Did the Lakers become the Clippers of old and not tell anyone?
It’s been an odd offseason in La La Land, which began with the pipe dream of adding Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James to the reality that neither star seriously considered joining Kobe Bryant. The ensuing moves – bringing back Nick Young and Jordan Hill while adding castoffs Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer — were strange to say the least.
So Bryant, who has received plenty of criticism for his two-year, $48.5 million extension, went from having Anthony as his wing man to Young, a gunner in the mold of J.R. Smith? That news probably didn’t go down too well with his morning coffee.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak didn’t exactly get Young back at a discount, landing him on a four-year, $21.5 million deal. He also gave the enigmatic Hill two years and $18 million, acquired Lin from the Rockets (with 40-year-old Steve Nash already in house) and picked up Boozer off amnesty waivers, winning the rights to the Bulls cap casualty with a bid of $3.25 million.
“Kobe wants to win and I want to win. I think Kobe wants his teammates to train hard and I will train hard. I hope he can respect me and we can collaborate well together,” Lin said during a press conference in Taiwan on Friday.
The one sound move Kupchak made seems to be the first round draft pick of Kentucky star Julius Randle, a bull of a forward who has been impressive in the NBA Summer League. But even that now seems odd, considering the Lakers’ glut at power forward with Randle, Boozer, Hill and free agent pickup Ed Davis. The rest of the roster: Nets castoff MarShon Brooks, Xavier Henry, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, Kendall Marshall and Robert Sacre.
Throw in that the team still doesn’t have a coach – Mike D’Antoni resigned May 1 – and you have to wonder what, exactly, the new Buss regime is doing. The coaching opening has been tied to a number of candidates, from new Nets coach Lionel Hollins to former Nets and Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, who is now considered the front-runner.