A fans perspective

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday through Sunday

No Luka, no LeBron…this time a different outcome

Friday night the final score read Celtics 126 Lakers 105, many in Laker Nation probably could have forecasted this one prior to the Celtics or Lakers taking the court. Losing a game is one thing, losing that game against your longtime rival is another story completely. As for those missing in action, we knew Luka was in Slovenia awaiting the birth of his second child and LeBron was “gimpy” and probably wouldn’t play, that did turn out to be the case. I hope this doesn’t appear an excuse on my part but it’s a slight bit difficult to win a game when 2 of your top 3 scorers are missing unable to play for a variety of reasons.

Austin Reaves, who is having a career year thus far, tried his best but he was a party of one with his 36 points and his dish of 8 assists but as you can determine from the score that it was certainly not enough to allow the Lakers a win. Guard Gabe Vincent chipped in with 18 points and Rui Hachimura hero from the previous nights’ game scored 13. I am hopeful help is on the way, Luka was reported to miss two games which is now the number. In addition to that maybe by the Lakers next game LeBron will have healed and be able to return to the lineup as well.

An introduction

Purdue has no monopoly but it seems the Indiana school is sometimes the destination for Big Men. Most recently 7-foot 4 Zach Edey who played at Purdue was made the 9th pick by the NBA Memphis Grizzlies in the 2024 draft. Recently the school received a commitment from Sinan Huan a 7-foot 225 pound center, Huan attends Georgetown Preparatory School in Rockville, Maryland near Washington D.C. This brief scouting report on him from 247Sports and Adam Finklestein, “He (Huan) has good size, coordination, soft hands, touch, mobility, and can run the floor well.

He’s not a finished product physically, but his frame is sturdy and should have no problem supporting plenty more muscle mass.” 247Sports rate Huan a 4-star prospect in the Class of 2026, two points I’d like to make, Big Men sometimes develop at a slower pace than others. Don’t expect him to arrive on campus and wow anyone as he adjusts to the college game. Second, profiles are provided on prospects in this blog. Everyone featured is not headed to the NBA, they might be in some cases but have a pedestrian career. Projections on athletes such as Huan and others is to identify what is believed to be future basketball talent so please keep that point in mind.

Laker news 

Los Angeles Laker coach JJ Redick has decided a 9-man rotation works best for his team, the rotation consists of starters Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton. Reserves who play to date are Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent and recently Maxi Kleber. missing from the rotation is Jarrad Vanderbilt. This we know, Vanderbilt is a lock-down defender but his offensive game is a mess. Allow me to state 44% shooting is not terrible, consider the fact Luka is bringing 47.8% when he’s on the court. Reserve players throughout time have supplied different elements for their team, some are offensive specialists while others (like Vanderbilt) have focused on defense. I should point out it is still early in the season and Vanderbilt has time to work on his offensive game.

It’s my belief the Lakers are going to need his defense once the Lakers reach crunch time in the playoffs even though Redick might not be completely comfortable with Vanderbilt’s limited offense game. I guess if a writer is paid huge sums of money one must always be in a writing mode, one that might stoke conversation. That is what I am about to do. I have read the headline (not the piece in depth) so-called proposals to lure Luka Doncic back to the Mavs. Never say never but a larger question might be why, although the Mavs were his initial NBA team what is the draw to return to Texas other than the imagination of a writer? In closing allow me to remind you LeBron James returned to the Cavs, more recently Chris Paul came back to the Clippers. There might be circumstances beyond my comprehension as to why a player would desire to return. As for Luka anything is possible although I highly doubt he is going to return to Texas in the near future. There are financial opportunities in California I imagine would exceed those in Texas.

A second black eye

Word came Los Angeles Clipper forward Kawhi Leonard was being paid for a no-work job. That’s the simple portion of the story without rehashing what had been reported earlier. Commissioner Adam Silver indicated the NBA would begin an investigation on the matter and a full report would be made at a future date. Based on the questionable actions of Kawhi Leonard and the  Clippers front office this is not a good look for the NBA or the Clippers…hence black eye number one. The second black eye occurred early Wednesday morning (2:00-3:00 a.m.) as Chris Paul announced he was being sent home to Los Angeles. Later Lawrence Frank vice president of the Clippers issued a statement of explanation for the move.

For most reading or hearing the words of Frank they sounded empty pointing to no official explanation why they decided to dump Chris Paul before January. As this is written a number of stories are circulating one claiming neither Paul nor head coach Tyronn Lue were talking. Paul’s gas tank is pointing toward empty, he certainly is not the player from even three years ago. Despite this fact his attempt to hold teammates and the coaching staff accountable appears to be the basis for his departure. Reports are Paul is cantankerous but he is also a professional and if he witnessed what he considered questionable actions he would address it. It’s clear his approach must have offended the coaching staff, front office and maybe some of his teammates. The Clippers despite a brand-new arena and another owner appear to have journeyed little from the days of former owner Donald Sterling.

The medical center twosome

Sometimes you read a stat that appears to be correct. I’m not going to bother checking the authenticity of it just repeat what I read, I’m doing that because it might be correct. It read, “Zion Williamson has missed 52% of his games since he began play in the NBA.” The New Orleans Pelicans drafted him in 2019, let’s do a self-examination. We can say the Pelicans have scheduled 492 games in that time, I will allow you to do the math on this one. Once again the question is asked, how valuable are you to your team when you have difficulty remaining in the lineup for an extended period? I am one of those fans who first saw highlights of Williamson while in high school, this was followed by seeing him in action for the Duke Blue Devils. His NBA play when healthy certainly provides us insight into his talent, at 6-foot 7 and 280+ pounds Williamson is that talent that any team desires however the injury issue.

Concluding there we remain in the southeast portion of the nation but move northward to Memphis Tennessee. As for Jae Morant I watched as many games as I could while Morant was enrolled at Murray State and was excited with his potential NBA impact. The Memphis Grizzlies made him their top pick in 2019 as well, the impact of his play was evident immediately. In 2020 he would be named NBA Rookie of the Year, since then his NBA impact has been up and down. Not only injuries but suspensions have kept him off the court for periods and some are questioning, is Morant’s NBA career on the decline? This is not a talent issue alone, in addition to the injuries there is a maturity factor to consider as well. There are no answers, unfortunately players cannot avoid injury but they can avoid suspension. Will maturity impact Morant more than injury, I don’t have that answer however it is troubling. This is for reading purposes only, there is nothing to be accomplished here except for Williamson and Morant for the balance of their NBA careers.’