Why Mitch Kupchak is Stunting the Lakers Growth

What choice does a franchise have when they are given a generational talent but to cater to that talent until they decide it's time to hang it up? The Lakers have been blessed by the basketball gods with more than their fair share of these generational talents, from Jerry West and Elgin Baylor to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and now most recently, Kobe Bryant. It seems now that players are not drawn to big markets as much as they used to be. Unless the Lakers are able to get lucky and draft another franchise player it may be very hard for them to lure one in from free agency. This must have been Mitch Kupchak's, the Lakers current general manager, thought process when he gave a past prime and oft injured Kobe Bryant a 2-year, $48.5 million dollar contract before the start of the 2014-2015 season.

We have seen numerous stars take pay cuts and smaller roles when they get to the back end of their career in hopes that their team can bring in guys to help win a championship. Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers decided against that path and since then have been unable to attract anybody noteworthy. The problem occurs when Kupchak signs veterans like Lou Williams and trades for Roy Hibbert in a delusional hope that along with grandfather Kobe they can compete in the Western conference and maybe, just maybe, win an NBA championship. Unfortunately Mitch, you won't be able to let Kobe ride off into the sunset of retirement with that coveted 6th ring. What the Lakers can do however, is set themselves up to have a bright future with pieces they already have in place but to do that Kupchak must swallow his pride and do the right thing.

If the season were to end today the Lakers have the second best odds to win the draft and take a  potential star in Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram who both fill a need. Adding one of these prized wings to a core of D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle could bring the Lakers back to prominence sooner rather than later. Most teams would have called this season a wash and focused on player development but Kupchak and the man he hired to coach the team, Byron Scott, have made it painfully clear that just wont happen. In a recent interview Kupchak said, "This year is dedicated to Kobe and his farewell", as well as saying that player development takes a backseat to Kobe this year.

A casual NBA fan may turn on a Lakers game and see a lineup full of veterans who should be nothing more than role players at this stage of their careers playing heavy minutes. The casual fan may then start to believe that the Lakers are really in a hole with Kobe retiring at the end of the season and no young guys have stepped up to fill the role. Unfortunately for that fan they are being mislead because of Kupchak and Scott. Kupchak stated that he likes the tough love that Scott shows to his young players while the rest of the league knows it's absurd that this potential core does not play as much as they should. When given the right opportunity the young core the of the Lakers has proven to be more productive than the veterans. Kupchak has to realize that player development has to be pushed to the forefront so a chemistry between the future of the team can grow. The numbers don't lie.

Some believe that small ball is the future of the NBA. The Lakers clearly found some truth in that theory when they opted for guard D'Angelo Russell over traditional big man Jahlil Okafor. Many thought Russell would step right in and play big minutes but that just hasn't been the case as he has only started 22 of 37 games and averaging just 21 minutes a game in the month of January. Meanwhile, in games that he has played Kobe has averaged 30 minutes a game despite shooting an abysmal 35% from the field. Even with all the struggles Kobe has had free reign to shoot whatever shot or run whatever play he desires. It is very important that Russell gets on the court more often for the rest of the season and a prime example of why is another Ohio State guard, Evan Turner. When Turner, also picked 2nd in the draft, got to the Sixers he sat behind Jodie Meeks and that lack of playing time, I believe, stunted his growth moving forward.

Once Russell gets more play time he and Clarkson could solidify the Lakers backcourt for the future.

The core does not stop with those two however, the Lakers also have two young power forwards that are lacking in the minutes department in Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. Randle, despite being the 7th overall pick in 2014 draft is playing only 26 minutes a game this season. That may not seem like a very low number at first glance but when you consider Randle is top 10 in the NBA in rebounding it calls for Randle to be a consistent starter. Also Randle has played in 3 games this season with 3+ days of rest and in those games he has posted a line of, 30mpg, 16.3ppg, 9.7rpg, 2.3apg on 54% shooting. The only way I can make sense of what Kupchak is doing is to believe that he was confused as to whether the Lakers were a contender or not. A part of me hopes that isn't true because if Kupchak could not accurately assess this Lakers roster then the team has much bigger problems than just this season.

Fans that are looking at the big picture know that as bad as things look now it is far from hopeless for one of the most storied franchises in sports history. However, to turn things around it has to start from the top down meaning Kupchak has to pick the future over the present. If Byron Scott is content on keeping the rotation the way it is now then he should not be the coach moving forward. Russell, Randle and Clarkson should be starters on this team playing the majority of minutes at their respective positions and Kobe should be brought off the bench playing no more than 25mpg. Kupchak is to blame for most of the teams problems but he is also the man that can fix them and steer the ship back in the right direction.