I love Conley.... But I don't know if you really need a pass-first PG. Seems like we already have a few combo guards that like to have the ball that can both score and distribute. I imagine Russel, Clarkson (and Lou Williams if he's around next year) are going to absorb most of the ball handling duties. Having another guy take the ball out of their hands doesn't really seem like a great fit.
yeah, thats pretty much admitting the first rebuild process was a failure and scratching over and doing it again.
Conley's not really a pass 1st PG, Memphis ran a lot of their offense through Marc Gasol. Conley can play off the ball and score/shoot at a high clip when asked, he's just a good all around player that would fit well next to DLo/Clarkson and their strengths. And he can D up, especially against quick PGs, which Russell has trouble doing at this stage and of course we've seen Clarkson's lack of D as well. A good all around, experienced player is a great fit right now, especially one that's played for a tough Memphis team that's had GSW on the ropes before. I just hope they can appeal to him, might have to think about overpaying, but I want Horford and Batum more.
Gonna be interesting because right now it seems no one can find Ben Simmons and he's made it known in the past to many that he wants LAL and his agent's led him to believe that he can get him to LAL. I could care less about how he gets here...except if it's a trade for one of DLo/Randle. Philly would probably love to draft him and then trade him and one of their bum big men to LAL for Randle or DLo and the #2 pick, fuck that. But if he can successfully force his way to LAL without a trade, excellent. Jeanie said it a couple years ago..there's a young star out there somewhere that wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. Easily has the most superstar potential between he and Ingram, hope it happens, he's going to change the game at the 5 spot even moreso than Green with GSW. But if that doesn't happen...Horford.
Not on the Horford train buddy lots of heart.. but too many stops not enough height not enough speed not enough IQ
Position's not about height anymore, see; 6'5" Draymond Green Plenty of IQ, overcomes a lot because of it, namely dumbass ATL teammates he's played with for years like Josh Smith, etc. Most 5s aren't fast, he keeps up. All-star, we should be so lucky IMO
Mike can do everything above average. Whatever role he needs to play he can play. Extremely coachable and team first. Does not need to ball to be effective offensively. Can spot up. Can get assists of of swing passes when Dlo is ballhandling making Dlo look good. Between those 4 guards on the team our backcours gonna be racking up hockey assists left and right.
Horford is high heart high motor and high iq. Stops... what u mean? My wish is the Lakers to add Whiteside Horford and Conley. But whiteside may be hard to get. Horford and Conley could become veterans off the bench playing 30 min on a 7 or 8 man big game rotation. Dlo Clarkson Ingram Randle and Whiteside or some other young shot blocker like Festus starting. With the teams main scrubs being Larry Nance and Lou williams. Not too shabby. If we don't focus on the superstars like Durant or Simmons we could strikeep fast and hard by adding horford Conley festus and even harrison barnes. That's almost too much team.
Dave MillerVerified account @coachdavemiller Lakers need: 1. Rim protector 2. Perimeter defender 3. Shooters Horford(1. and 3.)/Batum(2. and 3.)/Conley (2. and .3), all three of them 2-way players in their prime. Would probably have to max Horford out @ 26MM, fine, the name of the game in this new cap era. Conley and Batum would maybe get a combined 40MM to start out, give or take few mill, can trade Lou Williams to open up another 7MM to reach that number. Hand the 6th man role to Clarkson, waive/stretch Nick Young and gettem outta here. Conley/DLo/Batum/Randle/Horford/Clarkson/Ingram/LNJ, a pretty talented 8 man rotation before including the 32nd overall pick that they also hold and possibly Anthony Brown. Plenty of minutes available off the bench for Ingram early on, would eventually overtake Batum @ SF at some point. Batum, with his length and mobility, excellent guy for Ingram to sharpen his tools against in practice, added value. Or Jason McIntyreVerified account @jasonrmcintyre now3 hours ago Kobe told the Nets he'd play in Italy if they drafted him. Will Ben Simmons pull a stunt like that with the 76ers? If Simmons' agent can somehow pull it^ off, Conley/DLo/Batum/Randle/Simmons/Clarkson/Courtney Lee/LNJ/Ezeli Again, like all teams do (Lol), get rid of Lou and open up another 7MM for the upgrade.
My only issue with Conley is the GP category. 73 games played, 70 games played, 56 games played, those are the last 3 years. Trending the wrong way. But other than that he's golden, excellent pro, currently up for the NBA's community assist award, would take a shot with him 100 times out of 100. Horford very much the same, excellent pro.
We are deep at PG to weather his absence. May play less minutes and keep himself healthier withe less demanding role since we have lots of ballhandlers and many scorers.
I don't really see DLo or Clarkson as PGs, also don't think LAL sees them that way which is why they would've been fine with #3 and taking Kris Dunn who they love, but I suppose DLo/Clarkson could fill in for a spell. Still, you dump say 20MM+ per on Conley, you want him out there, availability the best ability. But again, I'd take a chance on Conley 100 times out of 100. Taking the ball out of DLo's hands some would concern a lot of people, but here's the thing...if you don't you run the risk of DLo becoming Harden and we don't want that. We want DLo to be as good as Harden, but not Harden. Lol DLo must continue to learn how to be effective off the ball, continue to post, cut, find openings and rhythm as a spot up guy coming off screens, must be an all around offensive threat. Gotta be balanced, don't want DLo in a position where he has to control the ball so much, hoping Conley could stay healthy and help with that.
"Jason McIntyreVerified account @jasonrmcintyre now3 hours ago Kobe told the Nets he'd play in Italy if they drafted him. Will Ben Simmons pull a stunt like that with the 76ers? If Simmons' agent can somehow pull it^ off, Conley/DLo/Batum/Randle/Simmons/Clarkson/Courtney Lee/LNJ/Ezeli Again, like all teams do (Lol), get rid of Lou and open up another 7MM for the upgrade.[/QUOTE] #1 pick money and still multi millions in endorsements. Or go to Italy and maybe a few italian suit deals? Simmons has no say. Sixers pick him and he's there playing with his riches. They know that.
That'd be Philly trying to convince themselves, no doubt about that. But like Kobe, Simmons is very familiar with what's happening outside of the US. Remember, Simmons is from Australia, a god there. #1 pick money is nice, but #2 pick money is too and if I'm not mistaken Simmons would get more money out of his shoe deal as a Laker in LA vs. as a Sixer in Philly. Philly doesn't really want to play the " advantage game " when LAL is on the other side of the table, that's what they really know. Everybody should and would want LAL over Philly and for tons of good reasons, the backlash over Philly's approach over the last 5 years has been epic - Simmons not showing would be the cherry on top, they can't afford to draft that kid and for him not to show, must get something out the pick whether it's a trade, etc. And he's gotta want to be there and embrace it, it's Philly, fans and media will kill'em if he doesn't.
Kobe wanted to be a laker because of history and tradition. Rings. Simmons wants to be a laker because of endorsement money and fame. Dude reeks of the worst aspects of a guy like Carmelo Blake Griffin Lamar or Michael Beasley. Sucks on defense because he doesn't care to play hard. Can't shoot because he doesn't work on his skills relying on his athleticism. Me first attitude but shrinks in important moments. Stat padder and highlight whore. Teammates dislike him in Australia and LSU sucked because of him. He is a non winner. I have no doubt there is a Kardashian type waiting for him when he arives in LA. Ingram is the complete opposite.
Only reason I don't want Horford is because he is too old for what our roster is becoming. Need Whiteside more
Horford's the same age that Aldridge was when everybody wanted him last year, yet to turn 30. Personally, I'm less worried about age at that position in general. I like Whiteside and would accept him for sure, but yeah he's gonna be hard to pry from Miami and LAL cut him in the past, so I could see him shunning LAL for MIA/Riley. But outside of age, Horford is the absolute best fit next to Randle anyway. Solid defensively ( better pick and roll defender than Whiteside) and versatile enough offensively to create plenty of space for Randle + there's no Hack-a-Shaq going on with Horford = bang for your buck being that he'll never be forced to the bench because of an inability to make FTs
I'm sure he also wants to be a Laker because he doesn't want to be a Sixer, and because DLo is a Laker. But it's hard to know every reason for why he wants to be a Laker. All in all, he's a kid, so whatever it is you take it and take your chances molding him thereafter. As far as what he did with LSU, meh. Dumbass rule anyway, kids should be able to make the jump from high school to the league if they're ready. Nerlens Noel played hard at UK...and fucked his knee up doing it, fell to 6th overall in the draft...played hard tho. Lol IDK how you can say Simmons is a non-winner when he and DLo won together @ Montverde..in fact, he won 3 straight National titles.
High school titles? On a super stacked team. During big games he played without heart. Never plays defense just swats down for cheap steals and blocks that will be called fouls in the nba. Knuckle head weak willed primadonna famewhore. He hired his own coach at LSU and had his family on the staff to cater to him. LSU had a lot of good recruits but horrible team leader in Simmons. Melo is way better of a competitor or but he never wins because he too has some of that weakness. Elite players with their kind of talent can't lead teams to championships if they have that type of makeup. And he can't shoot. Needs the ball in his hands. And most likely will need to play PF. The PF we already have is like that too. I like ours better. We need a rim protecting center and a good shooting SF who can do a lot of things well. That's ingram. Or trade the pick and Clarkson for Paul George.
