Despite striking out -- twice -- on the NBA's biggest free agent last summer, the Lakers figured to be improved in 2015.
Not necessarily, an NBA executive told ESPN.
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"It's like [they think], 'We're not on the Titanic.' Yeah, you are," the executive said. "'No, we're not. It's all right. No, we're good.' No, you're not good. You're not good. It's sinking. People are in lifeboats. They're jumping off. You're not good."
The Lakers were considered frontrunners, along with the Spurs, for the services of free-agent forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Los Angeles had first shot at the free agent, but reports suggested that the team didn't talk enough basketball for Aldridge's taste.
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The Lakers requested and received another meeting with him, but he ruled them out shortly thereafter and signed with the Spurs. That's because the former Los Angeles dynasty has been counting solely on its reputation to return to the ranks of the elite, according to an NBA analytics official.
"If I'm a Lakers fan, that's the most concerning thing -- at no point in the past two or three years is there clear evidence on an organizational level that they've had some 'Come to Jesus' moment like, 'Wait a minute. Something is not structurally working the way it used to,'" the analytics official said.
"In the last two or three years, they've been so far from their expectations every year, whether it's trades or wins or free agency, all these things are not happening the way they've been hoping. It sounds like they're just waffling after the fact, which is kind of the opposite of doing some soul-searching and figuring out a better way forward."
The Lakers did manage to sign former Pacers center Roy Hibbert, former Celtics forward Brandon Bass and former Hawks forward and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams. They also have two high first-round draft picks in rookie D'Angelo Russell and second-year forward Julius Randle, who broke his leg in the season opener last year.
And they have an aging Kobe Bryant entering his 20th season and trying to stay healthy after three years of season-ending injuries.
Though hope remains within the Lakers, the use of the term "Titanic" indicates a different feeling around the league.
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