A Roadmap for Re-Glorification

A Roadmap for Re-Glorification
How the LA Lakers can rebuild their dynasty


People can judge me, but I had tears in my eyes while I was watching Kobe Bryant’s legendary 60-point retirement game. I am sure you guys grew up throwing a crumpled paper into a trash can yelling, “Kobe!” Besides Kobe Bryant, legends like Magic, Kareem, The Logo, and Shaq probably ring a bell for even non-basketball fans. These cultural NBA icons have made the LA Lakers arguably the best franchise in the league with 16 NBA championships and 31 conference titles.

But, ever since Kobe’s retirement, the Lakers has been redefining their approach to the game as one of the youngest teams in the league. Let’s be honest here – even after drafting top young players such as Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and Lonzo Ball, Lakers is still one of the worst teams with probably the most potential. As a die-hard Lakers fan since ’05, I will be presenting a specific set of strategies required to bring back Lakers as the NBA powerhouse in the near future.

Improve free-throw and 3-point percentages

In the past, aggressive physical contact, post-ups and mid-range games were the dominant playing styles in the league. But, 3-pointers and free-throws are a lot more prevalent in today’s game and have become crucial parts of a winning formula for many teams. For example, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets who are currently leading the Western Conference shoot 39.2% and 36.9% from the 3-point line respectively (“NBA Team Three Point %”).  Also, free-throws have become more significant because the current NBA era prefers less physicality in the game. Such 3-point and free-throw frenzy forced many coaches to adjust their lines of thinking with the way they coach offensive basketball and shot selection (Denton).

Although Lakers have been performing quite well offensively with their fast pace, Lakers rank last in both 3-point and free-throw shooting percentages with 33.0% 3-point and 69.2% free-throw (ESPN). Lakers will not be able to fix these problems by simply acquiring pure shooters, but the core of these struggle lies in Lakers’ style of coaching. The shooting problems are not a matter of a lack of skill or talent. Luke Walton, the head coach of the Lakers, should fix these issues by enforcing a more consistent and concentrated 3-point and free-throw practices (Ganguli). On the bright side, most of the players on Lakers’ roster are either rookies or sophomores in the league. They still have more than enough time to adjust to NBA and gradually develop their shooting.

Trade for All-Stars

Just like any sports, winning a championship without star players is incredibly difficult. Lakers formed a dynasty through the power of legends such as Kareem, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant. This partially explains recent struggles after Kobe’s 20-year run at the Lakers. Because the Lakers do not have an all-star who can lead the team, every game is a challenge to beat teams who have star players such as Lebron James, James Harden, Kevin Durant or Steph Curry.

However, the current roster has a great flexibility in salary cap space to sign two maximum contracts with star players (Ganguli). Here is a list of all-stars that Lakers can possibly sign in 2019:
  •  Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio Spurs
  •  Anthony Davis from New Orleans Pelicans
  •  Klay Thompson from Golden State Warriors
Here is also a list of players that Lakers should give up in exchange:
  •  Brook Lopez
  •  Luol Deng
  •  Julius Randle
  •  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
  •  Channing Frye
  •  Isaiah Thomas
Although injured right now, Kawhi Leonard has been the perfect counterpunch to stars such as Lebron and Durant in the past. His ability to play both offense and defense can be a great asset to the Lakers once he becomes a free agent in 2019. Averaging 27 points and 11 rebounds this season, Anthony Davis has the potential to become the best player in the league in few years. Adding Anthony Davis would be a huge step forward for Los Angeles. He automatically upgrades this roster on both ends of the floor, adding scoring, rebounding and rim protection all in one neat package. Klay Thompson, one of the best shooters in the league, can possibly leave the Warriors and come to the Lakers to be the face of the team if he rejects his new contract. 

Keep Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma

These three young players will be the faces of the LA Lakers – give them three years and maybe we can witness the great dynasty once again. As much as young players can be used to trade for all-stars, these three must remain with Lakers if re-glorification is the ultimate goal.

At the beginning of the season, people heavily scrutinized the second pick of the 2017 draft for his weaknesses, most notably an inability or reluctance to score. However, Lonzo is a pure point guard whose primary motivation on the court is to find chances for teammates to score. He may not evolve into a prolific scorer, but he will become a facilitator who can bring up the pace of the game and make unselfish distributions to the whole team.

Widely deemed as a Kevin Durant doppelganger, Brandon Ingram is currently having a breakout season with his dexterity to bring the ball down and revamped jumper. As a second pick of the 2016 draft, his performance was disappointing to the fans. But, after a dedicated offseason filled with relentless weight training and skill work, Ingram is starting to scratch the surface of what the Lakers need him to become.

As the No.27 pick of the 2017 draft, Kyle Kuzma is the biggest steal of the draft – his scoring prowess and rare composure as a rookie are energizing Lakers’ fan base. He is not only the second scoring leader of the team with 15.7 points, but he is a potential candidate for “Rookie of the Year.” Once he develops his shot selection and defense, he will undoubtedly become a star of this team.


LA Lakers has embarked on the post-Kobe Bryant era with initial struggles. It will take continuous patience and recovery. Nevertheless, LA Lakers’ mission to change the culture and restore luster to the franchise can be promising with this young team.

Lastly, enjoy Kobe's last game of his career!


Works Cited


Denton, John. “The 3-Point Shot More Valuable Than Ever Before.” Orlando Magic, 23 Jan. 2017, www.nba.com/magic/news/3-point-shot-more-valuable-ever-20170123.

Ganguli, Tania. “No Quick Fix for Lakers' Glaring Problem: Free-Throw Shooting.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2017, www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-report-20171210-story.html.  

Ganguli, Tania. “Lakers Use Trade with Cavaliers to Start Clearing Salary Cap Space for Two Maximum Contracts.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2018, www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-cavaliers-trade-20180208-story.html.
ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers.


“NBA Team Three Point %.” NBA Stats - NBA Team Three Point % on TeamRankings.com, www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/three-point-pct.

Comments

  1. Amirteymour MoazamiFebruary 6, 2018 at 6:26 PM

    Hi Jeff. You capture the audience's attention well through an effective opening strategy. Also, you intrdocue the report's topic and focus in a concise manner, which I appreciate. You set up the context of the situation well but I think you could do a better job at outlining the specific purposes of your expert article by providing a preview of how the report will be organized. In the second paragraph you should change it to, "the Lakers have been redefining their approach to the game as one of the youngest teams in the league." You should also explain how the Lakers fell apart over time with Kobe's injuries and retirements plus more. Discuss how your strategies will affect the future of the Los Angeles Lakers without exaggerating. Over all, I think your final expert article will be interesting to read. Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 6, 2018 at 7:01 PM

    Hey Jeff. Great start here. I'm liking how you tie together NBA glory to an impact on all of our day to day lives (e.g. "Kobe!). I'd like to see that come full circle in your concluding paragraph. It's very personable and easy to read, which is great.

    Two things I caught:

    1) I feel like your 2nd header may be a little wordy. Try looking at it again and driving home the point with some more brevity. An example would be, "how the lakers can rebuild their dynasty." Here, it's already understood that the dynasty has been tarnished in some way or come to an end.

    2) When you mention "one of the youngest players in the league" in the opening sentence in P2, I feel that it would be helpful to list the players name and allow the aforementioned bit to serve as an adjective clause after a comma. (E.g. "The lakers have been rebuilding the team with [BasketBall Player], one of the youngest players in the league)

    Excited to see how this turns out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ekosasihFebruary 6, 2018 at 8:26 PM

    Hey Jeff,

    So far, I am really liking your expert article. I think your first and second level headings are interesting and a very accurate description of what you are going to talk about in your blog. The language and stories (crumpling the paper and screaming "Kobe") of your first paragraph also made it very easy and fun to read. So overall, I think the first paragraph really sets the tone of your blog and does a great job in luring your readers into the topic. However a point of improvement for the draft, could be the first sentence of the second paragraph. I think the sentence that reads "Lakers has been rebuilding the team with one the youngest players in the league" sounds a little off. Maybe you meant to say the Lakers has been rebuilding with a focus on youth and the youngest players in the league? Furthermore, at the end maybe other than just saying that you are a lakers fan, you can also add that you are an avid basketball. As this will help add more expert credible to your article.

    As a basketball fan myself, I cant wait to read the rest of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brett EmershadFebruary 6, 2018 at 10:23 PM

    I'm excited to read this when its finalized. I am a pretty big basketball fan and I have been watching if the Lakers might make a trade before the deadline. Too bad they're focusing on 2019 free agency because that means no LeBron who'd be great in LA. Adding in some expert articles to back up your claims would be useful but its important to state your opinion as well. I think you have a great starting point, excited to read the finished product.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A World We Dare to Imagine

As time passes by, my perspective of the world has changed drastically at least more than 20 times. Sometimes, my hope for a better world stems from personal problems I go through. Other times, it's poverty or environmental issues that get sourced through media. What I want to see in the next few generations of our society is an equal access to opportunities. We complain when we don't have enough balance in our bank account to go to a rave or when we have four essays to write in two weeks. This is commonly called, "first-world problems." I believe that these complaints can be justified because our perspectives are defined and restricted by the content of our life experiences. But, I want to live in an environment where every individual has at least similar amount of access to opportunities to "be great." For example, we witness at least one or two great prodigies who are accepted to great Ivy League schools despite their unfortunate personal backgrounds....
Read more

A World We Dare to Imagine Part 3: Goal for Goal

Organization Name: Goal for Goal Do you remember the last time China competed in the World Cup? Can you name a famous Chinese soccer star? With population of 1.4 billion, China's economic ascent has been incredible over the years, but China has never made a name for itself in soccer. Although soccer is a universal sport, numerous Chinese children cannot receive a basic training due to a lack of infrastructure. However, Xi Jin Ping, the current Chinese president, declared long-term plans to make China "a confident power" in soccer. The plans include making soccer one of the options in the high-school entrance examination's sports test in 2016. Also, three campus school training centers and 200 schools, with an emphasis in soccer training, will be set up in Beijing by next year. This is where Goal for Goal comes in play. With Xi's seemingly unlimited national support, China has all the necessary ingredients for a strong team, including a nationwide love for...
Read more

Born on Third Base

Chuck Collins describes a social phenomenon that seems to exacerbate as our generation continues to age. On one side, the wealthy maintain the power and privilege to keep the social system in their favor while the other "not-so-lucky" lose the opportunity to even try to climb to the top of the ladder. Chuck Collins addresses this dilemma in our society by encouraging the wealthy to come back home and invest their wealth in helping out struggling communities. Chuck gave away his inheritance at 26 and spent rest of his life striving to close the gap of inequality. Although he admits that not many wealthy can or will follow his footsteps, he still has hope in some wealthy who can do the same for society. I personally believe that both sides of the system exist in USC. Coming in as a freshman, we can see numerous international or domestic students who are extremely well off on campus. However, students mingle together regardless of their backgrounds and are offered the same lev...
Read more