The Los Angeles Lakers are headed towards another disappointing end to an NBA season. Byron Scott’s squad only has 12 wins on the season thus far and don’t appear close to turning things around anytime soon.
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Along with the team struggling to right the ship, Kobe Bryant is headed for season-ending surgery on his right shoulder. Bryant suffered a torn rotator cuff last week and all signs point to the superstar requiring surgery in order to be healthy for the start of next season.
Although the Lakers are currently one of the worst teams in the league record wise, Bryant is confident GM Mitch Kupchak and company can figure things out sooner rather than later, via Michael Lee of The Washington Post:
“I try to win every single year. Every time I try to step on a basketball court is to win a championship,” Bryant said. “And this organization, to their credit, has done nothing but to try to push for that. We have a track record of figuring things out and I’m confident we will.”
The future of the Lakers franchise remains uncertain. Los Angeles is still a desired destination and will be for years to come for obvious reasons, but the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) has made it difficult for the team to make moves in the way they have in years past.
The Lakers simply don’t have the trade assets to pull off blockbuster moves at this point in time and may struggle to make deals moving forward. Regardless of the lack of trade assets, the storied franchise will have a considerable amount of cap space in order to go after free agents this summer and the next.
It remains to be seen if the Lakers will be able to make a splash in free agency come July, but they’ll definitely have the flexibility to do so.
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