Basketballghana.com’s Yaw Adjei-Mintah looks at what the future holds for the NBA after legend and superstar Kobe Bryant retires at the end of the season. In the first of a three part series, he detailed the likely financial state the league would have. In part two, he looked at the future of Bryant’s Shooting Guard position. The final installment of the series, he looks at Bryant’s team Los Angeles Lakers current floundering form and what the future holds for the NBA’s second most successful team.
On the east side of the U.S. fans were on edge to see if the Golden State Warriors could extend their wining streak to 25 games and inch closer to breaking the all time record of 33 straight wins. Well the Warriors, missing Harrison Barnes and playing a second game in two nights, eventually had to give in to the perks of human physiology as they looked gassed throughout the game. The Milwaukee Bucks capitalized to beat them and end the streak. In their most glorious conquest in what has been a less than impressive season thus far, Milwaukee managed to do something no other team in the NBA had done before this season.
Aside defeating the Warriors, the Bucks limited Golden State to just 6 of 26 from three point range; prior to the game, Steph Curry and his men made at least 13 attempts from deep. On the opposite side, the Houston Rockets had just handed a 126-97 landslide win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Toyota Center. A massive defeat, a coach who is yet to embrace the modern way of doing things from the sideline in the NBA, a talent bereft of quality befitting an esteemed organization and bickering owners; this is the state of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Soon it will be without the solitary glimmer of hope they have of a return to prominence; in April, the Los Angeles Lakers will be without Kobe Bryant who has announced his retirement from the league.This is the sorry state the NBA’s second most successful team finds itself.
Kobe’s impending departure, means the Lakers would be without a bona fide star in God knows how long. Since its creation earlier this century, the Lakers have always been associated with stars. Stars who roamed and dominated paints, guys who are thought of by many to be equal to Michael Jordan and guys who were unstoppable as they “hooked the sky” for many years. From George Mikan’s era, to Wilton Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a curious combination of Karl Marlone and Dwight Howard’s respective one year cameo appearances for the Purple and Gold, the Lakers success has been built on pure star power.
The Lakers (immediate)Past
How things stand tells of a team that has gotten away with a lot of things but are catching up to them now. In 2011, the Lakers sold their future after they parted ways with four draft picks in a blockbuster trade for Steve Nash. Dwight Howard was acquired that summer through a four team trade that included Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia Sixers. This happened following former NBA Commissioner David Stern decision to veto a deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers without they giving up any assets and would have saved them $20 million in salaries over the next three years, and another $21 million in luxury taxes according to Dan Gilbert.
The former Cleveland owner was very candid in his opinion on the deal which he made known through a letter. The blockbuster moves like many of Hollywood’s, failed to win in the W-L column of box score charts. Dwight Howard was yet to fully heal from a bad back and bolted to Houston after a first round loss in the Western Conference, Steve Nash retired last season after suiting up for less than 100 games through his three year stay in Tinseltown and Kobe caught the injury bug to have his season end prematurely in consecutive years. In fact, 2014 number two selection D’Angelo Russell was acquired by the team as a result of finishing last season having lost 61 games and therefore had an 82.8% of landing in the top five.
The Present Lakers
After falling to the Rockets, the Lakers sit bottom of the Western Conference standings with just three wins in 24 games this season. Coach Byron Scott has been criticized for his hair pulling tactics and his overall approach to the season and beyond. Thanks to losing out on consecutive playoff trips, Tinseltown’s favorite team has bagged for themselves a pair of intriguing prospects who have the look of future team mainstays. However, this might not turn out as exactly planned since Scott has consistently rolled out units where young studs D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle have been limited or left out entirely in fourth quarters.
Ironically, the team’s listless roster of good but not great veterans like Lou Williams, Roy Hibbert and Brandon Brass and young players like Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jnr. and Anthony Brown makes it impossible to make it to the playoffs. Hence, conventional wisdom would suggest they “tank” in order to boost their position on the draft board. One way of achieving that is by playing the young players for extended periods so they go through the motions of growing pains to stand a better chance of developing into future stars.
Surprisingly, even Kobe has noted this and instructed the coach to not play him for the remainder of the game. With 3:56 mins left in the third quarter, Kobe subbed out of the game and told Byron Scott “let them go”-referring to the team’s young players. Coming from Bryant, a legendary stubborn, egoistic player clearly spells out where the Lakers as an organization are at right now.
The Lakers Future
Invest in the kids. Any investment venture is exceedingly laced with risk. Risk in having a future franchise cornerstone supposedly either one of Randle, Russell, Larry Nance Jnr. or all three- is possible just look at Oklahoma’s Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka combo- go down with career derailing injuries. The Portland Trailblazers are the perfect example of the pitfalls attached with sports as physical ailments robbed the team of a potential title winning tandem of Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. Roy and Oden suffered varied injuries that led to both disappearing from the NBA.
However, this is the most likely road to go as the NBA is now almost an even playing field where variables such as big-market exposure, television appearances and overall stock all pale in comparison to wins due to the presence of technology that has made every game available to everyone.
Historically, the Lakers have relied on the aforementioned factors plus money and fine weather to lure players to the team. Kobe’s demanding lifestyle and sometimes arrogant attitude has also played a huge part in turning away players from the team. Dwight Howard left because of it and LaMarcus Aldridge shunned them for the San Antonio Spurs in free agency. Key player in stopping the Warriors unbeaten streak Greg Monroe chose the cold-small market of Milwaukee in free agency over the Lakers and New York Knicks after leaving the Detroit Pistons.
The Lakers future via free agency looks further bleak as the financial muscle of all NBA teams will be bolstered by the impending cash flow set to be injected into the system next season. The past free agency was a perfect example of what will happen in subsequent free agency periods. Greg Monroe was courted by teams in Los Angeles, New York, Portland and Milwaukee. All teams were armed with a three year $50 million dollar contract for the former Detroit big man.
The current losses give the Lakers a great chance to place high on the draft as the team’s 2016 draft pick is top 3 protected; meaning the pick will go to the Philadelphia Sixers should the pick fall out of the firts three positions on the draft board. Adding another potential franchise pillar to the current pool of budding talents can only help the Lakers get back into contention.
