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Espn - Kupchak: 21-win Lakers "can Get Better Quickly"

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by ElginTheGreat, Apr 17, 2015.

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GM Mitch Kupchak points to busy offseason as key for Lakers
By Baxter Holmes
ESPN.com
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- A day after the worst season in Lakers franchise history finally ended, general manager Mitch Kupchak discussed when he believes the team will be a contender again.

"We can get better quickly," Kupchak said Thursday, pointing to the upcoming offseason. "We can be in the hunt quickly. A lot depends on May 19 and how we end up with the [draft] lottery, the draft and the period leading up to the free-agent period, which is July 1.

"We are in a good position despite having a terrible year."

The Lakers finished 21-61 this season, their most losses and worst winning percentage (.256) ever. The previous record for most losses came last season, when they finished 27-55.

The Lakers hold a 2015 first-round pick that is top-five protected. If that pick falls outside the first five slots, it goes to the Philadelphia 76ers, who acquired the pick from the Suns in February. Phoenix acquired that pick in the 2012 trade that sent Steve Nash to the Lakers. Because the Lakers clinched the league's fourth-worst record, they'll have an 82.8 percent chance of retaining that pick, a 37.9 chance of vaulting into the top three and an 11.9 chance of landing the top overall pick come the May 19 lottery draw.

"We'd like to have something in our pocket for the way the year went," Kupchak said.

The Lakers also will have a late first-round pick from the Houston Rockets as part of the Jeremy Lin trade last season.

There's more pressure than ever on Kupchak and the Lakers' front office to return to contending status soon, making this a crucial summer. The team missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, a rarity since it reached the postseason in 60 of the franchise's 67 years.

"We have great fans, and to a degree, they are patient, but I don't think anyone is used to waiting a long time for a turnaround," Kupchak said. "That's a factor we have to weigh into our decision."

Team president and governor Jeanie Buss has said she expects the Lakers to reach the Western Conference finals in three years or else changes will be made. Jim Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel and Jeanie's brother, told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that he would step down if the team does not reach that benchmark.

Kupchak said he hadn't seen Jim Buss' comment, then added, "What's my sense of being in the conference finals within three years? I think it's possible.

"But what if you get to the conference semifinals, you lose in seven [games] and you have a great team that you know is going to get better and better? So I don't think there is anything etched in stone that would determine any change in direction. Three years from now is forever."

The Lakers are projected to have enough salary-cap space to acquire a max-level free agent this summer, and the potential pool of players includes Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love,Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic and Dallas Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo.

Kupchak said they won't make the Lakers' history -- 16 championships, second-most in the NBA behind the Boston C Bags' 17 -- a part of their recruiting pitch.

"When we entertain or recruit free agents, we rarely sell the past and legacy here," he said. "If you're an NBA fan, or if you're an NBA player or if you're in college, you know what the Lakers have accomplished since they came [to Los Angeles] in 1960.

"That's not something that we roll out there because the players really don't want to hear about it. They want to know about the team you're building, the opportunity and what they'll be looking at going forward. So that's what we'll try to sell them on."

The Lakers' future is certainly murky at best, perhaps even more so because they've struck out on big names in free agency in the past two years and then, in consecutive seasons, had Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard each leave to take less money elsewhere.

At the moment, the Lakers have four players on guaranteed contracts for 2015-16 -- Nick Young, Ryan Kelly, Julius Randle and Kobe Bryant, who is set to be paid a league-high $25 million in the final year of his contract. The team also has said that rookie guard Jordan Clarkson, a 2014 second-round pick who showed great promise, will be back. Forward Ed Davis said he plans to opt out of his $1.2 million player option in hopes of a long-term deal.

"We'd love to have Ed Davis on our team," Kupchak said.

Kupchak seemed uncertain about whether the Lakers will pick up their $9 million option on forward Jordan Hill.

Bryant will turn 37 in August and is recovering from season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. Kupchak said he's not sure what to expect next season from the Lakers' All-Star, who has missed the bulk of the past three years because of shoulder, knee and Achilles injuries -- and who shot a career-low 37.3 percent from the floor in just 35 games last season.

"The makeup of the team right now is just not clear enough for us to drop Kobe in and say, 'This is what we expect. Can you do it?'" Kupchak said. "We have to wait."

Likewise, Kupchak said he wasn't sure whether Bryant would want to play beyond next season -- his 20th in the NBA.

"I have assumed that he has one year to go," Kupchak said. "That's all I can plan on. That's all he's planning on. A year from now, maybe different. But right now, that's all we're planning on."

Bryant didn't speak to the media Thursday, but according to coach Byron Scott, he recently started lifting weights as he rehabs his shoulder.

"I don't want him to overdo it," Scott said. "I know his mindset when he gets ready for training camp, he wants to go all out."

For now, what the Lakers are planning on is spending wisely with an eye toward the future rather than trying to load up on veteran contracts in order to make a title run during what's expected to be Bryant's final year as a Laker.

"We're not going to use cap room just to use cap room and maybe improve," Kupchak said. "I can use the expression 20 games because we won so few games this year. We don't want to end up using our cap room and winning 40 games. That year doesn't get you in the playoffs.Oklahoma City won 45 games, and they still didn't make it in the playoffs.

"You work hard to create a future, whether it's draft picks or an opportunity to make a trade or free-agent dollars, and you don't want to give it away just because you have it. But you do have to weigh anticipation and your fans wanting to see some improvement. That is a challenge. That's not to say the only player we'll spend our money on is a max player. There may be better opportunities out there.

"We don't know that right now. We do have to balance how you use that money, and two years from now there's a dramatic change in the landscape in terms of the cap."

The NBA's reported nine-year, $24 billion television deal with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting is expected to kick in during the 2017 offseason. The 2015 cap is set at $63 million and was projected to hit $66 million in '16. New revenue is estimated to hike the 2016 cap to between $88 million and $92 million. To put that in perspective, the largest salary-cap jump in NBA history, until now, was $7 million in one season. Increases in the 2016 cap would triple that.

"It's pretty crazy," Kupchak said. "We spend a lot of time looking at spreadsheets. ... What happens this summer? What do players do? I don't know what they do."

He added that if the cap increases as much as expected, "You have to change the way you think about valuing players. A player today that is a $5 million player is maybe a $9 million player just a year from now. That might be hard for a lot of people to wrap their arms around. So we spend a lot of time on it and will get an indication of this summer and how players will deal with it."
Click to expand...

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...ch-kupchak-gears-los-angeles-lakers-offseason

ElginTheGreat, Apr 17, 2015

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abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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only way to get better really quick, imo, is to trade the pick for a current allstar. I know that's not what people want (and probably not what I want), but I don't see immediate impact at the top of the draft this year. a few guys who might be very good in two to three years, though.

so, can they turn it around quickly? yes, I think he's right about that. will they? I doubt it. at this point, let's just get some steady progress. try to put a team on the floor that can compete and win somewhere near half its games next year, then hope to strike it rich in FA the following year.

abeer3, Apr 17, 2015

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ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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Yeah. To me, that phrase "get better quickly" is kind of relative. I think we can improve and get better even if we just keep our draft picks.

If by getting better he is talking about getting us back in the playoffs and competing for a championship, I think that's at least a couple of seasons away absent bringing in a true big time guy on that Davis, Harden, Westbrook, Curry, Lebron level. (yes, I know we aren't getting those guys just using them as examples of the caliber player we would have to bring in to immediately be in the playoff hunt).

I like some of the names that have been thrown out there for trades, but I'm not sold on guys like Dragic or even Cousins being the guys that will lead us to another banner.

Bottom line for me is that since I believe its going to be a bit before we are true contenders for the championship, I am not against keeping the pick and seeing if lightning will strike again with our draft pick. I think Mitch and crew have shown that they can definitely spot talent.

ElginTheGreat, Apr 17, 2015

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I like how Mitch is talking. He's got a good read on things and I like that he's talking about picking up Ed Davis and implying he will probably let Hill go. Also as we thought for quite some time, he was certainly in favor of tanking to keep that pick (after a year like this we need to get something out of it - my feelings exactly). And as before I like that he's thinking about the future and not just trying to throw something together for the sake of Kobe's last year.

lakerjones, Apr 17, 2015

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ElginTheGreat said: ↑

Yeah. To me, that phrase "get better quickly" is kind of relative. I think we can improve and get better even if we just keep our draft picks.

If by getting better he is talking about getting us back in the playoffs and competing for a championship, I think that's at least a couple of seasons away absent bringing in a true big time guy on that Davis, Harden, Westbrook, Curry, Lebron level. (yes, I know we aren't getting those guys just using them as examples of the caliber player we would have to bring in to immediately be in the playoff hunt).

I like some of the names that have been thrown out there for trades, but I'm not sold on guys like Dragic or even Cousins being the guys that will lead us to another banner.

Bottom line for me is that since I believe its going to be a bit before we are true contenders for the championship, I am not against keeping the pick and seeing if lightning will strike again with our draft pick. I think Mitch and crew have shown that they can definitely spot talent.
Click to expand...

During press-conferences, Mitch has a tendency to lower expectations for fans. This is who I think will be back next year:

- Tarik Black
- Kobe Bryant
- Jordan Clarkson
- Julius Randle
- Jabari Brown
- Robert Sacre
- Ryan Kelly
- Top 5 pick

Subtract Kobe, and you know what all these players have in common? They're all on rookie deals. We've preserved our future cap space, acquired young talent, and developed our bench with some of these guys; additionally, I think Julius and Jordan project into starters at the NBA level. During the summer, I would expect to re-sign Davis and Price. Lin is a question mark, but I think he will find a better situation for himself, and that's fine. I expect Young and Hill to be shopped.

Nevertheless, with a couple of tweaks, I have higher hopes just with the players I listed going into the following season than I did heading into last summer. This top 5 pick moves us into the 2nd phase of the rebuild and accelerates our rebuild. If we don't get it, we still have 2 picks in the draft, so we could package them together and try to move up to add another nice young player. I don't think we have to do much tweaking to see a improvement next year. I think we'll be closer to a .500 team while maintaining our flexibility financially going forward...

LaVarBallsDad, Apr 17, 2015

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therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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You move the pick for Cousins and you're on the edge of the playoffs next season.

Keep the pick and we're a .500 team on the cusp of the playoffs.

Lose the pick and we're still probably close to .500 honestly with a little luck and health.

therealdeal, Apr 17, 2015

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I'm fine with not being very good again for another season if it means no Rondo or Dragic for max. That's not going to bring a championship no matter who we draft if we keep our pick. There's no reason to spend a lot of money just to spend it if we aren't going to move toward the long term future. I'm good with giving some second tier guys the contracts they deserve to start to build a core here for the future, but again, we don't need to spend on a name just to spend. I'm also fine with trading the top 5 pick for certain all-stars if that's possible, like Cousins. Also, get rid of Luke Kelly.

Weezy, Apr 17, 2015

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Well, we can't be any worse, so...

TIME, Apr 17, 2015

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ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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RandleROFY said: ↑

During press-conferences, Mitch has a tendency to lower expectations for fans. This is who I think will be back next year:

- Tarik Black
- Kobe Bryant
- Jordan Clarkson
- Julius Randle
- Jabari Brown
- Robert Sacre
- Ryan Kelly
- Top 5 pick

Subtract Kobe, and you know what all these players have in common? They're all on rookie deals. We've preserved our future cap space, acquired young talent, and developed our bench with some of these guys; additionally, I think Julius and Jordan project into starters at the NBA level. During the summer, I would expect to re-sign Davis and Price. Lin is a question mark, but I think he will find a better situation for himself, and that's fine. I expect Young and Hill to be shopped.

Nevertheless, with a couple of tweaks, I have higher hopes just with the players I listed going into the following season than I did heading into last summer. This top 5 pick moves us into the 2nd phase of the rebuild and accelerates our rebuild. If we don't get it, we still have 2 picks in the draft, so we could package them together and try to move up to add another nice young player. I don't think we have to do much tweaking to see a improvement next year. I think we'll be closer to a .500 team while maintaining our flexibility financially going forward...
Click to expand...

This is pretty much what I have been thinking.

I definitely like this team and our options a lot more heading into next season a lot more than I did at this point last season.

ElginTheGreat, Apr 17, 2015

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therealdeal said: ↑

You move the pick for Cousins and you're on the edge of the playoffs next season.

Keep the pick and we're a .500 team on the cusp of the playoffs.

Lose the pick and we're still probably close to .500 honestly with a little luck and health.
Click to expand...

Clarkson Kobe SF Randle Cousins is a mother f***ing HEAVEN.
If healthy It's a 5-6 spot in the west in my opinion. so much power on this squad.

EDIT: I know you know not to bypass the site swear filter. Just type what you want to say and let the filter do its work. - TIME

Last edited: Apr 17, 2015

ShowTime_IR, Apr 17, 2015

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therealdeal said: ↑

You move the pick for Cousins and you're on the edge of the playoffs next season.

Keep the pick and we're a .500 team on the cusp of the playoffs.

Lose the pick and we're still probably close to .500 honestly with a little luck and health.
Click to expand...

Yeah moving the pick for Cousins is the "get better quickly" move if there's ever going to be one. Dump Young and Kelly's contracts to create more space and get Middleton. We're sitting pretty with a core of very good young players.

LakersIn4, Apr 17, 2015

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abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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therealdeal said: ↑

You move the pick for Cousins and you're on the edge of the playoffs next season.

Keep the pick and we're a .500 team on the cusp of the playoffs.

Lose the pick and we're still probably close to .500 honestly with a little luck and health.
Click to expand...

i'll quibble with the latter two. it would take a lot of luck in FA to move this team into playoff contention next year, top five pick or no (even the best of draft picks rarely influence the win column early on).

abeer3, Apr 27, 2015

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I think the luck change would have to be in the injury department and I'm rolling on faith. That's assuming our draft pick and/or FAs make it through most of the season and most importantly Kobe makes it through most of the season. I don't think we'll have as much trouble adding talent as we will staying healthy.

therealdeal, Apr 27, 2015

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abeer3 said: ↑

i'll quibble with the latter two. it would take a lot of luck in FA to move this team into playoff contention next year, top five pick or no (even the best of draft picks rarely influence the win column early on).
Click to expand...

That's why I'm not against trading the pick for an established star unless we draft a player that Mitch & company think is going to turn into a franchise player. Same with Randle. If we keep our pick this season, it's only top 3 protected next season. We get to keep the following pick, then the next 1 goes to Orlando. There's no benefit to tanking when we're losing 2 of our next 3 1st rounders. The only thing we can do to improve our future is put a playoff team on the floor to make us more appealing to free agents.

LakersN4, Apr 27, 2015

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yep. same here. if you can get an established allstar on the right side of 30 for the pick, i'm listening.

abeer3, Apr 28, 2015

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I just don't see us making the playoffs next season. The way we get the "best player possible" added to our team is trade our pick for Cousins which I don't think gets it done. We probably have to put either Randle or Clarkson in with the pick to nab Cousins. That leaves us with, let's say, Randle and Cousins as our frontline. Kobe may make it through 50 games, so we now have Cousins essentially carrying the load with Randle (a rookie for all intents and purposes [ to Real]). Remember that getting Cousins takes about half of our cap space. The pick is, let's say, 4 million, while Cousins makes 14. 10 of our potential 22 million in cap space is gone with that transaction. So let's say we go grab Middleton. Middleton and Cousins with a geriatric Kobe and rookie Randle may not get it done in the Western Conference. In fact, I don't see it.

If we don't trade for Cousins and we get Okafor or Towns (best case scenario), sign Middleton and sign...who? If we sign Middleton to grow with Okafor, Randle and Clarkson (Kobe takes up the sg slot) who do we even want to sign at that point? I mean, I know we'd have cap space, but this could potentially be our lineup:

Okafor/Upshaw (via 27)/Black
Randle/Black/Kelly
Middleton/Young
Kobe/Brown/Young
Clarkson/?/Price

I mean, you pick up a backup pg like Mo Williams or something, but that roster sits at 63 million with Middleton overpaid at 14 and Mo at 5 million. I'm not saying I don't like that team. I LOVE that team because of the potential to grow. But that team also is YOUNG, YOUNG, YOUNG. No way those guys all put it together to make the playoffs in the bloodbath Western Conference.

Savory Griddles, Apr 28, 2015

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Unless a legit All Star, Franchise type player falls in their laps, I'd like to see the Lakers keep their Draft Pick & pick up two solid role players.
Somewhere in the range of $12-15M guys.

See what Kobe brings next season & then use his salary to go Big in 2016 after we have developed a stronger core of players..

LakerFanIam, Apr 29, 2015

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LakerFanIam said: ↑

Unless a legit All Star, Franchise type player falls in their laps, I'd like to see the Lakers keep their Draft Pick & pick up two solid role players.
Somewhere in the range of $12-15M guys.

See what Kobe brings next season & then use his salary to go Big in 2016 after we have developed a stronger core of players..
Click to expand...

That's actually my favorite plan, but it wouldn't be the Lakers' style. My favorite plan is picking up Carroll and a big like Asik while drafting Winslow or Johnson or Hezonja. Then you have exactly what you said: a solid base that sets up a foundation for a FA to come in and own the city.

The problem is you're almost guaranteeing mediocrity for at least one season. By using the cap to get role players, you're using valuable space to fill out a team when that team cannot win a Championship. For instance if we split our big cash between Carroll and Asik who are two great role players, then you're depending either on a 37 year old Kobe or a bunch of kids under 24 years old to carry the team in 2015. That's a tall order. I'd be behind it, but I think the Lakers would rather swing for the fences.

Clarkson/Mudiay/Lucas
Bryant/Ellington/Brown
Carroll/Young/Anderson
Randle/Kelly
Asik/Black/D. Johnson

That team could probably make the playoffs if they stayed relatively healthy and jelled, but they're not winning a ring. If you don't grab Durant in 2016 this team might never win a Championship and then you're treading water... I still like the plan though. Give me all in on creating a solid base of role players. I wanted that last season too, but they didn't do it.

therealdeal, Apr 29, 2015

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more on the carroll train i see...excellent. he might be my top realistic target.

abeer3, Apr 29, 2015

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abeer3 said: ↑

more on the carroll train i see...excellent. he might be my top realistic target.
Click to expand...

I've been on it for a while already. Everyone else keeps saying Middleton so I use his name in examples. I'd much rather target Carroll. He's a little older, but will be cheaper and is unrestricted.

therealdeal, Apr 29, 2015

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