In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Western Conference semifinals, the cry Monday morning has been to take a detonator to the team.
Don’t press that plunger yet. The Lakers don’t need to make wholesale changes. They need to make two additions and they should be fixes that are relatively easy to make.
The Lakers need to bring in a new coach and young, fast point guard. It’s that simple.
First, the coach. Legendary coach Phil Jackson, who has won five titles in Los Angeles and 11 championships overall, said he has coached his last game. After spending 11 seasons in Los Angeles , isn’t possible Jackson’s methods no longer work.
That may sound like blasphemy, but there’s a reason the average life expectancy of a coach for one team is about five years. For instance, it’s rare that NFL coaches last a decade in one city. Their message falls on deaf ears at some point.
To Lakers assistant Brian Shaw as his replacement would be perpetuating the same gameplan. The Lakers truly need a new coach, especially one that works well with veterans.
Their best option is one Rick Adelman, the former Kings, Rockets, Warriors and Trail Blazers coach. Adelman is the eighth winningest NBA coach and got to that point by working well with veterans. He has two teams to the NBA finals and two other two the conference finals. He knows how work a lineup and how to tighten up a bench during the playoffs.
The other missing piece is a point guard. With 10 players at age 30 or older, the Lakers need to exploit that experience with a young, fast point guard. There are no quality free agent point guards, so it probably means going on the trade market and offering Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol for an young quality point guard. Or that could mean going all out to acquire the draft pick to take Duke’s Kyrie Irving.
If you doubt what a good young point guard can do for a veteran team, just look at the Boston Celtics. They been in the NBA Finals twice in four years with Rajon Rondo as their point guard.
No matter how they plug this hole, the Lakers can do some minor repairs rather than razing the who building.
Lakers GM on Jackson: This is it [ESPN]
