The downfall of the LA Lakers has been one thats been well publicised throughout the media. The lack of talent and interest that the team has is completely different to what is was five years ago. The Lakers have the second highest amount of championships in the league (16), with five of these coming within the last 14 years. The Lakers have won 31 Conference titles and 23 division titles. So why would such a successful organisation suddenly turn into the laughing stock of the NBA? Bad trades? Bad coaches? They're all factors to blame in the sudden failure of the Lakers.
Lets begin with the trades (starting from the season after 2010 where they won their last title), a trade in the 2010-11 season happened where the Lakers traded away SG Sasha Vujacic, for Joe Smith, a PF who was on his last legs in his NBA career. At the beginning of the 2011-12 NBA season, the NBA rejected a deal that would have meant that the Lakers would have secured PG Chris Paul, who is arguably the best player in the NBA who's now at the Clippers and look at how they're going. This was a huge reason for the Lakers downfall. In 2012/13, the Lakers were a-part of a four team trade that helped them secure Dwight Howard, and they also traded for Steve Nash. For these two players the Lakers parted with three players and four draft picks. Howard no longer is a-part of the Lakers and Nash has played in 65 games over three seasons with the Lakers. As we can see the pattern, the Lakers were either giving up way to much for a player, or they were the outright losers of the trades with either the players walking out on the Lakers who being injured.
Now to the coaches, ever since arguably the best Head Coach ever in the NBA, Phil Jackson left in 2011, the Lakers have had four different coaches, with all evidently not fitting in with the Lakers or not being the right option for them. Recent coaches of the Lakers have been; Mike Brown (2011-12), Bernie Bickerstaff (2012), Mike D'Antoni (2012-14) and Byron Scott (2014-current). Mike Brown was fired after 71 games with the Lakers, Bickerstaff was a fill-in coach for five games, D'Antoni coached for 154 games and Scott has coached in currently five games. Ever since Phil Jackson left, the Lakers haven't been able to find the right coach to fill that huge void that was left by Jackson.
Currently sitting at 0-5, the Lakers and the 76ers are the only teams that have not won a game this season, comparing the Lakers to the tanking 76ers is just a preposterous comparison, but unfortunately for the Lakers, it's a true and fair comparison. As the Lakers sit at the bottom with a weak roster, leaning on 36 year old Kobe Bryant to score and win games for them, the Lakers don't have many options for them at the minute. I am going to go over a few options for the Lakers and see which one would suit them best.
Rebuild (Tank)
If you have been a Lakers fan for your entire life, could you ever imagine Kobe Bryant suiting up for another team? Many of you would so no, but a small percentage may say yes. In the news of recent, there have been rumours of Bryant being traded, to teams such as the Knicks, Nets, Mavs and Hornets. Such a ridiculous statement hey? Why would the best Lakers player to live be traded just like that? To rebuild is the answer, the Lakers can still win some games with Bryant on the team, who is currently averaging 27.6 points per game (#1 in the NBA), by trading Bryant the Lakers are destined to lose games and tank for the #1 pick in the draft, which is so valuable these days in the NBA. The Lakers have done the right thing by having seven expiring contracts on their roster, which should be treated as gold to the Lakers, who need to shed as much cap space as possible, in hopes for a huge splash in free agency in 2015.
Key Note: The Lakers first round pick (2015) is currently held by Phoenix after the Steve Nash trade, if the Lakers want this pick back they must tank as much as possible and hope that the pick will fall between the 1-5 range, meaning that the Lakers can keep this pick, tanking is the most realistic and appropriate option if the Lakers want to rebuild.
Is the Kobe trade realistic?
To be quite frank, no, the Kobe trade isn't realistic, but you never know these days, the NBA is always surprising everyone and maybe a team actually wants Kobe and his 48.5 million contract. As what was written before, there have been "rumours" of teams such as the Knicks, Hornets, Mavs and Nets being interested in Bryant. The only realistic trade I can see happening (with the chances being extremely miniscule) is Kobe Bryant being traded to the New York Knicks.
Lets begin with the trades (starting from the season after 2010 where they won their last title), a trade in the 2010-11 season happened where the Lakers traded away SG Sasha Vujacic, for Joe Smith, a PF who was on his last legs in his NBA career. At the beginning of the 2011-12 NBA season, the NBA rejected a deal that would have meant that the Lakers would have secured PG Chris Paul, who is arguably the best player in the NBA who's now at the Clippers and look at how they're going. This was a huge reason for the Lakers downfall. In 2012/13, the Lakers were a-part of a four team trade that helped them secure Dwight Howard, and they also traded for Steve Nash. For these two players the Lakers parted with three players and four draft picks. Howard no longer is a-part of the Lakers and Nash has played in 65 games over three seasons with the Lakers. As we can see the pattern, the Lakers were either giving up way to much for a player, or they were the outright losers of the trades with either the players walking out on the Lakers who being injured.
Now to the coaches, ever since arguably the best Head Coach ever in the NBA, Phil Jackson left in 2011, the Lakers have had four different coaches, with all evidently not fitting in with the Lakers or not being the right option for them. Recent coaches of the Lakers have been; Mike Brown (2011-12), Bernie Bickerstaff (2012), Mike D'Antoni (2012-14) and Byron Scott (2014-current). Mike Brown was fired after 71 games with the Lakers, Bickerstaff was a fill-in coach for five games, D'Antoni coached for 154 games and Scott has coached in currently five games. Ever since Phil Jackson left, the Lakers haven't been able to find the right coach to fill that huge void that was left by Jackson.
Currently sitting at 0-5, the Lakers and the 76ers are the only teams that have not won a game this season, comparing the Lakers to the tanking 76ers is just a preposterous comparison, but unfortunately for the Lakers, it's a true and fair comparison. As the Lakers sit at the bottom with a weak roster, leaning on 36 year old Kobe Bryant to score and win games for them, the Lakers don't have many options for them at the minute. I am going to go over a few options for the Lakers and see which one would suit them best.
Rebuild (Tank)
If you have been a Lakers fan for your entire life, could you ever imagine Kobe Bryant suiting up for another team? Many of you would so no, but a small percentage may say yes. In the news of recent, there have been rumours of Bryant being traded, to teams such as the Knicks, Nets, Mavs and Hornets. Such a ridiculous statement hey? Why would the best Lakers player to live be traded just like that? To rebuild is the answer, the Lakers can still win some games with Bryant on the team, who is currently averaging 27.6 points per game (#1 in the NBA), by trading Bryant the Lakers are destined to lose games and tank for the #1 pick in the draft, which is so valuable these days in the NBA. The Lakers have done the right thing by having seven expiring contracts on their roster, which should be treated as gold to the Lakers, who need to shed as much cap space as possible, in hopes for a huge splash in free agency in 2015.
Key Note: The Lakers first round pick (2015) is currently held by Phoenix after the Steve Nash trade, if the Lakers want this pick back they must tank as much as possible and hope that the pick will fall between the 1-5 range, meaning that the Lakers can keep this pick, tanking is the most realistic and appropriate option if the Lakers want to rebuild.
Is the Kobe trade realistic?
To be quite frank, no, the Kobe trade isn't realistic, but you never know these days, the NBA is always surprising everyone and maybe a team actually wants Kobe and his 48.5 million contract. As what was written before, there have been "rumours" of teams such as the Knicks, Hornets, Mavs and Nets being interested in Bryant. The only realistic trade I can see happening (with the chances being extremely miniscule) is Kobe Bryant being traded to the New York Knicks.
Why not trade one huge contract for another? Plus for a young and more than capable SG in Hardaway? Sounds pretty good to me if I was a Lakers fan, you lose the golden child Bryant, but also his huge contract, you get a capable PF in Stoudemire, who has an expiring 23.4 million deal and a young guard who can easily become the starter for the Lakers. The Knicks lost Stoudemire's contract in return for Kobe's, the Knicks then can have Bryant as their SG, meaning that they can trade away disgruntled SG J.R Smith as he is no longer needed. Both teams win the trade and everyone is happy. If only it was this easy, in hypothetical trade la la land, this type of trade sounds perfect in your head but in real life, it may never happen. Maybe the Lakers want to keep Bryant so he can finish his career as a Laker? Stoudemire seems to be playing well, maybe the Knicks want to keep him and make a splash in free agency when his contract expires, trading a 21 year old (Hardaway) for a 36 year old (Bryant) doesn't seem desirable. This trade is one of the most realistic trades that could happen, but in saying this, it still has a chance of only 5%.
What if they do neither?
The Lakers continue to lose and win occasionally, the still have the same old players and finish with a record that places them as the 15th seed, they end up picking third in the draft and sign a nice young player for the future, the Lakers then have some cap space to play with and attempt to sign a player such as Reggie Jackson, a nice young and cheaper commodity who is more than capable to start at PG. Basically, what I'm saying is that not much will change, but its always good to keep your options open, especially in the Lakers situation.
So they trade Kobe and rebuild.. then what happens?
The Lakers free up a huge amount of cap room, meaning they can make a serious run at free agency. The Lakers have been linked to players such as Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers. Rondo brings defence, assists and triple-doubles to the Lakers, which would win games as what has been shown in Boston, who have won only one game so far but you can see that they will win more with the help of Rondo. Gasol brings defence and scoring to the Lakers which is what they desperately need in their front court, you pair up Gasol with Randle and you have a perfect balance of a tough experienced player, with a young, raw and learning PF. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers and they must do whatever possible to help secure them during the offseason if they want to have a bright future.
Overall, the Lakers are obviously in a pittle of a situation, their losing games and seem to have no future at all, but I'm sure the management will think of ways to bring the Lakers off the bottom and back to the top in the NBA. Whether or not they follow either of these paths is unknown, but whatever they do, they must do it quickly to change the culture in Los Angeles.
Daina Coulter
What if they do neither?
The Lakers continue to lose and win occasionally, the still have the same old players and finish with a record that places them as the 15th seed, they end up picking third in the draft and sign a nice young player for the future, the Lakers then have some cap space to play with and attempt to sign a player such as Reggie Jackson, a nice young and cheaper commodity who is more than capable to start at PG. Basically, what I'm saying is that not much will change, but its always good to keep your options open, especially in the Lakers situation.
So they trade Kobe and rebuild.. then what happens?
The Lakers free up a huge amount of cap room, meaning they can make a serious run at free agency. The Lakers have been linked to players such as Marc Gasol and Rajon Rondo. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers. Rondo brings defence, assists and triple-doubles to the Lakers, which would win games as what has been shown in Boston, who have won only one game so far but you can see that they will win more with the help of Rondo. Gasol brings defence and scoring to the Lakers which is what they desperately need in their front court, you pair up Gasol with Randle and you have a perfect balance of a tough experienced player, with a young, raw and learning PF. Both of these players would be ideal for the Lakers and they must do whatever possible to help secure them during the offseason if they want to have a bright future.
Overall, the Lakers are obviously in a pittle of a situation, their losing games and seem to have no future at all, but I'm sure the management will think of ways to bring the Lakers off the bottom and back to the top in the NBA. Whether or not they follow either of these paths is unknown, but whatever they do, they must do it quickly to change the culture in Los Angeles.
Daina Coulter