The Lakers are suffering through their worst three seasons since moving to Los Angeles 55 years ago. But with Kobe Bryant announcing his retirement at the end of the season, the team now has the clarity it needs to prepare for a future without Bryant.
Since the Lakers' hopes for a sixth championship with Bryant were dashed by his Achilles injury in April 2013, followed by Dwight Howard's departure for the Houston Rockets that summer, the franchise has been stuck in an awkward purgatory -- caught between trying to stay competitive in Bryant's golden years and developing young talent to eventually supplant him.
Now, the organization can fully commit to building the next great Lakers team. Here's what that should entail in six steps, some of them easier than others:
1. Build an offense around the Clarkson-Russell backcourt
On Saturday in Portland, Oregon, a two-play sequence just after halftime illustrated the potential of the Lakers' young guards. First, Jordan Clarkson drove and dished to D'Angelo Russell, who knocked down a 3-pointer. The next time downcourt, it was Russell who set up Clarkson for a triple.
The two guards have the potential to become interchangeable offensive weapons in a two-guard front, similar to how the Blazers use Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and the Phoenix Suns use Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight.
Having two proficient pick-and-roll playmakers will allow the Lakers to target the opposition's weaker defensive guard and utilize both sides of the court, swinging the ball from one pick-and-roll to another to catch defenders out of position.
Clarkson and Russell aren't at the level of those elite dual-ball handler backcourts yet. Russell in particular still is working to get down the nuances of NBA pick-and-roll basketball, a process slowed by the lack of an effective roll man on the Lakers' roster. Of course, he's also 19 and developing right on schedule after a sluggish start to his rookie campaign.
In a couple of years, though, defending Clarkson and Russell could be a difficult task.
2. Mold Julius Randle into a playmaking 4
In what is essentially his rookie campaign -- he suffered a season-ending fibula fracture in the first game of 2014-15 -- Julius Randle has been predictably uneven. One problem is that Randle isn't particularly effective as a roll-man, and just 9.5 percent of his plays this season have come off pick-and-rolls, according to Synergy Sports tracking available on NBA.com/Stats -- the lowest rate for any L.A. post player.
For the most part, Randle has created his offense by facing up and trying to beat his defender off the dribble. Amazingly, Randle has created more plays out of isolations than Bryant this season, per Synergy.
Though Randle might never become a scoring threat from the perimeter -- he's currently making 36.7 percent of his 2-point attempts beyond 16 feet, per Basketball-Reference.com, and has yet to make a 3 -- he can still pose problems for defenses as a "playmaking 4" along the lines of Boris Diaw and Draymond Green. Randle is averaging 2.8 assists per 36 minutes, nearly as many as Green in his second season (3.0).
3. Find a coach whose strength is player development
Current Lakers head coach Byron Scott has admitted that developing his team's young talent is not his primary goal.
"I'm not always thinking about necessarily developing them," he said earlier this season. "I'm always thinking about trying to win. The development part comes secondary to that, but in practice and everything is where you really work on the development part."
Scott's equivocation is emblematic of an organization caught between two goals. As the vision becomes clear, the Lakers need to prioritize a track record of player development in their next coach to find someone who can grow with their young talent.
Former Laker Luke Walton, a player development coach for the franchise's D-League team before joining the Golden State Warriors' coaching staff and taking over as interim head coach, would be a natural choice.
4. Find two-way contributors at small forward and center
The two obvious holes in the Lakers' lineup of the future are at small forward, currently manned by Bryant, and center, where Roy Hibbert is a stopgap in the final season of his contract. Given the offensive-minded talent elsewhere on the roster, adding two-way players should be a priority for the Lakers.
A 3-and-D wing is a must next to the undersized backcourt of Clarkson and Russell. Barring unexpected development from 2015 second-round pick Anthony Brown, that player isn't currently on the roster.
At center, the Lakers need quality rim protection because of their difficulty containing penetration from the perimeter. However, they also need a rim runner who can play pick-and-roll basketball with Clarkson and Russell, given that isn't a strength of Randle's game.
The 2016 draft could provide solutions in the form of wings Jaylen Brown (California), Brandon Ingram (Duke) or forward/center Skal Labissiere (Kentucky), assuming the Lakers ...
5. Get lucky in the lottery
At this point, the Lakers have no control over whether they keep their 2016 first-round pick, which goes to the Philadelphia 76ers unless it lands in the top three in the draft lottery next May. Even if the Lakers can "catch" the Sixers and post the league's worst record, they won't be guaranteed to have a first-round pick.
But good fortune could accelerate the Lakers' timetable. If they somehow land LSU forward Ben Simmons, their plan would change dramatically, as Simmons' playmaking ability might make one of the Lakers' guards expendable.
6. Be patient in free agency
This might be the hardest part of the plan for the Lakers and their fans to stomach. For years the team has looked forward to using its cap space to bring in the next generation of Lakers stars, and meanwhile the fans have endured three especially dismal years.
The temptation will be stronger than ever in 2016. With Bryant's league-high $25 million salary coming off the books, the Lakers should have enough cap room to make two max offers next summer.
But that doesn't mean they should do so.
The worst thing the Lakers could do is respond by settling for second-tier free agents who don't fit their needs and would command max or near-max money, like L.A. native DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors.
Instead, the Lakers should be selective. While the 2016 free-agent crop has only a handful of elite players in their prime -- most notably Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, though Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside might also qualify and is an ideal fit for the Lakers' needs -- the 2017 class is loaded. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook (another L.A. native) will all be unrestricted free agents that summer, and it's possible Durant will be a free agent in 2017 again.
Unless they can get Durant or Whiteside in 2016, the Lakers must ensure they remain in position to offer two of these players the chance to team up in purple and gold.
The close of Bryant's career has been a stormy voyage for the Lakers, but given the lure of L.A., they are just a few moves away from potentially vaulting themselves back into contention.
The Lakers will always be in the mix for top free agents, and if they can pair those expensive stars with cheaper talent developed through the draft, the Lakers may find much smoother sailing ahead.