Zach Lowe on the Baby Lakers outlook

[TylersLakers]

I enjoy Zach Lowe quite a bit. Good writer and super knowledgable about hoops.

We have no other choice but to see this through.

[wco81]

Looks like the quote was "contending" for championship, while Jeannie said at least get to the second round:

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/244375/Jim-Buss-Doesnt-Foresee-Regime-Change-In-Lakers-Front-Office

It has been almost three years since Jim Buss pledged in an interview to step down from his role in basketball operations with the Los Angeles in “three or four years” if they were not “contending for a championship.”

Jim Buss said last week he “wasn’t referring to a certain playoff position” and that the deadline “really wasn’t as clear as people say it is.”

“This was quotes from three or four years ago,” he said. “Those were what the path was supposed to be.”

Jim Buss said injuries and the farewell tour of Kobe Bryant detailed Jeanie Buss' otherwise reasonable expectations. Buss runs the front office with Mitch Kupchak.

“If I feel that the strides have been made,” Jim Buss said, “and the team is going in a very positive – not just a positive direction – a very positive direction, I don’t see a switch happening.”

Jeanie Buss said as recently as February that anything less than the second round of the playoffs would be falling short.

“We’re like every other team that we will play a season and we will assess that season when it’s over,” Jeanie Buss said. “No reason to speculate on any possible changes. It’s a waste of time to speculate.”

[Pointgod]

Hate to say I told you so but we should have tanked. At this point we aren't a playoff team no matter how hot we started the season. Right now we have to just ride out the young core to see what we have. There any many ways to build a playoff team, we don't have to only go after superstars. Honestly we probably have to wait until 2019 to really do anything significant.

[Landsberger]

Playoff team is a LOT different than a contender. There are probably 4 or 5 contenders right now with 3 or 4 with a real shot. That's different than being in the top 16 teams.

The rebuild will be a lot different than the previous 4 that I've seen IMHO. The reliance on instant media will push the team to get good as fast as possible and that could derail being great.

The core of young guys is about as good as we could have expected given our woeful situation 4 years ago. We may have missed on one or two but we got good value with each pick and no one appears to be a bust (too early with a couple of them). I'm not sure this team, as currently constructed, grows to anything more than a low level playoff team. There are a few holes remaining and we have no true closer/primary scorer. It's a great team to add a primary scorer to however.

The comments from management about what constitutes a "success" are telling. A second round playoff team from 17 wins would be an "all time" accomplishment and the odds of doing that are really astronomical. Can it happen? sure. Likely? No. So they have put expectations beyond the reach of a young core of players learning the game at this level. Too much pressure IMHO for guys like Russell, Ingram and Randle.

We started from a lot better situation in the early 90's and it still took nearly 8 years before the team was in the conversation again. This hole is deeper and there are less opportunities to dig out than there were back then. The front office needs to be very careful in how they proceed and how much pressure they put on the kids or it will backfire in their face. The Lakers are the most recognizable team in the NBA and that pressure is more than enough for the kids.... heaping unobtainable expectations on top is not going to help any of them reach their potential. I already think the team is feeling the effects of starting hot this season. That stretch of great play was free and loose. Nothing in the last 6 weeks has been free and loose. In fact you can see a lot of pressing by several players. That pressure can do that to young teams.

[miggs]

I don't see the Buss having such lofty expectations for the kids but instead on themselves for not landing a big name. I just think the likes of Ryan West are largely to credit for our draft choices and not much of Jim and Mitch. Mitch didn't even know how to pronounce Ivica Zubac, which I found kinda disturbing.

I do believe the kids are giving the Buss more and more to consider giving up for a might win now team, I'm sure they know how bright the future looks, it's just they don't want to have to wait and wait but I think whatever happens with Jim and Mitch, our main young guys are here to stay.



Sent from my SM-G930P using RealGM mobile app

[wco81]

Do the Lakers have big financial pressures to win as soon as they can?

Maybe attendance isn't the same as those championship years. Most of the tickets could be sold but the average price of tickets could be down?

But they have a huge local TV deal, don't they?

Maybe ratings could be higher but along with the NBA TV money and the fact that the Lakers haven't had to give out big contracts other than Kobe's deal and the FAs they signed this year, their payroll must be low.

[Ballerhogger]

Do the Lakers have big financial pressures to win as soon as they can?

Maybe attendance isn't the same as those championship years. Most of the tickets could be sold but the average price of tickets could be down?

But they have a huge local TV deal, don't they?

Maybe ratings could be higher but along with the NBA TV money and the fact that the Lakers haven't had to give out big contracts other than Kobe's deal and the FAs they signed this year, their payroll must be low.

Staples is sold out every night.

[DEEP3CL]

After reading the article seems to me all Lowe wanted to do was write a "let's sh^t on the Lakers", I mean he's horrible when it comes to talking about basketball. I mean he was on this tangent of talking more of how bad they may be in the future as oppose to what they can be. Then as usual he brings up the Moz and Deng deal and makes it seem like they can't or won't be able to sign anybody else.

The new CBA will enable teams to keep their stars...sure we get that, but new CBA or not contracts come to an end and if a guy want's to bolt, bounce, check out...he will. In the beginning all these new CBA start out iron-clad, until smart front offices find holes in them. And they will find holes in this one too.

Personally I don't care if the Lakers don't sign another free agent, hell it's not that many franchise type guys out there anymore to start with. And if you look at the guys the media so call like to anoint as "the man"....it's baggage with them, such as either being a head case, injury prone or was media made into a leader and truthfully never led his team to sh^t in term of playoff success. So if it ain't LeBron or Curry then who really is a franchise guy anyway ?

But it's just tarded use of brain cells to say what guys will become, hell most of our young trio or core hasn't even played 50 straight game together yet...now let that sink in.

The media raves too much about Porzingis and Towns...heck if anybody really has watched Towns, I'd be real leery of what he's wanting to do too much now and that become a glorified perimeter player. I once heard Kentucky Coach Calapari say he had to make KAT play in the post. That's alarming and getting a chance to see him the last few games I can understand why the Wolves are struggling. They basically have 4 perimeter players. And Porzingis landed in a toxic situation, these media guys claim they watch tons of ball every night but can't see that Melo is still holding Porzingis back.

And he still has a weakness that many teams haven't tried to expose and that's to beat him up. He's good but he ain't all star good and he still has a long way to go.

This article was just another one of Lowe's squat fest on the Lakers

[DEEP3CL]

Do the Lakers have big financial pressures to win as soon as they can?

Financial pressures ? Where do you come with this ?

Maybe attendance isn't the same as those championship years. Most of the tickets could be sold but the average price of tickets could be down?

Staples is sold out every night and ticket prices are still the same in the prime area's of Staples as they were during our title years.

But they have a huge local TV deal, don't they?

Our TV deal is larger than any team in the entire NBA and will remain that way for the next 20 years.

Maybe ratings could be higher but along with the NBA TV money and the fact that the Lakers haven't had to give out big contracts other than Kobe's deal and the FAs they signed this year, their payroll must be low.

The payroll isn't in the top 10, but we wouldn't want there right now anyway because we're not contending for titles yet. And again money isn't the issue at all for the Lakers. Hell the new CBA is just going to make the bank roll even thicker than it already was.

When things get right and the team is ready to strike, the Lakers will be well armed financially to pluck a guys if they need to. But really most Laker fans are satisfied to just build it on our own this time.

[wco81]

I meant since Buss talked about 3-4 years to turn the franchise around, it sounded like they were on a timetable.

But it sounds more like they just want to return to winning, not because they're worried fan support will drop off.

[miggs]

I definitely think Jim and Jeannie want to make the Lakers a champion again but i think deep inside both of them know that neither of them has what it takes, maybe the younger Buss brothers but who knows. I just dont think they know how to entrust daddy's favorite thing to another person without a guarantee it'll be returned to its glory despite their own inabilities to do so.

I don't hate Jim, am cool with Mitch but think Luke needs continued input on the roster for our franchise to really return to contention; between Mitch, Ryan and Luke, anything is possible imo

Sent from my SM-G930P using RealGM mobile app

[Landsberger]

I don't hate Jim, am cool with Mitch but think Luke needs continued input on the roster for our franchise to really return to contention; between Mitch, Ryan and Luke, anything is possible imo

Sent from my SM-G930P using RealGM mobile app

I'm of the mind that Mitch is beyond his time in the game. Mitch was good at maintaining the roster but I don't see him nearly as adept at recreating one.

With that said, I don't have the foggiest clue if Luke should have any say in players beyond the typical coaches input. What has he done in this arena? While I like Luke the reality is that he's a rookie coach who's still learning how to do that. Putting player development/choices on him would seem to put him in two arenas where he needs to learn.

I'd rather see a younger "Strong GM" emerge that is aligned with Luke rather than have a coach/GM sort of arrangement.