What role with Christian Koloko have on the Lakers next season?
Will the Lakers’ newest two-way signing have a role with the big league team this season or will it be a season focused on development in the G League.
In our final offseason mailbag, the Lakers made their big offseason move in...signing a two-way player. I wish I was joking, but alas. Naturally, there were multiple questions about Koloko, as well as other topics at hand.
So let’s dive into this week’s queries.
First, there’s a fair caveat here of “if he’s cleared by the NBA,” which hasn’t actually happened yet. But under that assumption, what is his role with the team going to look like this season?
Ultimately, he is a two-way player for a reason. His health issues played a role in that, to be fair, but it’s still the fact of the matter. He’s also a player who just missed an entire season of basketball.
All that is a way of saying to tamper expectations. I think he could be given some opportunities, especially early in the season with Christian Wood out. I think it’s a smart buy-low signing for the Lakers.
But I’m not going into this season expecting him to do a whole lot. If he does have a role, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Well, this is hard to really nail down, mainly because it’s often hard to determine who is playing what position in the modern NBA. For example, when LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Anthony Davis are on the court together, which of LeBron and Rui is the 3?
I would also imagine LeBron, JJ Redick and the Lakers will be strategic in when they use LeBron with AD and another big. We have enough evidence that he isn’t going to want to guard elite small forwards on a random night in December, at least not for long stretches.
This will be a very matchup-dependent strategy, but that’s assuming Koloko or Wood or Jaxson Hayes plays much with AD this season. And early in the season, that doesn’t feel like a situation we’ll see often.
Well, that’s certainly an interesting proposition. Taking a look at the roster for next season and the payroll, here’s who I think the Lakers would protect in a theoretical expansion draft held, say, the day before the 2025 NBA Draft.
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
- Rui Hachimura
- Austin Reaves
- Gabe Vincent
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- Max Christie
- Dalton Knecht
Honestly, the only tough decision I had was whether to protect Gabe Vincent or Jalen Hood-Schifino. If Vincent were to have another disappointing season, I could easily see them leaving him protected in hopes of getting some cap relief.
The players left unprotected, then, would be JHS, Maxwell Lewis and Bronny James. And if the Lakers lost out on any of them, I wouldn’t be too upset.
I hope you guys enjoyed a summer of Sparks coverage. It was something I really wanted the site and staff to commit to this season and was pleased with how we did.
First, I do think landing Paige Bueckers immediately shoots the Sparks into playoff contention. This team has a lot of good pieces and one giant gaping hole at point guard. I even think they have some good backup guards to complement here with the likes of Aari McDonald and Lexie Brown. They just badly need someone to lead the offense.
Yueru ultimately had an ok season with the Sparks. She got an unexpectedly bigger role with the team with Cameron Brink’s injury and while I think she did enough to likely get another chance in the league next season, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not with the Sparks.
I’m not going to pretend to be a legal expert, but my two cents on the lawsuit is that it’s going to be hard for Hamby to prove anything if she doesn’t have recordings. Perhaps she wins in the court of public opinion, but I’d be surprised if she won in an actual court.
I’m going to withhold thoughts on a breakout player until we see what the roster looks like before training camp.
I think this, for me, comes down to the middle two. Seven-foot Kobe is basically Kevin Durant with Kobe’s skill set and work ethic and good lord that is terrifying to think about.
However, the answer for me is Magic Johnson with Steph Curry’s range. You’re basically taking the two best point guards ever who have two of the greatest specific skills in NBA history and combining them. That’s definitely the best player.
We are oh so close to the finish line of the offseason. The next time we post a mailbag, the Lakers will be in training camp.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.