Lakers quietly shaping landscape of NBA?

[celticsclay]

I felt like making a thread because I was curious if anyone has been quietly following the Lakers lately with much amusement and thought about how meaningful their games can be right now to the NBA off-season. As a lot of people have mentioned in tanking threads, the Lakers lose their first pick if it is not in the top 5 this year.

The Lakers have always been an excellent free agent landing spot for NBA free agents with many players including them on their short list of teams. In addition to traditionally being a good team, they also have Hollywood to fall back on in an era where players seem to put almost equal concern into building their brand and the team they play for. However, the Lakers have not signed people in the last few offseasons and in a fairly unprecedented move lost one of their own free agents in Dwight Howard.

They seem poised to have a really big bounce back next year if they can use a massive amount of cap space, plus the assets that could be Okafor or Towns and Randle to complete a sign in trade for an established player (in Celtic's fans nightmare, boogie cousins). I think they really want to try and win next year for Kobe's final season. If they lose the top 5 pick that is really an asset they can't replace and they lose it for nothing.

Yet here we are in early March and the Lakers just won 3 games in a row to put them 3 wins ahead of Minnesota and Philly. At the 4 spot they can definitely get bumped out of the top 5. Are Laker's fans going mental about this? If they keep winning games with sacre, Kelly, ellington, Clarkson and boozer the management must explode with anger. Think about how much animosity some Celtics fans over getting the 8th pick instead of the 11th. Imagine if we risked losing the pick entirely?

The Lakers can't possibly mess this up can they? Anyone else secretly rooting for the Lakers to do so? These seemingly meaningless February games could ultimately have a big impact on what happens next season.

[colincb]

Win what next year? A championship?  I cannot imagine even Laker fans think that the latter is within the realm of possibilty.

[Kane3387]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone. He can't stay on the court. He's at times as inefficient as it gets and he alone eats up a third of the cap space. The lakers might sign a guy of Greg Monroes caliber but they won't acquire a proven all star talent this year in free agency imo.

Lebron will stay a cav.
Aldridge will stay a Blazer.
Gasol will stay a Grizzly.
Love already said he's not interested.
The other top guys like Kawhi and Jimmy are restricted.

As a result the lakers should be lottery next year too. Even if they don't lose their pick this year then they will next year. Philly will be getting a lotto pick from the lakers either this year or in 2016.

[celticsclay]

Win what next year? A championship?  I cannot imagine even Laker fans think that the latter is within the realm of possibilty.

I don't think they will win a championship by any wild stretch of the imagination, but I don't think them becoming a lower level playoff team is out of the realm of possibility either (and I say this as someone who actively roots against them, except for right now when I root for them to win to lose).

If they do get a top 3 pick this season, they could target a number of players with that pick. If they were to offer that top 3 pick plus Randle for Cousins, how could the kings really say no? They would then be in position to sign some other solid veterans and make sure Kobe's career doesn't end on a 21 win team. I will also add that I think all of this is stupid and short sighted, but I do think it is what they will do....

[footey]

The Lakers tank only because Kobe got hurt. I really don't put them in the same category as the Sixers or Knicks. 

 I hate them, but they are a class organization, like us (and I am not a troll!!)

[celticsclay]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone. He can't stay on the court. He's at times as inefficient as it gets and he alone eats up a third of the cap space. The lakers might sign a guy of Greg Monroes caliber but they won't acquire a proven all star talent this year in free agency imo.

Lebron will stay a cav.
Aldridge will stay a Blazer.
Gasol will stay a Grizzly.
Love already said he's not interested.
The other top guys like Kawhi and Jimmy are restricted.

As a result the lakers should be lottery next year too. Even if they don't lose their pick this year then they will next year. Philly will be getting a lotto pick from the lakers either this year or in 2016.

I don't see how you can so confidently predict this stuff. 9 months ago you could have got the Cavaliers to win the Eastern conference about a 100-1 odds. They won the lottery and everything changed. Who predicted the Hawks led by Horford, Milsap, Teague and Korver would have 4 all stars and the best record in the east? Many would have thought there was a reasonable chance of them missing the playoffs. Who in their right mind thought the Bucks would make the playoffs after having the worst record in the league, losing their lottery pick and having Sanders quit playing basketball? Assuming we know what will happen next year is crazy, lazy and makes for crappy discussion.

[D.o.s.]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone.

I agree with this for very different reasons then the rest of your post listed.

[celticsclay]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone.

I agree with this for very different reasons then the rest of your post listed.

continue....

[317]

*puts on tin foil hat*

it doesn't matter the Knicks get the #1 pick and the Lakers get the #2 pick.

*takes off tin foil hat*

they have plenty of time to drop down in the standings again, but yes i really want them to get the #6 pick.

[D.o.s.]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone.

I agree with this for very different reasons then the rest of your post listed.

continue....

At the risk of stating the obvious, I think LA would prefer a 60+ win season to happen at the nearest possible opportunity. That's no different than every other team in the league.

But they have Kobe Bryant. As any of the armchair GM's will tell you, his contract is the worst one in the league, particularly when it comes to, you know, actually building a team to win games. Kobe's deal isn't about winning games. Kobe doesn't need to win another game in his career, since his reputation as one of the X-Greatest players is already secure, and the Lakers benefit from the nostalgia.

The team doesn't solely exist to win basketball games, after all. It's also a business -- a business that has no problems trading in legacies (nor should they). The Lakers are going to be Kobe's team until he hangs up his shoes, and by extension it really doesn't matter if they're winning games or not (although, obviously, they'd rather win than otherwise).

Once Kobe retires? It's a whole different story. You're not handing the reigns of the franchise to Nick Young or whatever.

[D Dub]

TP for the OP, right there with you rooting (gulp) for the Lakers all season with the hopes that they end up outside that top 5 pick and give it to PHX. 

I saw this coming early on, and just the thought of rooting against the C's and for the Fake's caused me to cancel both league pass & cable this year, so thanks to you all for providing my NBA fix each day...

[celticsclay]

I don't think they care until kobe is gone.

I agree with this for very different reasons then the rest of your post listed.

continue....

At the risk of stating the obvious, I think LA would prefer a 60+ win season to happen at the nearest possible opportunity. That's no different than every other team in the league.

But they have Kobe Bryant. As any of the armchair GM's will tell you, his contract is the worst one in the league, particularly when it comes to, you know, actually building a team to win games. Kobe's deal isn't about winning games. Kobe doesn't need to win another game in his career, since his reputation as one of the X-Greatest players is already secure, and the Lakers benefit from the nostalgia.

The team doesn't solely exist to win basketball games, after all. It's also a business -- a business that has no problems trading in legacies (nor should they). The Lakers are going to be Kobe's team until he hangs up his shoes, and by extension it really doesn't matter if they're winning games or not (although, obviously, they'd rather win than otherwise).

Once Kobe retires? It's a whole different story. You're not handing the reigns of the franchise to Nick Young or whatever.

I half agree and half disagree. While I agree the Lakers are pretty happy making money and the Kobe contract was a business move and not a basketball move, I think there is still some element not wanting Kobe's last season to be a complete embarrassment. (This is all predicated on the premise that he could be healthy and play 20-25 minutes a game). This means they will make more moves than a normal team to try and get to the 45 win mark next season. A winning team in Kobe's season may have a lot of value for them (possibly literally). This is all speculation and I guess we will just have to sit back and watch. However, the first domino is that draft pick. If they lose that it is so bad for them in every way (business, finance, future). It is really a horrible asset loss.

[SHAQATTACK]

Kobe is a sideshow ,  he is paid to give the Lakers their star , they must have to sell TV contracts .

The Kobe = title days are over

He is there as filler , for image, TV,  fans who must have something to pay money to see .....to keep the Laker world happy,  until

LeBron days are up ,  and enough assets can be brought in,  unhappy stars who are going to fail on contending teams.

There is going to be lots of unhappy stars wanting to switch teams .....as they get older.......like John Wall .....

Eventually , the Lakers will be ready with picks, and cap space to land these unhappy players and begin a new dynasty .

Celtics is the same .....except DA dumps Pierce and KG .....we need a head start on rebuilding on LA......as they have somewhat easier tine recruiting FA s to CA

Nobody is going swat till, LeBron is about 34 or 35

[celticsclay]

Kobe is a sideshow ,  he is paid to give the Lakers their star , they must have to sell TV contracts .

The Kobe = title days are over

He is there as filler , for image, TV,  fans who must have something to pay money to see .....to keep the Laker world happy,  until

LeBron days are up ,  and enough assets can be brought in,  unhappy stars who are going to fail on contending teams.

There is going to be lots of unhappy stars wanting to switch teams .....as they get older.......like John Wall .....

Eventually , the Lakers will be ready with picks, and cap space to land these unhappy players and begin a new dynasty .

Celtics is the same .....except DA dumps Pierce and KG .....we need a head start on rebuilding on LA......as they have somewhat easier tine recruiting FA s to CA

Nobody is going swat till, LeBron is about 34 or 35

what in the world... Lebron was teamed up two of the biggest stars in the leagues and tons of nice vets (miller, allen, haslem, Anderson etc) and won 2 titles in 4 years. Now the West is absolutely beasting, he has starting battling injuries after his 30th birthday and he is all of a sudden going to run the league? That makes no sense. The sad thing is, if the cavs had kept wiggins, wiggins and Lebron maybe could have had a shot at that. Now they have a much smaller window. Definitely not 5 more years.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

The Lakers tank only because Kobe got hurt. I really don't put them in the same category as the Sixers or Knicks. 

 I hate them, but they are a class organization, like us (and I am not a troll!!)

The Celtics have been a major player in every tankathon in the past 20 years...

And the Lakers are deliberately sitting people trying to lose games right now.

Let's not delude ourselves.

Either way, it would take a miracle for the Lakers to come close to a playoff spot next year. It is a barren UFA crop, Kobe's still an offense killer and rookies are rarely impact players. We're also talking about a team that doesn't believe in 3 pointers.

Anthony Davis and the Suns are going to miss the playoffs in the West. There's no way they leapfrog those 3 of those 10(Suns, Pels + Playoffs) teams.