July 11th, 2013

Are the Lakers bringing back their championship roster from a couple of years ago?  Well, maybe not entirely, but it’s looking more and more like it.  The Lake Show signed guard Nick Young to a one year deal for the veterans minimum deal today.  Earlier in the week, they also reach agreements with former Laker guard Jordan Farmar, and center Chris Kaman on veterans minimum deals as well.

The Lakers have about as much money to spend in free agency as Frank McCourt had to spend on the Dodgers.  However, Mitch Kupchak has been resourceful.  Young is a former USC Trojan, and has been in the league for 5 years with career averages of 11.3 ppg and 37% three point shooting.  Kaman is a former Clipper, and averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds in 66 games for the Mavericks last year.  Meanwhile, Farmar played in the Turkish League last season, and LA spent $500,000 to buy him out of his contract.  Last time he played in the NBA in 2011-2012, he averaged 10.4 points per game on 46% shooting.

By adding the former UCLA Bruin Farmar, and potentially Lamar Odom, the Lakers would be bringing back two key members of their rotation from the 2009 and 2010 championship teams.  The Lakers roster lacks youth, athleticism, shooting, chemistry, and coaching.  That’s a lot of missing pieces to make up with the limited resources LA has.  Farmar and Young may not be elite NBA players, but they are serviceable role players that improve the Lakers shooting, youth, athleticism, and come at a bargain.

As for chemistry, even though Lamar Odom came into camp fatter than Miss Piggy last season, he could very well be motivated to get back into a shape and have a solid year with a team he’s comfortable with in the Lakers.  Frankly, I’m not even sure what he’s waiting for.  It’s obvious that Khloe will not allow Lamar to leave LA, nor does he have any desire to.  Both the Clippers and the Lakers are offering $1.3 million salaries for one year, however, the Lakers can offer Odom a chance to start, whereas, Odom will be a towel boy with the Clippers.

There’s something to be said for having chemistry, which the Lakers had none of last year.  But bringing back Odom and Farmar to a group with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol will fit together more perfectly than a Kate Upton Bikini.  I would even take it a step further if I were the Lakers, and trade Steve Blake and Jordan Hill to the Wizards for Trevor Ariza, which would further enhance the Lakers chemistry and athleticism.

Unfortunately, there’s no immediate solution to the teams coaching problem.  Well, other than hiring that Phil Jackson guy.

July 7th, 2013

Are you really surprised?  Everyone told you it was coming.  Just like when your high school friends kept telling you that your girlfriend was going to breakup with you if you didn’t start treating her better.  Well, the breakup finally happened.  Dwight Howard left the Lakers for the Houston Rockets.  That’s right Laker fans.  You were $30 million richer, but your girlfriend just left you for Steve Urkel.

Say what you will about how much of a pussy you think Dwight Howard is for wanting no accountability, but this isn’t ok, and Jim Buss blew it.  He blew it the moment that he chose Mike D’Antoni over Phil Jackson.  What an absolutely embarrassing choice, that snowballed and culminated in this embarrassing moment.

Last summer, Mitch Kupchak assembled an incredible roster, with very few resources to work with. Kupchak somehow traded a Volvo for a Ferrari.  Then his boss proceeded to take shit all over his Ferrari, to that point you couldn’t even recognize what it was.  This could have been a championship team if it had a championship coach.  Instead, Buss hired a complete misfit in D’Antoni, who managed to alienate nearly every player on the team, run his franchise player into the ground, and push a critical cornerstone of the franchise away.  This was a spectacular collapse.  Kupchak acquired Superman, yet Buss acquired kryptonite shortly thereafter.

Now what?  The Lakers roster is older than the Bible, and even if Kobe gets healthy, it will be a struggle just to make the playoffs.  LA only has its $3 million mini mid-level exception to spend, along with a veterans minimum of around $1 million on this years remaining free agents.  However, every impact player is gone because the Lakers were waiting for Dwight to make up his mind.

Of course, the Lakers plan is to re-tool the team next summer when Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and other elite players will be free agents, and LA will have over $50 million to spend.  Still, the Lakers recruiting pitch next summer won’t be nearly as good without a young piece like Dwight Howard.  The Dallas Mavericks have been trying to play the free agency game for the last two summers, and have struck out more than Josh Hamilton.  Meanwhile, their franchise player Dirk Nowitski is wasting the final years of his career.  In other words, trying to build a championship team exclusively through free agency isn’t always the most effective strategy.

The biggest indictment in this situation isn’t on Dwight, and him being a mental midget.  It’s on Jim Buss.  When a player can leave an extra $30 million on the table to go play in a dump like Houston, you know you screwed up.  Sure, David Stern has globalized the NBA to a point where playing in such a dump still allows a superstar to build their brand in places like China and Europe, but who leaves LA?  If the Lakers road back to glory is through free agency next summer, then Jim Buss’ and his lack of leadership is a bigger problem than we thought.

 
June 29th, 2013

Let the Chris Duhon sweepstakes begin!  The Lakers waived point guard Chris Duhon today, after playing just one season for the team.  The 30 year old, 8 year veteran from Duke, was owed $3.5 million, however, LA had the option of buying him out for $1.5 million, which they took advantage of .

Duhon was acquired in the Dwight Howard trade from Orlando last August, and played in 46 games for the Lakers this year, while starting 9 of them.  I’ve always been amazed that Duhon has managed to average about 4 points and 2 assists since the 6th grade, yet he still has a professional basketball career.  In fact, over the course of his entire career he’s made more than $31 million!

I must say however, that I am extremely disappointed that we didn’t see the dance moves on the bench that he showed while he was in Orlando.  It’s no wonder the Lakers let him go.

May 25, 2013

Dear Jimmy,

You are a very intelligent man.  Far more intelligent than most people give you credit for. However, you are also a man with incredible pride, which is getting in the way of your greatness.

You deserve credit for trading for Chris Paul, and saving the Lakers $20 million in the process, before NBA Dictator David Stern vetoed it.  You also deserve credit for drafting Andrew Bynum, who did help the Lakers beat the Celtics in the 2008 Finals, and eventually helped you acquire Dwight Howard.

You’ve learned from arguably the most successful owner in the history of sports, which I admit is a tough act to follow, now that you are the owner of the Lakers.  I have no doubt that you are very motivated to both honor your father by continuing his legacy, as well as prove your own ability as a basketball executive.  The only way to do that is by winning, and the best way to do that is to bring back one of the greatest basketball minds ever to your organization next season: Phil Jackson.

At this point, you are well aware of the fact that your future brother in law is a much better coach for this current Laker team than Mike D’Antoni.  The players all told you that, and you saw it with your own two eyes this season.  You are also smarter than all those people who think that Phil will never actually coach again, and know that he would gladly coach your team if you put your pride aside, and asked him to coach your team for just next season.  Your current team has a window of exactly one year left, they were tailor made for Phil, and he might even help you win a title next year in place of D’Antoni.

I realize Phil can get on your nerves sometimes Jimmy.  His ego is massive, but what NBA great’s ego isn’t?  His triangle offense seems boring, but it’s also won your last 5 championships while your delusional competitors are convinced “it’s a point guard driven league”, and have yet to win anything.   Nobody really knows if it’s actually sage or marijuana he’s burning in the locker room either, but didn’t you smoke a little weed with your race track buddies a few years ago?

Kobe and Shaq showed you years ago that everyone in the organization doesn’t have to get along to be wildly successful.  Phil has no desire to be a GM like Mitch either, and you could easily grant him his consulting role in the front office after next year.  You, your dad, and Mitch always used to go down to California Pizza Kitchen, and put your heads together whenever a big decision had to be made.  That third chair at CPK is now open, so why not put Phil in that chair and hear what he has to say?  The final say will still rest with you.

You know deep down that Dwight Howard really wants this too, but he hasn’t forced this on you because he doesn’t want to be the bad guy.  But do you really want to wait until July 1st to see him sign with the Rockets to show you how unhappy he really was with D’Antoni?  You know that bringing back Phil will insure the future face of your franchise will re-sign.

So here I am Jimmy, speaking on behalf of all Laker fans.  Put your pride aside, and do what’s best for your franchise.  Bring back Phil Jackson to the organization next year, and you’ll make your family proud, and you’ll be a hero among Laker fans.  More importantly, you’ll honor your father’s legacy in the best way possible: by continuing the Laker tradition of winning.

Regards,

Omar Shaban

April 13th, 2013

What a nightmare.  A Laker season filled with disaster after disaster took one final plunge on Friday night at Staples Center.  Kobe Bryant tore his achilles tendon in the 4th quarter against Golden State, ending his season, jeopardizing his career, and placing a cloud of uncertainty over the future of the franchise.

At times, Kobe appears to be more of a super-hero than an actual basketball player.  This year, and for many years, he has played through numerous injuries that would sideline most players.  His ferocious competitiveness allowed him to fight through the injuries, and play at an elite level, even after 17 years in the NBA.  He refuses to let the Lakers miss the playoffs.  However, Friday night, his body could no longer carry the weight of the franchise, as he crumbled to the floor.

How did we get here after what we thought would be a promising season back in early October?  Well we can thank Jim Buss for all that.  We can thank him for making things personal by hiring Mike D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson.  Why else would you choose a coach with 0 championships, instead of a coach with 11 championships who will soon be your brother-in-law?

Phil would have easily had this squad as a top 4 team in the West, maximizing their potential at this point in the season.  More importantly, he would have never allowed Kobe to play over 40 minutes a game at this point in his career.  The last year Phil coached Kobe, he only averaged 33 minutes a game, keeping him energized throughout the season.

Instead, the Lakers were stuck with Mike D’Antoni, who spent months perfecting the art of trying to squeeze the old square peg in the round hole.  The Lakers are big team, yet D’Antoni was trying to get them to play like a small team.  The Lakers needed to play like a slower team to be successful, yet D’Antoni only knew how to coach a fast team.  Over the last two months, the team’s improvement could mostly be attributed to the players taking it upon themselves to change their style of play, while D’Antoni was simply left to be a manager of game minutes.  Of course he couldn’t even do that, and mis-managed Kobe’s minutes to the point of disastrous consequences.

The D’Antoni mistake has not only cost the Lakers this season, but jeopardized what’s left of the Kobe Bryant era.  I’m sure Kobe will work himself to exhaustion to come back next season.  However, it’s no longer about his will.  It’s about what his body will allow.  An achilles tear can take anywhere from 6-12 months to recover from, and even then, we won’t know if Kobe will ever be Kobe again.  Remember, Kobe has said he would never allow himself to be a player that only averages 18-20 points per game, and would walk away from the game before that happened.

Of course this puts the Lakers in a difficult position of deciding what to do with Kobe, who is still owed $30 million next year, the final year of his contract.  What if Kobe is simply unable to play for much of next year?  Are the Lakers really going to keep him for $30 million?  They could use their amnesty provision on him to allow them to spend the money elsewhere, and save $85 million in luxury taxes, but would they really let go of the face of the franchise?  General Manager Mitch Kupchak says “that’s the furthest thing from our minds”, however, that stance could change depending on how the recovery goes.

As sports fan, we all love to watch greatness.  Unfortunately, that greatness doesn’t last forever.  Sometimes it’s there for more than a decade, and sometimes it’s there for only a short period of time.  In the case of Kobe, he’s been great for 17 years, which is easy to take for granted, especially for those of us that live in LA.  However, it takes a moment like Friday night to realize that the greatness you are witnessing can be gone in the blink of an eye, so enjoy the ride while it lasts.