Lottery Season Report Card: Los Angeles Lakers

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After a disastrous season, how low will the Lakers fall on the grading scale?

For two consecutive seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers have failed miserably to meet expectations and fulfill their championship aspirations. After acquiring Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in sign-and-trade deals and pairing them with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace, many projected the Lakers to win the Western Conference title and face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. However, things never materialized in the City of Angels and the fallout would be much, much worse.

After barely making the postseason and being swept in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs last season, Howard, presumably unable to deal with the pressure of living up to the hype, bolted L.A. and signed a multi-year contract with the Houston Rockets. Afterward, World Peace signed a contract with the New York Knicks after being amnestied by the Lakers.

With less talent, the Lakers were a long shot to make the playoffs this season. Not only did they miss the playoffs, they were one of the worst teams in the NBA. .

Final Record: (27-55)

Grade: F

We knew that the odds of L.A. making the playoffs this year were slim, but did anyone see this coming? If you did, you should strongly consider the lottery. The Lakers were an absolute disaster this year. Both Bryant and Nash missed a majority of the season due to injuries and the Lakers saw Nick “Swaggy P” Young become the team’s go-to guy. The never-ending story surrounding Gasol’s future in L.A. added a new chapter this season when he was not dealt at the trade deadline, and Mike D’Antoni, who was hired instead of Phil Jackson in 2012 to replace Mike Brown, resigned after two horrific seasons where he went a combined 67-87. I wanted to give L.A. a D here, but let’s remember that this is the Los Angeles Lakers we’re talking about. This is a franchise that has won 16 NBA championships, 23 Division titles, and 31 Conference titles. This season, the Lakers lost the most games in franchise history (68 years!) and their .329 winning percentage was their worst since the 1957-58 season. They missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season and this was just the third time in 38 years that they have missed the postseason. Simply put, the Lakers deserve a failing grade for a historically bad season.

Expectations vs. Reality

Grade: C

I gave the Lakers a C here because like I said before, the Lakers weren’t expected to be very successful this year. If this were last season’s results, the Lakers would almost certainly receive an F, but this team just didn’t have the talent they’ve had in years past. Another factor here is that injuries affected L.A. more than any other team in the NBA. This season, Lakers players missed 319 games due to injury, the most games missed in the entire league. Expectations are almost always set on players being healthy. Therefore, the Lakers can’t be crucified for things they cannot control.

Coaching Staff

Grade: F

In one of my previous articles, I discussed which coaches of lottery teams were gone, which coaches were on the hot seat, and which coaches were safe. During the drafting process, I listed D’Antoni under the “gone” category because I believed that his tenure in L.A. had been a complete failure. Days later, D’Antoni announced his resignation. This season, the Lakers ranked 29th in points allowed per game (109.2), 27th in +/- (-6.3), 25th in opponent field goal percentage (46.8%), and last in opponent field goals made per game (42.0). D’Antoni also had numerous riffs with his players throughout the season. Back in February, Gasol ripped D’Antoni for playing small-ball against bigger, tougher opponents. Gasol also criticized D’Antoni for a lack of discipline and for allowing other players to take too many shots. Instead of remaining silent, D’Antoni fired back at Gasol for not keeping things in-house. Chris Kaman, who signed a 1-year contract with L.A. last offseason, said that he went three months without saying a word to D’Antoni, per the Los Angeles Daily News‘ Mark Medina. Recently, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, Bryant said that he “didn’t care” when asked about D’Antoni’s resignation. In sum, D’Antoni failed to earn the respect of his players and the statistics prove that D’Antoni was a failure as the Lakers’ head coach.

Players

Grade: C-

This may seem like a harsh mark, but hear me out. First, Bryant and Nash are now 35 and 40, respectively. How much do they have left after their injuries? Nash has been unable to return to form after suffering a broken leg during the 2012-13 season, and Bryant, who tore his achilles last season, suffered a fractured knee after returning from his first injury. Steve Blake emerged as a role player, but he was traded to the Golden State Warriors at the trade deadline. Gasol, 33, proved he can still perform at a high level, but injuries and D’Antoni’s coaching philosophies limited his playing time. Wesley Johnson, Xavier Henry, Jordan Hill, and Robert Sacre showed flashes of good, but were mostly bad throughout the season. Jordan Farmar shot 43.8% from three-point range, but missed 41 games due to injury. The bright spot here comes from Kendall Marshall, Swaggy P, Ryan Kelly, and Kent Bazemore. Marshall, a former first-round draft pick who was signed from the D-League after a myriad of injuries at the point guard position, averaged a career-high 8.0 PPG and 8.8 APG while shooting 39.9% from beyond the arc. Swaggy P, formally known as Nick Young, averaged a career-high 17.9 PPG and served as a lightning rod of positive energy for the Lakers throughout the season. Kelly, L.A.’s second-round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, saw more playing time than expected due to D’Antoni’s small-ball lineup and averaging 8.0 PPG in his rookie season. Bazemore, who was acquired in the Blake trade, didn’t wow anyone with his offense, but defended extremely well down the stretch.

Front Office

Grade: Incomplete

I gave the Lakers an incomplete here because we have no idea what the future holds for their front office. After the great Jerry Buss passed away just over a year ago, ownership of the franchise was handed down to his six children, with each child receiving 11% of his 66% ownership stake. Although I disagreed with the Buss family’s decision to hire D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson, I think it would be unfair to give the Buss family a poor grade here because I have too much respect for Jerry Buss and what he accomplished in his life. However, I haven’t seen enough from the Buss family to give them a high grade. General Manager Mitch Kupchak also applies to the front office, but I stay with my incomplete grade because I’m anxious to see what he does this offseason. The Lakers will have roughly $35 million committed to next year’s salary cap and they will have roughly $30 to $45 million to spend on free agents based on next year’s salary and luxury cap projections. Therefore, the Lakers will be in contention to acquire big-time free agents such as Carmelo Anthony and possibly LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh. Rumors of Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love going to L.A. continue to surface. With Bryant presumably on his last legs, it will be critical for Kupchak to use the Lakers’ cap space and market appeal to acquire as much talent as possible. Until that time, however, the Lakers’ front office receives an incomplete.

Final Grade

Grade: F

These are the Los Angeles Lakers. They are not supposed to finish 14th in the Western Conference, they are not supposed to miss the postseason, and they are not supposed to be Los Angeles’ lesser team. This season was an absolute failure and the Lakers are deserving of a failing grade here.

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