Lakers offseason 2023

[tamaraw08]

I did watch him and he was awesome most of the time. I also saw the Lakers nearly run AD into the ground due to lack of depth and spacing at the 4/5 spot and i saw Vando being played off the court in the playoffs. As good as he is defensively he gives up just about as much on the other side of the court.

AD was run into the ground and Vando was off the court for the same reason... The coach is an idiot.

For some reason he fell in love with small ball lineups and Lonnie Walker...

The 'Vando's offense is bad' narrative is the excuse fans have come up with for the inexplicable decision not to play him. It only works if there was someone on the court whose offense is so good, it negates the lack of defense... There wasn't... We gave Vando's minutes to LW4 who's offense was even worse...

And we didn't lose to Denver from lack of offense, we lost because we forgot how to play the good defense that got us past GSW...

Which leads me to another comparison... Dray Green's offense is pretty terrible... But they wouldn't have won **** without him on the court.

Vanderbilt is not going to go out and sink 10 3pters on any given night... But he might prevent 10 of them on D... And that's more important in the playoffs in the west.

You don't trade that for a C who's never going to see the floor... Especially one you can sign outright...
A coach who regularly plays 3 guard lineups next to AD, is not going to be running many AD at the 4 lineups... And even if he did, Jaxson Hayes is a better player than Wood, even though he's got his off court issues...

Well if Handy is to be believed and Vando has grown “a couple of inches”? That puts him at about 6’9 and if that’s the case why isn’t he starting at center?

Probably because he’s too thin to handle Nurkic, Jokic, Adams, Valanciunas, Gobert, Ayton , Plumlee, Townes, Sabonis, Kessler and too short to guard Wemby and Holmgren and that’s just the West.

[Beethoven]

Rudy Gay on the market Rob get on it ....this is a no-brainer.

[DanishLakerFan]

I'm guessing you didn't watch much Vando on the Lakers last season... He was arguably our best man defender 1-5 most nights, other than the nights AD was super locked in... He's not just another 3 on this team he's our modern day 'enforcer'... Wood would be 3rd string big... He'd barely sniff the court. I don't think you trade your Key defender for a 3rd string 'mayplay' big...

I did watch him and he was awesome most of the time. I also saw the Lakers nearly run AD into the ground due to lack of depth and spacing at the 4/5 spot and i saw Vando being played off the court in the playoffs. As good as he is defensively he gives up just about as much on the other side of the court.

AD was run into the ground and Vando was off the court for the same reason... The coach is an idiot.

For some reason he fell in love with small ball lineups and Lonnie Walker...

The 'Vando's offense is bad' narrative is the excuse fans have come up with for the inexplicable decision not to play him. It only works if there was someone on the court whose offense is so good, it negates the lack of defense... There wasn't... We gave Vando's minutes to LW4 who's offense was even worse...

And we didn't lose to Denver from lack of offense, we lost because we forgot how to play the good defense that got us past GSW...

Which leads me to another comparison... Dray Green's offense is pretty terrible... But they wouldn't have won **** without him on the court.

Vanderbilt is not going to go out and sink 10 3pters on any given night... But he might prevent 10 of them on D... And that's more important in the playoffs in the west.

You don't trade that for a C who's never going to see the floor... Especially one you can sign outright...
A coach who regularly plays 3 guard lineups next to AD, is not going to be running many AD at the 4 lineups... And even if he did, Jaxson Hayes is a better player than Wood, even though he's got his off court issues...

I disagree. Wood has far higher ceiling than VAndo, who was unplayable against Denver.

[zuju]

I did watch him and he was awesome most of the time. I also saw the Lakers nearly run AD into the ground due to lack of depth and spacing at the 4/5 spot and i saw Vando being played off the court in the playoffs. As good as he is defensively he gives up just about as much on the other side of the court.

AD was run into the ground and Vando was off the court for the same reason... The coach is an idiot.

For some reason he fell in love with small ball lineups and Lonnie Walker...

The 'Vando's offense is bad' narrative is the excuse fans have come up with for the inexplicable decision not to play him. It only works if there was someone on the court whose offense is so good, it negates the lack of defense... There wasn't... We gave Vando's minutes to LW4 who's offense was even worse...

And we didn't lose to Denver from lack of offense, we lost because we forgot how to play the good defense that got us past GSW...

Which leads me to another comparison... Dray Green's offense is pretty terrible... But they wouldn't have won **** without him on the court.

Vanderbilt is not going to go out and sink 10 3pters on any given night... But he might prevent 10 of them on D... And that's more important in the playoffs in the west.

You don't trade that for a C who's never going to see the floor... Especially one you can sign outright...
A coach who regularly plays 3 guard lineups next to AD, is not going to be running many AD at the 4 lineups... And even if he did, Jaxson Hayes is a better player than Wood, even though he's got his off court issues...

I disagree. Wood has far higher ceiling than VAndo, who was unplayable against Denver.

In your opinion, is Dlo playable in the Denver series ?

I mean you are just talking about trading away an elite defender for a good offensive player. Age-wise, Wood has likely reached his own ceiling instead of Vando. Vando has improved his shooting last season from the season before. It is more likely he can improve his shooting or other offensive skill than Wood improve in defense.

Elite defender is always more difficult to obtain than good offensive player. It is easier to hide a player on the offensive end than hide a player on the defensive end. Ham was dumb in utilizing Vando in the Denver series, exposing his weakness. No one is limiting you to put every of your player on the 3 pt line if he is not handling the ball.

You may fancy Wood contributing offensively with his skillset. Don't forget about his shortcoming on the other end. It's like Bertan as an elite 3 point shooter got a huge contract and then people finally realized he was unplayable due to lack of defense.

Don't take the Denver series solely for your decision. As good as Loonie Walker was on the offensive end before, he was not effective against Denver too. The team strategy was wrong from the beginning and Denver was red hot that series.

[stan francisco]

I want to tell every basketball fan in the world to study the defense of their team instead of starring at what the opposing PG does with the ball. Put on that peripheral vision for the ball, study defensive player placement and reaction time of your own players instead.

Without that defense, we lose 4-0. Vando injured and D Lo useless and Ham blind did us in.

[DanishLakerFan]

AD was run into the ground and Vando was off the court for the same reason... The coach is an idiot.

For some reason he fell in love with small ball lineups and Lonnie Walker...

The 'Vando's offense is bad' narrative is the excuse fans have come up with for the inexplicable decision not to play him. It only works if there was someone on the court whose offense is so good, it negates the lack of defense... There wasn't... We gave Vando's minutes to LW4 who's offense was even worse...

And we didn't lose to Denver from lack of offense, we lost because we forgot how to play the good defense that got us past GSW...

Which leads me to another comparison... Dray Green's offense is pretty terrible... But they wouldn't have won **** without him on the court.

Vanderbilt is not going to go out and sink 10 3pters on any given night... But he might prevent 10 of them on D... And that's more important in the playoffs in the west.

You don't trade that for a C who's never going to see the floor... Especially one you can sign outright...
A coach who regularly plays 3 guard lineups next to AD, is not going to be running many AD at the 4 lineups... And even if he did, Jaxson Hayes is a better player than Wood, even though he's got his off court issues...

I disagree. Wood has far higher ceiling than VAndo, who was unplayable against Denver.

In your opinion, is Dlo playable in the Denver series ?

I mean you are just talking about trading away an elite defender for a good offensive player. Age-wise, Wood has likely reached his own ceiling instead of Vando. Vando has improved his shooting last season from the season before. It is more likely he can improve his shooting or other offensive skill than Wood improve in defense.

Elite defender is always more difficult to obtain than good offensive player. It is easier to hide a player on the offensive end than hide a player on the defensive end. Ham was dumb in utilizing Vando in the Denver series, exposing his weakness. No one is limiting you to put every of your player on the 3 pt line if he is not handling the ball.

You may fancy Wood contributing offensively with his skillset. Don't forget about his shortcoming on the other end. It's like Bertan as an elite 3 point shooter got a huge contract and then people finally realized he was unplayable due to lack of defense.

Don't take the Denver series solely for your decision. As good as Loonie Walker was on the offensive end before, he was not effective against Denver too. The team strategy was wrong from the beginning and Denver was red hot that series.

I would trade VAndo if it meant getting Wood on a 2yr deal. I like his defense. I dont like his offense and i think we can survive against other teams with the other guys we have.
A quality 4/5 playing next to AD who can score and spread the floor at bit would help us much more.

D'Lo plays a position of need. If we had 3 other guys who could do his job just as well, i wouldn't mind moving him either.

[zuju]

I disagree. Wood has far higher ceiling than VAndo, who was unplayable against Denver.

In your opinion, is Dlo playable in the Denver series ?

I mean you are just talking about trading away an elite defender for a good offensive player. Age-wise, Wood has likely reached his own ceiling instead of Vando. Vando has improved his shooting last season from the season before. It is more likely he can improve his shooting or other offensive skill than Wood improve in defense.

Elite defender is always more difficult to obtain than good offensive player. It is easier to hide a player on the offensive end than hide a player on the defensive end. Ham was dumb in utilizing Vando in the Denver series, exposing his weakness. No one is limiting you to put every of your player on the 3 pt line if he is not handling the ball.

You may fancy Wood contributing offensively with his skillset. Don't forget about his shortcoming on the other end. It's like Bertan as an elite 3 point shooter got a huge contract and then people finally realized he was unplayable due to lack of defense.

Don't take the Denver series solely for your decision. As good as Loonie Walker was on the offensive end before, he was not effective against Denver too. The team strategy was wrong from the beginning and Denver was red hot that series.

I would trade VAndo if it meant getting Wood on a 2yr deal. I like his defense. I dont like his offense and i think we can survive against other teams with the other guys we have.
A quality 4/5 playing next to AD who can score and spread the floor at bit would help us much more.

D'Lo plays a position of need. If we had 3 other guys who could do his job just as well, i wouldn't mind moving him either.

Who is the other guy we have to replace Vando's defense? Yes, if someone can do as good a job as LBJ did, I may be willing to move him for the right price. Fact is, Vando is our best defender after AD. And it is not even close when you compare the other players we have for his defense output. Him joining the Lakers made a jump for the team defense immediately. Fact is, Wood's service can probably be secured with a Vet min deal which can be 1/2 year long as well. So that we can have both Vando and Wood

Well, Wood is not my first priority after all. So maybe Wood has a high value in your mind but not mine. Baseline is, I would not sacrifice Vando for Wood (esp for that 1 year longer deal?)

[hoosierdaddy34]

AD was run into the ground and Vando was off the court for the same reason... The coach is an idiot.

For some reason he fell in love with small ball lineups and Lonnie Walker...

The 'Vando's offense is bad' narrative is the excuse fans have come up with for the inexplicable decision not to play him. It only works if there was someone on the court whose offense is so good, it negates the lack of defense... There wasn't... We gave Vando's minutes to LW4 who's offense was even worse...

And we didn't lose to Denver from lack of offense, we lost because we forgot how to play the good defense that got us past GSW...

Which leads me to another comparison... Dray Green's offense is pretty terrible... But they wouldn't have won **** without him on the court.

Vanderbilt is not going to go out and sink 10 3pters on any given night... But he might prevent 10 of them on D... And that's more important in the playoffs in the west.

You don't trade that for a C who's never going to see the floor... Especially one you can sign outright...
A coach who regularly plays 3 guard lineups next to AD, is not going to be running many AD at the 4 lineups... And even if he did, Jaxson Hayes is a better player than Wood, even though he's got his off court issues...

Well if Handy is to be believed and Vando has grown “a couple of inches”? That puts him at about 6’9 and if that’s the case why isn’t he starting at center?

Probably because he’s too thin to handle Nurkic, Jokic, Adams, Valanciunas, Gobert, Ayton , Plumlee, Townes, Sabonis, Kessler and too short to guard Wemby and Holmgren and that’s just the West.

Memphis plays Jaren Jackson at center, very successfully, and he’s the same size.

There is one center in that list you worry about, Jokic that’s it. And AD did better against Jokic than anyone he played against last playoffs.

The rest are either non/scorer threats and/or can’t guard on the perimeter and you can easily attack them by forcing them to guard in space on the perimeter. And the last two weigh 78 lbs sopping wet and are rookies.

I’ve never heard a rational reason why we need flawed big men getting big minutes that really makes any sense to me.

Now Wood I could see as a scorer off the bench but I’m not trading for that guy just to pay him more money. If he wants to come as a vet minimum then that’s fine. But his defense and attitude is so bad, he needs to prove his worth and that he’s changed before I invest anything in him.

[Kilroy]

But even if Vande did grow a couple inches, wouldn't Hayes be the better option to guard Cs than him... I mean Vande was defending 2-4 effectively last season... Why take away from that over a couple inches...

And, no... I don't think Vande is untradeable... But at the same time, why on earth would you trade him for a player who's going to be signed out-right as a free agent?

[DanishLakerFan]

In your opinion, is Dlo playable in the Denver series ?

I mean you are just talking about trading away an elite defender for a good offensive player. Age-wise, Wood has likely reached his own ceiling instead of Vando. Vando has improved his shooting last season from the season before. It is more likely he can improve his shooting or other offensive skill than Wood improve in defense.

Elite defender is always more difficult to obtain than good offensive player. It is easier to hide a player on the offensive end than hide a player on the defensive end. Ham was dumb in utilizing Vando in the Denver series, exposing his weakness. No one is limiting you to put every of your player on the 3 pt line if he is not handling the ball.

You may fancy Wood contributing offensively with his skillset. Don't forget about his shortcoming on the other end. It's like Bertan as an elite 3 point shooter got a huge contract and then people finally realized he was unplayable due to lack of defense.

Don't take the Denver series solely for your decision. As good as Loonie Walker was on the offensive end before, he was not effective against Denver too. The team strategy was wrong from the beginning and Denver was red hot that series.

I would trade VAndo if it meant getting Wood on a 2yr deal. I like his defense. I dont like his offense and i think we can survive against other teams with the other guys we have.
A quality 4/5 playing next to AD who can score and spread the floor at bit would help us much more.

D'Lo plays a position of need. If we had 3 other guys who could do his job just as well, i wouldn't mind moving him either.

Who is the other guy we have to replace Vando's defense? Yes, if someone can do as good a job as LBJ did, I may be willing to move him for the right price. Fact is, Vando is our best defender after AD. And it is not even close when you compare the other players we have for his defense output. Him joining the Lakers made a jump for the team defense immediately. Fact is, Wood's service can probably be secured with a Vet min deal which can be 1/2 year long as well. So that we can have both Vando and Wood

Well, Wood is not my first priority after all. So maybe Wood has a high value in your mind but not mine. Baseline is, I would not sacrifice Vando for Wood (esp for that 1 year longer deal?)

Ideally we get Wood w/o giving up Vando, of course. I just think Wood have a very high ceiling so would like to have him for a while. And I'm not sure if Vando is staying in LA beyond his current deal and I think we can survive without him.

[Doug_12]

Vando is more important to this team than Wood will ever be. We just need a serviceable back-up C, who can substitute AD for those 30 games, when he will be out. Though Wood is ideal for that role, Vanderbilt is much more than a 30 game backup, he is probably one of our starters and a core piece to keep the team good on the defensive end.

If Wood is not reachable, I'd probably go for just Biyombo. He wouldn't solve the problems what Wood would have solved, but I wouldn't lose Vando (or Rui or Reaves or Russell or Max) for Wood. And the others are not tradable till December.

[Showtime:Part2]

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that we will acquire a big at trade deadline (hopefully for jhs). When ad sits 20 games in the first half and we lose 15 of those pelinka will finally understand this isn’t tenable. As long as we get one for post season we good. I almost would rather the trade market than work w clowns like Hayes and wood but I guess sign them now and it’s a free option till the trade deadline to see if they pan out

[Liam_Gallagher]

I think they're going to sign an undrafted big to fill that 14th roster spot. I don't see Wood signing for the vet. min. and Biyumbo is meh. Team looks decent going into the season. Personally I would start Hayes and give him that McGee role.

G - Russell [30] | Vincent [21] | JHC
G - Reaves [35] | Christie [10] | Reddish
F - James [33] | Prince [18]
F - Davis [35] | Hachimura [25] | Vanderbilt [15]
C - Hayes [18]| Castelton?

[hoosierdaddy34]

I think they're going to sign an undrafted big to fill that 14th roster spot. I don't see Wood signing for the vet. min. and Biyumbo is meh. Team looks decent going into the season. Personally I would start Hayes and give him that McGee role.

G - Russell [30] | Vincent [21] | JHC
G - Reaves [35] | Christie [10] | Reddish
F - James [33] | Prince [18]
F - Davis [35] | Hachimura [25] | Vanderbilt [15]
C - Hayes [18]| Castelton?

I don’t see how how you could pay a dude 17 million and then bench him for a vet minimum guy. The optics and the message it sends to Rui would be pretty screwed up.

[Doug_12]

For Hayes, me neither, but benching him overall is not impossible to think of. I would like to see something like this:

G - Vincent [25] | Russell [23]
G - Reaves [30] | Christie [10] | Russell [8]
F - Vanderbilt [25] | Prince [15] | Hachimura [8]
F - James [30] | Hachimura [18]
C - Davis [33] | Wood (or Biyombo) [15]

Fringe players:
guards: Hood-Schifino, Lewis, Hodge (two-way)
forwards: Reddish, Swider (two-way)
centers: Hayes, Castleton (two-way)

[Godfather13]

The feel good factor of Vando(continuity / glue guy) is better than the basketball player Vando. Vando was game planned against & played off the floor in the playoffs as well as the regular season. He is a non-versatile defender who is also a major liability on offense.

He only got minutes in the Memphis series cos they didn't change anything to counter the Lakers coverages throughout the 6 games. But Ja was getting whatever he wanted through Vando, till the Lakers started using AD in the high drop to contain Ja's drives by Game 3.
His minutes that series - 23, 21, 21 || 19, 17, 15

He had an excellent game 1 against the Warriors being the POA defender on Steph, who was mostly playing off ball. Kerr switched it up with top lock beaters and Steph as the ball handler in PnRs >> Vando's flaws(screen navigation & switches onto AD's big) were highlighted which resulted in his minutes being redued every game from there on.
His minutes that series - 25 || 19, 15, 11, 10, 3

He's is a specialist POA defender who excels at guarding POA 1-3s who aren't too fast OR know how to run PnR. He has no versatility to switch on to bigger PF/Cs on switches OR and kinda sucks at navigating screen.

That is not an elite defender in anyway! He's a situationally brilliant defender and a major liability on defense >> >> waste of a roster spot in the playoffs.


The theoretical Wood for Vando trade is a no brainer to me, if realistically available, given how well Wood fits around Bron & AD offensively, and purely from an ultra efficient 19 ppg offensive production POV, in a position, our superstar tends to miss 30-45 games a season.

Lakers Depth chart @ wing - Bron, Rui, Prince, Cam, Vando
Lakers Depth Chart @ C - AD, Hayes

Ideally, I'd get Wood for Vando, and try to sign Biyombo anyway, cos I have little faith in Hayes & AD's health. Wood's market rn is confounding to say the least, probably because of the new CBA suddenly jolting a bunch of teams that may not have hesitated throwing a full MLE size contract at him otherwise. But if we can sign him on a 10m/2yr or longer deal, there's a good chance he's also a great trade chip in our bag, if we wanna pivot out of the current roster at the deadline or next off season.

[MAMBAEMD]

But even if Vande did grow a couple inches, wouldn't Hayes be the better option to guard Cs than him... I mean Vande was defending 2-4 effectively last season... Why take away from that over a couple inches...

And, no... I don't think Vande is untradeable... But at the same time, why on earth would you trade him for a player who's going to be signed out-right as a free agent?

The idea of a sign-and-trade of Vando and Woods is completely asinine

[zuju]

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2309964


Some insight from other fan base in the general board for those who want or not want Christian Wood on the Lakers team

Again, For me, signing him on a Thomas Bryant Role ? Fine. Trade him for Vando? Nooooooooo

My first priority now is still TT and second priority is now Harry Giles as reclamation project.

[stan francisco]

No matter who the last roster spot is filled by, we had a pretty great offseason.

Kudos, Rob!

[dAdo dA dEvil]

Acquiring Wood via trade is a no, while having him as a free agent is a yes. I'm not really worried that much anymore if we can get Wood or not. I'm willing to gamble on Castleton to play spot minutes at center.