11/20/2023 0 Comments 2022 dallas mavericks rosterHe’s a multifaceted, offensive-minded big man that is now joining a roster that already has Anthony Davis and LeBron James, creating possibilities where teams will be forced to defend him with players who are unlikely to have the strength, speed, and dexterity to keep up with the diversity of his offensive attack. He’s a career 37.9% shooter from behind the arc, and in the last five seasons has never shot lower than 57.0% on two-pointers (while peaking at 63.6%). A big man who can stretch the floor, has dive ability in the P&R, and can pour in buckets in isolation out of the post and off the bounce, Wood scores with ease an efficiency. Wood is an extremely talented basketball player, particularly on offense. There are many reasons for the optimism, of course. It’s always been my dream to be a laker - 35 September 6, 2023 Yes, it will be his eighth team in as many seasons, but as he said himself, it’s the one destination he always dreamed about. Over two months after free agency opened, Wood signed a two year deal for the veteran minimum to play for the Lakers. Which brings me to the newest child of Lakers optimism, former Maverick, Rocket, Piston, Pelican, Buck, Hornet, and 76er: Christian Wood. So, Lakers have have a recent history of bringing in players who many (most? everyone?) around the league have disregarded and defined as unable to play winning basketball or help towards it in meaningful ways, only to have them defy those expectations in tangible ways for them. Even beyond Lonnie, Dennis Schröder, Troy Brown, and Thomas Bryant were all minimum salaried players who played real, positive roles for the Lakers last season when most everyone else had given up on them in one way or another. Then, last season, it was Lonnie Walker IV who went from a guy the Spurs no longer wanted, to someone winning a 2nd round playoff game with an explosive 4th quarter scoring burst - while playing on the taxpayer MLE for the Lakers. Two seasons ago, Malik Monk went from being a lottery pick castoff from one of the worst teams in the league, to a super fun and truly helpful bench player on a minimum contract for the Lakers. No, fans can and will be optimistic about a slew of much smaller things, all in the name of what helps the team they root for win.Īnd, of late, in the bullseye of fan buoyancy is the idea of the reclamation project who will either be better than expected, or finally live up to their potential to perform at a high level in ways that they either couldn’t or didn’t do consistently enough for whatever other team employed them previously. that it’s possible to trade Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol, or that LeBron James would decided to leave the Cavs for the Lakers in free agency (and do so without another star joining him). But beyond a handful of truly traumatic moments or times when the basketball gods ruled against them, the Lakers have been a blessed franchise where so much has gone in their favor it seems odd to expect their fans to act as though the sky is falling.Ī funny thing about fan optimism is that it’s not just tied to the most obvious or big ideas like. Sure, there will always be a subset of folks who look for the negative outcome to spring out like a child does the boogeyman from their closet. Fans are just projecting positivity and hoping it proves fortuitous.Īnd, really, in some ways, who can blame them for taking this approach. This is the real reason why a google image search will allow you to find anyone you want - from Giannis to D-Book, Luka to Donovan Mitchell, KD to Trae Young, and everyone inbetween - rocking the forum blue and gold (shoutout to Grant!) as the next star to bring the Lakers a title. Like, what’s really happening is that they are devout followers of the Lavar Ball ethos of “speaking things into existence,” or that they prefer the power of positive thinking over some defeatist mindset of expecting things to go wrong. That it’s just another example of fans embracing that particular dumb delusion that seems to fester in the brains of those fans.Īnd while there are some over-the-top Lakers faithful who might take things a bit too far from time to time, a more generous portrayal of this approach is that it’s actually a form of optimism. That it’s a symptom of that stupid Lakers exceptionalism. That it’s the sick, special type of arrogance that they believe only Lakers fans really have. When fans of other teams see every thinkable star player from every other NBA team photoshopped into a Lakers uniform, I can only imagine what goes through their heads.
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