Draft or Free Agency? 01/29/14

Anyone still hoping for the Lakers to make the playoffs this year is going to be very disappointed.

For the rest of us fans that leaves us pondering the question: should the Lakers rebuild through the draft or free agency?

It's been the hot topic this week on ESPN radio and other sports outlets. The Lakers own announcer John Ireland is a strong advocate for building through free agency. He states that historically that's what has won the Lakers championships.  Many fans are arguing to build through the draft since the 2014 draft class is highly regarded.  My answer is simple: do both.

Ireland is inaccurate when he says free agency is what the Lakers have always done. He lists Kareem, Shaq, and Gasol and examples of players they got through free agency/trades. Well what about Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kobe Bryant? All drafted by LA. (Kobe was technically traded for, but the Lakers traded for the number 13 pick, they told charlotte to pick Kobe.)

The truth is there's no advantage to limiting yourself to only using one method to build a team. Especially with the new collective bargaining agreement. The Lakers can't build a team by collecting a bunch of stars anymore. The most that teams can afford before they have to fill the roster with role players is two. That is why players on rookie pay scale contracts who can make an impact are so valuable. They perform well but they're cheap and allow you put good players around them. How do you get those players? By drafting them. It's essentially the only way since no team will trade them because of their value.

Here are the steps the Lakers can take to get back into contention:

-Get a top 5 draft pick (then develop them)
-Sign a top free agent next offseason when K love is available. Unless for some miracle they get a shot at LeBronze then you take that. Pass on Melo because he costs too much. At $17M and under then sign him.
-Have a cohesive plan and direction for the organization. Everyone from the front office, to the coaching staff, to the players need to be on the same page. They need to have an identity. We can't have players not buying into the system or coaches throwing players under the bus. We need chemistry AND talent to win another championship.

Next I'll be covering the top 7 or so draft picks. The draft is always a crapshoot, but there sure are some intriguing players!! Until next time. GO LAKERS!!!

State of the Lakes (01/12/14)

Currently the Lakers record stands at 14-22. They're about 6 games back of making of the playoffs, and their best players continue to be injured.  It would be a pretty safe bet to assume they won't make the playoffs.  The team was certainly good enough to do so if they could have stayed healthy. Unfortunately, as we all know too well, they haven't been able to do that these past two seasons. I know it's not what Lakers fans want to hear, but you can't win every year. We need to start from the bottom and climb the mountain top once more.

At this point there it's less relevant to discuss the team's play on the court as it is their moves as a franchise moving forward.

The benefit of not making the playoffs means the Lakers will get a better draft pick. Even better still is that the draft next year has some really good young players in it. The Lakers should be able to get a nice prospect on an affordable contract. Then they'll have some cap space to sign other quality players to fill out the roster.

I look for the Lakers to put 1 or 2 star names around Kobe in his final two years. Maybe Carmelo Anthony, although I'm not a big fan, if the money is right then that might be a good move. A more likely possibility is Minnesota's Kevin Love. He's always wanted to be a Laker (his dad was in the 70s) and he'll be a free agent in 2015. As long as the Lakers put the right defensive players around them, they just might build another Championship contender within a year or two.