lakerevolution wrote:Would any of this - in either scenario - have prevented the Warriors from ascending to their place at the top? Would the talented-but-rudderless Chris Paul and the adequate-but-disappointing Dwight Howard have teamed to become enough of a force to realistically challenge the Spurs, Grizzlies and Thunder? Or was all of this more of a blessing-in-disguise for the Lakers - despite the prolonged hardship it and the lockout/CBA imposed on our franchise? Injuries - most significantly Kobe's - would have de-railed the plan anyway, so it's hard to tell what long-term good a CP3/Dwight/Kobe team would have experienced. Clarkson, Randle, Russell, Nance, Williams - which of them, if not all, would be wearing different jerseys right now? Would Laker fans have learned to cheer and root for Chris and Dwight? Would qualifying for the playoffs as a 5th seed with no realistic shot at the Finals be good enough for Laker Nation?
Perspective. As Tate said, it's impossible to say. The one thing it did do is sap the credibility and attractiveness out of the Lakers organaization, so even though I see few scenarios to suggest that we would have come close to sniffing a chip given the ascent of the Warriors, the steadiness of the Spurs and the LeBrons (regardless of what team he forms wherever he goes). Perhaps the CP3 acquisition teamed with Dwight would have attracted more players, blah, fucking, blah, blah, blah, BUT I think it is a much higher likelihood that the personality/ego clashes among Kobe/CP3/Dwight would have been ruinous. Perhaps CP3 coming alone without Dwight (not that Chris Paul and Kobe wouldn't have clashed) would have accelerated our rebuilding process. I personally think that the best case scenario woud have been CP3 coming alone and building aorund him because we probably would have smelled the playoffs and been closer to where we should be than we are now. Who knows. We'll be back someday though. I am hoping that Kobe's parting gift to us is Ben Simmons, but that's a long shot. You just can't count on that kind of shit.