Most of the 2015-16 NBA season for the Lakers has been completely embarrassing, between them trying to balance the effects of Kobe Bryant announcing this season his 20th as his last, and the Development of their young player core of Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Larry Nance Jr.
Albeit this season is far from over with 36 games completed out of the rigorous 82, the lakers are sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference at 8-28. One has to wonder what’s important to the Lakers as an organization? The Kobe farewell Tour or Developing their future.
Any speculation on what’s important was laid to rest in an interview with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and ESPN.
“Under normal circumstances [in a season like this], at some point, you would probably concentrate on just developing all your young players,” Kupchak told ESPN on Tuesday. “But we can’t do that right now.”
“This [season] is really a justified farewell to perhaps the best player in franchise history. And, God willing, he’s going to want to play a lot of minutes in every game, because that’s just the way he is.
“And as long as that continues, which it should, then that’s 30-35 minutes that you might give to a young player that you can’t. How do you get a feel for your team going forward when you know your best player is not going to be there next year? So it’s really hard to go forward until he’s no longer here.”
“That’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all. It’s something that I think is a good thing. In some regards, there’s a silver lining. Our younger players can make mistakes, and it can kind of go under the radar because Kobe garnishes so much attention. Every game, it’s about Kobe. So in a lot of regards, there’s a silver lining that our guys can develop under the radar and maybe make a mistake or make two mistakes and it not be a big deal.”
Lakers used Lottery picks in drafting D’Angelo Russell (2nd overall 2015) and Julius Randle (7th overall in 2014). One would think that their minutes would be more consistent than it has been this season. With both players now coming off the bench it seems the most stable player from the Lakers young core would be Jordan Clarkson who is averaging 14.8 points per game in 32 minutes played per contest.
Lakers need to wake up, We understand this is arguably the greatest player to ever play the game last ride. But that doesn’t mean you risk your future for that. Nothing is wrong with Kobe starting and seeing a reduction in minutes until he gets more comfortable. He needs to be used as a mentor to these young players instead of as a sideshow to sell out the season.
With a Nucleus of Randle, Russell, and Clarkson the Lakeshow could go on. But we will have to wait until next year to see what they are really capable of.