About a month after Kobe Bryant’s last game and in the wake of the Lakers hiring Luke Walton as their head coach, Mitch Kupchak spoke about the hire, the direction of the team, what his expectations were for the upcoming season. It was, for me at least, a refreshing five minutes where Kupchak acknowledged his goals for this season were to play a fun brand of basketball and to see incremental improvement from his young players.
Of course, since that time a lot has happened to affect the outlook of the team.
In the two months since that interview to today, the Lakers found out they would keep their draft pick. They then selected Brandon Ingram #2 overall and Ivica Zubac — who ranked 16th on their draft board — fell to them in the 2nd round. They signed Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov as outside free agents and re-upped Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black, and Marcelo Huertas. They also traded for Jose Calderon.
They really do have a new team now. So have expectations changed? If you listen to Luke Walton tell it, not really.
In a recent sit-down with Shaq on his “Big Podcast”, Walton’s comments took on a similar vibe to his general manager’s, though even more specific to how the results on the scoreboard, at least in the short term, matter less than what goes into building the players up to compete:
The expectations, to me, aren’t going to be wins and losses, right now at least. The expectations are going to be the way we play. It’s about having an edge when you play, it’s about competing every single time on offense and defense, it’s about playing the right way.
More from Walton:
It’s about setting the foundation for the future, because we don’t plan on this being a one-year thing. We plan on being here, and part of what’s so exciting is we get to start it this year, so the expectations and the focus for me are going to be how we go about practice and the details of the game.
Walton went on to talk about developing the right types of habits — practicing hard, working on the fundamentals, focusing on competing every single day. In other words, and as hinted at above, Walton is talking about building a culture for the long term. He wants his team to have a certain identity which can carry the team forward. He is, in a way, starting from scratch.
When listening to Kupchak’s comments and then having them followed up by Walton’s, I could not help but think of Kobe Bryant.
As I have discussed in the past, Kobe’s history as a champion and a player who, for over a decade, made winning more than you lost a formality, it would always be difficult to frame a season in any other terms than wanting to win a championship. Open acknowledging goals as anything less than contending for a title while Kobe was in tow would be a non-starter. Even if the reality of the situation made those types of comments seem laughable.
Beyond the rhetoric of winning and losing, though, Walton’s comments trigger to me a true reboot for the organization as a whole. With Kobe on the roster there was never a question of who would be the leader, of a need to establish a culture. Kobe’s work habits, his drive to win, the intensity he brought to games and practices…they set the culture. Kobe was the Lakers.
Now Kobe is gone.
In a way, this further underscores the importance of the Walton hire. With Kobe no longer in the fold to set the tone and guide expectations, the Lakers are at a crossroads as to who will fill that void. As of now, that person is Walton. Hopefully a player (or two) from the young core will also fill the vacuum, but that will need to come in time and will work off and build from the culture established from the coach.
Ultimately, though, this shift will take some getting used to. We are not used to hearing decision makers speak with tempered expectations or have the focus be on things besides contending for a title. With Kobe gone, however, this is the new norm. At least in the short term.
Mid Wilshire says
Luke Walton is being smart by tempering our expectations.
The real issue to focus on is not so much the number of games the Lakers win this season (2016-2017) but the number of games the Lakers win two seasons from now (2018-2019).
By that time Jordan Clarkson will be 26 (with 4 years of experience), Russell will be 22 (with 3 yrs. of experience), Randles will be 23, Nance will be 24, and Ingram and Zubac will be all of 21. That is still an extremely young core. But if nothing else, they’ll be vetera by thenns. They will have grown into their bodies, something they’re all in the process of doing. They’ll be more savvy, more clever, more well-rounded, and may — for all we know — be better defenders.
That means that the win-loss record for the Lakers this year will be (almost) beside the point. The next two years, then, will all be about preparing the team for the 2018-19 season. It will take that long (and possibly a bit longer) for the team to be truly competitive. Luke knows this. And so he’s attempting to set our expectations appropriately. So far, I’d say he’s doing the right things.
SCfive says
2 more key moves staying true to the refreshing way Lakers are trying to build (via trade):
•Lou Williams for Kyle korver (atl gets that one on one scorer which they desperately needed last year and LA gets that 3pt assassin..win,win)
•nick young for Corey brewer (dantoni gets another scorer for his style of play plus nick played his best ball under dantoni and Luke gets that active defender…win,win)
** again sticking to this new plan. Those 2 additions will not hurt the growth or process of our youngsters. Not the blockbuster move were all use to but we have to accept that went out of business a while ago. Time for a “new age” growth. This team will be better off in the long run. Lakers will be back at the top doing it the way the haters thought they couldn’t!
J C hoops says
Mid Wilshire
these long term projectins are nice but i don’t see the lakers standing pat with all of these guys – they usually make moves and trades every year that surprise us
FredP says
Luke’s approach to team building sounds very similar to the one Carroll took when he moved to Seattle. Pete relishes having players compete against each other in practice and finds roles for the ones that earn time on the field. He takes it for granted that the players do not arrive ready to play at the NFL level but can be coached to perform at the best of their ability. So far this summer, the young Lakers are showing they are very good at listening and working hard in practice and games. The seeds of the new culture are being planted.
One other point Walton made was his desire to have all 5 players on the court being able to make plays. Moving the ball will help keep the players engaged on offense.
KevTheBold says
Let’s hope not. This is a new time, a new team, a new opportunity to build a dynasty with that ultra important thing called: Continuity !
Walton understands this, and it seems Kupchak does as well.
Let’s just hope they have pulled Jim on board.
JeffT_ says
The one thing the Lakers didn’t do this off-season was pick up a free agent who would demand the ball. While they spent a lot of money on Mosgov and Deng, their style of play will not disrupt the direction that the team appears to be heading. It will be up to them to fit in. I believe that this in part was done to force the team to adopt a developmental approach rather than a win now one.
MT87 says
J C hoops Mid Wilshire I hope they don’t try any trades with the young core any time soon unless its a total no brainer. I think getting rid of any of them at this moment would be selling low unless the FO just doesn’t think growth will be forthcoming.
cyborgspider says
SCfive I like your realistic, plausible trade ideas. Only snag is Corey’s contract runs until 2018 which may interfere with cap space in 2017, but yeah, it would be cool to see these moves happen.
fern16 says
And their teams would make these trades and downgrade because?
fern16 says
I mean those would be cool trades but I don’t see why the Hawks or the Rockets would agree to make those trades. Specially if Nick Young is involved.
matt24 says
Great write up by darius, with kobe gone it’s time to start from scratch
matt24 says
Walton coming from the warriors saw first hand what a team that grew together became, the core of the warriors were drafted by the warriors and became a tight knit team in about 4 years
matt24 says
Warriors timescale…2009 drafted curry…..2010 david lee free agency…..2011 drafted k.thompson….record 23-46….2012 drafted barnes, ezeli, draymond, traded for bogut,…..record 47-35 6th seed….2013 igudall
LT Mitchell says
In some ways, Luke’s situation reminds me of Phil’s first season with the Lakers. Both Luke and Phil replaced unpopular coaches who fans blamed for the Lakers’ woes, and both came in with expectations of being the Lakers’ savior. Different situations obviously, but similar.
Phil tried to downplay those expectations immediately by saying the team would struggle at first adapting to the triangle and how winning a title in year one was unrealistic and blah blah blah. Despite his attempts to take some pressure off the players, expectations were through the roof. It seems Luke has learned from Phil and is also trying to downplay expectations for similar reasons, but like Phil’s situation, expectations are high. The young draft picks are a year older, the team spent almost $140 million on two free agents, and everyone’s favorite target, Byron, has been replaced by the Lakers’ new savior. If all of that doesn’t produce a big uptick in wins, it’s going to mean something went very wrong. Despite Luke’s attempts to downplay the importance of wins this season, wins will matter in a big way.
KevTheBold says
LT Mitchell
I don’t think Walton is downplaying anything, just being perfectly honest.
Though there are always the impatient ones with short attention spans, most can see the big picture and will enjoy seeing the organic growth of our kids.
Expectations for Walton don’t at all compare with Jackson’s, nor does that team, have any resemblance to ours.
The only concern I have are the networks.
TempleOfJamesWorthy says
Wow! Playing the “right way” instead of giving the ball to Kobe and standing around on offense, and having confused rotations on defense after Kobe goes for (and usually fails to get) the hero-ball steal on defense?
What a novel concept! It might be a refreshing change.
new rr says
TempleOfJamesWorthy
Even BigCitySid has pretty much stopped posting stuff like this. You can post whatever DS lets you post of course, but Kobe-bashing on FBG is like talking about a movie made in 2008 that you hated then because you pass by it for ten seconds on cable one night.
He’s gone. What is ahead is the HOF induction speech, the jerseys going up in the rafters, and the statue being unveiled.
fern16 says
Yeah that Kobe bum. He sure sucked huh…
fern16 says
Uhh that Team was a champioship ready team. I don’t see the similarity at all. But i do agree that wins matter, there have to be a uptick in wins or all this talk about “wins are not the important thing here” is going to look like somebody is triying to cover his own ass. Yep, i putting Luke Walton on blast. I expect 25-30 wins realistically higher than that would be a fantastic achievement. If at the end of the season we end up with less than 20 wins that is going to be a major numental failure no matter how “wins don’t matter” spin Luke would try to pass by. I don’t expect a championship not even playoffs but the team MUST improve…
Darius Soriano says
new rr Probably better to just ignore comments like those. They remove all context and make it seem as though there was only one way Kobe played or led or did anything which is, you know, just wrong.
MT87 says
I hope nobody minds that I carry over some of the conversation from the last thread wrt expectations. Fern is right that a lot of fans are going to be really disappointed if the win totals for next year look anything like the win totals from last year. Expectations are all over the place but I think everybody expects at least some sort of uptick in wins from last year. Even though I’d be pretty disappointed if we had another <20 win season I’m firmly in the “wins don’t matter” camp.
I outlined in the previous thread some of my thinking for why the Lakers might both improve and still be a bottom dweller. I don’t think there will be nearly as many tanking teams that provide easy wins as there have been in past years, so every win will have to be earned. There are four or five up-and-coming teams in the west that are all hoping to rise into the 8th seed and we aren’t clearly better than any of them yet. Additionally, the biggest question for next year in my mind isn’t offence but defense. The nicest thing you can say about the defense last year was that there is lots of room to grow. The offense is where the obvious improvement is going to come from but that isn’t where the wins are going to come from.
I’d like to suggest another way of measuring success next year: margin of victory. According to espn last year we had an abysmal -9.6 mov. We basically averaged a double digit blowout every night which is a spectacular level of awful. I think our young guys are gonna improve a bunch and keep games much much closer next year but I’d be shocked if their defense and experience level has improved to the point where they can reliably close out playoff-level teams (which is, again, most everybody in the conference). I’m looking for about -3.2 mov next year which was a 30ish win team last season. If with our experience level we only win 22 games but we are within a possession or two every game I’d still see that as a huge step forward. If the defense is ahead of schedule than we’ll do better than that and have a shot at the 8th seed. If not we will have a shot at keeping the pick.
TempleOfJamesWorthy says
Darius Soriano new rr
Dear Sirs,
Since the subject of this thread is the changes to the Lakers approach in the absence of Kobe Bryant, I think it only fair to point out one major reason such changes could not be made earlier is BECAUSE Kobe Bryant was still a Laker. And, yes, Mr. Soriano, part of that organizational ossification was because on a very fundamental level Kobe only played one way. The criticisms of his game in 1996 were nearly the same as those in 2006 and in 2016. I have previously presented copious evidence in support of my claim.
During his prime, his transcendent talent made up for the rigidity of his approach. After his prime, his approach made him a liability, yet his presence kept the Lakers from transitioning to a new team framework and style of play.
I have mad respect for the Kobe’s overall career, and the hard work it took for him to make himself great, while still lamenting that his inflexibility hurt the Lakers at many junctures, especially after his Achilles tear.
CheroMan says
matt24 And it is Kobe who brought the Lakers down so far that they have to “start from scratch”! He fed his ego in a disgusting manner and the Lakers organization allowed him to called the shots! He was pulling for “Kobe” rather than for the Lakers and it brought disaster to a once great team because he would not leave! He won’t go easily and fade away to the background as would be beswt, but will do all he can to hang onto his dubious, self-proclaimed “best player ever”(Sic!). No ne has ever been as great as they thought they were, but LeBron James is trying to be that player. LeBron even says that HE is the greatest player in the world, another dubious claim! Both of htem have never reached the level that Michael Jordan reached. Frankly…I am a sports fan and a particular basketball fan, but I don’t know if we will ever reach Jordan’s level again!
J C hoops says
TempleOfJamesWorthy
i love kobe but everybody knows he was ball-dominant.
and the title of the thread pertains to changes the team will experience
i don’t anything wrong with voicing an opinion like this
50% of me agrees with you 100%
Travis Y says
For the last four years, we have been watching Kobe walk off into the sunset. Often, the glare of the sun burned our eyes, but nonetheless it was something worth watching as seen in the latest thread.
Now that we are resetting our expectations from championship to competitive. We’re not talking playoffs, we’re not talking 8th seed, we’re talking NOT being ranked at 29 or 30 in offensive or defensive ratings.
It appears like we have the materials for the foundation and I would go a step further and say that for all of his foibles, Coach Scott laid the foundation with tough love and discipline.
Now it’s up to Luke and the team to begin to gel and lay that next layer.
It’s up to us fans to realize that this is a triangle (Phil would be happy to hear that) that has at least 7 levels.
1st- Personnel
2nd-System
3rd- Competitive = .500 record
4th- Fringe playoff team
5th- Able to challenge 1-4 playoff team
6th- Conference Finals
7th- Final 4
We’re at level 2, hope we all stay realistic. I’m excited for the journey.
new rr says
TempleOfJamesWorthy Darius Soriano new rr
TOJW,
As has always been the case, you are again trying, even
after he has retired, to make your visceral dislike for Kobe appear to be some
kind of analytical position. This was a common trope in the sabermetric wing of
the MSM during the second half of his career. You never liked him, and you
never liked his style of play. Fair enough.
But to talk about “lamenting” what he cost the Lakers when
the organization won five titles, seven conference titles, and made sixteen
playoff appearances with him as either the best or second-best guy on the team,
is, well, to put it as charitably as possible, a reach. You can believe, if you
like, that the Lakers would have been even more successful if he had played the
game more the way you think he should have. But it is a counterfactual that you
will never be able to even start to prove, and teams win titles, not players. Kobe
was always one guy on a team. Changing his style of play would not have changed
the whole team into something it wasn’t.
As to the last three years, I assign him some responsibility
for continuing to shoot as much as he did after he realized that it was over
and he had decided to retire, but I do not think that has, or will, negatively affect
the development arcs of the young guys. And since as everyone knows I opposed
both the extension the FO gave him and the FO’s decision to hire Byron Scott to
coach him, I put most of the responsibility for the last three years where I
think it belongs since Kobe was doing what any realistic Lakers fan would have
expected him to do.
And in any case: Kobe, like Scott, is gone. So there is not
much point IMO in bagging on him now.