Heading into the 2015-16 NBA season, there was excitement surrounding Kobe Bryant’s 20th season and establishing the young core of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson for the Los Angeles Lakers. After 50 games into the season, the Lakers are 9-41 and much of the blame has been directed at head coach Byron Scott.
While the Lakers are on pace for 15 wins, which would set a franchise-low, Scott is expected to coach through the remainder of the regular season according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:
Scott is expected to coach through the rest of the regular season, according to a person familiar with the situation, but even he realizes nine victories in 50 games is stretching the limits of acceptable reality.
Although there are challenges with coaching an extremely young roster outside of Bryant, the top priority this season was expected to be player development. However, Scott has been criticized for how he has managed their top picks in the last two seasons, Russell and Randle.
With Scott expected to coach the remainder of the season, the Lakers are headed to the draft lottery for the third consecutive season. Although this year’s pick is top-three protected as a result of the Steve Nash trade in 2012, all eyes will be on LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram.
