The Showtime hypetrain came to a massive stopgap after game 4. The fans were looking forward to a WCF against the Thunder. But now? They’re just one game away from being knocked out of the first round against the underdogs, Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s hard for the Lakers right now- that 4th game was unbelievable. It’ll just make it that much harder to forget. JJ Redick’s squad got it all wrong. But for Kendrick Perkins, there’s only one man to blame- that’s Redick himself. And why?

Basically, all down to terrible decisions on rotations. Redick became the first head coach in the play-by-play era to not make a substitution in the second half. The 5 of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura played the entire second half without sitting out a minute. And KP wasn’t a fan of it, especially when it came to James.

“You have a guy in LeBron James who was 40 years old. Do you realize he’s going to be he’s going to be eligible for his pension in five years? Right. you realize the short turnaround to game four, less than 48 hours, what he gave you in game three? And all of a sudden, you’re asking the 40 year old LeBron James, who’s guarding everybody,” said Perkins on First Take.

This, coming against the contrast of a young and athletic Timberwolves squad, has brought Redick‘s decision under scrutiny. So you’ve got to wonder – why didn’t anyone else get a look in? Why didn’t an aging LBJ get a much-needed breather? For Perkins, it was this: “There is not one guy on the bench that JJ Redick could trust…” Yikes.

Let’s break down the team’s minutes during the Wolves’ loss a little bit. Jaxson Hayes- 4 minutes. Gabe Vincent, who was key to reaching the finals with the Heat under Erik Spoelstra, had 14 minutes. Jarred Vanderbilt- 7 minutes. And finally, Jordan Goodwin- 7 minutes. In contrast, Bron and Doncic clocked in a ridiculous 46 minutes each, despite the former being double the age of some members of the squad. If he wasn’t already, this made KP question things a lot more.

But even with all these Ls that the Lakers took last night, one’s still as persistent as ever- their defense. Game 4 was theirs to lose – they threw it away despite leading for most of the first half. They’ve been void of that since Anthony Davis left. But by what Kendrick Perkins says, they were too naive dealing with Luka Doncic’s trade.

Rob Pelinka should’ve aimed for Daniel Gafford from the Mavs, says Perkins

A sharpshooting center- exactly what Gafford is, and exactly who the Lakers need. The man is in his prime at 26 years of age. With Anthony Davis out, they need someone to desperately fill the gaping hole present in the backline. Someone desperate to get minutes himself – someone like Gafford. It seems like the perfect fit. So KP asks– why didn’t Pekinka bargain for him during the Doncic-Davis trade too?

“So, what are the Lakers missing right now? A big [center], right? Correct me if I’m wrong. I need to see everybody, especially you, Wendy. Correct me if I’m wrong. But didn’t Nico approach Rob Pelinka about getting Luka Doncic when the trade happened? Yes. Didn’t Rob Pelinka know that you needed a center? You don’t think Rob Pelinka could have maybe snatched a Daniel Gafford in that trade as well?”

The 26-year-old has been averaging just 21.5 minutes per game this season. With Davis in, that’s only likely to go down rather than up. But in the midst of all the injury woes and lack of game time, he’s still averaging 12.3 points and 6.8 assists while shooting a ridiculous 70.2% from the field in 57 games. Keep an eye on this situation heading into the off-season – Gafford to Lakers might as well be on the cards.

All the wrong reasons- but JJ Redick created history last night. That rotational call was sketchy, no matter how unplanned it was. Trust issues run deep in a squad littered with superstars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic. But is Daniel Gafford the solution to those problems?