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LETS GO LAKERS Podcast: 2024-25 Roster and depth chart review
Four seconds, three, two, one, the Lakers are the champions. [MUSIC] >> Maggie got a medal just what I thought, I hope shot it from good. Two seconds left, the Lakers take the lead. >> Can you do that? [APPLAUSE] >> Can you do that? >> Final seconds, trying for the win, three. >> They're gonna be happy about it. >> You're up to it. >> Jobs not finished, job finish. >> I don't think so. >> The disrupt Rondo puts it in, here's Davis, four, three in the win. It's gone, Anthony Davis has won it for the Lakers. >> Organization what they respect, Laker Nation what they respect. And I want my damn respect too. >> What's going on everybody? My name is Mike Andrade and you're listening to the Let's Go Lickers podcast brought to you by lace-um-up sports, the premier destination for LA Sports in Pro Wrestling. I hope everyone is doing well tonight. On this fine Sunday evening as I'm recording this, the Lakers are playing their second game in Palm Springs and they're up. They're beating the Phoenix Suns 85-71 with 4-24 remaining in the third quarter. Watching the first half of this game, the Lakers looked really good. The Braun James and Anthony Davis made their preseason debut and the team looked really formidable. The Braun looked really energized and healthy. So did AD, they both looked really good. And the team looked like they're flowing out there in the first half. The first game on Friday night against the Timberwolves was more of a... Just to get the Lakers players just adapted into the new system, get their feet wet into what some of the rotations might look like. And that's fine, the Lakers got blown out on that game and that's okay. It's nothing to worry about. That's what preseason is all about, especially the first game. And there were some highlights of that game, you know? Braun James looked decent, Dalton Connect looked decent, so did some other players. But tonight, the team looked really good. They're looking really fluid out there. I'm just watching Jalen Hitchafina right now and he's looking like he might contend for a spot in the rotation as well. And that's what we're going to get into today guys. We're going to go over the projected starting five. We're going to go through each individual player on the roster and we're going to go through some rotations. But before I begin that, just want to let you guys know, our wrestling with Ryan Pottercast just produced another episode. So if you're into pro wrestling, we just reviewed Bad Blood last night. Also my week five Rams report is up even though they lost today against the Green Bay Packers. It's okay, they made it a game and they're a possession away from winning the football game. So that's something we could take away from that. Also, look out for a recap of the first two games between the Dodgers and the Padres. The Dodgers took game one. The Dodgers are losing pretty ugly right now. So we're going to have a lot to talk about with that. But nonetheless, let's get into today's topic, shall we? All right, so let's get started on the projections right now for the rotations. So what I want to do with this is I'm going to lay out the starting five and we're going to go through each player and the way they're going to be rotated through the depth chart. So right now we're going to have traditional positions, center, power forward, small forward, shooting guard and point guard. But obviously that's now how the current NBA works. And in rotations right now, some players that are in different positions are going to be moved up or down in which the rotation may call for them to be in. So for example, centers, just because the player is labeled as center, they may play power forward or if they're playing power forward just depending on the rotation, if they're playing small ball, they may move up to center. Same thing goes for shooting guards going up and down or point guards going up to shooting guard. So we'll go ahead and get started. Let's start with the center position. First, you have Anthony Davis. Everyone knows what Anthony Davis can bring when healthy. And that was the sticking point to the last few years if Anthony Davis could stay and remain healthy. And for the better part of two years, he's shown that. When the Lakers won the 2020 title after that for a couple years, he was being made fun of constantly. Charles Barkley calling him street clothes, other people calling him glass man. And he had a stew of bad luck in which he got hurt and was able to be on the floor as much as Lakers nation wanted him to prefer him to be. And that's just something that a lot of players go through. But over the last couple years, Anthony Davis has resurrected his career and has proved that he's an all NBA type of player. And it is a shame that Anthony Davis did not win defensive player of the year last year. I really think it's just because he's a Laker. As a Lakers fan, I think that the NBA kind of holds that against them if they're wearing a Lakers jersey because they don't want to recognize players in a Lakers uniform having success. Only fits blatantly right in their face, which I think it was. But nonetheless, Anthony Davis, he should have been defensive player of the year last year. Now, if Anthony Davis is subbed out, you're going to have guys like Jackson Hayes. Jackson Hayes is still a young player, considerably a young player, still. Last year was in the rotation quite a bit because the Lakers really didn't have a true big man to back up Anthony Davis. Hayes is a Skywalker. He loves to dunk. He loves to catch lobs. He's a shop locker. He has really good size. But the knock on Hayes is he really doesn't know what to do offensively. If you're not throwing him a lob in the air, or if you're not setting him up well within play, he really doesn't have much he can do offensively that he can utilize. I'm not comparing him to Kwame Brown, but I remember what Stephen Hayes Smith said about Kwame Brown. He doesn't have anything memorized in his brain in terms of moves. He can utilize offensively, and that's kind of what Jackson Hayes is. You can't really trust him with the ball outside of throwing him lobs and setting him up well. But nonetheless, Hayes is a shop locker, so if Anthony Davis does need a rest, then putting Hayes out there at the center position isn't terrible, but you're just not going to get much production offensively. Going down, you have Christian Wood. Christian Wood is currently injured, and he's been injured since last year. Wood is a really talented big man who can shoot the three. He's an offensive threat. Just a knock on him is that defensively he really just doesn't bring it. Like the way Jackson Hayes does. So they're kind of the opposite player. Wood is talented offensively, and Hayes is not, and Hayes is very limited in that role. But with Wood, he's been injured the last better part of the last year. So, can the Lakers rely on him to come back and give them production? We just don't know. He had a good, he had a solid start to the year last year, but his production started to recline as the season went on, and then he got hurt. So the Lakers weren't able to utilize him going into the playoffs against a guy like Yo-Kitch. So Christian Wood is a big, big question mark right now. We just don't know what we're going to get, or when he's going to be able to return and be on the floor. Then you have Christian Coloco, who's a shop locker, but not really much is known about Coloco. Besides him just being a shop locker and a defensive guy and just a big man on the floor, can Coloco even make a rotation at this point? We just don't know. It'll be interesting to see what JJ Reddick does with him, even if he does make the team full time. We just don't know what kind of value we're going to get from Coloco, or if he's even going to get spot minutes at least. Lastly, at center, then you have Colin Castleton. Castleton's been a guy that's been in the G League. He's an athletic center. He's a defensive guy, a guy that you can throw the lob to and he can throw it down. I believe he's a seven-footer, and so with that, there's a lot of talent there. I just don't think Castleton has been able to put it all together, and in terms of showing scouts that he can be productive for an NBA team, and that's just something that he's going to have to prove. Otherwise, he's not going to be with the team very long going forward, and for sure, next year, he's not going to be on the team if he can't prove it, so let's see if he can do it. But also with that, is I'm not sure if he's still going to be with the South Bay Lakers, or if he's going to be with the Lakers full time. He still probably is on a two-way, so more than likely he might be on the South Bay Lakers, but let's see. All right, then going down the power forward, LeBron James. LeBron is our starting power forward, per se, but with LeBron, you know, he's flexible going, putting him into the small forward position. If the Lakers really do want to run big, if by any point we do get a valuable center, in which we can move Anthony Davis down, a spot where he prefers, if we were to somehow get a guy like Jonas Valentine's, if you were to trade for him, or if he were to be bought now by the Washington Wizards, if you were to get a guy that we can sign and add to our starting lineup, move Anthony Davis down, then yeah, LeBron James, it would be better for him too. Then LeBron James could slide down to that position, just like what we saw in 2020. But at power forward, LeBron James is our starting power forward, and in some situations too, like I said, we may even see LeBron James at center, just depending if we're going to go real small ball. We saw that a couple times last year, we saw it definitely during the run, when he made it to the Western Conference Finals. A lot of different options of which LeBron James can do, we can even see him at the point guard position at times, handling the ball. Obviously, you don't want that right now, since LeBron James is a lot older. But in 2020, LeBron James was basically our starting point guard, and currently LeBron James, you can slide him in anywhere, really, and he's going to be productive, but slated, he's our starting power forward. Now, who's going to replace LeBron James once he comes off the bench? Well, we really don't have anybody that's a slated power forward beyond LeBron James. It's going to have to be guys like, really, Hotch-A-Moor. So let's say Hotch-A-Moor is in the starting lineup, but LeBron James takes a breather, we'll then Hotch-A-Moor. We'll move up a spot into the power forward position. Then you might slide in Jared Vanderbilt, or Cam Reddish, or you might put Jackson Hayes in there if you want to go big, or Christian Wood to pair with Anthony Davis. So Anthony Davis is the power forward, and then you have guys like Wood or Hayes at center. There's a lot of different options there. But there's nobody, really, besides LeBron James, that's slated as power forward. Then small forward, you have Rui Hutch-A-Moor, who's a guy that's been on the team for a couple years now. He's been a guy that's been on The Rise for the last couple of years. We've seen a lot of improvement in his game. We've also seen a lot of times where it's been a struggle to watch Rui on the floor, especially in the playoffs last season. Now, Hotch-A-Moor did have a fantastic playoff, especially against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2023. But since then, Hotch-A-Moor has played off production the climb last year, and he's been very hit or miss. Last season, he was getting used to coming off the bench when Darv and Ham was going through his whole tinkering of the rotations, and it took him a while to get things figured out. But when Darv and Ham did input, Rui Hutch-A-Moor into the starting lineup, Hotch-A-Moor flourished, and we were able to go on a good run. So starting Rui Hutch-A-Moor at the small forward is a benefit to the team. With that, you do have guys, like I said, Jared Vanderbelte. Vanderbelte, a defensive-minded guy, an athletic forward, a guy that you could put in different positions and say, "Look, I need you to stop this guy, or I need you to stop their best player, and I think I could trust Jared Vanderbelte if healthy he could do that." Vanderbelte is another guy that you could slide in at the power forward position. You also have Camp Redish, a guy that's been very hot and cold in the NBA, and at the beginning of last season, really proved himself with the Lakers. But then, as the season went on and after the end-season tournament, his production did take a dip and he really wasn't even a factor going into the playoffs last year. It's kind of a gamble to what you're going to get out of Camp Redish. Is he going to be able to be put in a position where Coach Jared Vanderbelte can trust him on the floor? Can he make defensive stops when we need him to? And also, can he make open buckets? That's just something that we're going to have to see. Then we're going into the shooting guard position. We have Austin Reeves. As we know, Reeves has been a fan favorite for the Lakers over the past three years. He's going into year four now, which is crazy. But Reeves' rejection has been on the upswing. You know, Reeves has really put himself into position as being a top three or four player on the team right now. Really, if you think about it, he might be even our third best player, which is kind of crazy to think about. But Reeves is our starting shooting guard. The question for Reeves is, how much of him are we going to see improved still? Or have we seen his abilities peak? I would think that him taking the next level in his game is just being a better consistent shooter, being all around better defensively. Those are things he's going to have to improve on if the rejection is going to keep going up. But Austin Reeves in year four has just surely bypassed everyone's expectations of him. And let's see what this year can bring. Backing up, Austin Reeves will be Max Christie. Christie is a guy that's going into his third season on the Lakers. His first two seasons under Darv and Ham, we didn't really see much of Max Christie. Last season, really, I thought we were going to see a little bit more of him. But not, we didn't. Darv and Ham really didn't trust him. And it's a shame because I feel like every time we've seen Max Christie on the floor, he's presented himself in a way that he makes open shots. He's really good handling the ball. He's a donker. He's a guy that has size to him and that he can defend a lot of positions, point guard through small four probably. And he can play the shooting guard or the small four position. So he's very flexible in that way. I think under JJ Redick, we're going to see a lot of Max Christie. And I think we're going to see a side of Max Christie in which we haven't seen before. You know, I think this guy is going to turn out to be a 3D guy. But let's just let's hope and pray that happens. Let's hope and pray that we can see enough of him where we get a better sense of what his abilities are. Then you have Dalton Connect. Dalton Connect is a very highly touted rookie, a guy that fell 17th to the Lakers. He was supposed to go lower than that. But somehow, someway, he fell to the Lakers at number 17. And the Lakers got a gift in Dalton Connect. His potential is through the roof. That's where his is the shooting and his athletic ability. The guy can downright connect. No pun intended on his 3's. So it'll be interesting to see what kind of rookie your Dalton Connect has. I expect him to have some highs and I expect him to have some lows. You know, that's what every rookie really goes through. But also connect. He is going to be a guy that's going to be in the rotation. I fully expect that there's going to be some injuries in which we're going to see connect maybe and start some games. Who knows? Let's say if much more is out, you know, Jared Vanderbilt is still, his status is still unknown. Let's say Cam Radish isn't really panning out to what we expect him to be. Then Dalton Connect is going to be right there to take those guys' spots and the rotation. Maybe not a hatch of more. But maybe Jared Vanderbilt, maybe, and for sure, Cam Radish, if Cam Radish isn't panning out. So expect Dalton to connect to be in the rotation somewhat this year. And then lastly, for the shooting guards, Maxwell Lewis. Maxwell was with the team last year. Really didn't have any playing time except for garbage time. Spent majority of his time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers. And to be honest, I'm not sure if he's going to get much run this year considering the depth chart the way it is. He'd really have to show himself during preseason and in training camp if he's going to make some splash in the rotation, which I can't see it happening. Alright, so let's go to the point guards. Our starting point guard is D'Angelo Russell. Russell, a fan favorite for the Lakers fans. A fan favorite of mine, I remember the Lakers drafting him in 2015. And the guy was sensational. Yeah, he had a lot of troubles along the way, especially the Nick Young situation. And then eventually the Lakers trading him because of his lack of leadership. But he was an all-star in Brooklyn. And it's kind of, I don't want to say Max Dow in a way. But just kind of been going through the motions as a player in Minnesota. He wasn't really that contributing with an X factor in Minnesota. It was decent, but not what they were looking for. And then him coming back to the Lakers in 2022. It's been a mixed bag. He's had some really good moments. Some moments in which he's carried the team to some victories. His hot shooting. And then he's been really cold in which we saw last year during the playoffs. IE game three, in which he had zero points. I was at that game and it was a struggle to watch. I like D'Angelo Russell and I'm glad we haven't traded him again. I think that he can be valuable on a winning team. I just think that he has to be utilized in the right way. And I think he's stepping up this year, JJ Redk has already talked about his leadership. He's being very vocal inside the locker room and during practice, when they're running scrimmage games. So he's being a vocal leader out there. And that's something that we need from our starting point card. Hopefully D'Angelo Russell can have a year in which he had last year, in which he was very hot, but also not have the lows like he did last year and kind of just stay in the middle. If he stays in the middle and continues the shooting in which we know he can produce, then we'll have a decent year. And there's Gabe Vincent Vincent in 2022, I believe was a starting point card for the Miami Heat. Was he not? I think he was. But he was a very contributing factor in the finals for the Heat in 2022 or 23, 23, whatever it was. Vincent can do a lot of great things with the ball, but last year he was really injured with the Lakers and wasn't really, we weren't able to really see what Vincent could do in the Lakers uniform. This year we're going to have the chance. Hopefully he could stay healthy. Hopefully he can shoot the ball well and hopefully he's not a liability on defense. Vincent is shorter than a lot of the point guards in league, so, defensively he might be a liability, but hopefully that's the part of his game in which we don't have to worry about. All right, on to Jalen Hood Shafino. See, Hood Shafino is another guy there, which we didn't really see at all. He didn't have Vincent last year. I forgot what the injury was about with Hood Shafino, but I mean he saw a little to know playing time at the beginning of last year and then suffered an injury and then just couldn't really recover from it in time and was shut down for the rest of the season. So we didn't really get to see anything of Jalen Hood Shafino, a guy in which the Lakers drafted two years ago or last year and a guy that we thought might have some promise. So hopefully going into his second year we could see the abilities of Jalen Hood Shafino and what he can contribute. Okay, and lastly, Bronnie James. Let's talk about Bronnie James. Bronnie James, the son of LeBron James, a guy that's been under a lot of scrutiny for the Lakers. Drafting him, see Bronnie coming out of USC, he did suffer that scare in which he had a heart attack and I'm also grateful that he's won doing well, but also like he was able to recover from it and play basketball and that's amazing. Now there's a lot to say in which, what is his ability? Did the Lakers just draft him as a favor to LeBron James? That's certainly a possibility. Yeah, I mean that's definitely something that you can't say that wasn't out of the realm of possibility because it was and it is. So Bronnie James is in the league and during the first preseason game, he showed us and also in Summer League too. Similarly, he definitely did show us that he's an above average defensive player. He is shorter just like Jalen Hood Shafino, but he kind of uses that to his advantage. He's able to swipe the ball away from guys, he's able to utilize good athletic jumping skills to block shots in which we saw Friday's preseason game. So there's some ability with Bronnie James. Now look it. He's not going to see much playing time on the Lakers home floor at crypto.com arena. Okay, he's going to spend most of his time with the South Bay Lakers. Let's just get that out in the open. Ronnie James will be with the South Bay Lakers mostly. Will there be games where he's traveling with the team? Of course. He's while he's on the roster, so that's definitely a possibility. Well he might even see some playing time here and there. Of course, that's definitely a possibility, but do not expect Ronnie James to be in the rotation this year for the Los Angeles Lakers because it's not going to be possible. He still has a lot of room to grow. He still has a lot of things he needs to show people before that happens, but Ronnie James does have some ability with him. Okay, and he is a decent basketball player. Will he plan out to be a decent NBA player? Well, only time will tell. All right. So that covers all the players in the rotation. Comment down below on what you think the Lakers need. What do you think, or where do you think the players can fit in the best and what kind of rotations JJ Redick can utilize in the season. You know, injuries are going to be expected. And let's say guys may not pan out. What do you think the Lakers can do to get themselves in a successful position and have a winning season? Comment down below guys. The more audience engagement, the better we're community here. So let's get that going. All right, you guys. Now that we have wrapped that up, I want to introduce a new segment for the podcast. We're going to call it this week in Lakers history. So for this week, we're going to go back four years from this week, October 7th through 11th, where the Lakers were inside the NBA bubble and captured their 17th NBA World Championship, defeating the Miami Heat in six games, 106 to 93. Let's take a look back at the final moments of that game. Little kids again, when that title is realized, when it's finally over, all the work, all the sweat, all the practices, all the travel. And in this case, all this time in the bubble ends up with what they all set out for as their number one and only goal. You know it. Each guy invested. And LeBron is thinking, I promise this guy this. I told him that things would be different and to finish it off, they all should be extremely proud. Well, let me put it up at him. I'm sure they are back in Los Angeles again. That's what now knocks down a three pointer. There's the exclamation point and the heat will just bring it up. There's a Lakers will win game six and now can just dribble it out and J.R. Smith already shirtless. Final seconds here in this NBA season. The respect from those two. And that's it. It's over. This historic 2020 NBA championship belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers conquer the bubble and batter number 17 will soon hang in the rafters. All right, you guys, thank you very much for listening to the Let's Go Lakers podcast. I want to remind you guys that we always are taking suggestions. If you guys want to write in a question to us in which we can answer here on the podcast, you can always do so by emailing us at laceumuptakes@gmail.com, that's laceumuptakes@gmail.com. If you have any questions you want me to answer or any inquiries, you can always feel free to do that. All right, guys, thank you very much for listening. Next week, we're going to be previewing training camp, the Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the preseason game, and then we're going to look into the regular season, maybe the first five games. All right, guys, thank you very much. I'm Mike Andrady, and let's go Lakers. [MUSIC] (dramatic music) (upbeat music)