[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, welcome everybody to the Lakers Legacy podcast where come one come all Kominga still regardless of where Jonathan Kominga stands welcome officially to the dog days of summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Jonathan Hernandez and I too am tired of talking about JK Jonathan Kominga,
[SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Kominga, watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: But today's episode, I mainly want to talk about the roster as a whole, what the Lakers did this offseason with their new additions.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to take a step back.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've been thinking a little bit more about the moves that how the Lakers moved.
[SPEAKER_00]: And whether it was intentional or not, I feel like they moved differently this summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: They move differently, a little bit off-brand in some ways, they move like the Lakers, but in totality, I felt like this was a different summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it may end up working out in the Lakers' favor.
[SPEAKER_00]: We shall see, I'll try and put my purple and gold tinted glasses on to give you guys sort of my assessment of what we've done thus far, because again, we're not done, coming gun, notwithstanding, and all that, plan B, coming gun,
[SPEAKER_00]: plans.
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, that's mainly what we'll talk about.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll go through the commingos stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: The latest updates on Jonathan comminga, why nothing has been done yet, what the snag could be.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll also take a look at one, we'll take an updated look on the plan B options that the lakeers could be looking at.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we'll take a quick look at the lakeers 2027, 28 cap books.
[SPEAKER_00]: To sort of illuminate why the lakers have sort of drawn a hardline stance, drawn a line in the sand with regards to how much they're willing to pay Jonathan coming up and why that correlates directly towards their summer 2027 28 plans because believe it or not, they are thinking about that already so we'll talk a little bit about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then for the latter half of the show, if we have some time, I'll go through some mailbag Q&A stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll try and sift through the chat.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you guys have any questions, topics, trade ideas, players, you want to talk about, shoot them in the chat.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't guarantee that I'll be able to get to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you want to guarantee that I, you know, shout you out or bring your question up, then a super chatter, super things is the best way to get that done because the chat literally highlights that for me and sections it off into, you know, a different area.
[SPEAKER_00]: So with that said, that'll be the agenda of the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about the Lakers.
[SPEAKER_00]: zagging this offseason, the we're going to take a step back and I'll give you guys my fresh assessment now that the dust has settled on the lakeers moves.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about Jonathan Kominga update.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about the Jonathan Kominga backup plan B forwards and why I think the lakeers are only targeting a very specific subset of plan B forwards and then we'll go through mailbag Q&A stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we get to all of that, once again, this is Jonathan Hernandez if the Lakers Legacy podcast, if before we move on any further, if I could please ask you guys to like this video, comment down below, drum up the engagement by, did I just say comment down below?
[SPEAKER_00]: If I didn't comment down below, match the hype button,
[SPEAKER_00]: But most importantly, if you could please hit subscribe, that would help me out a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you guys are checking this out on X, if you could do me a favor and open up your YouTube app on your phone really quickly, make sure that you're not already subscribed to the Lakers Legacy on YouTube.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you weren't hit the subscribe button and yeah, that would help me out a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the other thing that I wanna bring up is, not sure if you guys know this or not sure if you guys know this, but the Lakers Legacy,
[SPEAKER_00]: is a podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I say welcome to the Lakers Legacy podcast every show, but I think a lot of my recent following on YouTube have no idea that this has been a long running podcast since 2015 and whatever you see or here in this video box, you can also listen to audio wise on Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you find podcasts and just wanted to bring that up because if you're on the move on the go if you're running errands.
[SPEAKER_00]: and you don't have time to, or it's unsafe to, you know, bring up the YouTube app to watch my face for whatever reason.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can listen to this show on the Apple Podcast app, Spotify, Google Play, et cetera, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just actually updated our logo art.
[SPEAKER_00]: It used to be a picture of Kobe Bryant lobbying it up to LeBron James.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the Lakers Legacy podcast history of logo art, it's always been, you know, Kobe plus someone new from, you know, the Lakers new era in an iconic moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I finally got to updating and designing a new logo for the Lakers Legacy podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just a reminder that if you're on the move, you're on the go, you want to listen to this audio wise, you can do so.
[SPEAKER_00]: via Apple podcasts, and if you would also do me a favor, and, you know, rate us five stars, give us a rating and review.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think right now we've been stuck at 491 Apple's review, Apple reviews for like the last year and a half or so.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get us to 500, and I'd be super happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would never have to check.
[SPEAKER_00]: the Apple rating and reviews again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, that's a quick plug for the podcast because again, this is a podcast, even though a lot of my work has been happening on YouTube.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can listen to all of this on Apple iTunes, Spotify, et cetera, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, with all that house cleaning and plugging out of the way, what I wanted to talk about,
[SPEAKER_00]: before we get to the coming of stuff, because it sounds like a lot of you guys are tired of the coming of stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, as I run through this show, if you want to contribute to a mailbag Q&A, toss out any questions, toss out any topics you want me to cover.
[SPEAKER_00]: If we don't get to it in this episode, I'll save it for a pure mailbag Q&A episode in the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: But first, I want to talk about the Lakers paradigm shifting this off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think,
[SPEAKER_00]: And I may be spinning a bit of a narrative for sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not sure whether the lake is intended this to be the case or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: But however way they intended, I feel like the additions that they made this summer beyond the obvious signal a paradigm shift of sorts in the way that they evaluate players, the type of roster that they're looking to build,
[SPEAKER_00]: viewpoint on acquiring talent that I think is a little bit refreshing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'll sort of ramble my way through this.
[SPEAKER_00]: But first, yes, let's take a look at the Lakers new additions this off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so I'll just run it down.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here are the Lakers new additions this summer,
[SPEAKER_00]: Up top obviously our biggest acquisition is Walker Kessler.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's 25 years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's making $30 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: Next up in terms of salary is Quentin Grimes, 13.9 million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: About a million below the non-tax pair Emily.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's still only 26 years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: Next up, we've got Sandra Mamo-Kellish Vili, 13 million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: He by far had the biggest pay bump of any new addition.
[SPEAKER_00]: On this roster, Colin Sexton, 27 years old, he got the $9.3 million room, Emily.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we got a bunch of sort of bargain bin veteran minimum contracts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaden Hardy, this is incorrect.
[SPEAKER_00]: This should say $6 million for Jaden Hardy, my apologies.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just had to whip this up really quickly before this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaden Hardy should be next on this list, $6 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers obviously acquired him in the DeAndre 18.
[SPEAKER_00]: trade.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to, sorry, I need to fix this because this is kind of annoying me.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I have time I'll fix this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so we got Jayden Hardy next $6 million after that we've got a bunch of we got several veteran minimum bargain bin deals in Matisse Thibault, 29 years old veteran minimum, Zire Williams, 24 years old veteran minimum, Kavon Looney, the oldest of the bunch our sage veteran
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Jared Dudley, Max Eclipse of next year's team 30 years old veteran minimum.
[SPEAKER_00]: Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, San Drew, Mama Kellish, Vili, Colin Sexton, Matisse Thibel, Ziya Williams, Jaden Hardy, Kavan Looney, that is, is that eight editions, obviously asterisk on Jaden Hardy, because he will likely, in my opinion, not finish out this season as a Laker, will likely be added in a consolidation trade, whether before training camp or at the deadline, because he is an expiring six million dollars, the Lakers do have a team option on him
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I mean, there's a 1% chance they pick it up, but I doubt it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if we take a look at what the lake is did this, I mean, this is more than half of the roster that's brand new, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: 8 guys,
[SPEAKER_00]: seven, if you don't include Jayden Hardy.
[SPEAKER_00]: The oldest player being Kavon Looney, but everybody else is under 30 years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're in the sweet spot of, you know, 25 to 28 year old guys who still have a lot of juice and a lot of run in them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reason why I want to say, the reason why I think the lakers are being sort of underrated in a sense,
[SPEAKER_00]: is because the lakers had a very non-lakersie summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what I mean by that is, typically the lakers will go out and get the sexiest name, they'll get the name brand name, they'll get guys that have been undeniably amazing the last season, that's so obvious, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's funny because, you know, Lakers fans are never satisfied.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the Lakers had just gone out and done the obvious thing and like sort of star hunted once again, we would have rolled their eyes and been a Rob Polinka.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, he's going to go after this guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, he's going to go after that guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even within this list, there are some very Rob Polinka e-names for sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are still some Lakers on brand names.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think if you take a zoom out look,
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like the Lakers kind of went more under the radar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, obviously, they had a slant this off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the slant was get younger players, get better two way, two dimensional players who can play on both ends of the court and are not strictly one dimensional guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: They got more athleticism.
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are the main things, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think the Lakers had an initiative to be like, let's try and be a little bit more hipster.
[SPEAKER_00]: But having said that, and again, I don't necessarily know whether they intended to do this, but I feel like the Lakers went the non-sexy route this off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And,
[SPEAKER_00]: The Jonathan coming the chase not with standing and I'll get to that in a bit, I kind of like that the Lakers sort of put their head down and went to work and sort of drowned out the noise from the fans, the media that that we're telling them they should have done this, they should have done that, they overpaid for Walker Kessler, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: The biggest thing that I, and I don't know if this is going to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I, this could all go to shit and blow up in our faces.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I do want to credit the Lakers for and Rob Polinka and Mark Welter, the new personnel that they brought in.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I do want to credit them for is they had a vision.
[SPEAKER_00]: They ran with it and they said, D graph to whatever you think we should do.
[SPEAKER_00]: because at the very, that's all I wanted to know this summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not it works out, whether or not they could have been better about how they allocated their money or their assets, we shall see.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the biggest thing that I sort of wanna just credit the front office with, yeah, is the fact that,
[SPEAKER_00]: they for once kind of it felt like they were rowing in the same direction, even with regards to the Lebron James of it all.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you wanted Lebron James back then you're not happy with, you know, what the front office did.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the Lakers were, you know, very steadfast in what they wanted to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to go back to, I feel like the Lakers zaged a little bit and
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe are showing us a different way forward that I think we should be embracing, because it feels like we didn't go the tired name brand route.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Walker Kestler is obviously the biggest name that we signed and traded for, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But even if you look at him versus Jalen Durin, who's the sexier name brand name?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's the name that has more pedigree?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's actually gone to the playoffs, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Jalen Durin was a lot of pick, Walker Kester was a later number 20's pick, even between those two names, even if you're a Lakers fan and you probably in your opinion are like, well, Walker Kester was the better one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, from an outside perspective, if you lined up Jalen Durin and Walker Kester, I think most people would tell you, Jalen Durin is the sexier name who has, who's actually gone to the playoffs before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Walker Kester hasn't done anything yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, the Lakers still double down.
[SPEAKER_00]: They still said, I don't care.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to use Jalen during as a smokescreen.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if given the choice, we would rather go with Walker Kessler.
[SPEAKER_00]: So even with the Lakers' biggest name acquisition this summer, they kind of went the unproven hipster name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not this will work out for them, I'm not sure, but at the very least, they looked at the analytics.
[SPEAKER_00]: They looked at what they really needed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they said, we value
[SPEAKER_00]: the defensive anchor that Walker Kessler can provide us with over Jalen Durin.
[SPEAKER_00]: His bigger resume, his greater resume than Walker Kessler, the fact that he can score better, the fact that he's been to the playoffs, the fact that he has better pedigree as a former lot of pick, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They went the hipster route, even with their big name acquisition and Walker Kessler.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hipster
[SPEAKER_00]: Quentin Grimes, so many fans have been moaned this signing because he had a down year with the sixers.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think Quentin Grimes would have been more of a sure fire-lakers pick, like name brand pick.
[SPEAKER_00]: If they had signed him right after his 28 game stretch with the Philadelphia 76ers where he averaged like 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, and then the lakers that summer like overpaid for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would have been a very laker move to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's funny that the Lakers, even after a down year for Quentin Grimes coming off of the bench, not obviously not living up to that second half of the season stretch, Luther in a riot stretch with the sixers when he first got acquired by the sixers, the Lakers still signed him, you know, gave him 13.9 million dollars, which, again, I think is a bargain deal because it's below the non-tax pair MLE.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in my opinion, the Lakers said to hell with whatever advanced analytics you want to throw at us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We know Quentin Grimes as the 3ND player that the New York Knicks drafted, who the Dallas Mavericks acquired to slot next to Luca, and we're banking more on that than whatever down year he had with the sixers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're also not necessarily
[SPEAKER_00]: solely focusing on that 2023-25 game stretch with the Sixers.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just like that he's a stable, well-balanced, all-around player, and we're going to put our money where our mouth is and sign Quentin Grimes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, Quentin Grimes, not the sexiest player out there.
[SPEAKER_00]: He would have been very sexy after that 25 game stretch with the Sixers, but after a down-year, again, not many people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Quentin Grimes is not a household name, is what I'm trying to say, and yet the Lakers committed to him three years,
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the most hipstery moneyball player that the Lakers signed this off season, Sondro, Spelling Check, Mammal Killish Vili, $13 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is someone in the Lakers front office, someone knew that they hired who vouched for this dude and was like this guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to all of the advanced analytics and per 36 numbers per 100 possessions,
[SPEAKER_00]: And it may seem like an overpay at $13 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: But after this season, I think we're going to get him at a bargain.
[SPEAKER_00]: We might as well just lock this dude up.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we should lock him up long-term.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Sandra is signing to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, this could explode in our faces.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because to go from a veteran minimum guy to all of a sudden, $13 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's not a crazy thing, but it's a little bit of a gamble, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And there are still a large faction of fans.
[SPEAKER_00]: Myself included would have been like, I don't know, I still feel like Ruiz better.
[SPEAKER_00]: Time will tell, we shall see.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I still kind of commend the Lakers for being like, I don't know, we like this dude.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have identified this guy as someone that money ball, momoo, somebody that we can money ball with and someone who can grow into this contract as soon as, the first half of this season and fans will see that very quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: So even from that end, I feel like the Sandra pick maybe signals to
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers looking outside of the box more, looking more at the analytics, trusting some of their scouting, which I believe prior to this Mark Walters regime, the Lakers didn't have an actual pro personnel scout scouting other players already in the NBA, which is sort of wild.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like maybe that has changed as indicated by the stondromomu signing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, Sandra to me is probably the biggest example of, hey, this feels a little bit different.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if the lakers may start looking at more dark horse money ball targets.
[SPEAKER_00]: We shall see.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then again, mom who could end up being like, Timothy Mozgov.
[SPEAKER_00]: Having said that, Timothy Mozgov, the contracts were not the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: The lakers pretty much gave Mozgov half of their cap space.
[SPEAKER_00]: That summer, the other half, the Lou Web Dang.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the $13 million is not that much of a,
[SPEAKER_00]: of a risk, or a gamble, even if he falls flat on his face.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, Sondro is a player to definitely monitor moving forward, because if he hits, to me, that's like, hey, the Lakers didn't go for a name brand.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, they went for a name that nobody could spell or pronounce correctly.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so for that, give them credit.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I don't know, I like the Mamusigning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Colin Sexton.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now Colin Sexton is a little bit of a remnant of, you can't have it all, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not everything is going to change overnight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Colin Sexton is probably ironically the Sextoniest name on this list, the sexiest name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Definitely a Rob Polinka pick.
[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like, you know, out of the new acquisitions, they probably split the baby a little bit or split the pie and we're like, all right, you get a guy that you like, you can pick, you get a guy, new rocket scientists from the
[SPEAKER_00]: Me, Rob Belinka, I'm going with a combo guard in Colin Sexton.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Colin Sexton may be not, you know, a great example of the Lakers thinking outside of the box, but I will say they got him at a discount, you know, it's it's a talent play.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers at the end of the day are always going to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will never fully delve into Oklahoma City Thunder depths of that was a deep cut.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was a super dark horse.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was a dude in the G league that we've been monitoring for three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was a dude overseas that we're going to bring over.
[SPEAKER_00]: The leaders I feel like are never going to be that because they live in Los Angeles.
[SPEAKER_00]: They are a legacy franchise in brand.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will always attract sort of no matter how much we want to get away from the name brand
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think the Lakers can fully get away from that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But having said that Colin Sexton, they got him at a cheap deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the dude has been very good and very solid the last couple of years.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you can get that guy coming off of your bench at just $9.3 million, the room, MLE, I feel like that's something that they opted to take.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, obviously a lot of us would have wanted Marcus smart in this position for the veteran leadership, the the culture play and just the fact that he played very well last season.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, the name brand still goes with Marcus Smart.
[SPEAKER_00]: If we're assessing, well, we're the Lakers on brand this season with regards to just going for the big names.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it would have been easier to bring back Marcus Smart.
[SPEAKER_00]: I still think it would have been the smarter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Move to bring back Marcus Smart.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the Lakers, again, put their head down.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had a vision, and they said, we want younger guys who can go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Say what you want about Colin Sexton and his messy defense, his bad defensive analytics.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a bull, he's the young bull.
[SPEAKER_00]: He will bring the motor, he will move his feet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you put him in a scheme that protects him, especially with Walker Custer in the back line, I think you can utilize his scrappiness, his frenetic scrappiness.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and I think the lakers were right about whether or not they'd be as lucky this upcoming season with Marcus Smart's health because that was the first season in the last three years that he played like 60 plus games.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they opted to cut their losses at that point.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we've got Matiz Thibel, this one I love because he's sort of like the culture replacement for Marcus Smart, but also if he hits health wise, he's the on court replacement for Marcus Smart.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Matiz Thibel is a guy who, by this point, he's established a name for himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's established a resume.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't necessarily think this is like a dark horse money ball target, but I just like that the
[SPEAKER_00]: a guy like Matisse who is still young, he's like a young veteran, but someone who sort of fits the culture that they're trying to build.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the other thing that I feel like, I feel a little bit refreshed about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, we'll get to the Jonathan coming over this off because I don't necessarily think he fits what we're trying to build here, but with regards to JJ Reddick's personality and the, the type of basketball discourse that he's sort of thrown out there in the media, the guys that he's had on his podcast, Mattie's liable of very much fits.
[SPEAKER_00]: the J.J. Reddick sort of cult of personality thing that he's been growing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just the types of like highly intellectual articulate, but also thoughtful guys on and off the court, who I think will be very beneficial to all of the young dudes on this team, not the least of which the Lakers rookie Cam Carr, guys like Chris Minion, who I feel like resembles Matisse Thibel, the most, even though he's smaller than Matisse.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then obviously a new hero who could very much use a lot of Matisse's
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's liable, not a money ball, dark horse target.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just glad that the Lakers actually singled out, singled him out as a veteran to target.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in Zaira Williams, Zaira Williams is tricky because he was a former Lato pick, number 10, and Roppelinka also has a pensioned for acquiring former Lato picks because they do have that pedigree to their name, and obviously Sierra Canyon, et cetera, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I won't necessarily put Ziya Williams in the Moneyball Dark Horse Camp, because again, it is on brand for Rob Polinka to trade for or sign a lot of pick reclamation projects.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: I like the Zire Williams flyer because we desperately needed a six foot nine guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, he's kind of like the six foot nine version of Malik Monk, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He hasn't done anything that note where the even though he has steadily improved his three point shooting and his averages the last couple of seasons.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the the lakeers identified hey, we desperately need some wing sized point of attack defense, you know, he's not a starter for sure, but he's six foot eight point two five without shoes six foot nine on the court with a near seven foot wing span and the best thing that he does defensively is jump passing lanes, you know, and create defensive havoc, that's a type of young guy that we could use and he's still only 24 years old, right, so there's iron Williams another flyer that I liked.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jaden Hardy is just collateral damage in the DeAndre 18 trade and actually the DeAndre 18 trade.
[SPEAKER_00]: To me, that was a smart shrewd move.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know if anything keeping DeAndre would have been more on brand for the Lakers because he's a name guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: They got him for cheap.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was pretty helpful to them last season.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the Lakers identified.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't want to go through any potential problems in the locker room moving forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though I don't think DeAndre Aidson was a cancer at all, I just think they saw the signs with regards to this guy's not going to be happy playing back up, you know, and we actually could use more assets.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for all of the Lakers fans who continually, you know, count the tally of how many assets Rob Polinka has lost.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those same people never seem to bring up the fact that Rappalinka, whenever he's needed second round picks, has always been able to materialize them out of his butt.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, whether it's buying a second round pick, I don't know where for Max Christie.
[SPEAKER_00]: for a do-fiero and then buying back 19 spots into the second round because if you remember a do-fiero, he bought the 46-pick first.
[SPEAKER_00]: He went from 55 to 46 down to 36, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So he essentially moved 19 spots up in the second round and then trading Thomas Bryant for Dave on Reed and
[SPEAKER_00]: And then most recently, trading DeAndre8 and a player that people did not think we could get assets for for Jayden Hardy and two second round picks, not just any second round picks, two Washington wizards, yummy second round picks in 2031 and 2032, I believe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are good second round picks.
[SPEAKER_00]: So anyways, I just bring that up because a lot of people, oh, Rob Blake, he wasted another second round pick.
[SPEAKER_00]: We keep giving up second round picks.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, whenever he's needed them, he's been able to get them pretty easily and in ways that you probably didn't anticipate.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I like the Jaden Hardy move when we're able to consolidate him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And once again, he can be aggregated into larger deals.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's an expiring six million dollar contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: The biggest thing here is that we got second round picks out of this deal that we can
[SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Kominga, maybe Jonathan Kominga himself or the plan B forward of four Jonathan Kominga.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we got to ask it out of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kavan Looney, I mean, this is the signing that I'm kind of like most whatever's at, but I do like that he has always been a great locker room presence and someone that the younger heads and the NBA will sort of listen to.
[SPEAKER_00]: So anyways, all that to say,
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I understand that I'm sort of weaving the narrative in my head.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't necessarily think the lakers were intentional about being a little bit more money-ballied this offseason.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do think they won.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one, they had a vision.
[SPEAKER_00]: They stuck to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they're continuing to stick with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think they were less concerned about name brand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just guys you've known before and just star chasing and previous resumes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they were a little bit more thoughtful in how they compiled this roster, whether or not it works out because a lot of these guys are sort of, the liquors are taking bets on younger players, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Even Walker Kestler hasn't gone to the playoffs and hasn't necessarily shown us anything with regards to, can he do this at the next level, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: These are a lot of guys that the liquors have met made bets on, but in that sense, I'm kind of excited because I think,
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm hoping that they did their homework.
[SPEAKER_00]: And at the very least, it's a refreshing new approach as opposed to this guy's 31 years old, but we know that he's tried and true.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's done it before, Luca needs to win now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kelly Ubrae, here we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: John Collins, here we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, kind of like, I wouldn't say they're like,
[SPEAKER_00]: they've sort of feel like shredded names in some senses.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the Lakers just wanted a clean slate of younger hungry guys who can grow and have a little bit of upside that they've identified.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, guys that they're, it's not great to take chances on unproven players, but to the extent that the Lakers took chances on some unproven guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they,
[SPEAKER_00]: sort of outline players that they really think will hit and these are not bad contracts at the end of the day.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are contracts that they can flip for better pieces down the line.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's kind of my very long-winded diet drive on why I think I kind of like the approach that the lakers have gone with, where a previous Rob Polinka offseason probably would have been,
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's get the guy that you know in.
[SPEAKER_00]: who's the guy like Kelly Ubrae or like the the biggest names out there, the Lakers kind of just identified their guys very early on, like even before we trade or even before we sign in trade for Walker Kessler, who are the two names they identified, Sandra Mammu Kellishvili and Quentin Grimes.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like who those are the guys, but clearly the Lakers thought about this and at the very least, I appreciate that approach.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, when we turn our sights to the
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the one name that I'm kind of like, oh, that kind of feels like, that feels like Lakers on brand, name value sort of a name value sort of play.
[SPEAKER_00]: That feels like a Rob Polinka typical move like, let's just sign Jonathan Kominga because he's a talent play.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as I mentioned earlier, where the Lakers will never fully get away from that, but even regards to the Jonathan Kominga of it all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am actually, I actually commend the Lakers for not being as thirsty and desperate over this guy as the media and the fan seemed to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: And how do we know that they're not thirsty for this guy?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's because they're only willing to give him $10 million and they're not willing to sort of bump up his pay.
[SPEAKER_00]: So clearly, even they understand the risks that come with Kaminga, come with Kaminga, no pun intended.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad that they are not unbended knee crawling and begging for this due to come.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because again, they have to think about their culture.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're trying to build something here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even they have to know that this coming a chase feels a little bit Christian woody, the Andre Aetani.
[SPEAKER_00]: As opposed to even last season, when the Lakers signed,
[SPEAKER_00]: DeAndre 810 and Marcus smart like that felt like a very lakeers off season to me, you know, getting rid of a guy like Jordan Goodwin, which was the dark horse money ball guy that you kind of identified the diamond in the rough, you got rid of him for name brand Marcus smart DeAndre 810 jakele radio was kind of like splitting the difference in terms of like, okay, let's get a young flyer that, you know, is a little bit more money bally.
[SPEAKER_00]: but as even as opposed to last off season, I feel like the lakers have gone in this sort of we're going younger, we want to clean slate, we want guys that can grow together, but also we don't care if it's not a name brand that is so obvious to people that they should be earning this amount of money or that they
[SPEAKER_00]: should already have the type of resume that people expect them to have.
[SPEAKER_00]: The lake is just, you know, put their head down and said, you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's roll with this group.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is our vision.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are the players that we've identified fit next to Luca Donchich.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come Hell or High Water.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're committed.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've done it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here we are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, again, long-winded way of saying, I'm
[SPEAKER_00]: pleased with the process and the approach that the Lakers took this off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens with Jonathan Kominga?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about him after the turn.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get into why the Lakers are not budging.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll look at plan B options.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll look at the Lakers 2027 28 books to sort of outline why the Lakers aren't budging on Kominga's salary.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that'll do it for this section.
[SPEAKER_00]: My long-winded section of saying, the Lakers zag this off season, but I think they've left us some bread crumbs into maybe
[SPEAKER_00]: a wider, new vision and approach moving forward with regards to identifying personnel that aren't just name brand guys with a little bit more thoughtfulness, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: In some senses, kind of like the way that they fail to sign coi Leonard back in 2019, when they traded for Anthony Davis, the Lakers almost fell, asked backwards into a sort of
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, dark horse, not dark horse, but they kind of fell ass backwards into a better, uh, more well balanced plan with getting guys like KCP, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Dwight Howard.
[SPEAKER_00]: In some senses, I feel like the Lakers
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the Lakers new era version of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not the sexiest we didn't get our co-wide Leonard White Whale, even though Walker Kessler kind of fits that description and also he's white.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, even Walker Kessler in comparison to Jaylander and was not the sexy name.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think we landed in a place where not the sexiest names, not the most easiest names to pronounce, but
[SPEAKER_00]: maybe a very well-balanced roster that can grow together and build something special around the name brand guys like Luca Donchich and Austin Reeves.
[SPEAKER_00]: So with that said, I'll cap this section out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna pitch it to a couple of sponsors.
[SPEAKER_00]: While I do that, if I could please ask you guys to like this video,
[SPEAKER_00]: Comment down below, mash the hype button, but most importantly, please hit subscribe.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would greatly appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to drink some water and then we'll come back and talk about Jonathan comming over.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please do me a favor and hit subscribe while I do that one second.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so we are back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about, I mean, we have to talk about him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about Jonathan Kaminka.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as we're doing this, doesn't look like I'm gonna have time to get to some mailbag Q&A stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, if super chats and super things are always welcome, and if you throw that my way, I will definitely save it for a future mailbag Q&A.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll probably do a mailbag Q&A next
[SPEAKER_00]: week because I don't want to have to prep for prep too much for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of winding down the coverage this offseason and I dust building you to take a break for my sanity.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, let's talk about Jonathan Kominga, the latest news from
[SPEAKER_00]: Coming is end is that I'm sure you guys have seen it by now, but Keith Smith.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if he was reporting this, but he pretty much surmised that the Hawks are down to do a coming assign and trade.
[SPEAKER_00]: If not for Vando, then for Jaden Hardy and Dalton Connect and Jake LaRavia or whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're willing to do it for draft capital.
[SPEAKER_00]: The pick swap seconds, whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: The holdup is more from
[SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Kominga's camp because the Lakers do not want to give Kominga a
[SPEAKER_00]: 17 to $20 million per year contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, in a sign-and-trade, the Lakers would have to sign Commingah to a three-year deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first year has to be fully guaranteed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next two years can be non-guarancy, but those won't be player options, and that doesn't necessarily benefit Commingah.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything that puts the control in the Lakers hands, and from Commingah's camp,
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't want to sign a three year, $15 million per year average annual salary deal with the Lakers.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, if they were to sign a contract like that, they just want it to be one year so that he can go back into the market and secure more money.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, the problem is, the only route for the Lakers to get Jonathan Kominga, unless he signs for the veteran minimum, is for him to,
[SPEAKER_00]: do a sign-and-trade, which again, three years required.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is where we stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is why there is a stalemate currently.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it does sound like if the lakers are willing to bump up Jonathan Kominga's first year salary or averaged annual salary of that deal to around $18 million, I feel like this would be done.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again,
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind of glad that the Lakers have drawn a line in the sand with regards to how much they're willing to pay coming up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because again, this is sort of a risk on the Lakers and to sign this dude to a three-year deal and be kind of locked into him.
[SPEAKER_00]: So for them, they're like, OK, we're willing to do that for $15 million per, but at $18 to $20 million for the next three years, it could be a situation where we're having to
[SPEAKER_00]: attach assets on to Kominga to get off of him in the future, you know, if things don't pan out.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's where we currently stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: And according to
[SPEAKER_00]: Kobe Price, a Lakers beat reporter.
[SPEAKER_00]: He mentions that the Lakers could pivot to Calcusma or DeAndre Hunter as trade options, if Jonathan Kominga doesn't work out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kings forward DeAndre Hunter and Bucks forward Calcusma, who was with the Lakers from 27 to 21, and won the 2020 championship with the franchise, stand out as the best trade option.
[SPEAKER_00]: So not necessarily a report, but more of an opinion, and we'll get into the plan B,
[SPEAKER_00]: forwards that the Lakers could sort of direct their eye towards in lieu of Jonathan coming up because I do think they're only looking at a specific brand of forwards that Calcusma and DeAndre Hunter fit.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll get to that in a second but first I want to show you guys the Lakers 2027, 28 capbooks to sort of outline why the Lakers have taken a hardline stance on not giving coming a 17 to 20 million
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so this is, this is the Lakers, 2027, 28 Capbooks.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is from my friend, Yazie Goslin.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know him as the cap strategist on X at Yazie Goslin at third apron, check out capsheets.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I kind of took his sheet and made it a little bit easier to read by putting all of the necessary information on here.
[SPEAKER_00]: But essentially what you need to know, this is the Lakers, 2027, 28 Capbooks, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Jared Vanderbilt has a player option.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's likely going to take that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Colin Sexton has a player option, $9.8 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: It might be the case that he ops out of that if he has a good year.
[SPEAKER_00]: but let's just assume that he takes that, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, Dalton Connect has a team option.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jayden Hardy has a team option.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers also have team options on a do-fiero and Ronnie James for simplicity's sake in his cap sheet, Yazzy Gawson has already gone ahead and guaranteeing those deals.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in the event that,
[SPEAKER_00]: Things remain status quo, guys are not moved out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, with this 12-man roster of Luca Austin, Kessler Grimes, Vando, Mamu, Sexton, Connect, Hardy, Camcar, Adufiro, and Brani James.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if it's not Brani James, it would just be a veteran minimum guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in that 12-man roster,
[SPEAKER_00]: That would put the Lakers at $199 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the first April next year will be set at $220 million, $220.4.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why this number is important is because
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers only avenue of bringing in new talent next year rests on their ability to use the non-tax pair MLE of $15.8 million and they can also use the buy annual exception of $5.7 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are the two numbers to sort of focus on.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers want to be able to use those contracts.
[SPEAKER_00]: But right now with
[SPEAKER_00]: These 12 guys on the books, the Lakers are only $21 million below the first apron of 220.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, again, we can open up more money if Colin Sextonops opts out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, we don't pick up Dalton and Jaden Hardies contracts, but you would have to assume that those players are going out in a deal for a guy like Jonathan Kominga, and those that money will be eaten up anyways.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, and sorry if this is a little bit two in the weeds are confusing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But right now, we only have $21 million of space between where we're netting out contract wise and the first apron.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you use the non-tax pair Emily, you are hard capped at the first apron.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you have to fit everything under 220.4.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's say right now, if we use, if the liquor's used the $15.8 million non-tax pair Emily,
[SPEAKER_00]: fast math, that would push them to $214 million, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: So they would be able to use the biannual exception, but they would have no room else to do anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's going to be very, very close.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is sort of what the Lakers are trying to forecast and project for with regards to bringing in any additional salary that lasts beyond this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's do a quick, like, let's say the Lakers trade Jared Vanderbilt, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's say the Lakers give Jonathan Kominga the $19 million that he's asking for.
[SPEAKER_00]: In that respect, then pretty much take Jared Vanderbilt's $13 million ad, J. and Hardy's $6 million, that's $19 million, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So it would essentially be Jonathan Kominga in Vando and Hardy's spots.
[SPEAKER_00]: and we would still get to what $199, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But we're still pressing up very closely to that first apron and we might not have the ability to use both the non-tax pair Emily of $15.8 million or the buy annual exception of $5.7 million because you also have to keep into account that
[SPEAKER_00]: If we trade Vando and Hardy and bring in Jonathan Kominga, then we'd only have like what 11 players on the roster, 10 players on the roster, and we would still need to account for filling out three or four guys at the veteran minimum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And at that point, every salary counts.
[SPEAKER_00]: on the Lakers books as we inch closer and closer up to the first apron.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the Lakers need to have enough room to not only use the non-tax pair MLE, but have enough money and space to be able to sign three or four veteran minimum contracts, as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's kind of why
[SPEAKER_00]: If they're going to trade for John of the Kominga, they want to set it at a salary like at around Jared Vanderbilt salary, $13 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that they can continue to have enough space because even if they get rid of Dalton Connect and Jaden Hardy's team options and they all of a sudden materialize $12 million of space between where they're at in the first apron, that money is just
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I do think they want to try and the buy annual exception is less of a concern, but I do think they want to be able to use their full non-tax pair Emily of 15.8 million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm guessing they also want to try and open up the 5.7 million dollar buy annual exception as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you put those two exceptions together and the Lakers essentially have to account for nearly
[SPEAKER_00]: 21 million dollars of space, which is where they're at right now as a currently stance, but again, you have to take into account that if Vando goes out, if Dalton Connect goes out, that's likely going to be Jonathan Kominga's new salary or insert player that the Lakers trade for at the deadline.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just something that, you know, to keep a lookout for,
[SPEAKER_00]: because and someone mentioned it, the lakers would also be bringing in some rookies as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that also will, you know, eat into how much tap space they have because the laker, well, actually, you know what, the lakers don't have a first round pick next year.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will probably buy a second rounder, but their 2027 first is with Memphis right now via Utah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Although if the lakers have a terrible season, the lakers do own their
[SPEAKER_00]: Top 4 protection on that 2027 first.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if somehow everything goes wrong next season and guys get injured, we could jump into the top 4 of the lottery folks and have a top 4 lot of pick in the 2027 NBA draft because we have not traded that top 4 protection on the 2027 first.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways.
[SPEAKER_00]: All that to say, if you're wondering why the Lakers are, you know, putting their foot down on like, we're not giving Jonathan coming to 20 million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's because the Lakers want to keep their options open with regards to keeping the non tax payer Emily and the buy annual exception open because if they give coming to 20 million dollars, they are not leaving themselves very much room for filling out their roster next season and are almost committing to Jonathan coming up being their non tax payer Emily signing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And keep in mind, what happens if Matisse Thibopops?
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens if Ziya Williams pops?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm assuming the Lakers would want to.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have, the Lakers don't have an avenue to give those guys a requisite, an adequate enough pay, pay bump.
[SPEAKER_00]: They only have non-bird rights on these players and can at most give them maybe like,
[SPEAKER_00]: $4 million next season, like a slight pay bump off of the veteran minimum, they're currently earning.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if we're able to access the buy annual exception of $5.7 million, if one of those guys hits, then we could presumably give that to one of those players.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if Jonathan Kominga is making $20 million on this roster, then our books get the crunch gets very apparent.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we will have to do a lot more finagling to free up a little bit more money to one retain guys who pop the veteran minimum guys who pop, but also just fill out a roster next season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if we don't like the current construction, that would put us in a pinch
[SPEAKER_00]: like we wouldn't be able to use the non-tax pair MLE to its full extent.
[SPEAKER_00]: So these are the things that the lakers are thinking about and why if you're like, well, they should just give coming to 18 million dollars, it's not as simple as that.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so with that out of the way, let's talk about the plan B options for a commingah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kobe price kind of mentioned two of the options, whether you like it or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's bring that up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, and this is how we'll close the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think the Lakers, if they're going to trade for a stop gap option,
[SPEAKER_00]: share outside of being power forwards.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the fact that they're expiring contracts, and so I think the Lakers, if they're going to make a stop-gap, plan B coming to move or trade, I think they're only gonna wanna do it for guys who have expiring deals.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers would still have bird rights on most of these players, so they would be able to
[SPEAKER_00]: have the ability to retain them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think the link is want the optionality and flexibility to also just get off of them if they need to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And open up that non-tax per Emily for another free agent to use as a trade exception.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the other thing I want to point out.
[SPEAKER_00]: That non-tax per Emily these days, a lot of teams are using it as
[SPEAKER_00]: a traded player exception where they can just absorb 15.8 million dollars and give the other teen salary cap relief for a player that they've identified that they want.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what happened with Isaiah Joe.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what happened with Aaron Wiggins.
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe that's what happened with Lou Dort to an extent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, I think they were just absorbed into exceptions.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's the other thing to keep in mind with regards to why the Lakers want to keep their non-tax pair MLE open.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in line with that thinking, if they can't get Caminga,
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they're going to want to trade for stopgap guys who are true stopgaps in the sense that their contract will not run past next season.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's why guys like OB top in aren't on this list because even though they're only making like $16 million, OB top in is still owed $16 million next season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the Lakers want to make sure that they have an out next year so that they're not, you know,
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not stuck to a guy like Obi-top and if he gets injured again because he did have a stress reaction in his foot last season that kept him out for much of the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's why I think this is a list of forwards who are on expiring deals that I think the Lakers will look at.
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys already know, at the top of this list, my preferred target would be Cam Johnson.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's making $23 million, and yes, that's an expensive contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's only an expensive contract for this year, and it really won't affect the lakeers this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: It'll just affect how close they are to the first apron, which obviously they need to keep in mind, because they are hard-cap to the first apron, because they signed and traded for Walker Kester.
[SPEAKER_00]: But with Cam Johnson,
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers don't have to worry about him next season because he comes off of the books.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even if they want to retain him, they can retain him because they have his full bird rights and they can sign him to a lower deal next season.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's the beauty of signing, that's the beauty of trading for an expiring deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have control over their future, whether you want to let them go or you want to retain them.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's also why we're hearing about Calcusna, $20.4 million expiring.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers can just let him go next summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Andre Huntzer, $24.9 million, he's also expiring.
[SPEAKER_00]: If these guys don't work out, just let them go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, we've got some corkier names on here, like RJ Barrett, making $26.7 million.
[SPEAKER_00]: This would be like a little bit harder of a deal to pull off because he's making so much money.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Lakers would need to get up to about $19 million of outgoing salary, $18 to $19 million of outgoing salary to get RJ Barrett.
[SPEAKER_00]: But having said that RJ Barrett isn't even like the type of archetype we're looking for, because we're looking more for
[SPEAKER_00]: defensive minded small forward slash power forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think RJ bear sort of fits that bill.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just a name of a forward who's expiring.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's why he's on this list.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some bottom bin barrel options would be guys like Grant Williams 13.3 million dollars Play with the Dallas Mavericks and Luca for a hot second.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think he's the type of player that the Lakers are looking for either and in fact I think Sandra was just probably a better player, but he is inspiring
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we've got good old friend Dorian Finney Smith.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's on a non-guaranteed $14 million contract.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think the Lakers would trade for him, but I do think in the event that the Charlotte Hornet's buy him out, which I think is very possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: because they are at a roster crunch right now, and I think they have more than the allotted 15 standard deals, so they will have to get rid of some players and DFS, who's already on a non-garency deal, makes the most sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, if DFS is bought out, I mean, the Lakers could just sign him for the veteran minimum.
[SPEAKER_00]: What he wants to return to the Lakers after what happened, who knows, with the Lakers want him,
[SPEAKER_00]: If, you know, he's still dealing with whatever ailments, ankle ailments he's been dealing with, and if he's still looking as washed as he did with the rocket's last season, I don't know, but he's an option.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, there are some pipe dream names on here who are making very little next season, but they are expiring and if their teams don't come to what like extension agreements with them or if their teams don't plan on keeping them past this year, it may be a hoove.
[SPEAKER_00]: their teams to trade them, and so could the Lakers get in on a trade for guys like Derek Jones Jr., who's $10 million expiring, Najim Marshall, $9 million expiring, or Sadik Bay, $6.3 million expiring.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, why I call these names pipe dream names is because I think these players provide real value to their current teams.
[SPEAKER_00]: And even if their current teams plan on moving
[SPEAKER_00]: value for them if they open them up to the full trade market.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I do think the Lakers have enough assets to get it done, but I don't know, what's it going to take to get Jack Jones Jr. from the clippers and right now the clippers are muddled and mired in all this Kawai investigations stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't even know what team they currently have, but I don't know what's it going to take to get Jack Jones Jr. Would the Lakers trade three seconds to get him?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I guess I would do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: NaGi Marshall, you know, the Dallas Mavericks always very tricky.
[SPEAKER_00]: They probably want to pick swap in like two seconds on top.
[SPEAKER_00]: We would probably have to overpay to get NaGi Marshall.
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now NaGi's more of a shooting guard slash small forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: as opposed to a small forward slash power forward, which is what I think the Lakers currently need in their starting lineup.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we need more of the six foot seven, six foot eight, six foot nine guys like Kauku's McCam Johnson and DeAndre Hunter, which, you know, Derek Jones Jr. and Nodging Marshall are on the lower end of the spectrum from that respect.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're more like six foot five, six foot six guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and then we've got Sadik Bay.
[SPEAKER_00]: The reason why he's a pipe dream is because I think the New Orleans pelicans actually covet him and they have, they're the team that signed him to a deal when he was still dealing with his ACL injury.
[SPEAKER_00]: They groomed him.
[SPEAKER_00]: They got him to a place where he rehabilitated his career both on and off the court.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think they will just retain him if, if
[SPEAKER_00]: need be because they will have it, they do have his bird rights, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I just keep I just put him on this list because he's six foot eight, only making six point three million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the pelicans don't want to get rid of her bones and try Murphy and disontemary, I mean, they do have a glut at forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Might they just want to get assets in return.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, a deep bay, if they've crunched the numbers and are like,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, if we have to sign this guy to an extension and if we plan on bringing him back next year, our roster is going to be way too expensive.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's why his name is on here, but like to for anybody who's listening to this via audio, let me just run through this list one more time.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are the coming of plan B options.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are all expiring contracts.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think these are the types of players that the leaders will be looking for.
[SPEAKER_00]: particularly because they're expiring and the lickers won't be stuck to them next season.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Cam Johnson, Calcusma, DeAndrey Hunter, RJ Barrett, Grant Williams, DFS on a buyout, Derek Jones Jr, Najimarshal, and Sadik Bay.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm seeing some Isaac
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I guess I could see him, you know, slotting him in at the three.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I guess he's better than Jared Vanderbilt, but I just don't think Isaac and Coro sort of fits, you know, the type of guy that the Lakers would be looking for.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jalen Smith is a guy that I've liked forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he could be an option as the starting four.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, he's expiring 9.4 million dollars.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you could add Jalen Smith to this list as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I mean, yeah, so those are the options that I think the Lakers would be looking at, but if you know, when in doubt, just pull up a guy who's expiring and see whether or not they can fulfill this like hybrid, tweener, a small forward, slash power forward spot.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you also have to keep in mind, like, is this player definitively better than Sandra Mammo to start?
[SPEAKER_00]: and Jared Vanderbilt, and see whether or not we can one rehabilitate any of Jared Vanderbilt's value, but two, it might be time to turn the page over to a doothero and cam car in some of these younger guns, which is why again, if you haven't seen my latest video on the case for Cam Johnson, I think Cam Johnson gives us the best of both worlds with regards to here's a player that we can bring in right now, who could help us win now, but also
[SPEAKER_00]: People are bringing up Cam Johnston.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's older now.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's already 30 years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not going to be with this long term.
[SPEAKER_00]: But for me, I'm like, I don't think we want Cam Johnston on long term.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just want a guy who can actually come in, help now buy in culture wise on and off the court, but also be able to usher in the next generation of forwards in a do-fiero in Cam Carr.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Cam Johnson can do that a lot better than a guy like Jonathan Kominga can because Jonathan Kominga still wants to eat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Kominga is still only 24 years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wants to prove himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: If anything, he's like, do heroes, we're almost the same age.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you giving him preference?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Kominga.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me cook.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that's that's what I feel like Jonathan Kominga's mindset will be.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think that's necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's going to clash
[SPEAKER_00]: has the most talent, is the most explosive, is the most athletic, et cetera, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alright, with that said, I'm gonna end it here.
[SPEAKER_00]: That'll do it for this episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I could please ask you guys one more time to like this video, comment down below and most importantly, hit subscribe.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would greatly appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys for tuning in.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you guys have any mailbag Q&A stuff, I will sift through all of these comments and pull out any of that would still be relevant.
[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, keep a look out for
[SPEAKER_00]: a future link.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll try and do one next week and it'll be purely bare bones.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just chat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me know what's on your guys' thoughts and let's ping pong some topics back and forth.
[SPEAKER_00]: But otherwise, that'll do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have a great rest of your Sunday.
[SPEAKER_00]: This has been Jonathan Hernandez of the Lakers Legacy podcast and I will catch you guys next time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peace.