NBA SIMS LEAGUE
NSL Insider - Team by Team: Los Angeles Lakersby Shams, updated on Thursday, October 12 2023, 04:38 am EST Lakers Team by Team:
2023 Season Finish: 16-66
Season Highlight: It is hard to really choose a highlight for the Lakers, I guess the one week where Cade played. Considering how massive he was to the core of the Lakers this year they saw lots of good the one week, where he looked much improved from his first season in the NSL. The trade which brought in Jalen Green and the stash of picks being loaded were good as well.
Season Lowlight: The Lakers had a much different year than Justin had envisioned, he was looking to make the playoffs when the year started, and when his young star, Cade Cunningham, was announced out for the season it changed. He started to trade his win-now guys for picks and younger players because of this and the team was the worst in the league last year. Even having the best odds in the draft lottery, the pick still ended up falling all the way to 5. Talk about bad luck.
Best Trade: The LA Lakers send Dario Saric to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns send Austin Reaves to the LA Lakers. If this is as plain and dry as it looks the Lakers won for sure, the Suns ended up waiving him a few months later while Reaves is a young star and getting lots of hype.
Worst Trade: The LA Lakers send Kristaps Porzingis, Shake Milton and Austin Reaves to the New Orleans Pelicans. The New Orleans Pelicans send Terry Rozier, John Collins, 2nd-Rounder, 1st-Rounder (NO) and 1st-Rounder (Cle), 15 GM points to the LA Lakers. Mostly on here cause Kristaps is a very good player and especially in 2k, but also gave up Reaves who has broken out and may very well continue to do so. He is already up to an 82 overall, the 1st rounders aren�t picks where you know they will be amazing either, they could end up being good, but will have to see how the year plays out.
Other Notable Trades: The Cleveland Cavaliers send Davis Bertans, Josh Christopher, and Blake Wesley to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Terry Rozier, Juan Toscano-Anderson and 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the Cleveland Cavaliers. This turned out to be decent deal, Christopher was waived after being traded elsewhere, but Wesley is still a guy sitting on potential and one I have liked since the draft. With Rozier�s value it is at an all time low with his cost being maybe a 1st at most and at the time took a shot on two first rounders.
The LA Lakers send Jalen Smith to the Phoenix Suns. The Milwaukee Bucks send Jalen Brunson to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns send David Roddy to the LA Lakers. The Phoenix Suns send Myles Turner and Gary Payton II to the Milwaukee Bucks. The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (Cha) to the Phoenix Suns. The Milwaukee Bucks send a 1st-Rounder (Mil) to the LA Lakers. Jalen Smith and a 2nd for David Roddy and a 1st. Not sure how Roddy will work in 2k being shorter, but very strong and big. With the Lakers position, why not take a shot on him and also get a 1st along with him.
The LA Lakers send Torrey Craig to the Indiana Pacers. The LA Lakers send Keegan Murray to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send Kristaps Porzingis, Shake Milton and Oshae Brissett to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send a 1st-Rounder (LAL) to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma City Thunder send a 1st-Rounder (GS) to the LA Lakers. LA ended up getting some good assets from here, Murray had a really good rookie year, Craig is a decent role player, and the Lakers 1st in 2025 could end up being bad looking at the team they currently have. Kristaps they ended up having to trade later, but he is a very good player and the 1st that came back ended up being the 8th pick.
The Atlanta Hawks send Jalen Green to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Lonnie Walker to the Atlanta Hawks. The LA Lakers send a 1st-Rounder (GS), 1st-Rounder (Sac), 1st-Rounder (Mil) and 1st-Rounder (GS) to the Atlanta Hawks. Even though the Lakers gave up 4 firsts and a role player, it was great because they have a young star they brought in. Green at least has shown something and has some good value here cause he is young and usable at the same time. The picks you never know what they will turn out to be, but he got himself a piece to invest in and possibly flip.
The LA Lakers send Julius Randle to the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks send Monte Morris to the LA Lakers. The New York Knicks send Cameron Johnson and Naz Reid to the Sacramento Kings. The New York Knicks send Jimmy Butler and T.J. McConnell to the Toronto Raptors. The Phoenix Suns send Talen Horton-Tucker to the LA Lakers. The Sacramento Kings send Mason Plumlee to the New York Knicks. The Sacramento Kings send George Hill to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Marcus Smart and OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks. The Toronto Raptors send Kyle Kuzma to the Phoenix Suns. The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (Dal) to the New York Knicks. The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (Chi) to the Phoenix Suns. The New York Knicks send a 1st-Rounder (Atl) and 1st-Rounder (Mil) to the LA Lakers. The New York Knicks send a 2nd-Rounder (Phi) to the Phoenix Suns. The New York Knicks send a 2nd-Rounder (Mil), 1st-Rounder (Tor) and 2nd-Rounder (Sac) to the Sacramento Kings. The Phoenix Suns send a 1st-Rounder (NY) to the LA Lakers. The Sacramento Kings send a 1st-Rounder (Sac) to the New York Knicks. The Lakers come out of trading Randle and 2 2nds for Monte Morris, Talen Horton-Tucker, and 3 1sts. It ends up being an alright deal, but it will hold lots of weight on how the Lakers did on it with where the Atlanta 1st this upcoming year ends up.
Free Agency: The Lakers will not be player in FA due to supposedly being out of spots, but also the algorithm will be against them this time around. Bad record, but good players now so it won�t really go in their favor.
Star: Lakers did not really have a star from this past year, they finished with the worst record and also had people being traded in and out so nobody really played enough to do so and Cade was out just about the entire year. You could say the star is all the picks Justin got back in trades with how valuable they were this offseason. So...Andre Drummond, having to pull from the team this upcoming year for one. He will provide lots of value even with the rule changes, we luckily won�t see PF Drummond, but he still obliterates everyone on the glass and provides so much value on that alone. It is hard for teams to win losing on the boards like that. Flop: The Randle and Kristaps experiment, they did not work out at all, even though it may not be entirely their fault it was a short lived duo that made as much noise as the fans did for the Lakers last year.
Draft Grades: B+ Jarace Walker really puts this class on the track of being good, I think he will be really good, Podziemski was kind of a reach but he has gotten some hype. I really like O-Max and Jacquez going to Miami is good because that organization is usually good at developing and putting guys in the right situations.
Future: The future is bright still with picks left and the starting lineup looking really good, there are still some moves they need to make to help with depth, but it�s a good core to the team and they have the star power and potential to do something great. C: Andre Drummond/ Nick Richards PF: Tobias Harris / Jarace Walker / Danilo Gallinari SF: Cade Cunningham / Caleb Martin / Olivier Maxence-Prosper SG: Donovan Mitchell / Caleb Houstan / Jaime Jacquez Jr PG: Immanuel Quickley / Blake Wesley / Brandin Podeziemski |
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