For the last few seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers have approached the off-season with a plan to hit the home-run ball by landing a big name free agent. This past off-season, those targets were LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
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Fast forward to late September and James and Anthony aren’t Lakers, instead, member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
While Lakers fans were so sure they’d land a superstar, general manager Mitch Kupchak says the franchise never truly expected to land neither.
"“We never felt it was realistic to think we would get one or two,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak recalled Friday at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo. “But if you don’t try, you don’t know. We went all out to pursue both of the people you’re talking about.”"
In other words, the Lakers took a shot in the dark.
You can’t blame them though. While LeBron James seemed deadset on returning to the Miami Heat or heading to Cleveland, Carmelo Anthony was reportedly close to signing up to play alongside Kobe Bryant. Without the Lakers trying — even if they didn’t think they had a true chance — they put themselves in a good position to possibly reap excellent benefits.
This won’t stop their efforts to land a superstar though. Next year, there will be another nice batch stars available to pursue. Some big names? Kevin Love, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo, and Goran Dragic.
They’ll have a much better chance of landing those guys than they did James and Anthony.
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