Through the years we have watched the Lakers win NBA Championships led by different Hall of Fame players from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Kobe Bryant. One common denominator in each of the past ten Lakers championships was late owner Dr. Jerry Buss. He turned the Lakers into the New York Yankees of basketball.
Since the Great Dr. Jerry Buss passed, we have seen some very questionable moves by the Lakers organization. The first move would be putting all their balls in one hoop by bringing in Dwight Howard with no long-term deal and not trading him at the trade deadline when all of America knew he was not signing back with the Lakers. Second questionable move was signing a 38-year old point guard with health issues when you know the NBA is full of top-notch point guards that will run circles around Nash. Next, you sign a coach that has not proven anything but he can create a team that can average over 100 points, which would be good if they didn’t give up 100+ points per game. Finally you sign a 35 year-old shooting guard at 48.5 million dollars, who is coming off an Achilles injury, without seeing if he will ever be healthy again.
So I analyzed the Lakers today and asked myself this question; “How is Mitch Kupchak going to turn this one around?” The Lakers have a plan to clear the cap for summer of 2014 in the chance of getting multiple free agents to bring them back into a championship contender. Part of this plan was totally blown when they signed Kobe Bryant. There was no negotiation done when signing him; they just gave him the money. Kobe is just like anyone else in the world, he is “not turning nothing down but his collars”. So 48.5 million dollars for the next two years is already taken off the cap, leaving room to pay only one more max player. While researching the list of available free agent players for 2014 that are considered max deal players, these are my top 5.
LeBron James: He is not coming to LA to help Kobe Bryant win a 6th ring. LeBron is legacy chasing. It probably already pisses him off that D-Wade keeps getting one more than him, but no one thinks Wade is an all-time great.
Dwayne Wade: He is the mayor of Miami. He is not leaving Miami, ever! Plus you don’t need D-Wade if you already have Kobe. Both are playing on their last leg, literally.
Chris Bosh: He could probably help the Lakers but they would need the old Toronto, dread-wearing Bosh who averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds per game. But why leave Miami when you’re winning championships and getting undeserved max money.
Dirk Nowitzki: He is not going anywhere. He enjoys being Mark Cuban’s #1 prostitute. Loyal to a fault. I call it the Kevin Garnett Minnesota syndrome.
Carmelo Anthony: The most likely out of the bunch to leave and come to LA. NY sucks and will continue to suck as long as they are paying Stoudemire.
There were rumors at the beginning of the season that LeBron wanted to play with Carmelo in the future. If this rumor were to be true, the Lakers had the money to pay both of them and put the correct pieces around them in order to contend. By signing Kobe Bryant, who looks like he will never be himself again, they eliminated all chances of that happening in LA. It just doesn’t make sense to give him that amount of money without knowing he will be 100% healthy.
So the sell for Mitch will be, getting an all-star to want to come in and play with Kobe, not knowing if he will even last the next two years. So good luck Lakers fans, of which I am one. There is no Pau Gasol to steal from any franchises. But we do have one thing working for us; THE BEST BENCH IN THE NBA BABY! Only because we have the worst starting five in the NBA.
Tags: All's Fair in Sports and War, Basketball, Brandon McConnell, Dr. Jerry Buss, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Respect Da Game, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports