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

Mitch flat out said that this season the young core would have to take a backseat to Kobe. Then he followed that up with "they can grow easier actually because people won't see their mistakes past Kobe's play" which makes no sense.

I wouldn't say it's an obvious LOW priority, but it's a lower priority than it should be. I'm pissed at Mitch, but I know he's just saying what his bosses are telling him to say. I hate that he said it though. If I were him I'd tell Jim or Jeanie to try to say that s***.

 

Back on page 1 first post Mitch is quoted as saying, "we are a young and developing team." I think he gets it. Byron clearly does not. Is Mitch responsible for Byron? Sure. He's the GM. Should Byron be fired yesterday? Of course. Will he be? No. There are probably several factors why not. But I do not think that means Mitch is intentionally sacrificing the development of the youth.

Now, if Byron remains the coach next year, and we fail to bring in a Luke Walton type, then I will join the chorus and chant that Mitch's time has passed.

 

I agree TIME, although I'm very disappointed in this latest subterfuge from Mitch. In general Mitch has done a pretty fantastic job, IMO. He's done way more good than bad. He has a large hand in our back to back championships and each year I'm always impressed with the vets he's able to bring in and with his drafting. I'm not ready to fire Mitch. But I do hate how he's not firing Byron . . . at least yet.

I'm with you TIME. As long as they bring in a new coach this summer after Kobe's retirement, I'll be fine. However, if Boron is retained I will be furious.

 

This game proved Mitch's statement about it being all about Kobe wrong though. Kobe got to shine AND the young guys got to play a lot and develop, it's not that HARD. And this game was an extreme, you don't have to sit Kobe and Lou an entire 4th, and go with an almost entirely youth lineup. You can mix it up and divide minutes better than that. Point is Mitch is wrong, you CAN do both, Kobe does not hinder you from developing the youth because his minutes have to cost someone else. To blame this on Kobe is a joke, and I assume Kobe himself is only putting up with it because he's on his way out and being payed a hefty salary.

 

^^ Totally agree Weezy. That whole rationale is just garbage as proven tonight. Kobe looked better playing with the kids than he did with that terrible starting lineup. They get him going. Russell and Randle never should have benched in my opinion. That's Boron just being stupid and stubborn. The fact that Mitch covered for him makes me livid. But I think it must be pretty clear to everyone after this game that the kids should be playing more.

 

Look at the minutes from tonight

Kobe - 31
Lou - 32
JC - 35
Randle - 30
Russ - 29

Who has to sacrifice here? Kobe got his limit, JC, Russ, and Randle all got almost 30, Lou got more than enough for a guy who should be 6th man. Nick didn't play, that's all that changed, and that's because our moron coach is playing A Brown who got 17 that can go to Nick. Make that 20 and cut Kobe a few minutes, everyone wins. Nobody has to sacrifice here, it's a complete line of BS.

 

The FO = Jeannie, Jim, Mitch, Ryan West.

Mitch and Ryan are not clueless. The jury is still out on the Buss kids.

 

It's going to be very interesting to see how everything plays out over the next few years. Here's what we know - Jim Buss has been in charge of four Lakers hires starting with Rudy T and they've all been total busts. We've been saying it for years, but maybe this time the coaching hire should be done solely by Mitch pending approval by the Busses. I don't trust Jim to hire another coach with his horrific track record.

Generally speaking Mitch has been doing a heck of a job in all areas, i.e. making things work within the cap, bringing in good vets on good deals, making good draft picks, making good trades such as Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza (for Brian Cook), and even Chris Paul though it was nixed. His one albatross was the Nash trade which is still having it's effect on us. But you could see what they were going for - reloading for one last ride with Kobe after David Stern vetoed our move for CP3. We don't know exactly how long Mitch's current contract is, but he's not going anywhere any time soon I believe unless it's to promote Ryan West.

The only person whose job is actually on the line at this moment is Jim Buss. And that was a self-imposed deadline he was so bold as to make. Jeanie has made no such pronouncement and frankly, I'm not sure I want her gone. Not yet at least. I think she's more like her father than Jim is. She has a lot of charisma, has a good rapport with the other owners, fans and press and so far has shown that she can uphold her office position as the Lakers are still making money even with the crap product we see on the floor.

Jerry Buss set things up the way he did to keep everything in the family and we have to see how it plays out. Jim has given us and his sister a deadline of 3-4 years to turn this thing counting from 2014. His clock is ticking big time.

If Jim fails and steps down I would not be surprised if Jeanie brings in Phil to be VP. His deal will be ending around that same time in NY. Phil knows B-ball and Jeanie doesn't. Would there be a bit of a conflict of interest if he is under her employ? Sure. But it hasn't stopped them from being successful here before.

But who knows how it will play out. Maybe Jimbo will let Mitch pick the next head coach. Maybe they will finally get themselves some first or second tier FA's this summer to fill out our roster and help us compete. Maybe we'll keep the pick. Maybe we'll trade the pick. There's a lot to find out, and this offseason is going to be HUGE in terms of our future. The FO will definitely be in the hot seat.

 

Not Jim Buss. The jury has convicted him for MoroNepotism. He is awaiting his execution.

 

Because he's covering for Byron's @$#. That's it. It's a spin. I don't believe they came into this season expecting to suck this badly. Not with the signings they made and not from Mitch's early comments about competing for a playoff spot. I think the FO really thought with the additions they made to the roster that we were at least going to be competitive.

But it soon became apparent that Byron was much too incompetent to use what he had and once it was clear that we were going to be bottom dwellers once again, the FO went full in on the Kobe Farewell Tour and accepted the tank mode because it might net them a top 3 pick. At least they seem to be honest about that point now. And oddly, we've been more competitive since he did.

I can only hope that the FO is quietly planning to dump Byron as soon as Kobe retires. It makes a lot of sense because he is so clearly not the right coach for developing the young guys moving forward and he's very unattractive to other FA's.