The Los Angeles Lakers will soon resume the battle to rebound from the injury-plagued end to Kobe Bryant’s career and the difficult aftermath. They finally awoke from what seemed like a very bad dream to discover that the world has drastically changed: Free agents no longer care about their 16 banners or the wonderful weather in Southern California, they want to play with other top stars and win titles.
Lacking assets to make a major trade, the Lakers did the only thing they could do which was rebuild through the draft. It started with Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson in 2014.