What can the Lakers do?
The downfall of the LA Lakers has been one that’s been well publicised throughout the media. The lack of talent and interest that the team has is completely different to what is was five years ago. The Lakers have the second highest amount of championships in the league (16), with five of these coming within the last 14 years. The Lakers have won 31 Conference titles and 23 division titles. So why would such a successful organisation suddenly turn into the laughing-stock of the NBA? Bad trades? Bad coaches? They’re all factors to blame in the sudden failure of the Lakers.
Trades: Bad decisions, or bad luck?
Let’s begin with the trades starting from the season after their last title in 2010. During the 2010-11 season, SG Sasha Vujacic was traded for Joe Smith, a New Jersey Nets PF who was on his last legs of his NBA career. Sasha Vujacic had a career best year for New Jersey, averaging 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He quite easily bettered his career averages. While Vujacic was playing great basketball for the Nets, Joe Smith suited up in only 12 games, where he averaged 3.7 minutes a game. This was a huge loss for the Lakers in this trade.
At the beginning of the 2011-12 season, the NBA vetoed a Lakers deal that would have secured PG Chris Paul, who was arguably the best player in the NBA. Paul is now leading the Clippers, and look at how they’re going now. This was a huge reason for the Lakers downfall, as now they have lost both Odom and Gasol who were originally a part of the trade. The Lakers seem to have fallen off the high tier teams which players desired to play for.
In 2012/13, the Lakers were a part of a four team trade that helped them secure Dwight Howard, and they also traded for Steve Nash. For these two players, the Lakers parted with three players and four draft picks. Two of the draft picks that were given up were first round picks. The 2013 first round pick did not hold much value for the Suns, but it was the other first round draft pick that held high value. If the Lakers failed to secure a high lottery draft position (1-5) for 2015, then the pick will be awarded to the Suns. That is the last thing that the Lakers need, losing a high value draft pick. Fast forward to today, Howard is no longer a part of the Lakers and the battered Nash has only played in 65 games over three seasons.
As we can see from the emerging patterns, the Lakers were either giving up way to much for a player, or they were the outright losers of the trades with either the players walking out or the fresh faces getting injured.
Coaches: Fitting square pegs in round holes
Now onto the coaches. Ever since Phil Jackson, arguably the best Head Coach ever in the NBA, left in 2011, the Lakers have had four different replacements, with all evidently not fitting in with the Lakers or not being the right option for them. Recent head coaches of the Lakers are: Mike Brown (2011-12), Bernie Bickerstaff (2012), Mike D’Antoni (2012-14) and Byron Scott (2014-current). Mike Brown was fired after 71 games with the Lakers, Bickerstaff was a fill-in coach for 5 games, D’Antoni coached for 154 games and Scott has coached in currently five games. Ever since Phil Jackson left, the Lakers haven’t been able to find the right coach to fill that huge void that was left by Jackson.
Currently sitting at 1-5, the Lakers have just won their first game, taking them off the list of teams that had not won a game (now only Philadelphia), which technically makes the Lakers better than the 76ers, but they are both just as bad as each other. Comparing the Lakers to the tanking 76ers is a preposterous comparison, but unfortunately for the Lakers, it’s a true and fair comparison. Though both teams currently lack talent, the 76ers will have a brighter future ahead of them. As the Lakers sit at the bottom with a weak roster while leaning on 36-year-old Kobe Bryant to score and win games for them, the Lakers don’t have many options for them at the moment. I am going to go over a few options for the Lakers and see which one would suit them best.
Pulling the trigger: Rebuild (Tanking)
If you have been a Lakers fan for your entire life, could you ever imagine Kobe Bryant suiting up for another team? Many of you would say no, but a small percentage may say yes. In recent news, there have been rumours of Bryant being traded to teams such as the Knicks, Nets, Mavs and Hornets. Such a ridiculous statement, hey? Why would the best Lakers player to live be traded just like that? To rebuild is the answer; the Lakers can still win some games with Bryant on the team, who is currently averaging 27.6 points per game (#1 in the NBA), but by trading Bryant, the Lakers are destined to lose games and tank for the #1 pick in the draft, which is so valuable these days in the NBA. The Lakers have done the right thing by having seven expiring contracts on their roster, which should be treated as gold to the Lakers, who need to shed as much cap space as possible, in hopes for a huge splash in the 2015 free agency.
Key Note: The Lakers’ first round pick (2015) is currently held by Phoenix after the Steve Nash trade. If the Lakers want this pick back, they must tank as much as possible and hope that the pick will fall between the 1-5 range, meaning that the Lakers can keep this pick. What I mean by this is that the rights to the Lakers first round draft pick are currently held by the Suns, in terms of the legal status of the pick, if that certain pick falls anywhere within the range of 1-5, then this means that the pick is protected, meaning the rights of the pick are given back to the Lakers. If the pick falls outside this range, then the rights remain with the Suns. Tanking is the most realistic and appropriate option if the Lakers want to rebuild.
Is the Kobe trade realistic?
To be quite frank, no, the Kobe trade isn’t realistic, but you never know these days, the NBA is always surprising everyone and maybe a team actually wants Kobe and his 48.5 million contract. As what was written before, there have been “rumours” of teams such as the Knicks, Hornets, Mavs and Nets being interested in Bryant. The only realistic trade I can see happening (with the chances being extremely miniscule) is Kobe Bryant being traded to the New York Knicks.
Why not trade one huge contract for another? Plus a young and talented SG in Hardaway? Sounds pretty good to me if I was a Lakers fan; in exchange of the golden child Bryant and his huge contract, you get a capable PF in Stoudemire, who has an expiring $23.4 million deal and a young guard who can easily become the starter for the Lakers. The Knicks get to drop Stoudemire’s contract in return for Kobe’s, Bryant starts as their SG, and they can now trade away their disgruntled SG J.R Smith. Both teams win the trade and everyone is happy…if only it was this easy.
In hypothetical trade la-la land, this type of trade sounds perfect in your head but in real life, it may never happen. Maybe the Lakers want to keep Bryant so he can finish his career as a Laker? Stoudemire seems to be playing well, so perhaps the Knicks want to keep him and make a splash in free agency when his contract expires. In that case, trading a 21-year-old (Hardaway) for a 36-year-old (Bryant) doesn’t seem desirable. This trade is one of the most realistic trades that could happen, but in saying this, it still has a chance of only 5%.
What if they do neither?
If the Lakers continue to lose and win occasionally and keep the same old players and finish with a record that places them as the 15th seed. they end up picking third in the draft and sign a nice young player for the future. The Lakers then have some cap space to play with and attempt to sign a player such as Reggie Jackson, a nice young and cheaper commodity who is more than capable to start at PG. Basically, what I’m saying is that not much will change, but it’s always good to keep your options open, especially in the Lakers’ situation.
So they trade Kobe and rebuild.. then what happens?
The Lakers free up a huge amount of cap room, meaning they can make a serious run at free agency. The Lakers have been linked to key players such as Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers. Rondo brings defence, assists and triple-doubles to the Lakers, which would win games as what has been shown in Boston, who have won only one game so far but you can see that Boston will win more with the help of Rondo. Gasol brings defence and scoring to the Lakers, which is what they desperately need in their front court; you pair up Gasol with Randle and you have a perfect balance of a tough experienced player, with a young, raw and learning PF. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers and they must do whatever possible to help secure them during the offseason if they want to have a bright future.
Overall, the Lakers are obviously in a horrible situation – they’re losing games and seem to have no future at all, but I’m sure the management will think of ways to bring the Lakers off the bottom and back to the top in the NBA. Whether or not they follow either of these paths is unknown, but whatever they do, they must do it quickly to change the culture in Los Angeles.