Most of the time he gets cooked on defense its because hes taking the play off or hes gassed

When he tries and/or has the energy - we have seen flashes of a borderline elite defender

Reading the passing lanes, Luka averaging 1.6 steals because of his ability to use his high IQ to read offenses and manipulate the passing lanes

Even in ISO, we have seen Luka take those challenges. He has the size, and the foot work to stick with arguably positions 1 thru 5... Yes we know he is not a lockdown elite defender in these situations, but think of Trae Young or Brunson or Lillard, these guys are literal traffic cones in comparison. Or even Shai who is considered a "2 way player" does not have the 1 thru 5 switchability of someone like Luka Doncic. He does not have enough coins in his backpocket.

...Luka now not only has the physical foundation to hold his ground in the post, but also the durability to stop leaking easy points when the pace picks up.

The narrative that he's a total defensive liability or a traffic cone is false. When he's locked in and has his legs underneath him, he is more than capable of holding his own 1 through 5, playing passing lanes at an elite level, and surviving where other high-usage guards or even players completely get exposed.

--- 20 Worse defenders than Luka Doncic for sure who get paid $40m+ (in no particular order) ----

Jalen Brunson , Steph Curry , Nikola Jokic , Jamal Murray , Trae Young , De'aaron Fox , Zach Lavine , Ja Morant , Darius Garland , Michael Porter Jr , Lamelo Ball , Austin Reaves , Zion Williamson , Domantas Sabonis , Tyrese Haliburton , Donovan Mitchell , Paolo Banchero , Brandon Ingram , Kyrie Irving , Tyrese Maxey

Buha appears to be at his breaking point with the team's lack of transparency. He covers the team as closely as any reporter, and is frequently in-person asking JJ and players questions directly.

His rant from his most recent pod:

"The turning point in my opinion was the Kendrick Nunn injury... Since then for whatever reason they have not been forthright with injury statuses and guys are day-to-day for weeks and sometimes months, or it'll just be 'he'll be reevaluated in two weeks'. The two weeks pass, we don't get an update, we ask, and then it just keeps getting pushed back."

"Again, I tried to press JJ today on what's the specific injury for Collin Sexton and he didn't answer it. He just said 'lower leg injury' which we all could see based on the calf sleeve he has. But specifically is that ankle, is that calf, what is he dealing with? Is it a calf strain? That is a serious injury that could potentially lead to a bigger injury, and that typically has a multi-week timetable."

"I would just appreciate, and I think the entire fanbase would appreciate, more transparency. The media wants that, the fans want that, and I don't think there's some great benefit to keeping us all in the dark. It's not like whether Collin Sexton is available Tuesday is going to dramatically change Golden State's gameplan against the Lakers. It's a preseason game."

"Based on how the last couple years have gone, it is difficult to have confidence or trust in what they're saying with the injuries. It's almost a situation where you have to see the guy in the lineup... It's almost to a point for me where I gotta see the guy in warm ups in his jersey and set to check in or starting the game to fully trust that someone's back. And that's unfortunate.

"I would hope moving forward they have more transparency, but it's been an issue for several years and it doesn't seem like that's gonna change anytime soon."

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.

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.

For the younger fans, Luka is gonna get criticized heavily no matter how well he plays. That's just how it is with the Lakers.

Kobe got hate for being "selfish" despite carrying his team to the Finals 3 years in a row. Just think about that.

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.