Trevor Lane, Lakers Nation Host

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Help us out. We see them raise the banner for the NBA End Season Tournament and now they're losers. What the hell happened between now and then? Well first of all, they were taking the End Season Tournament games as though they were playoff games. They were playing them with a playoff intensity and they certainly weren't the only team doing that, but there's been a noticeable decrease in terms of the intensity, the effort, the attention and detail that they've put into these games since then. That's certainly part of it, but we've also seen Darvin Hamm tinkering with the lineups, throwing out some bizarre combinations like he's been going with a guardless starting five. Now he didn't do this last game, but he's been going out there with non-shooters on the floor like Jared Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish in the starting five, Torian Prince, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, banishing guards D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves to the bench.

He had this idea of a very switchy defense that hasn't worked and it hasn't sat very well with a lot of the players on the roster. So now they're in this slide and it appears that he may indeed be on the hot seat. Trevor Lane is joining us from Lakers Nation. Trevor, we got the report and heard the news and we heard a little bit of it last night following the game. You know, Austin Reeves not making any excuses as to why they lost and you think about Darvin Hamm talking about the rotation and injuries and such. And then the report came out today that they're not a fan of what's going on with Darvin Hamm.

Lebron James not speaking with the media following the game yesterday. So what is the latest with Darvin Hamm? Yeah, so the Lakers are going to have to take a look at Darvin Hamm and see what is it that they want to do here. He's got two years left under contract after this year with coaches.

I mean, the way that would work is they decide to make a move here. They're still going to have to pay him for those remaining two years under contract. So do they want to pay him to go sit at home and not coach their team?

That's something they're going to have to decide if this slide continues. But this was something that I had heard a week, maybe a week and a half ago, I had heard from a couple of sources that there were a number of players on the roster that were not happy with Darvin Hamm, were not thrilled. And then the report came out today from six different sources that tells you pretty much the whole team is not pleased with what's been going on, the bizarre rotations that have been thrown out there. And then you've got the stuff after the game where the mindset of Darvin Hamm just seems to be different than that of the team. Both Austin Reeves and Anthony Davis saying, yeah, we're missing players, but we still have to find a way to win. And then Darvin's talking about how their rotation there, they don't have the chemistry because they've had guys in and out of the lineup, which isn't wrong. But when you're coming off of a bad loss to a Miami Heat side that's missing Jimmy Butler, the Lakers are missing D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hashimura who are fine players. The big difference between them and Jimmy Butler and Miami just looked like they were on a different level compared to the Lakers. Well, that's going to fall on tafirs when you're Darvin Hamm and you're saying that it's all because of injuries and things of that nature.

So it's that too, it's not even just the rotations, it's the mindset right now. They do not seem to be on the same page, Darvin Hamm and this Lakers roster. Well, Trevor, when you talk about the sources that you have and all the news and reports that have come out over the past 24 hours about who hasn't been happy, the team isn't happy with Darvin Hamm, I think we know the buck might typically stop with one guy.

And that's LeBron James. Is he kind of the ringleader of unhappiness? We saw him sitting in a huddle a couple of nights ago, not happy with the, apparently didn't appear to be happy with what was being drawn up by Darvin Hamm. What do you think his thoughts are when it comes down to his status as coach? Yeah, I mean, LeBron James hasn't said anything publicly about what he thinks, but I would say his body language has said a lot. There were a couple of times in last night's game where he looked frustrated with what was going on out there on the floor. And then the fact that he left without speaking to the media, that sends a message. And LeBron is very calculating. He knows what's going to happen if he leaves without speaking to the media. If he doesn't say anything, that in and of itself is going to send its own message. So LeBron certainly doesn't look happy.

Frankly, nobody should look happy right now. They've been losing basketball games. But he is going to be a key part of this. He has distanced himself from this type of thing in the past. He doesn't want to be seen as a coach killer. Let's face it, the Lakers front office, Rob Palenka, they're going to go to LeBron. They're going to go to Anthony Davis. They're going to say, what's going on?

Do we need to do something here? And their voices are absolutely going to matter in terms of what happens with Darvin Hamm. So he doesn't look happy. Nobody should look happy right now.

He looks frustrated. And if LeBron says he's got to go, well, that would put the Lakers that much closer to doing something here and potentially moving on from Darvin Hamm. Trevor Lane is joining us from Lakers Nation. If the Lakers do decide to eat the back end of his contract, LeBron James is okaying the move on, what is the next guy? Who's the next guy up? Are we talking about Chris Jent? Like, who would take over to lead the team?

That's the important part here, right? If the Lakers decide that they're going to make this move, they have to know what the backup plan is. Who is it that they're going to have take over? Is there a coach out there that's got some experience that can come in mid-season, which is no easy task, and do the job? Or do you just elevate somebody that's already on the coaching staff? Maybe you give Phil Handy his first shot as a head coach, but again, Darvin Hamm was getting his first opportunity here with the Lakers as a head coach in the NBA.

That hasn't quite gone as well as they would have hoped. So, is there a coach that's out there? I know people have said Doc Rivers.

One source brought up a name to me, not as somebody that they're realistically looking at, but just somebody that they thought could be interesting. Rajon Rondo, who just mentioned the other day that he essentially ran the Lakers offense. Back in 2020, Frank Vogel handled the defense, and it was Rondo and LeBron James who came up with their offensive schemes. Like the Lakers go to a former player like him, there could be a number of options out there, but it's ultimately going to be limited. They're going to have a lot more options if they wait until the summertime to make this move. The question is, can they wait that long? If this downward spiral continues, they're going to have to make a move sooner rather than later. Trevor, wouldn't it be a little more than nutty if they just snatched Rajon Rondo off the street and made him coach?

Would that be kind of nutty? It might be, but he's also known as one of the smartest basketball minds that we've had in the last few years. He obviously doesn't have head coaching experience, so it's not ideal from that perspective. But again, the person I was talking to said, you know what, he's been seen as the smartest basketball mind that we've seen in the last however many years, you want to say.

Maybe that's a guy that you could turn to, but it's really up in the air what they would do. And that could be prohibitive of them actually making this move. If they just don't feel like there's a good fallback option out there, they don't want to go with somebody who maybe doesn't have a lot of head coaching experience, then maybe they just wait until the summer and try to get through until then. But right now, unless they pull out of this nose dive that they're in, they're going to have to do something before the trade deadline unless they can start to rattle off some wins. It's typical a lot of times for the Los Angeles Lakers. They are the glamour franchise of the NBA. We always hear this guy to the Lakers or this guy can get traded to the team or this dude or that guy or whoever it might be.

What is realistic if the Los Angeles Lakers want to make a move to get back into competition in the West? Well, the nice thing about what they did over the summer is that they added a lot of contracts that are very moveable. We look at Rui Hashimura, Austin Reeves, D'Angelo Russell. These are all contracts that are of a nice number, that $12 to $20-ish million range.

It makes them very, very easy to stack up a few salaries and go try to get something done. Rui Hashimura, Austin Reeves not trade eligible until January 15th. But Zach Lavine is the name that's out there. There were even some rumblings today that maybe the Chicago Bulls will just have to take whatever they can get. Somebody that will take on his salary if the Lakers need some scoring, and I think they do. Maybe that's an option if they're willing to stack up a few of those contracts. De'Jaunte Murray is another name that's been out there. The February 8th trade deadline is coming up quick, and as we're getting closer, more and more names are coming out onto the trade market. Boyan Bogdanovich is another name that could give you some scoring from the wing.

So I think there's going to be opportunities out there. The question will be how many future assets will the Lakers need to part with in order to get something done, and are they willing to do that? But it looks like Zach Lavine is the biggest name currently available potentially to them.

Right now, though, there's no market for him because most teams aren't wanting to take on his contract. But if the Lakers keep losing games, maybe they'll say, hey, we need to do something, so we'll give it a shot. Trevor Lane is here with us from Lakers Nation. We saw the Los Angeles Lakers go through some ups and downs, some bumps and bruises last year, and they ended up in the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately for them, they got swept by the Denver Nuggets. Do you think that this current team, even though we know it might be changed and switched pending what you just said, do they have enough in the West to go back to the West Finals? Do you think they still have that in them pending the health, obviously, of LeBron and Davis? We've seen this team turn it up in the in-season tournament. The level they played at in that tournament showed you what they really can be. Now, they're certainly not playing that way right now.

But there is that ceiling that they've got, and we saw it, so we know that's there. If they can hit that level come playoff time, sure, they could get to the Western Conference Finals. Would I make them the favorites to go win the title?

No, I think the West is extremely deep. There's a lot of really good teams that could knock them out. It won't be an easy run for them, but that potential is there. This streak, though, is showing you how low the floor is as well. We got a glimpse at the ceiling. Now we're seeing the floor for this group.

It's not pretty, and they've got to turn things around quick if they're going to get there. But that potential is still there. LeBron, James, Anthony Davis come playoff time, and they're both healthy.

I'd have a tough time betting against that. Well, Trevor, we know that there's another Los Angeles team that plays in the building, at least for now, before they move into that Intuit dome, and that's the Clippers. And it looks like James Harden has been on a little bit of a roll, and Kawhi has been on a roll, and when he's been out there.

We also know about Paul George. You know, is there a concern that, hey, oh my God, the Clippers may actually end up better than the Lakers this year? I mean, are Laker fans kind of looking at them, or are they still a little brother?

No, I mean, they're always going to be a second or third tier team in Los Angeles. They certainly don't get the level of attention or respect that the Lakers do, and that's been a thing for a long, long time now, obviously. But the Clippers are playing fantastic basketball. You could argue they're playing the best basketball out of anybody in the NBA.

They're at least right up there in the top two, three teams right now in terms of their quality of play at the moment. So, they could certainly make a run, and we've seen seasons in the past, in the last few years, when you go back to the Lob City days, where they've had some really good teams, some teams that are better than what the Lakers have to offer. They had a great winning streak against the Lakers, too, that the Lakers just snapped this season. But that doesn't necessarily change the way Los Angeles is going to see the Clippers versus seeing the Lakers.

It's a totally different team, the way that they are viewed by the city. So, I don't think that's going to be changing anytime soon, but credit to the Clippers. They're playing fantastic basketball right now, and Lakers fans should be worried for what's going to happen on Sunday when these two sites meet.

Well, let me ask you this, Trevor, to kind of wrap things up. If you had a crystal ball in front of you, and not knowing, only knowing the permutations and what could potentially happen, what do you think is most likely for the Los Angeles Lakers, let's say, come April, May and June? I think most likely, we see somebody else is coaching the team by then, and I think they've made a trade or two, maybe not the big trade, but they've made a trade or two by the trade deadline, and then they're trying to make a push. The challenge is, their March, their April, it's extremely difficult if you look at their schedule. So, I think they're going to wind up in the play-in, and then having to try to battle their way through there with a new coach and with a couple of new pieces that they're trying to integrate. Man.

So, let's wrap up here. If that is the case, what is the future, potentially, of LeBron? Well, that Brony is now starting to ball out at USC, and I don't know if he's sticking around. I assume he's going to maybe stay in. What does this mean for LeBron? He ain't getting any younger. He just turned 39.

Well, that's a big question, right? He's got a player option this summer. He can opt out.

He could go anywhere he wanted. If any team wanted to draft Brony, he could go join that team if he wanted to. If the Lakers draft Brony, they could wind up just hanging on to LeBron. He could pick up his player option. He could have another year under contract. Everything the Lakers are going to do this summer, or not do, it's going to hinge upon what decisions LeBron James makes with his player option.

Everything else will play off of that. So, we'll be keeping a close eye on him. He was hinting at retirement last year. Right after the season. So, we'll see what he ultimately does, but Brony, I think he probably does wind up entering the draft, especially if LeBron says he'll play with him and go wherever he's going to go. That's definitely going to be something to keep an eye on.

So, the future right now is uncertain for the Lakers, and all of it is going to hinge upon what does LeBron decide to do with that player option. Wow. Wow. I guess this is what happens when you're a billion-dollar NBA player.

You just get to call all the shots that you want. Well, Trevor, I appreciate you taking the time to hop on. Where can people follow you and everything that you contribute with Lakers Nation? No problem. Well, thank you for having me, and you guys can find me over on X, at Trevor underscore Lane, on Instagram and Threads, at Trevor Lane NBA, and then most of my work you can find over on the Lakers Nation YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Lakers Nation. We do Lakers videos there every single day, putting our full podcast out there as well, which you can also find over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

So, lots of different places to find me. Well, thank you so much. Trevor, I hope you enjoy the rest of the new year. I look forward to catching up with you soon. All the best to you, and let's see what happens with these Lakers.

Always one of the biggest stories in the league. Happy new year. Enjoy the rest of it, okay? Same to you. Thank you again.