The Lakers Process

[tlifeset]

I've been thinking a lot about the Lakers rebuild lately, and I think it would be helpful for us to establish a dialogue and potentially consensus on where we are in the lifecycle of our comeback. While Philadelphia likes to claim the process, every rebuild has a strategy and process. I'd argue most of them are centered around two key areas: young talent and cap space.

In full transparency, I'm going through this exercise because there's been an avalanche of criticism on Pelinka and Magic over the last month and I'm wondering if it's really warranted.

I think we first have to rewind the clock back to 2 years ago when Pelinka and Magic got the keys to the Lakers rebuild.

YEAR ONE.

They inherited three of the worst contracts in the history of the Lakers, all of whom seemed immovable: Mozgov, Deng and Clarkson.
They also had three underperforming prospects: Russell, Randle and Ingram.

In year 1 of the rebuild, they were able to trade Mozgov before the draft.
They selected Ball, Kuzma and Hart in the draft.

During the season, they were able to dump Clarkson's contract on the Cleveland Cavaliers and somehow secure a draft pick in that deal.

At that point, it had been established that the Lakers could reasonably sign two max contracts in the offseason.

Pelinka called cap space "sacred" and said they wouldn't just spend it on anybody. I think we all vehemently agreed after the last round of cap space with Mitch and Jim.


YEAR TWO.

They go into the offseason with their eyes set on Lebron and PG13. I think most people were assuming that PG13 was practically guaranteed and Lebron was the long shot.

We don't get a meeting with PG13 and he resigns with OKC.

But Lebron comes to the Lakers on a 4-year deal.

Pelinka and Magic are then left with a key decision: do they spend their other max cap slot on other non-superstar FAs who want longer contracts (Randle), trade for someone who wants to dump a salary (i.e. John Wall or Mike Conley) or do they look for players who would be willing to take 1-year deals even if they are less than ideal?

I think we all know what they chose (the meme team), but keep in mind that the decision was made to hold the cap slot for what will be one of the best FA classes of all time. Plus, we could assume that at that point they probably had ongoing conversations with Kawhi's team and AD's team.

The team also negotiated a buy out with Luol Deng to remove the last bad contract from the previous administration.

They attempted a trade for AD but Dell Demps never negotiated in good faith and was fired weeks later.


YEAR THREE.

So, here we are...

In fairness, I think it could be argued that the Lakers Process will be completed this offseason.

For one, they are going to replace Luke Walton - a coach they didn't hire. Presumably with someone who will give them a shot at a big name FA and can coach Lebron.

And of course... because this will represent the last bastion of cap space that they team strategically created for this moment over the last two years. Remember "sacred". They would rather have KCP at 1-year 12 Mill than Julius Randle at 2-years 18 mill... all to keep cap space.


IN CLOSING.

Sure, it could be argued that there were some missteps...
-signing Beasley instead of Lopez
-trading Zu for a black hole (although Zu was leaving this offseason)
-trading D'Angelo too soon (although its hard to argue when Mozgov's cap space went to Lebron and we got Kuz and Hart in that draft)

As far as this year... when we all had our hopes up... If we really want to place blame on this year, it's mostly that we were railroaded by injuries but then refused to use our remaining cap space to get more talent not named Anthony Davis. For instance, they probably could have traded expiring salaries and a player like Hart for Mike Conley but then they would be out of the FA market this offseason but probably would have made the playoffs this year.

I think it's pretty clear what Pelinka and Magic were strategically trying to do over the last couple of years. Mostly because they said exactly what they wanted to do: clear cap space and sign top FAs. Hard to say they didn't execute on that promise when they signed Lebron and have another slot open for this FA class.

If the team strikes out on an upper echelon Free Agent this offseason or isn't able to secure a player via trade, and then has to punt again on the cap space until next year... THEN I think we can start to judge Pelinka unfavorably, no matter what happens next season.

Until then, I think we need to give more credit to the horrific cap situation they inherited two years ago and their mostly impressive transformative process that has lead us to these current opportunities.

After all, it's better for all Laker fans if Pelinka is successful with his vision when he took over... and he sees it through at the level we all expect. I see no reason to doubt the man at this point. He's already executed on his promises thus far.

[Pythagoras]

I've been thinking a lot about the Lakers rebuild lately, and I think it would be helpful for us to establish a dialogue and potentially consensus on where we are in the lifecycle of our comeback. While Philadelphia likes to claim the process, every rebuild has a strategy and process. I'd argue most of them are centered around two key areas: young talent and cap space.

In full transparency, I'm going through this exercise because there's been an avalanche of criticism on Pelinka and Magic over the last month and I'm wondering if it's really warranted.

I would say ask yourself this. How many fanbases do you think would be happy if it were announced Magic were about to run them. Let's remove the idea of whether or not he wants to get back in the game. I have no idea if Pelinka is or isn't a good, but Magic was terrible.

YEAR ONE.

They inherited three of the worst contracts in the history of the Lakers, all of whom seemed immovable: Mozgov, Deng and Clarkson.
They also had three underperforming prospects: Russell, Randle and Ingram.

In year 1 of the rebuild, they were able to trade Mozgov before the draft.
They selected Ball, Kuzma and Hart in the draft.

Ingram was coming off of his rookie season. Literally every single scouting report on him coming into the draft was that he was physically underdeveloped. If anyone thought Ingram was an underperformer, its because they didn't get to know him in the draft process. Russell literally improved statistically across the board in every single relevant metric from year one to year two, and most indicators suggested he would be AT WORST what he is now. A low tier all star. This wouldn't even be a discussion if not for the snitching stuff and Lord Byron choosing to feud with him as a rookie. Randle was an under performer, I'll give you that.

As far as the Mozgov trade, he traded premium assets to dump a contract a year early. Virtually all outside observers graded the Nets the winner of that trade.

Now drafting Kuzma, Ball, and Hart? Good picks.

During the season, they were able to dump Clarkson's contract on the Cleveland Cavaliers and somehow secure a draft pick in that deal.

A good deal to be sure.

YEAR TWO.

They go into the offseason with their eyes set on Lebron and PG13. I think most people were assuming that PG13 was practically guaranteed and Lebron was the long shot.

We don't get a meeting with PG13 and he resigns with OKC.

But Lebron comes to the Lakers on a 4-year deal.

Pelinka and Magic are then left with a key decision: do they spend their other max cap slot on other non-superstar FAs who want longer contracts (Randle), trade for someone who wants to dump a salary (i.e. John Wall or Mike Conley) or do they look for players who would be willing to take 1-year deals even if they are less than ideal?

I think we all know what they chose (the meme team), but keep in mind that the decision was made to hold the cap slot for what will be one of the best FA classes of all time. Plus, we could assume that at that point they probably had ongoing conversations with Kawhi's team and AD's team.

Signing Lebron? Good

Missing on PG? I'll give him a pass.

Keeping a max slot? Good

Signing the meme team? Letting Randle walk for nothing? Letting Lopez walk. Not adding shooters? Awful. Indefensible.

YEAR THREE.

So, here we are...

In fairness, I think it could be argued that the Lakers Process will be completed this offseason.

For one, they are going to replace Luke Walton - a coach they didn't hire. Presumably with someone who will give them a shot at a big name FA and can coach Lebron.

The process will ultimately be completed this offseason. I don't think Magic left us in a bad place. He made some ok decisions, and some brutally awful ones. Most of his good decisions didn't net us nearly as much as his defenders claim, and a lot of his bad decisions looked like bad decisions in real time. I'm happy he's not here anymore.

[Kilroy]

"The Process" Mitch and Jim started was clearly a lot different than the process Maginka had...

Process A was to amass assets and try to have cap space for key Free Agent classes...

Process B was to wait for Process A to get enough assets and cap space to put them in a position to land LeBron, fire the guys that got them there, Hire Rob Lowe's Doppelganger to keep Jeanie moist and oblivious, and be there to accept LeBron's signature... Process B out...
(Post process steps that were Magic-ally supposed to happen... AD shows up one day in a Lakers uniform, with Kyrie in a duffel-bag... And all the annoying "assets" would do the polite/honorable thing, and cease to exist.)

[LakerClipperFan]

No mention of the Lou Williams trade? How about our 27 win season followed by a 17 win season, the worst season in history (Bryant taking the most shots of any Laker). That was DAR's rookie season, now he's an all star, we had Julius too.

We have steadily been improving since then. Now that we have King James, things are looking up!

[tlifeset]

Great point about Lou Williams. They traded away the best player in the NBA for a late first. I would argue though that houston screwed up the most. They traded him for cp3 when he might be better than him now.

[tlifeset]

Pythogoras,

Very good points.

Although there is some revisionist history around the meme team. On dec 25 2018 the lakers, with that same meme team that everyone says sucked, was the 4 seed in the west and one game back from the 3 seed. Then lebron got hurt... and, well, we know how history played out.

Plus, the first priority was one year deals... then it was the actual players. Sure, shooters are great - were there any FAs that offseason who could shoot AND only would sign a one year deal? No.

So really hard to throw around words like “indefensible” when there is a pretty good case to be made.

You say that you have no idea if pelinka is good... when i would say we have plenty of evidence that confirms he is good based on what he set out to do from the beginning.

I expect us to sign Kawhi. Then the process will be complete.

[Pythagoras]

Pythogoras,

Very good points.

Although there is some revisionist history around the meme team. On dec 25 2018 the lakers, with that same meme team that everyone says sucked, was the 4 seed in the west and one game back from the 3 seed. Then lebron got hurt... and, well, we know how history played out.

Plus, the first priority was one year deals... then it was the actual players. Sure, shooters are great - were there any FAs that offseason who could shoot AND only would sign a one year deal? No.

So really hard to throw around words like “indefensible” when there is a pretty good case to be made.

You say that you have no idea if pelinka is good... when i would say we have plenty of evidence that confirms he is good based on what he set out to do from the beginning.

I expect us to sign Kawhi. Then the process will be complete.

If we sign Kawhi then a lot will be forgiven. That said, I’m crediting Pelinka if we sign Kawhi. Not Magic. That’s consistent from me too, because I’ve always given Magic credit for the LeBron signing, even as there were questions how much Magic actually had to do with him signing.

[LakerClipperFan]

Lou is at least $20M cheaper than CP3 as well. Fine fine player he is.

They also traded Montrezz who is also on a cheap contract for another year.

Lakers traded Lou to "tank" for a low draft pick. The best players we drafted are DAR and Julius, both gone. We have a tendency to overhype our players here in Lakerland. For example, remember all the buzz about Jordan Clarkson the 'steal of the draft'? LOL

The Lakers fanbase is changing big time now that we have LeBron, the greatest player of all time.

Great point about Lou Williams. They traded away the best player in the NBA for a late first. I would argue though that houston screwed up the most. They traded him for cp3 when he might be better than him now.

[thomas1897]

Change for the Lakers has come with adversity and poor basketball judgement on behalf of the management. Since the admonishment of Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss. The new management made a good step in the right direction with some good pieces to start with Jordan Clarkson ,Julius Randle and excellent draft picks. The Lakers new management removed bad contracts and made some good trades but signing free agents cost them good players and players going to other teams through free agency process.By the third year of Majic Johnson's tenure things did not work to good. Too many good players were let go and nothing of value was received very bad management decisions. Lebron is a good free agent but he is not the solution to the problem. The Lakers have to have stability within their management structure. Majic Johnson was a great player however he did not demonstrate good judgement running basketball operations and knowing how to assemble a good team. Free agents do help and good young talent also. Blending talent from each pole of players can be an excellent way to build a contender and champion such as the Golden State Warriors. Jerry West offered his assistance to the Lakers but he received a brush off from the management too much nonsense and foolishness caused this. Now what should be done and can this be fixed?

[snaquille oatmeal]

Plan C first step- hire new IT guy to protect Jeanie’s e-mails

[LAKESHOW]

Well aquire either KD, Kawai or Thompson

[mighty_duck]

In a void, I'd say the D'Lo for cap space was a horrible trade, Zu for nothing was bad, the meme team was bad. Heck, I wasn't enthused about giving away Nance just to get rid of Clarkson's contract (despite all the hate here for him, his contract is reasonable, and IMO could have been given away). We already had the cap space to sign Lebron, and all we did with the leftover cap space we created was sign the meme team.

BUT!
Would Lebron have signed without us having the cap space to go after PG, or another max target this summer? Would he have signed without first buying in to a plan B strategy of getting hard-nosed veteran playmakers on 1 year contracts?
My guess is no. In that light, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they do well this summer in free agency.

[TKainZero]

The Lakers fanbase is changing big time now that we have LeBron, the greatest player of all time]

Lebron is not the GOAT
Not even close

The king of the lEast. Sure.
But dude couldn’t even make the playoffs out west.

An eastern conference title has about the same weight as being the team winning 4-3 in the western conference first round. (Think the cp3 clippers beating the spurs a few years back)


It’s sad. Every little quibble I had about lebron over that last 15 years or so just got amplified when he became a laker.

He is the weak minded, weak willed, overrated joke of a player we always knew.

And while I had high hopes for him and the lakers this season past, it became apparent lebron was out of his league. He flopped hard. And I don’t mean in game, but as a player in the lakers. He flopped. He is the most hated laker since... Rodman? Even when pau gasol was giving like 10% effort his last couple years he didn’t look this bad.

It’s sad how you can go to almost any sports bar in America, and find people who will openly talk about how much of a female dog lebron is. Random people will overhear the conversation, and shout out, “lebron is a (female dog) Kobe fore life”

Even the one guy I know who is an unappologetic lebron fan has admitted lebron in LA is a disgrace. And that lebron is a (female dog)

No one saw lebron being this Pathetic. But. We all overrated lebron. Sorry lebron. No easy night outs west. No cruzing to the finals vs Roy hibbert and Jeff Teague.

We will all remember lebron activating playoff mode. And then going 2-12 down the stretch of the season

[zimpy27]

I'd probably coin it "the incess" in terms of hiring practices.

Reality is, this was a two offseason experiment, hopefully, someone comes and saves the day/

[madmaxmedia]

Does anyone else here actually consider Clarkson one of the worst contracts in Laker history?
(not saying it was a bad trade, it seemed like a fair trade given the teams' respective situations, and one that was good for the Lakers.)

[Landsberger]

Does anyone else here actually consider Clarkson one of the worst contracts in Laker history?
(not saying it was a bad trade, it seemed like a fair trade given the teams' respective situations, and one that was good for the Lakers.)

Mozgov, Deng and Nash come to mind in just the last several year as much worse deals. Clarkson produced decently while he was here and could have left to go elsewhere but stayed. Why stop at his contract and not say he was the worst pick we've every made. Not much of a distinction IMHO when the bias is that strong.

[stan francisco]

Trust the progress, should be the thread title. Great post, OP.

[thomas1897]

What is the Laker Process? Any comments for 2020 would be a good start. Is Phil Jackson available for Majic Johnson's job? This would be an excellent start. Do you think so?