When the roster was put together this off-season, most Lakers fans (myself included), saw potential. I was excited to see the new pieces in action along side a healthy and hungry Kobe Bryant. When I heard Jeremy Lin's name I immediately thought of "Linsanity" and how good he can be with Kobe mentoring and embracing him. After that Lakers signed Carlos Boozer, an All-Star vet who said he was motivated and looking to prove doubters wrong. I felt they were off to a solid start, especially while drafting two really good players with a high ceiling in Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. Let's not forget about the firecracker Nick Young and good role players like Jordan Hill, Ed Davis and Wes Johnson, for me things were looking up.
The Western Conference is extremely tough and probably the most talented it has ever been. Even with all these young, high flying, talented teams I believed Lakers had enough talent to push for the 7 or 8 seed. My mind set changed quickly after the first few weeks of the season. The team started off terrible and looked liked they were dead in the water. Then Nick Young returned and gave the Lakers some life, won a few games and things appeared to be looking up. Quickly reality sets back in as losses mount up and you look at stat books and analytics. The defense was awful and the offensive was clearly lost.
The tanking strategy was said to never be an option, I believed Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak when they would say "Tanking is not the Laker way". That is until I started to see things on and off the court that didn't make sense. It almost seemed like in every game the Lakers starting unit would be getting blown out and the 2nd unit would get them right back in it. The starters would return and the game would get out of hand. Kobe would play one on one, hero ball. The offense would become stagnant, turnovers mounted up and no one knew where to be. I'd never accuse Kobe of throwing games but Kobe definitely shot the Lakers out of games while demoralizing his teammates for their play. Against Boston on Friday, the Lakers were -29 points with him on the floor. Maybe Kobe was seeing the bigger picture and saw what one bad season could lead to. A top draft pick next year, followed by a good free agency that certainly leads to better players on the court for him to play with.
Lakers were recently granted a hardship waiver that allows them to have up to 16 players on their roster, which obviously gives them more help and options to win games. They had two days to act on it and chose not to make any moves. That shows me the front office isn't looking to necessarily improve right now. I'm not sure why a 5-15 team wouldn't try look for help from all places possible. Unless a big trade is made this season, the intentions although never said publicly, are to tank.
In Laker Land patience is running thin. I know another season of mediocrity or flat out embarrassment like this one has been will not be tolerated. Bottoming out for a chance at a top pick that may or may not pan out is not worth it. History tells us that, look at all the recent #1 picks. The majority of them have bombed. I will always go proven player over unproven draft pick. Its time for the owner/governor of the Lakers Jeanie Buss to let her brother Jim & GM Mitch know that this experiment isn't working.
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