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Los Angeles Lakers: A checklist of what is needed in the Orlando bubble

By Ronald Agers

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 01: LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers slap hands after their team scored against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on February 01, 2020 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 01: LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers slap hands after their team scored against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on February 01, 2020 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

KCP, J.R. Smith, Dion Waiters and Rajon Rondo had better have their jump shots packed for the trip! 

Take a look at the list in the headline above everyone. These will be the fall guys if the Lakers are upset early in the playoffs or beat in a potential Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Clippers. Period. Get over it. Next discussion.

In the playoffs, LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be double teamed in the layup line and opponents will fight social distancing to guard them during the National Anthem. Bottom line, these players have to be able to knock down shots coming off the bench.

Kentavious Caldwell Pope: 

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has not always been popular with Los Angeles Lakers fans. No check that, there have been times he has been hated, mocked and become a laughingstock from Kobe Bryant memes leaving the Staples Center to reminders that he was called  “manna” from heaven by Rob Pelinka at his press conference.

For the first two games, the staff felt sorry for KCP. He scored 1 point in the first two games with Rich Paul and a no-trade clause being his only saving grace. But KCP filled in with Bradley out and shot lights out in stretches this season. He will have to do it again.

J.R. Smith:

It should be no surprise to regular readers of this site that the writer of this article Ronald Agers is a huge J.R. Smith fan. There will be a bias (Sorry to anyone that thinks this is unprofessional but the love of basketball comes first!) on Smith. Basically there has been subliminal begging since the trade deadline.

Now that J.R. Smith is in, he had better make this site (Okay Ronald!) look good. Basically all he has to do is pretend to play halfway good defense and just knock down shots. If not, the comment section will be flooded with “Ron, I told you J.R. Smith was washed” statements. Come on J.R., pack the jumper and remember game situations.

Don’t let Lake Show Life (Okay Ronald!) down!

Dion Waiters:

Okay for some reason, one defensive play on Lou Williams and a 3 point shot on the other end has Lakers fans calling Waiters a very important pickup.

Always remember that a broke clock is right twice a day. But this Lakers pick up has brought some serious conversation to the Lake Show Life website. One article about why Waiters shouldn’t be picked up and debates went wild.

Lakers Rumors: 4 Reasons why the Lakers should not sign Dion Waiters!

2020 has been a tough year for the world. Waiters had his issues BEFORE 2020. It’s hard to justify signing a guy that had already been suspended by the Miami Heat three times this season for a total of 23 games for three different violations.

“Continued insubordination”
“Failure to adhere to team policies” 
“Violation of team rules”.

The polarization of Dion Waiters will be just as high as J.R. Smith. No matter what anyone thinks of what Dion has done in the past, if he gets hot as pundits say he can get, this would be runner up for feel good Lakers story of the year (Dwight Howard won that award in the first month of the season).

Rajon Rondo: 

Rajon Rondo is serious folks. This guy is in fantastic shape. In a situation where workout options are limited in this pandemic, he deserves a ton of credit.

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin  talked about Rondo on ESPN LA 710’s “Mason & Ireland,” reporting that he’s heard that Rondo has turned back the hands of time.

"“If we want to keep going with this hype machine, I had a source tell me that, within the last week — seeing Rajon Rondo — quote, unquote, “He looks like he’s 21 years old again. So, there is some positive momentum to this conversation.”"

Only one problem here. Rondo couldn’t shoot then. He’s going to have to a jumper to go with the chiseled physique. Fans have justified Rondo’s terrible defense and worse jumper this season with the “Playoff Rondo” argument. Well, three scrimmage games, eight regular season games and we’ll see in the postseason.

It’s known that LeBron and AD love Rondo. The coaches respect him deeply and he is respectd in the locker room. Now fans can sit back and see if business (championship) outweighs personal relationships. With the three players listed above, if Rajon shoots anywhere close to what he’s shown this year, the bench awaits.

To anyone that is thinking, Where’s Alex Caruso? 

Unless Bleacher Report went out of business, the hype machine will cover him.

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