The Lakers haven’t made many mistakes in the last 12 years
with 7 NBA Finals appearance resulting in 5 NBA championships. That being said
there were some recent acquisitions that were head scratchers and now is the
best time to clean up those messes.
Since opting to not resign Troy Murphy and Matt Barnes along with
letting Jason Kapono go, Mitch has already made an effort to right his wrongs.
The two biggest blunders left on this roster are Josh McRoberts and Steve
Blake. Getting about 3 mil and 4 mil next year respectively, both are overpaid
bench players especially McRoberts who with the signings of Jamison and Hill
will probably only ever see garbage minutes. Blake would be the backup to Nash
and although he is not a bad outside shooter, he has the same issue as Nash,
the defensive end. In addition Blake is not young, 32 years old, and just hasn’t
been the player in LA that he was in Portland.
Everybody deserves a break, but Mitch this was a huge
mistake. I get it, Odom gets sensitive and is moved to Dallas and all of a
sudden the frontcourt is depleted, but giving this much money to McRoberts was
a colossal error. Josh McRoberts is only 25 years old, but there is absolutely
no way that the Lakers should hold on to him. He is getting just over 3 million
this upcoming season and with an expiring contract, actually has some trade
value. With the suspension of Bynum to start the season, McRoberts saw a good
deal of minutes and actually performed admirably. Everyone not named Kobe,
Gasol, or Bynum saw their minutes drastically shift over the course of the
season and much like Ebanks, McRoberts saw his diminish. He played less often
that Troy Murphy which was frustrating because he was superior defensively and
put much more energy. Getting Antawn
Jamison and Jordan Hill back for next year have ensured that McRoberts will be
the 5th option for the frontcourt. As a result it is definitely time
for the Lakers management to work their magic and try and turn this expiring
contract in a young wing defender. That’s certainly easier said than done, but
if nothing else turning McRoberts into some guard or SF will help improves this
team.
Steve Blake is about as average as backup point guards come.
I was exactly thrilled when they got him and I wouldn’t be sad to see him
leave. He has been inconsistent and his biggest shortcoming is his
indecisiveness. Sometimes players get a little star struck playing with Kobe
and Co. and Blake is one of the more recent players to do so. He doesn’t take
the open shot as much as he should and as a result hasn’t been the player the
Lakers thought they were getting. Although there isn’t a great deal of depth
behind Nash, but it’s time to move Blake. He is getting 4 million next year to
be a backup point guard and he isn’t anyway near good enough to cover a Russell
Westbrook or Tony Parker and probably even a Mario Chalmers. Based on the
summer league that Darius Morris had, the Lakers should let him play backup
point guard and if that fails perhaps allow Darius Johnson-Odom or Andrew
Goudelock an opportunity.
Blake is going to be harder to move than McRoberts despite
being a better player as he is owed more money, older, and doesn’t have that
expiring contract. Given the depth that the Lakers have in the frontcourt
moving McRoberts should be a priority. If they could get a young guard who
could control the ball in a deal for McRoberts then try and get a young wing
defender for Blake. Perhaps the Lakers should try to package them together, but
that will be difficult. However unlikely it would be nice to see one of these
players moved in the coming weeks leading up to the regular season as the
Lakers continue to build a team ready to compete for an NBA championship.
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