Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[DanSchwartzgan]

 

As far as SF targets? I’m very much in agreement with Dan on that thought. An upgraded big group is a much bigger upgrade overall than an upgrade at SF.  

Everyone probably ought to listen to the interview.  It was an unexpected question and it felt like Nico was caught off-guard and gave a fairly honest answer.  I don't think 90% of the names being thrown around meet the criteria of 1. being a good rebounder with physicality who is 2. an obvious upgrade over what we have.   We can certainly all think of ways to upgrade other positions, but I don't think that's what Nico was talking about.  To IGT's point, there is room to upgrade what we have on the wing, but it is a more expensive position to upgrade and the spread between what you have and what you can afford is greater at center.

I think the biggest disconnect here (and this touches on the 27 pick or not conversation) is figuring out where we are and what our goal should be.  Some want to prioritize development.  We can't have nice things because it will disrupt Lively's growth or some such.  I suspect the team puts winning playoff rounds higher on the priority list with development an important sub-priority for the regular season.  We have two super-stars, the second best offense in the league and the 5th best net rating.  But, we are bottom five in D-Rebounding and bottom three in Points in the Paint Allowed.  I suspect we want to fix that.  Lively is part of the solution, but he won't do it by himself.  To me, it is clear what position needs to change to fix that and it isn't defensive wing defender.

I think the misallocation of resources argument holds some validity.  Not in the playoffs, but certainly in the regular season.  Not in 23/24, but certainly by 25/26 when Poeltl will be an expensive backup...probably.  But, Lively isn't ready to carry us through a playoff run for now and we need someone who can.  As an aside, if DJJ plays well enough to earn a significant contract, the exception we currently have available is the Taxpayer MLE at $5.25mm.  Are we sure that's enough?  The version of the trade that includes Green and Holmes takes our salary next season down by $6mm.  It might actually help us manage our financial resources better all things considered.