There wasn’t much positive to take from the game. Nick Young has now scored 20+ points in eight of the Lakers last 11 games and hasn’t failed to reach double figures since the Lakers win over the Kings on November 25. Kendall Marshall continues to be a playmaker for these Lakers as he recorded 17 assists with a few absolutely gorgeous dimes to cutters and a couple of notable skip passes to shooters in the corners. Pau Gasol recorded a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds while recording five assists. Jodie Meeks also had an efficient night with 23 points on 15 shots, with the majority of his buckets coming near the rim.
The Lakers went into the half with a one-point lead, but weren’t able to to keep pace with the Nuggets in the second half. “We don’t have the backbone yet as a team,” said Mike D’Antoni to reporters after the game on TWC SportsNet “We don’t have the grit that we need sometimes on hard times. They had it kind of before we came back here — but in the second half it’s just like the air went out of our team […].” A disgusting second half it was. The Lakers seemingly didn’t get a stop in the second half as the Nuggets followed a 33 point third quarter with a 44 point fourth. The Lakers were cold from long range and couldn’t keep the Nuggets off the board. The result was one of the uglies losses of the year. Below are a few notable numbers from tonight’s debacle.
- 77: The Lakers gave up 74 points in the second half of tonight’s game after leading 61-60 going into the half. The team came out lethargic in the third quarter, turning the ball over and giving up easy looks at the rim. Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler combined for 17 points in the quarter with Lawson adding five assists. The Lakers missing from three coupled with their four turnovers turned into 12 fastbreak points for the Nuggets in the 3rd. In the fourth, the Lakers lacked the sense of urgency that kept them in the game in the first half. They played sloppy and unmotivated. They seemed to have come to grips with the fact that tonight wasn’t a winnable game and promptly gave up 44 points in the final period.
- 21: The number of three-point attempts that the Lakers had tonight. For a team that relies to much on the three ball, hitting three-of-21 from the field just isn’t going to get it done. The starting unit was 1-for-11 from three with the second unit slightly better at 2-for-10 from behind the arc. On the flip side, the Nuggets were 12-for-29 from long range, making them +27 from three, a definite losing differential the way this rendition of the Lakers plays basketball.
- 52: The Nuggets recorded 52 points on 32 extra possessions. The Nuggets recorded 17 offensive rebounds and turned the Lakers over 15 times and turned that into 31 points off turnovers and 21 second chance points. Considering the fact that the Nuggets shot 53 percent from the field, giving up offensive rebounds on 37 percent those misses is down right unacceptable. The Nuggets deserve all the credit in the world for working hard to create those extra possessions, and even more for turning those extra possessions into a seizable number of points, but the Lakers lack of effort in those areas definitely contributed to the Nuggets success.
- 137: This is the highest total that the Lakers have given up in a game since 2011 when they gave up 137 to the Suns in triple over time (a win, by the way). The Lakers hadn’t given up more than 130 in a non-over time game since 1993 when they allowed the Charlotte Hornets drop 141 on them in regulation, just over a decade ago.
Despite the rough loss, the Lakers will need to put the game behind them as they have a rough three game stretch where they travel to Dallas and Houston which will be followed with a “road” game against the Clippers. They’ve now lost seven of the last nine with trade rumors hovering over the team like Nate Robinson on a tip dunk. Even with the distractions, the Lakers are going to have to focus on the road to be able to come home with a few more tally marks in the win column.
Barath says
Positive to take from the game: Pau wasn’t traded for Bynum (and won’t be this season)
Rubenowski says
Idk if you were being sarcastic, but as much as we dont like the idea of tanking, we NEED a high pick very very bad this year, and the cap relief from this trade can be reinvested in team personnel that was let go the past couple of years (please Jim?!) I think we need this trade to happen badly.
As an aside, i just read a report saying that the cavs think they are doing us a favor by offering us Bynum. Yeah, I guess that completely makes up for ruining the CP3 trade huh?
bleedpurplegold says
AS much AS i hate to admit it, but i have to agree with rubenowski!! A trade for cap relief would be the best thing to happen To us! We clearlly have To take a tank season right now for us to At least have a shot to give Kobe a last run during the next 2-3 seasons for a last hurray in the Playoffs….a top 3-5 pick plus a max player in the next 2 offseasons would be our way to go here(no melo please!!!)
Back2topic:
KM12 really looking good out there….doesnt force up an Bad shots, makes good decisions offensively and had some eye-popping assists(off the drive to Pau)
Swaggy P. Has Got to stay, the More i See him, the more i like his game! I think he has matured a little bit since coming to la
Hill really needs more minutes, our d was non-existend out there, yet he was only given 12min…i blame MDA for that!
Pau is finally looking aggressive out there, reminds me of the old pau, espacially in the first! Wouldnt mind if we keep him, but i already explaind my point of view on him
Go Lakers!!!
Warren Wee Lim says
Interesting article from Kurt’s ProBasketballtalk: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/06/the-extra-pass-why-dantoni-is-the-right-man-for-the-job-plus-sundays-recaps/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
You wouldn’t know Kendall Marshall if not for him. He’s not a great PG but he could be our cheap version of Greivis Vasquez.
david h says
at least they didn’t give up eighty, right? after all, eighty would have been my breaking point for sure.
and in the same breath, it’s been reported on Lakers News: Gasol-Bynum Talks Will Continue On Monday. translation: lakers eager to rid themselves of pau’s contract asap. after all, lakers can win one game in eight with or without him as recent trend seems to indicate.
only an masochistic die hard laker fan would dare cling to any possibility of a playoff run this season. or is that a sadistic thought?
Go lakers
Craig W. says
Just because Kobe came at #13 does’t mean a lottery pick is our ticket to greatness. The odds are huge our pick will be a role player at best. You want to give him away for that? The odds are huge we don’t sniff a top ten pick. Get real – the Durant-Wesrbrook draft scenario ain’t happen’n – that’s a Bucks type move. Keep our pick, get a role player, and pick up a 2nd round pick, while we improve our financial situation – that’s a good play.
Warren Wee Lim says
Craig, the entire fanbase has to get a grip with all these tank scenarios. Even if we did send Gasol to CLE for nothing and fillers, the team is still not as bad as the others like Milwaukee, Utah, Orlando, Sacramento, etc.
Getting your books (financial situation) right this year when you don’t expect or intend to contend is the right thing to do. Even if it is that hard to be over the luxury tax by 2015, it is also plausible that we cap out next year + sign someone to be above the apron and go on to sign yet another guy in 2015 via birds or whatever (we do have this option btw) and be a taxpayer.
MannyP says
Rubenowski and others: I believe the Suns own the Lakers 1st round pick this year, with only picks 1-5 being protected. This means we would almost certainly have to end as the worst team in the NBA this season in order to try and get a guaranteed 1-5, and even then there is no certainty that we would end up with a good pick. The worst possible scenario would be we get the 6th pick and then end up with nothing and a horrendous season to boot. This is why we are not tanking 100% this season.
Vasheed says
MannyP we own this year’s pick. Next year the Lakers pick is top 5 protected. It would be very prudent to get under the cap this year. The worst case scenario is not making the play offs and paying the Luxury tax.
KenOak says
WWL-
The Lakers will lose 50 games this year even if they *don’t* actively try to tank. This team is going to have a bottom 7 record. Mark it down. Now it could go even lower than that…My vision is that “basketball reasons” will happen and get our team a top 3 pick. 😉
gene says
Hill and Kaman more…Johnson and Williams less…
Craig W. says
Remember the Repeater Tax exemption next year is 1yr in 4yrs under the Luxury Tax, but the following year – and in the future – it is 2yrs in 5yrs under the Luxury Tax. The Lakers are looking at being under the Luxury Tax for all of Kobe’s extension, unless they do something this year.
david h says
I’m beginning to think, would it be so bad if andrew bynum passed the physical and actually played for the lakers this season? the carnival like setting, the circus like background and clown car no less, to say this is not entertainment for at least this bizarro season? I, for one would watch just for the entertainment value alone. who knows? maybe bynum decides to finally grow up and wouldn’t that be a change?
jim buss, mitch kupchak, make this “boy who cried wolf” atmosphere go away. make it happen.
Go lakers
MannyP says
Vasheed, Rubenowski and others- Thanks for the clarification. I incorrectly thought the protected pick was for this year.
rr says
The odds are huge we don’t sniff a top ten pick
—
Incorrect. The Lakers at the moment are 10th from the bottom of the standings, and the January schedule is brutal. And, given that 7 of the 9 teams below them are in the East, and will be playing each other, it is quite possible that a few of those teams will finish with better records than the Lakers do.
And, of course, there is wide agreement that this is one of the deepest and best drafts in many years, so if the Lakers pick at 7th or 8th, they may be able to get a really good player. I don’t follow college ball except for the college that I myself attended, so I can’t speak to the quality of any particular prospects, but it is unlikely that all of the people talking about this draft are entirely wrong.
That explained, the odds are pretty strongly against the Lakers getting a pick in the Top 3, due to how the weighting system works.
R says
Warren Wee Lim January 6, 2014 at 8:59 am “Craig, the entire fanbase has to get a grip with all these tank scenarios.”
Craig W. January 6, 2014 at 8:34 am “Just because Kobe came at #13 does’t mean a lottery pick is our ticket to greatness”
Yes! Besides, the Lakers are quite horrible even while trying to win; no tanking required.
Robert says
The Lakers do not raise banners for playoff appearances. We should either be contending or rebuilding so we can contend. That said – if the FO plan was to “make the playoffs” and then – if we can’t – we will re-build and tank – then once again this was not a logical plan. I do not disagree with rr, KenOak et al, who said this was the plan, cause they are probably right. I am disagreeing with the plan itself. You can’t half way contend, and you can’t half way re-build or tank. You go all out. Kobe’s extension is diabolically oppose to any all out re-building or tanking strategy. Pau not being traded before the season started is also counter to it. If we came into the season trying to win, then my question is Win What? As many games as possible? We can still do that. Why the change? So if we finish 8th it is somehow an accomplishment worth achieving, but once you drop to 9th, you may as well be 15th? I think you can have one of two philosophies. You can either have the never say die, try to be the best you can be, at all times philosophy (never tank), or you can always do things that make you a contender, and tanking or getting temporarily worse could be the correct course in some years. By flipping back and forth between the two unnecessarily, you accomplish neither. We have gone from the most expensive veteran team ever put together, to a fun bunch that was going to win 50 games and MD was going to win COTY, to now we are going into battle as General Patton and a group of tank captains. This all happened in 1 year ! We are and will continue to pay the price for this lack of clear direction.
MannyP says
Robert – I do not think a single FO in the NBA has announced an official plan to “tank, tank, tank, at all costs”. As far as I know, all of them say the same thing we are saying “they are trying to put a competitive team out there” – even if we know the majority of teams at the bottom do not mean it. Also, I still believe the Lakers gain nothing by pointing out the obvious. I mean, two starters and two key contributors are injured and our starting point guard was in the D league last week. How much more obvious do you need things to be??
Also, remember that the likelihood of getting a top 3 pick is slim and there are some really bad teams in the east this year, so chances are, absent some unknown gem, we are looking at getting at most a good rotation player out of the draft. So why try harder to tank when we know it will do no good?
P. Ami says
The clear plan was to contend with Howard, CP3 (Nash and Pau) and Kobe. Then Howard left. The plan became to make the playoffs with the talent on hand and rebuild with FAs. Then the injuries piled up and I think the plan is clear. Get cap relief, get picks and develop young players who are far cheaper and bring back a much higher return on the money spent and cap space. A healthy Kobe keeps the team interesting but can’t fix our problems. He can be a mentor and entertain us during the rebuild.
I think the plan is to get two high quality players in the lottery (our own and from a pick gotten in a Pau trade). I think the plan includes getting below the cap so the front office has a few extra contracts to play with (which has not been available to the team this whole decade). I think we can be nearly as confident that Love will come here as we are that LeBron won’t. What is less reliable is to hope that Durant comes and finally puts the Kobe alpha dog out of it’s misery. Still, there are two more season for OKC to compound their Harden error. Love and Durant (of another of the very good FA of the ’16 class) in their primes, two up and coming lottery picks, an end of the line Kobe and whatever is still around from the filler from this team and next season, that can contend again. That is a plan.
Craig W. says
P.Ami,
Well stated — thank you. I do suspect we will miss on either Love or Durant, but I certainly like your objectives.
AndresGarcia says
The Grammy trip awaits. This is going to get ugly whether Pau stays or not. I agree with KenOak, this team is losing 50 games. As fun as Marshall/Swaggy/X have been, no team could endure the injuries to rotation players we have sustained.
Rubenowski says
I don’t see anything wrong with tanking if the team knows how to build a contender (I repeat: if the team knows how to build a contender). The Cavs and others have wasted their number 1 picks throughout the years by not picking right, by not building good teams, and by not developing their rookies. That’s not the case with the Lakers. I don’t believe their intention was to tank the season, but with the way it looks now it’s looking more and more like the team will finish in the bottom 10. If we give away Pau to secure something for the future, then I don’t see anything wrong with that. We can’t just be the types of fans that expect our team to be great every year. It’s not realistic. This team has been fun (less so as of late), but do we really want mediocre fun teams more often than contending teams? We need to be patient. We need to regroup and try again.
If next year’s rookie class is deep, how would we feel 3-4 years down the line if we picked 9th or 10th this year and witness the 7th or 8th pick develop into a franchise player? Or perhaps not a franchise player, but how about someone like Pau–a great number 2? You know you’d be kicking yourself in the butt and wish you’d lost 3-5 more games just for the chance of landing that 7th or 8th pick.
I appreciate what Pau has brought to the team. If we could lose more games with Pau than without him, and then sign him for less than 10 million next season, I’m in. But do we really think that’s gonna happen? I don’t.
Maybe I’m missing the point. Maybe I haven’t read the comments here thoroughly. If someone could point me to a thread where the rationale for keeping Pau was explained clearly, then please do so, for I could be wrong.
Craig W. says
It is not just the rotation players; it is starters whose business is to lead the team. These leaders are needed to keep the rotation players on point when things get rough – like in the 3rd qtr of games. We are playing with all rotation players – except Pau, and he is playing like one (hot one night and cold the next) – and they tend to have a glass jaw, without someone to rally them.
Rubenowski, I agree with you, but the caveat is trying to guess which players are going to be stars. Kobe was drafted 13th, even though a high school guard had never been drafted that high before him. We better have a really good handle on the 15 best players in the country for a team like the Lakers. Too many busts have been drafted in the top 10 to consider that to be a reliable measure of worth.
Robert says
To be Clear – I hate tanking. However- if you are going to tank – do it to its fullest. Get the Ewing or the Shaq or the Magic. Moving up from 13th to 12th? Well you might miss Kobe and end up with Vitaly Potapenko (picked 12th in 96).
MannyP: No announcement of tanking. The question is what is the plan (behind closed doors between Mitch and Jim – and maybe Mike)? We need a direction and then our actions need to be consistent.
AndresGarcia: Grammy Trip – OMG – that is what I was saying before the 2nd Utah game. If we had lost that game, the losing streak could have been enormous. Ugly? I agree, but the tanktastic crew sees tanks plowing over barbed wire to victory. World War I was supposed to be quick too. I see trench warfare in mud puddles for years.
P Ami: “He can be a mentor and entertain us during the rebuild.” Kobe Alert: He would have been equally entertaining at $10-$12 million per year.
Rubenowski: You are not missing anything and yes tanking at the appropriate time is fine. Finishing in the middle perennially results in no banners. However you can’t go all out for the title (as in highest payroll in history with mostly vets), then tank for 1/2 of one year (it is only half, because don’t forget our objective was 50 wins, fun, and MD COTY in the beginning of the year), then tank for 1/2 a year, and then start going for titles again. See WWI history book. Tanking takes years. The Clips and the Wizards did it for decades.
rr: You are my GM. What our you trying to accomplish with the deals you are negotiating? Are you trying to win now and for Kobe? Or build for the future? What did the owner tell you to do? Both? Did you tell him that was not possible?
Can someone please lend me a billion dollars !!!
rr says
I think we can be nearly as confident that Love will come here as we are that LeBron won’t.
—
Maybe, but if Love leaves Minnesota, it will almost certainly be to come to a team that will be ready to contend immediately. The Lakers will have a hard time promising that, given that 37-year-old Kobe will be taking up 35% of the cap, and they would need this year’s lottery pick to be All-Star caliber or close by Year 2.
Also, there is basically no chance that anybody will give up a lottery pick for Pau.
As to Durant, he will have three more shots at it between now and his free agency, and while Westbrook’s health and the Harden deal complicate things, OKC is as of today sitting at 27-7 and is a very well-run organization.
So, sure, I like those objectives as well, but you are basically saying if the Lakers nail two lottery picks, sign the two best upcoming free agents, and do everything else right for the next three years, then they will be back in the title hunt by 2017. No offense, but that is a dream as much as it is a plan.
rr says
rr: You are my GM. What our you trying to accomplish with the deals you are negotiating? Are you trying to win now and for Kobe? Or build for the future? What did the owner tell you to do? Both? Did you tell him that was not possible?
Can someone please lend me a billion dollars !!!
—
Like I said, the Lakers are at present 10th from the bottom. Given the competitive ecology of the West, the upcoming schedule, and the injury situation, they may be able to get the 6th-8th pick. So, dumping Pau would accomplish two things:
1. It might (MIGHT) help them get a higher draft slot.
2. It will give them some tax relief.
We can assume that the Lakers are working on their draft priority list, and my guess is that Kupchak may be thinking that they can get somebody really good at 7–but can’t at 11.
As to the larger questions, there is no “now” and that would be true if the team were 18-16 instead of 14-20. As I said in preseason, this year only matters in terms of how it affects next year. And I think the Pau talks are a sign that the FO thinks the best thing for next year is to lose more this year (although I am not convinced that dumping Pau would make the team appreciably worse).
As to “winning for Kobe”, one thing I am pretty sure of is that the org has done enough for Kobe. I thought that was probably true before the extension, and it is definitely true now. His presence IMO does mean that the 2015 team will start off trying to make the playoffs, but ISTM that the org should not tie themselves to any bad or questionable deals for possible short-term gain. If Kobe complains, so be it (and I think Kobe is smart enough that he won’t).
Craig W. says
Robert,
The Kobe signing reflects the organization’s approach to management. On the good side, it means the organization takes care of its own and this is something the kind of player we want should take into account. On the bad side, this isn’t any way to run a short-term fix. The Lakers are not a quick-fix organization. Kobe represents both a building block – yes, as old as he is, he is a building block – and a business investment. As such he is well worth what we are paying him over the next 2.5 years. Fans that continue to complain about this need to get a grip and move on to other subjects.
There is a plan in place and it includes multiple possibilities, based on an imperfect perception of the future. No, I don’t have any inside information – I wouldn’t be commenting on this blog if I did – but I do have some faith, based on the history of the organization from 1979 onward. Additionally, there have been announcements about what is being done. We may disagree on the accuracy of these statements, but we have to acknowledge they have been put forth by the Laker organization. ‘Talking heads’ frequently ignore what doesn’t generate hits or fit their opinions.
mud says
the Lakers are full of first round picks.
nothing would help the team out more than consistently healthy players, whether from in-house, trades, draft or otherwise,
as usual we’ll have to wait and see.
it’s pretty disgusting the way ESPN continually covers a trade that is only a rumor at this time. i think coverage like this does more to discourage a team than the actual losing does. i thought that Ms Shelbourne had a lot more scruples than that. what a way to make a living! make no mistake, she is the engine for the rumor, real or made-up. i don’t think that when she calls him “classy” that it makes up for the stress her report is bound to make.
one of my favorite things about Mitch is that until his deals are done, you never hear about them.
i like gossip about my favorite team as much as anyone, that’s why i frequent Laker blogs and forums. i don’t get anything of value from this kind of rumor though. and what’s with Abbot being on the front page of the ESPN Lakers page? i guess this shows how involved with the Lakers ESPN is…
C.Hearn says
BTW, has anyone asked Bynum his opinion about the trade? What does he think about the possible trade from Cleveland back to Los Angeles.
The 2003 draft was supposed to be the deepest draft in recent history.
NAME DRAFT PICK ROUND TEAM
Lebron James 1 1 Cleveland
Darko Millicic 2 1 Detroit
Carmelo Anthony 3 1 Denver
Chris Bosh 4 1 Toronto
Dwayne Wade 5 1 Miami
Chris Kaman 6 1 Clippers
Kirk Hinrich 7 1 Chicago
T. J. Ford 8 1 Milwaukee
Michael Sweetney 9 1 New York
Jarvis Haynes 10 1 Washington
Mickael Pietrus 11 1 Golden State
Nick Collison 12 1 Seattle
Marcus Banks 13 1 Memphis
Luke Ridnour 14 1 Seattle
Reece Gaines ? 15 1 Orlando
Troy Bell ? 16 1 Boston (fr Mem Zarko Cabarkapa ? 17 1 Phoenix
David West 18 1 New Orleans
Sasha Pavlovic 19 1 Utah
Dahntay Jones 20 1 Boston (fr. Phila
Boris Diaw 21 1 Atlanta
Zoran Planinic ? 22 1 New Jersey
Travis Outlaw 23 1 Portland
Brian Cook 24 1 Lakers
Carlos Delfino 25 1 Detroit
Ndudi Ebi ? 26 1 Minnesota
Kendrick Perkins 27 1 Memphis(fr Sac Leandro Barbosa 28 1 San Antonio (traded 2 Phoenix)
Josh Howard 29 1 Dallas
Maciej Lampe 30 2 New York
Jason Kapono 31 Cleveland
Luke Walton 32 Lakers
Jerome Beasley ? 33 Miami
Sofoklis Schortsanitas ? 34 Clippers
Szymon Szewczyk ? 35 Milwaukee
Mario Auston ? 36 Chicago
Travis Hansen ? 37 Atlanta Hawks
Steve Blake 38 Washington
Slavko Vranes ? 39 New York
Derrick Zimmerman 40 Golden State
Willie Green 41 Seattle (traded to Philadelphia)
ZaZa Pachulia 42 Orlando
Keith Bogans 43 Milwaukee (traded to Orlando)
Malick Badiane 44 Houston
Matt Bonner 45 Chicago (fr. Phoe. Trad 2 Toronto)
Sani Becirovic ? 46 Denver (from Boston)
Mo Williams 47 Utah
James Lang 48 New Orleans
James Jones 49 Indiana
Paccelis Morlende ? 50 Philadelphia (traded to Seattle)
Kyle Korver 51 New Jersey
Remon van de Hare ? 52 Toronto (from Lakers)
Tommy Smith ? 53 Chicago
Nedzad Sinanovic ? 54 Portland
Rick Rickert ? 55 Minnesota
Brandon Hunter ? 56 Boston (from Sacramento)
Xue Yuyang ? 57 Dallas (traded to Denver)
Andreas Glyniadakas ? 58 Detroit
Ten years removed from this draft and we can now take an object look at their careers. There are not any franchise players after picks 1, 3, 4, 5 and possibly 6.
In five years we’ll know which players from the 2014 draft turned into franchise and regular rotation players. And which manager made the sage pick for their organization.
Anonymous says
I love the Lakers and spend too much time thinking of ways to turn this thing around. Like all of you I can envision many lop sided trades that give the team a head start in the right direction. However, when I’m honest with myself I don’t see how we do this painlessly.
I’m not a bitter fan – we’ve had a run that has been the envy not only of the NBA but all of professional sports. Our FO has been fortunate to make all their moves knowing that the objective was winning now. So, as we near the end of our run, it’s not a big surprise that we don’t have as many assets or as much flexibility as others.
I’m more of a pull the Band-Aid off quickly kind of guy. So my perspective is to take a bigger hit in the near term with the hopes of starting the long-term up swing sooner. To win in the NBA you need at least three stars. What the Lakers should be looking for is a new anchor star. It used to be Kobe but not anymore — we can’t cry over spilled milk regarding CP3 or DHoward. That’s why it’s so important that the FO makes the right decisions in the draft and with our cap space.
How do we get there?
1. Asset Acquisition. I think all current assets, except Kobe (don’t get me started on the extension), should be on the table. If Pau himself won’t fetch a 1st rounder then add in one of our other assets (like Young). What contending team wouldn’t be tempted to give up a #1 pick in exchange for a top center and a 20 pt/game swing man. The reality is Young is gone as he won’t pick up his player option. But that’s OK he was free to us this summer so why not package him for a valuable future asset. The FO did a wonderful job of acquiring worthy players for virtually nothing. When healthy Young/Farmar/Johnson/Henry/Hill/Kaman all have varying degrees of marketability. It’s time to explore their value either alone or in packages.
2. Draft Wisely. I know it’s a crapshoot. Here’s hoping that we get the next Kobe Bryant or Paul Pierce as opposed to the next Darko.
3. Spend Cap Space Wisely. We have to target young talent. No Melo, I repeat no Melo. Lebron’s not coming. So we should be aggressive with some of the RFA’s like Monroe/Bledsoe/Hayward this off-season. If we strike out let’s not take Melo as a consolation prize. Save the cap space for Love or Durant.
4. Be Patient. Look even if it takes until the summer of 2015 to right the ship that’s OK. Some teams run in circles for decades. With the right plan and approach the FO can get us on the right path in 2 or three years.
Painless no —but it won’t kill us either.
P. Ami says
rr- All plans are dreams. I don’t know the Lakers will sign the two best upcoming free-agents but I think they stand as good a chance as any team in getting at least one of them. If they get Love, that makes it a bit more likely they can still get a top-level FA in ’16 (even if it’s not Durant). I don’t know who the Lakers will get in the draft, but I think the team has selected well in the past and is likely to again (plus there is so much talent in this class, I think teams picking in the top-ten have to be really unlucky or bad decision makers to really screw up).
Kobe will be taking up 35% of the salary cap next season and then in the 1st season of a new FA’s contract. That is not a bad situation. I don’t see a better use of that money. Then, he is off the books when Durant comes available. Are all my eggs in one basket? Maybe. I see that there are a lot of moving parts, a lot can happen but if the team is going to contend again soon, that is a scenario that is both legal under the CBA and possible for the team to shoot for. I’m not calling a shot here, just presenting a plan.
rr says
Fans that continue to complain about this need to get a grip and move on to other subjects.
—
Kobe’s extension was a hugely questionable move, and the fact that he got seriously hurt again immediately just draws a line under that. As I have pointed out a few times, Buss and Kupchak both made several public statements about the importance of financial flexibility, and the extension completely went against those statements. You may not like hearing people complain, but it is one of the biggest decisions that Jim Buss has made, and it will affect the next 3-5 years for the franchise profoundly. As such, it is a perfectly legitimate topic of conversation.
Ko says
Agreed Anon mostly. Young has been tossed around for 5 years. He loves it here as his home town and the TMZ attention. I feel any reasonable offer and he stays and can be a plus asset for the next few years.
Robert says
C Hearn: To bolster your point about the 2003 draft. The Lakers have had 5 of the top 38 picks from the draft on their roster. None of them ever made the ASG. I think the top 5 is the line of demarcation for most years. Case in point in 2003 – look who went 6th (I am sure MD would agree).
By the way – loved the reference to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Unfortunately we have traded away many of our picks, so the commissioner’s draft day announcement at the podium will be much like the conclusion of the aforementioned movie:
Tuco (Eli Wallach): “Unk…Unk… There’s no name on it”
Blondie (Clint Eastwood): “There’s no name here either”
rr says
JA Adande on Phil Jackson and Brian Shaw:
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/65170/phil-jacksons-lone-branch-manager
C.Hearn says
-@Mud, good point. All of those 1st round draft picks on the Lakers are exactly the type of players the Lakers would likely draft at 7-15. The Lakers might be better served keeping the 1st round draft picks that they have, and develop them. Rather than give Pau away for a player that might be a Jarvis Haynes or Mikael Pietrius quality rotation players with some usability , but certainly no franchise player. In 2003 look at the good players that the Lakers left on the table for Brian Cook and Luke Walton, while players drafted below them are still productive in the league.
@Robert- The Lakers do not raise banners for playoff appearances. This entire post encapsulated the conundrum that the Lakers have harvested since the hiring of this coach. No direction! One cannot claim that the team had direction, even with the CP3 pick, as the majority of Lakers players at that time were incapable of playing uptempo with Chris. We have gone over the inappropriate hiring of this coach Ad nauseam, and I have nothing new to offer, other than what route his hiring will take the team to next year. Lastly, giving Kobe an extension with this coach at the helm: What course will his extension take the Lakers on with this coach and future free agents? These are questions that management has engendered and hopefully they have the answers.
Craig W. says
rr,
It’s over and there has been plenty of complaining. I just don’t find it at all constructive to continuously complain about something that is over, done, and supported by many in the fanbase. It was not entered into spontaneously and it has a real business basis, so there can be disagreement, but that has already been covered. It is time to look at what we do from here on.
Ko says
Well that ends that!
Bulls trade Dang for Bynam!
Looks like 12 place instead of 15 th
AusPhil says
Bynum and a protected 1st rounder to Chicago for Deng. Pau stays in LA again.
Fern says
People needs to calm down, there is still more than a month for the deadline. The Cavs were the ones to aproach the Lakers and the Lakers were right to drive a hard bargain. If Pau keep his play of late we might get a nice haul by the trade deadline or even earlier.
Ko says
bulls get a first and 2 seconds yet Mitch could not get a snowball from Cavs .
Same Mitch that got nothing for Dwight and gave up picks for 38 year old Nash.
Robert I think we have found the problem!
KenOak says
Gah! A first round pick (top 10 protected) and 2 future 2nd rounders for Deng. Wow. I bet Gilbert just threw in a second rounder after the deal was done just to rub it in the Lakers faces.
Fern says
Deng was the Cavs objective all along, they gave away a lot for a rental, i bet he leaves after the season, nobody wants to play there. The Cavs approached the Lakers they were the ones in a hurry the Lakers were not. Im convinced that if Pau keep playing like this we will get a nice haul for him, Im sure that Mitch will wait for the right oportunity to pounce. Thats why he is one of the best if not the best GM in the league. The plan is not keeping Gasol after this season if we can get assets for him before the trade deadline great, if not he is still coming off the books after the season.Underestimating Mitch, such short memories…
rr says
It is time to look at what we do from here on.
—
Kobe’s deal will affect any large decision that the team makes over the next two years, and perhaps beyond that. Given the emphasis that you have placed on Lakers’ financials, that is a key point.
In any discussion of the organization’s direction, things that have happened in the past will come up.
rr says
Welcome home, Pau.