I think Jim should get a full report and put Simmons through a couple of workouts before he considers trading him. Of all the many things we've done wrong in management the past few years, scouting is the one area we can actually hang our hat on. If our scouts feel that Simmons is a future superstar, I think Jim has to hang on to him and try to package 1 or 2 of our young pieces for a mid level type allstar.
I'm not saying the front office KNOWS they are in full rebuild. But we are. Jim can't live up to his promise. He could bring in Durant and Horford, and fire Byron to bring in...well...I guess my Grandma would be an amazing improvement at that spot...and she's dead. The point is, that team isn't contending next year. We are good and in the playoffs, but are we "contending" with one 3rd year starter and two second year starters? Horford-Randle-Durant-Clarkson-Russell is NOT a championship caliber squad. They would get torched by the Spurs, Cavs or the Warriors. Now it may be semantics because Jim and Jeanie may have defined "contending" as anything above a 6th seed. But "contending" to most people is in the talk for a ring.
They actually defined that as contending at the top of the Western Conference, looking at making the Western Conference Finals.
Yikes. I'm glad we're bringing this up now. This is not just a coaching problem we have now, it's clearly a FO problem because Jimbo inherited a playoff team and over the course of the past few years under his "leadership" we have sunk down to the 2nd worst team in the league. What is his timeline again? I noticed he gave himself an extra year in there last time I checked. When are we supposed to contend again or he'll quit? They have an enormous task in front of them (Jim and Mitch) starting this summer. I hope to heck they get their act together and either get some luck or some direction and are able to improve the Lakers. Every year they have said they had a plan but we've seen three successively worse head coaches, we've lost a top tier FA in Howard (even if we hate the guy) with no replacement, and all the major free agents we've been after for the most have scorned us. They better turn this ship around quick or heads will roll.
Misdirected anger. Jeanie is the one in charge now. It's not Jim. Jim is just a cog in her machine. If you want to purge Jimmy, throw Jeanie under the buss (no pun intended) too.
Yep Jeanie has to be blamed too . Thing is she's getting away with it because she knows nothing about B-ball and isn't running the B-ball operations . I'd say being in charge and knowing little to nothing about the game is the huge problem to begin with .
So maybe we fire Byron on March 14? Jeanie asks Phil if she should keep Byron and Jim Buss on and Phil says, "Let me think about it." Then we play the Knicks on the 13th and Phil gets back to her that she should fire them both. I mean, Phil isn't going to tell Jeanie to fire Byron while he still has to play us again.
It's not misdirected, though, Real. Jim is the one who put himself out there and said he would quit if he couldn't produce a contender in a specific amount of time. It's Jim's job on the line right now. Jim is the guy who has been in charge of the basketball side of things just as his father had directed. We can talk about the job Jeanie is doing as president of the Lakers but it's a different job description and a different discussion. She is not making these decisions. Jim is the one who is responsible for them along with Mitch.
Then blame the late Jerry Buss because he is the one who set this up this way. I don't know how well or poorly exactly Jeanie has been doing - it's harder to tell because it is more of a behind the scenes type of job. Honestly, I don't even really care much because the other side, the one run by Jim and Mitch is so poor right now and is the most dire situation. On the business side, the Lakers seem to be doing just fine, making money, selling out the Kobe farewell tour and upholding their TV contract. Again, Jeanie's job is not up at any given time. Jim's, by his own words, is. What do you want to blame Jeanie for at this point anyway? Giving her brother the amount of time that he's asked for? Not sure I follow that reasoning. Should she fire him now? I don't see that happening. Do you want her to override her brother's bad coaching hire? I mean, I'm down for all of that but that would seem to be in direct opposition of her father's wishes. I think it's a little too early for something that drastic.
If she's rubber stamping his decisions, then it's her fault too. You really can't blame one without the other. She's in charge of how he mishandles our team. She could fire him at any moment if she feels he's not capable of handling this position. With that power comes the responsibility. If Jim goes, let all the Busses go with him.
Sabonis has really taken a step back in his last two games, shooting just 15 for 22 from the field and averaging a paltry 19 points and 10.5 boards.
I understand Jerry wanted his kids to keep his legacy going and alive . We'll never know how much this was a "sentimental" decision or a decision driven by the belief they had the abilities and comptetencies to keep the Lakers on top . As you said it might be something drastic to fire her brother now but personal and business are not a good mix ... Are you sentimental or are you about winning ? The main purpose of our organization should be tying then passing the number of those guys titles . As for Jeanie's responsabilities , you have to surround you with the right and competent "employees" if you want to be successful when you are in charge . It's tough to do this when you know little about the game . The clock is ticking , the latest 3 seasons have damaged the Lakers brand on the sports side a great deal . The longer we'll struggle , the longer it will be difficult for us to get back on top .
If we had a decent coach, Jimmy isn't getting heat right now. I think besides his coach hiring decisions, the talent we have brought in is acceptable.
We have the worst coach in the league by a good margin so it's a pretty big IF . Assistants/players developers look useless too . I see little proper "fundamentals/things" teached and corrected on the court through the course of this young season .
Larry Nance Jr.'s shot looks a million thousand times better than it did in Summer League. So there's that. Besides, Byron hired the assistants. He purposely hired people he knew weren't cut out for being a Head Coach in order to protect his own job. He was usurped In New Jersey and he never wanted that to happen again, so he purposely picks yes men or career assistants.
I think Byron misunderstands the role of a coach. He needs superstars and experienced seasoned veterans in order to be successful. He does not teach or develop anyone, and that will never be his strength. We simply hired the wrong guy for the job.
