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

[KillerLeft]

If Nico says "rebounding", we should listen to him. Seriously, what are the chances Lively holds up physically and plays 80 games?

I think one of the reasons Derrick Jones managed to overcome those first two games of the season and still remain in the starting lineup is that he was at least a minor threat in the paint and could rebound a little. If either Lively or Jones gets injured, rebounding and paint defense takes a nosedive. Powell is really decent when playing a small lineup, but doesn't provide anything in the paint. There is no other reliable player to do what Lively does.

I do think it would be nice to have a backup for Lively who's more like Lively. But, I don't believe that player needs to be good enough to warrant a guaranteed spot in a rotation. Someone at McGee's level would've been perfect (though not him, obvs). 

Lively, Kleber, Powell AND Holmes are on this team. One of them would almost certainly have to go out to add another center. That's too many already, imho. 

Honestly, I think this is a sudden panic around here only because some are just now figuring out that Holmes isn't going to be a savior. There were some who insisted he'd be the starter just a couple of months ago. Now, we don't even think he can fill in for Lively if he misses some time? 

For me, the problem is Kleber. If he's not healthy and effective, they need to replace him. But, I would replace him with another Kleber, personally, not another Lively. They need to be able to switch on D, if that's what they want. They need to be able to play 5-out, if that's what they want.