Mitch Kupchak gives update on the state of the Lakers, D'Angelo Russell, Kobe Bryant and more

1. the nash move had to be made after the cp3 debacle. was it a good move? hell no. but it had to be done considering we had no PG

2. the lamar move also had to be done. have you forgotten that he wanted to be traded after the cp3 deal fell apart? if you remember, he was part of the trade going to new orleans and felt "disrespected" once it fell through, demanding a trade soon after

3. the best we could've gotten for pau was rondo. aside from that, none of the offers were worth trading him for. and can you really blame mitch for holding off on rondo?

4. Williams is an upgrade over Lin, Davis and Bazemore have talent but in all honesty, what difference would those two have made on this team? there are so many other davis's and bazemore's out there

jim buss is the real problem with his coaching hires. if he's involved in another hire that's it for this team

 

I applaud Lakers fans for wanting nothing of this Buss kids crap

 

Watching Laker games this year:

 

Agreed. This sends a clear message to the front office of what the fans think of the product.

 

Honestly the best thing that can happen to this mess of a season is the terrible ratings. That will get TWC nervous and in turn the FO's seats get a little warmer.

 

i'd like to help the downward trend to show my displeasure but im an addict to train wrecks...the only time i change the channel is when i cant take Stu ranting but even then, i just mute the tv

 

I've been hoping my Ballstreams streaming service doesn't contribute to ratings, but what this shows is that there's about 25% hardcore fans, and rest enjoy watching well played winning basketball.

That hasn't been going on, so of course they aren't tuning in. It's the hardcore fans that are selling out arenas across the country, because it sure ain't pretty to watch.

 

talk about TWC missing the ship...imagine if they had this during the Kobe-LO-Pau days? they would be killing it ...instead, they're showing Robert Sacre eating turkey on thanksgiving

 

This might be the only way the Lakers FO gets lit up....the fact that the CLIPPERS are closing in on us in the ratings department in KOBE'S FAREWELL SEASON says that when Kobe retires, the Lakers are going to officially take a back seat to the Clippers in the ratings department. That would be an all time low for this franchise.

 

Possibly

 

I ask again how do idiots like Stephen A have a job? The guy is an absolute joke. There's nothing else besides Kobe really? Are you f***ing stupid? How can you sit there with a straight face and say there is nothing else. How about developing your three future core pieces? Jordan Clarkson a guy who was an All Rookie last season. Randle and Russell your two lottery picks who have both shown flashes of brilliance when they've actually gotten the minutes. Why is Russel on the team instead of Okafor? Because he's a better player that's why. What has Okafor done except put up stats on what's probably gonna be the worst team in NBA history to warrant being the #2 pick? Of course he has better numbers than Russell he should be. He's played more minutes and a higher usage. Russell isn't even a top five option on the team right now. You want it say more? You're not gonna see more because he's not playing enough.

 

What's most funny is Stephen A is always talking about how we've failed to surround Kobe with adequate talent, but the contract extension is a big part of that. That's an insane amount of money for a guy coming off that Achilles tear. Dude is taking up like half the cap basically.

 

The problem is, I can bet that this is Jim Buss's exact argument. It's what he throws back at everyone in the organization who brings up the team's current state. And the fact is if this situation were to continue, which it almost can't but for the sake of argument let's say they keep Scott, no major FAs want to come here, a few more years of losing seasons and the Clips will indeed catch us. They are close now. We dropped 23% in ratings since last year even with the Kobe farewell tour. The TWC deal isn't looking so hot for TWC atm. With the marketing smarts and money of Ballmar they can take advantage especially if they win a championship while we are still making moves like a fledgling newbie organization.

Rant aside, my gut says it won't happen and that hopefully Jim isn't the Jonah he's appeared to be. The league & the CP3 deal, the anti-Laker CBA, Kobe's presence and massive severance contract that scared off FAs, as well as the injuries to Nash and Kobe kicked the crap out of us but the good thing is we got high draft picks and probably made some good choices as well.

But the excuses have run their course after this year as far as I'm concerned. Mitch and Scott's obvious low priorities on the youth are highly disturbing.