"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."
It's funny how a classic quote from the latest Dark Knight movie can sum up the state of the Lakers today. Simply put the league was tired of being dominated by the Lakers. Sixteen championships (actually 17 since there is one the league won't recognize) and appearing in 31 finals tends to make the other girls at the party a little jealous. To completely understand why the team is in a rebuilding phase today all one has to do is look back 3 years ago to the NBA lockout in 2011.
The average fan doesn't understand the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and how it affects a team's management strategy. This document controls the rules of the NBA involved with trades, salary cap, and free agency. That's not even to mention how it governs the money distribution between the owners and the players, which is perhaps the most important part. After the 2011 lockout the players and owners signed a new CBA which had a new set of rules written to stop the Lakers and other big market teams from acquiring high talent players easily. The new rules are so effective that large market teams can no longer just pay more money for the players they want. They have to do more with less.
Before the ink had time to dry on this new CBA, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak had already figured out a way to succeed. He traded Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for Chris Paul. Not only had he gotten the best player in the trade, but the team was saving enough money to afford Dwight Howard and David West as well. Of course sadly we all know what happened from there. In a never before seen move the NBA blocked the trade. From that point forward the Lakers have been making high risk moves to try to put a contender around Kobe and give him one last shot at a ring. Unfortunately their injury history has been horrible, and their coaching hires have almost been as bad.
The Lakers gave it one last shot this summer to get Bean another superstar to play with. They went for Melo. They even went for the long shot of LeBronze. They struck out on both. Despite what ESPN might tell you Lakers' management/ownership is not to blame on this one. This new CBA makes it far more lucrative for players to stay with their current teams (Melo), or for them to go to a team with young players on rookie contracts (LeBronze). Kevin Love is a lost cause at this point as well. The Lakers don't have the pieces to get him, drafted a talented rookie who plays his position, and he wouldn't stay here unless the team was closer to winning.
With no real shot at a contending team the Lakers were forced to adjust to the strategy of re-building. The best way to do that is to acquire young talented players on affordable contracts until you can attract a superstar to carry your franchise. That's why the Lakers traded for Jeremy Lin. Sure, he could miraculously improve from being average to all-star point guard, but the real benefit of getting him was the two draft picks Houston gave us. They will explore other similar deals throughout the rest of summer and the season.
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