Fresh start so that the force can be with Big Game James in a couple of weeks. D'Antoni's out, Kevin Ollie rumored to be in, Kobe's in Germany, V. Stiviano probably sitting front row in purple and gold this year.
First order of business is the draft lottery, and then adding what will almost surely be our starting PF assuming we get the 6th pick. Current mocks project the Lakers taking Julius Randle or Noah Vonleh.
Per the
LA Times, we have ~ 28M to spend in the offseason. With Durant and Love possible FA's next year, keeping the gun powder dry is probably the move, unless Melo is willing to come to LA.
Why not offer Nash a $1M buyout, and then pay him $8M to be Ollie's assistant? Clears a ton of cap space and Nash gets paid.
To my understanding, based on achievement markers hit this season, Nash's contract for next season vested, meaning the only way the Lakers can get out from under his contract is the stretch provision.
Some basic issues with the Lakers I see
1) If you can't defend the rim, nothing else you do matters. Teams that cannot defend the rim are generally not contenders. Unless you have some type of major outlier type situation or a once in a generation player like LeBron James, then you need size in the middle who can play defense and guard the cup.
2) If Kobe Bryant continues to refuse to buy into both team defense and stepping up individually as a defender, nothing else you do matters. Defense wins championships. You can skirt by like Kobe has for years when you have enviable depth and a strong rotation of big men, but given the current roster limitations/situation, he's going to have to step up and commit defensively. All the little things and dirty work that Mamba took for granted that bench/role players did, he's going to have to pick up the slack. Fight through a screen for once in your life. Set a pick. Show good movement WITHOUT the ball. Take better shots/show better shot selection. Work on a 3 point shot. Tim Duncan is the classic case of a player who is not what he used to be in his prime, but subverts what he could push individually for the sake of the team effort.
3) The place looks like a wasteland for coaches. When your HOF coaches writes two books in a decade basically going over the same problems, it's not a pretty picture. Mike Brown and D'Antoni might not have been the right coaches, but the way they were blamed/hatcheted was perverse and pathetic. Is this really a job that the top candidates will want to take if they think it's a fast ticket to getting whacked as a head coach? How does a coach get the respect of his players when his star player shot jacks trying to break Jabbar's record, won't play defense and chews up enough cap where you are limited in doing much else with the roster?
I've said it before, massive cap space is NOT a sign of a healthy and well run team. Plenty of teams carve out tons of space, but to get to the salary floor mandated by the CBA, they have to overpay or pick up mid tier free agents that doom them to the treadmill cycle.
What teams need most is "cap flexibility"
A strong mix of veteran players on cheap contracts, some valuable expiring contracts, young players with upside outperforming their rookie contracts. Combine this with some draft pick ammo that's been stockpiled and some cap room, and you've got the best mix of variable options. You aren't building a contender through free agency, you are building it through the draft.
The Lakers need to, if they want to contend again, and as soon as possible
1) Find someone who can defend the rim. It's definitely not Sacre.
2) Being the process of acquiring draft assets. Picks are cost controlled labor, at worst they are trade fodder, at medium that they are leverage points to push out bad contracts. Draft pick ammo opens up lots of opportunities for a team.
3) Mine heavily and become effective in the 2nd round of the draft and with undrafted free agents. Why can't the Lakers have their own version of Patrick Beverley? A Chandler Parsons? If you want depth and solid rotation contributors, you need to make use of the value of street free agents and 2nd rounders.
4) Get Kobe to buy in, buy into ceasing being a coach killer, buy into defense, buy into better shot selection. Otherwise the team is going nowhere until his contract is off the books.
A prime free agent like Kevin Durant is NOT going to want to come to a team that has no potential. No young players on rookie contracts with upside. No cap space. No draft picks. No stability on the coaching front. The Lakers "brand name" isn't going to overcome all that.
Everyone wants a quick fix, there is no quick fix, the new CBA has placed limits that used to benefit large market teams with financial weight to push around. Not anymore.
