The Lakers have already had a nice run to start their off-season. They kept their #2 overall draft pick, have a nearly wide open cap sheet, and hired Luke Walton as coach. There is a lot of reason for excitement.
To talk about that, and more, I joined Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports on his Game Theory podcast. We covered the draft, the team’s young players, trade options, what about Walton I am most intrigued about, and general roster construction. I even offered a bold prediction for the team’s off-season.
It was a good chat that you can listen to in full after the jump.
You can catch all of Sam’s podcasts at his website and subscribe to it at iTunes here. They’re excellent resources heading into this month’s draft.
Sublime says
Darius:
Good Stuff as usual! Keep up the good work!
david h says
darius: auditioning for the front office….?
where exactly are you getting all those excellent ideas?………
lastly, why were you yelling?
loved it.
Go lakers !
rubenowski says
Nice podcast Darius! I’m coming around to the idea of Whiteside, not really because of him but, rather, because of everyone else who’s available at C. I’m just not too sure if I want him with our young guys. I hope he shows some maturity if he comes our way. Looks like he’ll sign with the Heat though.
Altemawa says
sorry to be demanding, but i just want to ask if there is a text/script of the conversation?
if not, i will just listen to it later as i am away from my personal laptop.
i am excited to know what transpired in that podcast. thanks DS.
Go lakers !
Clay Bertrand says
Nice analysis Darius!
I would prefer the Whiteside signing over the Barnes signing if we could only accomplish one. Whiteside fills a more glaring need. That said, I think its more likely the Lakers pursue Barnes and or Ezeli to help Luke establish his culture. I don’t prefer Ezeli and his health concerns.
Normally, Barnes’ RFA status would hamstring efforts to sign other FAs with the Offer Money being tied up waiting for the Ws to match. But THIS YEAR, we have so much cap space that we can have that money tied up in an offer for an RFA and still chase any other FA on the market even for MAX money. SO at least we have have that flexibility.
I hope Mitch has a good plan………we gotta make smart choices.
A Horse with no name says
A pleasure to listen to–good job Darius. I think Sam Vecenie has the best draft site on the net. He knows his stuff. I only wish you could have spoken in more specifics about draft prospects likely to available to the lakers with the 32nd pick–I think he wanted that convo since he is a draft geek.
Based on Mitch’s comments about the pick, (that they will get a good player), I don’t think they are looking at a draft and stash pick; I expect it will be a player that can suit up this year. Most likely it is a center, as there is real depth at the position.
Gary says
is it true that Simmons is not working out for anyone — including the 76ers and Lakers? If true, does anyone think this may sway the 76ers to draft Ingram?
I now have a man crush on Ingram and want him to be a Laker due to his shooting and defensive upside.
Anonymous says
Darius: This is great stuff. Very cool. Keep up the good work.