Shortcuts taken by FO have placed coaches/players in tough spot

[trevm37]

I think I'd rather mgmt re-tool with low risk, movable contracts and one year contracts as opposed to throwing money middle tier free agents and being stuck in the future.

[Kilroy]

Aldridge already knew we sucked and still gave us a shot at him unlike NYK. The reports were that mgmt couldnt answer his questions on how offense would work, how they would use him, analytics, etc. There were some writers who even noted that lakers were neck and neck with the sours beforethe fa pitch started but our presentation was so lacking on bball side pho even jump us into consideration. We can conjure up all the excuses but end of day, jim and mitch arent up to task on luring big name fa, using tired worn out strategies and cont. To sell us fans a bunch of bs.

There were lots of reports... In the end, he went exactly where everyone thought he would.
There were also reports he didn't want to play with Kobe... He says now that's not the case, but that's certainly part of "the basketball side"... He also didn't want to play C next to Randle...

Just don't see a FO failure there... But then again, it's easier to say the FO screwed up than it is to admit there was no chance we were going to be good for the last few years...

[LApwnd]

Aldridge already knew we sucked and still gave us a shot at him unlike NYK. The reports were that mgmt couldnt answer his questions on how offense would work, how they would use him, analytics, etc. There were some writers who even noted that lakers were neck and neck with the sours beforethe fa pitch started but our presentation was so lacking on bball side pho even jump us into consideration. We can conjure up all the excuses but end of day, jim and mitch arent up to task on luring big name fa, using tired worn out strategies and cont. To sell us fans a bunch of bs.

There were lots of reports... In the end, he went exactly where everyone thought he would.
There were also reports he didn't want to play with Kobe... He says now that's not the case, but that's certainly part of "the basketball side"... He also didn't want to play C next to Randle...

Just don't see a FO failure there... But then again, it's easier to say the FO screwed up than it is to admit there was no chance we were going to be good for the last few years...

Ok say we as fans knew there was no chance at aldridge, so then why does mgmt think.different? Why would it be different next off season with Durant? We're still terrible from the looks of it...matter of fact even a 2nd tier lvl star like Monroe choosed a smallarket team like the bucks over us

[Kilroy]

What else can they do? They're offering literally the most ...

How about, have a "better" plan B?

I feel like the FO is making the most of a difficult situation...

I don't know if you're just using an empty catchphrase or if you really believe the bolded part?

In my world, if you can see one mistake, let alone track several, you're not doing "the most" of anything that is positive.

Are you honestly deleting half a sentence to expose 'the most' and accusing me of reusing it later as a catch phrase? Is that really where we are at this point?

To answer the question though... It's easy to look at the past and revise history to misplace blame for an uncomfortable present and future... But there's no way to prove your revision of events is right. And at the end of the day... It doesn't matter a whole lot.

You cannot prove to me that the FO made any clear mistakes to get to the place they are now... And I can't prove they didn't.

I think it's obvious however, that the single biggest factor in our current malaise is the decline of Kobe Bryant... If he was still healthy, we'd be winning more, and more FAs would be interested in being the guy that puts us over the top...
And since he's injured, and ineffective, it would be better if he wasn't here at all from a FA perspective... So you have to ask yourself, would you be happier if the FO had dumped Kobe? If so, I guess that's the major 'mistake' the FO made...

But I disagree with that too... So, there you go.

[Kilroy]

Aldridge already knew we sucked and still gave us a shot at him unlike NYK. The reports were that mgmt couldnt answer his questions on how offense would work, how they would use him, analytics, etc. There were some writers who even noted that lakers were neck and neck with the sours beforethe fa pitch started but our presentation was so lacking on bball side pho even jump us into consideration. We can conjure up all the excuses but end of day, jim and mitch arent up to task on luring big name fa, using tired worn out strategies and cont. To sell us fans a bunch of bs.

There were lots of reports... In the end, he went exactly where everyone thought he would.
There were also reports he didn't want to play with Kobe... He says now that's not the case, but that's certainly part of "the basketball side"... He also didn't want to play C next to Randle...

Just don't see a FO failure there... But then again, it's easier to say the FO screwed up than it is to admit there was no chance we were going to be good for the last few years...

Ok say we as fans knew there was no chance at aldridge, so then why does mgmt think.different? Why would it be different next off season with Durant? We're still terrible from the looks of it...matter of fact even a 2nd tier lvl star like Monroe choosed a smallarket team like the bucks over us

I mean, is this a real question?

Isn't it better to try than not to? Isn't that basically what sport is all about?

I would think the overwhelming evidence should indicate we have an extremely slim chance of landing Durant... But we're still going to try... That's the fun of this game.

[madmaxmedia]

I like Mitch, and I believe he was instrumental in maintaining the franchise's success in previous years. But I wonder if he is the type to lead a franchise from nothing to something, and envision/create the plan to do so. He seems like a great analytic type- option A vs. option B, how would a certain trade impact the team, etc. and also seems very level-headed. But at this point something more is needed perhaps...

If the Buss family had hired [take your pick] to run basketball operations for the Lakers, what would the plan be? Who would be coach? Then, how would the last 1 or 2 offseason been different, or would things be around the same with only minor changes? It's not just about whether another Laker team could have made a better presentation to LMA, but whether a different team would have a totally different blueprint/structure in place, which would have led to a different or better presentation, etc.

One one hand I think the Lakers could have a better, more decisive front office, but OTOH the salary cap, nature of the draft, and power of players/FA's are significant challenges to any team trying to improve. Either way, I don't think the Lakers decide to strike out in a totally different direction (new GM and FO) before at least giving it a go with the current pieces in place, which was further solidified with the big Kobe contract and the hiring of Byron Scott.

[chefy12]

we tried to sign the big names. no one bit. so we went after the remaining serviceable players available. not really that complicated honestly.

[milesfides]

Williams and Bass weren't shortcuts. They're just not very good.

Why would any team pick Williams over Lin? Especially 7m/year vs. 2m/year? Why would anybody take Bass and let Ed Davis, our best rim protector and p/r big man, walk?

These aren't shortcuts. These are just bad decisions.

Even if we struck out on the big fish, there were some really good bargain bin players who could have helped us.

Alexey Shved is a versatile guard in the backcourt who could both spell Kobe at the 2 (or replace him) and take over playmaking duties when Russell struggles. Clarkson is not a point. We were thin at 2 and a real point, and Alexey would be a perfect pickup.

Brandan Wright - I thought Dallas was hiding and stashing him until Dirk faded. He's a solid young player who doesn't need plays to be productive, and if he got minutes he might just blow up.

I can roll with the idea of winning now. But none of the moves the Lakers did this summer was to win now. Drafting Okafor and filling holes in our roster would have made sense. And that's not what they did.