Los Angeles Lakers: Laying the Foundation Introduction
The Lakers find themselves in the midst of the darkest period in their mostly glamorous history
Despite being on pace for a franchise low win total this season, the Lakers still have an opportunity to make use of this season in multiple ways. The first way they can do this is by putting in the effort to develop the talented young core already present on the roster.
However, if the Lakers wish to accelerate their rebuild, as well as improving the chances that it will be successful, the Lakers must learn to maximize the utility of their roster. To do this the Lakers will need to open up roster spots, a process made much more difficult by the Lakers poor decision to guarantee contracts to Metta World Peace and Marcelo Huertas, and begin to give young players a chance to earn a spot on the Lakers going forward.
There are multiple players who are currently without a job in the NBA, who could provide upside and potential for a team in desperate need of just that. The Lakers are in the awkward position of a rebuilding team whose rotation is often dominated by veterans. With many of the Lakers rotation players already being veterans, it makes very little sense for the Lakers final roster spots to also be held by players with little bearing on the team’s future.
Adding players who are seen as projects can make a significant impact on the Lakers long term outlook as a franchise. Currently, the team’s hopes are completely reliant on the development of a few talented young players, but expanding that core can serve to take some of the pressure off of them. The Lakers are also in a perfect situation to be able to gamble on project players, as they are undoubtedly years away from contention at this point.
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What makes this situation even more unique is that some of the players available would actually also be upgrades over the incumbent players on the roster. Players like Metta World Peace and Marcelo Huertas have demonstrated already that they are not able to compete at the NBA level, and finding upgrades in the D-League or overseas would be fairly simple.
The fact that the current roster is already weak makes it even easier for the organization to give chances to younger players with far more upside.
While many fans and even analysts consider this type of roster management and scouting to be unimportant or even meaningless, a look at some of the most successful organizations in professional sports prove otherwise. In the NBA, one needs only to look at the San Antonio Spurs for an example of the important roles that can be played by players other teams have discarded or showed no interest in.
The Spurs have won two titles in recent years, with Danny Green and Patty Mills playing key roles on the team in both years. Danny Green was in the D-League when he was discovered by the Spurs, and Patty Mills was selected 55th in the draft before not sticking with the team that drafted him. Both of these players were acquired by the Spurs for absolutely nothing and became crucial parts of the team after the organization put in the effort to develop them.
While the Lakers have focused on acquiring known quantities thus far, in order to truly make strides forward they will need to take risks. The next few articles will focus on individual players who can make an impact for the Lakers both this season and in the future.
Next: Young Lakers Finally Showing Free Agents Promise
If the Lakers are to turn their team into a cohesive unit, they will need to begin to add players who the team is committed to long-term, and who can contribute to the team for years to come.