2017-18 Finish: 33-49

Season Highlight:

At the end of week 8, Lakers were looking strong with a 18-16 record, leading the Pacific Division. Vucevic was a leading MVP candidate, the Lakers rotations looked solid, a versatile starting line-up of with Brogdon leading, Simmons, Marvin Williams and Ilyasova spreading the flooring, allowing Vucevic to do his work down low. In the previous 2 weeks, they had beaten the reigning Premiers Spurs, division rivals the Kings, and Suns, and only went down by 3 points at Chesapeake Energy Arena against the West leading OKC Thunder.

Season Lowlight:

Week 9 was the start of the end, Brogdon and Vucevic never play another game again together for the rest of the season. It was a slippery slope from this point on.

Best Trade:

The LA Lakers send a First rounder (Sac) - (Zhaire Smith) to the Philadelphia 76ers for First rounder (SA) - (Moritz Wagner), First rounder (Cha) - (Dzanan Musa), Second rounder (LAL) - (Melvin Frazier).

Greenmig copped a smashing on this trade, allowing the 76ers to move up 3 spots for the same assets he received for pick 16. This is still early stages, Zhaire Smith is out for the season, so the 3 players the Lakers took get an additional year to develop. I actually really like this trade for the Lakers, Moritz Wagner outplayed Zhaire Smith in the summer league, Dzanan Musa and Melvin Frazier could end up being icing on the cake from this trade.

Worst Trade:

The LA Lakers send Nikola Vucevic and Nicolas Batum for Henry Ellenson, Evan Turner, Cody Zeller, 2nd-Rounder 2019 (Bos), 1st-Rounder 2020 (Det) and 2nd-Rounder 2019 (OKC)

Vucevic was the Lakers best player, Batum a glue guy. The return looks like a mid to late 1^st round pick, a couple of late 2nds and some roll players. I am sure this trade is thinking to the future, freeing cap space, speeding up the rebuild, but no way I would personally do it.

Other Notable Trades:

The LA Lakers send Ersan Ilyasova, Brandan Wright, 2nd-Rounder (GS) for 2018 and 7 GM points to the Memphis Grizzlies for Kent Bazemore.

With Ilyasova changing teams in the NBA, and Wright renounced, this ended up being a potential early to mid-range 2^nd round pick and 7 GMs for Bazemore. A great trade for Lakers, and a salary dump for Grizzlies.

DJ Wilson and Shelvin Mack for Jerryd Bayless

Bayless is the best player in this deal, but was a downward spiral all last season, ending the season rated 69. It now looks like the Lakers gave up way to much unless Bayless can turn it around.

DeMarre Carroll, 2nd-Rounder (NY) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to Golden State Warriors for Nicolas Batum and Shabazz Muhammad.

Carroll was really struggling, so why not take a punt on Batum even with his crazy salary. I think Lakers win this, Batum is a glue guy and provided decent numbers. TLC and Shabazz fill different needs, and are evenly matched.

Meyers Leonard and Jonathon Simmons to the Indiana Pacers for Brandan Wright, Marcus Morris and Matthew Dellavedova and 2nd-Rounder (Mem)

This is really about Morris for Simmons which fills the needs of each team perfectly, I like both players. All the additional pieces filled out the deal with overpriced roll players.

Free Agency:

Lakers have too many players so Free Agency could be very quiet for the rebuilding team.  Unless we see trades, Lakers will need to buy out a player or not sign one of their second round picks. Shabazz Muhammad is the only question mark, should be an easy resign on a cheap deal if he sticks with the Bucks in the NBA, is his upside big enough to take the risk?

Star:

Was sad to see Vucevic go, he was by far the star of this team last season, a matchup nightmare.

Brogdon would be the standout player at the moment for the Lakers, as the highest rated player on the team. The one thing with Brogdon, he doesn’t really have a weakness, which is why is coveted across the league. A 6’6 PG with a 7'8 wingspan, he has an advantage over most opposition PGs with length and vision. A contract year for the young guard, should see him go to new heights.

Goat:

DeMarre Carroll before being traded was the Lakers largest liability, he was far from earning his $14.8m. As a known 3&D specialist, hitting less than 1 shot from behind the arc a game at 32%, the team needed more. The team was -7.7 points worse with him on the court, and +5.4 points better when he was off.

From the current roster, I look at Shabazz Muhammad, I know he won’t be getting paid much, and was a set a steak knives in the Batum trade so expectation shouldn’t be high. His main asset is his offence, he needs to shoot better than 37% on field goals and 24% from deep, when commanding a shot every 2 minutes on the floor. Shabazz is currently shooting himself off the court.

Draft Grades (from Insider):

SF Dzanan Musa, Bosnia

If there’s one position the Lakers don’t need, it’s the wing. Oh hello Dzanan! He can score in bunches and has plenty of offensive upside, but with a thin frame that doesn’t look much like it can fill out, will he ever have a spot on an NLL floor? What position does he defend with a slight light frame and the agility of a 4? He’s a competitor though and will work for it. Grade: C+

C Moe Wagner, Michigan junior

The Lakers need a big man, and they like a shooting big man, so why not take Wagner? He’s a great shooter with range and that will easily translate. He won’t set the world on fire defensively, and might not be the best guy on the glass, but he has the one skill and a tea can work around that. Grade: B

SG Melvin Frazier, Tulane junior

Frazier brings something the Lakers gave up on sans Chandler/Iggy days, defence. He’s got an elite motor and can guard the best of them today if needed. His offensive game needs to continue to grow for him to reach his potential. Grade: B+

SG Bruce Brown Jr., Miami sophomore

Brown is a do-it-all guard who can shoot despite a regression on catch and shoot in his sophomore season, defend and hustle after rebounds. He’s a combo and has a good chance to carve out a role despite his supposed limited upside being 22 in August.  Grade: B+

PF Kostas Antetokounmpo, Dayton freshman

It’s all in a name. But it is but a name. Name doesn’t equal game and Kostas looks more like Thanasis than Giannis and look how that panned out. Grade: D

The Future-

The Lakers are in for a tough year, at the midway point of last season, they could see the writing on the wall and started to get younger through trades, with the biggest direction indication in the Vucevic trade. 2020 is pivotal year with 3 1^st round picks and GM Greenmig will continue to trade players for either draft picks or young players this season.