2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers Thread

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by Sims19849ers:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
My point was... they have no one that would sniff any minutes for any team. The Lakers have 3 guys that will play major minutes and are clearly the most talented team in the Summer League. That is why I said they should be heavy favorites to win. Pretty obvious actually. But, Simmons is by far the most exciting player to watch. He is going to be special. WOW

You're talking about Jonathon Simmons from the Spurs, right? Ben Simmons can't shoot to save his life although he has made a couple of pretty passes in each game, I haven't seen enough to say he is the most exciting player to watch. Offensively, he is a 6-10 Rondo at this point and although I've only watched two games, I haven't seen anything defensively that jumps out at me

I guess we must be watching things differently then. I saw a guy who can get to the hoop, is an amazing passer, and is obviously more talented than anyone else who has been on the floor so far. And yes its BEN Simmons. Your boy Lebron shot 29% as a rookie in the NBA. Kobe shot 26% from 3 in his first full year as a starter. Lots of guys come in and improve their shots and Simmons probably will too.

LeBron is not a 3 point shooter so that 29% from behind the arc is not a big deal to me but since you brought him up, he is exciting on both ends of the floor, not just with a couple of passes every now and then. Simmons can't shoot from anywhere on the floor and aside from a couple of "wow" passes, his game hasn't been very exciting. Thon Maker has been more exciting than Simmons...

Oh and just to get back on topic, Russell has looked great and I'm interested to see the growth of Randle and Clarkson.....

With that said, they aren't making the playoffs this year

How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

A little of both. He's always had the talent. It's consistency that was his problem last year. Although I will say that he's miles ahead of these dudes on these summer league teams. He really doesn't need to be there.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

A little of both. He's always had the talent. It's consistency that was his problem last year. Although I will say that he's miles ahead of these dudes on these summer league teams. He really doesn't need to be there.

Watched extended highlights this morning and was like .

This team's not going to be great next year but they will be fun to watch. And better than many expect, I think.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by StOnEy333:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

A little of both. He's always had the talent. It's consistency that was his problem last year. Although I will say that he's miles ahead of these dudes on these summer league teams. He really doesn't need to be there.

Watched extended highlights this morning and was like .

This team's not going to be great next year but they will be fun to watch. And better than many expect, I think.

I think they may be able to get in the mid 30's or so in wins. We'll see. Ingram has looked a little shaky. He's young. He might need a year or 2 to find his groove. Skinny as f**k. lol

^ yep. We'll see if Luke can work any magic.

Originally posted by Viperboy:
Has a team ever played 3 starters in a summer league game.

Suns did last year. This year its been Booker+mostly a bunch of rookies and guys who will be backups.

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

Well he played in the summer league last year and looked terrible so compared to his play last year he's definitely shown improvement.

I think its a good sign that he's dominating inferior competition. I would be really concerned if he didn't stand out. I'd say only above average NBA starters would consistently stand out against summer league competition, so my guess is he's middle of the pack for starting PG in the NBA.

To me his floor in the upcoming season is tier 4 of PGs. He does seem to be coasting through these games as well, so I'm excited to see him locked in against better competition.

Tier 1 Irving, Lilard, Paul, Westbrook, Curry.
Tier 2 Wall, Thomas, Walker, Lowry
Tier 3 Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Conley.
Tier 4 Teague, Rondo, Russell

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

I believe it's a combination of both. D Russ is obviously more confident but most of these opposing players will not be in the NBA.
The thing that is bothering me the most is how opposing PG's just consistently blow by him and his lack of fight to get around screens.
Practice how you want to play !!!!! it's just summer league I guess?????

Originally posted by Arminini:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

Well he played in the summer league last year and looked terrible so compared to his play last year he's definitely shown improvement.

I think its a good sign that he's dominating inferior competition. I would be really concerned if he didn't stand out. I'd say only above average NBA starters would consistently stand out against summer league competition, so my guess is he's middle of the pack for starting PG in the NBA.

To me his floor in the upcoming season is tier 4 of PGs. He does seem to be coasting through these games as well, so I'm excited to see him locked in against better competition.

Tier 1 Irving, Lilard, Paul, Westbrook, Curry.
Tier 2 Wall, Thomas, Walker, Lowry
Tier 3 Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Conley.
Tier 4 Teague, Rondo, Russell

Damn Conley getting top PG money as a third tier player at his position !!!!
What's Westbrook going to get ?

Originally posted by Arminini:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:
How much of what D Russ is doing in the summer league is improvement and how much is due to inferior competition?

Well he played in the summer league last year and looked terrible so compared to his play last year he's definitely shown improvement.

I think its a good sign that he's dominating inferior competition. I would be really concerned if he didn't stand out. I'd say only above average NBA starters would consistently stand out against summer league competition, so my guess is he's middle of the pack for starting PG in the NBA.

To me his floor in the upcoming season is tier 4 of PGs. He does seem to be coasting through these games as well, so I'm excited to see him locked in against better competition.

Tier 1 Irving, Lilard, Paul, Westbrook, Curry.
Tier 2 Wall, Thomas, Walker, Lowry
Tier 3 Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Conley.
Tier 4 Teague, Rondo, Russell

Dont care if I am going to come off as a bitter Warriors fan.....

But one great finals series and all of a sudden Kyrie is in the top tier? Dude hasnt played an entire healthy season in his career. Prior to the playoffs, I would have had him as a fringe top 10 point guard behind players you have listed all over the place.

All I am saying is pump the breaks a bit.

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:
Dont care if I am going to come off as a bitter Warriors fan.....

But one great finals series and all of a sudden Kyrie is in the top tier? Dude hasnt played an entire healthy season in his career. Prior to the playoffs, I would have had him as a fringe top 10 point guard behind players you have listed all over the place.

All I am saying is pump the breaks a bit.

Yea i get it, he's a tough guy to rank right now. As you said he'd be ranked lower before the playoffs, but we're after the playoffs and he was pretty damn good. You could move him down to tier 2, but would think that's as low as you can reasonably go with him.

I believe Arminini was the one who said he's coasting through these games – couldn't agree more. BUT, it's embarrassing how bad his defense is. I get he's coasting and it's summer league but Jesus dude. Stay in front of your guy.

Will be very intrigued to see what our projected starting lineup of D'Lo – Clarkson – Deng – Randle – Mozgov can do offensively. Defensively we'll probably be worst in league but offensively we should be fun to watch.

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:
Dont care if I am going to come off as a bitter Warriors fan.....

But one great finals series and all of a sudden Kyrie is in the top tier? Dude hasnt played an entire healthy season in his career. Prior to the playoffs, I would have had him as a fringe top 10 point guard behind players you have listed all over the place.

All I am saying is pump the breaks a bit.

That's all it takes is one playoff run like he had to break out. Nobody considered Rondo to be a top 3-5 PG before he had that playoff run when the Celtics won the title. Now I understand that he fell off, but Rondo was elite for a couple of years after that.

Kyrie really impressed me during the playoffs, and especially during the Finals. He had moments during some of those games, when it was late 4th, where he just took over the game.