Over the past 13 seasons since Kobe Bryant reached superstar level, the Lakers have won seven conference titles and five NBA championships, and the longest they have ever waited in between conference championships was the three-year period immediately after Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.
While two NBA titles, three conference championships and five playoff appearances in the past five seasons may be considered absolute nirvana for fans of most NBA franchises, or even fans of all franchises not named the Los Angeles Lakers, two straight second-round playoff exits is enough heartache to make most Lakers fans depressed beyond belief.
The Lakers' brass is in for a very, very, very stressful offseason indeed. They simply cannot keep the status quo and the trio of Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol together for even one more season. This is not a team that simply needs minor adjustments but a team that needs an overhaul.
The Lakers thought that trading for Ramon Sessions and Jordan Hill would be enough to put them over the top. It wasn't. They passed on trading their TPE from the Lamar Odom trade to acquire an upgrade at the small forward spot in the versatile and talented youngster Micheal Beasley, and such thriftiness hurt them.
The Lakers will not have any real money to spend in free agency this season, and while they may be able to bring back Sessions, Hill, Matt Barnes and the young long-range sharpshooter Andrew Goudelock, the only type of players they will realistically be able to add through free agency are average role players or players on veteran-minimum contracts.
Do the names Keyon Dooling, Bill Walker and Shelden Williams excite you? I didn't think so.
If the Lakers could add players ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
