The Los Angeles Lakers won’t compete for a playoff spot in a loaded Western Conference this season, but success is about much more than wins and losses for this team. Let’s face it: they have dramatically fallen off the map over the past four seasons. While the lack of success in the present has to be frustrating for Kobe Bryant and some of the veteran players, the focus now has to be on the future.
That includes securing a high draft pick, developing the young talent on the roster, and establishing chemistry. Although Kobe is in the twilight of his career and wants to vie for rings, the reality is that these three things could actually help make this season a positive one for the franchise going forward. Although rookie Julius Randle’s injury was a major blow to the plan, there is still a lot this team could do to make something out of this year.
Keeping Their Protected Lottery Pick
Anybody that correlates the Lakers win total for this season with success isn’t seeing the big picture. The skinny of it is that the fewer victories this team earns, the better off they will be in the long run. As of right now, Los Angeles would have a top-five pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and they are also owed an additional first- and second-round pick from the Houston Rockets as part of the deal they made to acquire Jeremy Lin and absorb his contract.
The Lakers will get to keep the top-five protected pick they offered the Phoenix Suns as part of the Steve Nash trade in 2012 only if they lose enough games, so it’s absolutely crucial to their long-term success to tank this year. Losing big this season could lead to a huge score at the draft. If they win enough games to keep them out of the top five, which just means that one more potential asset is slipping through their fingers. And with Kobe Bryant’s biological clock ticking, the Lakers can’t afford that.
Developing Young Talent
Another aspect of this season’s success will be developing the young talent on the roster and that is the one area where Randle’s season-ending injury hurts the most. Randle is one of the key pieces to the rebuilding plan for the Lakers and shaving a full year off his NBA career with the devastating injury is not ideal.
Is Randle going to be a quality starter? A star? Someone the Lakers can build around with Kobe? That’s still to be determined. All we know is that he’s missing out on a lot of valuable experience and playing time.
However, there isn’t much concern that he will work himself back in to shape physically and be ready to go next year. Since Los Angeles probably would have won more games with Randle in the lineup, yet still would be nowhere near a playoff-caliber team, there might be a silver lining with his loss. It might not be as devastating a blow for this year as some people think.
Building Chemistry Under Byron Scott
The final key to what would make this season a success for the Lakers is their ability to build chemistry as a team under head coach Byron Scott. Kobe has to buy into the team concept and take on more of a selfless role while helping Nick Young, Jordan Hill, and Ed Davis become better players.
While Hill and Davis will never be superstars, they could turn out to be key role players in the near future. There is little doubt Los Angeles will look to add through free agency as well as the draft in a bid to speed up the rebuilding process this offseason, but establishing a level of chemistry and consistency with the players currently on the roster will help the process of turning things around long term for the Lakers.
