The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of one of their worst stretches in the history of the franchise. After barely making the playoffs in 2012, they won only 27 games last season, and very few believe it will be much better in this go-around.
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The Lakers are known for quickly turning around their franchise and never staying at the bottom of the league for long and Jeanie Buss believes that will be the case again. The Lakers president appeared on ESPN’s Colin Cowherd radio show and according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters, said her brother has assured her that the Lakers will be in contention in three years:
Jeanie Buss on @TheHerd this morning: "My brother has assured me that within 3 years the team would be in contention."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 23, 2014
Jeanie clarified: "This year, plus two more years. He's (Jim Buss) confident that he will get this team back into contention" (on @TheHerd)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 23, 2014
Jeanie is simply mirroring what her brother Jim said in April, albeit without putting her job on the line. Jim said that he would step down if he couldn’t turn the Lakers around in three to four years, and Jeanie has belief that her brother is capable of doing just that.
The Lakers are flush with salary cap room for at least the next two seasons, and the salary cap could take a major leap in the coming seasons. With Kobe Bryant’s contract coming off the books after the 2016 season, the Lakers will be major players.
Between Jim, Jeanie, and general manager Mitch Kupchak, a plan is in place to get the Lakers back to the championship level fans are used to, and they have the tools to do so. It is now a matter of waiting to see how everything will unfold.
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