The Superteam

Superteams, you either hate them or love them. They are a coveted staple in the modern NBA. Star players from other teams conglomerate with each other to team up and play on one team for the ultimate goal of dominating the league and above all, winning a championship. There’s a reason why superteams frequently happen in today’s NBA. All-Star players are constantly frustrated that the organizations they play for couldn’t put together a competitive and competent roster around them. So they do what they can to get themselves out of their terrible situation and sign with a title-contending team.

Almost all of the time, superteams that are established in the NBA successfully, subsequently complete their objective in winning an NBA championship. The rules are simple when establishing a superteam: gut the future and maximize the window of opportunity presented. However, building a superteam is not as simple. It’s easy on the outside to build a Fantasy Basketball / NBA 2K-esque lineup. What’s much harder is figuring out how three or four NBA Superstars can mesh together on one team. Can such stars buy-in to their new system and sacrifice stats they put up for the betterment of the team? And most importantly, how do you fill out the roster and what players can be complementary pieces around this band of superstars on one team? Such is the methodology when formulating a dominant superteam.

Despite the success some superteams have garnered in recent memory, one prestigious franchise couldn’t seem to solve the formula of building the almighty superteam. Enter the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have experienced decades of success, winning 17 titles out of 33 NBA Final appearances, and have established a reputation of an organization every superstar wants to play for. The latter is at least what they think in their minds. There’s this notion within this illustrious organization that they can buy and poach superstars from other teams and put them together without considering the consequences.

After this shitshow of a season, it goes to show that the Lakers are still absolutely clueless when it comes to building the modern NBA superteam. Let’s rewind back to almost 10 years ago. The Lakers wanted to build a superteam to rival the Miami Heat lead by the star power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They attempted to trade for Chris Paul, which was infamously vetoed by David Stern and the 29 other owners who owned the New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans). Each and every one of those owners saw through the Lakers’ plans that they wanted to pair a trio of Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard. The following season, the Lakers attempted their construction of a superteam once again. Alternatively, they landed Steve Nash and still landed the big man they coveted in Dwight Howard. Following the free agent signing of Antawn Jamison, the Lakers now consisted of six NBA All-Stars. They looked the part of a superteam.

But there was one problem: this superteam that was built was old, slow, and couldn’t figure out a way to play together. They began a season of great expectations flat. Players missed games in and out, leading to lack of chemistry building. They were learning a new system (no, two systems) on the fly. As the season progressed down the stretch, the team showed signs that they were finally figuring things out, but it was too little too late and it came at the ultimate price of a significant injury to a most loyal Laker.

Here we are again, nearly 10 years later.

Following a gutless first round exit to the upstart Phoenix Suns, the Lakers knew they had to retool the roster. Because in the retrospect of the 2020-21 NBA Season, Laker basketball with Anthony Davis and LeBron James sitting on the sidelines was not fun to see. The players they brought in / retained struggled to step up and help the team right the ship when the going got tough. Secondly, even though the team was once again Top 5 in defensive rating, the offensive side of the ball was where they struggled the most. That was exposed in the first round matchup against Phoenix where the Suns shot the daylights from beyond the arc while the Lakers couldn’t hit a three even if their life depended on it.

So, the biggest need of the Lakers was this: not only did they need defenders, but they needed some floor spacers that could shoot and at least have opposite teams account for the perimeter threat the Laker could have, which they lacked. At first, the Lakers aimed their crosshairs at the Sacramento Kings’ sharpshooter, Buddy Hield. As inconsistent of a scorer he was, Buddy Hield would at least give the Lakers a threat from beyond the arc. You double AD or LeBron, you were gonna have a wide open 40% 3-point shooter open. The Lakers had a deal in place to land Buddy Hield.

Then the Washington Wizards intercepted the call and said to the Lakers “Russell Westbrook wants to play with you and you only. We can’t move him anywhere else.” Knowing the Lakers and their insatiable obsession to land superstars, they accepted the trade offer, giving away Kyle Kuzma, KCP, Montrezl Harrell, and a late first round pick in this year’s NBA draft to the Wizards for the hometown, LA-bound All-Star, Mr. “Triple Double”, Russell Westbrook.

With the acquisition of Westbrook, the Lakers have their coveted Big 3 that could rival that of the Brooklyn Nets. They have a guy who is durable, competitive, and in the case LeBron and AD miss games, they have a guy who can step into that number one option. It’s the perfect Hollywood story waiting to written: a superstar comes home to win a championship with one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. Fairy tales and fables aside, it lacked the answer to the Lakers biggest need in question:

HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS TEAM GONNA SPACE THE DAMN FLOOR?!?!?

You have three All-Star players who could attack the paint, but are not known to rely on 3-point shooting. This team would’ve worked 10+ years ago when teams still emphasized on dominating in the paint and attacking the rim at will. But in today’s league, players can pull up from 30 feet from three whenever. The Lakers didn’t even build their full roster yet, but the fit of LeBron, Westbrook, and AD was already in question from the get go. Now, the Lakers truly need to get a whole lot of 3&D players.

They continue to ignore the latter all in the objective of chasing names and not even considering the fit. Dwight Howard is available, let’s bring him back. Carmelo Anthony is a free agent? Sign him! Rajon Rondo? Bring him back. DeAndre Jordan? Sure! And kick Marc Gasol to the curb while you’re at it. On top of that, the Lakers were creating their own multiverse of madness, bringing some noteworthy ex-Lakers back such as Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, and Kent Bazemore.

With their new-look roster, the Lakers had 7 All-Stars (8 if you count Isaiah Thomas’ 10-day cameo appearance in December, another ex-Laker to tack on) and especially had 4 players who were nominated to the NBA’s 75^th Anniversary team. There’s another problem behind this poorly-constructed “superteam”.

THIS TEAM IS OLD AND SLOW!

Sure experience is key, but the older guys don’t have the legs anymore to keep up with some teams. The Lakers repeated the same mistake as 2012-13 when they signed one too many names, names that were once All-Stars, but are clearly past their prime. This rendition took it to a whole new level. No, they kicked it into overdrive signing one too many players. Some of them can still go don’t get me wrong, but others are clearly past their expiration date in the league. Speaking of Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan, now the Lakers don’t have any “stretch 5” and their lack of spacing especially became more magnified.

Still, with these many old names on one roster, the 2021-22 Lakers were picked by many as the favorites to represent the West and meet the Nets in the NBA Finals. Despite all the negative connotations, there are some that believed in this roster. No one more than LeBron James himself. LeBron insists on his haters and critics to “keep that same energy.” And everyone outside of the Laker brass was hoping for this “superteam” to fall flat on its face.

And failed they did this season. The 2012-13 Lakers have been dethroned from being the worst superteam the Lakers ever built. This team was a bubble ready to burst despite being bandaged and all patched up with Elmer’s Glue Stick. For two straight years, the Lakers were a top 5 in defensive rating. This year? They were one of the worst. Teams were able to shoot the daylights out against this team and attack the basket at will. That’s one of the drawbacks of having an old and slow team and the Lakers surely paid the price because there’s no such thing for teams to “respect their elders” when on an NBA court.

You cannot just look at the amount of losses the Lakers piled up during this season, but you need to deep dive into the teams they lost against. They lost twice against an Oklahoma City Thunder team in full tank mode. They lost to a Durant-less, Irving-less Nets team on Christmas Day (while almost at full strength). They lose to a Portland Trail Blazers skeleton crew who pretty much blew up their own team and retooled their roster with G-leaguers and players who are itching for a 2^nd chance in the NBA. They blow a lead against another tank job in the Houston Rockets. They had the most gutless, spineless home loss against a Pelicans team that went from lottery hopeful to play-in / playoff contender. And to add more insult to injury, they get swept by the Clippers. No Paul George. No Kawhi Leonard. And they still get swept by their crosstown rival despite the talent discrepancy on paper.

This team can cry that they were not healthy all they want. But what’s inexcusable was the lack of effort this team put in night in and night out. As if having all of those big names would hinder the team because every man was too egotistical to sacrifice themselves for the greater part of the team. Who would’ve thought? This team would rather work on taking shots at the media calling out their series of failures rather than working it out to turn this trainwreck of a season around.

The blame game has started and many Laker fans are currently playing this game. Person A should get most of the blame. No, it’s person B that should be blamed. To me, it’s a combination of people and personnel that need to be blamed on why this season went sideways. Let’s start with the main culprit who everyone is accusing.

Frank Vogel. When it is all said and done, the Lakers were going to part ways with Vogel just two years after coaching the team to a championship. Let’s get one thing here: Vogel is a defensive-minded coach. As mentioned, in the first two years Vogel was coaching this team, the Lakers were a top 5 team in defensive rating. It’s unfortunate that this roster he inherited consists of players that show minimal defensive effort or lack thereof. Not to mention, the injury bug biting LeBron James and their defensive anchor Anthony Davis these last two years, hampered this team into becoming something more from a defensive standpoint. That’s in defense of Vogel. Now why does he deserve some blame? Rotations were mediocre. The man cracked a whole lot of starting lineup combinations throughout the season like he was playing Russian roulette. His offensive system was very anemic. Especially when the Lakers were in a win / tie possession, he constantly drew up some of the worst offensive plays during a timeout. Though, he’s not at fault for the execution as players would just turn the ball over, take an ill-advised shot, or make an unnecessary extra play over the original play when it was there for them for the taking. Regardless, it’s a running gag in sports: when things go south, blame the coach. Without Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins breathing down his neck like the last two years, Vogel showed the coach that he is: a coach that is good when the pieces that fit his system are in place and a mediocre one when they’re not.

Let’s dive further down the list shall we? Rob Pelinka, what kind of roster-building was this? You saw how the Suns dismantled the Lakers and you addressed it specifically in your exit interview last year: the Lakers need to have floor spacers and shooters. The roster you built addressed everything but that. Trading Westbrook and on top of that signing guys like DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo? You essentially built a team consisting of non-shooters hoping to go back to the formula that won you the 2020 championship. Oh you did sign some shooters? Wayne Ellington? I forgot he was on the roster. Kent Bazemore? I forgot about him too. Kendrick Nunn? LOL. Trevor Ariza? Welcome back, but too little too late. The biggest position in need when you signed everyone was a young 3&D wing and you failed to address that. At least you had the saving graces of adding Stanley Johnson by December. Oh and Malik Monk was probably your best FA signing in retrospect. Too bad you might lose him this offseason because another team will likely poach him for more money than the Lakers could offer. To put it, Pelinka dropped the ball in reloading this roster from last year. Last year’s team was younger on paper, but lacked the experience and championship mettle. He nullified it this year, signing / acquiring more proven veterans, but added one too many to construct without question, the oldest team in the league this season. I’m not gonna fall to Magic Johnson’s BS that Pelinka could’ve re-signed Alex Caruso, signed DeMar Derozan, and traded for Hield. He didn’t even consider that the Lakers would trigger a hard cap. Still, Pelinka’s methodology of building this roster lacked any meaning or merit other than just “let’s build a superteam to compete with the Nets.”

Now, let’s get to the superteam itself. You wanna know why the 2012-13 Lakers didn’t have much of an epic fail like this team? Back in the day, when they knew they needed to turn it around, they made the effort to adjust their roles. Kobe Bryant facilitated more and set up teammates in positions to get them involved. Steve Nash had to be relegated to a spot-up shooter given his age and accepted that role. Pau Gasol had to be relegated to a stretch-4 (actually helped extended his NBA career in the long-run) to free up Dwight Howard to do his typical damage in the paint (albeit with a bad back). It took Pau awhile to accept his role, but he did anyway to give the team a chance. The 2021-22 Lakers? Nobody wanted to step in and refine their roles. A full 82-game season (+6 preseason games) and this team just couldn’t figure it out and adjust. Russell Westbrook especially struggled to find his identity in this team and his weakness as a low IQ BBall player were magnified under the spotlight of the LA sports media. It was obvious that he lost a step or two this season. When the home crowd is yelling at you not to shoot, you’ve got underlying problems. The marriage between Westbrook and the Lakers was so bad that they tried to move him by midseason and now rumors are floating that he may be moved to teams like Charlotte or Indiana by this offseason.   Anthony Davis, let’s face facts; the injuries he suffered were freak accidents. Players crashed into his knee. He landed awkwardly, landing on his tip-toe and rolling his ankle. He missed significant time due to unfortunate circumstances. But AD does have a reputation of being injury-prone. And that tag certainly didn’t help his case. This season eventually turned into a LeBron chasing records season.

A lot of the wins the Lakers notched this season, they needed to rely on the high-end talent of LeBron to bail them out, a 37 year old LeBron might I add. In order for the Lakers to stay in the play-in race, they needed LeBron to shatter every NBA record just to give them a chance. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has to be shaking in his boots, knowing that his unparalleled run as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer may be numbered. Honestly, the mileage that this man logged all season, you were concerned he was going to suffer the same unfortunate fate that Kobe did with his Achilles. But the man was just inhuman. Only a tweaked ankle and some knee soreness could stop him and that’s what just happened. As we marvel at this man’s greatness, we’ve come into one agreement: he shouldn’t have any business carrying a team, especially at this age. But the most complicating issue is this no matter if you believe otherwise, he definitely has a say in the rosters that are built around him. That goes with reputation since the day he took his talents to South Beach. A stacked roster around him is good on paper. But when it fails, his fans complain on his behalf that he doesn’t have any help and he’s already looking to bolt to another title-contending team. The team wins because of Bron. But when it loses, it’s everybody’s fault but him. You can’t deny that he had some say in bringing Westbrook in when there are reports that he and AD talked to Westbrook about teaming up before the trade happened. This is the roster he wanted and paid the ultimate price of shouldering the burden of carrying the team yet again.

The Lakers are at an impasse. They have purposefully sabotaged the window that was presented to them when they signed LeBron in 2018 and traded for AD the following year. Since the bubble championship, everything has gone downhill in a hurry. And you know who has to look in the mirror? It’s the organization themselves. A proclaimed “superteam” is not a true “superteam” when the pieces don’t fit. The Lakers consider the big names chasing old glory, but don’t even consider the fit and logic if you add said names to the roster. That’s the underlying problem to why they failed twice to build the proper modern NBA superteam in the span of nearly 10 years. And it doesn’t help that this organization refuses to seek outside help for advice. They’d rather keep it in-house, which means if you worked / played for the Lakers before, they will consider you over other proven candidates. We’re lucky to have seen one more championship out of this organization even if it is in a bubble. They are doomed for irrelevancy once again courtesy of building “the superteam".