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role than, say, of his eternal scoring-first role. How exactly Lin and Bryant mesh will determine the fate of the 2014-15 Lakers, who have been set up to fail, pretty much, with an offense that only features three players who hits threes at a .350 or better clip, making 1.0 or more per game: wing Nick Young, who makes 2.1 threes at a .386 three-point percentage; small forward Wesley Johnson, 1.3 threes per game at .369; Lin 1.2 at .358. Combine that lack of an attack with a head coach, Byron Scott, who says he doesn’t want his offense taking three-pointers because he doesn’t believe threes win championships— obviously neglecting every Finals since his ’80s Lakers Showtime days—and you have the recipe for L.A. disaster. If the Lakers were 21st in offensive efficiency under “offensive genius” Mike D’Antoni in 2013-14—earning bonus points for ranking second in 3s (9.4 per game) and third in three-point percentage (.381) to pad those offensive numbers—how far will they fall in 2014-15 under the prehistoric Scott? After all, the 2013-14 Lakers only made 47.8 percent of their 2s, and this team doesn’t have center Pau Gasol’s 17.4 points per game to bail its smalls out of trouble again and again. Oh, well. Welcome to the new-look Lakers—a team content with a bottom five finish for a draft pick—that publicly proclaims it is still battling for a playoff berth, despite not re-signing three of its top five minutemen (Gasol, Jodie Meeks and Kendall Marshall). On top of that, the Lakers’ hope at 19-yearold rookie Julius Randle to grow and prosper this season took a bad turn when he broke his leg in the season’s first game. After all, Randle and next year’s top 5 pick are the future of the Lakers, not to mention Bryant and perhaps even Lin. To some, that core growing together is as important as the entire team growing together in 2014-15. OUTLOOK Some look at a 21-win season as a disaster. The Lakers would look at such a year as one where they would preserve their firstround pick in the draft, provided the lottery suits awarded them a top 5 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Otherwise, that draft selection goes to the Phoenix Suns, if it is between picks Nos. 6 and 30, as compensation for the Steve Nash trade in Summer 2012. Should the Lakers land such a pick, they would go into Summer 2015 with Randle and a lottery pick as its future cornerstones. And then they could start trying to win again, perhaps building a 2015-16 playoff contender, with limited cap room, thanks to the final year of Bryant’s $25 million eating up an estimated $66 million salary cap. Or they can wait another year to save space when the salary cap could go as high as $87 million in Summer 2016. Remember, Bryant’s $25 million would come off the books that summer and nobody would be able to top the Lakers spending power, as they try to recruit teams to play with Randle, their potential 2015 lottery pick and perhaps others on this current Lakers roster. That’s the outlook these Lakers are looking at—the long-term summer ’16 outlook. SPOTLIGHT: Jeremy Lin Linsanity 2.0. I t is the Lakers’ last hope. For 2014-15, at least. Should lightning strike twice in a bottle, it would take another miracle of Jeremy Lin proportions to make it happen. It’s possible. Lin is that good, if he is placed in the right situation. First, the set-up: He needs to be surrounded by Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert, Steve Novak and Tyson Chandler. It was that quintet of Knicks, combined with D’Antoni’s Nash-infused offense, that released the beast in Lin’s game. With the attack guard probing and searching the defense for weaknesses, he found Fields, Shumpert and Novak on the perimeter for threes, dished to Chandler for dunks or took on all-comers himself with his own offensive arsenal. With Nash still on payroll and D’Antoni still on speed dial, it is possible to fine-tune this Lakers offense once again. Playing the part of Fields would have to be a limited Kobe Bryant, who would only take that part if injuries limit his effectiveness on a nightly basis. Playing Shumpert’s role is Nick Young, once he returns from a thumb injury in mid-November. Playing Novak’s stretch 4 is Ryan Kelly, much more unreliable with the 3, but willing to take the part. Playing a poor man’s Chandler on O and D will be Ed Davis. It’s a long shot at best, but it resurrects the Nash offense, puts Lin in his best position to succeed and limits the wear-and-tear on Bryant, whose body cannot afford to go 1-on-5 all season, much less go 1-on-5 for more than a week or two. Expect plenty of struggles and big scoring nights from Bryant for the Lakers this season. Christian Petersen/Getty Images


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