But for the last days of Kobe Bryant’s prestigious career, most fans of the Los Angeles Lakers can’t wait for the offseason. When the games aren’t being played, fans of any young team can dream big about the progress their starlets are making in the offseason while reading up on all the mock drafts to see what new young stud will be added to their core. The future is never so powerful as when the present is boring, after all. But on Friday night, the present will go a long way toward determining that future when the Lakers take on the Phoenix Suns.
Los Angeles dealt a first-round pick to Phoenix in the 2012 trade for Steve Nash, which was top-five protected last season. Since the Lakers had the second overall pick, they kept it, and it’s now only top-three protected – and belongs to the Sixers after a subsequent deal. The Lakers currently have the second-worst record in the NBA, and Phoenix has the third-worst. If the Lakers were to beat Phoenix, the odds of the Suns leapfrogging the Lakers for more lottery ping-pong balls go way up.
ESPN has a great breakdown of how the odds stand now and how they could change, if you’re that kind of geek.
But as valuable as that pick would be, Lakers head coach Byron Scott’s view of his situation is as simple as it gets. “We’re not in a weird position,” Scott said. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re playing Phoenix and we’re trying to win the game.”
Even if it wasn’t true, that’s the sort of thing Scott has to say. Yet you can’t blame Lakers fans for hoping that D’Angelo Russell and company have an off night. Nothing’s guaranteed, but another top-three pick would help ease the sorrow of losing the Mamba a whole lot more.
(Via ESPN)
