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Lakers: Winning Games Now Is Hurting, More Than Helping, LA’s Future

By Ed Schrenzel

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The Lakers have enjoyed a recent turnabout, winning 4 of their last 7 games after starting the season 5-28. 

It was no surprise that the Lakers started slowly this season. The roster turned over considerably from last year, with only six players returning who were on the court for any significant time, most of them in reserve roles. That list included Kobe Bryant, who was coming back from injury and bound to be a bit rusty.

Additionally the team essentially added three rookies, another virtual rookie in Julius Randle and a first-time NBA veteran European player, Marcelo Huertas. That said, it was easy to forecast that the team would struggle to begin the season.

Now that they have had time to play together, and the rookies have adapted to life in the NBA, the Lakers are much more competitive, even in their recent losses to Sacramento and Oklahoma City. But that leads to more questions. Can we expect them to continue to improve? What is this current team’s ceiling? Is winning more games now a good thing in the long run?

It is difficult to know just what to expect from this Lakers team. GM Mitch Kupchak recently said that development of the young players will of necessity take a back seat to the franchise’s biggest priority: paying tribute to Bryant.

Yet Kobe has recently been in and out of the lineup. Given his age and the mileage he’s accumulated in his 20 NBA seasons, that trend will likely continue throughout the year. Since the rest of the team plays one way when he’s on the court and a different style when he’s not, continuity should remain a problem.

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Despite that, the youngsters have predictably grown as the season evolved. A light seems to have turned on for D’Angelo Russell, whose on-court play has improved dramatically. In recent games before he turned an ankle he demonstrated why the Lakers made him the #2 pick in last year’s draft.

Jordan Clarkson has probably been the most consistent player all year long. Larry Nance Jr. has also been impressive, showing off a nice mid-range jump shot and a willingness to keep the ball moving in addition to his leaping ability and hustle.

Even Anthony Brown has started to show that he can be a good ‘3-and-D’ NBA player, a 3-point shooter as well as a tough defender.

Randle has struggled offensively since being moved to the second unit, but most observers feel it’s only a matter of time before he emerges as a strong, nearly unstoppable offensive force. And Thursday night against the Warriors, Coach Byron Scott finally gave Tarik Black some court time so he can build on the promise he showed last year.

All of that suggests that the team should continue to progress as the young guys gain more experience, which will likely translate into more victories. Just how many is anybody’s guess. But what everyone does know is that the Lakers obviously won’t make the playoffs this year. So in the big picture, does it really matter whether they win 20 or 30 games?

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The real ultimate objective for the front office and fans alike is for the Lakers to return to relevancy, for them to contend again for NBA titles. As Kupchak admits, that will only happen once Bryant has played his final game and hung up his sneakers.

Kupchak has assembled a nucleus of promising young players in Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Nance, Brown and perhaps Black, but more help is still needed and some of that help could come in this June’s NBA draft.

As most fans know, the Lakers will only keep that pick if it ends up in the top 3 in the May 17th draft lottery. And the worse the team finishes in the overall NBA standings, the better chance they’ll have of earning a top 3 spot.

The Lakers still have the second-worst record in the NBA behind Philadelphia. But looming not far in front of them are Brooklyn, Minnesota (which has lost 8 straight), New Orleans and Phoenix (which has lost 9 of its last 10). It is conceivable that LA will pass any one or perhaps even all of them in the standings when the season ends, which would make their chances of scoring big in the lottery that much worse.

Nobody really wants the Lakers to totally tank. Indeed, it is far preferable to watch the young stars move closer to their potential but the upcoming schedule won’t make winning easy, which is a good thing.  After Thursday’s game against Golden State, three of the next four games are against Utah on the road and Houston and San Antonio at home.

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So perhaps the best solution for fans is to root for the ‘close but no cigar’ type of games like the Lakers had last week against both the Kings and Thunder, games where they played competitively but ultimately lost. Because in the long run, if they help keep a top three pick, losses like that might actually be victories in disguise.

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