Lakers: Small Talent Pool May Doom Them For Years

In one sense, the enormous problem facing the Lakers, is the NBA’s fault, one born out of greed.

In 1996, the NBA welcomed into its gracious arms, the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. They added the New Orleans Hornets, in 2003. The league of 27 teams went to a league of 30 teams. 45 players were added, the majority of them marginally talented, at best. On a macro scale, this had a significant consequence. The thirst for more revenue ensured that every season seven or eight teams were going to be atrocious; talent wins games.

The NBA’s theory of capitalism increased the wealth of billionaires who reaped in the benefits of billion dollar television contracts, revenue sharing, gate revenue and ripping customers off with exorbitant parking fees. The owners profited but the league as a whole suffered.

Dec 9, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jeremy Lin (17) and Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) battle for a rebound in the fourth quarter of the game at Staples Center. The Lakers won 98-95. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

There are too many teams and a small pool of talent to go around. Too many franchises are fighting over, at the most, 10 players. A lot of teams are going to be on the outside looking in come July 2015. Acquiring talent is the hardest it has ever been in the NBA.

If you examine the teams in playoff position 1-8 for the Western Conference, a significant trend relates to their talent. All of the teams currently poised to make the playoffs have multiple players in the top 45 in terms of efficiency. Golden State has two (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson). Houston has two (James Harden, Dwight Howard). So does Memphis, the Spurs, the Pelicans and Oklahoma City.

The Clippers have three top 45 players: Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin. Dallas has three: Tyson Chandler, Rajon Rondo, Dirk Nowitzki.

The Lakers have: 0.

The highest ranked efficiency player the Lakers have is Kobe Bryant, their 36 year old. He is #50 in efficiency, according to hoopstats.com. The next closest Laker: Jordan Hill at #57. Then Carlos Boozer rolls in at #80. Jeremy Lin is #131.

Before the season started, the Lakers epitaph had already been written. But this is the worst part of all. It can get worse before it gets better when you consider 6 other teams are just as bad or worse: Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, Utah, Minnesota, Boston. Each one of those teams have some money to spend in the offseason. Detroit ($15 mil), Philadelphia ($45 mil), New York ($20 mil), Utah ($12 mil), Minnesota ($8 mil), Boston ($18 mil).

The Lakers have $24 million to spend.

Sounds encouraging until you realize the Memphis Grizzlies have $30 million dollars to spend and the easy sell of being a contending team with young talent that is proven. The Mavericks will have $17 million dollars to spend and the inside track for Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler. Portland will have $36 million dollars to spend and the tantalizing prospect of playing with Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. The San Antonio Spurs will have $26 million dollars to spend with stars willing to take less than market value.

These are the Lakers competitors, all wanting a handful of unrestricted free agents.

Goran Dragic. Greg Monroe. Rajon Rondo. Tobias Harris. Jimmy Butler. DeAndre Jordan. Marc Gasol. Omer Asik. Gerald Green. LaMarcus Aldridge.

LaMarcus Aldridge’s Efficiency rating, according to hoopstats.com is #8. Gasol’s is #10. Jimmy Butler’s is #13. DeAndre Jordan’s is #18. Tobias Harris’ is #31. Rajon Rondo is #39. With the exception of Harris, every other player will go to the playoffs this year. Their current team has a high likelihood of re-signing them which only leaves Tobias Harris as the one high efficiency player who is an unrestricted free agent. (Greg Monroe is #61, Goran Dragic #74, Omer Asik #76).

For Tobias Harris, there will be a bidding war and more than likely he will probably be overpaid but for good reason. He is the necessary ingredient playoff teams need.

So in actuality, the Lakers are in competition with 10 teams for 10 players. The math is the math. Probability says they are going to come up short, leaving them with similar players as this year.

Ronnie Price #265. Wayne Ellington #255. Wesley Johnson #172. Nick Young #163.

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