Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

It's the Locked On NBA Top 100 player rankings! Today, Wes, Matt, Haize and Andy come together to rank players 21-30. Will LeBron James continue to slide? Does Cooper Flagg crack the top 30? Find out on today's episode!

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Austin Reaves signed a massive contract this offseason, moving him from one of the great bargains in the NBA to ... something else. And based on the results of our listener survey, no Laker has more pressure on him going into the year than Reaves. People are worried about whether or not he'll live up to the contract, and whether that contract will age well. They're worried about the defense (which he doesn't help). They're worried, basically, about everything associated with Reaves as a true number two, expected to step in behind Luka Doncic and lead the team.
ESPN, for its part, has Reaves ranked at 37 in its NBA Rank project this year, a massive bump from last season (60). Is that a fair placement?
And more importantly, what does the slotting say about where Reaves fits into the league's upper crust, now that he's paid like one of those guys? It's a strange space, where folks in that range can elevate to raise the ceiling of a team, or hurt it by underperforming or getting hurt. The Lakers no longer have the financial flexibility afforded by Reaves making well under market money. Now, the pressure will be on to earn it.
Meanwhile, the Lakers will sound different this year. First, longtime public address announcer Lawrence Tanter announced his retirement earlier this summer. Now, we're learning that Stu Lantz, who has been part of the broadcasts on TV since the 80s, will only be calling home games after enduring some health issues that kept him out of the booth last year.
Great that he's well enough to work, even in a reduced capacity. For a legend like Stu, we'll take what we can get.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Austin Reaves under pressure.

SEGMENT 2: Where does Reaves stack up?

SEGMENT 3: What the Lakers need from each tier of player.

PHOTO CREDIT: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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The Lakers made a bold push to acquire Walker Kessler in a summertime sign and trade with the Jazz, giving up the rest of their first round draft capital and a whole lot of money to bring in the young, hopefully ascending defensive standout. Some liked the move when it happened, some thought the Lakers overpaid. But if ESPN's summertime player rankings are to be believed, at the least the Lakers spent all this stuff on a player that's pretty good!
Kessler landed at 73 in the annual rankings, one spot ahead of Isaiah Hartenstein, one spot behind VJ Edgecombe.
The question is if there's room to grow, because if Kessler actually gets better -- and there's a very good chance his offensive numbers rise playing with Luka, who has made far lesser players than Kessler look good -- that puts him more towards the league's top 50. Now the Lakers would be cooking with gas.
So what's fair? What's not? And how does Kessler fit even more neatly into what the Lakers are likely going to try to do offensively?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: Kessler at 73 on ESPN!

SEGMENT 2: Justified ranking?

SEGMENT 3: Kessler's secret weapon offensively.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Gray-Imagn Images


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Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.

Cozy Earth
Head to https://cozyearth.com and use my code LOCKEDON for an exclusive 20%.
Wayfair
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FanDuel
This season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what’s waiting for you or visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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The Lakers aren't necessarily expected to contend for a title this season, but Luka Dončić is still one of the favorites for MVP. Which is a testament to both his star power, and his incredible skill as an offensive player, because MVP candidates almost definitionally come from elite teams.
But what about the other guys? Who has a chance to be Most Improved from this year's roster? What about Coach of the Year? Could Cam Carr break into the Rookie of the Year conversation? What about Austin Reaves on an All-NBA Team?
While there's no question each of these guys would love to take home some postseason hardware and it's always interesting to see what kind of love Lakers players/coaches get for things like this, the real value of the discussion is how it frames where the Lakers could end up. The best case scenarios for this team likely have some combination of Grimes as an MIP, Luka in MVP voting, Collin Sexton in the 6th Man convo, and AR gunning for All NBA.
Maybe some of those things don't happen, but a couple almost surely need to for that scenario to have some legs.
So we break down the most likely ones from FanDuel Sportsbook's preseason futures tables.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: What about the Lakers and postseason awards?

SEGMENT 2: Grimes? Mamu? Bronny? Dalton? Huh?

SEGMENT 3: The market is getting set already?

PHOTO CREDIT: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

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Wayfair
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FanDuel
This season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what’s waiting for you or visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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A LOT of eyebrows went up among Lakers fans heading into the weekend when news of an investor presentation created by the Josh Kushner/Bob Iger ownership group to bring in more cash to their group and round out the sale of the team from embattled owner Mark Walter.
The pitch lays out how the team plans to build the team's value up to (we bleep you not) $30 billion over the next decade. And that, by the way, is more a middle ground estimate. If things go really well, that number could get a lot higher. (So they say.) How they plan to get there seems to be through a combination of very, very aggressive marketing and monetization of everything in the org that isn't nailed to the floor, plus things like international rights, growing value of the NBA more broadly, and a rapid increase in ticket revenue built not simply on price increases (though that's happening, and would have even had the team not been sold again), but by eliminating the role of ticket brokers.
That will functionally serve to jack up prices, because on the secondary market tickets often go for below face value. And when they go higher, it's the broker that gets the money, not the team.
More than anything, fans are very, very worried this is a sign the Lakers will be much more concerned about money and paper value than titles and banners. Are they right?
And is this a big concern across the league?
Finally, more preseason odds from our friends at FanDuel. Who from the Lakers is in real contention for postseason hardware?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers next owners are aggressively raising money.

SEGMENT 2: What does the prospectus mean for Lakers fans?

SEGMENT 3: More preseason odds for Lakers players.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Indeed
Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.

Cozy Earth
Head to https://cozyearth.com and use my code LOCKEDON for an exclusive 20%.
Wayfair
Patio season is here and these deals won’t last! Head to https://wayfair.com right now to get your outdoor space ready for way less.
Wayfair. Every style. Every home.
Odoo
Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.

Square
Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/NBA ! #squarepod

FanDuel
This season, FanDuel is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, featuring exclusive offers, surprises, and more. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what’s waiting for you or visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)



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