Mid 90's Lakers- The RIGHT way to rebuild a team

[Showtime80']

I hear many people debating whether or not the Sixers or supposedly present Lakers style of rebuilding by tanking is the correct one and let me say emphatically, NO IT IS NOT!!!!

Take a look at what the Lakers did from 1992 (after the sudden retirement of Magic Johnson) to 1996 with the highest draft pick being a 10th overall selection in 1994:

Anthony Peeler
Nick Van Exel
George Lynch
Eddie Jones
Kobe Bryant
Derek Fischer
Shaq- Free agent
Cedric Ceballos- Free agent
Robert Horry- Trade
Rick Fox- Free agent

Each year after 1994 (first year in the lottery) was an upward improvement over the last season. They created another winning atmosphere from scratch starting in 1995 with the surprise first round win over the favored Sonics and never looked back. They didn't let the glory years of the 80's and early 90's get to far back in the rearview mirror.

Part of the reason why it is so important to even be a mid level playoff team like the they were in 95 and 96 was to attract free agents who know that only one more piece can put the team over the top like the Shaq free agent signing in 1996.

The loosing and tanking culture that's going on in Philly is absolutely appalling!!! When people think of the TRUE glory years they think of Dr J, Bobbie Jones, Moses and Barkley and that was almost 30 years ago! Not those Allen Iverson ball hogging dreadful squads.

How do you know if any of these lottery picks is even worth a damn if they don't start going thru some meaningful playoff series like they young Lakers did in 95 and 96. What superstar free agent will want to go and be part of a toxic culture that has no sense of continuity and can go right back to tanking mode if things are not going as planned. Not to mention the fact that rookies now a days are coming in rawer than ever specially when compared to the mid 90's so basically you're going to be in a perpetual "wait and see" mode waiting to see what players will pan out right when a new crop of newbies is coming along!

Just as pathetic is the staunch defense of some "Lakers fans" of the way Kobe is playing this last season and how he "unselfishly" purposely planned this out as to get another lottery pick next year. That is ridiculous! and if it were the case it's an even further indictment on Kobe for going along with it. You can bet your bottom dollar that Jerry West would've NEVER allowed what's going on right now, NEVER!

[90sgoat]

Exactly.

Winning culture + cap space is the way to go. You create a strong team which is already playing a winning system.

No free agent with championship aspirations want to go to a rebuilding team, they want to go to a team where the support team is already in place.

Philly experiment will go down as one of the worst in history.

[Springsteen]

It's going to take at least 3 or so years for Philly to recover from Hinike's retardation. Even if they do get Simmons.

[SpanishACB]

more importantly, what teams are going to want to trade for players they haven't seen play? in the hypothetical the sixers would want to look to move some of those draft assets in order to properly build a balanced team they can't because they tank their players

[Showtime80']

Not to mention how much of a crapshoot the whole drafting process has become in the "one and done" era where you really don't know what the hell your getting until three to four years down the line.

The Lakers back then knew immediately they struck gold with Van Excel and Eddie Jones who were really the building blocks for that new generation. They could afford to let Kobe develop for 3 to 4 years because of the stability they created.

[Town's Town]

Part of the reason why it is so important to even be a mid level playoff team like the they were in 95 and 96 was to attract free agents who know that only one more piece can put the team over the top like the Shaq free agent signing in 1996.

It also helps to be LA to attract free agents. Mid-level + LA means players will definitely want to join. A mid-level Bucks team, for example, still only has so much draw, so their only way of landing a top talent is by tanking the moment things start getting pretty bad. No way Bucks land a guy like Durant despite their young promising core, but you put that roster in LA, and Durant certainly considers joining.

[MMM]

mid 90's Lakers have a built in advantage of being in a market like LA. A lot of young potential star ballers dream of playing for LA, NY or Chi. Teams in the NE that aren't large markets are going to struggle in attracting star talent.

All the attention the Sixers get is overblown. Lets not forget the Sixers were a midlevel playoff team that upset the #1 seed in 2012 (no rose but didn't everyone still expect the Bulls to win the series). The rebuild has only been 3 years and delayed due to injuries(Noel and Embid)

The Sixers need to continue to stock pile young talent. Find one piece to build around and use the other pieces to acquire the right pieces along with their star. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like Philly has found that player yet.

[FKAri]

Land a Shaq level player in free agency and hit a home run in the draft with Kobe? Sound strategy. Why doesn't every team do that?

[Showtime80']

The Lakers were a solid young team even without Shaq in 1996, I don't think he jumps ship to LA if that team was the mess the Sixers are right know.

And Kobe was one of those calculated LOW risks that paid off big time obviously. Vlade Divac became expendable with the Shaq and Elden frontcourt so it made logical sense to move him, just so happens Kobe ended up being one of the 10 to 15 greatest players ever but remember NOBODY would've predicted that at the time. Jerry West knowledge, experience and vision is what ended up bringing Kobe to LA.

Your right the summer of 96' doesn't happen very often but the pieces they acquired from 92 to 96 and the positive winning direction the franchise had gained back was VITAL to getting the big fish, Shaq.

[JohnnySic]

The signed the greatest force in NBA history in Shaq and Kobe forced his way to LA. Of course that would work even if they did other things wrong. :whatever:

[JohnnySic]

Land a Shaq level player in free agency and hit a home run in the draft with Kobe? Sound strategy. Why doesn't every team do that?
Beat me to it.

[Showtime80']

Again, they needed the team to be on the cusp of contention for Shaq to even begin considering leaving a championship squad in Orlando and they needed a valuable known asset like Vlade to entice the Hornets to give up Kobe Bryant.

Put this crap Sixers lineup in LA in 1996 and it doesn't matter what allure the city had, no Shaq and no Kobe!

[JohnnySic]

Again, they needed the team to be on the cusp of contention for Shaq to even begin considering leaving a championship squad in Orlando and they needed a valuable known asset like Vlade to entice the Hornets to give up Kobe Bryant.

Put this crap Sixers lineup in LA in 1996 and it doesn't matter what allure the city had, no Shaq and no Kobe!
Shaq wanted to go to LA all along for the peripheral perks (Hollywood). This is basically common knowledge.

[Showtime80']

That was ONE of the reasons but there is no way on God's green earth Shaq would've chosen the Lakers if they were 10-72, with a bunch of unproven young players and a 20 year history of being a middle of the road to bottom dwelling team like the Sixers have been. Shaq is very media savvy and he would've gotten MURDERED in the press and the public had he left a perennial title contending team like Orlando for a team that had the crap lineup the Sixers have this year.

The OVERALL situation for the Lakers in 1996 was a very good one, they had more to offer than just the "perks" of being in LA.

[Town's Town]

Land a Shaq level player in free agency and hit a home run in the draft with Kobe? Sound strategy. Why doesn't every team do that?
:oldlol:

[Town's Town]

Again, they needed the team to be on the cusp of contention for Shaq to even begin considering leaving a championship squad in Orlando and they needed a valuable known asset like Vlade to entice the Hornets to give up Kobe Bryant.

Put this crap Sixers lineup in LA in 1996 and it doesn't matter what allure the city had, no Shaq and no Kobe!

Right, but you put the mid-90s Lakers lineup in Phili and they get no Shaq and no Kobe as well. It was the combo of the roster and the location, not one or the other.

[Showtime80']

I strongly disagree Town's Town.

The Sixers by 1996 had a rich tradition of big man in Wilt Chamberlain and Moses Malone and were not that far removed from the spectacular period of 1976-91 which saw them as a perennial contending team with stars like Dr J, Bobby Jones, World B. Free, Andrew Tony, Maurice Cheeks, Moses Malone and Charles Barkley. With enough cap space and being close enough to the New York market they could've definitely made a strong play for Shaq had they had the Lakers squad.

With Kobe, the guy spent his formative years IN PHILADELPHIA!!! It would've been even easier to convince him to play for the Sixers and the team that drafted him had they possessed a player like Vlade Divac!

[TheBigVeto]

David Stern made that happen.

[dhsilv]

The Lakers were a solid young team even without Shaq in 1996, I don't think he jumps ship to LA if that team was the mess the Sixers are right know.

And Kobe was one of those calculated LOW risks that paid off big time obviously. Vlade Divac became expendable with the Shaq and Elden frontcourt so it made logical sense to move him, just so happens Kobe ended up being one of the 10 to 15 greatest players ever but remember NOBODY would've predicted that at the time. Jerry West knowledge, experience and vision is what ended up bringing Kobe to LA.

Your right the summer of 96' doesn't happen very often but the pieces they acquired from 92 to 96 and the positive winning direction the franchise had gained back was VITAL to getting the big fish, Shaq.

There is no shaq in the near future that would consider philly. The sixers are still early on in the rebuilding they are in year 3, and they clearly took a longer term approach because unlike the lakers, the sixers didn't have their first round draft picks or any trade assets when they started this. Hell I'm not sure they even had decent cap space.

There are two grossly different situations and you have a WAY better chance in drafting a future star than signing one in free agency when you're not in one of the prime locations (either a huge tax shelter like Miami, or a huge marketing network like LA or NY or even a boston).