It’s time for the Los Angeles Lakers to get serious about rebuilding.
The Lakers aren’t making the playoffs this season. They are 2-9, with losses already to Minnesota, Sacramento, Denver, New York and Dallas twice. One of their wins came against Brooklyn. The only thing between the Lakers and the bottom of the Western Conference is the New Orleans Pelicans, who have almost as many injuries as the 3rd Ranger Battalion.
This is uncharted territory for the Lakers, who already have missed the playoffs the last two years and have never gone three years without a trip to the postseason. Prior to this current run of trips to the lottery, they had missed the playoffs just five times in their entire existence, including their days in Minneapolis. Lakers Nation really isn’t used to rebuilding.
One of the things standing in the way of a complete rebuild is the presence of Kobe Bryant, one of the truly iconic Lakers alongside Jerry West and Magic Johnson. Bryant is one of the most hypercompetitive players in NBA history and does not take losing well. But Bryant also is 37 and has been hit hard by injuries over the last two-plus years. Like all players, he is losing the battle with Father Time.
For a while, the elephant in the room was whether the Lakers could move forward with a complete rebuild without alienating Bryant. But in the season’s first month, he has given the Lakers plenty of signs that the future – even as visible as next season – does not include him. When he was in New York two weekends ago, his hints about retirement became much more pronounced.
Bryant already has missed three games due to leg and back issues. He is averaging 30.4 minutes per game, his lowest figure this century. He has been in a season-long shooting slump, succinctly assessing his play in this fashion: “I freaking suck.” And his visits to cities like New York and Miami have had a farewell quality to them.
Most important, however, is that Bryant already has said of his younger teammates, “Got to let them develop. It’s difficult. But it has to be done.”
Specifically, it has to be done with D’Angelo Russell.
The rookie point guard was the second overall pick in the draft and has started all 11 games but is playing just 24.8 minutes per contest. That is eighth among rookies, trailing reserves such as Justise Winslow and Nemanja Bjelica, and sixth among Lakers, trailing backup combo guard Lou Williams.
Lakers coach Byron Scott began the season sitting Russell in fourth quarters and gave legitimate explanations. The kid’s defense could be a lot better. He has to limit his turnovers by making the smart play instead of the flashy play. He needs to build off a foundation of success rather than failure.
But as we said, the Lakers aren’t making the playoffs this season. Scott isn’t trying to incorporate Russell onto a contender the way the San Antonio Spurs did with Tony Parker years ago. And even Parker averaged 29 minutes per game as a rookie.
What Scott should be doing is following the blueprint that many teams have used in recent years. Elfrid Payton played 30.4 minutes for Orlando last season. From the 2013 draft, Trey Burke played 32.3 minutes for Utah and Michael Carter-Williams played 34.5 minutes for Philadelphia (and was Rookie of the Year). From the 2012 draft, Damian Lillard led the NBA in minutes played (and was Rookie of the Year).
From the 2011 draft, Kyrie Irving played 30.8 minutes for Cleveland (and was Rookie of the Year) and Kemba Walker played 27.2 minutes for Charlotte. From the 2010 draft, John Wall played 37.8 minutes for Washington. From the 2009 draft, Jonny Flynn played 28.9 minutes for Minnesota, Steph Curry played 36.2 minutes for Golden State, Brandon Jennings played 32.6 minutes for Milwaukee and Tyreke Evans played 37.2 minutes for Sacramento (and won Rookie of the Year). And on and on and on.
It doesn’t matter if Russell is going to be the next Damian Lillard or the next Jonny Flynn. The only way the Lakers are going to find out is by playing him at least 30 minutes per game, a threshold he has crossed just once this season. It’s bad enough that he has to share the court with ball-dominant teammates such as Bryant, Williams, Nick Young and even Jordan Clarkson. He needs to learn the toughest position in the game, and the best way is by playing, making mistakes and learning from them.
And if those mistakes cost the Lakers some wins? In the big picture, that may actually be a good thing. Right now, the Lakers have the fourth-worst record in the NBA. If their 2016 first-round pick isn’t among the top three, it goes to Philadelphia. The Lakers need to add another young stud to their stable alongside Russell and forward Julius Randle.
That is how you get serious about rebuilding.
On to the rankings, our first of the season.
1. KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS, C, MINNESOTA: It has taken less than a month for the “Big KAT” to render Nikola Pekovic redundant. While Pekovic continues to sit out with an Achilles injury, no one is clamoring for his return. Towns is following in the footsteps of teammate and fellow top overall pick Andrew Wiggins, grabbing the early lead in the race for top rookie. He leads all rooks in rebounds (10.7, sixth overall), blocks (2.42, sixth), double-doubles (8, third) and even free-throw percentage (.902, 10th). Most important, the Timberwolves are no longer a gimme W for opponents.
2. KRISTAPS PORZINGIS, F-C, NEW YORK: Knicks president Phil Jackson took a lot of crap for this pick, including some from us. We owe him a mea culpa, because the lanky Latvian looks a lot more like Dirk Nowitzki than Nikoloz Tskitishvili. He is averaging 12.8 points and 8.6 rebounds – that’s better than the supposedly NBA-ready Julius Randle, folks – and has given the Knicks fans who booed him at draft day a glimmer of hope, something they haven’t had much of over the last decade or so. Now, Phil, about that re-acquisition of Sasha Vujacic.
3. JAHLIL OKAFOR, C, PHILADELPHIA: He leads all rookies in scoring at 18.8 points, which he should be doing because he also leads all rookies in minutes (33.5) and shots (16.8). There is no denying his ability to score; in his NBA debut at Boston, he went for 10 points in the opening period, prompting Celtics coach Brad Stevens to start the second quarter by double-teaming him and forcing him to pass. The question now becomes, pass to who? Okafor also is last among all rookies in wins, which is why he is ranked behind Porzingis.
4. EMMANUEL MUDIAY, G, DENVER: Memo to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and coach Byron Scott: This is how you play a rookie point guard. Only Okafor plays more than Mudiay’s 30.3 minutes per game, and the Nuggets don’t seem to be worse for it, getting off to a very respectable 6-6 start. Yes, he has some frightening numbers – a .305 overall shooting percentage, a league-high 4.3 turnovers per game, an alarming 7.56 PER. You know who else were wild rookies who couldn’t shoot and led the NBA in turnovers? Russell Westbrook and Allen Iverson. They turned out OK, don’t ya think?
5. NEMANJA BJELICA, F, MINNESOTA: Yeah, I know. Who? First, let’s all get his name right, because we’re going to be saying it for a while. It’s BEE-a-LEETZ-a. And second, we really shouldn’t be surprised by this, because Bjelica (a) is 27 years old and has been playing professionally as long as Kevin Durant; (b) has been kicking ass and taking names in international competition for Serbia since 2013; and (c) was the 2015 MVP of the Euroleague, the highest level of hoops outside the NBA. His numbers of 7.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 26.5 minutes will get better as the season progresses and he plays more.
FIVE TO WATCH: Jerian Grant, G, New York; Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, F, Brooklyn; T.J. McConnell, G, Philadelphia; D’Angelo Russell, G, LA Lakers; Justise Winslow, F, Miami.
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Mondays, and his Rookie Rankings on Fridays. Follow him on Twitter.