If there was one positive in the Lakers' debacle that was their failed attempt to lure free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, it made the team realize their pitch was all wrong.
The big question remains whether it was the message that was wrong -- or the people delivering it.
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Coach Byron Scott said the team erred -- he's been saying that a lot lately -- in its presentation to Aldridge last summer, emphasizing how to build his brand off the court, rather than focusing on basketball, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"I think we looked at it more as a business presentation. It wasn't basketball, and that's probably where we made our mistake," Lakers coach Byron Scott said Friday. "Most of these guys want to know the basketball part of it. We'll change that part as far as most of the meeting, 75 percent of it or more, will be about the basketball part and then the other part will be a little bit about the business part. I think we found from a great player that he was more interested in the basketball on-the-court stuff than anything else."
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The failed attempt brings to light several issues plaguing the post-Phil Jackson era Lakers. First is the fact that Jim Buss, executive vice president of basketball operations, didn't realize that the reason the Lakers could talk about off-the-court opportunities with free agents was due to the fact that their basketball spoke for itself. They were winning championships or getting awfully close to championships.
The second problem is that the Lakers hierarchy could look very different next summer if the team continues on its current 3-20 pace and finishes with the worst record in franchise history for the second straight year.
Who might be making those pitches to free agents such as Kevin Durant is very much in doubt.
The jobs of Buss, Scott and general manager Mitch Kupchak all could be up in the air -- especially after Buss told his family that he could make the Lakers contenders again in three years and instead contend to become the worst team in the NBA this season, which is Buss' second.
Scott admitted the team erred in its evaluation of Knicks center Kristaps Porzingis, and he deferred to aging guard Kobe Bryant's wishes in letting the young Lakers finish out the game in the fourth quarter against the Timberwolves, a game Los Angeles ultimately lost in overtime.
Sister Jeanie Buss, who is the team CEO, has hinted that she has wanted boyfriend Phil Jackson to become part of the Lakers management, but he has a 10-year contract with the Knicks. Still, she must decide what to do with brother Jim.
The Aldridge fiasco could end up being a defining moment for the Lakers in making a big decision moving forward. Do they change the message ... or the messengers in delivering their free-agent pitch?
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