Top scoring duo in the NBA, and people are forgetting that Austin was starting during that huge run the Lakers had under Hamas after the Westbrook trade where we were the top defense in the league. Ham was awful but he did (that season anyway) slot Austin into his proper defensive role as chaser, and nobody really viewed him as problematic defensively. It was only when he started getting slotted at the POA and wing stopper roles did he look overmatched

People always make fun of the Lakers for losing a lot of their homegrown talent then come around and ask them to let go of their homegrown talent 🤔

You have to do in the playoffs, They should get the opportunity this coming season, if Luka doesn’t get hurt like he always does.

Yeah I’m also confused what they mean by “multiple other teams were ready to offer” the contract to him. Like yeah, there’s plenty of more desperate teams that would be willing to offer this kind of contract. That doesn’t always mean you should do it or that it’s a good contract.

I don’t think it was an easy choice for the lakers either way, but that’s just bad logic when trying to build a contender

He’s a thoroughly mediocre defender but I firmly believe a team can overcome him and Luka if they have 3 plus defenders in every other position

As opposed to Rui, 40 year old LeBron, and Ayton

Kessler is gonna help but the defensive wings are going to be hard to find

Guess no one remembers how OKC Thunder kept hunting Reaves on almost every possession during the playoffs and getting points every time, with Ajay Mitchell looking like an all star whenever he attacks Reaves

I think the front office’s hope is that Adou and Cam can competently fill those roles. I’m iffy on that happening for both for different reasons, but last year’s roster was so flawed that there was no way we were going to fill every single hole in one off season. I think the team makes more sense now and is just a few reinforcements away

yep that wing glue guy is a huge x factor. I would’ve gone for Wade but didn’t see much of the raptors guy. But liked that wade could guard inside out with his size and good lateral while being able to space the court.

They are a less talented given losing another all star but more cohesive unit now and about a piece away, but even as is they are a very good team. Luka is brilliant, Austin is provingg to be a force. Sexton has gotten buckets in this league and can really utilize elite physicality to play defense if he commits

Laravia needs to step up with consistency. He still has potential to grow

They’re a wing away from surprising a lot of people on here.

Yeah. Kuminga will solve all their problems!!!! SMH

I can see them surprising everybody and ending up at the 5 or 6 seed with the new roster, meaning they finish the season with right around 48-52 wins. In the playoffs, I could see them surprising the league and winning a first round matchup in 6 or 7 games and then getting 1 game off of either of the west top seeds (OKC / Spurs).

They’re building a solid team in Los Angeles that I can see being in that ⁵⁄₆ seed range each year as long as Luka avoids any major injuries. I don’t buy this theory that they are going to be at 38-42 wins, play in type team.

Luka doesn’t get hunted much on defense, that’s just an ESPN/Twitter narrative.

Jaylen Brown is a max player

He’s not a supermax player.

Jaylen brown is getting 57 mil this season reaves is getting 41 mil.

I don’t love the Reaves deal but Jaylen Brown is the 7th highest paid player right now at 57, alongside his teammate Tatum at 3rd highest. Brown also has 2 more years after this and he will make 65 mil in 3 years when he is 32-33, and he will no doubt ask for an extension for 4-5 more years.

Reaves’ deal puts him around the 39th highest I believe, next to his teammate at 19th highest. And seeing how the league values Brown, it is no doubt that they would view Austin higher than Brown at that pricepoint, seeing as he doesn’t actually have historically bad advanced metrics for a star player

tbf max amount of the two players differ a good bit

People should stop using the word max in these discussions and just use percentage of cap. All rookie contracts are max contracts as well if its just the maximum they can sign for.

He’s absolutely a max player he is not a 70million a year player

That’s more people overreacting to small samples when he’s been hurt. Once he got his legs under him this season he was doing great scoring and playmaking in the last 3 against the Thunder, which is more than just about any other guard in the league can say.

The second apron really do be fucking everything up. There’s no other context that would result in Chet and J-Dub being considered unworthy of the max

21 a game against okc while having an absolute shitter game 1? Coming off an injury?

I can though, given he came back early from a grade 2 oblique strain and was very obviously hobbled, not to mention out of rhythm

If you are judging a player’s defense based on “getting a stop” then you’re not watching correctly. Defenses aren’t positional, they’re comprised of roles. The “getting a stop” player you’re talking about is called a wing stopper, and that is not Austin’s role. He is a good (metrics back this up) chaser, meaning he is off ball and disrupting plays run for players that do off ball actions. He’s the guy who guards the Ray Allen/Klay Thompson types, and he’s good at it. He has a good awareness of angles, he’s a decent screen navigator when his body is moving with momentum, and he’s smart. That’s why he’s constantly in position to draw charges.

Austin gets exposed when put on ball against an initiator at the point of attack, or against larger wings that attack him in isolation. If you pair him with a backcourt mate that’s good at covering the point of attack (Grimes is a highly rated POA defender) and a defensive wing capable of holding their own against attackers (this is the major flaw in the Lakers’ current roster that hasn’t been addressed yet and why they are interested in Kuminga) then Austin is fine.

Every player has things they are good and bad at. It’s up to coaches to optimize their lineups and rotations for that

Luka’s best runs have always been next to a guard like Austin that can handle the ball, playmake, and also play off of Luka (Austin is no Kyrie but Brunson wasn’t Brunson back then)

Also Luka is not a poor defender. We really need to let this narrative die

We already have a poor defensive white.

Not sure I agree with your choice of terms, but by giving him a big contract, you’ve converted that poor defensive white into a rich defensive white /s

More to the point, why is race relevant ?

The problem is he’s not a good fit for us specifically

Austin has the playmaking, shooting, off ball and handling that helps . Defensively, it’s not great. What makes it worse is that the lakers roster has no one really who has made his bones or even proven average/above average at defense at wing/guard.

Luka isn’t a backcourt defender and that isn’t even true

He’s not a good POA defender, but he’s a good chaser, had decent size, and is solid off-ball. Which the stats back up as well. Slightly below average but not horrible by any stretch.

And he’s also great at playmaking and getting to the rim and getting fouled — he does a lot that doesn’t rely on his shot falling on a given night. Did you actually watch him play at all?

“Who don’t play defense”

You know if you don’t actually watch the games you can say that right

It’s nothing like his early days Dallas at all. Back then he was healthier and more athletic.

They won’t suck. Probably a 4-6 seed. They’ll suck on defense, probably, unless Kessler is Gobert 2.0. Luka will defend forwards so Grimes will start. Who starts at the 4 is up in the air still but they’ll need to be able to guard 3s and 4s.

The offense should be fun to watch though, hence the comment about League Pass.

I think they’ll be good, actually. Grimes is the starting SF and i believe in his POA defense. Luka and Reaves pairing was good last year, Kessler is miles ahead of Deandre Ayton. They’re missing a good defensive 4 that’s not terrible offensively, which is why they’re not a contender, but still a good team.

Best part is we’ve traded all our assets for the next few years to be this shitty!

You guys are being so disingenuous lol. Please go pull the 2022-23 Mavs roster. They were unironically giving Theo Pinson, Frank Nitlikina, and Kemba Walker minutes. Just the fact that it’s Walker Kessler over Dwight Powell is enough to make this a clearly better team. Austin is better than that entire roster outside of Luka (and then Kyrie once he got there)

I don’t think they’re done yet

I think they should be decent but not great - but the comment you’re responding to is more saying they should be exciting, high scoring, and allow a lot of points / entertaining for non-fans.

PG’s: Grimes, Sexton, Bronny

SG’s: Reaves, Carr, Hardy

SF’s: Luka, LaRavia, Knecht

PF’s: Mamu, Vando, Thiero

C’s: Kessler, Looney

This is a more accurate representation on how the Laker Roster is as is, because Luka guards the other team’s worse of the two forwards.

The Lakers best lineup last year was Austin, Luka, Smart, Rui, and Ayton/Hayes. They replaced their centers with a better center. Grimes and Mamu are better defensively than Rui. Grimes is more physically capable of POA defense than Smart (although probably worse overall due to Smart’s intangibles) and a better shooter than Smart. I think they could use a better PF option that offers some rim pressure, but this is built on existing formula, just with new players.

This + it’s very hard to believe that the Lakers and their new ownership weren’t prepared for the strong possibility of having to max AR in a bidding war.

Detroit (and the Nets) were rumored for months and were ready to clear the necessary cap space to offer him a max deal.

None of what happened should be a shock to anyone.

Everyone saying Pelinka should have offered AR something lower, which he actually did by offering 30mil/year. AR felt disrespected which is why he got in touch with Detroit who were fully prepared to max him, and then Pelinka gave the current contract.

he’s a really good young player.

He’s the oldest Lakers player. The gaslighting from Lakers fans trying to spin AR46 is in full steam in this thread.

Spurs lose to Okc in the conference finals if they had Reaves instead of Fox

That’s correct 25% is not the majority of the salary cap

Yes. Get somebody else. Everybody loves Austin Reaves, but he made OKC’s bench look like all-stars in the playoffs. 

This contract will not age well. 

Yes