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The_Ghost_of_JB wrote:Of course not. Yeah they are not having a great season so far but they can sign any player in the NBA they want this offseason. It also works in their favor that there are plenty of GMs lining up as we speak to ensure the Lakers stay competitive by offering them their best players for very little in return. Lakers will be fine.

No they can't.

dockingsched wrote:the current owner is jerry buss, arguably the greatest owner in sports. the hell u talking about "if the current owner is as bad as reports make him seem"

Jim Buss is running day-to-day operations for the Lakers.


Anyways, this thread is exactly what I said - people who think history+Hollywood will somehow magically make the Lakers good, despite bad management.

If you believe that, then:
- Why didn't the Yankees win in the 80s when George Steinbrenner was mucking things up? They only won when Steinbrenner put his ego aside and let baseball people make baseball decisions.
- Why didn't the Redskins win with Dan Snyder playing owner/GM? He ran around paying gobs of money to big names too: Deion Sanders, Albert Haynesworth, etc.
- Why haven't the Knicks won in forever under Dolan?
- Why did the Raiders fall off as Al Davis started losing it?
- Why haven't the Dodgers won under the ownership of Fox or Frank McCourt?

And by "win" I'm not even talking about titles, I'm talking about regularly making the playoffs.

All those teams had proud histories of consistent success too... until management turned sour. All those franchises have multiple championships - heck, the Yankees are the greatest franchise in American pro sports. They were all in good markets - 2 of those teams are/were in the same market the Lakers are in.

Yet during periods of bad management, every single one of them struggled to even make the playoffs. Just as the Lakers are struggling to make the playoffs right now, since Jim Buss purged the front office.

The bad management that you have been talking about has not occurred yet. You can't tell me with a straight face that Steve Nash / Dwight Howard deals were bad. Coach is arguable but it is not like DAntoni is a random coach.

I'm sorry but that's stupid. The lakers are the lakers. It's not about Kobe Shaq or Dwight Howard. They always will be a great franchise, cause great players want to play there and they always know how to make great deals. There so much money on the table, that this frnchise will always be an elite franchise.

seren wrote:The bad management that you have been talking about has not occurred yet. You can't tell me with a straight face that Steve Nash / Dwight Howard deals were bad. Coach is arguable but it is not like DAntoni is a random coach.

The coach was a horrible hire - one that has managed to outweigh the benefits of adding Dwight and Nash. One bad mistake can easily outweigh 2 good calls - especially when you don't correct it.

If I fill up my gas tank with premium and rotate my tires on schedule but never change my oil, my car's engine will end up in bad shape - even though I made 2 good calls and only 1 bad one.

Massamba wrote:I'm sorry but that's stupid. The lakers are the lakers. It's not about Kobe Shaq or Dwight Howard. They always will be a great franchise, cause great players want to play there and they always know how to make great deals. There so much money on the table, that this frnchise will always be an elite franchise.

Yeah, that's probably what the Yankees/Knicks/Dodgers/Redskins/Raiders thought too, at the beginning of their respective management-induced droughts.

BubbaTee wrote:

dockingsched wrote:the current owner is jerry buss, arguably the greatest owner in sports. the hell u talking about "if the current owner is as bad as reports make him seem"

Jim Buss is running day-to-day operations for the Lakers.

Jim Buss does not running day to operations on his own. He does not make moves without the blessings of Jerry and Mitch. He does not make moves on his own. Jerry is not dead or incapacitated.

seren wrote:

SaveOurBullets wrote:It's not going to be as easy as people say it is. Who's going to be available within the next few years?

Some names from 2014 FA market:

Lebron James
Carmelo Anthony
Dwayne Wade
Chris Bosh
Kevin Love
Dirk Nowitzki
Danny Granger
Rudy Gay
Zach Randolph

If the answer to this question is "no", two conditions need to exist. One, they need to successfully acquire stars. Two, the star(s) they do acquire have to be good enough to lead them into serious championship contention.

There are a few serious obstacles the Lakers face here. The first problem is that the quantity of game changers left on the market is so limited. Look at the names you provided. We can scratch off most of them as being the type of player to lead or play second banana in a Lakers championship run. Dirk, Wade and Randolph are too old. Gay and Granger simply aren't good enough.

For players who are franchise talents, how many of them are actually in a position to leave and join the Lakers? LeBron is perfectly happy in Miami. Melo is perfectly happy in New York now that the Knicks are winning. Kevin Durant seems like a lifer in OKC. Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin are succeeding and winning in big markets. Russell Westbrook might want to start his own legacy one day, but that's a long way off.

The reason why the Lakers have won so many championships and not merely been a playoff team is because they've always had top 10-15 all time talents. They've always had a guy who could claim to be a top 5 player in the entire league. Who's going to fill those shoes? Dwight Howard is really the only hope for that, and now of course there are plenty of issues with him.

It pains me to say that I fully expect some a-hole GM to gift the Lakers with a young superstar before the 2013 trade deadline.

2008, Pau Gasol was acquired for **** KWAME BROWN. And they won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes last year.

Other team's GM's always seem for some reason to gift the Lakers with the pieces they need to contend, almost as if they're closet fans. And this what will probably happen in this year's trade deadline. WATCH

If this doesn't happen, then like everyone said, they'll bounce back.

1 season does not erase the proudest history in the league. Especially with the injuries and all that.

If history has taught us anything in Lakerland, what happens if the Lakers liquidate the old guys and build around Dwight. That is what the Lakers do. It's tough at first, but its really for the best interest of the fans.

Between trades and FA signings, the Lakers will do fine.

And history shows us that all the other Lakers will be gone before Dwight.

symbiotic wrote:It pains me to say that I fully expect some a-hole GM to gift the Lakers with a young superstar before the 2013 trade deadline.

2008, Pau Gasol was acquired for **** KWAME BROWN. And they won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes last year.

Other team's GM's always seem for some reason to gift the Lakers with the pieces they need to contend, almost as if they're closet fans. And this what will probably happen in this year's trade deadline. WATCH

If this doesn't happen, then like everyone said, they'll bounce back.

Yes, but this young superstar has to actually exist for that to happen. What truly elite playera have a reasonable chance of being moved over the next few years?

Are they still in LA?

You said elite "franchise" not team so yes they are. They are worth 1 Billion dollars for Christ sake. Name an elite franchise and I'll show you how much they are worth!

No. Have you seen their franchise value?

JesusHCoxMd wrote:All I know Lakers fans aren't as loud on General Boards no more.

You haven't even been here for a year.

2 words: Boston. Celtics.

doozyj wrote:No.

Nothing more need be said.

"If we've learned anything from professional sports over the years, it's that nobody can inflict more damage on a franchise than an incompetent owner. Just look at how the Maloofs destroyed basketball in Sacramento, or what James Dolan did to the Ewing era, or what Donald Sterling did for his first 25 years with the Clippers. There's a really good chance that Jimmy Buss might be THAT bad"

- Celtic homer Bill Simmons via Grantland article about Lakers struggles http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8872264/lakers

Time will tell but considering the ownership's drama with Phil Jackson and rushed coaching hires the Lakers could be the Knicks 2.0

I can't imagine a player that wouldn't want to play in LA, so I doubt it. They'll be back.

Isn't Dwight nowadays considered a franchise player? I still think he is.