The season is quickly coming to a close for the Los Angeles Lakers and as a result a lot of questions have been asked about what the future holds for the storied franchise moving forward.
Although many of these questions have been unanswered, current NBA analyst and former Laker rival Chris Webber believes positive things can be taken from the season filled with disappointment according to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News:
“If you are a Lakers fan, you’re very upset about this season with the injuries to [Lakers veterans] Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. But if you look forward to the future, these young guys like [Lakers guards] Kent Bazemore and Jodie Meeks are getting a lot of playing time. If they’re going to be on this team in the future, experience is what you need now since you are out of the playoff race. There are still some positive things happening [for the Lakers].”
With the Lakers set to have a high draft pick in the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft and a fair amount of cap space available, the team could make moves in the off-season to help right the ship. Those moves might not be instant game-changers the fans will be hoping for, but they could be steps in the right direction to get this franchise back on track.
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At this point in time, there’s been no indication on whether the Lakers are interested in keeping players like Jodie Meeks or Kent Bazemore. It’d be safe to assume that the roster will look considerably different next season, but Webber does have a point in terms of players like Bazemore and Meeks increasing their value with experience.
The Lakers currently only have Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Nick Young (player option), Robert Sacre and Kendall Marshall under contract for next season. Young will likely opt-out of his deal while the team still needs to make a decision on whether to keep Nash, Sacre and Marshall.
Needless to say, drastic changes are on the horizon for the Lakers, but there’s still a lot of room for optimism with the flexibility the team will have in the off-season.
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