2019-2020 NBA Season Thread

[dirt_dobber]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I'm not sure why people think the Lakers' supporting cast is bad. Maybe you've only watched the two Mavs games? I'm pretty confident that I've probably watched them more than anyone else on this forum- I watch almost every game. Caruso, Caldwell-Pope, McGgee, Howard, and the even the infamous Rajon Rondo are all solid role-players who've done really well. Rondo has actually developed a respectable outside shot too. The Lakers have been a well-oiled machine, and it's not just Lebron and AD. And the weird thing is, the guys who should be their two best supporting players- Kuzma and Bradley- have been underperforming. So as good as the Lakers have been so far, they still have clear room for improvement, which is scary to think about.

I still think the Clippers at full strength are the better team, but the idea that the Lakers are a shallow team with only Lebron and AD next to a bunch of scrubs is a misconception.

I see where you are coming from and I too watch a ton of NBA games.
The Lakers bench is rated #21 (Mavs #7) (and rockets at dead last!!!) http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball...s/19/7/diffeff
and the Lakers 3 point attempts are near the bottom as well at #24 (btw - look at the teams below them) not sure they can put up the points needed in a playoff series.
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/sta...mpted-per-game

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

I see where you are coming from and I too watch a ton of NBA games.
The Lakers bench is rated #21 (Mavs #7) (and rockets at dead last!!!) http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball...s/19/7/diffeff
and the Lakers 3 point attempts are near the bottom as well at #24 (btw - look at the teams below them) not sure they can put up the points needed in a playoff series.
https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/sta...mpted-per-game

It's a fair point, and I certainly don't mean to suggest that the Lakers' bench is great, or even particularly good. When people say "supporting cast" I take that to mean their starters outside of Lebron and AD as well. My only point is that their team as a whole plays really well together. They do need more reliable shooting and they need a quality scorer off the bench. That's where Kuzma and Bradley have been missing. Kuzma is supposed to be their quality sixth man, but either he hasn't figured that role out or he just doesn't fit there. And Bradley is supposed to be a very reliable 3pt shooter, but this year he's shooting a putrid .235. If and when those two guys start playing to their potential, the Lakers could destroy anything in their path. If not, look for the Lakers to start shopping Kuzma around.

The Clippers definitely have more depth, but that says more about how really freaking good the Clippers' roster is than about how bad the Lakers' roster is. The Clippers have pretty easily the deepest roster in the league. The Celtics are probably the only real comparison.