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Lakers' Offseason Moves


The Los Angeles Lakers finished the season with a 21-61 record, the worst record in franchise history. With the upcoming season likely to be Kobe Bryant’s final season, the LA Lakers wants to give their star player the perfect send off. A playoff spot might seem to be a tough task considering how strong the teams in the West are. But certainly, the Lakers wants a bigger improvement in this upcoming season.

The biggest problem of this team last season was the lack of talent in the roster. Defensively, the Lakers were ranked the 2nd worst defensive team in the league. Offensively, they were not doing too well either, ranked 17th in the league. With a lot of the current players on single year contract or final year contract, Lakers fans do expect a lot of activities by the front office this upcoming summer. A massive rebuilding is needed to bring back the glory days the franchise used to have.

One of the ways to rebuild the team is through free agency market. There are a few big names that will be an unrestricted free agent this summer: Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Deandre Jordan. Players like Kevin Love, Goran Dragic, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard are all restricted free agents who are looking for maximum dollars in their upcoming contract.

Looking ahead at the players available for free agency this summer, the likelihood of the players mentioned above joining the Lakers are pretty slim. Even though Kevin Love has connection with California, it is still hard to imagine him leaving a championship contending team to join the team. Both Gasol and Aldridge will be looking for a team that could give them a shot at the NBA title. As for both Butler and Leonard, it is hard not to see both Bulls and Spurs not giving big contracts to their franchise players. For Deandre Jordan, forget about the missing free throws, he is still an important member of the Clippers team especially defensively and do expect the Clippers to re-sign him.  

The rebuilding process of Lakers should focus a lot more towards young and talented players who could have the potential to be great players. This process will not be easy and patience will be the key. Handing out max contracts shouldn’t be the way to get Lakers back in title contention, unless a free agent like the caliber of Leonard, Butler, Aldridge or Gasol come knocking. But, it seems highly unlikely that they will join the Lakers considering that their current team are in a better shape than the Lakers.

Rajon Rondo, a player who has been rumored to be one of the players Lakers would like to sign this summer. Perhaps, Lakers might want to think twice about this move. A point guard with no mid-range game and poor free throws is not a player Lakers need at the moment. Even though Rondo was a solid defender in the past, his negative altitude that he shown in Dallas had lots of NBA teams staying away from him this summer.

But before all these moves can be made, it all depends on whether the Lakers will be able to keep their lottery pick. Currently, the Lakers are projected to be fourth on the draft board for having the fourth worst record in the league. If the pick falls out of top five in the lottery, the pick will automatically transfer to Philadelphia 76ers. This will be a major disaster for the Lakers. The Lakers have a 83.3% chance to keep their pick. If the Lakers gets to keep their pick, they will have three draft picks in this draft. The other two picks being the 27th and 34th pick. With great talented players in the upcoming draft, picking the right players in this upcoming draft could be crucial for the team’s future.

One or two mid-level free agency players is what the Lakers should be looking for this summer. Some of the names being mentioned include Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris, Brandon Knight, DeMarre Carroll who could be looking for a big market like Los Angeles this summer. These players certainly will not cost the Lakers a lot of their salary cap room and they are in their mid-20s with great potential. They are the cornerstone of the rebuilding process.

The Lakers front office also needs to think about the future free agencies to lure even better players to join the team. Obviously, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, two of the league’s best players will be an unrestricted free agent in 2016 and 2017. So, even if the Lakers fail to execute the plan they had in mind, they must make sure that they build a strong roster that is good enough to lure players like Durant and Westbrook to LA in the future.

It is crucial that the front office make smart moves during this off season. The Lakers might not be in championship contention in the upcoming season, but it is essential to build a talented roster that has a shot at the title in the years to come.

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