I’m thinking more about what Lakers will do after parting with Dwight Howard than with the turnaround of my home team Rockets when D12 agrees to sign with them. Houston will be fine though I’m cautiously optimistic. It takes time to put together a team and build chemistry. The Heat didn’t win it all the first season, and look at the Lakers last year! Lakers situation presents a tough challenge. They’re loaded with expensive contracts, but all except Nash’s will expire after this year. Lakers still have a first round pick in summer 2014, which almost guarantee they will be able to get a good young prospect from the unusual deep – as reported by multiple sources – draft. They’ll rebound even if they stay pat this season. The challenge is if they want to return as a contender for Kobe to have a legitimate shot at the sixth ring, they will have to maneuver their assets to build the championship-caliber roster around him. Kobe can’t wait for a promising prospect to grow. His time is ticking. Lakers will have to re-build thru free agency. But their options will be quite limited. Just check the FA class next summer. Very few superstars who can turn a franchise around: - Melo - Lebron James - Dwayne Wade - Chris Bosh - Zach Randolph Melo will stay with New York. James will not leave Miami. Wade’s performance is fading due to injuries. Bosh will be available, but this guy is not better than Pau Gasol. Z-Bo is old and will likely stay with Memphis. He has the player option and will not forfeit 16+ millions. Lakers will have to build the new team via trades. Expiring contracts will be valuable assets to acquire a few good guys from teams that want to unload salaries. But it’s difficult to get an All-stars like Kevin Love or Roy Hibbert or Paul George except the team wants to re-build. Lakers have proved in the past that they would always be able to pull the trade that surprised everyone (e.g. the trade that sent Gasol from Memphis to LA). Can’t wait to see what they’ll do this year.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:30:36 +0000