LA OBSERVED - With Dwight Howard set to sign with the Houston Rockets, the Lakers are now in an unfamiliar position where blowing up the team and starting over is the suddenly the best course of action.
As presently constructed, the Lakers have no chance of winning a title. And if they can't win a title, then their best hope for the future is to stock up on young players and position themselves to get a top pick in a deep 2014 NBA Draft.
It's a mess the Lakers haven't really seen since the early-1990s when Magic Johnson suddenly retired and the rest of the team quickly got old. But it's a mess that didn't need to exist, and for that, they can thank Jim Buss.
While father Jerry Buss always stayed out of basketball operations, his one mistake was slowly putting his son in charge of it at the end of his life. Jim's decision to hire Mike D'Antoni was totally moronic, but it wasn't his first bad coaching hire. That occurred when the Lakers hired Mike Brown.
(Read the rest … including Jim Buss’ involvement with the current Dwightmare … here)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 55
Pub: July 9, 2013