I've tried my best over the past week to keep quiet, projectile retweets notwithstanding. I've tried to withold judgement on the status of the Lakers' shortened free-agent season, but as much as Magic Johnson has been urging us all to keep patient and have faith in the Lakers' front office, I think I've run out of mine at this point.
It's enough that the rumors of a blockbuster Chris Paul-to-LA trade leaked to the media and consequently all NBA fans, creating a huge frenzy, let alone the spin put on the failed negotiations that the League office vetoed the trade at the behest of crying owners such as Cuban and Gilbert.
But to add to the failed CP3 trade, letting Lamar Odom go for nothing? I'm sorry, but a draft pick is useless to a team like the Lakers. And to let him go to Dallas, who swept us out of the playoffs last year, and whose owner cried at the mere mention of Paul going to the Lakers, was just wrong. I've waited for the other shoe to drop, waited for the larger picture to come into focus, but nothing has changed. The Lakers dropped their best all-around player out of fear, and got nothing in return. Dr. Buss wouldn't let this happen, if he was in good health.
Then, to replace the sixth man of the year, one of the most versatile players of this generation, with Josh McRoberts? Really? Hey Mitch/Jimmy, WE STILL NEED A SPEEDY POINT GUARD WHO CAN PLAY DEFENSE! Josh Mc Roberts. Come on! This move rivals the multi-year contract gifted to Luke Walton a few years back, as far as bad business decisions go.
This current Lakers squad is nothing like the 1987 squad that people thought was over-the-hill. Kareem was still better than Pau and Bynum combined at age 38; let's not forget that this man is arguably the best big man of all time, and holds the NBA career scoring record. And in 1987, Magic Johnson was in the prime of his career, aided by James Worthy and all-defensive team perennial Michael Cooper. Please, when you think of how stacked the 1987 Lakers were, it makes you want to find those nay-sayers from 25 years ago and heckle them all over again. But this 2012 squad is truly aging and fragile, and in need of some serious re-tooling.
But now that Chris Paul has officially been traded to the Clips, and Dwight Howard is seemingly off the market, the big moves that the Lakers were supposed to make this offseason seem like nothing more than big dreams. This time last week, CP3 and Superman were coming to play for the greatest franchise in the NBA; this week that same franchise is setting up for implosion in this lockout-shortened season.
But hey, maybe this means tickets on Stubhub will be cheap and I can get to a few more games this year! There's always a silver lining, right?
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