Evaluation of the Lakers 2014-15 Off Season Moves

Hey fellow Lakers fans. I needed to write this for my own sanity, to help me sort out how I feel about this past off-season. I feel like we were promised the moon, but got the same "moon-rocks" sold in the 60's. We should have expected this, but for some reason,blind faith let us down this exhaustive road to let down once again in the past 2 off-seasons. But, I think there is good news in all of this, because we should have seen the signs but chose not to.

First lets go over our pipe dreams, and understand why they didn't work out.

1. Lebron James didn't sign with us.

Lets be serious. He was never going to come to Los Angeles. He already suffered a huge hit to his PR campaign with the Decision. The only reason I feel he left Miami was to correct this one mistake. Now that he went back to Cleveland, his earning potential skyrocketed through the roof in terms of endorsements. Not to mention how it will show other players how well thought out LRMR agency seems to be. Look at the positive feedback to the Decision 2.0. so if we fool ourselves into thinking we ever had a shot, we must be smoking the same bad drugs whoever thought of the Decision was at the time. He is such a smart business man, he created leverage on the cavs by signing a 2 year deal, and also anticipated a high pay raise with the new CBA in 2016-2017 season.

2. Carmelo Anthony was never going to leave the knicks.

I've said this before, and I'll say this again. Carmelo Anthony is a selfish, short-sighted player. He doesn't think long term. What made you believe he was going to pass up on$30 million guaranteed, to play alongside another ball stopper? The only way Carmelo would have left New York was if the Lakers could have given him more money, and that wasn't going to happen.

3. Pau Gasol left us.

Duh. We traded him once. Then put him through hellish rumors. Even if he signed for 2 million less with Chicago... good for him. He was a consummate professional through the whole thing. Even if we signed Carmelo, he would have left. The writing was on the wall.

Besides this we also saw a plethora of other incompetent moves.

1. Jeremy Lin.

Is this one of those enough said moments, or do I need to clarify. He Is getting paid 15 million a year. We only offered Pau 11. Is this guy in any way better than Pau? Hell no! I know what the counter argument here is. A) He Is only worth 8.1 mil to the cap, and B) he is not getting 15, its only a structure to even it out to 8 a year. Lets answer these. A) DO you think him + a 3 million dollar player is a valuable to the lakers as Pau? I don't. B) He didn't play for the lakers the first two years, so why are we giving him this money. Even if he nets the Lakers a profit because of China, I still don't see the need for this, since China already loves Kobe.

So we did it for a draft pick? Great idea. Over spend for a pick in the high teens, low twenties. Something we probably could have gotten for cash anyways.

2. We don't have a coach

Ummm, i don't care if it byron scott or not at this point. But seriously, get a freaking coach. let them start assembling a playbook for this squad. We could have had Stan Van Gundy or even Lionel Hollins, but we waited way too long.

3. The Miami Heat were able to get Luol Deng.

He would have been a great player and a great addition to our team. But instead Miami got him. That Is right, we are going to be worse record wise than the Heat will be, and their best player is CB4.

OK, enough of the bashing. Lets hash out some good things that have happened.

1. We got Carlos Boozer off waivers.

This guy is good, and he comes at a hell of a price. This softens Pau leaving us a little bit.

2. Kobe Bryant is coming back.

In a system with no support on offense, he will be able to trhive. He made this system by scaring off other free agents, so it must mean he plays his best when its him against the world. And right now, it really is. So this might be Kobe's best season since winning a chip.

3. The clippers sold for $ 2 billion.

What does this have to do with anything? Nothing, other than the hope that it means the Lakers are worth a hell of a lot more than that. And with that price tag, you are going to get an awesome new owner who can do what ever it takes to bring high energy players here and win.

Seriously, I don't have anything positive to say, and I'm usually the firstone to pooint out positive things. Someone please tear this post apart and give me hope that we will be back to our old selves again.

I feel your frustration but try to look at it from the the bright side. IMO LBJ wouldn't have came here unless Melo did which I think he never was to begin with. With Lin would you really feel comfortable with Marshall or dare I say Nash starting? Lin may not be the savior but Id rather have him then those other 2 PG's. Deng would have came at a high price thus hindering any flexibility with Kobes massive "Thank You" contract. Boozer, whom I can't stand either, is better than nothing. Sure Randle couldve started but I don't know about throwing him to the Lions den just yet. Pau was offered to stay but he declined and rightfully so after how much he has done and how he was treated by the FO and us the fans. The only thing I'm not sure about is why on earth do we not have a coach.

I agree with some of the stuff the OP wrote except for the Jeremy lin part. The Jeremy lin trade was/is brilliant. Not only did we get a pick which can be used to trade up or to acquire a player in a trade or sign and trade but Jeremy lin was about to get traded to Philadelphia for thad young and some picks before the lakers swooped in. There are a couple of teams who need a pg that we could easily flip Lin to at the deadline for another pick or young player. Indiana,dallas, sacramento, Milwaukee all need pgs and wouldn't have to commit long term to lin and would have his bird rights if he plays well for them. I'm a big fan of the lin trade.

I agree with a few points but overall you're evaluation is heavily bias. You got to look at it with an equal perspective, yes the FO plan to get a superstar failed. But the acquisitions they made after that where very impressive considering the fact that we only had 3-4 players going into this offseason, and like you mentioned the chances of us landing one of those top superstars was slim to none. We not only got younger but we maintained financial flexibility for the future (that may or may not help us acquire a superstar or a high caliber player in the future) and we also got a pair of draft picks. I'm actually quite fine that we didn't go after players like Stephenson or Deng, they would have had demanded long term contracts that paid a lot, we are better off developing our young talent. As for the head coach, yes it's surprising that we haven't named a coach yet, but in reality what's the hurry? I mean seriously some of you guys are going on and on about the coach as if the season is going to start tomorrow.. i rather they take their time to select the right coach than name a coach just to name a coach. I mean if you really look at it we haven't missed out on any candidates besides Hollins (i guess), there are still very good candidates out there Karl Van Gundy, and Scott being the ,most likely. Some of you guys got to calm down and value what we have been able to do so far.

I guess I have to admire the folks who still maintain that degree of positivity. I’m being sincere when I say that because I’m a very sarcastic individual who loves playing the role of an a**hole because it’s fun for me, lol However, I consider that a good trait to still look at the positive side of things no matter what moves the Lakers make. To a degree I carry a positive attitude but not in regards to the front office, I don’t like Mitch as a GM too much and I feel Jim Buss isn’t much better. Jim doesn’t have enough experience to realize that either Mitch isn’t good enough for a team like the Lakers( IMO) or Mitch is a yes man and there isn’t room for that in sports. The only move that I like really is the Lin move because he’s 25, solid and came along with a first rounder. If it was just Lin then I wouldn’t be as happy with the move but I’m a person who actually likes Lin as a player, nothing special but he does seem to finish around the rim well which we haven’t had at the pg spot in a while. The Boozer acquisition is one I’m not feeling too much. He has his moments where he is smoking hot with that nice midrange jumper of his. However Boozer is more of a pick and pop player imo a guy who can knock down the open jumper when given to him like Horace Grant in Chicago. I just feel that the FO refuses to admit they need to let these young guys go out there and play because the championship era has ended. Let these young guys go out there and play, see....

Yeah the off season wasn't what we expected/wanted but they didn't lock up money for the future in players that won't put us over the top. The could have went for a good young guy and paid him up to $15 million instead of bringing back Hill, Young, and adding Lin. I thought some of the FA that were available we key pieces to a contending team so that still doesn't sit too well with me. Do you really need multiple superstars when you could have had Kobe and on the rise potential all stars as his side kicks? So the plan B really was weak but I still understand why they went the route that they did.

They can still "swing for the fences" and remain flexible with the added draft pick and one year deals that are appealing in potential trades. There's only $35M tied up next yr so LAL can still be a player. I like Lance but I'm in the minority... Not too many people want to have him locked in with LA. I feel the same way about Bledsoe, I'm not to into him being a Laker at the $$ he wants. Monroe the same thing. Members of LTB weren't 100% sold on any young "rising" star that were available so why tie up the money long term since that's the only way you'll get them to come?

So while I am disappointed that the team didn't morph into a contender over night, the FO kept their flexability, and created a 42 win team that could be 6 to 8 games better if they find a starter quality sf that can shoot (Beasley, Garcia maybe...). Let's see what happens with trades during the season and next off season when there will be loads of cap space again.

@ allenyag, Lin's a nice player and a good pickup along with the draft pick but this really was a business transaction IMO. The Asian fans love Kobe as you mentioned but we only have Kobe for two more years. He's been pretty clear that he's gonna retire after his contract is up. Lin being as old as he is and a decent player will continue to bring in the Chinese & Taiwanese fans to the Lakers for years to come. I bet the Lakers will sign him to a multi year deal similar to Nick Young's deal after this season.

It's amazing the power Lin has over Asians especially the Taiwanese. I'm Taiwanese and my 65 year old mom --who never cared about the Lakers in my 30 or so years following the team-- let me know Lin was signed as soon as she heard about it. My mom thought he was some superstar and got mad at me when I told her he was just a better than average player at best. Lol. If that isn't star power I don't know what is.

Good offseason we would have over paid for the free agents beyond melo and lebron. We did not really over pay Hill we gave him a one year rental 9 million was more about giving a hefty sum to one player so that amount comes off the books next season than the actually player. It was a very strategic off season for the lakers and I like our team that is deeper and more athletic than it was a year ago. Lakers are just being smart under this new salary cap only super star players get max money no over paying for mid level players. Lin and Hlll do not count on one year contracts as over paying that is strategic.

So far we got better without spending too much and maintained flexibility for next year with nash's deal ending. We may still get better mid season with the expiring contracts of nash and jordan hill which is equivalent to 18m that is easily tradeable

I honestly don't think Kobe is going no where after this contract. I think he will play another two years, but the 2nd time around the pay will be more in line with what he can offer us.

I mean if Kobe averages 25/5/5 the next 2 years you think he will just hang it up? I think the only way he retires in two years is if he can't average 23-27 PPG. He will just fill like its a waste of time if he can't put up those numbers.

It's a mediocre offseason if you asked me. There's no way in hell the team could've gotten anyone better the moment LAL offered $9M/yr to Hill. There could've been more wiggle room to sign some young guys who are relatively good if mitch signed him for $6M-$8M which would've been a fair price for him. Heck, what I would like to know is how Kupcake is going to justify getting Hill for that much, and NOT getting Spencer Hawes, who is a much, MUCH better player, who went to the Clippers @ a discount. This is what Laker fans get for rooting for a team who do not having two imprtant things that would attract good players: Roster Stability and a System of play.

Sure there will be players who like the prestige that go along the uniform, but if you can not even pitch a formula for success, no one is coming.

What the Lakers did this offseason is not called an improvement, it was damage control.

The only bright side on this whole thing is Julius Randle. He has game, and more imprtantly, he has charisma. People will gravitate to a guy like that, ans hopefully, when Lin, Nash, and Kobe's contracts are up, he can help attract talent to the team, 2-3 years from now.

Kinda agree with you but the bright is not only Randle...It's getting Young for less and getting back Henry for less too... Damage Control is the right word for this offseason..

I think Jordan Clarkson may end up being a bright spot this off season as well. I am a little worried about playing time for him with all the guards.

Well with Kendall being gone i don't think that will be a problem he will most likely be the back up point guard next season, it all depends on Nash's health, wether he can still contribute or start in that matter. It also depends on who we get as a coach, if we get Scott I'm sure he'll give Clarkson some minutes at either the PG or SG.

Worrying about Clarkson's playing time would be a moot point from a development stand point. He'll likely spend time in the D-League seeing as he looks to be the 3rd string on both PG & SG position. Nash will play, and he'll likely be given rest days, and it's on those days that he will get minutes.

But I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you guys. He has limited potential IMO if he insists on playing the PG position. Historically speaking, guys who plays like Clarkson end up just being role players. He reminds me a lot of Larry Hughes and Deshawn Stevenson, so that's where I project his ceiling will be.

If your evaluating the moves made by the front office you have to compare it to last years roster. At Center we had Kaman, Sacre and Gasol PF we had Hill and Kelly SF we had Henry and Johnson SG we had Kobe, Meeks and Young, Brooks and Bazemore PG we had Nash, Blake, Farmar, Marshall I included Blake as we got Bazemore and Brooks back. None of which have been resigned. We also lost Gasol, Kaman, Meeks, Farmar and Marshall. We signed Randle, Clarkson, Lin, Boozer, and Davis. Our most used starting five were Gasol, Meeks, Johnson, Marshall (all above 60 games except marshall with 45). Hill started 32 games. I will say the most consistent 5 was Gasol at C, Hill at PF, Johnson SF, Meeks SG, Marshall PG. C. We don't have any body other than Sacre to play C. The lakers are going to get killed by any team with a legit C/PF. Lakers have clearly downgraded at this position. PF. We have Boozer/Randle added to the mix. I would say a slight upgrade at this position but for all those that thought Gasol was bad on D, your about to get livid! SF. Same old same old. Unless someone comes through a great summer workout or kobe plays more at the 3 (and is productive) if you don't improve you got worse. SG. Kobe will be back but in what physical condition we don't know. At this point you have to say its an upgrade. PG. Lin is clearly better than Marshall in every way. A fast pg, something we haven't had in years. But when you look at it, we didn't improve that much. We have Hill, Randle, Davis, Young and Nash as our bench. I am sorry but this roster just looks like Kobes Lakers sans smush and kwame. IF and this is a big IF, we can keep....

Larry hughes averaged 14-4-3 for his career. He even had 20ppg and 18ppg seasons. If clarkson has that type of career being the 47th pick I don't think anyone would complain.

^ I agree on most points except for Pau's defense. Sure, Gasol defended the post decently, and did a better job this season at grabbing boards and being a help defender in the paint, but he was gawd awful on pick and roll. He was targeted A LOT w/ that last year. Well to be fair, he was at least better than Bargnani and Kanter at defending p&r.

When you have guards that are just as bad as the front court defending the pick n roll why wouldn't you play that? Gasol got a lot of stick for his D, but exactly who was above average on D for the lakers last year? I guarantee Gasol does not get exposed in the bulls system.

pg: Lost farmar and Marshall gained Lin and Clarkson. Think that is a great move. If Kobe let Lin play his game I think he can play like he did in New York. I liked Farmar and Marshall was ok , but he is overrated by some in my opinion. Clarkson will be a good point guard in the future, could be really good if he puts in the work. I just think he is put in a good situation. Having the chance to learn and watch Nash and Lin will only help him. Also if Scotts our coach that will help a lot. Think he will end up being a steal like Tony Parker. SG: Kobe says he is 100% healthy and we have Young and Henry to back him up., we pretty much know what young is his but i still think Henry has room to grow. If Kobe can stay healthy I think he could really mentor Henry and he could be an above average starter at the 2. He has all the tool and he flashed last season mostly at home. If he can take his act on the road we might have something SF: we have Johnson, Young and Henry. I think Johnson could have a decent year. He needs to focus on defense. His shot was inconsistent. When his shot isn't on he needs to use his athleticism and get to the basket. I think he will benefit from having Kobe and Lin on the court with him. I think Dantoni was part of the problem with Johnson to. Soon as somebody would mess up he would yank them quick, also it didn't help he was putting Johnson at the 4. Between these 3 we....

Some of you guys can look at the glass as half full if you want, but considering the financial situation we are in with Kobe's contract we did really well this off season. I like the additions of Davis, boozer, lin, randle and clarkson. Not to forget Kobe didn't play much at all last year. I think the front office did everything in its power to stay 2 FA signing away next year to instant contender. With Nash's expiring, hill's team option, another draft pick and the cap to go after two max players next year I think a lot of people will be eating crow in 12 months. Yeah we suck just a little less than last year, but the banners will be lifted up soon enough.

We will be in the same position next year unless kobe changes the way he plays. I sand by what I been saying No star is coming while he is here with that ludacris contract. He also will make slightly more next year

I'm not crazy about the moves made this offseason but least they are either cheap or expiring. It was a poorly conceived plan to wait on a major free agent to sign. It was a long shot at best. To see that really good up and coming stars were passed up like Isaiah Thomas who ended up getting 6.75 mil a year, Lance Stephenson for 9 mil and Hawes for under 6 mil a year as a back up center.

The FO was too busy looking for the home run signing instead of the smart signings. That being said I think the team will do a lot better this year vs. last year as long as Kobe stays healthy. The only glaring problem I see is that there is no true center and no coach.

The center issue is not as bad as some may think. If you look around the NBA there aren't that many highly skilled centers. Hill should work fine as the starting center and Davis as the back up. To off set the size issue I would start Randle at the 3 spot. He has the handles and the moves to penetrate.

Lin/Clarkson/Nash

Kobe/Henry

Randle/Young/Johnson

Boozer/Kelly

Hill/Davis/Sacre

At the end of the day it'll come down to the coach and Kobe's health. If the coach can create some chemistry you never know what can happen. I'm not talking championship just some cohesion and getting into the playoffs. That is the goal. It's ridiculous to always expect a championship caliber team each year but if the new coach can build a nice foundation maybe they will only be a couple pieces away. I am reminded of the team when Pau came in. The Lakers were struggling until that point but all it took was the right player at the right time. The Spurs should also be looked to as a team that may not look flashy but the coach, system and chemistry come together to create results not the individuals.

How do we mismanage our second round picks so badly? Ryan Kelly should be on the second year of a rookie deal locked in at about $500,000. Instead he's making more than guys who have been in the league 6 years? By signing him we no longer have the full room exception to pursue someone to fill other holes, but at least we have our fifth power forward locked up.

Probably, The Lakers hired Boozer to use Randle as small forward. Despite not playing as a 3 in college, I understand that he is better at 3 than Johnson and Henry.

I hope not because he will not make a good 3. He can't shoot threes nor does he have a consistent jumper. If they use him at 3 then I'm really disappointed.

We overpaid for Lin and a 1st round draft pick?? We gave up an overseas player that will never play an NBA game.. You know this, right??

I find Lin as annoying to watch as the next guy, but how can you say we gave up too much for him? Yeah he's making too much money, but he's a 1 year fill-in player.. And considering we won't lose any of our future financial flexibility, I'd say we could've done far worst than Lin...... Oh... and we got a 1st round draft pick!! Jesus Christ.. We give up Sergei Lishchuk for our 2014 starting PG and a 1st rounder, and we "gave up too much"

Yeah some people on here don't understand who else was available, I guess they would have preferred Jameer Nelson or Rodney Stuckey. Ask any Houston fan what they think of the deal and every single one will say it was a stupid deal. They got NOTHING back.

Randle isn't a 3. Sure he has quick feet but can he guard Parsons, Ariza, or Iguadola? Then there is this guy that play OKC and he m*rd*r Randle! Offsetting the size by adding Randle to the starting unit at the SF still puts the team at a disadvantage.

3 good things:

1. Getting Kobe Bryant back

2. Drafting Randle

3. Hiring Byron Scott as coach

But overall this was a horrible offseason. Why did we trade for Lin? Why did we not sign Ariza or Deng once we knew we weren't getting Melo? Why did we claim Boozer? Why did we incredibly overpay for Hill & Young? Why did we let Meeks, Bazemore & Marshall get away? The only reasons why we won't have a worse record than last season is Kobe is back and MDA is gone. Other than that we actually have a worse team on paper.

Oh yeah, and the only real center we have is Sacre. Enough said there.

PG: Lin, Clarkson, Nash

SG: Kobe, Young, Henry

SF: Johnson

PF: Randle, Hill, Davis, Boozer & Kelly

C: Sacre

So that's what our roster looks like, right?

Many guys will be playing out of position. And not much talent to begin with. Even with Kobe, this team is gonna be bad! Better hope Scott coaches his azz off!

i think the lakers did a decent job forming a team , sometimes its not all about talent but understanding their roles and the wilingness to go out there compete and give everything they have..

I think the Lakers did a great job this off season, as long as you understand the situation. Before you evaluate this team, get it out of your head that we are a contender. Look at this team as a playoff contender with possibly making it to the 2nd round. Here are my points before half of you tear this apart. Bench: I think our bench will be very good like last year, we have several key guys coming back that already have chemistry together and know their roles. (Young, Henry, Kelly, Wes) Competitive balance - many of our guys will be fighting for mins since their skill levels are very close, however as well saw last year its fun to them. We will *hopefully have a healthy Kobe and Rooster in general. We lead the league in a wide margin on player injuries last year. I think our starting 5 is a very solid group. Every team has weaknesses, so to talk so crazy about our "big man" weakness is not fair. Lin - very good PG and can get the job done. Kobe - Stays healthy will get the job done. 3 - This spot could vary, but we have some capable guys to fit in. Boozer - Bulls decided to use him a certain way, based on his lack of defense. I think with how we use him he will put up Gasol numbers 18/9 next year. The guy is 32 yrs old he still has some left in him. Hill - Very high energy and yes I know he can only go at it 24 min at a time, that's what a bench is for. Everyone wants to bash us on not having a real "Big Man", well 75% of the other NBA teams don't have one either. NBA has been going small ball for many years....

Yeah, that Princeton will look real nice. Just ask Mike Brown.

-Lin- is an upgrade at PG. More Durable than Nash and a better overall player than Marshall. Plus we got a draft pick.

-Ariza and Deng probably wouldn't have agreed to short term deals. FO didn't want to have any money tied up long term and they wouldn't have turned this team into a playoff team anyway.

-Not sure about Boozer but he did come at pretty cheap price.

-Hill is overpaid maybe but at least it was a short contract. We did need a big and the remaining bigs available would have probably asked for similar money.

-Young was actually a reasonable deal not sure why you think we overpaid for him.

-Meeks was a nice player and it would have been nice to keep him but in the end the team won't be that much worse without him.

-Bazemore & Marshall are not that important and both are very expendable pieces on any club. Not sure why a few of you are freaking out over losing these guys.

We're not a contender by any means but if we stay healthy and if other teams suffer injuries we probably will surprise a lot of people.

JJCali are you sure your a Laker fan, all you do is gripe and talk negative. lol You were probably mad and thought Kobe shouldn't of got MVP the year he got it.

Smaller centers can thrive in the NBA. Joakim Noah and Tiago Splitter are similar in size to Hill and Davis and neither one has the hops they do. Al Horford has played center his entire career. Hell, even David Lee logged a lot of minutes last year at center. With the right style we'll be fine at that position.

We could only really fairly evaluate this team by the end of the 1st of the season. But I agree w/ Ray's and McBill's points.

LAL is a MUCH better team this year. Over the last 3 years, the roster has been top heavy talent-wise, w/ minutes only being distributed to Kobe, Gasol, Bynum/Dwight, and Odom/MWP/Barnes. Last year, MDA overworked the backcourt, got everyone not named Nick Young injured due to heavy minutes, and played too much inferior small ball due to not having enough decent front court players.

This year, the team looks different despite having many guys returning. The talent level overall is spread deep into the bench. The Lakers can now EASILY play 11 players deep compared to last year.

About the rotation... To me, it's more about the content of those minutes that really matters in the rotation,not the amount. I think it's okay to have Hill Play 24 mins, that means the staff can now have 72 mins to manage between, Boozer, Davis, and Randle. The 3 spot is up for grabs, but I think more minutes could also be afforded so long as someone in the coaching staff can convince Kobe to play less than 36 mins or take some days off.

The hole in our Center position is way too obvious. There is still some time to correct the problem. I predict that before the season gets started, we will add a real Center. Before you say that there aren't any available, don't forget to look in Europe, Greece, Turkey, China, So. America, etc. - places outside of the U.S. Since there are so few quality Centers out there right now, we have to be creative, and bring in someone with talent from another league. If we don't find that guy (like Yao Ming), who is waiting for a chance to get into the NBA, our record this season will reflect that missing element to our game. In my mind, we blew it by letting Kaman go. He never got a fair opportunity to play. We were better with him on the floor most of the time. He never got a chance to connect with the "TEAM" and instead was isolated on the bench. His level of talent was disregarded many times when he could have helped the team pull out a victory. The Phony being gone is the best change since last season!!!!!!!! Worst coach in the NBA. As pointed out above, this is going to be another re-tooling season - with a relatively dismal outcome. However, when the new CBA and its salary cap/penalties went into effect, the Lakers were setup in an extremely bad position. They clearly did not anticipate the changes in the CBA, nor did they take appropriate counter-measures. In fact, they committed too many resources to one player just at the wrong moment in time, given that our scarce salary resources were so limited. But now that we have awakened our front office, it looks like....

Oh man, "get creative" you say... There's no way Draft Analysts and International Scouts has missed ANYONE who can play Center that hasn't been drafted yet. >_> Heck, Pero Antic was a Small Forward, but got signed by Atlanta to be a Stretch 4/5.

IF LAL are ever to discover one, we'll have to wait and see them in the upcoming inaugural FIBA World Cup of Basketball. Still, I don't believe we'll see anyone who hasn't been drafted already in there. >_>

Until we get some help in the post, this team isn't going to fare very well. Hill and Sacre aren't enough. If everyone's dance card is full, and there aren't any more centers out there, we will just have to wait, or trade for one that is known. But until we fix that hole, I don't see how we can be very competitive.

I disagree I think we are fine at center. Hill and Horford are the same height and I think Sacre will only get better.we are good enough to e competitive.

And so the birth of the 6-10/11 Center begins. LOL

I am actually very impressed with the results of this off-season, and here is why... 1) Melo has not won, period. It is very easy to get caught up with individual numbers in today's game, but the fact of the matter is that the best team in the NBA won the championship with team basketball and not individual leaders in any NBA stat category. I like watching Melo, but I remember when he was with the Denver thuggets and most recently with the Knicks, both teams that didn't amount to any success on the big stage. 2) Cap space flexibility. If we weren't landing a max player, we sure will have the room next season. Misnomers of horrible contracts like Lin, Hil and Boozerl are deceiving to average eye, as all contracts have no consequence on next year. Lin had a backloaded contract and has 15 mill on the books this year. Yes, a very overly paid player. However, it is for one season, and he is a major upgrade on the defensive end and the Lakers received a 1st round pick. Thank you Houston. Boozer was a steal for the value and will help alleviate some of the pick and roll opportunities that made Pau attractive, being able to hit the 15 footer consistently. Hill has a team option next year, putting the Lakers in complete financial control in 2015. 3) Nick Young. We got swaggy back for cheap, much to my surprise. His performance last year I thought earned him more money than we offered, kudos to the FO for bringing him back at that rate. 4) Roll players. Xavier, Wesley and Kelly. These guys got a lot of minutes last year which will only help their development....

Its imperative we keep that chicken healthy! LOL! I couldn't quote your full post because it only lets you have 300 words so that's why it may look choppy. But in all seriousness we are not making the playoffs. Do you think an old and post serious injury (an injury that has ended the careers of many players) Kobe can carry the team to the extra wins that would get them a #8 in the west. Starting in the 2004 season 43 wins got you the 8th spot, 05 was 45 wins, 06 44 wins, 07 42wins, 08 50 wins, 09 48wins, 10 50wins, 11 46wins, 12 was lockout shortened but the jazz had a win percentage of 54.5% so that would have been 45 wins, 13 was 45 wins and 14 was 49 wins. If we take the average of the last decade (actually 11 seasons) the lakers need 46 wins to get the 8 spot. That is 19 more wins than last season. Lets look at the roster, your points on Kobe and Lin are correct but at SF we are weak. We don't have a legit offensive presence or defensive. We are very weak at this position. Which brings us to Boozer. The poor mans Pau! This forum abused Pau last season regarding his D. Yes, Pau is not the greatest defender but wait till you see Boozer get destroyed night after night. Pau brought a lot to the team with his passing on the offensive end. This will be sorely missed this up coming season. (sidenote: can't wait to see Kobe run Isolation plays 1 of every 2 possessions) Talking about the center position is a waste of time. We are not going to compete. Sacre, put simply is terrible. My case is this, even if you combine our front court....

Nice math, and I agree. That's why I think LA should find rebounding from the wing position, because there's no way LA can play all these guys and get another Center.

I'm not sure where he is going to come from, but I'm confident that our front office will bring in someone - to fill that Center gap. The question is, who can they get, and what can that player contribute to:

Defense?

Rebounding?

Scoring from the Post?

Right now, it's easy to see that we need help, and our Center position is the weakest one, IMO.

Boozer has it, and Kobe has it, but can our other players GROWWWWLLLLLL, and really mean it? Seems like fun and games to them, rather than a bloodsport. Will our team members be committed to playing defensive rotations? Will they be able to get it? We've got a long ways to go, Don't we?

The only way we upgrade is via trading Nash. Towards the trade deadline there will be someone who blows it up for a rebuild. If we can snag either a C or SF and keep Lin on a respectable deal next summer I would consider that to be part 1 of the rebuild. From their we will have around $30 mill in cap space to chase FA's again next summer where hopefully we have a better plan than the fiasco of this summer