Alright, Laker Nation, welcome in to the long-awaited annual "Season in Review" post for the 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers. Yes, I promised this post sometime after the final season game or the week after at the earliest. It's almost the end of that week after and I apologize for not putting this up yet. The university life as a senior is starting to hit at this point of the year and I have two papers to write up plus a spreadsheet project. But, I'm hanging in there and taking my time to put this up while the playoffs are on. As usual, I reflect on all 82 games in a condensed format possible and address personnel changes and offseason needs.
Well, unlike other "Season in Review" posts I've made in the past, this one is going to be real short because let's be honest, this is yet another season to forget about. The Lakers finished a franchise worst 17-65 under 2nd year head coach Byron Scott. Then again, all this losing was done to tank and protect a spot at a top 3 pick for this year's draft. From the beginning, the Lakers had a crisis as to whether they want to develop their young core of rookie D'Angelo Russell and 2nd year players Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle or celebrate Kobe Bryant's 20th season with the Purple and Gold. In this case, they chose the latter and it became more evident when Kobe subliminally announced he was retiring at the end of the season by writing "Dear Basketball" on the Players' Tribune. It turns out both options were a lose-lose either way because D'Lo, JC, and Randle struggled to gel early on and Kobe was struggling mightily to find his shot. Add in the ineptitude of Byron Scott's coaching, an erratic offense, and an atrocious defense? You have the makings of a total disaster. However, in the opening game vs. Minnesota, the Lakers did look good until they threw the game away in the 2nd half. Although, I'll give the T'Wolves credit since they were playing with a heavy heart for the late Flip Saunders. Then as the season progressed, things got progressively worse. If you go through the losses, a couple of those losses the Lakers had, they lost in an embarrassing blowout. Let me throw in some examples: Nov. 24 @ Golden State 77-111, Dec. 19 @ OKC 78-118, Dec. 23 vs. OKC 85-120, Mar. 4 vs. Atlanta 77-106, and Mar. 28 @ Utah 75-123. Understandably, those blowout losses were against playoff teams, but still, "embarrassing" is an overused word to describe these games with these large margins of defeat.
Even though this was a season that will live in infamy, there is a small sample size of positives to take away from this season. The Lakers did pull off an amazing upset early in March against the defending champion, record chasing Warriors. Jordan Clarkson didn't hit a sophomore slump. Julius Randle showcased he can be a double-double player in the stats sheet. The verdict is still out there for D'Angelo Russell, but there were some games where he showed us that he can be an explosive scorer that the Lakers saw when they drafted him. The home game against the Orlando Magic in March was arguably their most complete game that they had playing together as all three players racked up 20+ points in the 98-107 victory over Orlando. Of course, Kobe Bryant, despite not being the same player he once was, put up some throwback performances sporadically in games to give us that nostalgia factor, turning back the clock to when he dominated the league as one of the best players in the world. In particular, the 60 point performance in his final game vs. the Utah Jazz will be the the one game we'll be talking for a long time from a season that was shrouded in absolute atrocity.
With Kobe Bryant gone, a boatload of cash to spend, and a top 3 pick hanging in the balance, now it becomes a lot interesting for the Lakers to usher in a new era. The only bad news that is still a reality is that we're probably stuck with Byron Scott as Head Coach for another year or two. Scott Brooks going to the Wizards and Tom Thibodeau going to the Timberwolves were signs of missed opportunities for the Lakers to get a coach who their young players can buy into and who can possibly help land them some top-tier free agents like a Kevin Durant. We can only hope that the Lakers keep that top 3 pick and that they use that selection to draft either Ben Simmons out of LSU or Brandon Ingram out of Duke and hopefully they can strike a diamond-in-the-rough in the 2nd round. In terms of free agency, I've emphasized on this to the Lakers last season: do NOT rely on or wait on a star player's decision during the free agency period. Find some quality players and veterans in the meantime that can help develop and mold the young Lakers core in the first season of the post-Kobe Bryant era (*hint* *hint* Hassan Whiteside). If we miraculously land KD, great! But the Lakers have to stock up on depth and add some veteran presence to guide the young Laker squad.
I'd consider this upcoming offseason as the official "Year 1" of the Lakers' reclamation project since the young core is taking over and hopefully, some new faces come over to help. It's definitely going to be an interesting offseason and an interesting transition from 20 years of Kobe Bryant to Russell-Clarkson-Randle or whoever is going to be staying on board during the rebuilding process. We'll see if Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak have the mettle to field together a competitive roster. Laker Nation, once again, thank you for following my coverage of the 2015-16 season. Here's to a fresh start in 2016-17.
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