eightton. They’re playing for their financial futures, both of them. Yeah. Um they both have player options. So, it is a Does have a player option? I think so. Yeah. Um same deal. Yeah. Yeah. that. And so if they have a big year, like let’s say the Lakers get hot, go on a run, maybe make it back to the finals, have a big year, and they’re a big part of it, they can basically re-establish their market value and make a ton of money. Now, if they don’t have a big year or if they don’t play, they’re next contract’s going to be, you know, some type of a minimum like the full mid-level or the mini midle, you know, it’ll be under five grand a or five million a year, which so they have a lot of incentive to play Wild. Okay, let me hit a couple other things here. Shake Milton, Jordan Goodwin, Trey Gson, all out for now to make room for Eightton and Smart. Any of that surprise you? And any chance in your opinion that any of those three could come back around? Probably not shake. Well, I think I think the player that really that showed he had some value last year and we saw this because JJ Reic rewarded him with court time and he deserved it was Goodwin. And I so I wouldn’t be surprised if some other team claimed good win cuz like he’s a good player and he’s on a minimum contract which is different um from for example Eightton or Smart. Another team could have claimed them but then they would have had to pay them the full boat. Same thing with Bradley Beal. You could have claimed him if you had $50 million in cap space. Nobody was able to do so but you know teams would be able to do it on a minimum guy. So I I think that that one probably hurt a little bit but you just wind it back into the overall business of the offseason. And I think that for the Lakers to get Aiden plus Mark plus Jake Larabia who I think is a little bit better than people realize and he’s young like Larabia can play. I I think that Laker fans will end up liking him. Like to do that and to not have to give up either a connect a first round pick a future that is really really good business. Now does it make the Lakers a championship contender? I mean that’s a different conversation. One that I think the other thing people seem to be forgetting about is they have Luca Donuch on the roster. So that immediately puts appears to be getting into championship shape is the look phrase that JJ use and we’ll see how we we’ll get a chance to watch him in with the Slovenian national team which will which will be great but like I so my my ceiling for the Lakers I think is higher than some people’s who are forgetting that this same player who was 26 led the Mavs to the finals a year prior and led them to the conference finals with a different team a couple of years before that. Uh, so that’s that’s that’s another discussion. But for the short term, your actual question was just about which one of those guys I think was not necessarily a surprise. They had to do it for the for money purposes, I believe, to get Smart in there. But Goodwin’s the one that you’re like, “Ah, I I I wish they could find a way to get him back.” Are they done shaping the roster? They are right under the first apron. I think the first apron’s at 195 195 million. I think they’re at 194.9 um or or right in that neighborhood. You think they’re done? Um, no. I mean maybe for maybe for the short term like for the summer in terms of ahead of training camp but I think what what Rob Pelinko one of the things I think they’ve done really well let’s see what the team is like in the fall and then if the opportunity arises to add to that team to make it better for the short term for the long term you do have the trade deadline and you have a lot of players in that kind of between 10 and 20 million range that and now you again you didn’t give up the assets that you had whether it’s a connect whether it’s the future first you have those that you could put into a deal if you feel like, you know what, a little better than people thought we are. We’re are we are we Oklahoma City in the regular season? Not necessarily. But we’re right there. We’re right behind him. Let’s make one move. Maybe we can win the title this year. Yeah, that you what you just said reminded me of 2008, which was one of your first years with us. Um the Lakers that that’s the offseason where Kobe demanded a trade. Dr. Bus saved it. Um they started the season and Kobe was in a terrible mood and they were better than people thought. And then they traded for POW and then everything took off. Yeah.

Mike Trudell and John Ireland break down the Lakers signing Marcus Smart, what his role will be and what it means for the teams potential future signings.

What do you think of the Marcus Smart signing?

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00:00 – Marcus Smart Breakdown
02:40 – Back to Boston Form
04:15 – Smart & Ayton = Playing for Financial Future