Lakers 92-93 Preseason Press Conference

[Deleted]

[[ Lakers GM Balls O'Hard walks in the room full of reporters. He looks around and walks to the mic.]]

Balls O'Hard: Good afternoon and welcome everyone to another year of Lakers basketball. Like always in our preseason pressers, to move forward we must first discuss the past, what went right and what went wrong so I'll begin by first addressing last year. Obviously, we feel like we assembled a great team last offseason. We really felt like we owed it to our star Kevin Johnson to surround him with adequate talent that more resembles a basketball team more than an accumlation off talented assets. So we moved on from a lot of guys from the redraft and assembled a pretty scary offensive minded team. We made a big push for the #1 overall seed and the pacific division, but in the end the Kings proved to be too much for us. Obviously there were many factors that went into us not winning, mainly injuries but excuses mean nothing in this league. At the end of the day it comes down to one thing: Did you win ? Our answer was no, and we will work tirelessly to make sure we change that result in the future.

Balls O'Hard: With that being said, we do understand that Rome wasn't built in and day, and we knew that we wouldn't be able to retool in one year althought we did do our damnest. Looking through the season and seeing some of our weeknesses, mainly on the defensive side of the ball, we went out and got Beniot Benjamin as the defensive anchor we've been looking for. We kind of slid into the playoffs again due to some issues concerning our depth and mainly not having enough of it to make a run. We faced the Grizzlies in the first round, a team that gave us fits all year and were eventually ousted in 6 games to a very good team. Internally we believe the lack of being able to see what our team could do together before the playoffs really put us at a disadvantage in that series.

Balls O'Hard: After the season ended we had to take some time away from the disapointing early exit and spend some time away. We did exit interviews after about 2 weeks with the guys and got together formally as a staff to discuss our future and set out a 3 year plan while outlining steps that we would have to take to get there. We sat down and looked at out team and took a realistic look at how we could achive our goal to be a dominant team for as long as we could see and be able to do so finacially. We decided some tough decisions needed to be made either sooner or later. We in our opinion had potentially 4 max level players on our team and there's no level of creative accounting in which we could have kept all of our players. So instead of letting them walk we decided to shop Mitch Richmond, an incredible talent. This was a tough decision, and we knew we weren't going to get back the same level of talent as we were giving up but it was something that had to happen. 

Balls O'Hard: In the trade, we got what we believed was a very valueable draft pick as well as 2 rotational guys what will fit in with what we're tring to do in terms of being a more defensive minded team. We welcome Doc Rivers and Caddilac Anderson with open arms and really think they can help bolster our depth to help us in case we have to go through hard times again on the unpredictable injury front. In Free Agency we were able to add back a player who we believe has one of the brightest fututes in the league in Cedric Ceballos who is .. excuise my terminology.. a stat head's wet dream.  One of the reasons we were ok with giving Cedric a max level contract was his improvement from the previous year to last year. While Cedric stayed very close to his previous season's totals in points rebounds and assist, he was much more selective. His Points pers shot went from 1.02 to 1.52 spiking a half of point which is nearly unheard of. He also finished 4th in the league with a FG% of .578 compared to the year before at .425. cedric stopped settling for jump shots and found played smart basketball for the entire season. It's funny because KJ likes to call him Elmer because he's the glue to our team. We thought the same.

Balls O'Hard: The other free agent target we got was Jayson Williams. We were really sitting on pins and needles for him to make the decision to sign with us. With Jayson we feel we get a versitile big man who can play both positions and rebound at an elite level. He's only 24 years old and we think he can help or team grow organically through natural development. He along with Cadillac we think can help bolster our front line which we think is imperitive to coming out of the West. When we look at all of the great big guys: Daughterly, Malone, Kemp, Hakeem and the rookie Shaq we understand there will be no off nights once we make the playoffs. We can't just throw bodies at these guys, they have to be good players out there or they'll eat you for lunch.

Balls O'hard: Now that i'm done babling I'll open the forum for questions. Ask away guys!

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Melon from Charlotte Observer : With Cedric Cebballos and now Rookie, Clarence Weatherspoon both of whom are very young and talented wings and a loaded frontcourt, how do you expect to give out minutes with Larry Johnson coming into his own in his second season?

[TrayWithAnA]

Do you feel like you have higher regular season expectations or has the depth you added raised the postseason expectations more than regular season? What I mean is, do you have a team built for the endurance of a playoff run?

[bojangles837]

When do you expect to trade for Shaq?

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 17:38:21 GMT -6 bojangles837 said:

When do you expect to trade for Shaq?

I'm calculating an hour after the trade deadline. Zing!

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 14:58:22 GMT -6 Nick Malone 77 said:

Nick Melon from Charlotte Observer : With Cedric Cebballos and now Rookie, Clarence Weatherspoon both of whom are very young and talented wings and a loaded frontcourt, how do you expect to give out minutes with Larry Johnson coming into his own in his second season?

Thanks for the question. Larry is going to play the 4 and only the 4 this season with our depth at the 3. We experimented with LJ at the 3 some last year and he did a great job, but with the depth we have at each position now, we can afford to keep him in one spot and really let him develop there. We still expect to give Cedric around 30-32 MPG and Weatherspoon can pick up the remaining 16-18 MPG if he earns it. 

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 17:18:20 GMT -6 TrayWithAnA said:

Do you feel like you have higher regular season expectations or has the depth you added raised the postseason expectations more than regular season? What I mean is, do you have a team built for the endurance of a playoff run?

Thanks for the question and it's really a two pronged answer. I think expectations for us have risen, and there's no denying that. I would say they've risen more for the post season since we've been there before now and we already have amda  great regular season run. In regards to the depth, we really need the depth to get through the dog days of the regular season and work through any injury concerns we may have. In the playoffs, we will be playing our best 9 guys. Depth is still a plus in the playoffs but getting a day between games really allows you to stretch out your starting lineup a little longer. 

[IamQuailman]

Bill Maukee, Milwaukee Tribune. Congratulations on a successful off-season thus far. It appears that you struck gold yet again, a recurring theme throughout the history of Lakers basketball.

What do you see as your biggest win this off-season? Was it a particular signing that could have an immediate impact on your success or was it a move that may have perhaps set you up for success for years to come?

Do you think there will be any set back to moving budding star Mitch Richmond? How do you plan to fill his scoring (not that you lacked in scoring last season)?

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2014 14:13:32 GMT -6 IamQuailman said:

Bill Maukee, Milwaukee Tribune. Congratulations on a successful off-season thus far. It appears that you struck gold yet again, a recurring theme throughout the history of Lakers basketball.

What do you see as your biggest win this off-season? Was it a particular signing that could have an immediate impact on your success or was it a move that may have perhaps set you up for success for years to come?

Do you think there will be any set back to moving budding star Mitch Richmond? How do you plan to fill his scoring (not that you lacked in scoring last season)?

Thanks Bill for the question and the compliments. There were two aquisitions that we thought stood out to us for our future and that was Jayson Williams and Clarence Weatherspoon. We think Jayson may grow into a starter type player and has shown the motor it takes to really dominate the boards at times. Weatherspoon is also going to take time to develop but we think he will be an outstanding 7-9th rotational type of guy that has a lot of strengths Cedric has.  

Regarding Mitch, we knew we weren't going to be able to replace his production at that position with anyone outside if MJ. We do think our team will score less ppg but not only for the lack of Mitch but because our focus will be to slow down games and play sound defense. I think to fill his scoring we will have a platoon mentality and know that the bench mob will have to be the one of best in the league. We think Weatherspoon, Macon/Rivers, Jayson, Harvey Grant and Caddiliac we can put up those kind of points and extend a lead with our bench.

[bowtothebill23]

Jack Markson here from the Golden Take.

You know the question already: The Pacific. The toughest division in basketball? Where do you see yourself in comparison?

[WigNosy]

The Lakers were anointed as one of the favorites last season and failed to make it out of the first round. Do you worry that the expectations that have come with all of the deals the squad has been able to make will hurt the squad as they seemed to last year? What are your expectations for the squad and what would be a disappointing season to you?

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2014 16:05:02 GMT -6 bowtothebill23 said:

Jack Markson here from the Golden Take.

You know the question already: The Pacific. The toughest division in basketball? Where do you see yourself in comparison?

Thanks Jack. To us the two toughest divisions are the Pacific and the Atlantic. Depending on which year it'll be one or the others. That's not to say the other teams in the other divisions don't have a great team or two, but we feel like talent top to bottom in those divisions are outstanding. In regards to where we see ourselves in the division, we're always confident in what we can do; but until something different happens, the Kings have won it 2/2 times and we owe them the respect to call them favorites until someone dethrones them.  We felt we had a great opportunity to do so last year but circumstance got the better of us as a young team. We need to use that as a learning experience and grow from that experience.

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2014 16:14:36 GMT -6 WigNosy said:

The Lakers were anointed as one of the favorites last season and failed to make it out of the first round. Do you worry that the expectations that have come with all of the deals the squad has been able to make will hurt the squad as they seemed to last year? What are your expectations for the squad and what would be a disappointing season to you?

We tend not to try and listen to a lot of the hype. We really feel one of the reasons we couldn't pull it out versus an experienced Grizzlies team was we just hadn't gotten to see our team on the floor together and make the needed adjustments. With that being said, we always worry worry about chemistry and the peripheral effects deals can have on your team like expectations. We try and manage those in house. We tend to try not to put a number in terms of games won in the regular season or rounds in the playoffs. What we're looking for is growth from year to year. For example, last year as you mentioned we got ousted in the playoffs in round 1,  if the same result were to happen outstanding circumstances aside that would be viewed as lack of growth by the team in ours and ownership's eyes. We feel like we've got a team that has a lot important pieces built to make a big time run. Thanks for the question. 

[NOLa.]

Your team has once again been a headliner as we roll through the offseason as you traded for rookies and signed potential All Star SF Ceballos to a max deal. You are also the first team over $1 million the salary cap. With your cap situation do you think you will want to retain Benoit Benjamin when he comes off his expiring or will he be trade bait?

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2014 19:11:16 GMT -6 NOLa. said:

Your team has once again been a headliner as we roll through the offseason as you traded for rookies and signed potential All Star SF Ceballos to a max deal. You are also the first team over $1 million the salary cap. With your cap situation do you think you will want to retain Benoit Benjamin when he comes off his expiring or will he be trade bait?

Well, Actually the bucks around about 2.1 Million over the cap, but we are about 1.05 Million over. We think Benjamin is a guy we can retain and are hopeful to have an extension in place by mid year. As long as demands are within reason of our budget I think we can work something out. We unquestionably WANT to retain him, it'll just be whether we can do it within the framework of the rest of the team. 

[78]

Last offseason you seemed to find magic in a bottle by revamping the team and building a contender in year one leading to your well-deserved GM of the year.

What move do you think is the best move you made which may recapture some of that magic from last offseason?

Do you plan to start Doc with KJ or have a more conventional SG like Mark Macon start? What was the main reason you gave up a legit star SG for a package include a legit starting PG despite already having KJ?

[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, with the rumor of the looming Luxury Tax. How much did that play a role in your offseason moves? Like you've said it may be hard to retain all of your guys who are very talented, but also due to make A LOT of money. With the Luxury Tax still being put into place is it something that will deter you from signing your guys?

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2014 22:38:32 GMT -6 78 said:

Last offseason you seemed to find magic in a bottle by revamping the team and building a contender in year one leading to your well-deserved GM of the year.

What move do you think is the best move you made which may recapture some of that magic from last offseason?

Do you plan to start Doc with KJ or have a more conventional SG like Mark Macon start? What was the main reason you gave up a legit star SG for a package include a legit starting PG despite already having KJ?

Good question. It's tough to capture lightening in a bottle twice. We don't think we made any "boom" type moves outside of retaining Cedric. We think our defense can have a little hammer to their anvil to it this year. 

Regarding lineups, i can assure you we will try everything, but my initial reaction is we'll go with Macon in the starting 5 and have Doc play in a Combo guard role off the bench. At 6'4" he's certainly big enough to do it. The main reason we did the package to move Richmond  was because we knew we couldn't afford to keep he, KJ, LJ, Ceballos and Benjamin long term. We targeted Rivers because of his ability to play hard nosed defense against both positions. 

[Deleted]

Jan 15, 2014 8:10:23 GMT -6 Conroy said:

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, with the rumor of the looming Luxury Tax. How much did that play a role in your offseason moves? Like you've said it may be hard to retain all of your guys who are very talented, but also due to make A LOT of money. With the Luxury Tax still being put into place is it something that will deter you from signing your guys?

It's got to play into your moves. All of your moves as a GM, at least in my opinion, should have one eye on the present and one on the future. That eye on the future should not only focus on players but the financial viability of your team and making sure you'll be able to pay any penalties. as far as deterring from signing any of our players; I think this league as proved any contract can be, so it is a deterrent, but not a huge one at this time. 

[J2]

Johnny Junior here from The Washington Post. Now that you've inked Ceballos to that max deal, what's the timeline on your new investment? How soon are you expecting him to step up and fulfill his potential, and will you look to move him if he falters a bit?

[IamQuailman]

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