The past two years for the Los Angeles Lakers have been an unmitigated disaster. The NBA’s most storied franchise has been slipping into disarray and irrelevance. Following the unfortunate death of Dr. Jerry Buss in 2013, the Lakers have been a mess of injuries, bad contracts, and illogical management decisions. The following is a four-step guide to turn the Lakers around and restore them to their proper place at the top of the NBA hierarchy.
A Four-Step Guide to Fixing the Los Angeles Lakers
Before we begin, it is important to note that these steps are meant to be logical and realistic. While trading Kobe Bryant may be the most logical starting point, there is less than a 0% chance of that happening, given Bryant’s place in the franchise. Let’s begin:
Step 1 – Stop paying for past performance.
Just because the Lakers can’t trade Kobe Bryant, there is no reason not to learn from the atrocity of his latest contract extension. Bryant will be paid $25 million next season despite coming off of two season-ending injuries. While Bryant has undeniably had an incredible career with the Lakers, this latest contract has hamstrung the team and left them unable to develop another winner. The only positive for the Lakers is that Bryant’s contract will expire after next season, at which point the Lakers need to find undervalued players and players with potential, rather than past-their-prime veterans who may have been successful in the past.
Step 2 – Tank for one more year.
Given the unfortunate reality of Bryant’s cap hit combined with his dip in production (coming off of two season ending injuries), there is little hope for the Lakers to seriously contend for a title next season. Therefore, it would be in their best interest to tank for one more year. One more season at the bottom of the standings will allow the Lakers to add another young piece to add to Julius Randle and whomever they draft this offseason. In this scenario, the Lakers can allow Kobe Bryant to shamelessly chase the NBA scoring record, while also attempting to uncover a few minimum salary bargains and develop their young players.
Step 3 – Find a “modern” coach.
The Lakers’ hiring of Byron Scott has proven to be the most successful aspect of their tanking this season. Early this year, Coach Scott bemoaned the emphasis on the three point shot and proclaimed that teams will never win the title by relying on the three. The only explanation for this statement must have been short term memory loss because the last four NBA Champions (Mavs, Heat, Heat, Spurs) relied on ball movement and the three point shot to create spacing. For this reason (among several others) it is time for the Lakers to find a young coach who is more willing to embrace the “pace and space” era the NBA is headed towards. There is no need to hire a former Laker. The fans are starved for a winner and will support whichever coach can get them to that point.
Step 4 – Maintain cap space for the summer of 2016.
The final and most important step in this rebuilding process is for the Lakers to maintain maximum flexibility heading into the 2016 offseason. Because of the NBA’s massive TV deal, the cap number is expected to jump dramatically in 2016 with many teams expected to have significant cap space. While it is true that the Lakers will have to compete with many rival teams when luring free agents, the fact remains that Los Angeles has always been a popular destination for free agents. With Bryant’s contract coming off the books, there is definitely a real possibility that a marquee free agent (looking at you Kevin Durant) could decide to join the Lakers and would be able to choose two more max players to join him. By combining two or three elite talents with the young players already assembled, the Lakers would immediately return to relevance.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a marquee franchise and have never been concerned with mediocrity. Therefore, they should follow this four step plan that could have them competing for the 2016 title and many more after that.
