Grading The Lakers So Far This Season

Mitch Kupchak

Grade: A+

Kupchak continues to show why he’s one of the best GM’s ever. Most of the league has moved to a younger generation of executives who use analytics as their foundation. Kupchak quietly completes the tasks he’s given. Begin to dismantle a repeat champion by refusing to sign their championship role players to long term deals? Check. Structure practically all contracts to expire by the end of 2014, allowing the team to make a run at LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony?  Check. Remain competitive while rebuilding? Check. The Lakers in successive off-seasons had acquired Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard, only to have all of those deals blow up in their face in some fashion. Spectacular but in the end insufficient.

His task this year? Add 7 players on one year deals, almost all on minimum contracts to not just fill roster slots but to be the core of your rotation. Of the 7 players, most were fighting for their NBA lives. A few were former first round picks that had shuffled through the league and had performed poorly in previous stops. He needed the team to get younger and more athletic, add shooters, and have these players be of strong character in order to jell quickly and be a cohesive unit, not a mercenary bunch fighting for their next contracts like the 2012-2013 Dallas Mavericks.

Mission accomplished.