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NLL Insider - Team by Team: Los Angeles Lakers

by badwolf, updated on Monday, October 10 2016, 05:33 pm EST


2015-16 Finish: 60-22 and the championship!

 

Season Highlight:

Back to back championships baby!

Once upon a time, it was rather easy to win an NLL championship. Everyone has one. Then came along the Juggernauts from Cleveland and made the repeating a thing in NLL. We were all happy when Lakers became combo breakers. No one wants the same boring story each season. Now, Lakers got a streak of their own. They met with the newcomer to the big party, Boston and won in six. Doesn't get much better than that. Lakers will try to milk their dynasty for another banner this year too.

 

Season Lowlight:

Were there any, really? Lakers started somewhat slow and Miguel was confabulating about white noise. It soon got better, or much better. Lakers finished with 3rd best record and got to 60 wins again. Then the Jarrett Jack disaster happened. However, they made a smart trade (look below) and righted the ship. They even got their favorite prospects in the draft at their late position(s). Maybe the dumping of four-fingered assassin by the NBA Heat? Then again, you have to spend points somehow.

 

Best Trade:

Jarrett Jack, Jeremy Lamb and 1st round pick (2018?) for George Hill

(The Brooklyn Nets send Zaza Pachulia, Ersan Ilyasova and Cedi Osman to the Denver Nuggets. The Brooklyn Nets send George Hill to the LA Lakers. The Denver Nuggets send Danilo Gallinari and Arsalan Kazemi to the Brooklyn Nets. The LA Lakers send Jarrett Jack and Jeremy Lamb to the Brooklyn Nets. The LA Lakers send a 1st-Rounder (LAL) to the Brooklyn Nets. )

 

In the end, this trade worked for everyone involved. Nevertheless, it only brought the championship to the Lakers. It happened after Jarrett Jack (a trade that brought Jack to Lakers the previous year was probably the most influential trade in NLL in 14/15 and brought the first championship to the Lakers) blew up his knee. Lakers were left without a starting point and had to look around the league for value. They've got a steal in Hill for a low price of Lamb (7 million bust? but ok in NLL) and a late 1st rounder. Kings GM Klemmelo got it right, "Daaaaamn Lakers! There you go again with the last missing piece..."

 

Worst Trade:

The LA Lakers send Darren Collison and James McAdoo to the New Orleans Pelicans. The New Orleans Pelicans send Jeremy Lamb and Shane Larkin to the LA Lakers.

Greeny gambled on the promise of Lamb in new environment. Didn't work out (yet?) and he had to re-trade him when he got his point guard issues. Would Lakers win a championship with Collison in Hill's place?

 

Other Notable Trades:

The LA Lakers send Raymond Felton to the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings send Courtney Lee to the LA Lakers.

The LA Lakers trade -6 GM points. The Sacramento Kings receive 6 GM points.

Should Lee trade be the best? Why would anyone trade Lee for Felton? League forum was confused too. "Thought Lee's worth more, guess Kings really need another PG", "Yeah, steal for the Lakers."

 

The LA Lakers send Gerald Henderson to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz send Mike Scott to the LA Lakers.

The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (LAL) and 2nd-Rounder (LAL) to the Utah Jazz.

The LA Lakers receive 28 GM points. The Utah Jazz trade -28 GM points.

               

The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (LAL) and 1st-Rounder (LAL) to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Charlotte Hornets trade -41 GM points.The LA Lakers receive 41 GM points.

 

Lakers really needed points for Chandler, which disappointed some ("Damn! now I have no shot at getting Tyson Chandler : ") while some thought it's clearly too much ("that's a ridiculous amount of points for this yield.")

 

Best FA Signing:

Manu, Green and Chandler all resigned. Manu, Green, Hill all decided to come back (were points thrown here?) and Chandler tested the free agency and got back on the power of GM points (mostly speculation from my part, my memory is not serving me well :D). Bringing back the veteran championship core was the obvious goal of the offseason and they were all major contributors in yet another title run. Chandler's contract is one of those big bad contracts in NBA, but he is still your defensive player of the year type of person in NLL.

 

Worst FA Signing:

Jonathon Simmons, Aron Baynes were the other free agents. Both great signings, solid depth at position of need, injury insurance. They automatically get assigned as the worst free agent signings by attrition, even as they both look like solid depth at least. There was also Copeland, but he was soon released and doesn't really count.

 

Star:

Gerald Green probably stands out as the biggest star of the Lakers dynasty and his return will surely be prioritized in the off-season (still 20+ ppg corer in preseason). Green was made for this team, great athleticism, wet shooting stroke, nice efficient all around numbers. Surrounded by defenders to hide his weakness on the other side. Was he wrongfully forgotten in the MVP race? Gerald was once out of the league playing in Russia and China, but he came back strong and is a 20+ ppg scorer in NLL since his return. We call him the 'Glitch'.

 

Surprise:

This is a veteran team and everyone played their role, no big surprises. Green obviously outperformed his NBA counterpart by a mile, but his production was in line with what he does in NLL when given minutes. Hill fit nicely in that lineup, but that didn't really surprise anyone. Maybe that Chandler is still an effective centerpiece of defense. C'mon, it's the NLL! I have one, Henry Sims played in 8 games, wasn't a disaster and earned his championship ring!

 

Goat:

Jarrett Jack might get his jersey retired for the NLL Lakers as he was the final piece that brought them 14/15 championship. He was planned as a clear starter this year. He started well but his ACL didn't last more than 30 games. Lakers rebounded well with George Hill and Jack was dumped to Nets.

 

Draft Report Card:

Lakers bought three late picks for cash and drafted two guys that could develop into solid contributors.

Malcolm Brogdon - How did Brogdon fall all the way to 49? He was taken 36th in NBA and was one of the more talked about sleepers in the predraft period. He's now looking at an expanded role for the NBA Bucks and could carve some minutes for the Lakers too.

Ben Bentil - Bentil is another guy that fell in the NLL draft. He is more of a project and might spend a year in NLLDL.

Tyrone Wallace - ok, who?

 

Upcoming Free Agents:

Gerald Green - first priority in free agency is yet again Gerald Green. The sharpshooter is the obvious key kog in any championship run and all the needed points will be thrown his way.

Manu Ginobili - Manu resigned for Spurs for the last time and is expected back on Lakers.

Courtney Lee - champs hope Lee comes back on the power of team success and playing time. Will there be any points left for him?

Jordan Hill - solid depth, but left Lakersin free agency. Another guy that might be let go.

Aaron Brooks - There's a premium on PGs in NLL; but he's not worth the points needed.

James Johnson - really just an end of the bench guy at this point.

Shane Larkin - restricted FA, but is he worth a roster spot?

 

Looking at the future

Lakers are obviously one of the teams to beat this season. their roster is rather boring, but full of proven NLL veterans that work well together. Nicely built mixture of scoring (Green, Young) and defense (mostly anyone else). Defense wins championship, right? Dare I foreshadow a three-peat? Nag, it's the Chinese year of the buck.

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