Letters to Sports: Lamenting latest Lakers playoff exit

Getting Luka Doncic from Dallas seemed too good to be true .

Little did Lakers fans realize that we were getting a weak ballhandler and poor defender.

A big man in the middle might have made up for his shortcomings but JJ Redick probably would have left him on the bench.

I cant wait to see how Jeannie Buss and Rob Pelinka mess up next years lineup.

Playing LeBron James 48 minutes a game isnt the answer.

Mike Gamboa Buena Park The late, great Chick Hearn used to say: You are only as good as your bench.

Pat Riley once wrote on the locker room chalkboard during a playoff run, No rebounds , no rings.

Nuff said.

David Dale Sonoma It remains perplexing why the Lakers rescinded the Mark Williams trade he had 13 double-doubles for Charlotte after Dalton Knecht (who played no meaningful playoff minutes) returned and did not go all-in in attempting to maximize their chances of winning their 18th championship.

Ken Feldman Tarzana It is sad to experience the end of the Lakers season but the reality is that their athleticism, defense, rebounding and interior offense were not up to championship standards.

They could use someone like, uh, Anthony Davis? Richard Raffalow Valley Glen It was obvious from the moment Minnesotas Rudy Gobert scored his first uncontested dunk and grabbed his first rebound that the Lakers would be watching the rest of the NBA playoffs on television.

The Timberwolves ran through Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves like free-swinging turnstiles, and ran 40-year-old LeBron James off because of too many minutes.

How bad could Jaxson Hayes have been to leave the only height the team had benched and employ a player who hadnt seen the court in months in Maxi Kleber? Bob Goldstone Corona Del Mar The Lakers will be looking for a center.

This is all Ive read since the Lakers lost to the Timberwolves.

Well they had that in Ivica Zubac who the Lakers basically gave away to the Clippers.

Kevin Murphy Newport Beach Well, so much for the JJ Redick experiment.

Next! Jack Wolf Westwood Purple and fold! Ron Yukelson San Luis Obispo Hey Kings, do your fans a big favor.

Should you make the playoffs next season and face the Edmonton Oilers again, please decline the playoff berth and go play golf so your fans wont have their hearts ripped out of their chests for a fifth straight year.

Have a nice summer.

Greg Garnet Canoga Park Another spring and another disappointing end to the Kings season.

Rob Blake & Co.

have had eight years to build a winning team and have failed.

Losing the series to the Edmonton Oilers in the way that the Kings did is inexcusable.

Ive been a Kings fan since 1968 and this was one of the biggest choke jobs in the history of this franchise.

Its time for a new front office.

Does anyone know what Dean Lombardi is doing these days? Jeff Davine West Hills What do Tony Gonsolin, Blake Snell, Blake Treinen, Tyler Glasnow and Dustin May have in common? Wicked, wicked stuff (velocity, spin rate, break), being a Dodgers pitcher ...

and, alas, fragility and breaking down.

This short list can easily be expanded.

For all its alleged precautions and its offseason and spring audit of pitching techniques and training protocol, the Dodgers organizations intellectual hubris about how far it can push its pitchers physical abilities run headlong into their physical limits.

And the result is hardly a good look.

Kip Dellinger Santa Monica Tyler Glasnow is on the IL again and its only April.

At least last year the oft-injured, supposed Dodger pitching ace made it to August.

Pitching aint what it used to be.

Back then, most successful starters threw more than 200 innings, now few do.

Going nine innings was commonplace, now practically unknown.

Almost no one threw 95 mph and Tommy John surgery wasnt yet developed.

Give me the good old days.

Rich Fond Sherman Oaks Knack, Knack.

Whos there? Landon.

Landon who? Pitch for the Dodgers and youre Landon the IL.

Steve Ross Carmel In 2024, Griffin Canning of the Angels was ranked No.

56 of 58 starting pitchers in MLB in ERA at 5.19.

In the first month of the season with the New York Mets, his ERA is 2.61.

The Mets have figured out how to make their major league players better, and clearly saw talent in a player who has never delivered on his draft status as an Angel.

This has become a common theme in Anaheim, where player development is extremely poor, especially on the pitching side.

If youre a free-agent pitcher, or a draftee, and you want to get better and excel, theres no reason to want to play in Anaheim.

Bob Kargenian Yorba Linda The Ducks are currently going through a somewhat monster renovation of the Honda Center at a cost of $1 billion.

The team owned by Henry and Susan Samueli is also building an additional $4-billion entertainment entity known as the OC Vibe around Honda Center, which when completed will have items such as a performance hall, restaurants and food park with homes, hotels and offices.

The Ducks are in for a treat when everything is in place with the only item missing is a championship season that they havent had since 2007.

The Samuelis seem to have the golden touch when it comes to building things and making things better.

Perhaps they should consider acquiring the Angels.

Bill Spitalnick Newport Beach The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views.

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