So in previous post we discussed about Lakers Draft process
and the new young generation of Lakers. Let’s take time to see how the roster
has changed from last year concerning the veterans.
Let’s analyze the subtractions from previous year’s squad
and how will it weaken the team this year.
Steve Nash: Steve Nash is modern day legend of a
basketball player. 6 of the Top 10 offensive teams of all time had Steve Nash
as the starting point guard. A player who is 3rd all-time in Assists
and who has multiple 40-50-90 [40% 3pt shooting, 50% field goals, 90% free-throw
shooting] season is just irreplaceable. However let’s face it, he was not
useful for even 1 game for Lakers this past season. However his training
sessions with Jordan Clarksson made Jordan a better point guard in later part
of season. At age 41 Steve was useful only as a mentor. So play wise Lakers
have lost nothing. Good thing we haven’t missed out on his grey matter. Steve
stays in California region and has shown strong reluctance to move to any other
area concerning mainly for his children schools and the weather. He has also explicitly
said that he can’t forget what Lakers organization has done for him and how
much is he indebted to them for the support during his later years while being
injured. He has already had few sessions with Jordan clarksson and the new
incoming d’angelo Russell. He has also volunteered to help Lakers in other
departments if there is need. If Nash is able to impart wisdom of passing and
shooting to the future backcourt i.e. point guard and shooting guard of Lakers,
then it’s actually a gain to have Nash retired and focus more on teaching than
playing, getting injured and spending time in rehab.
Carlos Boozer: Boozer is like a cd player which runs
perfectly fine but can’t be used only because we now live in world of smart
phones and iPods. Boozer can be an above average scorer as 2nd option
coming from bench, can grab rebounds. But his per minute efficiency is very
low. With respect to defense I got only 1 thing to say that even if I play
against him, me being seasonal player and he being an NBA great, I will look
like Rajnikant in front of his defense.
His age at 33 looks even less promising. He has been fairly healthy till now
but it isn’t a wise decision to invest playing time and money on an aging
player who can’t play 1 aspect of game. He is better suited to a championship
aspiring team which needs battle tested veteran for experience during playoff
time.
Jeremy Lin: Personally speaking I liked Jeremy Lin. He has
good off-ball game and he can be a spot up shooter complimenting Kobe Bryant
and Jordan Clarksson. He has good on ball game where he can drive in and get
buckets [remember last year he was the best finisher within 3ft range of
basket, just behind lebron james] He is a monster in pick and roll offensive
scheme. However we got d’angello Russell in draft and it wouldn’t be fair to
either lin or d’lo for getting less playing time. D’lo needs all the experience
by playing to develop his game as fast as he can to be a pillar for future. Lin
needs to become a great player right now to salvage his image and career.
Either ways, it’s a loss for Lakers but its somehow mitigated by drafting D’lo.
I wish him all the best for future.
Ronnie Price: Ronnie was one of the favorites of Byron
Scott because he put effort in defense. That’s all the positive I got for him. He
was on wring side of 30, short height, poor offensive game, good effort but bad
effectiveness on defense. He was not fit for another season in Laker land.
Xavier henry: Last year was supposed to be a breaking
out year for Xavier but he suffered Achilles torn ligament and he missed the
remaining season. Lakers cut him from squad to make way for others who can
play. Lakers however allowed him to continue rehabbing and practice in Lakers
facility. However Xavier has 4 yrs short career till now and he spent almost 55-60
% of that time in injuries. Not a trait someone would like either in a youngster
or a veteran. He was cut and we have a roster spot for a healthy player.
Jordan Hill: Jordan Hill was famous for his energizer
Bunny image and his relentless work on rebounding and interior scoring. His
offensive rebounding was top notch and he had developed a good shooting range
too. He showed promise in ins fitness after he quit his drinking problem and
worked harder in summer time. He was slated to be the team’s starting center.
He showed promise in his offense and his rebounding/stamina. However he was
simply outplayed by other starting bigs in the league. His reliance on his
outside shooting meant it impacted his rebounding and interior scoring and
hence shooting percentages and hence offensive efficiency of the team. He was
given a comparatively huge contract of 9mn$/yr only to see if he works hard
enough to earn it. Also it was given to be used as a trade bait for other teams
to dangle during trading window. Lakers at the end of season expected more from
Jordan than what he offered. He could have improved his game further in this
offseason but it was simply too much money to give. Lakers had team option on
Jordan hill’s contract and they didn’t claim it before deadline. Lakers however
were willing to take him back at bargain price but he was snatched by other
team before Lakers could make a move. So another all the best to him for his
future endeavors.
Wayne Ellington: He was a veteran presence in the locker
room along with the ability to play good minutes. Wayne had capability to knock
down open 3pt shots and he was a very good spot up shooter. He was average in
defense but had familiarity to Byron Scott’s offense/defense and hence
valuable. However he wasn’t a great piece to build for future and was more like
a spot gap solution at shooting guard position. He signed with other team in
Free Agency. Hope he has a good career ahead.
Wesley Johnson: This is one player I can say “All the
best for future” only to sound like a gentleman, but I seriously am angry and
frustrated for his performances. Wesley is like your old Maruti 1000, it works
good in some very specific conditions
and it will make you feel like a genius in Car world, but these days are so far
apart and rare that remaining time you decide if to sell it for 100 bucks or
just dismantle and sell spare parts. We had already talked about Wesley’s
inconsistencies in previous year in a different post. He was given a stable
Small Forward position in the team where his focus was to only defend the best
player of opposite team and knock down some open 3s as spot up shooter. Being a
top 5 pick in draft, this should seem like a cake walk especially considering
he is often called the athletic freak. But Wesley took the word inconsistency
to a whole new level and he simply was too much expensive for Lakers to invest
on even at the league minimum salary. Enough said.
Ed Davis: Ed Davis came in as a low price player
[1.1mn$] But again he was the steal of last year’s free agency. He is known as
a defensive guy who has very good offence within 10ft distance of the ring. He has
very limited play in midrange and long range game but he does enough dirty work
of setting up screens and moving off ball that he covers his poor shooting with
it. He was one of the most consistent and might be only defensive player in Lakers
squad last year. However it became pretty much obvious that he can be a very
good bench player unless he develops some bulk to tackle starting centers and
power forwards. Lakers wanted to have him back in this year squad at an affordable
rate. Ed Davis wanted to come back to Lakers, however he got more lucrative
offer from Portland team and Lakers were still unsure if their Plan A/B/C would
be successful , so he had to sign with a different team. I wish Ed luck to find
more money and playing time in his career.
Having said this lets also look at the players which we are inheriting
from previous year’s squad.
Kobe Bryant: The living legend. Read about him in my
previous post. I will only tell about the stuffs which he did previous year. Kobe
Bryant was both awful and awesome in this last year. Let’s start with awful
part. Kobe Bryant, the 2nd most awesome shooting guard of all time
was so lost in shooting department that his field Goal % last yr was 37%. It’s
not all, there were games where he had close to 50% field goals too. Whys is
that bad, you ask? Coz that means that there were games where the shooting
percentages were somewhere in range of 11-15%. That’s out rightly downtrodden.
Kobe received a lot of flak for his shooting percentages and more so for his
love for mid-range shooting which is scoffed at in today’s NBA . Kobe was also
criticized for his isolation plays and selfish ball chucking since he stepped
foot on the basketball court but this year it was actually a thing which hurt the
team very very much. Now the awesome part. Kobe was coming of 2 career
threatening injuries, ACL rupture and Knee Fracture. Not to mention he is 37yrs
of age and has 3rd highest playing time ever at 55700+ mins of
playtime over his 20yr career. This means that if he would have quit, people
will still be singing praises of his longevity and ironman fitness and his
diamond studded career. Kobe being Kobe was adamant to leave on his own terms.
He became fit for the training camp. He played with Nick Young and Wesley Johnson
in the offseason to impart tem valuable knowledge in footwork, shooting angles,
defensive positioning one on one defense and others. He took Julius Randle
under his wing and gave him 1st hand experience of the work ethic
which needs to be put to become an all-time great. Now about his awesomeness in
actual on court production. He played almost 39 minutes per game last season.
How much is that? It’s the number which Tim Duncan hasn’t played since 2009. That’s
6 yrs ago. Also not to mention he was fairly effective in his time playing. He produced
20points per game, 5assists per game and 5 rebounds per game for a sizeable
part of the season. Since 2000, Kobe is the only guard to achieve this 6 times,
and first time in history with usage rate 30%+ and with age more than 35. To
give you a perspective, it’s like asking a 59 yr old salesman to meet some all-time
high sales targets while working 12+ hrs a day and yet Kobe delivers it 6 times
in last 10 years. That’s phenomenal. Kobe also surpassed Michael Jordan in the
most point scored list and now sits at number 3. He also became the only player
in NBA history to have more than 6000 assists and more than 30000 points. There
were games in which he had triple double ie 10+ points, 10+ assists and 10+
rebounds and there were games in which he had 15+ assists. All the time while
being the most used player of the team and being a leader in points per game
for the not only for his team but also NBA. This didn’t continue for long as he
was injured again with tissue damage in shoulder and he had to sit out for the
rest of the season. Another interesting piece of information, Kobe was again selected
for the All Star break celebrations but he didn’t play and asked fans to vote
for other players as they deserve chance too.
Nick Young: Swaggy P was a shadow of Kobe Bryant this past
year. This should have been a good news for everyone except for the fact that
Kobe was having one of the worst seasons in his career and Nick was still
barely a shadow of that. His shooting percentages were even worse than Kobe and
he was injured for most part of season. He played minimal defense and his
clashes with coach wasn’t good either. Overall it’s a blessing for him to get
another season to prove to Lakers that he still can play for the team. He was
discussed throughout the league for trade possibilities. Chances are he might
be a trade bait in December-February window. If he has a good season, good,
else he will surely be out for next season from Lakers roster.
Ryan Kelly: Ryan Kelly was a very good player under Mike
D Antony era. He surprised everyone with his offensive versatility and mobility to other teams. He had a rough
year with injuries. When he finally was healthy, he was played out of position
and he struggled very much to adjust. He is now one of the candidates to be
traded or to be waived by the team. He has little margin of error this year or
his NBA career is over.
Robert Sacre: Let’s be honest. Sacre is known in NBA
more for his cheerleading and celebrations than his skills. Expectations with
him were very low and he delivered on them. So he didn’t do much to move the
needle either in his favor or against. However Sacre showed a lot of
improvement from mid-range shooting and defense. If he continues to work more
these aspects he can really find a place in this league as a substitution center
for the good teams.
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