TLDR (MY THOUGHTS): I think if we can get healthy, and add a TRUE 3&D AND/OR a starting caliber big to pair with AD, that can defend and crash the class well, then we should be in a good spot. I’d be willing to give Ham the season to see what we got.
As it stands we’re almost at the quarter mark of the season (time flies right?). Lakers are 11-8, 7th in the West, 3 GB of 1st. They’re also in the knockout stages of the in season tournament, after going undefeated in the Group Stage.
This team is hard to read on. Very inconsistent so far but a lot to be desired. Big issues so far involve rebounding, shooting, and perimeter defense.
We aren’t fully healthy, so granted I do think when we’re at full strength, it’ll help with those deficiencies. But even then I think this team needs 1-2 pieces to fully contend.
Darvin Ham is also hard to read on. He’s frustrating in a lot of aspects, but consider what he’s done so far. Lakers had a 47 million dollar liability that hampered the team, and when traded for spare parts, this team went 17-6 to close out the year. And made the WCF. And while we got swept, I wasn’t expecting a one legged Bron and AD to carry against the Nuggets. Especially when we had Tristan Thompson on Jokic.
The Lakers give up a shit load of second chance points and always seem to be on the wrong end of the 50/50 balls. Getting Vando back would fix those problems. Hopefully the hustle he brings on the court is contagious so everyone would be hustling too.
Darvin is fine. He’s not the best but he’s far from the worst coach. His lack of adjustments is concerning but hopefully he’s learning. We reached the WCF with him so the capability to learn and adjust is there. Besides, it’s not like we can find a better replacement.
I’m not really onboard with trading for Lavine. I’ll get crucified for this but I’m willing to take a shot with Drummond again. He has stone hands but his percentages have been slightly going up and it’s not like he’ll be a part of the offense anyway. It seems like he’s accepted the backup bruiser center role at this point of his career. He can’t be worse than Jaxson Hayes, right?
Caruso, although I love him, doesn’t really fix a lot of our problems. His defense and hustle is elite but he’s not really a volume shooter. I rather give Gabe Vincent a shot first, hopefully his shot starts falling when he gets back.
This team is honestly fine, just need the two focal points of our defense in Vando and Gabe back. If we’re still not a good team when they’re back then that’s when I’ll start being concerned.
Side question: Is anyone else not really concerned about our record? It literally took us 77 games to get to .500 last year and the West looks tight this year again. If healthy I can still see us going 50-32, the playoffs is where this team would do the most damage. Obviously a higher seed is great but because of last year, it gives me peace of mind knowing that this team can play better than what their record says during the playoffs.