It’s extremely rare for the L.A. Lakers to be this down for this long. Rough times in Lakerland means a vast overhaul is required this summer. A massive sea change is needed to make the team competitive again.
L.A. Lakers 2015-16 Projected Depth Chart (before the drafting of D’Angelo Russell and Larry Nance):
C: *Jordan Hill/Robert Sacre
PF: #Ed Davis/Julius Randle/Ryan Kelly
SF: Nick Young
SG: Kobe Bryant/Jabari Brown/^Vander Blue
PG: Jordan Clarkson
L.A. Lakers Offseason Team Needs:
1. An Established Second Banana: This is a franchise that doesn’t accept rebuilding years, so management needs to make a major splash this summer. With a ton of cap space available, the Lakers should target some of the top names in free agency to help find Bryant an established wingman. Names like Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo are already being floated around, and both would help plug holes. The uncertainty of Bryant’s future could be a deterrent for a major free agent signing a long-term deal in L.A.
2. A Healthy Kobe: This could end up being the final year of Kobe Bryant’s extraordinary NBA career, and while the franchise has an uphill climb to become a playoff-caliber club next year, that won’t be possible unless Kobe is healthy. He will be 37 years old once the season tips, so expecting the Kobe Bryant of the early 2000s would be a laughable mistake. Still, a healthy Kobe is essential for this franchise to dig itself out of being one of the cellar dwellars of the NBA.
Read more L.A. Lakers offseason analysis at Walter Football
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.