Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour was all fun and games until you noticed that the Los Angeles Lakers won an abysmal 17 games last season. A mix of Bryant feeling the need to go out in a blaze of “glory” (16.9 field goal attempts per game on 35.8% shooting) and Byron Scott generally being terrible led to a sub-par season for L.A. Now that both Bryant and Scott are gone, GM Mitch Kupchak (understandably) expects the Lakers to improve:
Mitch Kupchak on success this yr: “I can’t pick a # of wins. Last year, we had 17…got to be more than 17 & it can’t be a game or two more."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) September 27, 2016
This Lakers team is obviously far too young and inexperienced to make the playoffs (their rebuild isn’t over quite yet), but they do have some great talent, and winning 25-30 games feels like a reasonable expectation for this team. Kupchak also says that he wants the team to have fun and be fun, which seems like a good attitude for a young team with no real expectations placed upon them:
Mitch Kupchak: “I want our team to be fun to watch. I want them to have fun playing & I want them to get better as the season goes along."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) September 27, 2016
