Last week I walked into my colleagues office and as we complained about the Lue debacle I said, I hope soon to walk in to your office and talk to you about some good news. And today was that day.
Frank Vogel is a good coach. He is a masterful defensive coach and has an offense that will work well with Lebron. He led Indiana to two straight conference finals, and they lost three times to Lebrons Cavs in the playoffs. They played well against Lebron and overachieved. He didn't do as well in Orlando, but the have had really bad players, and in rebuild mode, so here he has a good team and a change to prove once again they we can led a playoff team deep into the playoffs. If the media had not reported on the Lue hiring the way they did, basically calling it a done deal and getting peoples hope up, we would all be happy with this hiring. Maybe we would feel like we were lucky not to get Lue, the Lebron guy, but a more neutral coach that is clearly not a Lebron guy, and maybe a team guy. Lets all hope the FO is more focused on the next ten years than the next three years. We saw what a Lebron first agenda does to a team last year around the all star break.
But with the media building the the Lue hiring the way they did, then having a freak out about his not accepting the Laker offer the way the did, many of us were left in shock. They claimed the FO tried to force Rambus onto the coaching staff, which turned out to be untrue, I refuse to talk like the national embarrassment that sits in the White House, but you know the phrase. So many crying about how the media is creating a narrative that looks bad for the Lakes, while simultaneously doing the exact same thing with their dog pile, no offense to dogs. Its almost like they are just trying to gin up controversy so that people will click on their articles, and thumbs up their twitter posts so they will seem more popular and keep their jobs. And its not just LA lower level media, like this website and pod casters, who I love by the way, I listen to them everyday. It was espn la, the tnt guys, and the espn national level programs sports center etc. espn actually reported on the "protest", which I thought was great and maybe lit a fire under the FO, but there is rarely a national story about 20 unemployed folks and college kids complaining about their sports team. Any change to kick the Lakers when they are down, and our own "fan" media types piling on doesn't help.
Another aspect to this is the Jason Kidd thing. Vogel is a fantastic defensive coach, leading Indy to first in the nba two straight years, but not so great offensive coach, so hiring a good coaching staff is important. This is an area Walton struggled, he infamously hired mostly his college buddies as his assistant coaches, and the Lakers seemed hell bent on changing that dynamic. They wanted to make sure their new coach was open to having a dream team style of assistant coaches around him. So they hire Jason Kidd, and lets first say, yes Kidd had issues off the court, he plead guilty to spousal abuse, and that sucks, he is a POS for ever getting physical with his wife, funk dat. But we like to believe in redemption and lets not pretend Kobe didn't rape a woman in Colorado, and even if it was not rape, the way he, a 30 year old man, treated that 18 year girl was at best abusive. And nobody talks about that, he who lives in a glass house should not throw stones. And nobody should give two sheets about the DUI. Some suggest Kidd is power hungry as a coach and assistant, which makes sense, all the greats are aggressive and overly confident, ask Kobe. So on to the things that matter, Kidd will help develop Lonzo. Lonzo's game is similar to Kidd and having a hall of famer around to help Lonzo will be great. Giannis was upset to see his coach Kidd go, and credited him with improving his game. So Kidd will also help BI and Kuz in the same way he helped Giannis.
This leads us to a discussion about why the FO insisted on a three year contract and why they insisted on the head coach allowing them input on the coaching staff. And we need to look no further than Luke, As previously mentioned Luke didn't have a good staff around him. Other than B Shaw, who I love, he hired a bunch of his friends. When Magic suggested a shot doctor, he denied that idea, seemingly suggesting he is better at improving the shots of certain young players, Lonzo, in what was the first split between he and Magic, and BTW Magic was correct. All coaches should have great assistants. Next the three year deal, is obvious, Lebron has three years left on his contract, and in three years Kuz will be 26, Lonzo 24, BI 24, depending on who we pick up this summer, or if we can finagel an AD trade, the team will be totally different and we may want a new coach. Captain obvious there. And Lue's refusal was a fine reason to look elsewhere.
So all is good in Lakerland. We have a good new coach with deep playoff experience with a young team. We have a GOAT for three most years, three young all stars, money for a max guy or a few 15-20 million level guys this summer. A 11 draft pick, probably. Lets enjoy watching the rest of these exciting playoffs, pray for some ping pong ball love and bask in the SoCal sun. If you are an out of stater go away.
Speaking of the playoffs, after watching the playoffs, I have made a personal shift in my thinking about the offseason PA pick up. KD ain't coming, he is goin to NYC. Klay stays in GS, man I enjoy watching them more without KD. And the guy we really want is Kawhi. Kyrie seems a real option, but here is where I change. I want Jimmy over Kyrie, and I think he is a real option. Philly needs to build around their young guys so they will sign Tobias, leaving Jimmy to come to us. Unless we pull an AD for the farm plus #11 pick trade, and in that case we chase Kyrie or Kemba, we need a two. A three and d two and Jimmy fits that bill. He is not a locker room problem, he an all star that has played the last two years with young guys and should be ready to win now with Lebron, the young guys, and some important vets that sign on as second string players and spot players. We need shooters, and a solid big. If we can't get him I again change Vucevic, this is assuming we have not real chance to get AD and I'd be willing to trade Vucevic for AD mid season, maybe we throw in Kuz. For me the bottom line I like Lonzo, and I wanna build around him and BI and Kuz, not add another PG and then play Lonzo at shooting guard, when he can't shoot that well yet? Signing Kyrie would be like making the AD trade then signing Vucevic? What? And Kemba should not even be an option, unless we make the magical AD trade. I'd rather go after three $10 million a year guys than Kemba. Funk Kemba.
