S55 Clips Presser
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:47 am
The lazy set-up.
You’re here.
I’m here.
Let’s pre-season press conference it up.
After 13 straight playoff appearances, caped off by 3 straight 60-win seasons and a lot of heartbreak, last season we took an expected step back. It was all about resetting the tax, getting some young guys some playing time and just seeing where things kind of fell. No playoffs for the first time in 13 years. It felt strange and unnatural. We had a few things that we liked from it, such as Dong Bone’s play, Zeke Nnaji showing what he can do on his own without being buried behind a bunch of scorers, and the surprising steadiness of Jaxson Hayes and his leadership. In general, though, it was a very forgettable season.
Flash forward to the off-season. Knowing that it would be hard to build anything long-term without stepping even further back, I worked with Zeke to find him a new home. We hope he finds great success with the Dallas Mavericks. In return we brought in a young player that we are incredibly excited about, Karlo Pearson. We believe he has the tools to be an elite 3&D player for us this season with potential to be even more as his progression continues.
In RFA we were able to bring Raiquan Gray back into the fold for a price that we were incredibly happy with. In UFA, we took a few huge swings but missed out on acquiring He Hor and Fang Shuo, though we felt our offers were as competitive as possible. We brought back Jaxson Hayes and Albert Newhouse and brought in Lyman Bradley, who we had high hopes for, and Jame Hector. Then in a trade during the draft, we moved Earnest Frechette for the young, dynamic guard, Daishen Nix, who we almost acquired a couple of off-seasons ago as well. Put this stuff with the drafting of Rati Andronikashvili and Ibrahima Diallo, and coming into the camp, we felt could about our present and future.
Unfortunately, we had a few key guys show up to camp completely under-prepared and, to be honest, flat out lazy. Lyman Bradley did not look at all like the player we paid and has a steep hill to climb to get his initially slotted minutes back. Rati is a guy we were excited about concerning his potential, but to this point a few of the traits we saw in college has not translated over. And the guy we were ready to see bloom into a full-blown star, who we expected to take the lead during this camp, Dong Bone, has looked disinterested at times.
Thankfully camp was not all doom and gloom however!
Karlo Pearson came in with a chip on his shoulder and looks to be even better than we imagined. Q-Gray and Frank Dailey also look to be on the cusp of being able to help as important cogs to a winning team and culture. Ibrahima Diallo is showing the promise that Rati has not, straight from those college games. Daishen Nix also has looked very good, with flexibility as to where we can play him. Top it off with Norris Turney, a return to Los Angeles for him, continuing to be a strong veteran presence for this young team.
I don’t know how this roster will shake out. I can’t tell you who will or won’t be here by season’s end. We are completely open for business on almost everyone on the roster, though Karlo Pearson will be incredibly difficult to pry away. We’re confident that some of these guys who didn’t come in looking how we hoped will take this criticism and use it to fuel their bounce back. We are especially confident in Bone’s ability to overcome the slow start.
But we’ll see. And you can call.
Tentative line-up:
C: Jaxson Hayes
PF: Raiquan Gray
SF: Dong Bone
SG: Daishen Nix
PG: Karlo Pearson
6: Norris Turney
With all that out of the way ...
Questions?
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
You’re here.
I’m here.
Let’s pre-season press conference it up.
After 13 straight playoff appearances, caped off by 3 straight 60-win seasons and a lot of heartbreak, last season we took an expected step back. It was all about resetting the tax, getting some young guys some playing time and just seeing where things kind of fell. No playoffs for the first time in 13 years. It felt strange and unnatural. We had a few things that we liked from it, such as Dong Bone’s play, Zeke Nnaji showing what he can do on his own without being buried behind a bunch of scorers, and the surprising steadiness of Jaxson Hayes and his leadership. In general, though, it was a very forgettable season.
Flash forward to the off-season. Knowing that it would be hard to build anything long-term without stepping even further back, I worked with Zeke to find him a new home. We hope he finds great success with the Dallas Mavericks. In return we brought in a young player that we are incredibly excited about, Karlo Pearson. We believe he has the tools to be an elite 3&D player for us this season with potential to be even more as his progression continues.
In RFA we were able to bring Raiquan Gray back into the fold for a price that we were incredibly happy with. In UFA, we took a few huge swings but missed out on acquiring He Hor and Fang Shuo, though we felt our offers were as competitive as possible. We brought back Jaxson Hayes and Albert Newhouse and brought in Lyman Bradley, who we had high hopes for, and Jame Hector. Then in a trade during the draft, we moved Earnest Frechette for the young, dynamic guard, Daishen Nix, who we almost acquired a couple of off-seasons ago as well. Put this stuff with the drafting of Rati Andronikashvili and Ibrahima Diallo, and coming into the camp, we felt could about our present and future.
Unfortunately, we had a few key guys show up to camp completely under-prepared and, to be honest, flat out lazy. Lyman Bradley did not look at all like the player we paid and has a steep hill to climb to get his initially slotted minutes back. Rati is a guy we were excited about concerning his potential, but to this point a few of the traits we saw in college has not translated over. And the guy we were ready to see bloom into a full-blown star, who we expected to take the lead during this camp, Dong Bone, has looked disinterested at times.
Thankfully camp was not all doom and gloom however!
Karlo Pearson came in with a chip on his shoulder and looks to be even better than we imagined. Q-Gray and Frank Dailey also look to be on the cusp of being able to help as important cogs to a winning team and culture. Ibrahima Diallo is showing the promise that Rati has not, straight from those college games. Daishen Nix also has looked very good, with flexibility as to where we can play him. Top it off with Norris Turney, a return to Los Angeles for him, continuing to be a strong veteran presence for this young team.
I don’t know how this roster will shake out. I can’t tell you who will or won’t be here by season’s end. We are completely open for business on almost everyone on the roster, though Karlo Pearson will be incredibly difficult to pry away. We’re confident that some of these guys who didn’t come in looking how we hoped will take this criticism and use it to fuel their bounce back. We are especially confident in Bone’s ability to overcome the slow start.
But we’ll see. And you can call.
Tentative line-up:
C: Jaxson Hayes
PF: Raiquan Gray
SF: Dong Bone
SG: Daishen Nix
PG: Karlo Pearson
6: Norris Turney
With all that out of the way ...
Questions?
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk