4. The Lakers Can’t Afford Another Transient Roster Next Season.
To correct a common misconception, the Lakers can, in fact, afford to be bad again next season. They can afford to do just about anything they want, because the franchise is a spectacular, Wonka-esque money printing machine. Fans will complain, but nobody will give up their season tickets, and as soon as they’re good again the TV ratings will rise. (Don’t believe me? With only occasional exception, the Knicks have been downright shameful for the last 20 years, and really haven’t suffered financially.) Much more damaging would be another season in which it feels the players (key and supporting) brought in are simply place holders, as guys like Hill, Xavier Henry, Wes Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price and Carlos Boozer were this season. It’s not so much the losing that hurts the Lakers from a P.R. standpoint (though it obviously doesn’t help), but a product preventing fans from making an emotional investment in the rebuild. Fix that, and the mood around Laker Land improves.
The Lakers did well picking up guys like Tarik Black and Jabari Brown. Both are young, with potential to be rotation players on a better Lakers squad. Had the Lakers kept Brown out of camp instead of Price, they could have spent a season developing him. Who knows what other lottery tickets they might have cashed had the Lakers taken a more aggressive approach to stocking the roster with young, unproven talent? Those are players with intrigue and possibility. Fans like those things.
CONTINUE READING: Five Things The 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers Season Taught Us