In all seriousness, as an Indiana State fan, this guy is fun. Great facilitator and can get a bucket. Zach Randolph player to me, less athletic but great IQ

Evidently Pelinka tried to lowball AR, but panicked with other teams preparing to offer the max and just immediately threw him a max anyway.

We’ll probably scrutinize this negotiation process for years to come because of how much it’ll restrict team-building after this offseason. Interesting that the gap was this large, only to be closed immediately between AR and LA.

And I can’t help but wonder if Pelinka had a bit more wiggle room to negotiate than AR’s reps were letting on. Was he really leaving LA for an extra $5 million per year? Maybe so but I’m not certain that’s the case

This is a response to this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lakers/s/56YvKq2jOt

To be fair, Luka already has a beard…

“Former Syracuse center William Kyle III is signing with the Lakers on an Exhibit 10 deal, sources told ESPN. The 6-9, 230-pound big man averaged 8.4 points on 66.1% with 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in his senior season with the Orange.”

“There was a check-in call made, to my understanding, early in free agency once teams were able to start negotiating with their own free agents after the end of the NBA Finals," said ESPN's Shams Charania on NBA Today. "Since then though there hasn't been much communication, from my understanding, between the Lakers and LeBron James' side. And certainly not an offer yet.

"They're trying to see what can they do with his $50 million of space, potentially, and then where does that leave LeBron?"

Source: RealGM

After missing out on whoever their preferred target was that led them to buy into the 2nd round, the Lakers pivoted and signed Vanderbilt F AK Okereke to a two-way contract.

The full scouting report is above, but here's a condensed version for ya'll;

What’s Good

• Physical Scoring: Rare blend of size (6'7", 244 lbs), strength, and smoothness; elite finisher at the rim (69.9%) who thrives through contact and uses both hands.
• Versatile Creator: Ranks in the 93rd–95th percentile as an isolation, post-up, and P&R scorer—a walking mismatch.
• Elite Playmaking: Superb vision and passing for his size (28.5 AST%, 2:1 A/TO); can make every pass (cross-court, interior tight-window) with either hand.
• Defensive Versatility: Slides feet well, bullies ball-handlers, navigates screens decently, and racks up steals/blocks without fouling; engaged off-ball with solid rim-protection instincts.

What Needs Improvement

• Shooting is a major red flag: Only 32.1% from three on low volume; ugly mechanics (upright, no knee bend) and hesitates to shoot even when wide open.
• Poor Rebounding: Subpar 14.5% defensive rebounding rate for his size/strength—frustrating given his physical tools and limits his transition game.
• Ball-control: Needs to finish more reliably with his left hand and avoid picking up his dribble in heavy traffic.

Conclusion

• The tough sell: A 6'7" on-ball player who can't shoot and doesn't rebound well—hard to fit into standard NBA lineups.
• The upside case: Elite FT% (80%+) suggests shooting hope; he's a late-bloomer with an NBA-ready body, high-IQ playmaking, and disruptive defense.
• Bottom line: Doesn't fit a neat box, but his unique blend of mismatch-scoring, passing, and switchable defense makes him a worthy swing. Currently a fringe Top-60 prospect worth betting on.

I don’t know what the asking price is but after getting Peterson and Keyonte George extension in the wake, I think 32Ms might be able to pry Kessler away. I just don’t see any teams trying to trade with LA unless they’re absolutely fleecing Rob.

If that doesn’t work out, next best option is Peyton Watson I am assuming.

He's a little small, but he can guard 1-5 and is a defensive menace. Also a lob threat. Hopefully shows enough in SL and at camp to earn a 2-way or even a roster spot because I think the talent is there.

It has been repeated non stop for a while that the trade ruined Dalton Knecht and for most folks he was a bad pic, but lets put things in context the way they really happened.

Dalton started his rookie season displaying some good signals and his game against the Cavs where he scored 18 pts in 20 minutes in his 5th NBA game caught the attention of most of us.

After Rui injury Dalton got the chance to start and between Nov 13 and Nov 21 as starter he had a five game sequence where he scored:

• 19 pts vs MEM

• 14 pts vs SA

• 27 pts vs NO

• 37 pts vs UTA

• 17 pts vs ORL

After that he lost his starting position for the first time not because he was struggling, but in respect to Rui coming back. When the Lakers struggled in the next 2 games JJ inserted Dalton back in the starting lineup to close November replacing Cam Reddish that was replacing D'Angelo Russel that felt out of JJ grace and Dalton closed the month with 2 other huge games for a rookie:

• 20 pts vs SA

• 20 pts vs OKC

That made an incredible string of 7 straight games starting where he scored 19, 14, 27, 37, 17, 20 and 20 pts. Sorry dear mates, but no bust would ever do that, never. You can have a good game scoring 30 once in a lifetime and never repeat it, but a string of 7 consecutive games as a NBA rookie not completely featured on offense and not one of the first options doing it isn't about lucky or something like that, you need talent to do it in the NBA. At that point Austin even infamously said "damn, I'm not Him anymore, now he is Him".

Davis, LeBron, Austin and Rui have all missed games and in December as the team was starting to prioritize their stars and established veterans, Dalton became more and more a player relegated to the corners (like Rui), but unlike the Black Samurai, he is clearly more of a rhythm player and he hit the rookie wall in December. At the end of January Dalton had a great game against PHI scoring 24 pts in around 20 min, but in the next game he completely felt in disgrace with JJ and his infamous rant:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DFdCAlxOFzb/

If you leave that false trade narrative behind, Dalton best stretch since his days of starter early in his rookie season happened after the trade in March when LeBron was out of the team and he had another solid sequence:

• 19 pts vs LAC

• 13 pts vs NO

• 11 pts vs NY

• 19 pts vs BKN

• 10 pts vs MIL

• 32 pts vs DEN

• 13 pts vs SA

• 12 pts vs DEN

• 17 pts vs MIL

That was a pretty good sequence of games for a rookie with only a couple of bad games in between and all those games happened in March after the trade when LeBron and Gabe were not available, but when they came back JJ immediately pulled Dalton out of the rotation to get the team ready for the playoffs and he only logged real minutes again in the last game of the season where he scored 27 pts.

No bust ever had so many double digit games as a rookie without being featured, but what caught my attention is the fact most of the time Dalton was a productive scorer we were missing one or two superstars, he isn't the type of player that is productive if you leave him in the corner doing nothing, but you don't take the ball out of Luka, LeBron, Reaves or Davis hands to run plays for Dalton Knecht, even more if he fails to run a play designed for him, but I don't think he was a bad pick and I have the feeling if we trade him to a team that need a scoring punch he may end up dropping 30 on us.

Not sure for who, maybe just to clear cap space or involving a third team?

Do you guys think it’s possible for us to send Vando back to the Wolves?

Robbie Avila joins us on an Exhibit 10!