Will Los Angeles Lakers Rethink Approach to Free Agency?

During Mike D’Antoni’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers, there was a fairly obvious plan—to create an exciting, free-flowing brand of basketball while simultaneously shedding salaries and building for the future.

There were some problems along the way, however. Like a 27-55 season.  

Now, the Lakers are trying to sort things out again. They’ve got just a handful of players under contract, one of whom is Kobe Bryant. They also have no coach and a bunch of free agents who are heading out the door.

Of that group, three are generally regarded as quality frontcourt players who will soon comprise a major portion of this summer’s paltry big man free-agency pool.

Should the Lakers rethink their strategy of letting Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman abscond to the land of plentiful dollars?



There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest the Lakers’ front office may be considering adjustments to their previous small ball master plan. It just takes a simple connecting of the dots.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak recently talked about the importance of Bryant to the organization, as relayed by Arash Markazi of ESPN LA: “We have a player on our team who is proven in this league offensively that he can score. That certainly is a consideration; obviously I'm talking about Kobe.”

Kupchak smoothly segued into the team’s search for their next head coach, still referencing the Mamba:

He's under contract for two more years, and we think he's a very integral part of this team and we have to make sure whoever we hire as the coach really gets the most productivity out of him, whether it's scoring the ball or playmaking or the threat that he may score. That's probably of primary importance right now.

Next, let’s consider some of the coaching candidates that the Lakers are currently interviewing.
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers