Yesterday I had a pretty pessimistic take on Kobe Bryant playing in Wednesday’s season opener. After it was revealed he’d again not practiced, opting instead to “get some shots up” and receive treatment there seemed to be too little progress made in the last 10 days for me to feel comfortable about him being available in three days.
Well, Sunday proved to be a big step forward for Kobe and, it seems, for him being available for the season’s first game.
Kobe Bryant was a full participant in practice today and he was able to do everything physically. That obviously bodes well for the opener.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 25, 2015
Further, Kobe didn’t just practice, he apparently looked pretty good doing it:
Metta on Kobe's practice: "He was scoring in people's faces, talking trash." Someone apparently talked trash to Kobe and it fired him up.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 25, 2015
Turns out there were *two* players who fired up Kobe by talking trash to him at practice today: Lou Williams and, no surprise, Nick Young.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) October 25, 2015
Thanks, Nick and Lou.
All jokes and tall tales aside, this is great news for the Lakers. With Jordan Clarkson also practicing fully for the 2nd consecutive day, the Lakers look like they’ll have their full roster available for opening night — a claim they have not been able to make since they beat Maccabi Haifa in their 4th preseason game way back on October 11th.
This might not seem like a big deal, but for a team that needs all the court time it can get to build chemistry after seeing the roster turn over by more than half, it’s actually pretty vital. Getting everyone on the same page and comfortable in their roles is the only way the team can outperform their expectations by becoming something greater than the sum of their parts.
And while it would have been nice to get more time in the preseason, opening night is better than having it be delayed any longer.
nabrise says
lakers have too many players that deserve playing time around 12. they should really consider trading some like nick young and brandon bass. Nothing against both. If you think about it nick young has been playing decent in the preseason but look at the second unit byron scott has been going with: Huertas, lou, young, kelly, bass. NONE OF THEM CAN PLAY SOLID DEFENSE. we need a perimeter defender and anthony brown fits that role perfectly. we need huertas and lou was sixth man so both of them need to be on the second unit. this leaves nick young out and he should be replaced with a defensive sf such as anthony brown or metta. Also Brandon bass is the most MEH player i ve ever seen. He is so average on offense and defense. Also he doesnt fit in any lineups as backup center (byron scott is playing him that spot). i’d much rather give those minutes to nance jr. so he can develop and tarik black. Both provide interior defense and NANCE IS THE PERFECT FIT. people don’t see this but he has 3 point range and the kid can score, he is very energetic and hustles on defense. BRANDON BASS AND NICK YOUNG NEED TO BE TRADED. they will stunt the growth of other players and their roles are redundant
Ed says
Might just be the first and last time this season injury is not the reason a player isn`t dressed. The NBA will take its toll.
Craig W. says
nabrise,
If what you want happens I won’t be disappointed. However, the other team has to see some value in a player, or have their own player issue (Houston with Lynn last year) before they even want to talk to the Lakers about a trade. It has to be a good situation for both teams.
Not saying it can’t be done, but both sides have to want a trade to happen.
Now that our roster is healthy, not sure how Byron is going to approach playing veteran players simply because they are veterans. Past history – pre Lakers – would suggest he is biased toward the veterans, but this Laker team does have some very specific goals, as regards our young players – either for development or trade exposure.
R says
We’ve seen a lot on this site about “trading Nick Young”.
Fine.
Who would want him?
Robert says
R: Just one year ago there was a team who thought Young was worth $21 million for 4 years. At this point we only need to find someone who thinks he is worth 3 years for $15 million.
nabrise: You realize that we just signed Brandon correct?
Clay: Clarification on my Byron stance. rr stated it correctly. If Byron is standing in the way of us signing FA, or if we have a chance to sign someone ridiculous like Coach K, then Byron should be gone. Otherwise he is the man to coach us for this year. Hiring someone now would not be wise and would most likely doom the new guy to failure. After 2016 we will re-evaluate. My hope is we stick with Scott through 17 and then clean house “completely” inclusive of Scott.
J C says
The team and the Buss family expect clear signs of growth this season. If they don’t see that, Byron will be a casualty.
I’ve also been surprisingly nonplussed by what I’ve seen from Bass. Certainly he deserves some time to show what he can do in the regular season.
A clean bill of health and a clean slate for the new season. It’s showtime now for Byron and for Mitch’s blended roster of youth and veterans.
Glad Kobe’s ready to go, but for me, the most intriguing player at the moment is Russell.
I really hope his star rises quickly.
R says
Robert, thanks you made my point about Nick Young very eloquently.
And Craig W as well. There has to be another willing partner for a trade to happen. Unless teams around the league are lining up to bail the Lakers out.
Fern says
People complain about Nick Young contract, but he wasn’t overpaid, people where thinking he was going to get more money based on his performance that season, the league is full of contracts that are worse than that. The NBA is notorious for overpaying players, im fine with his contract, he got his value based on his play, if he stays healthy he can help this team. And if he stays healthy and plays well enough his trade value will rise if it comes to that, wait until they raise the cap, there are going to be some serious overpaying going on. His contract is manageable. On Coach, i think he knows what he has to do, our young guys need to show that they can stay on the floor, as far as im concerned Russell don’t deserve to be a starter right now, Huertas should start, that might change during the season but D’angelo should be better served running the second unit. Im pretty sure Byron Scott knows what the Lakers are right now, better than any of us for sure. If this were a playoff team he would ride the veterans but he knows what this team is, give him some credit for crissake.
Anonymous says
Fern,
I think the starting 5 could be pretty fluid during the first 30-40 games. We have a lot of rookies and 2nd-year guys on the team. Their play will probably be all over the place. Let’s not be surprised if that happens.
As a result, I fully expect D’Angelo Russell to be in and out of the starting lineup this year. Whether he starts this year (as a 19-year old PG) is almost irrelevant. All that matters is that he grows and develops, The same goes for Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson (and some of the other young guys like Tarik Black, whom I like, Larry Nance, Jr., and Anthony Brown).
I look at this year as being almost an extended preseason to 2016-17 and 2017-18. I honestly don’t care who starts. Let’s just the young guys play and develop. Wins, losses, starting lineups — who cares?
But next year — 2016-17 — I fully expect Russell to start. He’ll be better then. Smarter. Wiser. Tougher. And just plain better. He should definitely be a starter then.
Mid-Wilshire says
The comment at 8:05 is mine.
– Mid
teamn says
Craig W points out an interesting potential tension with this roster — let youngsters grow and learn vs showcasing vets for trades. Not saying the latter is what the FO has in mind — I’m sure that’s not the first priority. But, at some point it may become part of the equation.
Tough place to be in as the coach.
Snarky George says
If the wheels fall off the Lakers wagon to the point that vets are being traded at the deadline that will be a massive fail for the FO and their plans to lure an elite FA next summer. The only way KD comes to the LAL is if we some how push our win total above 40 and the kids are more than pulling their weight with the vets providing needed roster depth.
Of course, I don’t see it playing out this way — we’re a 30 win team, max. However, my gut says the FO is serious about this Lakers team flirting with the 8th seed. If come January, we’re showcasing vets that to me is a bad sign for management.
I think KD resigns for one year in OKC in order to give the Thunder’s current roster two bites at the apple before deciding his ultimate future, when the cap massively expands. As I’ve said many times before, for the Lakers — the harmonic convergence of franchise changing events takes place the summer of 2017.
KO says
Roster again is a hodgepodge of poor, old and youth. Only 2 have any true value in Randal/ Russell. This is example of ownership trying to make TW happy and eyeballs watching while pretending a future.
How did this great franchise turn into the rudderless ship. Its almost become a ponzi scheme. Pretending its building yet every NBA anyalist knows they are again one of the bottem 3 teams in the NBA.
One year is bad luck.
Two years is reorganisation.
Three is out and out incompetence and bankrupting the reputation of a franchise.
It never took Dr. Buss and Jerry West more then 2 years. With this apple that fell miles from the tree it could be 5 to 7. Yet seat, concessions, parking and cable fees are all all time highs.
Thats whats called a scheme to defraud us long time fans. Yet I will attend, watch, blog and complain as team struggles to win 30 games on the premise of a future. I see no future superstars out there, just another bunch of placebos for a very ill franchise.
Sad when all we have to hope for is Willy Mays making it through his last season playing 40 games and one of the owners being “only” a few years away from quitting.
Someone will write a book someday and call it “how nepotism turned the purple and gold to gray”.
From a 45 year fan with a good understanding of the game.
Joe A says
Looks like Jabari is out…per Yahoo
Fern says
Agreed Anon…
Chearn says
@Robert, your points are always salient. Hopefully, your plan for 2017 is in sync with the front office.
@KO, Someone will write a book someday and call it “how nepotism turned the purple and gold to gray.” Yikes!
I’m not surprised Jabari was released; he is a less effective Andrew Goudelock, too short, and his skill-set is redundant this year.
At least with Meta, the team is taking defensive lessons in practice it will take time before they’re able to execute those actions in games. Because bad habits are difficult to break but a few more 40 point blowouts should start to resonate with the team and force them to play defense just to give themselves a chance to be competitive.
Fern says
@Ko so Clarkson has no value? Right now Clarkson is the most valuable of the 3 because his play last season and what he demostrated in summer league and preseason, he is becoming a known commodity i was impressed with Julius play and he looks like he is going to be really good but until we start playing the games that matter he is still an unknown factor. I’m hopeful we break 30 wins this team should be better than last season traveling hospital , it’s too early to break the whinefest lol,