Wow. How long has it been since the Lakers reached a nadir like this? Their last losing season was in 2004-05, also the last time they missed the playoffs. Before that? Eleven years previously. I expect them to miss the playoffs again this season. What would prevent that, in my opinion (and this is obvious), would be a medical miracle that gets Bryant back by the break, and playing maybe not where he was before the injury, but at a reasonably high level. That and no serious injuries to anyone, except maybe the ball boy (and I hope he, at least, stays injury free). Good luck with that, Laker fans.
Not sure if another thread is needed. But here is the article in which Kupchak talks about not being surprised Howard left. http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...k-20130730,0,7009896,full.story#axzz2aT2nuZYP
Really? How many times do they play the Thunder, Rockets, Clippers, Grizzlies, TWolves, Warriors, Spurs, Nuggets, Blazers, etc. That's 30-35 losses alone
There is no way in hell this team doesn't have multiple injuries. They will end up with somewhere between the 3rd-7th worst record in the NBA.
The best thing that could happen to them is having their stars injured and Pringles imploding, earning them a top lottery pick. Then they'll probably get some star (Melo, Granger, Deng) to play along Wiggins. Hmm... but they all play the same position.
Kupchak is not Daryl Morey, and even Morey needed some luck. LA is an awesome city, especially if you are rich, but Carmelo Anthony isn't going to save that franchise. Wiggins might have.
Mitch Kupcake is really saying we are playing for Andrew Wiggins and waiting for the arrival of the King (#6) Melo.
I'm always under the impression that Carmelo enjoys playing in the lights of NY. Why is his name constantly popping up in Lakers rumour mill?
Sounds reasonable to me. They won't win a lot, but they have to try. They still have Kobe Bryant, who is untradeable at the moment for a host of reasons, so they can't really blow up the roster. And while they may be a bubble team, they certainly aren't bad enough to compete for Wiggins. And you don't want the potentially last season of Kobe Bryant to be an intentional tank job after a year of a failed superteam -- that'd be going out with a whimper. Given the context, I'd think it'd be bad for business to force a tank job in their circumstance. They can finish out this year and then see what they can do in free agency next year. If they score a homerun, great; if not, they can properly disassemble the roster and rebuild. A lotto pick would make that easier, but it doesn't help them on their free agency gamble.
Let's see what happens this season. I don't think their plans for next Summer are a sure thing, Kobe has burn bridges with most of next Summer's free agents that will not want to play in LA if Kobe is still there.