- Odds to win the 2015-2016 NBA Championship: 200:1
- 2014-2015 Record: 21-61 (Missed Playoffs).
- 2015 Draft Results:
- D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State University (2nd Overall)
- Larry Nance Jr., University of Wyoming (27th Overall)
- Key Offseason Additions: Lou Williams, Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass
- Key Offseason Losses: Chris Kaman, Jordan Hill
- 2015 Draft Results:
- Projected Starting Lineup:
- Player Salaries:
- Season in Review:
The Good: Jordan Clarkson. Behind Ed Davis, Jordan posted the team’s second-best VORP (0.6) and Box Score Plus/Minus (-0.3) as a rookie. In 59 games played: Clarkson posted 11.9 Points Per & 3.5 Assists while averaging only 25 Minutes. When Kobe went down halfway through the year, Clarkson was arguably the team’s best guard … and if you don’t agree with that, it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t the team’s most efficient offensive player when the team’s offensive rating was 103.4 and Jordan’s was 107. Keep in mind, again, that this kid achieved all of this as a rookie.
The Bad: Kobe Bryant. Speaking of “efficiency”, even Stephon Marbury is rolling over in his grave hearing some of these numbers that Kobe put up last year. To elaborate: Per 100 possessions, Bryant averaged 33.1 points! That would usually be … like … really good! Ok, brace yourselves … in those same 100 possessions when Kobe scored 33.1, he averaged !!!!30.2!!!! attempts to get there – and only converted 11.3 of them. An absolutely HORRID 37% average on high volume, and to make things worse: 46.4% of his field goal attempts were of the mid-range variety between 10 feet and the three-point line. The icing on the cake: Kobe’s individual PER and ORTG. His 2014-2015 P(layer) E(fficiency) R(ating), which ESPN’s John Hollinger developed to “sum up all a player’s positive accomplishments, subtract the negative accomplishments, and return aper-minute rating of a player’s performance”, was 17.6 – his worst since his ROOKIE YEAR (10.7 last season in only 6 games played). And finally: the biggest eye sore of all, the ORTG. Per 100 possessions, Bryant’s individual ORTG (points produced by the team or player per 100 possessions) was 96. To give you a scope of just how awful that is: the team’s rating 103.4, 7.4 points higher, was sixth worst in the NBA. It was also the worst ORTG on the entire active roster — Even Robert Sacre (100) was more efficient on offense than Kobe last season. Enough is enough, man.
The Ugly:
- Baseless God Wob:
Before you start throwing shoes at me for making your precious Lakers 24th in the power rankings, hear me out. This is going to be an ideal season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Usually the word ideal involves an NBA championship when you are talking about one of, if not basketball’s most decorated franchise(s) … but, ever since the Lakers’ title in 2010 – they have been irrelevant. Even the year they traded the farm for Dwight Howard and created a “Super Team” with Steve Nash, Metta World Peace, Kobe, and Pau Gasol — they were nothing more than paper champions.
Back to my point: the Lakers are finally on the verge of turning the corner away from old, stinky veteran salary cap prison towards relevancy. While we’ve been laughing at the Lakers’ ineptitude the past two seasons, they’ve quietly built a REALLY solid foundation of young players in Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and D’Angelo Russell. I know he tore his knee to shreds, but, people forget not only how good Julius Randle is going to be, but, currently is…
Check out some of this footage from the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas, a little more than two months ago:
This is only ~9 months after surgery. Translation: The dude is a friggin MONSTER.
Moving on: we already talked about Jordan Clarkson, so, that leaves us with the player from the 2015 draft who is deemed to have the most “potential”: D’Angelo Russell. I think I speak for everyone when I say the former Ohio State guard’s silky smooth game is basketball porn. He hasn’t played a regular season contest in the NBA yet, but, from the same Summer League in Las Vegas – D Russ quickly proved why the Lakers drafted him over Jahlil Okafor and gave us a glimpse of his highly-touted court vision that we should expect to see from him on the big stage…
And finally: we must address the venomous snake in the room, Kobe Bryant. Kobe: you are a first-ballot hall-of-famer; you truly are one of the greats to ever play the game, and unlike many “greats” before you – your ferocity, determination, and “kill first, ask questions second” attitude, amongst your many achievements, will leave a stamp on basketball that will never get washed away. However, they say “Father Time is undefeated” for a reason – and for you, my friend, it’s knocking on the door. I don’t want to make it sound like Kobe is not good at basketball anymore, but, for this Laker franchise to succeed – they cannot dedicate 35.7% of their salary cap … literally … to an aging, out-of-his-prime superstar who still thinks and plays like he’s at the pinnacle of his career. As a matter of fact: once the season is over, it’s time for the Lakers to cut ties with Kobe forever – even if he wants to come back for less money. He simply requires too much of the basketball for the franchise’s three core youngns to blossom into what everyone thinks they can be, and is no longer talented enough to “get his” AND create for his teammates.
In conclusion: enjoy this year, Laker fans. You’re not going to win a lot of games, BUT, this time: you’re not going to care. Kobe will likely retire at the end of the season, and you will cherish every single moment of it along the way — similar to the Yankees’ crappy campaign being forgotten because of Derek Jeter’s retirement. Simultaneously, you’re going to get to watch three young superstars-in-the-making play alongside one of the best basketball players ever. As long as they stay relatively healthy, the foundation of the future should get some much-needed experience this year with plenty of room for error. Once the season ends, Bryant’s $25 Million salary comes off the books along with Roy Hibbert’s $15.5 Million. That is FORTY MILLION in ONE SEASON’S WORTH of cap space freed up for the Lakers to parlay with Randle/Russell/Clarkson to go out and get … dare I say…
Suck it up, worshipers of the purple & gold … there is light at the end of the tunnel – I promise…
- 2015-2016 Season Projection:
- 32-50 Record
- 12th Place in West
- No Playoffs
- Fan Mindset, as told by Hollywood:
- “WE GAINED A YARD!”, Little Giants
- Baseless God Wob’s 3 Divine Questions:
- If Kobe doesn’t retire, will the Lakers bring him back for the Veteran’s minimum?
- Do you start Jordan Clarkson AND D’Angelo Russell together in the back court?
- What do I have to do to get Kobe, Swaggy P, and Lou Williams on the floor at the same time? Because I will do it.
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OTHER NBA SEASON PREVIEWS/PRESEASON RANKINGS:
#30: Philadelphia 76ers
#28: Brooklyn Nets
#27: Denver Nuggets
#26: Orlando Magic
from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/1NWBoDb
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