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[QUOTE="jncuse, post: 4563043, member: 1969"]
I don't like the Lakers.    Or most of the biggest market teams.

But I have to give them an A for the deadline moves.   And I think they are pretty decent contenders in the West, bunched with about 6 other teams, behind the Suns and Nuggets.

At Centre - Bomba in / Bryant out is (DRAW).   One is a better defender (Bamba), the other is more efficient offensively (Bryant).    Although while Bomba gets blocks he also finds himself out of position in team D schemes.

At 3/4 - Hachimura, Vanderbilt in / nobody out (Clear Upgrade) :  Vanderbilt is a good defender that will help in certain matchups and Hachimura is a decent bench offensive player.

At 1/2 - Russell, Beasley in / Westbrook, Beverley, Nunn out (Clear Upgrade)
- Russell is not a great PG in terms of getting others involved, despite getting a decent number of assists    But he has been quite efficient this year (57% EFG, vs career 51% EFG).    Westbrook is 47% EFG, much lower than Russell.   And he also struggles at times as a PG in the halfcourt.   
- Beasley is a good bench piece I suppose.   Although would help if his shooting would step up - much lower than where he was 2 years ago.
- Beverley has a peskiness that has value in the playoffs, but the Lakers needed Bamba after Bryant wanted out.

The other thing I like for the Lakers is they are now better positioned for the offseason.   With the prior supporting cast (old), they were probably going to leave themselves about $30M of cap space, they would get one player perhaps and then have the same depth issues.

Now you can resign all or some of Russell, beasley, vanderbilt, hachimura, Bamba (none who are old) plus have a full MLE since they are not using cap space in the offseason.    They will be deeper in 2023/24 because of these moves.

Team next year should be better off for it.
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