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While the 2015 draft class is no where near as loaded
as the class of 2014, people fail to realize that the top
five picks are truly game changers (Keep in mind the last
time the Lakers had a top five pick, it turned into James
Worthy). An acquisition of a player such as Jahlil Okafor,
Emmanuel Mudiay, Stanley Johnson, Karl-Anthony Towns
or D’Angelo Russell, would not only be huge for the fact
that it would make the team better, but also because they
would help to attract free agents to the currently decrepit
Lakers’ roster. Further, it would help the Lakers develop a
young cornerstone of players that could be built on fairly
quickly considering that they still have Julius Randle who
was a top 10 pick last year.
latter. With this being said, you chose Kobe on three separate
occasions, so this season, let Kobe be Kobe. If he wants
to shoot 50 shots a game let him, because you failed him
over the off-season and you owe him this much. If he can’t
surpass Jordan in ring total, at least let him chase the scoring
title and let the record book show that he did at least one
thing better than Jordan.
Further in Kobe’s defense, while the public puts Kobe at
fault for being selfish and taking up all the cap space, the real
culprit is Jim Buss, or whomever negotiates player contracts.
Normally, you start low and bargain from there but obviously
Jim Buss operates under a different set of negotiation rules,
similar to that of Jamie Foxx in Horrible Bosses.
For a second put yourself in Kobe’s position, although
on a much less grand scale. You come into work and you’re
due for a raise, and your boss offers you an enormous salary
based on your years of service and merit. Who in their right
minds would turn down this guaranteed money and chooses
the option of taking less money so that your boss can hire
better coworkers to make your job easier? Nobody, nobody
does.
By offering Kobe this contract the Lakers have
established themselves as an organization that takes care of
their superstars, a loyal franchise in a world dominated greed
and the phrase, “At the end of the day, it’s all business.”
Although this tactic has yet to yield dividends, as shown by
our recent haul, or lack thereof, in free agency, maybe other
superstars will find this loyalty worthwhile
Let Kobe Be Kobe
This part was written well before Kobe’s injury but still
reigns true.
As a franchise you had a choice between Shaq and Kobe,
and you chose Kobe. Again, you had a chance to choose
between trading a Kobe in his prime or keeping him, and
decided on the latter. Lastly, you had a chance to sit down
with Kobe and try negotiate a Tim Duncan-esque salary that
would allow you to put pieces around him and get you back
into title contention or immediately, and idiotically, throw
$25 million dollars in his face. Once again you chose the
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Clean House
With the 2015 Trade Deadline quickly approaching it’s
time for the Lakers to take a page out of the book of the
Boston Celtics and begin cleaning house -- something which
they should have been doing ever since the botched Chris
Paul trade. When it comes to trades, time is of the essence,
and they Lakers must make haste in moving everyone they
possibly can to be able to compete in years to come. This
means they need to begin moving all tradable assets, although
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