Insider Reveals Lakers MASTER Plan...

This is crazy as an NBA insider just revealed the Lakers master plan heading into the season and how they can make one more move to shape up the roster before opening night. And welcome to Lakers Digest. My name is Hunter Pitkoff, where we cover everything surrounding your Los Angeles Lakers, whether it be different rumors, reports, breaking news, as well as different trades and signings. This is the place to be for your purple and gold. Just hit the subscribe button so you don't miss a thing here on this channel. And look, this is the report coming out right now in regards to the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm going to pull it up for you guys right here in a second here. So here it is right here from Jovan Buha, who covers the Lakers, used to be for the Athletic and now does it on his own terms. So this is what he had to say, saying the funny thing is the Lakers are going to try to trade Jaden Hardy. So I don't know if Washington wants to take him back and what that price would mean. Are the Lakers just going to end up sending back the Wizards picks and getting Kolabali or Champagnie instead of Hardy? Like that would be kind of funny, but I think those are a couple names that could make sense. So, two things are, you know, one thing is factual here, and the other thing is more of a prediction here. So, the thing that Jovan said that is truly fact is that the Lakers are going to try to trade Jaden Hardy, which is pretty interesting considering that we've talked about who is going to be the last player to make this roster or not on the team. Golden can seems like the odd man out to me, but maybe it's Jaden Hardy. And maybe that's someone they move to try to get somebody else. But if they do do that, there still has to be another move. That would have to happen if it is, in fact, a one-of-one. Jaden Hardy, he's going to have an opportunity here to go out there, improve himself the rest of the preseason, perhaps, and in the next game against the Golden State Warriors, he could get a lot of playing time in order to do that. If you look right here, again, the sponsor of today's video is Calci. Here's the market right now for the Lakers, because on Calci, you're trading directly against other users and not the house, like traditional sportsbooks and other terms of buying yes-or-no contracts on outcomes of events in sports, politics, weather, It could even be this Lakers game coming up here on Tuesday night as we are less than 24 hours away. Right now, the Lakers, according to the Calci market, are favorites to win this. They have a 50% chance to do that. If you're interested in trying out Calci, it's super simple. If you put down $100, the Lakers win. You can get a max payout of over $167. So, if you want to try out Calci, super easy. This is all you have to do is use the link down below in our description or in our pinned comment section. And just use that promo code right on your screen there, DigestNBA. to get $55 added to your account instantly when playing your first five bucks. But look, focusing here on the Lakers, and let's do this. We got some fun little graphics for you guys. This one's pretty new. So what we can do here, we make things a little bit interesting comparing these three guys. Let's blow it up so you can really see the full context here, some of the new graphics we have through our Digest Media account. If you guys do like the new graphics we've been showing on this channel, let us know. I think they look pretty nice ourselves. The guys who work on them do a really good job. But here are the side-by-side comparisons. It's like points, assists, rebounds, three-point shooting percentage, as well as defensive, offensive ratings. There's some general things to look out for, and we'll go through a scout. We'll review each player, what they do well and what they don't. So Bilal Coulibaly, he averaged the most points compared to those guys last year. Also had the most assists, too. And I would say, generally speaking, He definitely is the best playmaker of these two guys. Champagne and Hardy, as you can see, in the 10th and 14th percentile, they are not at all playmakers, like, at all. I mean, we've seen Jaden Hardy try to play point guard for the Lakers in preseason. It does not look good. The rebounding, Justin Champagne, again, the brother of Julian Champagne, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, he's a really good rebounder. I mean, 77th percentile for his position, that is really damn good, And I know that J.J. Redick is putting an emphasis on rebounding this year, getting guys like Draymond Green and Walker Kessler. But you also need your wings to be able to crash the glass as well. And that's where Champagne and Meek can definitely thrive. Now, three-point shooting has not been a strength for either of those two players on the Wizards this past season. Both of them shot below 32%, whereas Jayden Hardy shot nearly 40%. He's in the 84th percentile, so he's pretty good in that defensive rating. Believe it or not, Jayden Hardy actually had the best one, which shocked me because he wasn't very good last year. The fact that those guys were worse does say something. In offensive rating, Jayden Hardy was also the best. So, according to these raw numbers, I would actually suggest that perhaps Jane Hardy might actually be the best player of these three. And so, focusing on Jayden Hardy here, we'll go to him first and kind of just get the full picture of what these guys are capable of. Actually, it's more of a general standpoint of what we have here with Jayden Hardy. So, again, the 3-point percentage is really the only thing he doesn't lead. Hardy, as we've seen for the Lakers, right? So, proof of concept of what you're watching out there. Jayden Hardy can score the basketball. He's a good athlete. Not bad at getting to the rim. Good three-point shooter. Could shoot off the dribble a little bit as well. But he's not going to give you a lot defensively. Doesn't really have great size. Solid athlete, but I wouldn't say he blows you off the charts or anything. And also on a team option, too. So, Lakers will have the flexibility with him there. Block Calabali. This is somebody we actually have talked about here on the channel before. This would be, in my opinion, pretty interesting if he ends up, like, not. Maybe if Jared Vanderbilt gets moved or something like that. Because offensively, you look at Calabali, he actually was very high for his position on everything offensively. This is somebody who was a work in progress in that department. Defensively, in my opinion, though, is where he really can make his money. Out of the three guys I mentioned, he's definitely the best athlete and the best defender, most versatile defender. High steals and block rate, but also high turnover and foul rate as well. I think this is somebody who, realistically, is not going to get the same type of minutes, right? I mean, 26 minutes a game, he's not getting that on the Lakers. He probably would get more closer to 10 to 15. But really, it's if you're buying the shot. Because a three-point shot with him is not great, 32%. Also doesn't really shoot all that great from the field in general. So you're kind of betting on the age, you're betting on the athleticism. You're kind of just hoping that he can turn into something with that, with the Lakers' development program. I just don't know. Of these three guys, I think he's least likely to really help them out right out the gate. and he really isn't that 3 and D guy that JJ and Rob want although he does play defense and he is athletic, so that's definitely good compared to me, of these three guys, I actually think he's the best fit, just based on what he can do I think that 3 point percentage could potentially go up he's a bit of a streaky shooter but he's definitely somebody who has shown that the season before that he shot 38% from 3's of playing perhaps better playmakers Like Luka Doncic and also Reeves could get that up from him. He's been playing on bad teams at the Wizards now for a while. But you can see he's a phenomenal rebounder at his position. And overall, actually did shoot the ball pretty well from the field last year. And also, again, a guy who's very active defensively. So I think of these three players, he fits the best based on the Lakers' current roster construction. But, like, do the Lakers want to give up anything to get these guys? I guess it is also kind of really the question. because when we look at what they got right now, what they're going to be rolling out there on the basketball floor, you know, is it worth giving up those draft picks that you ironically got from the Wizards to get one of those guys? Because I still look at this team, and I think their biggest need is a backup center. Walker Kessler, I trust him in that starting lineup. I think he's going to have a really good season. We've seen in the preseason that when Mamu plays the five, they are just not a good defensive team. And Kevon Looney, like we've seen so far in the preseason, They just don't look good enough. The rim pressure is going to be atrocious with those two guys out there. They're not rim protectors at all. Looney has looked a step slow. And Mamu, while I do really like him offensively, and maybe at times you can get away playing him some five, he's not a true backup five, and I don't think the Lakers should treat him as such. And it's really hard to get big men out there. I mean, the Sixers, they now need another backup center. So, like, there are teams that really need them, And the Lakers just don't really have that guy right now. And if Walker Kessler is not on the court, whether he's just sitting on the bench or not playing, that's going to be a concern for the Lakers and their rim protection. It's going to be like the Wendy effect originally when it was like, you're one of the best rim protecting teams in the league, now you're one of the worst. So that is definitely something that I have a bit of cause of concern for. They are going to make a trade. I think it needs to be for center. Maybe bring DeAndre Ayton back, I don't know. But I don't think it should be for particularly any of those wings. But if they're going to make a move, I think Champagnie would be nice. But I think at that point, maybe just roll with Jaden Hardy and see if you can get a better trade out there using those draft picks. Keep up with everything surrounding your Lakers, guys. There's been rumors, reports, breaking news, as well as different trade signings. Preseason, of course, the regular season, which is under 10 days away for the Lakers. Hit the subscribe button so you don't miss anything here on Lakers Digest.