What else is there to say?
The Laker season has come to a merciful end after the Spurs put the brooms on them, 103-82. It goes without saying how disappointing this season has been; it’s definitely the most disappointing Laker season in my lifetime in terms of what was expected out of them.
As for the game itself, what did you expect? It was a bloodbath from the start. It was surprising enough that the Lakers were only down six after one and that it took more than 15 minutes of game time for the Spurs to be up by double digits. Then in the third quarter, Dwight Howard got ejected after getting his second technical. Even in losing, the Lakers are spectacular; they go down in flames. They couldn’t take care of the ball (21 turnovers) and the Spurs made very few mistakes (eight giveaways). After Dwight’s ejection, it pretty much looked like Pau Gasol and a D-League team. At least, they had they D-League MVP (Andrew Goudelock) in that squad?
We expected a championship trophy at the end of this campaign but what we got was a rash of injuries, a coaching change that didn’t result to most people’s liking, philosophical clashes between coach and player, and (sometimes) inexplicable losses to bad teams. Sure, the regular season ended with a flourish but luck just wasn’t on the Lakers side as we all know what happened to #24. It was like we all thought we were going to see the cast from Saved By The Bell but instead we got The New Class. Sure, Mr. Belding was still there but it really wasn’t the same and it turned out to be terrible.
Oh, yeah. Hi, Kobe. Nice to see you in the building. Also, hi, T-Mac. How does it feel to be in the second round?
We can all point to a lot of what ifs but the fact of the matter is that THIS is what happened. I’m sure we have a lot of questions in our minds. What if Mike D’Antoni came in from the start? What if Dwight Howard was healthy from the start? What if Steve Nash never got hurt? What if Pau Gasol never got hurt? What if Kobe Bryant played less minutes?
And that’s the theme coming into the summertime: it’s questionable. We’ll have weeks and months to dissect what the Lakers will do in the offseason. Will Dwight Howard stay? How healthy will Kobe Bryant be? Will Steve Nash retire? Will Pau Gasol be traded? Will someone get the amnesty clause? Even the coaching situation will have some questions.
This will be a long, long summer. Mitch Kupchak has a lot of work to do.
Thanks for reading, everybody. I’m sure the other guys here at FB&G can agree with me that it had been quite… an interesting season writing here.
Jmaso24 says
A lot of takeaways from the season and game. Idk if Dwight gets you where you want to be. He doesn’t fit with MDA. But his lack of post game doesn’t suit Phil either. It’s not that players like metta pau duhon etc. can’t play but not all on the same squad.
Gaudelock is a nice piece. He fits the Shannon brown off The bench spark. Keep Morris. Keep hill. Sign iverson.
Fern says
Jmasso you were doing great until you mentioned Iverson lol, just what the Lakers need another washed up. Dissapointing season too much drama too many injuries thats all theres to it. Better put this season on delete send it to the recycle bin and move on.
lil pau says
Thanks to all here – my second family – and especially to Darius and Philip for running such a great site. I’m too emotionally exhausted to try to put anything into context, but I wish everyone well. Going to try to use my first family to put things in some kind of perspective. Good thing about a 4p start for a sweep game is I that I get to tuck my daughter into bed. Hasta luego, amigos, l’P
gene says
Kobe is old and broken down..nash and peace are old and broken down…clark…meeks…duhon…not very good…coach is bad…start a rebuild
harold says
Now plan B: get LeBron.
Kidding aside, time to invest in some real scouts who can pick up players we need.
Rt says
My guess on next year’s roster?
We will definitely keep: Kobe, Nash, and Jordan Hill
Probably will still have: Dwight, Blake
Hopefully will stick with: Jamison (turned out to be much more productive than expected)
Agree that we will need some decent scouting work to replace Pau with a couple solid, quick dudes.
Mostly, tonight was filled with gut-wrenching emotion for me. Not because this was a sweep and this season came to the most anti-climactic of ends. But because 2 days ago, Pau Gasol, for the first time, candidly yet diplomatically expressed some unhappiness in LA. I think it’s highly probable that tonight will have been the last time we see the Spaniard suit up in Laker colors. He will always, ALWAYS be my favorite NBA player. And for all he has done for this team and for Kobe, I’ll never stop being grateful. I may be premature in saying this, but I sincerely hope he thrives wherever he goes.
Warren Wee Lim says
Now that the season is officially over, we can start discussing our future.
Joe M says
It is time for quote of the year. Ken has reminded us plenty of times.
“Wait til Steve gets back.”
All I can say is, Wait til Kobe gets back.
Mark Sigal says
I thought it was oddly “coincidental” that Kobe made his appearance on the sidelines almost immediately after Howard got ejected. Maybe it was a case of game over at that point, or a subtle way of dissing Howard, but the timing was interesting.
Needless to say, it will be an interesting offseason to one of the bitterest seasons in memory.
Glove says
Lakers off-season begins.
The Lakers will conduct exit interviews Monday and Tuesday. Kobe’s not on the schedule that was released …
MONDAY
10:30 – Chris Duhon
10:45 – Metta World Peace
11:00 – Steve Nash
11:15 – Earl Clark
11:30 – Devin Ebanks
11:45 – Andrew Goudelock
12:00 – Robert Sacre
1:45 – Jodie Meeks
4:00 – Jordan Hill
TUESDAY
11:00 – Pau Gasol
11:30 – Darius Morris
12:00 – Dwight Howard
1:15 – Steve Blake
4:00 – Antawn Jamison
david h says
dog scratches door, we go for walk, we come home, lakers lose.
it’s been that kind of year. thank goodness we don’t have another 13 for another 100 years.
Go Lakers
Shaun says
Gotta agree that this is the most disappointing season in my lifetime as well – im only 27years old and really only had access to NBA on TV in 96 – which is the year Kobe got drafted and even in his first year you could tell he was different which hooked me to the Lakers – I would say my favorite years was the 2005 year with the series against the Suns that we almost won (underdog team and young guys like Sacha and Farmar you could root for)- and then our run in 2008-2010 (pure Kobe awesomeness)- the 1st 3-peat was great in 2000-2002 but I only caught so many games back then compared to being a die hard over the past few years.
But man this year … what a disaster. I work in sales and one of the biggest things you need to learn about is managing peoples expectations and i am sure that all of our expectations were completely crushed – we all wanted a championship and to get back in the thick on things just like our last run with Kobe and Pau but as we can see with the celtics now we are on the downward end of said run and we will most likely be seeing our next title run with a different core of players – watching the Denver-Warriors series + Miami you can see that the league has changed completely compared to the Shaq years – speed and spacing are key – defenses can forcefully pack the paint at will, Bigs are mainly used as pick setters and penetration and slashing is needed to disrupt the defense – not set plays or post ups.
Overall there has been some bad karma on us since the Lamar Trade – the Chris Paul trade would have been great but the subsequent trade of Lamar to Dallas felt like a bad move and I feel like the heart of the team never recovered. Added with letting guys like Brown, Barnes, and Fisher (could have played 3rd guard) go we just further sucked the soul/fight out of our team.
We didnt see any soul in the team except for Kobe all year – what we did get was a group of guys that visibly did not want to play for either Brown or Dantoni – a completely disorganized defense, mis-use of our core players strengths, alientation of key players at the beginning of the year (Gasol and Jamsion benching) that all made us scratch out heads, no adjustments by management to pick up a guy here or there to help with injuries (Martin, Anderson, CDR, T Williams, A.Brooks) – zero chemistry between players , no sense of togetherness or camaraderie that we saw between our 08-10 run as guys – a mutiny against the coaches plans and strategy that were clearly not working – and then a crazy amount of injuries. and no player development aside from maybe Clark but that seemed like it was a forced issue rather than a push to develop a guy – at least other bad teams and some of our 2000 teams had some kind of development or at least one guy where you could at least enjoy watching that player succeed – not this year.
I would say that overall the culture of our team and organization changed this year … but this is not to say that all is lost. We had a great 2nd half run once we abandoned our coach’s strategy and players decided to play to their strengths, which we excelled at – Kobe and Howard bonded towards the 2nd half of the year with Howard getting healthy and playing much better (though not tonight) overall,which hopefully will lead to him resigning, and we only have like 5-6 players returning next year so we can clean up our roster and hopefully hire some scouts as mentioned by other guys and find some gems like Gary Neal , Cory Joseph hell even Jeremy Lin because we will be limited in who we can go after next year but hey in 2014 everything is all open and who knows about Lebron or Love or whomever we may be able to get in free agency
another plus and wild card is that Jeanie has also been named the managing director of the Lakers – she seemed to be put aside these past 2 years but with this announcement and her direction of Shaqs ceremony maybe that means we bring back some of the old guard to bring Lakerness back into the fold ..maybe Phil becomes associated with the team again after all as it has been now released he had to deal with a Cancer operation after the 2010 series against Dallas, maybe that was why he was really gone for so long, Maybe Brian Shaw, Bryon Scott, and even Magic come back into the fold and get to put their 2-cents into what the Lakers should try and do.
All I know if that it should only get better next year … and hopefully we have not seen the last of Kobe – also If Kobe gets amnestied ….. there will be RIOTS among Laker fans
rr says
I expect a lot of drama from Howard’s free agency, and I think it will come down to the Lakers, Houston, and Dallas.
I also think that either Pau or D’Antoni probably needs to be gone, even though Pau’s deal only has one year on it.
marques says
I just hope howard signs somewhere else….I said he was a bad option last year and he turned out to be worse attitude wise than I thought. At the very least do a sign and trade so he gets his money.
Hopefully nash lets his kids talk him into retirement his body is done..
Cdog says
Sadly, I think Howard’s gonna leave. This stage is too bright for him, and he can almost get the same $ (just 1 less year) by going to Houston and playing with a more loaded team.
Next year’s gonna be brutal if he does leave, but maybe its a year that the Lakers choose to bottom out and try to get a good high lottery pick (since that draft is supposed to be loaded).
Sigh.
DJ says
This time, i am not sad or mad because i knew it was coming, and the goal is to make playoffs, that’s it .I was upset when Lakers got sweep 2 years ago by Dallas ( thanks to Gasol) , remember Lakers lost 4 players and total of at least 30 points (of Kobe,Nash,Steve,Jodie ), watch Boston and NY games almost the same thing, Boston can’t score enough to beat NY from the first 3 games. Lakers should trade Gasol when Phil left Lakers, last season Mike Brown was lucky because it was shorted season, this year all the weakness of Lakers was shown in 82 games season. When Phil left, what did he said ? He thought Kobe was not elite player any more. In my opinion, Gasol &Howard had total of 4 NBA Finals experience but they did not show it to me in the playoffs. Howard went to NBA Finals because Howard had good players, good shooters around him, if we think Howard can get Lakers to NBA Finals we have to wait at least 2 more years, he can’t show that he can score 35,40 points like Shaq, Kobe, Durant, LeBron James in the big games..
Shaun says
Jamison: “I just think we never — from the top guy (D’Antoni) – had a good understanding of our roles.”
Read more at http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#cUPzXCgxJXUEQHel.99
Shaun says
Fan yells: “I love you, Mike D’Antoni!” Devin Ebanks laughs. Jordan Hill shakes his head. Twitter @KevinDing
Fern says
People dont seem to understand the the Lakers are not goin thru rebut thru the draft, that just dont work with a team that puts a decent product every year, for every OKC that get lucky thru the draft there are 20 Detroit horror stories. We might take our limps next year but we be the team with the highest cap in 2014 with or without Dwight so we be fine
Anonymous says
As an anonymous poster, I would give credit to Darius and his staff for their quality journalism in putting up an insightful thread, however as a Mod., he has to loosen his grip on opinions and censorship. Fans should be free to offer their 2 cents as long as it is honest, clean and something of value whether positive or negative, why not let them air those emotions? Laker Basketball is about passion, tradition and emotions. To suppress it would be unLakerliked (just introduce a new word for Darius) and an infringement of press freedom. Anyway thanks for airing my insight about FB&G.
Shaun says
as for having major payrolls over the cap – we will never see a team built like this again unless we keep star players and somehow hit home runs in the draft as a winner – new CBA has created a soft salary cap that in a few years will create a players revolt when it comes to the next CBA negotiation which will most likely see us miss a whole year of NBA ball
times they are a changin
Tom Daniels says
I have to say, in many ways it was a disaster, but I have followed the Lakers since the days of Elgin and Jerry and this was one of the most interesting seasons so far. I actually enjoyed seeing all the various lineups and then watching them pull together to make the playoffs.
All the injuries. We’ll never know what could have been. Will be an interesting offseason to be sure.
Robert says
What are the odds that Jamison comes back?
Shaun: “maybe Phil becomes associated with the team again ” “Maybe Brian Shaw, Byron Scott, and even Magic come back into the fold” Wow – do you mean that we would welcome our alumni as part of the family? I like it. What a concept ! I guess that all sibling rivalry will be a thing of the past in this new world as well : )
Fern says
Reading Dwight comments after the game im really hopeful he stays, despite all the criticism that we made of him some justified some not so much, he is our best bet moving fwd, if anything this mess of a season teached him a lot and if he stays he might be able to handle it better, there is just no way it can be worse than this season.
Robert says
rr: I see you are mving along with your decision process : ) Before you said you do not know with regard to Pau and MD. Now you are saying – one of them must go. I can see that you will have my answer soon at this rate : )
Fern says
@ Tom Daniels, is been the most interesting season i witnessed on my 30+ years of being a Lakers fan. From that perspective is been memorable.Not fun but memorable. About Pau is really simple, if Dwight stays he is gone if Dwight signs elsewhere they are keeping him, despite everything i dont seen many guys that could replace Howard, Pau might be the only one, with his skill set and all.
Kevin_ says
It would be something if the Lakers amnestied Pau. Flipping Odom/Pau for a top flight PG then turns into a trade exception and cap relief. I always wondered what if the trade made news after the owners meetings took place instead of when they all were still together. Maybe Stern could’ve let it slide through. Instead, a huge talking point happens during a heated time in the nba. Stern had no choice but to veto it. Hopefully the Lakers rebound from this quickly.
Antoni says
1) Dwight Howard is over-rated and will be over-payed. I hate to say it, but Duncan showed what a a true basketball big man looks like, that is someone who has actually learned how to play basketball. DH could learn some things from Bynum, but like Bynum he is classless. Getting himself ejected, and leaving Gasol out there by himself – great teammate! Embarrassment to the uniform. I miss Magic. Let Howard leave.
2) I will not renew season tickets if Kobe is amnestied, he will come back strong.
3) Nash and Pau and company should go at least .500 and hold it down until #24 gets back to work.
rr says
Kevin,
Your guess is as good as mine, but I would be very surprised if Pau were amnestied. If they move him, there are probably second-tier contenders that would like him as a one-year rental to try to upgrade in the post.
I think that Metta will be the guy amnestied, and that he will then sign in Brooklyn for the minimum.
Robert,
My position actually hasn’t changed; I said that about Pau and MDA 2-3 months ago. If Howard stays here and they keep MDA, then moving Pau to try to create a more D’Antonish roster makes sense. If Howard walks…Draftniks are already saying that the 2014 draft is loaded–2 or 3 possible franchise players, and deep. The Lakers do have that pick, so if Howard leaves there will be people here and elsewhere saying that the Lakers should trade Pau, amnesty Kobe, tank the season and head into 2014 with a high lottery pick and massive cap space. I actually have already heard people say this. But the problems are:
a) I just can’t see the organization doing that, given its history.
b) Kobe is planning on being back early in the season.
It is probably a fantasy, but you will also see people saying that the Lakers should trade Pau, amnesty Kobe, and try to clear enough cap space to resurrect the recently crushed dream: Paul and Howard.
The stakes have changed for the Clippers with Westbrook’s injury. They now could literally either lose in the 1st round or play Miami for the title, or anything in between. How that plays out will affect Paul, and therefore Howard. If they both lose in RD 1, teaming up somewhere, like Dallas or Houston, might appeal to them.
So…we thought the team had a clear situation: two-year window, then reload/rebuild. Now almost anything could happen.
harold says
The salary thing will need a lot of thought. Repeater taxes, amnesty option, expiring contracts, Kobe’s injury, sign-and-trade or signing Dwight…
Bill Engvall says
Almost certainly, here’s what will happen with during the offseason:
1) (edited for trade speculation)
2) MWP…who will leave either via amnesty or not picking up his own player option.
3) Dwight will re-sign, but only after being courted heavily by Houston
4) Earl Clark leaves to sign a more lucrative contract with a team like Dallas
5) Kobe/Nash/Blake all stay put
6) Jamison retires
7) Meeks re-signs on the cheap
8) Ebanks goes to Europe to play
9) Duhon is gone…
el lungo says
Interesting season,congrats,let new season start right away please with Kobe-Vino!
Reporter:Pau how do you feel for Kobe 47-8-5-4-3.
Pau:Bittersweet,we have to share,blah blah blah.
Pau:0-16 in the post season,Godspeed and lots of luck in Toronto!
D12:Look at the box-score,we have to share,blah blah blah.
Me:D12 be a man and be a Bill Russell and big boy up!
drrayeye says
Laker fans and possibly Kobe himself are still in denial over his injury. The FO–who knows?
Without adding in the natural losses in performance associated with aging, Kobe six months from now will not be the Kobe we are used to seeing. Piled on top of everything else that has happened this season, the second year of a two year championship window for the Lakers and Kobe no longer sounds credible. Kobe’s nearest target to truly be himself might be Fall 2014.
If Kobe returns next year, the Lakers at best are likely to have a reprise of this season, with Kobe now playing the D12 role–not good.
Whether one agrees with this perspective or not, it sets in motion drama that could involve the entire organization from Jeanie on down. I wonder if a palace coup is in the wind?
My dream would be a completely reworked front office in which Jimmy were given much less authority, allowing Phil Jackson to take on a Pat Riley role, and Derek Fisher as the new Spoelstra.
The best thing that Kobe could do for the Lakers would be to rehab for the entire next season–not only for his body, but for his mental outlook for the future. Depending on what can be negotiated, he might retire, be amnestied, or declared out for the season, but Kobe would then not play next year at all. In 2014, there could be a whole new 2 year window for Kobe and those championship rings..
Should the front office revolution (or anything like it) take place, Mike D’Antoni would be gone. Even without a revolution, a Dwightmare could do D’Antoni in. But if the organization remained intact, and Dwight gave D”Antoni his blessings, D’Antoni would stay and Pau would be traded.
In almost any case, MWP will move on, and Duhon will be bought out. Ebanks will not be resigned. Everyone else will stay–including the 2 Steves.
Depending on what new players might be added, this 2013 team could be an interesting team.
scotch69 says
The biggest problem with Gasol and Howard is they think they are a lot better than they are. They whine a lot about not getting enough opportunities, always implying that Kobe’s game is a hindrance to their personal and to the team’s success. Yet given the chance to prove themselves in the playoffs without Kobe, they laid a big fat egg. Their stats would say they didn’t do that terribly. Gasol even had a ‘cute’ triple double. For top-dog wannabes earning $19M each, those numbers and the total effort they gave, are quite embarrassing. Gasol is as soft as ever, thinking that he could show that he’s hustling by screaming everytime he shoots or he loses the ball. Howard needs to devote more time working on his post moves and FT rather than his physique. He will get his max contract, with the Lakers or another team. I don’t even know what to feel either way. As for Gasol, I hope that’s the last time he puts on a Laker uniform.
I never expected them to win the series without Kobe, but at the least I hoped that they will give enough effort to make it harder for the Spurs, and probably steal a game or 2.
Warren Wee Lim says
The only thing good about this season is… its over.
The only thing good about last season is… that we’ve hit rock bottom and there’s just no other way to go but up.
Question: What if Dwight tells management (in secret of course) that he is not re-signing? He is not sure yet where to go, most likely Houston… Dallas maybe… but a sign-and-trade to NJ would work too. What would you do?
paolo espinosa says
If Pau get’s amnestied and finds his way to Miami somehow, it won’t matter who we sign. Dwight on the other hand, will just end up in houston or dallas. Let him walk, anthony davis, greg monroe, dmc, and drummond will be dominating him 3 yrs from now anyway
BigCitySid says
Not interested in knee jerk emotional decisions on personnel. Not interested in building a team around hope. Front office needs to make the best decisions for the franchise going forth in order to becoming a serious contender as soon as possible. Anything or anybody who distracts from that goal is not part of the solution.
Tom Daniels says
I don’t envy the front office. We have NO idea when Kobe will return or what kind of player he can be. We have no idea what Dwight’s plans are. What kind of player can Nash be the next 2 years? Is he done? Can he start for a contender? Can he lead a bench unit?
Is Jordan Hill a viable piece? Can Pau give you a full season at center if needed? Do you amnesty Peace? Where can you pick up shooters on the cheap to spread the floor? What is the actual core of this team. Is it Kobe/Dwight or will you have neither of these guys?
The Laker roster is 12 question marks. Oh. And can D’Antoni coach? Was it just the injuries or was he part of the problem?
Given all the questions AND serious cap issues, it will take a miracle to put a contender on the floor next year.
I still think this season’s roster was a good move. Yeah, they were old. And there would be some injuries. But what happened was a freak thing, an apocalypse. The question is, how can they recover from it?
PurpleBlood says
Firstly, I wanna thank Darius & all the writers here at FB&G: Dave (long live rock! i need it every night), Phillip, Rey, Ryan & anyone else I ´ve missed; your contributions are greatly appreciated, gracias amigos.
BigCity, blunt yet succinct, I´m with ya –
though I have to make mention of Shaun´s post (at 8:04pm last night), on the money Shaun-
& I´d also like to thank our roving reporter who yesterday was in Orlando, giving us the word on the street, thanks ken! 🙂
Greetings as well to all the diehards on this blog, thanks for the insights to the game, commentary, Kobe Alerts, jokes and for also making me feel a part of the fold when game time rolls around; We´ll get `em all next season fellas (& gals)!
& last but far from least,
thank you Kobe! Wishing you a full and speedy recovery, be it destined for a comeback or simply to live out the rest of your life in full health – Love you Mamba!
Go Lakers Always!
p.s. ain´t no way our organization would ever think of `tanking´ a season nor will Bean be `amnestied´, not in this universe
paolo espinosa says
You know what, even if dwight was the same player sans injury, i would still expect them to go down to OKC because of chemistry issues. little did we know how horrendous this season would turn out. if we even got to 75% of our potential, and the westbrook thing happened… miami would still beat us. lol
hate to say it, but we need a 90% restructuring. of anything. of everything.
see y’all early nov!
Just Man says
Anyone who thinks the Lakers will use the Amnesty provision on Kobe isn’t thinking straight. Kobe is chief among the reasons the Lakers have a $3 Billion dollar deal with TWC. The Lakers are a better commodity with Kobe than without him. Before this injury the Lakers knew they were going to have to pay repeat offender Luxury tax for one year, that thinking shouldn’t change. Also, if you amnesty Kobe you still wont have cap room to bring in any top level free agent next season, so what exactly would be the purpose? Lets say Kobe is cut and Dwight is re-signed, can you begin to imagine the enormous pressure on Dwight to make the fans forget Kobe??? Dude couldn’t handle it this post-season, I doubt he can any time soon.
Warren Wee Lim says
This amnesty Kobe is just a suggestion of ESPN. Don’t let that fool ya. We know all the right reasons and we know that the Lakers will restructure via trade. Amnestying Kobe would just be suicide. Not happening.
rr says
Not interested in knee jerk emotional decisions on personnel. Not interested in building a team around hope
—
When it comes to Kobe, no one is more knee-jerk and emotional than you are, Sid. You don’t like him or the way he plays. We get that you want to get rid of him and clear the cap space. You were saying that even before he blew out the Achilles.
Kobe will almost certinly not be Amnestied, since:
a- He plans on coming back early next year. No one–not me, not dr rayeye, not Kobe, not Tim Grover, not Gary Vitti–knows how that will work out at this point, but that is what he plans to do. Amnestying him would be more or less saying to him, “You can’t do it.”
b-He’s Kobe Bryant.
c-His deal only lasts one year anyway.
d-If Howard re-signs, then the Lakers will operating from the POV that they can be in contention next year.
e-As noted, he helps the team make money, even with his massive salary.
The only ways it will even conceivably be on the table are if Howard walks or the FO thinks they can somehow pull off the Howard/Paul thing if they do it. The first–I have no idea about odds on that. The second–highly unlikely.
Shaun says
Thx for the love purpleblood – also as a mention to the overall site – I know we can all get somewhat angry or down especially this year but this is our community.
when we are sitting with our wifes, or friends that are casual fans they either dont care or dont see what we all see and talk about here, its really great to have such a strong die hard community of laker fans
trianglefan says
getting rid of Pau is not suicide, but it’s way too late since we’re not getting equal value. Too start whining about that is about 2-3 years too late. It’s kind of funny, some people who want to trade Pau now were defending him back then. You trade/amnesty Pau, you leave Kobe on an island. That’s really his one guy on the team.
trianglefan says
Laker fans are going to suffer until Jim figures it out. And there’s a lot to do. He used the lock out to gut a significant portion of the long-term staff. Why would you scrub the scouting staff?
You think about how the Spurs scour the earth for players to fit their system, and you just have to shake your head.
Mitch is a terrific GM, but I don’t think Jim is wise enough to let Mitch lead. I can’t see MK ever hiring and dumping Brown like they did, and I really can’t see MK hiring MDA. And the PJ thing – that has Jim Buss written all over it.
Let’s hope Jim does a lot of listening in the off season.
teamn says
Warren,
I’ve wondered about the scenario you posted above. What if Dwight let’s the FO know he will not re-sign — doesn’t Mitch have to at least try to pitch the sign and trade option? What if the Lakers could do that — what would be a good enough deal to hand over Dwight and the 2014 flexibility (assuming any trade would bring back players with longer contracts)? I can’t see a sign and trade that just brings back expiring contracts, can you? Now, if it is Pau that gets traded, perhaps expiring contracts are all the Lakers would want, unless something totally unexpected falls into their lap.
Tra says
If Jim Buss were to Amnesty Kobe he would have to move around L.A. with top notch Security Detail AND a Bullet Proof Vest .. Real Talk
Joe M says
As much as I hate Howard, I rather see Pau go, along with Captain Pringles. Howard wants to be more mature and alpha like Kobe, he just doesn’t know how. I will give him a chance. Pau is much older and is not going to get any better.
Kevin_ says
It would be extremely hard to bottom out with Kobe still on the roster. Who knows if Wiggins comes out after one year or if the Lakers might get the #1 pick. But that route seems better than being mediocre again getting a pick in the mid teens. The team also will have unlimited cap in 2014.
I’m not pressing for Dwight to come back. Enough mistakes have been made the past few years time to step back and take a hard look to see if re-signing a player who has failed to show he’s ready to be a leader. Coming back early after back surgery is something to give a standing ovation too. Other than that blaming teammates all year, prancing around the locker room with a stat sheet, shooting 49% on FT’s, getting thrown out of the last game and not keeping our word are all negatives. He said he’d fight to the end but he left his squad on the floor in an already lopsided fight. $110 million dollar question: Can Dwight grow up like LeBron did, who was already more mature than Dwight before leaving Cleveland, after his Finals meltdown? That’s the only question that the front office needs to ask themselves. Whatever the answer is that’s the answer to the resign him ultimatum.
I also don’t see how Blake and Nash can be back for the sake of back court speed. Giving 48 minutes to old and slow players spells doom. Couple that with Kobe returning from Achilles injury. The season will be over before it even begins.
Travis says
what should happen: Fire D’Antoni, put Jeanie and Phil in charge of basketball, have Jim run the business. Amnesty Kobe, convince him to take a 1 year hiatus, re-sign him in summer 2014 at a discount (not sure if that’s even legal? but totally the ideal scenario). Finally trade Pau for picks and athleticism, S/T Howard for any player or combination of players whose #1 priority is basketball and not celebrity, talk Metta into a cheaper re-structure, keep Blake, Hill, Morris, Jamison and Meeks. Shop Nash or talk him into retirement, try to land a big fish in 2014.
what will probably happen under the direction of Jim Buss: Resign Howard for the max max and justify it to the fan base with some b.s. development plan like having him work out with Kareem. Give Dantoni a training camp and a fair shake, fire him next summer after a season of media drama between him and Dwight. Dantoni will play Nash 38 mins per game and empty whatever he has left in his tank by February, use all of Nash’s injury time as an excuse for why we’re not in the playoffs. Pau will get traded, probably for some bad contracts and a few draft picks. Kobe will try to come back too soon, miss the rest of the season, probably never be the same, get Amnestied in 2014. Lakers fall into a NY Knicks type pattern until they change who’s in charge.