The problem isn’t lack of player development. Statistically, the Raps have been elite at drafting (dashboard here for those that can’t see the article).

The problem is a lack of good picks to work with—it’s hard to consistently hit on late firsts (when we even had one at all) and second rounders.

Some of those trades were justified. We traded three firsts to assemble the 2019 squad, which obviously worth it but it did come at a cost. The picks we gave up for Thad and Poeltl on the other hand are much harder to justify IMO.

The draft is a bit of a lottery, but the Raps have better odds than most. If we can get more picks at higher positions, I like our chances of coming out with something good. But we can’t expect to turn out quality starters when we’re drafting at 20th overall every second year.

This would never actually happen, but I think Lucid acquiring Fisker is a great idea.

Lucid has plentiful funds, an under-utilized US manufacturing facility (important for the tax credits), a more capable team for software and finance, and more infrastructure built out to facilitate deliveries. The one thing they desperately lack is a vehicle that can sell more than a few thousand units per year—it’s going to be years before they can bring one to market otherwise. Acquiring Fisker would, at least in theory, make up for the shortfalls of both companies.

On the financial side of things, Lucid’s Q3 revenue amounted to $137.8 million, significantly below Wall Street’s projected $183.8 million. This was also 29.5% lower than the revenue Lucid reported in the same quarter last year.

A startup with revenue that is both low and declining. Amazing.

Lucid also lowered its 2023 production guidance for the second time this year. After originally hoping to build as many as 14,000 vehicles, Lucid says it will now only make between 8,000 and 8,500 vehicles in 2023 in order to “prudently align with deliveries.” Through Q3 Lucid had produced 6,037 Air sedans, but sold only 4,267 of those.

Absolutely brutal, no other way to put it.

If Lucid didn’t have massive Saudi money behind them, they would likely be bankrupt or close to it. Unfortunately, the Gravity isn’t going to solve any of their problems—it’s another extremely expensive model that will have a very limited market.

If Lucid wants to have any hope of staying relevant, they need to pivot to something much cheaper much faster. I have very little faith that they can successfully do that by this point.

Have they confirmed a Mexico factory for passenger cars? Last I heard it was only a rumor.

The Blazer EV is a perfectly fine vehicle, but wow this whole thing reads like a GM press release. Just a really bad look for MotorTrend. They compare it to the Porsche Taycan, BMW iX, Jaguar I-Pace, and Lucid Air in in the intro to make it sound “democratized”. But when it comes to charging speed suddenly it can only be compared to the Chevy Bolt (never mind that the pricetag more than doubled). And when it comes to “value”, they basically justify it by adding every expensive option to the cheaper alternatives.

If you’re a buyer with a $60K+ budget, you already have some great options available. The Blazer will find its niche, but it’s nothing game-changing.