An Open Letter to the Lakers Front Office
By Jacob Rude
November 16, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former pro basketball player “Julius Dr. J” Irving sits next to Los Angeles Lakers Mitch Kupchak during the ceremony unveiling the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Dear Mitch, Jim, Jeanie, and whomever else this may concern,
Do this rebuild right.
I know Lakers fans aren’t use to rebuilding. We more often reload. But this summer, reloading isn’t a realistic possibility. Short of somehow nabbing LeBron, there isn’t a homerun free agent available this summer. Instead, you can start piecing together the right players for a championship squad.
Do this right.
Don’t go chasing Kevin Love. Don’t go chasing Kyrie Irving. Both of those players will require use of our draft pick, which is too steep a price. We can draft our own Irving or Love. In three years, would you rather have Love at $20 million or Jabari Parker at $5 million? Outside of that, if Love and Irving won’t to be Lakers as badly as the fans think they do, they’ll both have the opportunity next summer.
Do this right.
Tough decisions will have to be made. Steve Nash can’t hang on the basketball court anymore. If he can’t come to that realization, do it for him. Pau’s professionalism has been beyond admirable. His defense has been horrible. On the right team, with the right personnel around him, he’s worth the contract. That won’t be LA. It’s time to move on from the Pau-Kobe Era.
Do this right.
Mike D’Antoni was the wrong choice. Admit your mistakes. You didn’t want to rely on Phil Jackson anymore, which is understandable. How you played him and left him hanging in the coaching search has been well-documented. You screwed up. But it can all be forgotten if you move on from him now and make the right hire this summer.
Do this right.
Kobe Bryant is your prize possession right now. His words have the biggest impact on Lakers Nation. When he said he wanted to win now, fans listened. But winning now could mortgage the future. Winning now would entail signing instant impact players to big contracts. Winning now means, in two seasons when Bryant is gone, the Lakers are stuck in a position similar to or worse than their present one.
Do this right.
If you do this right, you match our young draft pick with young pieces around them. You have Kobe Bryant as the mentor to a future star and set yourself up for future free agencies. So do this right.
Sincerely
A Logical Lakers Fan