Lakers Road Back to Relevance: Who Stays, Who Goes

Lakers fans don’t need to be reminded of their teams’ recent struggles.

There has been much debate over the root cause of said struggles, with answers ranging from bad luck, to poor coaching, or the front office and management. In actuality the answer is probably a combination of each of those factors, but the truly important question is how can the Lakers right the ship? In order to answer that question, it may be necessary to examine some of the mistakes that have been made, and how they should be remedied in the future.

This series of articles will provide some possible answers to that question, with each part focusing on a different facet of the ongoing rebuild. This piece in particular will serve as an introduction to the series, and cover the first area in which the Lakers can look to for progress: free agency.

Rebuilding a franchise in the NBA is no small feat, but fortunately for the Lakers they already have the beginnings of a rebuild in place. With three promising young players in Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers already have a core to build around. However, to restore the once-great franchise to its former glory, the Lakers may need more than that.

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There are three primary ways in which the Lakers can improve their team.

The first way they can do this, and the way they have historically improved their teams, is through free agency. Although the Lakers have been one of the most successful teams in NBA history in luring free agents, recent years have proved much more difficult.

The second way, the draft, is the most viable way for rebuilding teams to add elite talent in the NBA climate created by the last Collective Bargaining Agreement. In this area the Lakers have already begun the process by selecting multiple talented players in the past two drafts.

However, this year’s draft may be a defining moment in the Lakers rebuild. Whether or not they keep their pick and select a talented player can drastically alter the timeline of the rebuild.

While the Lakers head into a future quite possibly devoid of Kobe Bryant, it’s helpful to have a general idea of what to expect and how long to expect it to take

The final, and perhaps most important, facet of the rebuild is the development of their young talent. If the Lakers young core, and anyone else they draft, do not develop into the players the Lakers hope they can be, the entire plan could be derailed. It is important to examine the various factors that can play a role in this critical process.

Trades may also play a role in the Laker’s rebuild, but with their current lack of assets they won’t represent a significant portion of the process, as such they will be mentioned sparingly in this series.

Before diving into these facets of the Laker’s rebuild, it’s important to first take a quick look into the players already on the team who should be retained. The Lakers have several players who will be free agents following this year, and how they decide to handle that process will be important to their overall rebuild.

Lakers Who Will Be Free Agents

Historically, the Lakers organization has dominated the free agent market. With franchise changing stars like Shaquille O’Neal opting to sign with the Lakers, the franchise has rarely had to undergo an extensive rebuild. That, however, has changed in recent years, with the new CBA restricting team’s ability to outspend the competition.

The allure of the large market of Los Angeles has also faded with the internet now allowing players in even the smallest markets to receive lucrative business opportunities. The Lakers front office has been slow to realize this fact and have badly mishandled the last two offseasons.

Instead of concentrating on building a cohesive team of young talent, the Lakers have waited on superstars who were long-shots at best. With this mentality, the Lakers have whiffed on their primary targets and ended up settling for the players left over after most players have signed.

If the Lakers want to begin building towards relevance, they need to focus on acquiring, retaining and developing young talent

The Lakers have also continually let their own assets walk in free agency, even cutting them to make room for veterans whose fit with the team is questionable at best.

The latest example of this practice is Ed Davis, a solid find in free agency. The Lakers let him walk in the last free agency period and ultimately signed Brandon Bass to fill his role, an older, less talented player who has underachieved so far.

More examples of this type of poor asset management include Kendall Marshall, Jabari Brown, and Kent Bazemore, all talented young players who were either cut or let go to make room for veterans. The most unfortunate thing about this is the fact that those three players would debatably be preferable to the players currently making up the Lakers bench. If the Lakers want to begin building towards relevance, they need to focus on acquiring, retaining and developing young talent.

Due to this type of poor decision making, the most important thing in the upcoming free agency is for the Lakers to retain the players they have. Jordan Clarkson will be the primary concern, as his strong play could potentially motivate teams to offer a very large contract. Although he will be restricted, a contract of up to four-year fifty million could be on the table. No matter the cost, the Lakers must retain Clarkson’s services, as he is by far the most developed of their young core.