The highlights...
"Under normal circumstances [in a season like this], at some point, you would probably concentrate on just developing all your young players," Kupchak told ESPN on Tuesday. "But we can't do that right now.
Every game, it's about Kobe. Even when he doesn't play, it's about Kobe. So in a lot of regards, there's a silver lining that our guys can develop under the radar and maybe make a mistake or make two mistakes and it not be a big deal."
"I was hoping that our young players, in conjunction with the veterans that we added, and Kobe at full health, would lead to a better record than what we have today," Kupchak said. "I didn't have any visions that we'd win 50 games or 45. Could we have won 45 or 40? I guess it's possible. In fact, it still is possible.
Link to the full article
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...movement-order-celebrate-outgoing-kobe-bryant
Pretty meh, no real responsibility directed to Byron at all, just more Kobe bashing and enabling and delusions of grandeur. The same old same old.
Now that he's said it though, the tank must be in overdrive.
You know what after thinking about it even more.. I'm even less mad about what he said.
Just based on the first two quotes.
He's pretty much said in the first two quotes it's a lost year. Forget the playoff talk, he knows they won't make it, but he's always trotted out the we can make it quotes.
In a lost year with a bunch of rookies and young guys, the entire focus would be on developing the young guys from inside the organization to outside perception.
But with Kobe retiring, there is almost zero focus on their development. As he said later in the article, they can make mistakes, and make a bunch of them, and no one will notice. Because the cloud of Kobe's era endings looms so large over it.
So in a normal year, they could focus on development, and there would be zero distractions. But Kobe's retirement prevents all of that. And it's not to say you can't do both at the same time, but it is to say that even if you did, nobody really cares when a Top 10 All Time player has publicly said he is hanging them up.
As for Free Agency, I don't know where the level of attractiveness is.. But it is certainly much higher this year than it has been the previous 2 seasons. Because we can offer 2, maybe even 3 max deals.
2013-14 was a lost year, we had no money left. I think we would have only had $2-3mil maximum in cap space if we traded Pau Gasol for nothing in the offseason, and at $19mil, that would have been a tough task.
In 2014, we had nothing to offer. Had they paid Kobe half the money he got (2 year / $25mil), we would have had enough cap space for 1 max cap slot, and a Trevor Ariza caliber starter. Of all the 2014 Free Agents, Carmelo was the only max guy willing to come here, or at least consider it. But we had nothing to offer. Even if Kobe was paid half of what he got. Now maybe stretching Nash on top of paying Kobe half of what he got would have allowed it to happen with us for Melo. But I think they were just ready to be done with Nash, and if they couldn't get the guy they wanted, they wouldn't stretch Nash. And unless that second guy who we theoretically add with Melo in this hypothetical makes a leap in talent, what happens in the last 18 months is not really any better.
2015, Kobe's not retiring impacted us. Had he been signed for 2 year / $25mil, which would have been fair and made sense in hindsight, we would have needed 2 max FAs to take a couple million dollars pay cut each. Kobe's money had to be gone almost completely. Not having 2 max deals made us immensely unattractive. We were not a good team, and if Aldridge joined us, we would have been a 42 win team max. And yeah they'd take a huge leap next year, but he wanted now. And if he wasn't getting NOW, he might as well have just stayed with the Blazers. Even with all of that, and the horrendous meeting Jeanie led, we got a lot closer than we should have had with Aldridge. I'm also pretty convinced that had we had 2 max cap slots, Aldridge & another max free agent are Lakers this season.
Now we have multiple max cap spaces available to mix and match players. Something we did not have previously. And with some management, a good amount of money in 2017 as well. That is far more intriguing to a FA, that they could add more. Where as telling someone, well we stink, and can only afford you, and you alone. Or you and somebody who makes no difference really. Also this is their team, not Kobe's. Whoever comes in, it become their team. And in all honesty our attractiveness is really not changed whether we keep the pick or not. If we keep it, that's nice. But it won't change anybody's mind. It will certainly be better if we keep the pick.. But it won't make someone who was on the fence pick us.