Many people were reasonably confident that the Los Angeles Lakers would not only defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs but also make a deep postseason run.
Instead, the Timberwolves waxed the Lakers in five games by flexing their superior frontcourt size and taking advantage of that size defensively and on the boards. The Lakers’ offense also sputtered throughout the series — it was held under 100 points three times and scored over 104 points just once.
Their bench produced next to nothing offensively, and their lack of depth was illustrated by head coach JJ Redick’s decision to play just five men throughout the second half of Game 4.
Rich Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports and LeBron James’ agent, said during an interview with Chris Haynes that Los Angeles’ roster simply wasn’t good enough to make a real run in the playoffs.
“I just really didn’t think that the roster for the Lakers was anywhere close to a championship-type roster, you know?” Paul said. “And that’s not making excuses. It’s just a fact. And it’s very hard to build a team for today and tomorrow. … You’ve got to have assets. You’ve got to have cap flexibility. You’ve got to have draft capital.”
Even though the Lakers were favored to defeat the Timberwolves when the series started, plenty also acknowledged it would be a tough matchup for the Lakers, and Paul reminded everyone of what the team was up against.
“But it was clear right away that that was the worst matchup for them for a number of reasons: size, athleticism, youth, just depth. And you know, it’s tough to beat a team like that where, outside of Mike Conley, they’re athletic, they’re long in terms of wingspan, they’re fast—quick dog, you know? And then having someone like Ant who can give you 40. And I also think Ant had a great showing of leadership, just in terms of not really having the best night last night but didn’t necessarily get out of character—made the right pass when necessary. And so, that Minnesota team was in the Western Conference Finals last year. I think people put so much into the regular season and how that goes. But that was no surprise to me.”
While some critics may feel Paul is trying to create a public excuse for James’ second straight first-round playoff defeat, James simply didn’t play well enough for L.A. to have a real shot. He was held under his regular-season average of 24.4 points a game in three of the five games, and other than in Game 3, he struggled in each fourth quarter of the series.
But it wasn’t exactly James’ fault the Lakers lost. Luka Doncic, who mostly played well, didn’t get the job done in crunch time either, and Austin Reaves played beneath his standards throughout the series.
The franchise is going back into the lab this offseason and will make an attempt to land those two or three role and complementary players it needs in order to have a real shot at winning its 18th NBA championship.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Rich Paul sends a clear message about the Lakers’ roster
Many people were reasonably confident that the Los Angeles Lakers would not only defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs but also make a deep postseason run.
Instead, the Timberwolves waxed the Lakers in five games by flexing their superior frontcourt size and taking advantage of that size defensively and on the boards. The Lakers’ offense also sputtered throughout the series — it was held under 100 points three times and scored over 104 points just once.
Their bench produced next to nothing offensively, and their lack of depth was illustrated by head coach JJ Redick’s decision to play just five men throughout the second half of Game 4.
Rich Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports and LeBron James’ agent, said during an interview with Chris Haynes that Los Angeles’ roster simply wasn’t good enough to make a real run in the playoffs.
“I just really didn’t think that the roster for the Lakers was anywhere close to a championship-type roster, you know?” Paul said. “And that’s not making excuses. It’s just a fact. And it’s very hard to build a team for today and tomorrow. … You’ve got to have assets. You’ve got to have cap flexibility. You’ve got to have draft capital.”
Even though the Lakers were favored to defeat the Timberwolves when the series started, plenty also acknowledged it would be a tough matchup for the Lakers, and Paul reminded everyone of what the team was up against.
“But it was clear right away that that was the worst matchup for them for a number of reasons: size, athleticism, youth, just depth. And you know, it’s tough to beat a team like that where, outside of Mike Conley, they’re athletic, they’re long in terms of wingspan, they’re fast—quick dog, you know? And then having someone like Ant who can give you 40. And I also think Ant had a great showing of leadership, just in terms of not really having the best night last night but didn’t necessarily get out of character—made the right pass when necessary. And so, that Minnesota team was in the Western Conference Finals last year. I think people put so much into the regular season and how that goes. But that was no surprise to me.”
While some critics may feel Paul is trying to create a public excuse for James’ second straight first-round playoff defeat, James simply didn’t play well enough for L.A. to have a real shot. He was held under his regular-season average of 24.4 points a game in three of the five games, and other than in Game 3, he struggled in each fourth quarter of the series.
But it wasn’t exactly James’ fault the Lakers lost. Luka Doncic, who mostly played well, didn’t get the job done in crunch time either, and Austin Reaves played beneath his standards throughout the series.
The franchise is going back into the lab this offseason and will make an attempt to land those two or three role and complementary players it needs in order to have a real shot at winning its 18th NBA championship.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Rich Paul sends a clear message about the Lakers’ roster
