July 3,2023

Sometimes the best moves are the simplest and most straight forward. This past weekend, the Lakers completed a fast, efficient, and smart off-season. Rob Pelinka re-signed Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell, while adding Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxton Hayes. Not only are the Lakers running it back and keeping the continuity of a roster that made it to the West Finals, they are arguably younger, more athletic, with even better shooting. With the exception of that disastrous Russell Westbrook trade, Rob Pelinka has done an exceptional job of building out a balanced roster in almost every year he’s been here. That’s also remarkable when the entire league hates you because they wanted your job. NBA GM’s are that petty and are like that high school girl that hates the popular girl because she’s so pretty. I will say that it was a bummer to lose Dennis Schroeder, but Gabe Vincent is a pretty good point guard to have alongside Lebron, assuming he performs at the level he did in the playoffs. As for the final roster spots, I’d really like to see Malik Beasley back for the minimum. Law of averages tells you he should shoot better like he has his whole career, and maybe even Mo Bamba or Christian Wood for the other spot. In any case, this team should be right back in the mix to contend for an NBA Championship next season, and that’s all you can ask for.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have made a couple of moves but the rumors surrounding them are much bigger than those. They brought back Russell Westbrook on a deal that is so cheap, he might as well be on NBA welfare. They also traded a couple of 2nd round picks to Houston for Kenyan Martin Jr, which is a nice move. However, the big question is if they can and should acquire James Harden. Let’s be honest, the market for Harden is not great. He’s about to be 34 years old, and although he can still ball, he spends more time in the strip club than on the basketball court these days. The Clippers realize this, so they seem to be interested, but only for their expiring contracts like Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, and Robert Covington. I’m sure the 76ers would much rather have the likes of Terrance Mann, Norman Powell, or Ivica Zubac. However, James Harden probably isn’t worth that much at this point, and even Daryl Morey knows this, after he gave up a ton to get him from the Nets. The big question is what exactly the Clipper front office is thinking. They went into the off-season seemingly just trying to run it back and hope for better health. Then there were some Paul George trade rumors, suggesting they might be willing to blow it up, and now they look like they want to double down on their star players and try to add another. For all James Harden’s flaws, if you can get him for your expiring contracts and a pick, it’s probably worth it. If not, the Clippers should just move on. The Clips may also be feeling pressure to do something seeing that the Lakers and Suns fortified their roster, while they haven’t done much. We may find out soon.

Elsewhere around the association’s offseason, Dame Lillard finally requested a trade from the Blazers. He probably should have done this two seasons ago. The market for him is probably going to be very limited though since he seems to be focused only on the Miami Heat. Savvy move by the Rockets to outbid all those Chinese teams for the services of Dillon Brooks. 4 years and $80 million? I haven’t seen anything that ridiculous since they decided to pay Fred VanVleet over $40 million a year hours early. The Warriors have Steph Curry and Klay Thompson: the Splash Brothers. The Wizards now have Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma: the Cash Brothers. The Bulls have clearly decided their goal is to be a mediocre as possible after extending Nikola Vucevic for three more years. Where was I when these teams were handing out money?

I feel bad for all the big names at ESPN who were let go last week. These are incredible superstar talents in the sports broadcasting industry. However, it just goes to show you how far ESPN has fallen. They overspent on broadcasting rights to all their major sports leagues, at a time when subscribers were cutting the cord left and right. The good news for most of these folks though, especially the NBA folks, is that there will likely be jobs opening up for them if NBC wins the NBA broadcasting contract in another year. I’ve been waiting 20 years for this, just so we can bring back the classic NBA on NBC themed music from John Tesh!

To the ice, where the LA Kings didn’t listen to most of us. General Manager, Rob Blake decided to pull the trigger on that stupid Pierre Luc-Dubois trade, completely trashing his forward depth, while not upgrading his defense or goaltending. The Kings are now going to be relying on a 35-year old Cam Talbot, and a very average Phoenix Copley to help them achieve their Stanley Cup aspirations. This is one case where I hope I’m wrong, but Ijust don’t see it. The Kings are at best a playoff team, and certainly no more equipped to advance past the 1st or 2nd round than they were before. I will say this though: the only positive is that it potentially gives the Kings three most important prospects the opportunity to develop much faster. Those three are Quintin Byfield, Brandt Clark, and Arthur Kaliyev. If those three turn into the stars we expect, we are probably having a different conversation. In any case though, they still need a goalie that can stop the puck!

In baseball, the Dodger pitching is still in rough shape. They lost 2 of 3 over the weekend to the lowly Kansas City Royals, and Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urias struggled on the mound. I can give Urias a little slack because he’s coming of the injured list, but what’s Gonsolin’s excuse? I also think that the smart thing to do right now is put Clayton Kershaw on the injured list, and have him sit out the all-star game. Yes, I realize that Kershaw is a strong candidate for the Cy Young right now, but he’s already got three of them an an MVP. Would you rather have him healthy in October, or would you rather see him win a Cy Young and flame out in the post season? I’m sure even Kershaw would tell you he’d rather be healthy and successful in October. Unfortunately though, there appears to be too many problems in the rotation and bullpen though for this team to do much damage come October. On a brighter note, congratulations to Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Kershaw, on being named NL All-Stars.

Then there’s the Angels, who had a rough weekend against the D’Backs, losing 2 of 3. They are now 2 games back of a Wild Card playoff spot, and 6 games out of 1st place in the division. The Halos depth is definitely being test in the past couple of weeks, and when guys have gone down, you would expect things to remain stable. However, the depth just isn’t what we thought it was. One guy goes down, and another guy replaces him that will be delivering pizza in 2024. As you would expect, Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout were named to the All-Star team. Other than that, not much to be optimistic about for the middling Halos.