2017 NBA Offseason Review: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers spent this offseason totally rebuilding the team in a direction that makes sense

Patrick Oxford
Jul 30, 2017 · 4 min read
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The Los Angeles Lakers made big front office changes last season bringing in Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka in to take control of the team. This offseason gave us a glimpse into what the future of the Lakers franchise could look like, as they attempt to draw stars in free agency.

Key Losses

The Lakers lost 2 of their top 5 players in terms of minutes played last season, DeAngelo Russell and Nick Young. Russell was accompanied by Timofey Mozgov in a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, the price of moving Mozgov’s albatross contract. Nick Young elected to join the defending champion Warriors, a move that is difficult to find fault with. Tarik Black is another loss that saw over 1,000 minutes last season as the Rockets were able entice him with the allure of title contention as well, and it doesn’t hurt that he played with the Rockets earlier in his career. Russell was the only long-term loss the team may regret, but if it leads to a star next summer it will be hard to argue with the trade in hindsight. Filling out the minutes shouldn’t be hard this upcoming season with the influx of rookies and with there being no hurry to get anywhere in the standings.

Key Additions

Magic and Rob Pelinka began their rebuilding process in June with the draft. They selected local talent Lonzo Ball from UCLA with the 2nd pick in the draft, and then later were able pickup Kyle Kuzma, Thomas Bryant, and Josh Hart.

Ball has the ability to totally change the culture of a team, and that was on full display during Summer League. You can see his teammates wanting to run the court hard knowing that Ball will find them if they gain a step on the defense. It’s almost as if Ball is like Matt Ryan picking on a slow secondary.

Thomas Bryant is a center with absurd length and the ability to stretch the floor, a very rare and valuable combination. He will still need to iron out others aspects of his game like rebounding and mobility.

Kyle Kuzma was a surprise so early in the draft, but the way he was able to knock down the 3 in summer league eased concerns regarding how he can be a contributing role player going forward. Defensively I think he had better than expected results defending on the perimeter, a very good sign for his versatility. Josh Hart projects as a prototypical 3&D player. He has the length to guard most wings and should fit in well with Ball for years to come.

The next big move the Lakers made was bringing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after the Pistons rescinded their qualifying offer to him. Caldwell-Pope is an adept defender, although he hasn’t delivered on the 3 portion of his hypothetical 3&D potential. He did shoot a career high 35% from deep last season, so even slight improvement in that area and he will be a legit threat from beyond the arc.


Goals for this season

This season for the Lakers should be seen as the year to build a foundation and culture that will persist through years of roster development. Lonzo Ball is the obvious starting point to this foundation, but it will be up to the other young players to step up and embrace this new culture. Magic is looking to bring back the atmosphere that he popularized during the showtime era based on unselfishness and effort, and that means an incredibly entertaining brand of basketball. The Lakers have already traded away rights to their first round draft pick in 2018, so late season tanking shouldn’t be an issue.

Goals for the Lakers this season should include clarification as to which prospects have long-term potential in the league. Brandon Ingram is the most important piece for the team after Ball currently, and in his quick stint in Vegas this summer he certainly impressed.

Julius Randle is in a tenuous position with only one year left on his rookie deal. He has a high enough cap hold next summer that the Lakers would probably have to renounce his rights if free agency turns out how they are hoping it does. Extracting value out of Randle in a trade wouldn’t be the worst decision unless Magic and Pelinka aren’t confident that the team will pull the kind of star power currently being discussed in the media.

Lakers fans have plenty to look forward to as they have multiple paths to getting back to the playoffs. It won’t be this season, but a playoff appearance as early as April 2019 is very possible.


All statistics courtesy of Basketball-reference.com

Patrick Oxford

Written by

Writer for The 94 Feet Report, Scout, Coach

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