NBA- OU players and general (this thread only)

[Eielson]

Originally Posted by jmizzy4ou

Anyone who signs Kyrie is taking a chance with his volatility, but you can't be serious with this list. Kyrie is a matchup nightmare for any defense.

Murray thrived in this series because he and the Denver perimeter defenders had no fear of anyone LA could throw out in the backcourt. Kyrie can take over any game offensively, and no one is stopping him when he's on. I love AR, but Murray mostly rested on defense because he was guarding Dlo, Walker, and occasionally AR. Caldwell-Pope shot better than I ever saw because his normal task of guarding a big-time guard wasn't in this series.

Obviously, there are great risks with Kyrie, and he might not even want to play with LBJ again. The Lakers don't need to financially handicap the franchise by doing a crazy contract for him, but if they can get him and retain a couple of pieces, he is a game-changer who takes a lot of pressure off an old LBJ, and a quickly declining AD.

This is a roster that will have to rest (or sit for injury) Lebron and AD 20-30 games a year to have a chance at competing for a championship in the playoffs. You need guys that can stay on the court around them during the regular season, and it doesn't make sense to spend big on somebody that has been averaging 40 games a year since leaving Boston.

The Lakers won a title and then let their team implode by prizing a "third superstar" over guys like Caruso, Kuzma, and KCP. This trade deadline they reversed course with those deadline deals and reaped the rewards. It makes no sense to repeat that mistake again.

We apparently had completely different takeaways from this past series. Reaves scored over 20 points a game with very good shooting. Russell struggled but is a very good offensive player. The problem was that Schroder was the only guy that could guard Murray that wasn't a complete liability on offense. Vanderbilt did a solid job defensively, but having him on the court basically meant a second guy could help against Lebron and AD whenever they had the ball without consequence, which stifled the entire offense. The Lakers got absolutely roasted when they tried to put Schroder, Reaves, and Russell on the court at the same time, as it caused a huge mismatch defensively. A lineup of Schroder, Reaves, and Kyrie would have ran into the same problem. Maybe instead of being -10 they'd only be like -5, and that assumption is based on Kyrie actually being on the court, which he isn't half of the time.

Now if you had a guy like Kyle Kuzma on your team, you can put him on a guy like MPJ instead of DLo or Reaves, who simply didn't have the length the disrupt his shot. He also has enough of an offensive game that you have to respect him or he'll shred you like Rui and Reaves...and unlike Vanderbilt.

Or take somebody like KCP. You say he shot better than you've ever seen him shot, but he's been about a 40% 3 PT shooter for four years in a row now, and was the third best player on the Lakers championship team. He's a good enough athlete to disrupt Murray while still spreading the floor on offense, and he won't get targeted when matched up against guys like Bruce Brown.

Would I rank any of those guys above Kyrie in HOF voting? Absolutely not.
But would they have done a better job of making this Lakers team better? Absolutely.

[jmizzy4ou]

Originally Posted by Eielson

This is a roster that will have to rest (or sit for injury) Lebron and AD 20-30 games a year to have a chance at competing for a championship in the playoffs. You need guys that can stay on the court around them during the regular season, and it doesn't make sense to spend big on somebody that has been averaging 40 games a year since leaving Boston.

The Lakers won a title and then let their team implode by prizing a "third superstar" over guys like Caruso, Kuzma, and KCP. This trade deadline they reversed course with those deadline deals and reaped the rewards. It makes no sense to repeat that mistake again.

We apparently had completely different takeaways from this past series. Reaves scored over 20 points a game with very good shooting. Russell struggled but is a very good offensive player. The problem was that Schroder was the only guy that could guard Murray that wasn't a complete liability on offense. Vanderbilt did a solid job defensively, but having him on the court basically meant a second guy could help against Lebron and AD whenever they had the ball without consequence, which stifled the entire offense. The Lakers got absolutely roasted when they tried to put Schroder, Reaves, and Russell on the court at the same time, as it caused a huge mismatch defensively. A lineup of Schroder, Reaves, and Kyrie would have ran into the same problem. Maybe instead of being -10 they'd only be like -5, and that assumption is based on Kyrie actually being on the court, which he isn't half of the time.

Now if you had a guy like Kyle Kuzma on your team, you can put him on a guy like MPJ instead of DLo or Reaves, who simply didn't have the length the disrupt his shot. He also has enough of an offensive game that you have to respect him or he'll shred you like Rui and Reaves...and unlike Vanderbilt.

Or take somebody like KCP. You say he shot better than you've ever seen him shot, but he's been about a 40% 3 PT shooter for four years in a row now, and was the third best player on the Lakers championship team. He's a good enough athlete to disrupt Murray while still spreading the floor on offense, and he won't get targeted when matched up against guys like Bruce Brown.

Would I rank any of those guys above Kyrie in HOF voting? Absolutely not.
But would they have done a better job of making this Lakers team better? Absolutely.

I agree with a lot of what you said here. Like I said, I wouldn't mortgage the future for Kyrie, but if he wants to come, and has a reasonable money expectation, I'm doing the deal.

I would hate to lose AR. Dennis & Russell don't do it for me. Dennis is a great bench guard to mostly play defense. I've never been a big Dlo fan. He's very inconsistent on offense, and can't guard his shadow.

I totally understand what you are saying, and I wouldn't be upset if they take your approach. I would add that, they weren't crazy for trying the 3 star lineup, they just chose the wrong 3rd star. RW in his prime wouldn't be a good fit with LBJ and AD. Kyrie is a different animal when it comes to getting his own shot, and carrying an offense.

[BoulderSooner]

Originally Posted by jmizzy4ou

I agree with a lot of what you said here. Like I said, I wouldn't mortgage the future for Kyrie, but if he wants to come, and has a reasonable money expectation, I'm doing the deal.

I would hate to lose AR. Dennis & Russell don't do it for me. Dennis is a great bench guard to mostly play defense. I've never been a big Dlo fan. He's very inconsistent on offense, and can't guard his shadow.

I totally understand what you are saying, and I wouldn't be upset if they take your approach. I would add that, they weren't crazy for trying the 3 star lineup, they just chose the wrong 3rd star. RW in his prime wouldn't be a good fit with LBJ and AD. Kyrie is a different animal when it comes to getting his own shot, and carrying an offense.

kyrie at any price (as long as they keep AR and RH ) in a trade for Russell and Dennis is something i would do all day long ..

[jmizzy4ou]

Originally Posted by BoulderSooner

kyrie at any price (as long as they keep AR and RH ) in a trade for Russell and Dennis is something i would do all day long ..

[WichitaSooner]

Reaves is going to play for the US in the FIBA World Cup. Very nice honor for him and another sign of how well respected his game is.

[jmizzy4ou]

Originally Posted by WichitaSooner

Reaves is going to play for the US in the FIBA World Cup. Very nice honor for him and another sign of how well respected his game is.

[skyvue]

Originally Posted by WichitaSooner

Reaves is going to play for the US in the FIBA World Cup. Very nice honor for him and another sign of how well respected his game is.

Very cool.