News - LA Lakers - JustinG
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Season of Change, or Season of Same
The LA Lakers have been clamoring for a change all
off-season, though to this point, we haven’t seen a change occur. Coming off of a NSL Finals loss, many expected
the team to take a bit of time to recoup, though inactivity this late into the
off-season is highly uncharacteristic of the GM in charge in LA. The rumors coming out of LA suggest the lack
of trade activity has not been for lack of effort. GM Justin was reportedly working the phones
to a high degree a few weeks after the 23/24 season finished, though the phones
have been rumored to be quiet of late. So,
what gives? Will we see the Lakers make
a move this off-season after all? We sat
down with GM Justin to get an insight into Lakers off-season expectations.
Interviewer- “So, I’ll touch on this quickly to avoid
drawing out the pain, how did you feel last season went?”
GM Justin- “Well, we didn’t accomplish everything we wanted
to, but we accomplished quite a bit. We
had some very quality veteran leaders join the team last off-season, and
mid-season, who we expected to take us the distance, and to their credit, they
got us there. We’re hopeful we can
continue down the path we’ve built, led by Steph and KD, with continued
improvement and strides accomplished from Cade, Andrew, and Wendell.”
Interviewer- “That takes me right into my next
question. There’s been a lot of talk of
the future of, basically, all of those players you just mentioned, do you have
any plans or talks you’d like to publicly share?”
GM Justin- “Well we
were forthright about our aspirations to get younger this off-season, and continue
to build the team around Cade and some of our younger pieces, but, plainly speaking,
there just wasn’t the market out there that we expected to materialize when
concerning KD and Steph. There were a few
realistic offers out there, but we wanted to let the market materialize to
ensure we had the opportunity to consider each offer before making a rash decision. This league moves quick, and this time
around, we missed out on the window to make our big trade.”
Interviewer- “So what’s the plan for the future of the
Lakers? Specifically with KD and Steph?
GM Justin- “Anytime you’ve got 1, let alone both of those
guys, you’ve got to be trying to win a title in this league. We’re lucky enough to have both, and a pretty
soundly fitting group of guys around them, so the plan is currently to run it
back. It will always be about getting the
best deal for either guy, so if that deal presents itself tomorrow, or 2 years
from now, we’ll consider it then.”
Interviewer- “So long term, this is Cade’s team?”
GM Justin- “Cade should be a Laker for a long time. We are always going to be a value based front
office, always open minded to capturing more value than we possess at the time
of offer, but we really like what Cade brings to the game. A large combo scoring guard, who can hold his
own on defense appears to be the new “meta” if you will, when it comes to
building a competitor in the NSL, so we feel great about having him in the
purple and gold.”
Interviewer- “What’re your expectations for free agency?”
GM Justin- “Well, we’ve got some guys to retain, and a few
roles to fill in free agency. Luckily,
we are coming off a great season, and going into next year as a top competitor
again, so we are hopeful we can attract some useful pieces in free agency.”
Interviewer- “Lastly, expectations for next year?”
GM Justin- “As long as our team is intact, we expect to be
going for gold once again. Obviously, a
lot can change between now and next year’s trade deadline, let alone the start
of next season. So we will see where we
are at then.”
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laddas 08/24 07:13 am | QN, Qtr. OFF, #1 |