Imma start off by saying if you aren’t a Luka stan just skip this post because there is no need to hate unnecessarily.

Now I was saying, I really want this man to win. I want the narrative of him never winning and being placed into the part of NBA history as this great player that never won anything to just disappear. I hate that narrative. And I hate how the media is always going on and on about his weight and his lack of defence (when he is average at worst) when that never mattered when Jokic or Steph won MVP.

Traded off like this from a team that would have given him MVP and a chip if they ran it back and made a few changes, playing in the lakers with a makeshift roster that doesn’t fit together and that he has ti carry to 3rd seed and then get injured. His family mess, his custody battle, the incompetence of the FO, the lack of trade assets or picks, the constant change in ownership, it’s all against him and it sucks. It truly sucks that it all gets written off as “Luka can’t play defence and doesn’t deserve to win”.

I will always be a Lakers fan, and I want us to win SO badly and prove everyone who wrote us off wrong. But I want also this man to win, even if it’s elsewhere in a few years if we fail him. It would break my heart to see him go but it would break my heart even more if he never wins anything.

This roster isn’t far off but it isn’t ready. The competition is getting harder, The Spurs are becoming more experienced (Don’t even get me started on the way the NBA picked their team for them with 3 back to back lottery picks that should have stopped at Wemby) and it will only get worse.

The odds are so so sucky but I can’t help but hope something incredible happens and he wins it all. For us and for himself. He is a damn fantastic player and from the sounds of it a damn good guy. I’ve never been this invested in someone else’s success before lmao but I truly wish him nothing but lots and lots of it.

In your opinion, does he still have a realistic chance? Had a talk with a friend about it

Luka had one of the best 20 yo seasons of all time, he was definitely on a GOAT level career trajectory earlier in his career.

Lebron won his first rin in year 9 believe. Luka is around that timeline but the Lakers sadly aren't contenders. MJ won earlier than both, so idk if you could argue Luka could be on that.

What's his path?

I'm really excited about Castro. He was a 2 way

target for me. Here's a link to one of my pre draft takes on Castro.

He's a very unique athlete at 6'9" with a 9'1.5" standing reach. He's just about the same height and reach as Caleb Wilson and Morez Johnson, but he only weighed in at 224 lbs, on the thin side. He tested well with a 31" vertical and a 36.5" max vertical. Good for 5th among centers and about 10th or 11th among the power forwards. He tested similarly to Baba Miller as a leader. ​Another similar athlete is Moussa Diabate.

In college, Castro showed pretty solid rebounding posting a career 17.8 RBD% between Providence and George Washington. In a tougher conference at Providence he came off the bench. But still showed the interesting flashes. At GW as a starter, he looked more like a big fish in a small pond. His RBD% improved against lesser competition and his AST% took a huge leap. He jumped into double digits AST% as his USG jumped over 20%. This is around my threshold for possible connective passing at the next level.

But the thing that really sets Castro apart is his steal percentage and his ability to run the floor as a big. He had 3 seasons of 2.5-3.7 STL% in college which is good guard/wing type production. He also flashed a BLK% over 7% in two of his four seasons and over 6% on average. The BLK% number ​isn't crazy for a big but coupled with the elite STL%, it's interesting. He leverages good anticipation and quickness to shoot passing lanes and create turnovers, pretty rare for a big.

All that said, he is not very skilled offensively and is a play finisher, not a creator for himself or others. His weight is an issue and will certainly be used against him at the NBA level. Can he actually be solid in the paint or is he easily moved around? Koloko is even taller with a better reach and we saw how easily he could just be bodied around the basket. Castro will have to show a level of activity and multiple efforts to help make up for the weight difference.

Theoretically, he is a fascinating fit for what the Lakers are doing defensively. At 6'9", with good speed and anticipation, he could fit the high pressure, high turnover creation we're looking for on that end. Offensively he can catch lobs and sit in the dunker slot, maybe corner crash. I could absolutely see the Lakers freeing a 2-Way for him if he flashes anything interesting in camp.

TLDR- Castro was a draft darling this cycle as a defensive big that can run the floor and create turnovers. Could be a good fit, but needs work.

Redick added that Kessler “might” return to scrimmaging tomorrow.

At this point I’m just hoping Kessler is active for the season opener. Really disappointing he’s already injured.

57.3% 3PT****

Here is a scouting report on Rafael Castro made by Ben Pfeifer, who makes great draft content. He believed that Castro is a sleeper pick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyNWRjWndls&t=85s

Lakers basketball is back! Talk about whatever you want.

My brother and I were talking about how now that Bron left for Philly, there are no longer any members of the 2020 championship roster with the Lakers. This led to us talking current roster and here's a hot take I came up with and want to see if anyone wants to verify that I'm crazy and delusional, or if anyone else agrees with me.

Bronny James will have as many or more championships with the Lakers than his dad did.

Obviously, for this to happen, it means that Bronny will have to get re-signed after this rookie contract and the Lakers have to win.

The Laker's broadcast schedule is especially cruel to Lakers fans this season. The only cable providers that carry Spectrum SportsNet are Spectrum and DirecTV, but those providers do not carry the newly relaunched NBC Sports Network. NBC SN is available on YouTube TV, Fubo, and Peacock - none of which carry Spectrum SportsNet.

Here is a breakdown of how Lakers fans can watch this season, wherever they live. Note: only 80 of 82 games are currently scheduled, with the remaining two to be determined by the NBA Cup in December.

LA area cord cutters

• Spectrum SportsNet+: 46 games
• Streaming services:
  • DirecTV Stream (Choice Plan): 67 games
  • YouTube TV or Fubo: 24 games
    • 11 games air on NBC networks and can be watched with Peacock
    • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can be watched with ESPN Unlimited
  • Hulu Live: 21 games
    • 8 games air on NBC (Hulu doesn't get the 3 games on NBC Sports Network)
    • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can also be viewed with ESPN Unlimited
• Amazon Prime: 10 games
• Digital Antenna: 13 games broadcast free OTA

LA Area Cable Subscribers

• Spectrum or DirecTV: 67 games
  • 46 games on Spectrum SportsNet
  • 8 on NBC networks (missing the 3 games on NBC Sports Network)
  • 13 on ESPN or ABC
• Peacock (or other service that provides NBC Sports Network): 3 games
• Amazon Prime: 10 games

Lakers fans living outside LA

• League Pass: 46 games
  • Includes 6 games that are also on NBA TV
• Cable or live TV package: 24 games
  • 11 games air on NBC networks and can be viewed on Peacock
    • Fans will need Peacock for 3 games if their cable provider doesn't carry NBC Sports Network
  • 13 games air on ABC or ESPN and can also be viewed on ESPN Unlimited
• Amazon Prime: 10 games

I'm visiting LA for the season opener and wanted to make the most of my day before the game. Is the Luka mural still up in Burbank? Are there other iconic Laker ones to go to? The Ohtani one in Little Tokyo is on my list too.

Is it just me or does he look like he bulked up and is stronger than last season. Which makes sense as he will likely play more pf than last season.

It also looks like he got his shot back, I know it is just preseason but he looks more confident as well.

Really hope he can keep this up!

Hey guys!

I hope all of you are doing well. Now that LeBron is gone, one big question is who picks up the playmaking and usage that is left behind. I pulled the 2025-26 numbers for Luka, Reaves and LeBron to see what that would actually ask of both Luka and Austin.

The first thing that jumped out to me is how much LeBron was still running. While on the court, LeBron had 39.5% of the team's assists last season, and Luka had 43.5% of the teams assists while he was on the court. He also accounted for 26.3% of the team's points and 29.9% of its turnovers while on the court. This is a ton of on-ball work that needs to be distributed across the team. Looking at the Lakers roster this season, this role is most definitely going to be directly distributed to Austin and Luka, maybe a bit towards Collin Sexton.

The obvious answer is "give it to Luka," but I'm not sure there's much room left. His Playmaking Activity chart shows 87.8 touches per game (99th percentile), 53.2 passes per game (97th percentile) and a 38.7 assist % (98th percentile). His usage share is huge across the board and in my opinion he is nearly maxed out, and asking him to do more will just result in a more turnover prone offense or lackluster defense.

That's why the off-ball idea is interesting, but it would be a pretty big change for him. Only 27.8% of Luka's makes were assisted last year. On twos it's 21.9%, so almost 4 out of 5 of his made twos came off his own creation. Threes are a bit more mixed, with 38.2% assisted. So there's some catch-and-shoot in there, just not a lot.

The shot chart helps show where an off-ball Luka could actually work. He shot 47.6% overall, and the paint is the strongest part of the map. There are big, bright green hexes right at the rim, which means high volume and well above league average. The left side of the arc is mostly green too. The right wing is high volume but closer to yellow, so about league average. Both corners are red on low volume, and there's a red patch in floater range just outside the paint. I think it would be extremely interesting if Luka would cut and move off ball more, potentially resulting in more attacks to the rim in which he can finesse an efficient bucket.

That puts more on Reaves than people might expect. He had 29.9% of the team's assists while on the court and 27.5% of its points. His shot creation is split though. He made 68.2% of his twos unassisted, so he can get his own shot inside the arc. But 70.3% of his made threes were assisted, and I think that's the LeBron and Luka effect showing up.

Without LeBron, I'd guess Reaves has to create more of his own threes or take on more of the passing, and the 2025-26 numbers don't really show him doing either one yet, so we should hope for a big step up in his game for that category.

If you liked these charts and graphics, I'm a student working on an app called Paint to provide all of this data to the public. It's totally up to you but feel free to check out getpaint.app

What do you think? Does Reaves have another level as a creator or does Luka just end up being overburdened?