S50 Lakers Preseason Presser

[greepleairport]

S49 ended very sadly in LA, on our side of the Staples Center anyway. Our Lakers sat atop the league with the best all season long and were destined to go past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since...god I don’t even wanna think about it. But we ran into the underrated 76ers who, in my opinion, underperformed during the regular season only to surprise my unsuspecting self in Rd 1, moving Wiseman to center in a switch we just could not seem to handle.

On my worst days, I still shed tears about it. Especially since he didn’t make it past Rd 2! AND THEN HE STOLE MY STAR YOUNG BIG MIKE BURNHAM IN UFA!!!

#NeverForget

So we are coming off a tremendous season that did not fully realize in the playoffs and hey, that’s life. Delmar had a tremendous year, his best ever, as he was not only MVP and 1st team all defense (shout out to all the GMs who said he lacked it back in the day, that was for you), he was also top 5 in scoring and the All Star game MVP. He is destined to be an all time great now, and certainly a Hall of Famer.

We’ll be looking for big numbers from Len Bias again this year too. He was top 5 in steals, top 10 in assists, and scored over 20ppg. We think he will put these numbers up again this year, too. We were happy to re-sign Bjorn Ironside as well, since he was crucial to our success last year. We hope to keep him healthy and active this year as his years wind down in a hall of fame level career.

We’re happy to welcome Glen Sabo back to LA, too, only this time in a Lakers’ uniform! Sabo will play a big starting role on our team this year, despite dropping to g/g.

We don’t have our starting lineup set in stone yet, but depending how Jarrett Allen performs we make look something like this:

C Sabo
PF Allen
SF Delmar
SG Bjorn
PG Bias
6th man: Todd

We’re listed as the 2nd best team in power rankings starting the year off, but we’re looking at the Clippers now with their Loredo acquisition as a threat in addition to the returning Champ Bulls. They’re not the only ones likely to give us problems, though, The league is brand new with the realignment and we have no idea how things will shake out. One thing is clear though:

Delmar Lopez rules. Let’s go Lake show. Any questions??

[MexicanMamba]

What do you believe that the team gains and loses by swapping out Burnham for Sabo?

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[K-100]

Recap of S49 76ers/Lakers

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Are you planning to trade me Robert Mata this season or will I need to take him by force next offseason?

And on a serious note, over the years you have had a slew of talented bigs, many of whom the league had either cast aside or completely ignored yet you developed them into valuable contributors (Bulter, Burnham, Mata, Todd, Vidal, etc). What's the secret?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you think worked and what didn't work with your preseason lineup, and does it confirm your stated probable starting lineup or does it make you want to reconsider anything?

[greepleairport]

What do you believe that the team gains and loses by swapping out Burnham for Sabo?

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Well we lost a starting center hitting his prime for seasons to come in Burnham, but we gained a proven talent in Sabo who can take us far now. I had a great plan to start Burnham and Sabo at the 4 and 5 or vice versa and Todd come off the bench for them, and that front court would have been pretty unstoppable. I don't see this as a swap so much as a loss but we'll adjust accordingly. Nonetheless, We're very happy to have Sabo in a Lakers jersey.

[greepleairport]

Recap of S49 76ers/Lakers

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Cute.

Are you planning to trade me Robert Mata this season or will I need to take him by force next offseason?

I'm super maxing all current and future bigs to inconvenience you.

And on a serious note, over the years you have had a slew of talented bigs, many of whom the league had either cast aside or completely ignored yet you developed them into valuable contributors (Bulter, Burnham, Mata, Todd, Vidal, etc). What's the secret?

I'm seriously placing a target on Wiseman Sim 1 so send him underneath the basket at your own risk.

/heel rant

The secret was Bulter. He was a #23 y/g draft pick who instantly went g/b that TC (weird sentence out of context, huh). The commish even proposed a trade for him very early on, maybe after his first year, so I knew I had someone special. So I've decided not to overlook young y/g's as it is a gamble that sometimes pays off. My y/y bets haven't played out so well, but I guess they were not bets on bigs either. Actually Vidal was a y/y project now that I think about it, but he has seesawed over the seasons with a strong presence in the paint nonetheless.

While you're scoping out my bigs I suggest you take a look at Simonton, too, and then propose a one-for-one trade for Burnham at 12:01am on Day 60. I will accept nothing less. You have until 5pm central Friday to post the trade and reaccept later or the deal is off.

[greepleairport]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you think worked and what didn't work with your preseason lineup, and does it confirm your stated probable starting lineup or does it make you want to reconsider anything?

Delmar worked - that's what he does. Bjorn came off the bench which was an odd simputer flex, but okay. Pairing Todd and Sabo worked really well, too. In my head I like Todd coming off the bench to support and provide paint scoring and defense while starters rest, but I will have to revisit this for sure. I have plenty of supporting big men so that I can play around with the lineup as the season progresses.