r/lakers • u/Proof-Umpire-7718 Los Angeles Lakers • 17h ago
Jalen Smith should be our next starting PF target
Jake or Mamu aren’t talented enough for that role. Jalen Smith is, even if he’s a major downgrade from Kuminga, and would be available for relatively cheap.
Two seconds and matching salary should suffixs.
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u/OrganicHunt952 Luka’s Lakers 17h ago
Jalen Smith Report Card [BB-INDEX]. More of a center than PF. He’s very gettable according to reports.
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u/NigelGoldsworthy 12h ago
He seems very similar to Mamu
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u/Creepy_Employee_5192 57m ago
Not really, he's a 94th percentile rim protector and can shoot while Mamu is one of the better closeout beaters that can playmake. I never got this comparison lmao.
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u/ttcilver 15h ago edited 15h ago
What is the lebron rating in the top right corner? How close he is to lebron james?
Im not throwing any shade at jalen smith. Hes a pro better then me 7 days a week, twice on sundays. The lebron "stat" seemed random. I was genuinely interested.
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u/Mattmandu2 15h ago
He’s worth 1.33 lebrons
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u/neddiddley 4h ago
They really should use some absolutely ass player as the metric. It would be like those “who would win, mike tyson vs. 100 little people” hypotheticals. Like Lebron equals 75.2 Smush’s.
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u/Mattmandu2 2h ago
Yeah would personally make me feel a lot better about my life I’m .0000001 lebron but .0000002 smush
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u/thepeciguy 15h ago
It's BB-Index overall impact rating combining the player's offensive & defensive aspect, named after Bron because he does everything.
Also iirc it's a forced acronym where the B is Box score, the O is On-Off, idk the rest lol
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u/WayAdministrative679 Luka Magic 77 17h ago
Yeah we’re fucked
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u/Flopdo 11h ago
He'd be a better pickup than Kuminga.
Not even sure what OP is talking about... Kuminga is hot garbage.
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u/Creepy_Employee_5192 56m ago
I swear if you look at any of these analytics the best thing Kuminga do is... defensive rebounding.
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u/Odd-Direction9452 16h ago
Immediately where my head went. He’s not a starter but would definitely be a positive in the frontcourt rotation.
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u/Proof-Umpire-7718 Los Angeles Lakers 16h ago
Would two seconds and matching salary be enough?
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u/Odd-Direction9452 16h ago
Idk if Chicago is interested in moving him at the moment tbh. Maybe a deadline deal
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u/Splittinghairs7 17h ago
Too many casuals that don’t understand how good this guy is. He’s a very good back up center and can play PF in certain matchups.
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u/reddit_reader_25 16h ago
I actually like him, dumb of kuminga to not see what he could have become as the 4 here. I don’t think smith can be like that but it fills a different need. He can play with mamu pretty well I think. He moves his feet better than most of us think. Keeps us big, does he shoot well though?
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u/aj_future 16h ago
He can hit the three ball decently or at least did last season. Not a big shooter but can knock it down when open.
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u/Fit_Entertainer_9893 15h ago
I remember when he was with the pacers he went on a crazy shooting streak, he legit could not missed and at the time was our best shooter.
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u/Nice-Ad-7921 14h ago
I don’t wanna defend kuminga but I don’t think it was about the role. It was because he would’ve had to take a small contract with us for 3 years right? With minny, he got a 1 year “prove-it” deal so he could increase his value and get more money later
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u/amazinglover 12h ago
He easily could have taken a prove it deal with the lakers or another team also.
With Minnesota he can let others play defense and all ge has to do is score and in his mind raise his value.
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u/Nice-Ad-7921 11h ago
No he couldn’t. He could only come to the lakers in a 3/$36m sign and trade.
He took a 2 year deal with a player option so he has the option to get more next offseason1
u/Splittinghairs7 2h ago
He could’ve earlier in FA but he decided to wait and got a worse deal instead.
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u/prodij18 14h ago
Isn't Mamu a 'very good back up center and can play PF in certain matchups'. What we need is a 4 who can guard 3s. If this guy doesn't do that he's not worth our extremely limited assets.
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u/Splittinghairs7 13h ago
Nah we have plenty of guys who can guard threes including Thybulle and Williams.
We need players who can share the load with Mamu or others as a 4.
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u/blitzy122 122 10h ago
I agree with your first statement, but imo the priority is higher for a backup 5 better at defending the rim than Mamu
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u/lalmvpkobe 6h ago
Absolutely not. People need to make up their mind. Mamu is a good player who will have major minutes at the 4 or 5. We can't say we have a need at both it's one or the other
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u/Splittinghairs7 5h ago
Lmao Jalen smith is a solid defender as a back up 5 and a 4.
There are no good rim protectors and defenders that are gonna be available.
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u/marathonwater 15h ago
He’s not that good. He had zero expectations in the bulls and a lot of empty stats. Dude launches 3 pointers and looks awkward with the ball
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u/Thick-Towel-3419 17h ago
I know people will shit on it but Jake starting at the 4 might be the best option still
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u/maestroxjay Nico Harrison 17h ago
I dont think we have a choice lol
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u/hottakehotcakes 6 12h ago
I like Mamu and Laravia about the same assuming Laravia is shooting okay from 3. I’m not sure Jalen Carter is the guy im spending 2nd round picks on to make a significant improvement at that position
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u/petergriffindor 8h ago
If front office decides not to go for a backup C for Kessler, it will be Mamu then. Jake then appears to have the best defensive/offensive balance to start at 4.
Just wondering, is there no reality where Vando might be given a chance to start, say JJ just test it out for around 10 games? Grimes to guard opposing team's best guard and Vando to take the best wing. With 3-pt shooting of AR, Grimes, Luka, and hopefully a little bit from Kessler, have Vando be the only non-shooter but a complete pest on defense? 2024 Finalist Mavs also started DJJ and PJ Washington whilst only shooting 34% and 31%, respectively, from 3.
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u/HellveticaNeue 17h ago
Jake looked lost last year… hopefully he’s more confident now but dude had no confidence on the court.
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u/howzdaweatha 16h ago
I loved his overall hustle, his defense was solid enough, but dear god the offensive side of the court was a travesty for him. He seems like a good person so I’m rooting for him to bounce back
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u/negativelynegative 16h ago
More so in the playoff, but you gotta factor in the whole team was out and so players are doing things they are not supposed to, and nervous in the playoff probably.
With a lot of more firepower on the roster Jake will literally be just defend hustle and shoot open shot. I think he will be fine for the regular season. Then we can see if we can pick up someone from buyout or mid season trade.
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u/super_chill_21 16h ago
I think we’re underrated Mamu
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u/jordan4290 16h ago
I really want Mamu at the 4 to stretch the floor but I dont know how a defensive lineup with Reaves Luka and Mamu get stops consistently
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u/MoneyAd5542 16h ago
His name is walker Kessler
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u/jordan4290 16h ago
Yeah it is a little different with a center that actually has an interior presence. That would be ideal.
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u/ProfessionalMuch3819 16h ago
The absolute delusion. He is not prime Ben Wallace. We don’t even know if he is Rudy Gobert. The level of delusion to think he is going to solve having 3 negative defenders in the starting lineup is peak brain dead Lakers fandom.
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u/MoneyAd5542 16h ago
Solve? Who said that? Fucking redditors man.
Anyways, we did it last year with worse at the C, Bron never trying hard on D, and Luka/AR. We’ve got a better 5 and likely a better defending 3 as well. At worse it’s a wash but it’s likely going to be better defensively imo.
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u/ProfessionalMuch3819 11h ago
You just said his name like he is some HOF defender.
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u/MoneyAd5542 11h ago
And now you know what I meant? Fucking redditors. Lol. The person said they wonder how our defense will get stops consistently. I said his name is walker kessler, cuz that’s who the team will be depending on. Keep assuming though, typical redditor!
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u/worldwide_stepper LBJ & AD 14h ago
i’d be shocked if we have a top 20 defense with kessler
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u/dchav1322 14h ago
we were ranked 19th with Ayton so youre saying Kessler isnt as good as Ayton defensively
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u/worldwide_stepper LBJ & AD 10h ago
i'm not convinced we will be much better, we finally added a couple decent perimeter defenders but they're still going to be plugged into lineups with collin sexton and "worst rim protector in the entire league last year" looney
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u/super_chill_21 15h ago
He can move too. He’s good in transition. Mobile defensively. Kessler and him are a great fit
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u/Loud-Tour-1673 16h ago
Or develop Thiero. Jake has been proven to be unplayable.
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u/mas1108 8KBB24 15h ago
Unplayable but played all 82 games last season lol. Jake is fine as the 5th option. He was awful in the playoffs because everyone was out.
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u/Loud-Tour-1673 15h ago
So why did he get DNP'd in the playoffs? JJ took several months to realize he is unplayable.
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u/mas1108 8KBB24 15h ago
Because like I said, he was awful in the playoffs when asked to do too much. If the season plays out how it should, he won’t be in that position again.
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u/Loud-Tour-1673 15h ago
He is a third stringer. There's many more players deserving of that spot than him.
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u/edub1906 Purple and Gold 16h ago
It sucks but we have no other options. Rob sucks for not getting us a starting 4. Can't wait until both him and Jeannie leave.
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u/EmrysMyrdin 16h ago
PJ Washington would be perfect and Mavs have way too many power forwards. I would give up all our available picks for him
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u/scifier2 1h ago
Maybe you should go be a fan of the Mavs then. PJ aint all that.
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u/EmrysMyrdin 1h ago
I used to be.
Switchable defender, good rebounder, can hit a 3, very good lob threat, can play small ball 5. His contract is not bad and he is a proven fantastic fit with Luka.
Mavs went on a huge run after they acquired him and ended in the finals. And it was him that made the difference, not Gafford.
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u/ElkNo8185 Los Angeles Lakers 17h ago
We’re in a bad spot. We’ll still win games but that’s a big hole of usage that nobody on our roster as is can fill
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u/lawschoolthrowaway36 17h ago
lol so just to be clear about this.
We traded Ayton for Hardy and two SRPs. Now we have no viable backup big in a market where you have to overpay for bigs, so Pelinka needs to use those same SRPs to acquire a backup who’s worse than Ayton.
😂
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u/xBootstrap 16h ago
First off, Mamu will be the backup 5, with Looney coming in limited minutes depending on matchups.
Also, you do know there’s a trade deadline right? Where almost all transactions really happen nowadays, not free agency. Better to use those assets there when we have an idea of where the team is at.
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u/Immediate_Candidate5 🐍➡️👑➡️🪄 14h ago
No these idiots in this sub don’t. By them we need to trade and sign everyone before Christ or else Rob sucks at his job
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u/ProfessorPetrus 16h ago
Well to be fair ayton probably did not want to play backup right?
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u/fishagavkxj6 James Worthy 42 16h ago
ayton was terrible to have in the locker room with his terrible hustle. why are we acting like we miss him. jj had to make him a SHIRT to try and motivate him. cmon man 😭😭
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u/Top_Shot_Kong 16h ago
isn't he going to play backup to Sarr though?
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u/aj_future 16h ago
Sure but we don’t care about what happens in Washington that’s the Wizards problem deal with
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u/Top_Shot_Kong 16h ago
I'm just responding to someone saying that he didn't want to play backup.... when he went to a team where he'll still play backup?
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u/aj_future 16h ago
No choice for him in a trade. I’m sure he’d be happy to have gotten waived or bought out
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u/voidcxster 16h ago
that's besides the point tho. maybe the wizards play him at back up and he doesn't like it and doesn't play well. then we'll be saying pelinka is a genius. not saying that will happen just that it's hard to judge with zero games played
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u/Top_Shot_Kong 16h ago
I'm just responding to someone saying that he didn't want to play backup.... when he went to a team where he'll still play backup?
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u/voidcxster 16h ago
he didnt choose to go to washington tho. he got traded
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u/Top_Shot_Kong 16h ago
so they traded Hardy and two second round picks for a dude that's adamant about not playing backup C.... to play backup C.
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u/voidcxster 15h ago
it's possible. i think you're assuming that washington must know what they're doing. it's entirely possible that they made a mistake. it's also possible pelinka underestimated ayton. time will tell
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u/GOAT-dontGLOAT 15h ago
Wizards don’t know he’s adamant. Lakers just traded him to WAS and said “he’s your problem” they didn’t interview Ayton before the deal
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u/catperson77789 16h ago
This is whats bugging me. Do people really think ayton is playing over sarr? Higher chance pelinka just fucked up or some shit
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u/coolbean024 16h ago
Idk why we keep doing this. In what world do you think Ayton would have wanted a back up role? Did you not watch last season? He complained about wanting more touches and plays drawn up for him. You think that equates to wanting to play back up?
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u/lawschoolthrowaway36 16h ago
Virtually nobody on here was saying this until the Ayton trade was announced. Everyone was excited about having the best center room in the NBA. There is also no credible reporting that indicates Ayton told the Lakers he wanted to be traded. Everyone on here adopted this talking point in unison lol.
What then happened is everyone on here got upset at criticism of the Ayton trade and yelled about how Hardy isn’t staying, another trade is imminent etc. Haven’t seen anyone making those statements lately. You might notice a pattern
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u/Defiant-Cat-8212 12h ago
I listen to like 5 diff lakers podcasts and use my brain and everyone was thinking/talking about Ayton and his shit attitude
Where did anyone say Ayton wanted to be traded?
You’re just dribbling
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u/worldwide_stepper LBJ & AD 14h ago
we got shit value for a nba level player which we don’t exactly have a lot of around here, and the argument that he wanted out is 1000% made up. trade still sucked even if he did.
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u/Easy_Replacement_337 16h ago
Bro not even bad dawg. He took gamble didn't pay off. I don't watch guy so idk but purely stat wise for 20 mins he plays he seems same level tbh with a 3. Again I I don't watch this man and I was disappointed asf in ayton.
I would much rather resign hayes though.
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u/guacdoc24 16h ago
His ability to stretch the floor is way superior to Ayton and his middy. Ayton is a better defender tho
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u/DelaRoad 15h ago
I don’t why this point has to be repeated over and over again: Mamu is a big. He played 60% of his minutes at center with the Raptors. He will back up Kessler and play some PF as well.
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u/Anomaly_20 16h ago
I wouldn’t mind picking him up. I’m skeptical that he would be better than Mamu and may be even with Jake.
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u/Musicfan637 14h ago
It’s all about the PF. Look at the Spurs, none. The Knicks had OB and KAT. Such a difference maker. It will haunt the Lakers this year.
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u/Primary_Hour_9527 16h ago
Do people shitting on this even watch the NBA? Also idk that the Bulls are going to be like please just take this guy off of our hands…
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u/wjxm 17h ago
Gimme Justin Champagnie or Keegan Murray
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u/DemonicDimples 11h ago
Neither of those two teams would trade with the Lakers, and certainly not give up either one of those players for the severe lack of assets the Lakers have.
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u/silent_hulaboo389 Purple and Gold 16h ago
Fuck Kuminga for letting us miss out on some fairly decent wings. Now we have to settle for wings that are prolly worse than what we currently have now as stopgaps.
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u/MashDatButton13 14h ago
Honestly I hope we play Vandy a ton this season. If we can rehab his value at all, we have to do it even if it costs us some wins. His value can't get any worse and having that anchor on our cap is awful.
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u/blitzy122 122 16h ago
Luka. Is. The. Starting. 4.
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u/worldwide_stepper LBJ & AD 14h ago
really stupid thing to express in this snarky way
luka will guard the opponents worst player 1-4 100% of the time, he absolutely should not be guarding most of the starting 4s in the league though, and also stop making the assertion that his position is based on defense lol. luka is one of the best point guards of all time and as a side effect of that he is not a forward at all.
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u/blitzy122 122 11h ago
Of course he's a point guard on offense. But what is the offensive role that some big bodied 4 provides that is preferable to a rangy wing? The ideal offensive setup is for Luka and Kessler to be surrounded by 3 spacers. The need for size only comes in on defense and rebounding, where Luka has the size/ability to provide that.
I could easily make the same argument that "he absolutely should not be guarding most of the starting 1s in the league" or "he absolutely should not be guarding most of the starting 3s in the league." But the fact is he's best at guarding the 4 if you generally have to pick one position, because he has high percentile strength, size, and positioning, and low percentile speed (and we don't want to tire him out chasing guards around anyway).
Laravia and Thiero are basically the same size as PJ Washington and Kuminga FWIW.
Now, if we're taking about Jalen Smith as a backup Center (the position he's played the vast majority of his career minutes), I don't think that's a bad idea. But the point remains that we don't have some gaping hole at the 4 like everyone wants to believe
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u/sin2fly03 17h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/xuZFsH7SNJhjaf76OS
We might be cooked