LeBron James and Anthony Davis have expressed growing concern that the Lakers roster is not good enough and feel like changes need to be made

Left.A1

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AD playing center the past 3 seasons has resulted in the best numbers of his career and ironically the most healthy he has been the last couple of seasons. He is not playing in an era with a lot of banging so I don't know why he's bytching. One day when Brook is gone Giannis will be a center too and I don't think he will fuss about it at all as I think he should have been there years ago just like AD.
Better mismatches playing against 4's and he can roam more which is where he is truly dangerous defensively....they need the rebounding help also, 3rd worst rebounding team in the entire NBA
 

Osmosis

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I don’t care what you’re stressing. At this point I’m taking Jokic over Kevin McAllister. Defense is the only thing that separates the two but the flip side is I’m not getting any of the nonsense that comes with your favorite player deciding he’s on your team…for now

We wouldn’t sell as much jerseys however :manny: :manny:

This the order. Jokic is a close second though :yeshrug:
 

Killer Instinct

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Trade them to New Orleans for Zion and Ingram. Sounds like a perfectly even tradBTW.

As much shyt as I give Lebron, at least he showed up in shape and has been a student of the game for 20+ years. There's no way in hell Zion should ever put on a Lakers jersey that isn't a Mitchell & Ness throwback. They can keep his lazy, goofy ass where he's at. I'll take another five years of Klutch before a single season of Zion.
 

Reggie

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Better mismatches playing against 4's and he can roam more which is where he is truly dangerous defensively....they need the rebounding help also, 3rd worst rebounding team in the entire NBA
He's quicker then most 5's and just as big as most if not better so I don't see the problem still. Only Joker and Embid are much bigger then him so he needs to stick to the 5 to me.
 

Trojan 24

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AD playing center the past 3 seasons has resulted in the best numbers of his career and ironically the most healthy he has been the last couple of seasons. He is not playing in an era with a lot of banging so I don't know why he's bytching. One day when Brook is gone Giannis will be a center too and I don't think he will fuss about it at all as I think he should have been there years ago just like AD.

He needs to understand he is the new prototype Center in the league. Unless the Lakers can find another rangey big that can defend on the perimeter and stretch the floor on offense, they will get ran and shot off the court. I don't even wanna here about Dwight, the game has progressed even since then
 

Left.A1

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He's quicker than most 5's and just as big as most if not better so I don't see the problem still. Only Joker and Embid are much bigger than him so he needs to stick to the 5 to me.
You’re not always going to win with just quickness …..he’s quicker and has the size advantage over most of the 4’s in the league and most important he can take advantage of a lot of these swing 4s who really aren’t used to guarding the post unlike most 5s are ….and again as I said playing him at the 4 defensively is where a lot of his game is unlocked because instead of helping off a big who is right at the rim for an easy bucket he’d be helping off of the teams worst shooter or second to worst shooter …much more of a + scenario for that defense ….it just changes the dynamics of his potential defensively which is why you’ve seen the lakers be best on that side of the floor when they have other quality bigs ….him at the 5 is most effective in spurts or when they’re switching everything
 

Lord Beasley

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They play different positions and are asked to do 2 very different things

But if you swapped those 2, then the Nuggets are right up there with OKC as Western Conference favorites
mr-burns-the-simpsons.gif
 

Reggie

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You’re not always going to win with just quickness …..he’s quicker and has the size advantage over most of the 4’s in the league and most important he can take advantage of a lot of these swing 4s who really aren’t used to guarding the post unlike most 5s are ….and again as I said playing him at the 4 defensively is where a lot of his game is unlocked because instead of helping off a big who is right at the rim for an easy bucket he’d be helping off of the teams worst shooter or second to worst shooter …much more of a + scenario for that defense ….it just changes the dynamics of his potential defensively which is why you’ve seen the lakers be best on that side of the floor when they have other quality bigs ….him at the 5 is most effective in spurts or when they’re switching everything
But he CAN win with size and quickness can't he? His numbers and defensive impact the past few seasons has been better at center so I don't see why he is resisting what obviously works. How many teams even roll out a traditional starting 5 these days anyway? The whole league has said AD should have been a center years ago and only he and you seem to think otherwise. It's not like he can't or hasn't been able to roam playing the 5 the past few years.
 

Left.A1

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But he CAN win with size and quickness can't he? His numbers and defensive impact the past few seasons has been better at center so I don't see why he is resisting what obviously works. How many teams even roll out a traditional starting 5 these days anyway? The whole league has said AD should have been a center years ago and only he and you seem to think otherwise. It's not like he can't or hasn't been able to roam playing the 5 the past few years.
I didn't say he can't play the 5 I said the team would optimize his and their skill set/potential by playing another quality big...and a GM's job should always be to optimize your roster not by getting your players to do what they can do but what their best at doing. Secondly I don't know what defensive impact numbers you're referencing but the team won a championship with him playing the 4 not the 5 and that was his best all around season as a Laker, since then the Lakers have went from being ranked 1st in team defense to 22nd in team defense since last running him fully at 4, not to mention the rebounding which as I said is terrible so its pretty obvious why he's resisting when they haven't been able to match that level of play since. Don't known why you're arguing that reality.

The whole league also has not said that he should be a 5, his own team didn't even think that when they acquired him which is why he only played that role in spurts and I just explained to why he would be better optimized roaming at the 4 vs 5. Bottom line is he's not an idiot and understands basketball enough to know what works best for him. Certainly more than you or I would, so if he's telling you what will work why are you so defiantly denying it? Why would an organization purposely go against what one of their stars understands will help benefit his game and the team? What are you trying to prove by doing that? It just doesn't make much sense and on an organizational level it certainly looks silly.
 

CarltonJunior

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He's quicker then most 5's and just as big as most if not better so I don't see the problem still. Only Joker and Embid are much bigger then him so he needs to stick to the 5 to me.
More responsibility playing the 5. He has to do more dirty work securing boards and can't patrol the paint as a help defender as much.

He's not built for it. KAT had the same problem but began to thrive when they found a real 5 for him to play with in Gobert and now Hartenstein. It'll look better on their numbers playing 5 but when it's winning time you want AD/KAT/similar players at the 4
 

Trojan 24

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More responsibility playing the 5. He has to do more dirty work securing boards and can't patrol the paint as a help defender as much.

He's not built for it. KAT had the same problem but began to thrive when they found a real 5 for him to play with in Gobert and now Hartenstein. It'll look better on their numbers playing 5 but when it's winning time you want AD/KAT/similar players at the 4

KAT and Gobert always ended up getting ran off the court, Hartenstein left to OKC and has never played with KAT. People only keep saying they need another big because Jokic keeps whooping our ass
 

Reggie

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More responsibility playing the 5. He has to do more dirty work securing boards and can't patrol the paint as a help defender as much.

He's not built for it. KAT had the same problem but began to thrive when they found a real 5 for him to play with in Gobert and now Hartenstein. It'll look better on their numbers playing 5 but when it's winning time you want AD/KAT/similar players at the 4
Hartenstein is with OKC now and never played with KAT. And Kat is playing CENTER this season and putting up the best numbers of his career just like AD. This ain't 2014 anymore. A guy 6"10-7'0 250 plus in this era NEEDS to be a center. Kat can thrive at the 4 cause he's an excellent shooter but AD is best suited for the 5.
 
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