I’m not sure what you guy’s salary cap is like, but you guys are going to have to make some trades to get some shooters. You need shooting badly, because it is terrible. I guess that is why you guys acquired Dudley, Bradley, Green, etc, hoping they would be able to shoot well. I think cook was brought in for that same reason as well. Green is the only one who is somewhat consistent, but even his shot is not straight money all the time.

Watching how Utah, Dallas, and Bucks just make shooting look so easy, and how they can either blow teams away or quickly get back into the game if they are down, it’s going to take more than just defense to get to the finals. Frank Vogel is a defensive coach, so the lakers are a great defensive team. If this were the 90s or the early part of millennium, where you could get by on being more defensive( pistons , spurs) than offensive, then they could ride their defense to a ring.

Look at how the spurs are suffering because PoP has no 3 point shooting , nothing but mid range shot makers in Gay, Aldridge, and derozan. His system is based on defense, but that means nothing when you can’t keep up with the 3 or shoot from distance. This is why the lakers struggle in almost every game to protect the lead. Most teams have the ability to hit the three and get back in the game. That’s what made Golden Sate so great, no lead was safe over them due to their shooting. Now there are several teams that have that ability. The lakers are not one of them.

Also, Lebron needs to load manage ASAP or it will be just like last year. You think people would understand the science of load management and how it keeps the body fresh and energetic. He is a step slower (AD as well) because of so many minutes played, and so much wear and tear. The way Giannis and Kawhi were much quicker and stronger than them says it all.

Play and work smart, not hard.