J. Kyle Mann

I was going to call out relatives in my life, but I'm going to let them skate.

They don't need to be put on a blast.

They certainly do.

I 125 might not be enough, but

And like, look, the Lakers roster, part of the problem, it's not that they don't have good players in this way or that, it's that they don't have enough balance in terms of how those players interact.

And they certainly have a lot of like defense only guys and offense only guys.

And Luke Kennard certainly fits that latter category.

The idea that the Lakers of all teams who just are starving for point of attack defense would now bring in like Luke Kennard to add to and compound all of their problems.

It's just who they are right now, and I wasn't expecting them to, like, pull a rabbit out of the hat and suddenly fix all of the fundamental flaws in their roster.

Like, getting Luke Kennard is not a bad idea.

Like, getting more shooters, again, to keep everything honest, to lean into your strengths as a team, I'm for it.

Does it materially change who the Lakers are in the sense of this playoff race?

Probably not, but maybe to your point, Justin, it does make them marginally more interesting.

It's very true.

There really is a runway for them to do something.

And as you're saying, Justin, taking some of the air out of the balloon and just allowing it this season to be what it is, I do think is great for everybody involved.

I agree with what you're saying, Kyle, about the dramatic shift in the trajectory of their team since getting Luka does take time to acclimate to.

I think my expiration on that line of thinking is the end of this season.

So they had the chunk after getting Luka last year.

They have this full season.