The Los Angeles Lakers are 9-34 a little past the halfway point of the season and they are clearly in rebuilding mode at this time. The Lakers have a few young players that they believe can be a big part of their future but fans haven't been too happy with the way head coach Byron Scott has handled them this season. With the Lakers having lost seven of their last eight games it seems as though Scott is finally willing to let the younger players carry more of a load, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Scott has drawn the ire of Lakers fans this year due to the way he has handled D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle specifically. At the beginning of the season Russell was not closing out games despite being in the starting lineup and recently Scott moved both him and Randle to a bench role. All along the Lakers pretty much knew they wouldn't be in contention for a playoff spot but Scott was determined to try and get as many wins as possible while easing the young players in but now it seems as though he is willing to focus more on player development.
"I'm trying to get these young guys more experience and playing time so they can understand what this league is all about. Hopefully at the end of the season, the game has slowed down for all of us. It's all about getting these young guys to continue to develop. Then the winning part comes into that as well. We've been in a bunch of games. Now we have to get to the point where these guys learn how to close these games out," said Scott.
Scott made this statement on Saturday and it seemed at the time like this would be bad news for Kobe Bryant, Roy Hibbert and Lou Williams but in the two games since none of them have really had their minutes effected. Just recently it was said that this season for the Lakers would be about Bryant's sendoff and while that is a nice thing to do for a legend like him, that doesn't mean player's development should take a backseat completely.
The Lakers have some promising young talent in Russell, Randle, Larry Nance Jr. and Anthony Brown among others and it would be wise for the development of these young players to be the focus for the remainder of the season. Letting these young guys go through struggles now will likely help the Lakers get out of rebuilding mode much faster than letting them sit on the bench while players who aren't part of the future play. Scott is saying the right things now, in terms of giving his young guys more responsibility, now it is just a matter of practicing what he preaches consistently.
