The Los Angeles Lakers are on top at the moment; however, the signs of aging are beginning to rear their ugly face. Derek Fisher is 36, Kobe Bryant is 32, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom are both 31, and Pau Gasol and Matt Barnes are 30.
Age has not become a real problem yet, but in the next couple years, it will.
Being such a strong team the Lakers are unable to use the draft to re load on potential filled youngsters that facilitate the continued success of a team when the starters leave or retire; instead they are forced to acquire these prospects via trade or free agency and unless they accomplish this over the off-season and throughout the next couple seasons they may be faced with a dive down the standings.
The average player age on the Lakers is currently 29.5 years and Andrew Bynum (23), Shannon Brown (25), Derrick Caracter (22), and Devin Ebanks (21) are the only players on the current roster under 30 years of age.
Andrew Bynum (provided he can stay healthy) and Shannon Brown if he stays in LA certainly have bright futures however once the starting lineup is done and gone are these really the two guys that the Lakers want to build their team around? A duo of Bynum and Brown is not even tops in Los Angeles let alone the NBA.
Also, with Andrew Bynum’s history of injuries and Shannon Brown possibly entering free agency this off-season and leaving LA to sign with a team where he could be a starter I am convinced that there is much that Lakers management needs to accomplish in order to ensure a brighter future for the team.
The counter argument to this is that even once Phil Jackson is gone the Lakers will remain contenders for another two to three seasons by keeping mostly the same roster and making minor tweaks as they did last off-season. Then, once Kobe and company retire they need only dip into the free agent pool and pull out a star caliber free agent, say Chris Paul or Dwight next year…Right?
Well, often times we give the Lakers management far too much credit when it comes to being able to land the big name free agents and as a result we do not fully understand the situation at hand.
Yes I would argue that the Lakers will make a big push for Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams next year however what happens if they cannot sign a single one of them?
The Lakers do not have the best track record when it comes to signing free agents and if you look at the last couple of years many of their big name acquisitions have come via trade, notably Pau Gasol.
In addition, with a new collective bargaining agreement on its way it will be far more difficult to form a super team like Miami and Boston and instead the Lakers will need to build a deep talented roster filled with young players that are two or three years away from becoming solid NBA players. This is crucial since if the Lakers continue with what they have now there will be nothing for them to fall back on, should they underperform in free agency.
Conclusion: Win now or win later?
If Lakers’ management starts planning ahead now and works to come up with a long term strategy that will allow them to shave a couple years off their age all while continuing their winning ways, the Lakers will be able to win both now and later and ultimately they will succeed in making a smooth transition into the post Kobe era which means they will remain contenders even after Kobe and company hang up their shoes for good.
By: Justin Bonin
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