the celtics got rid of KG, Allen and Pierce (their Kobe) for assets
would you have preferred we let Kobe go or trade him for picks? the fan base would have erupted if that happened
giving him that contract was a mistake and letting Gasol and Dwight walk for nothing were mistakes
What's done is done, but there's no one that's attainable that would allow us to compete with Durant, Steph, Klay and Draymond for years to come.
Even if we had Westbrook, PG and Butler, still wouldn't be enough.
I'm not talking about Kobe. I'm talking about what the Lakers SHOULD do NOW, which is to model their growth after the Celtics, who used a combination of young assets (Smart, Bradley, Olinyk, Crowder) and stars (Thomas and Horford) to build a contender.
Don't you remember how they acquired Thomas? They did it during MIDSEASON and traded away a draft pick plus a player they had no need for (Thornton). The Thomas acquisition started their ascent and Horford came to Boston largely because the team already had an All-Star caliber PG on the roster he knew he could play with. BOSTON WAS AGGRESSIVE because they wanted to build a playoff team as soon as possible.
On paper, NOBOD has a roster that's as formidable as the Warriors. But the point is this: You build a team that CAN COMPETE with them, and the ONLY way to do so is to acquire one or two proven stars, whether it's a Tier 1 or Tier 2 star player. My other point is this: You DO NOT WAIT 4-5 years and hope the Warriors "get old" and pray DLo, Randle, and Clarkson will be good enough to compete with the upper echelon of the NBA.
Modelling after Boston would mean developing young players (Smart, Bradley, Olynyk, Brown), acquiring high upside guys on cheap contracts in their prime (IT and Crowder), overpaying for the final piece (Horford) and having a great young coach to make it all work.
They had a chance to trade a lot of their assets for Butler and didn't do it. If PG was available don't you think Bird would rather send him to his boy Danny Ainge before talking to us?
No one knew Thomas would be this good, he was never considered a star player.
They hired a really good young coach, developed the team over time, made smart moves then were able to get the "missing piece" in Horford. And they still have all of their picks, so if they really want to go all in they can.
They did exactly the opposite of what you want the Lakers to do.
First off, Boston KNEW Thomas would be this good. He already showed flashed in Sacramento, AND did more of the same in PHO. The problem was that he shared the rock with Bledsoe AND Dragic. Boston took advantage and got him cheap and it's PHO who are the idiots for letting him go. But I get it, PHO preferred Bledsoe.
Secondly, LAL did NOT have a chance to trade assets for Butler because for one thing, CHI wasn't ready to let him go once they realized the prospects of teaming up Butler with Wade and Rondo. That plan seems to be backfiring and now Butler is in trade rumors once again.
If PG were available, yes Bird would rather send him to BOS but that doesn't mean Bird wouldn't talk to Magic and Mitch either if the Lakers are offering young assets such as DLo, Randle, Ingram, or Clarkson.
Bos hired a really good young coach. Lakers have done the same albeit a bit later than Boston doing it. Bos developed a team over a span of a couple years after Rondo, the last remnant of their championship team, left. Lakers have been doing the same the last two years. Bos made smart moves since Rondo left, one of which was acquiring Thomas, the other which was signing Horford. The Lakers have NOT done anything comparable the last two years, going on 3 years now, since the rebuilding project has been in full effect.
Bos still has a lot of draft picks because Ainge stockpiled them since 2012-13, the moment he realized the Celtics were in rebuilding phase. In 2012, the Lakers were still trying to remain competitive with Howard, Gasol, Nash, Kobe so their rebuilding efforts came later than Boston's.
Therefore, the Lakers are also now in prime position to begin acquiring star pieces to complement Ingram, Nance, Zubac just as BOS was in prime position to acquire Crowder in 2014, Thomas in 2015 and Horford in 2016 to complement Bradley, Olynyk, and Smart after a couple of years of stockpiling picks and posting losing records.
Contrary to your opinion, what I want the Lakers to do is EXACTLY what BOS has done in the last several years. The only difference is BOS has more draft picks to play with. Therefore it's even more imperative that the Lakers act aggressively and take the risk in dealing 2-3 players from their young core in order to acquire 1 or possibly 2 stars.
is unprotected. You can't trade consecutive 1st rounders, so it would have to be 2020.
