Los Angeles Lakers: Biggest things we’ve learned from missing the playoffs

2. The front office is not as good as we thought

There are some things that the front office has done that the common Laker fan hates that I will sit here and defend no matter what. One of those things it the team trading D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets.

Russell’s emergence as an all-star this season and one of the better closers in the game has made many Laker fans sour on that two-year-old trade. And while it is easy to get upset about, you also have to realize that without that trade there would be no LeBron.

And without the trade, Russell may have never escaped what was a bad situation for him in LA to grow these wings and blossom.

There are some things I will not defend: one of which is letting Julius Randle AND Brook Lopez walk. I understand the team wanted to maintain cap space for this summer but Randle was under a two-year deal with a player option that was not hefty, to begin with.

At the very least the Lakers could have matched the offer sheet on him after whiffing on Paul George and traded him at the deadline to free up the space. Having Randle was better than Michael Beasley.

Which goes into the next point: the Lakers let Brook Lopez, who fit this team perfectly walk. Part of that may have been playing time last year and maybe he would have left regardless, but the small one-year contract he signed could have easily been bested by the Lakers.

Heck, just look at the Ivica Zubac trade. I understand Zubac is a restricted free agent and he might not have been in the future plans but they practically gave him away for Mike Muscala. Maybe that was the first efforts of a tank before we realized it was?

Either way, the only thing this front office has accomplished is signing LeBron James, and that kind of just fell in Magic Johnson’s lap.