With the latest news of Kobe
Bryant's surfacing one has to wonder what the Lakers should do going
forward. Six weeks is a long time to miss, especially in a competitive
Western Conference. People have been battling back and forth on whether
or not the Lakers should contend for a playoff spot or tank. Two of our
writers at SportsKop will share their personal opinion on this issue.
[BG = Benjamin Gauss
HP = Hirsch Patel]
BG: The Lakers currently have a record of 13-14 which puts them at the 10th seed in the West right now. With the Western Conference being as competitive as ever, I believe that the Los Angeles Lakers should consider tanking the rest of the season in hopes of using this year as a rebuilding opportunity.
HP: Honestly, I agree with you to an extent, but for sakes of making this ChatKop more entertaining I'm going to refute that stance. Also I can see the pros and cons of both sides. The Laker fan base is extremely large and having to put their fans through a long and miserable season will bring negative PR to the front office. Fans already don't like Jerry Buss and Mike D'Antoni. If the Lakers were to miss the playoffs this year it would be devastating. The legendary franchise has only missed the post season five times in their entire history! If they were to miss it again this year that would be the first time in nearly a decade. [Everyone has to admit that this is quite an amazing feat.]
Also you mention that the Lakers are in the 10th seed but even then they are only 1.5 games out of it.
BG: The organization can't let their decisions be influenced by PR. Honestly, the team is simply not good enough to perform in the playoffs. Even if they were to sneak in the playoffs as an 8th seed, I could see them easily being swept by the Thunder which probably does not help alleviate the negative PR that they would likely get anyways. The Lakers have an opportunity to get a high pick going into next year's acclaimed "deep" 2013-14 draft. This is a chance they cannot afford to give up. Clearly with Kobe and Gasol's best years behind them, they need to begin to invest on the future. Also, with Xavier Henry currently being deputized as the point guard, I could see that 1.5 games growing quickly.
HP: Work in the front office is kind of like politics. People working there usually care most about their job security which kind of makes sense if you consider that it's usually their main source of income to put food on the table for their families. But can you imagine the field day the media will have if the Lakers don't make the playoffs? It will be story after story after story of where someone will be criticized for making the wrong moves. Also consider this: will D' Antoni ever be able to get a job as an NBA coach if he gets fired from this tenure? I'm sure he's questioning that with every passing game.
Sure this draft is deep but it's unlikely that they will get Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Jabbari Parker, or Marcus Smart. They won't find themselves fixing all their problems with one draft. Gasol's contract also ends this season which will give them A LOT of flexibility in the free agency. Can we see a Carmelo Anthony and Kobe pairing? Also remember that Kobe said his season last year was the best of his career. When he's fully healthy he'll still be producing at an extremely high level.
Jordan Farmar (who has been playing well before he got injured) should return in less than a week now too. He'll be able to fix their point guard problems temporarily. Also when I look at the standings I'm not completely sold on the Nuggets and Suns just yet. And I hate to be THAT person but what if Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors gets injured? Their playoff hopes can go down the drain as well.
BG: I feel like MOST (Miami being one of the few exceptions) playoff teams in the NBA have a high quality point guard. In my opinion, the NBA is a point guard driven league now. Although Farmar is returning in a week, I do not believe that he is a starting caliber player. With that being said, he is a great role player that can play key minutes off the bench. Without a quality ball handler, the Lakers will fall short of expectations this season. The Suns and Nuggets both respectively have playoff team quality point guards. All in all, however, I agree with a lot of things that you have said. The media will definitely have the time of their lives picking apart everything that went wrong with the team this season if they failed to make it to the playoffs. D'Antoni could definitely have a hard time finding another coaching job (maybe he can coach in college basketball?) but the question was whether or not the Lakers should shut down the season rather than what would be the best in terms of the financial interests of some individuals. So my opinion stands that for the good of the organization, they should go into full tank mode in hopes of drafting the next star point guard.
HP: Sure the league is a point guard driven now but there are four other positions on the court that need to be accounted for. The Lakers have shown they have bright spots, especially with Nick Young and Xavier Henry. We all know that Pau Gasol is very capable as he was pivotal in the Lakers' two recent championships. Even Chris Kaman has played well when healthy!
The Lakers and their front office members have too much hanging on this season which can ultimately dictate where they go career wise. I doubt D'Antoni would want to coach at a lower level after tasting success in the NBA too. Speaking big picture, tanking may help the Lakers in the long term by why leave it up to chance and some ping pong balls when they can play hard now and possibly make the playoffs? Even if they were to miss they should still end up with a pretty decent player in this "deep" draft.
[BG = Benjamin Gauss
HP = Hirsch Patel]
BG: The Lakers currently have a record of 13-14 which puts them at the 10th seed in the West right now. With the Western Conference being as competitive as ever, I believe that the Los Angeles Lakers should consider tanking the rest of the season in hopes of using this year as a rebuilding opportunity.
HP: Honestly, I agree with you to an extent, but for sakes of making this ChatKop more entertaining I'm going to refute that stance. Also I can see the pros and cons of both sides. The Laker fan base is extremely large and having to put their fans through a long and miserable season will bring negative PR to the front office. Fans already don't like Jerry Buss and Mike D'Antoni. If the Lakers were to miss the playoffs this year it would be devastating. The legendary franchise has only missed the post season five times in their entire history! If they were to miss it again this year that would be the first time in nearly a decade. [Everyone has to admit that this is quite an amazing feat.]
Also you mention that the Lakers are in the 10th seed but even then they are only 1.5 games out of it.
BG: The organization can't let their decisions be influenced by PR. Honestly, the team is simply not good enough to perform in the playoffs. Even if they were to sneak in the playoffs as an 8th seed, I could see them easily being swept by the Thunder which probably does not help alleviate the negative PR that they would likely get anyways. The Lakers have an opportunity to get a high pick going into next year's acclaimed "deep" 2013-14 draft. This is a chance they cannot afford to give up. Clearly with Kobe and Gasol's best years behind them, they need to begin to invest on the future. Also, with Xavier Henry currently being deputized as the point guard, I could see that 1.5 games growing quickly.
HP: Work in the front office is kind of like politics. People working there usually care most about their job security which kind of makes sense if you consider that it's usually their main source of income to put food on the table for their families. But can you imagine the field day the media will have if the Lakers don't make the playoffs? It will be story after story after story of where someone will be criticized for making the wrong moves. Also consider this: will D' Antoni ever be able to get a job as an NBA coach if he gets fired from this tenure? I'm sure he's questioning that with every passing game.
Sure this draft is deep but it's unlikely that they will get Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Jabbari Parker, or Marcus Smart. They won't find themselves fixing all their problems with one draft. Gasol's contract also ends this season which will give them A LOT of flexibility in the free agency. Can we see a Carmelo Anthony and Kobe pairing? Also remember that Kobe said his season last year was the best of his career. When he's fully healthy he'll still be producing at an extremely high level.
Jordan Farmar (who has been playing well before he got injured) should return in less than a week now too. He'll be able to fix their point guard problems temporarily. Also when I look at the standings I'm not completely sold on the Nuggets and Suns just yet. And I hate to be THAT person but what if Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors gets injured? Their playoff hopes can go down the drain as well.
BG: I feel like MOST (Miami being one of the few exceptions) playoff teams in the NBA have a high quality point guard. In my opinion, the NBA is a point guard driven league now. Although Farmar is returning in a week, I do not believe that he is a starting caliber player. With that being said, he is a great role player that can play key minutes off the bench. Without a quality ball handler, the Lakers will fall short of expectations this season. The Suns and Nuggets both respectively have playoff team quality point guards. All in all, however, I agree with a lot of things that you have said. The media will definitely have the time of their lives picking apart everything that went wrong with the team this season if they failed to make it to the playoffs. D'Antoni could definitely have a hard time finding another coaching job (maybe he can coach in college basketball?) but the question was whether or not the Lakers should shut down the season rather than what would be the best in terms of the financial interests of some individuals. So my opinion stands that for the good of the organization, they should go into full tank mode in hopes of drafting the next star point guard.
HP: Sure the league is a point guard driven now but there are four other positions on the court that need to be accounted for. The Lakers have shown they have bright spots, especially with Nick Young and Xavier Henry. We all know that Pau Gasol is very capable as he was pivotal in the Lakers' two recent championships. Even Chris Kaman has played well when healthy!
The Lakers and their front office members have too much hanging on this season which can ultimately dictate where they go career wise. I doubt D'Antoni would want to coach at a lower level after tasting success in the NBA too. Speaking big picture, tanking may help the Lakers in the long term by why leave it up to chance and some ping pong balls when they can play hard now and possibly make the playoffs? Even if they were to miss they should still end up with a pretty decent player in this "deep" draft.
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