Lakers Need To Embrace Youth Movement
Rome was not built in a day. However, if you ask most Los Angeles Lakers fanatics, it’s ALWAYS built in a day. Or, an offseason for that matter. This is not the same NBA any longer. The Lakers are going to have to do their due diligence, and that means, doing things the hard way…the way the majority of contenders do it.
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At some point, Jeanie and Jim Buss, as well as Mitch Kupchak are going to have to get their hands dirty and leave the stars on Hollywood boulevard. Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, and DeAndre Jordan are not walking through the Lakers locker room suiting up. Deal with it. It has grown old watching the Lakers be continuously burned by the top tier free agents of late. Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?
Ultimately, out of the top 20 free agents of the 2014 class, NO ONE won an NBA title. Only LeBron in fact even made it to the Conference Finals and NBA finals. 2013 was relatively the same. The swinging for the fences in free agency for overpriced due to market stars who cannot even lead their OWN teams to the playoffs let alone an NBA championship needs to cease.
So what should the Lakers do one may ask?
Build a TEAM.
Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s go with Tobias Harris, for starters. Harris is an emerging star in the NBA. He will be 23 years old by start of the 2015-16 season, he’s a competent stretch forward at 6’9, 235 pounds coming off an 17/6 season shooting a career-best 36% from three. Oh, and he’s 23! Meaning, that his best basketball is still ahead of him. The Lakers can afford a cheap max considering the explosion of the cap in coming years to lock Harris in. Furthermore, it does not appear as though Orlando is gun-ho on matching his restricted free agency status.
Tobias Harris is looking for a max or near-max offer sheet since cap is set to rise. If he gets a large enough offer, Orlando may not match.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 30, 2015
Thomas Robinson is an 24 year old, 6’9, 240 pound, competent big who has yet to really find his place in the league. He’s been in multiple bad situations where he could not make much an impact, and could possibly go reasonably cheap to Los Angeles assuming the Lakers were to land Tobias Harris.
Will Barton and KJ McDaniels are restricted free agents, yet, possibly players who can be stolen by the Lakers. And perhaps Los Angeles could land a little veteran leadership among big men by calling up Brandon Bass. Bass is an undersized big however is still coming off of an 10/4 season with Boston. Those are quality numbers off of the bench.
With $23 Million in cap space, the Lakers have financial flexibility to add to the young core of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle. That cap space can be utilized for a TRADITIONAL rebuild instead of a pipe dream of desperately flying in top tier free agents for a wine and dine of L.A. on the team’s dime, just to see them choose another destination to play ball in.
If money is spent wisely, the Lakers can potentially land young up-and-coming stars, be able to land players who become free agents in their prime in the future, AND re-sign their own guys that they have drafted. It’s not the solution most fans would like to hear and unfortunately would come at Kobe’s expense in his last days. Yet, it’s an actual SOLUTION…and not a pipe dream. Embrace the youth movement. And, let’s build the Los Angeles Lakers on a path rarely chosen from this franchise.