Sure, it took general manager Mitch Kupchak and Co. missing out on all of the big names to rise and participate, but as they say in a cliche manner, better late than never.
Both Nick Young and Jordan Hill are back in the fold, and Jeremy Lin is on the roster after a trade. Even better, he brings with him a first-round pick. To top it all off, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports the front office then won the bidding war for forward Carlos Boozer.
So the roster is taking shape, and there are some intriguing pieces in place for the future such as Young and Julius Randle. However, the brass are on a roll and clearly far from done.
Here's the latest.
Wesley Johnson the Odd Man Out
Somebody had to be that guy.
There was at least one person on the roster from a season ago who would somehow not fit into the Lakers' plans despite the team having a plethora of cap room in the infancy of a rebuild.
That someone is Wesley Johnson, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
It has been a wild, tumultuous ride for Johnson after being the No. 4 overall pick in the 2010 draft, with stops in Minnesota, Phoenix and Los Angeles while averaging 8.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
The front office is clearly being careful with its cash regarding multiyear deals, with their hearts set on the 2015 free-agency period, when players such as Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, LaMarcus Aldridge and more become unrestricted free agents.
With that in mind, rotational pieces like Ryan Kelly and Xavier Henry are being given more emphasis at this point over projects like Johnson, and that is nothing but a good thing.
Mitch Kupchak in No Hurry
Let's allow The Rock to take it away for a moment, courtesy of SportsNation:
