Summer League Summary & Roster Update 07/19/14

The Lakers played their last summer league game yesterday.  They defeated the Denver Nuggets summer league team 83-77, and had a final record of 2-3.  Just as in pre-season, the final outcome of each game is not as important a getting a good look a different players and how they perform individually.  For the Lakers there were two players who clearly stood out from the rest.  It was none other than their two picks from this year's draft: Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.

Julius Randle

To put it simply, this kid is a bully.  If you met him on the playground he would take your lunch money.  And if you got the courage to tell a teacher they wouldn't help you because they'd be scared of him too.  That's not to say he isn't a good guy because he definitely is...but this guy is like a built like an ox.  When you watch him drive to the rim you just see defenders bouncing off of him in every direction.  It's like watching bumper cars. To give you an example there was one play in Summer League where a defender tried to stop a Randle drive. He got caught with an elbow and needed 3 stitches on his forehead.  And the foul was called on him! LOL. Randle is that good.

Here's some highlight clips of his play against the 76ers:

Obviously he's still a rookie so there will be much for him to learn, and there are a few things he needs to work on a lot.  However, he is oozing potential right now and Laker fans should be excited! Here are the top three skills he demonstrated in SL, and the top three things he needs to improve.

Skills:
Adept at getting to the basket due to ball handling and quickness
Has the ability to finish through contact and draw fouls
Has excellent court vision and makes good passes

Areas for Improvement:
Conditioning is not where it should be thanks to being 3 months removed from the college season
Only attempted 2 jump shots in summer league and missed both, will need one to continue offensive success in the NBA
Set very poor screens which never provided opportunity for anything in pick and roll situations

Jordan Clarkson

The Lakers spent $1.7M to buy this pick from the Washington Wizards.  Right now that is looking like money well spent.  Clarkson is a 6'5" guard who can play the point guard and shooting guard roles.  He's been the Lakers' highest scorer in summer league.  He averaged 15.8 pts, 5 reb, and 1.2ast.  Like Randle he plays with a chip on his shoulder and has a knack for getting to the basket.  He surprised the Lakers with just how good his shooting has been.   Clarkson even had a game winning tip in vs. the Warriors.  He was projected to go in the first round of the draft but somehow fell to the mid second round where the Lakers got him.  Good pick by Mitch and Co.

Here's some highlights from his best summer league game:

Here are the top three skills he demonstrated in SL, and the top three things he needs to improve.

Skills:
Fearless attacking the basket and effective once he gets there
Has the ability to knock down open shots off the pass or dribble
Seems to be a leader orchestrating the offense

Areas for Improvement:
Could improve his ball handling
Defensive intensity could improve
Distributing the ball on offense

Roster Update

The Lakers have signed several more players making their roster all but complete for the start of the 2014-2015 season.  GM Mitch Kupchak  was quoted as saying the roster would be at 13 players.  He could change his mind but that is where the current count stands.

Without a head coach or a system in place it is difficult to predict what the Lakers depth chart will look like.  Here's how I would place it.

PG: Lin, Nash, Clarkson
SG: Bryant, Young
SF: Johnson, Henry
PF: Randle, Boozer, Kelly
C: Davis, Hill, Sacre

It should be noted that some players can play multiple positions.  Bryant, Young, and Henry can all play SG/SF.  Clarkson can play PG/SG.  Kelly can play SF/PF. Davis and Hill can play PF/C.  So the Lakers have some flexibility in their lineups.  It will be up to the coach to put them in the best position to succeed.

This roster doesn't scream championship contender (not enough interior D or shooting on paper), but I think it is an entertaining squad that can make the playoffs.  It should be a far better team than last year.  There are several shot creators who will make it interesting on offense.  Lin, Bryant, Nash, Young, and Randle can make plays.  That is plenty to make sure the offense doesn't get stagnant.  The Lakers also have a good mix of pick and roll and post players which gives even more options on offense.

The major concern here will be defense.  There is only 1 shot blocker on the roster (Davis) and 1 player known as a "defender" (Johnson) who was inconsistent last year.  The Lakers will have to play consistent team defense if they want to make the playoffs.  That means they will have to communicate and work well as a unit on that end of the floor since they don't have a Serge Ibaka type player who can erase the mistakes of others.

All in all it should be a fun team to watch and I can't wait until training camp.  I'll bring more articles as things develop :) ... GO LAKERS!!!

The Roster and Randle 07/13/14

Before we get to the fun of discussing the potential of the Lakers' #7 draft pick, Julius Randle, let's go over the current roster and see what we have.

As of today:

Point Guards
Steve Nash, Jeremy Lin, Kendall Marshall

Shooting Guards
Kobe Bryant, Jordan Clarkson

Small Forwards
Nick Young

Power Forwards
Julius Randle, Ryan Kelly

Centers
Jordan Hill, Robert Sacre,

Obviously this is far from a championship roster.  In fact it's far from a complete roster with only 10 players.  Nevertheless the biggest holes I see are:

Interior size, Shot blocking/rim protection, Perimeter defense

This team will struggle to stop people from scoring.  The Lakers need an athletic wing player or two who put effort into defense.  They also need a center who can do the same thing.  Javale McGee might not be a bad option for the center position is the Lakers can trade Nash for him (it would depend on how desperate the Nuggets are to get rid of him).  He has had maturity issues on the court in the past so the Lakers would need to take a gamble that he could fix those.

The strengths of this team would definitely be on the offensive end.  Here are my top 3:

Shot creating, potential for good shooting, potential for good rebounding.

Notice that 2 of the top 3 are labeled as "potential".  That lies a lot on what type of system the Lakers run and if Nash is actually able to contribute at all.

JULIUS RANDLE (#30)
6'9" PF 250lbs

All year long I wanted the Lakers to get the Aussie Dante Exum with their #7 pick.  He was selected by Utah at #5.  But when it was announced that we were picking Julius Randle I wasn't really disappointed.  After watching his post draft interview and his introductory press conference I was flat out excited!  I do like his game, but perhaps most of all I have been impressed by his upbringing, his maturity, and his old school attitude.  One of his first comments after being drafted was that he was going to" Make other teams pay for not picking him."  When another reporter asked him if he wanted to play with LeBron James, Randle responded by saying he'd rather play against him because he's a competitor.  Does that sound familiar at all?  It should because Randle's favorite player growing up was none other than Kobe Bryant.  As a freshman, Randle led Kentucky to the national championship game.  They lost a close one, but Randle was impressive throughout the tournament.

Here are Randle's strengths as a player:

Motor (hustle and energy)
Quickness and speed for size
Strength
Agility
Touch around the basket
Competitive drive
Post moves/footwork/face up game
Ball handling

Here are things he needs to work on:

Defensive effort/intelligence
Consistency with jumper (has a nice stroke)
Conditioning

Below is a nice welcome video that shows some of his standout plays from college.  However the system he played in was a little restrictive for his game so his high school highlights may actually be more relevant to the NBA.

Welcome home Julius!!

The Lakers also drafted guard Jordan Clarkson with a 2nd round pick that they bought from Washington.  He has impressed so far in Summer League.  If he makes the team I will have a write up on him as well.

Go Lakers!!!

Rebuilding the Franchise... 07/13/14

"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."

It's funny how a classic quote from the latest Dark Knight movie can sum up the state of the Lakers today.  Simply put the league was tired of being dominated by the Lakers.  Sixteen championships (actually 17 since there is one the league won't recognize) and appearing in 31 finals tends to make the other girls at the party a little jealous. To completely understand why the team is in a rebuilding phase today all one has to do is look back 3 years ago to the NBA lockout in 2011.

The average fan doesn't understand the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and how it affects a team's management strategy.  This document controls the rules of the NBA involved with trades, salary cap, and free agency.  That's not even to mention how it governs the money distribution between the owners and the players, which is perhaps the most important part.  After the 2011 lockout the players and owners signed a new CBA which had a new set of rules written to stop the Lakers and other big market teams from acquiring high talent players easily.  The new rules are so effective that large market teams can no longer just pay more money for the players they want.  They have to do more with less.

Before the ink had time to dry on this new CBA, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak had already figured out a way to succeed.  He traded Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for Chris Paul.  Not only had he gotten the best player in the trade, but the team was saving enough money to afford Dwight Howard and David West as well.  Of course sadly we all know what happened from there.  In a never before seen move the NBA blocked the trade.  From that point forward the Lakers have been making high risk moves to try to put a contender around Kobe and give him one last shot at a ring.  Unfortunately their injury history has been horrible, and their coaching hires have almost been as bad.

The Lakers gave it one last shot this summer to get Bean another superstar to play with.  They went for Melo. They even went for the long shot of LeBronze.  They struck out on both.  Despite what ESPN might tell you Lakers' management/ownership is not to blame on this one.  This new CBA makes it far more lucrative for players to stay with their current teams (Melo), or for them to go to a team with young players on rookie contracts (LeBronze).  Kevin Love is a lost cause at this point as well.  The Lakers don't have the pieces to get him, drafted a talented rookie who plays his position, and he wouldn't stay here unless the team was closer to winning.

With no real shot at a contending team the Lakers were forced to adjust to the strategy of re-building.  The best way to do that is to acquire young talented players on affordable contracts until you can attract a superstar to carry your franchise.  That's why the Lakers traded for Jeremy Lin.  Sure, he could miraculously improve from being average to all-star point guard, but the real benefit of getting him was the two draft picks Houston gave us.  They will explore other similar deals throughout the rest of summer and the season.