Lakers Looking at a Point-less Future

I was pretty disappointed in the Lakers when they failed to make a trade at the deadline the other week but had started to calm down about it… until I read this post about Jordan Farmar’s future and got myself all worked up again.  I had somehow forgotten that the Lakers are still without a point guard of the future, and it now seems it will be their inactivity at the trade deadline that will be to blame when the Lakers scramble to find someone to become their new starting point guard this coming off-season.

Farmar in 2011?  I’d rather vote for Palin.

In case you haven’t noticed, Derek Fisher’s career is dying right before our very eyes and his career as a Laker seems to be heading into its last few weeks before the Lakers put him out to pasture in free agency after this season.  If you haven’t noticed, don’t feel bad because I don’t think Mitch Kupchak noticed either.  How else do you explain him passing up on trading for an established veteran point guard who could replace Fisher as the starting point guard for the Lakers this year and the next few years?  It is too bad too because come next season, the Lakers might be screwed at point guard and all because of financial frugality.

By all accounts, the Lakers could have had Kirk Hinrich if they wanted him, but they were far too scared of the luxury tax implications to pull the trigger on the deal.  In so doing, the Lakers passed up on their best (and possibly only) option  to find a new point man for the next several seasons.  They must now swallow their pride and look for another option and the options they ain’t pretty.

They could try and fill the position from within, something I am sure Jerry Buss’ bank account would appreciate, but that really just leaves them looking at Jordan Farmar who has been trying to establish himself as a part of the Lakers’ future for nearly four years.  If he hasn’t convinced them by now, there really isn’t anything he can do the next few months to make them change their mind.  At best, Farmar is a solid option off the bench, but his lack of consistency on both ends of the floor will always prevent him from being able to secure a starting job anywhere in the league, much less on a potential dynasty.  Shannon Brown’s name might enter the conversation here as well, but he just isn’t a point guard, no matter what his fans think.

The next natural thing to do is look to free agency for help, which is a wonderful alternative… if it were really an option.  Seeing how the Lakers are committed to almost $84 million in salary next season (assuming Kobe and Shannon don’t opt-out and re-sign for modest raises which they probably will) with only eight players under contract, finances are bound to come into play again when it comes to signing free agents.  The Lakers will be in the unenviable position of trying to fill five roster spots armed only with the mid-level exception and a bunch of minimum contract offers.  Mitch Kupchak could try and use the MLE to lure a starting point guard to LA, but the financially responsible thing to do would be to divvy up the MLE on two or three players to try and improve the Lakers’ overall depth.  This of course assumes Jerry Buss is even willing to let Kupchak spend the full MLE… ugh.

So you are willing to drop huge amounts of cash gambling and purchasing a new coach for USC football, but not on a new point guard for the team you own?

But let’s assume for a minute that Kupchak does earmark the nearly $6 million exception for finding a replacement for Derek Fisher.  The trick then becomes finding someone worth spending it on.  I don’t know about you, but the likes of Chris Duhon (too slow and can’t shoot), TJ Ford (too selfish and can’t shoot), Steve Blake (aging and ordinary in every way) and Luke Ridnour (can’t defend or shoot) aren’t exactly blowing my skirt up, and they are pretty much the cream of the affordable free agent point guard crop.  The only real attractive option for the Lakers is Ray Felton, a young speedy guard who can defend and might finally have found his jump shot.  Then again, guys like that usually command more than the mid-level exception which the up-and-coming Bobcats are bound to offer him now that the team is finally headed in the right direction, once again leaving the Lakers looking to pick from an uninspiring crop of flawed veterans to replace their own flawed veteran.

Ironically, that leaves the Lakers once again trying to find themselves a point guard via trade.  Only this time, the Lakers will have even less to offer other teams since Sasha Vujacic is the only expiring contract they own and that may not look attractive to anyone until the 2011 trade deadline.  Even if they can find a taker for Sasha’s expiring deal, it will only mean the Lakers are right back in the conundrum of trading an ending contract for a better player who is locked into a bad contract… just like when they tried to trade for Kirk Hinrich.  If the Lakers said no to such a deal earlier this month, why would they say yes a few months in the future?

It all comes full circle doesn’t it?  Cheapness just begets more cheapness which begets the Lakers, well, nothing.

I know the Lakers have more important things to focus on right now, but don’t forget who pointed out this quagmire when Laker Land is up in arms over the gaping hole at starting point guard on next season’s roster.

Tags: Analysis, Chris Duhon, Derek Fisher, Free Agency, Jerry Buss, Jordan Farmar, Kirk Hinrich, Luke Ridnour, Mitch Kupchak, Shannon Brown, Steve Blake, TJ Ford, trades