Selective Views

This isn’t a hot take. I would absolutely take Wilson over Boozer.

What are we doing here? Would I favor the Rockets? Sure. But we are going to use polymarket odds based on betting trends as a measure of the likelihood of an upset? 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I don’t think that is fair about McShay. He has one job, report draft news. He’s simply saying that it has been vetted and teams are aware and that it probably won’t affect the players draft stock. That’s not belittling or demeaning this tragic situation.

People from Texas thinking living in Texas is better than living in California will never stop being funny. Living in Lubbock Texas or Westwood. This isn’t remotely a tough decision for people that have options and aren’t stuck.

@elHeffy17 @JustPix44 @AnthonyIrwinLA This is a weird discussion, Timme was going to be a 5th big. Smith a 4th guard. Neither were going to play much but I think it’s easy to say that Smith has a better chance of being needed than Timme. Who JJ will never play meaningful minutes over DA, JH, MK or even Rui at the 5.

@JustPix44 @SelectiveViews @AnthonyIrwinLA Starters routinely play 35+ mpg. If the lakers sub in NSJ, I’ll be shocked if the other team doesn’t turn up the pressure on him with a high level perimeter defender

I was right about Bufkin and I’ll be right about this. The perimeter defenders are going to eat NSJ alive. And when either the Rockets or Wolves are too physical for the Lakers, I’d better not hear people like this complaining about it.

Dummy, the salary cap is going up 10 million next year from this year. What is this yokel talking about?

@Gerosmith1013 Man I just don’t see how a 5th big helps more than a 4th guard. JJ isn’t playing Timme over Ayton, Hayes, Kleber or even Rui at the 5. But there may be times you need another ball handler out there.

@SelectiveViews I’m with Anthony on this one. Scoring is not the issue with this injured squad. We have players to put the ball in the basket. With the inconsistencies of Ayton and Jax you can’t just over look Timme. I am willing to bet we don’t see Smith Jr. in meaningful minutes. Garbage time!

The Lakers are down their top two ball handlers, this was always going to be the move. Irwin misguidedly convinced himself it was going to be Timme so now we have to listen to him whine for the next 3 days. I like Timme but his skill set wasn’t a need.

@LakerCentral365 He was being sarcastic

LeBron would still be LeBron. What are we doing here?

@RichStapless If we were healthy I’d rather play Minnesota then San Antonio. Stay away from OKC even if it means the tougher first round opponent. But at this point…it really doesn’t matter.

I’m seeing a consensus from Lakers Twitter that we desire to play Houston? Do I have that right?

@hmfaigen Fair

@SelectiveViews I know, let me subtweet him in peace

I get why people are arguing Nick Smith vs. Drew Timme for the final roster spot but it feels kinda like arguing whether duct tape or glue is better to fix the iceberg hole in the Titanic so I am opting out this time

@NILnotNLI You need to provide empirical data to support this claim. Otherwise it’s garbage personal views and inconsequential.

Certain lawyers & union shills hate the truth: ​College students who participate in NCAA sports have shown a near-universal rejection of overhauling their unrivaled current system into an employment model... ​"The students that we've heard from say we do not want an employee model. ​We don't want to be considered an employee of the university. ​We want the coach-student athlete model not the employer-employee."

LOL…it’s not about Pelinka. It’s about basic roster construction fundamentals. This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t have enough guards to handle the ball, things falls apart quickly. But nice attempt to cover for your nonsense.

@AnthonyIrwinLA What’s funny is that I haven’t seen one person on your timeline “stan” for Pelinka. But when what you are arguing for flies in the face of common sense? At some point people have to push back on you a little bit.

Rob Pelinka having stans is one of the dumber developments of my career. Have some standards, people.

@AnthonyIrwinLA What really helps is having a bare minimum of 3 guards on your roster instead of adding yet another big when you already have Kleber, Ayton, Hayes and at times Rui. You can criticize the names but roster construction dictated you needed another guard.

You know who helps with that approach? Lol.

@AnthonyIrwinLA Having enough guards is a non-negotiable.

@AnthonyIrwinLA The Lakers just manhandled the Rockets with ease. If they have Luka and AR they are no problem. I doubt the wolves are either. Without those guys it’s a long shot anyways but you need someone to bring the ball up when LeBron needs a rest. You have to have enough guards.

@djbsmoove81 @KevinOConnor Losing should never be rewarded more.

@KevinOConnor So what if a team isn’t tanking but they end up with the worse record? Let’s say Luka gets hurt for the season and the Lakers end up bad.. why should they be penalized as if they’re Utah purposely tanking?

During the NBA GM meeting this week, one person suggested make the bottom three teams ineligible for the top picks entirely. The league, per multiple sources, found this to be way too extreme. But then another person on the call offered a softer version of the same concept: What if the bottom three teams just had slightly lower odds than the teams ranked four through 10? Not zero. Just a little less. Sources on the call say Adam Silver responded enthusiastically to this idea. Which speaks to the state of lottery reform. The 18 team/8% odds for the top 10 concept is simply still just the concept. The specifics of it will change by the time the league votes on it in late May. And adjustments — like this one — are still in heavy consideration. I think it’s brilliant. Under that structure, with the bottom three teams having slightly worse odds, there is no longer a single point in the standings where losing helps you. Tanking all the way to the bottom hurts you a bit. It’s not quite relegation that you’d see in the Premier League, but it’s the NBA’s own form that would punish being the worst in the league. And much like Premier League teams have entertaining games to prevent relegation, NBA teams would too. Picture two bad teams in late March, both within a game of the bottom three, both desperate to win. That's a win for the fans. Picture the front office of the Wizards doing the calculus on whether to shut down Trae Young and Anthony Davis and realizing that, actually, no, the vets need to go play, because falling in the standings is a real cost now, not a reward. That's a win for the sport. Picture Sacramento intentionally fouling Seth Curry late in a game, and the conversation around it shifting from "nefarious tanking" to "bad coaching." That's a win for the league. More on @YahooSports:

I am 100% on board with this