Los Angeles Lakers are ‘going to be bad’
The Los Angeles Lakers wanted to show great improvement after a 27-55 season that landed them in the lottery. They met with LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul and had a face to face with Carmelo Anthony but James decided to leave the Miami Heat in favor of a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Anthony re-signed with the New York Knicks.
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The Lakers responded by re-signing swingman Nick Young to a four-year, $21.5 million deal and big man Jordan Hill to a two-year deal worth $18 million. They also added point guard Jeremy Lin through a trade with the Houston Rockets, won the amnesty waiver claim for Chicago Bulls’ power forward Carlos Boozer and signed Memphis Grizzlies’ big man Ed Davis to a more than reasonable two-year, $2 million contract.
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders believes Lakers are “going to be bad” and are “in for another trip to the lottery.”
"Kobe’s $24 is the biggest problem, honestly, followed closely by Nash’s money. Just too much cash invested in old, broken players. They should be grateful for the Boozer bandaid and lucking into a player as good as Julius Randle with the 7th pick. The Ed David contract was one of the nicest of the summer. But man they’re going to be bad. If Kobe’s healthy I think they can win 38-40 games, but in the West that’s nowhere near the postseason picture. They’re in for another trip to the lottery, methinks."
The Lakers made a couple of signings they probably shouldn’t have (with Young’s deal and Hill’s deal being the mean culprits), but aside from Bryant’s deal, they aren’t in terrible shape for the future.