Going Loopy in LaLa Land

[King Zolewi]

I know people usually don't like dynasties with teams like the Heat or Lakers, but I figured since the real-life Lakers are currently 15-15 and in flux while the CLIPPERS!!! are rolling with 16 straight wins, I'd give the DDSPB3 Lakers a shot. No back story here, I am simply assuming the identity of Mitch Kupchak as we go along.

Several notes before we start:
Running in local mode, so all depth chart and playing time decisions are handled by the head coach. I will only make roster decisions.

Mike D'Antoni will be starting as Head Coach for the Lakers. I have also fired Avery Johnson in Brooklyn and named PJ Carlesimo interim head coach.

I will trade our 2015 1st round pick to Phoenix and our 2017 1st rounder to Orlando to satisfy the Dwight and Nash deals. Apparently we still own our picks in 2014 and 2016 as far as I can tell.

[King Zolewi]

Lakers predicted to finish tops in the West, and with our stacked lineup, why wouldn't we be???

1. @LAKERS 122, Blazers 108 (1-0): Welcome to LA Dwight Howard (33 pts, 15 reb, 6 blks). Kobe with 28, Jodie Meeks with 14 off the bench. Batum with 24, Aldridge with 22, rookie Damian Lillard with 10 pts and 12 ast.

2. LAKERS 113, @Clippers 101 (2-0): Kobe with 21, Pau with 20 pts, 9 reb and 6 ast. Dwight plays only 14 minutes and commits 5 fouls, so off the bench comes Jordan Hill with 20 points and 16 rebounds!!! Meeks with 14 off the bench for the second straight game. Clippers DeAndre Jordan goes 9-12 from the field en route to a 24-13 night!

3. LAKERS 134, @Denver 117 (3-0): 34-6-7 for Kobe, 31 for Dwight, 24-11-5 for Pau, Nash with 14-10. No bench player in double figures and Antawn Jamison has supplanted Metta World Peace in the lineup. (Metta has a sore calf). Kenneth Faried with 29 points on 10-15 shooting for Denver.

4. Clippers 120, @LAKERS 99 (3-1): First loss, revenge for the Clips. CP3 with 30 pts, 12 ast. 21 pts for former Laker Matt Barnes. Ronny Turiaf with 17 on 8-10 shooting! 32 and 13 for Dwight, 23 for Kobe, 20 for Pau. Big 3 accounted for 76% of the Lakers offense! (no other player had more than 6!) MWP was back in the starting lineup, and went 0-8.

5. Rockets 123, @LAKERS 117 (3-2): Back to back games giving up 120 or more points in losses. (Lack of defense sound familiar?) The Beard drops 33, while Linsanity goes for 17 and 12, undoing a magnificent 40 and 14 night from Dwight Howard.

After 5 games, 3-2, 2 GB of 6-1 Clippers for 1st in the Pacific.
Lead the league in scoring at 117, but second worst in giving up 113.8. True D'Antoni ball lol
D12 averaging 29 and 10 with 2 blocks and 2 steals
Kobe averaging 25
Pau averaging 19 and 8 with 6 assists (6 assists leads all big men in the NBA)

[King Zolewi]

6. LAKERS 127, @Mavericks 110 (4-2): Dwight goes for 38, Kobe has 24-9-6. Dirk scores 31.

7. LAKERS 106, @Hornets 88 (5-2): Anthony Davis, meet Dwight Howard. D12 with 31 pts and 23 rebs (although Davis starts at PF and mostly guards Pau lol). Kobe with 22 and Nash with his best offensive game with 19. Hornets with 19 from Derrick Brown, who has started 4 games and is averaging 21 ppg. Wow!

8. Pistons 112, @LAKERS 107 (5-3): Greg Monroe feasts with 28 and 18 boards! They get 18 apiece from Stuckey and Knight. Kobe drops 37 in a loss (sound familiar?). Dwight with 23 and 13.

Afterwards, some pushing and shoving between reserves Steve Blake and Antawn Jamison. I tell D'Antoni to get them both to chill out.

9. @LAKERS 112, Bulls 86 (6-3): 27 and 14 for Dwight, 25-6-6 for Kobe, 22 and 9 for Pau. Rose only scores 17, and the loss drops Chicago to 3-8!

10. LAKERS 104, @Suns 79 (7-3): Pau leads the way with 23, while Steve Nash scores 18 in his return to Phoenix. Back to back impressive defensive performances for the Lakers.

After 10 games, 7-3, 1.5 GB of 9-2 Clippers for 1st in the Pacific
Still lead the league in scoring, although now 24th in points allowed
D12 averaging 27.5 and 12, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Kobe averaging 25
Pau averaging 18 and 9, assists down to 4 a game
Nash averaging 12 and 7

[King Zolewi]

11. Nuggets 115, @LAKERS 106 (7-4): Ty Lawson shreds us for 28 and 9 assists, Pau had 22, Nash had 20, Kobe only 18, Dwight with 18 pts, 17 reb, and 6 blocks.

The drama comes after the game. While Antawn Jamison is complaining to reporters about his playing time (12 mpg for a guy who averages 36 for his career), Dwight Howard tells reporters Kobe's poor shot selection down the stretch is hurting the Lakers (while ignoring his own 56% free throw shooting). After the media leave the locker room, Kobe confronts Dwight and they tussle, being separated by Metta World Peace. Naturally, since this is LA, the next morning Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith are arguing about whether this is Kobe-Shaq 2.0 and if it will tear the team apart. A black day in Hollywood for sure, as both Mitch Kupchak and Mike D'Antoni try to figure this out...

[King Zolewi]

Life goes on in LA. I tell D'Antoni to up Jamison's minutes, since he is one of our best weapons off the bench, and ask him to settle down the Kobe-Dwight fiasco. He tells me Dwight is receptive but Kobe is pissed off. This is worrisome as the Mamba is the face of this franchise and its greatest player, but Dwight is an impending free agent. If both continue to argue, who do I choose???

12. @LAKERS 118, Kings 103 (8-4): An angry Kobe explodes for 46 points, while his backup Jodie Meeks drops 19 off the bench. In response to Antawn Jamison's request for minutes, Mike D'Antoni starts Jamison and plays MWP only 6 minutes

13. @LAKERS 117, Nets 89 (9-4): Our big men destroy Brooklyn, as Dwight goes for 28 and 15 and Pau goes for 25,8, and 6. Even 2nd round pick Robert Sacre drops a career high 13 off the bench. Kobe meanwhile is held to 9 points and leaves without talking to reporters...

14. @LAKERS 114, Mavericks 104 (10-4): Kobe bounces back with 31 points, 22 and 11 for Pau, 15 and 12 for Nash. Dirk fouled out in 11 minutes with 4 points, but Dallas stayed tough throughout.

15. @LAKERS 114, Raptors 104 (11-4): What are the odds of back to back games with the same score??? Kobe picks on the Raps like always with 40 points, his 2nd 40 point outburst in 4 games. Dwight adds 23 and 5 blocks.

After 15 games, 11-4, 0.5 GA of 11-5 Clippers for 1st in the Pacific
Still lead league in scoring, now 23rd in points allowed (differential of +10.0!) Have scored at least 100 points in 14 of our 15 games so far
Kobe averaging 26 (4th in NBA)
Dwight averaging 24 and 11, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Pau averaging 18.5 and 9 with 4 assists
Nash averaging 12 and 8
We're a perfect 5-0 away from Staples Center (1 game vs Clippers)

Around the League
OKC is 14-4 to lead West, while Sacramento is 3-16
Miami is 14-3 to lead East, Charlotte 3-13 and CHICAGO is 4-13!!!
LeBron is averaging 37.5 ppg and has 3 50 point games already!!! 54 against Portland, two days later he dropped 51 on Washington and just recently dropped 54 again on Houston. He's scored at least 40 in 4 of his last 5 games. After his back to back 50 point games, he scored just 17 against Toronto for his lowest output of the season!!! He owns the top 4 scoring performances in the NBA so far, and his efficiency score is a ridiculous 38, 10 points higher than runner up Kevin Durant
Carmelo is 2nd at 32.9 ppg, Durant 3rd with 32.4. Neither has scored 50 yet.
Rookie Damian Lillard is 3rd in the league with 9.2 assists
Baron Davis has returned to the Hornets!
Suns trade PF Channing Frye, PG Sebastian Telfair for Nuggets SG Andre Iguodala, 2013 2nd round pick(DEN)-Ridiculous trade by Denver, who's 13-5 on the season. He was averaging 16 ppg and shooting over 40% from 3. Frye becomes Denver's 6th man, while Telfair is on the inactive list

[Soldier10]

Any packages available for Metta? I've tried swinging a deal for Ariza, but Washington isn't budging.

[King Zolewi]

Haven't tried looking yet. Metta is generally untradeable because of his iffy offense, but I like to keep him because of his stellar defense

[Myles Nelson]

wow Denver...

[King Zolewi]

right??? I forget, but wasn't there a way to track a players "incident" reports? I figured maybe he clashed with Nuggets management or something, but I couldn't find anything in the news wire...