Where are the Los Angeles Lakers going?
Ask yourself that question before getting worked up by the title. Create a simple checklist with the main priority as the Lakers are like the New York Yankees of basketball.
Can the Lakers win a championship this year? No.
Can the Lakers win a championship in a few years? Obviously, no.
That is all the matters and all fans should have in mind. Of course, they could continue playing every day and still fail miserably as the rest of the league is bound to remain younger and healthier as the season progresses. They have potential, yes, but potential is not going to bring another championship to Los Angeles. Heck, the only way a championship will make it to L.A. is if the Clippers do something about it and they have the talent.
Tanking is illegal, or more unethical than illegal. It is difficult to prove when a team tanks, but the Lakers have the perfect cover-up; they are old. Steve Nash will miss a couple of weeks and Pau Gasol cannot last a month without suffering pain somewhere in his body. The rest of the Lakers are unproven and they pretty much do not have anybody outside of Kobe Bryant who can truly carry the team on their backs.
Bryant will spend a maximum of two years in the league. Then what? Are the Lakers going to spend money on superstar free agents and get themselves in the same mess they are in now? With Bryant making $30 million a year, Gasol banking in at $19 million a year and Nash raking in $9 million a season, the Lakers are not left with much room to acquire quality players, which explains why their roster is composed of nobodies.
Granted, the Lakers could lure some players who are willing to take paycuts, they still do not possess a quality star within their system that will either draw fans to the arena or make them a truly competitive team.
What are the chances that Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle will remain in the NCAA one more season? They would probably be in the NBA already had David Stern not applied the "One Year of College" rule after LeBron James went straight to the NBA from high school. The nation saw these young guys in action and they were all highly impressed, to say the least.
The NBA protects itself and its fans from tankers. The team with the worst record in the league does not always wind up with the top pick in the draft thanks to the lottery system. However, finishing in the bottom three could guarantee the Lakers wind up with a superstar and a future face for their franchise.
