Lakers: Buss, Kupchak Made the Best Move by Doing Nothing

On Sunday night, Lakers co-owner Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak were faced with a career-defining decision and they made the right one.

If you are a fan of the basketball team formerly known as the Sacramento Kings, my heart is with you today. As you may have heard, on Sunday night Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Vlade Divac decided that the DeMarcus Cousins era in Sacramento would come to a close. The return for the 26-year-old, three-time All-Star? You might want to sit down for this one.

To add insult to injury, Stein also reported that the pick the Pelicans are sending to Sacramento is top-three protected. Are you serious? A protected pick for the NBA’s fourth-leading scorer? In the words of Lando Calrissian, “This deal is getting worse all the time!”

Sacramento let Boogie go for a bag of cold Totino’s pizza rolls. Not frozen pizza rolls, but already cooked pizza rolls that someone let get cold …

Granted, the Kings will almost certainly keep the pick now that the Pelicans will try and make a run for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with their superstar frontcourt, but the point remains–Sacramento let Boogie go for a bag of cold Totino’s pizza rolls. Not frozen pizza rolls, but already cooked pizza rolls that someone let get cold, but cold pizza rolls are still better than no pizza rolls so you ate them.

In this case, Sacramento was better off leaving hungry because now they’re starving.

To recap, the Kings got the No. 5 pick in the 2016 draft, Buddy Hield, former Sacramento King Tyreke Evans, future CBA All-Star Langston Galloway, a first-rounder probably in the late teens and a second-round pick. Someone take that team away from Vivek.

Surely the Kings could have held out for a better offer. The Celtics are sitting on a pile of picks and Danny Ainge is willing to part with Terry Rozier this time, maybe. The Nuggets have a few young pieces that would look mighty fine in the Kings’ new jerseys. Hell, even the Lakers had the pieces to pull off a trade for Cousins and they almost did, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

That’s right. The Lakers called the Kings, made an offer for Cousins but weren’t willing to part with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, Brandon Ingram. And to that, I say bravo.

Despite conflicting interests like job security tugging at both Mitch and Jim, they did what was best for the team. As great as it would have been having an All-Star in Los Angeles again, it wasn’t worth jeopardizing the team’s future.

Let’s just say the Lakers did trade for Boogie. They would have had to have sent some combination of two young players, including Ingram, a filler and a future pick. Maybe they send Ingram, Julius Randle, Lou Williams, and a future first-rounder. Then what?

Best case scenario the Lakers have a starting lineup with D’Angelo Russell, Nick Young, Luol Deng, Larry Nance Jr. and DeMarcus Cousins. Is that a team contending for a title in the next five years? Unless everyone over the age of 22 retires at the end of the season, probably not.

My guess is the Lakers would win 30 games to close the 2016-17 season, followed by an admirable 37-win season next year. Two seasons without playoff basketball? Boogie’s leaving in free agency. Meanwhile, Ingram and Randle are leading the Kings to their first playoff berth in over a decade.

Dramatic? Perhaps. Far fetched? Hardly.

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Ingram and Randle are young and still have a ton of room to grow. They may not live up to their Kevin Durant or Draymond Green comparisons, but it’s too soon to know for sure. They’re so damn young.

Teams that trade for Cousins know exactly what they’re getting; a guy that puts up gaudy numbers and causes problems in the locker room because of his behavioral issues. Could that be why the return for Cousins was so low? I wouldn’t doubt it.

The point is the Lakers could have had Cousins. They could have been the ones tweeting a video of a Pelican walking to the tune of “Every Day I’m Hustlin'” by Rick Ross, but they weren’t.

Instead, Kupchak and Buss will go back to the drawing board and try to make smart moves for the team without jeopardizing their immediate future. Because that’s what good front offices do. For all the criticism Kupchak and Buss get–usually warranted–they did the right thing Sunday night.

But what do you guys think? Did the Lakers miss out on Boogie? Was giving up Ingram worth having an All-Star in Los Angeles again? Let us know what you think in the comments below.