What is the Laker's end game?

[CitySushi]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

 

[logic]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

Durrant, Westbrook, etc....
Players want to sign to play in the Purple and Gold.
Sign some FA, and a mix of keeping some and making some trades with some of the young guys with potential.
The Lakers have never and are not going to build exclusively through the draft; they don't have to.
They will have plenty of money to throw around and some assets to attract players/trades.
Not worse than Philly; no one has ever said they want to go to Philly as a FA.

 

[ChrisGar15]

Durrant, Westbrook, etc....
Players want to sign to play in the Purple and Gold.
Sign some FA, and a mix of keeping some and making some trades with some of the young guys with potential.
The Lakers have never and are not going to build exclusively through the draft; they don't have to.
They will have plenty of money to throw around and some assets to attract players/trades.
Not worse than Philly; no one has ever said they want to go to Philly as a FA.

Rumors are Dion Waiters would like to go home to Philly as long as he get a max contract.

 

[bksballer89]

End game is to land a big FA I'm assuming.....If not I have no idea where they go because Russell and Randolph are not franchise players IMO

 

[tducey]

Hard to say, for a team so storied they're going through a rough patch right now.

 

[logic]

Rumors are Dion Waiters would like to go home to Philly as long as he get a max contract.

Okay, change it to no one who will make an impact has ever said they wanted to go to Philly as a FA.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

Why they took Randle out of the starting lineup is beyond me. He was like 11th in the whole NBA in rebounding.

And why take Russell at #2 if you dont love his game and want to play him? They could have had other guys- Okafor, Kristaps, Mudiay, etc....it just doesnt make any sense

And plenty of people jumped all over me when I said I thought it was dumb bringing in Lou Williams and Bass because they would just block the young guys- and lo and behold -its exactly what happens.

Lakers need to bring the franchise into the present. Its a franchise thats living in the past- trying to live off its past accomplishments- its notoriously at the bottom of the league in buying into the new statistical revolution going through the NBA- Byron Scott is like the most old school coach in the league...

they need to modernize in the biggest way.

 

[ManuForever]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

I hate that method, simply because so many coaches do it and it doesn't work for everyone. It mainly works for those teams who have been together longer, because the coaches KNOW they know better. How are you supposed to bench your best players when they're that young if they don't learn anything from it?

 

[lakersrule]

There was absolutely no reason to have Russell and Randle come off the bench. They've been actually playing decent the last couple of weeks. Randle is becoming a double-double machine. Russell was getting more comfortable even though the offense hinders his abilities. These two are supposed to be big parts of the future. They should be playing much more than they are. It has been very frustrating watching this unfold.

 

[trojanfan12]

End game is to land a big FA I'm assuming.....If not I have no idea where they go because Russell and Randolph are not franchise players IMO

First of all, I disagree. Russell in 19. He is certainly not a franchise player right now, but Kobe wasn't a franchise player for his first couple of seasons either. It'll be a another season or 2 before we know how good he is.

I don't know if Randle is a franchise player, but he's very solid and if he keeps developing, could be all-star caliber as early as next season. Not saying he'll be an all-star, the west is pretty deep at his position, but he should be that type of player.

As far as signing a top FA. That's your franchise player. Russell and Randle don't have to be franchise players, they just have to be good enough that a franchise player will want to join them.

 

[trojanfan12]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

You're talking about 2 different issues here. One is, what is managements plan? The second is the coaching.

Managements plan is for Randle, Russell, Clarkson and maybe Nance, to develop enough that a top FA or 2 figure they can win with them long term. Similar to Lebron returning to Cleveland because of Kyrie, Tristan Thompson and the ability to get Love.

As for Byron and his rotations, your guess is as good as mine. Like I posted on the Lakers board: Maybe, by the end of the season, we'll all be talking about how Byron knew what he was doing all along. But so far, I watch Lakers games and think to myself: I can't believe I stuck up for this guy and said it was a good hire.

 

[Hangman]

Draft Simmons, sign Durant, and then get a center through a trade.

The team would then be
Russell
Clarkson
Durant
Simmons
Hibbert/some other big

That is a team that will compete for championships in a few years

 

[bksballer89]

Draft Simmons, sign Durant, and then get a center through a trade.

The team would then be
Russell
Clarkson
Durant
Simmons
Hibbert/some other big

That is a team that will compete for championships in a few years

Easier said than done.

 

[Hangman]

I forgot Randle too. The bench is getting deeper. Just need to get rid of Nick Young

 

[WiggyRuss]

Draft Simmons, sign Durant, and then get a center through a trade.

The team would then be
Russell
Clarkson
Durant
Simmons
Hibbert/some other big

That is a team that will compete for championships in a few years

i think you can safely say Cousins would force a trade to LAL and you could get him for a bag of peanuts...while your at it frolicking in the land of gum drops and lollipops and denial- might as well say CP would sign a vet. min. there too.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Just like the Philly thread, only for a worse off team. I'm seriously confused at what they're doing.

Ok, I get Kobe is retiring. Give him all the shine. While I wouldn't agree with it, I understand it.

But how the hell do you bench Russell and Randle for the sake of Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.? Last game Russell got 21 minutes and Randle got 20. Robert Sacre and Metta World Peace got 16 minutes each. Wait what?

It's beyond baffling how Byron Scott still has a job. He's shown no ability to develop players, and is only hindering that. If anything he's probably already alienated his two biggest potential players down the road by telling them Kobe can go 4-21 on a nightly basis, but they get the quick pull if they make a mistake? Lou can not play defense, but he gets to stay in while Russell get's pulled.

So where do they go from here?

Tonight Randle and Russell played well and for most of the 4th and OT. But that just further confuses me about what the hell Byron is doing.

 

[Robotech]

End game in the short term is to draft Ben Simmons. In the long term, it's to build a team around Ben Simmons, including attracting FA stars and getting them to see the Lakers as a prime NBA destination again. Ultimate end game: Surpass the Celtics for most NBA championships and then keep adding to the record.

 

[wildturkey]

The end game is to let Byron Scott keep "coaching" this team so the losses pile up so the team keeps its draft peak. In the mean time, we secretly pull Russell and Randle off to the side to give them training sessions with real NBA coaches because lord knows you don't want Scott teaching them anything. The final part of the plan is paying off Adam Silver to ensure the ping pong balls deliver Ben Simmons.

LA End Game > all other end games

 

[Robotech]

The end game is to let Byron Scott keep "coaching" this team so the losses pile up so the team keeps its draft peak. In the mean time, we secretly pull Russell and Randle off to the side to give them training sessions with real NBA coaches because lord knows you don't want Scott teaching them anything. The final part of the plan is paying off Adam Silver to ensure the ping pong balls deliver Ben Simmons.

LA End Game > all other end games

LOL. The NBA draft lottery does seem rigged sometimes, as we've seen the Knicks draft Ewing, the Cavs drafting LeBron, and the Pelicans getting the number one pick to reward Tom Benson for buying the team.

 

[trojanfan12]

LOL. The NBA draft lottery does seem rigged sometimes, as we've seen the Knicks draft Ewing, the Cavs drafting LeBron, and the Pelicans getting the number one pick to reward Tom Benson for buying the team.

I know this is a tongue in cheek comment. But it's funny how the NBA draft is only "rigged" when certain teams win it.