I Don't Know What the Fuck the Lakers Management are Doing Anymore

This offseason for the Lakers has certainly been a wild one already. The NBA Draft is only a few hours away, but the Lakers are looking to deal to get a high draft pick amid rumors that the Suns and Spurs were interested in the same strategy. There were initial rumors that the Lakers were looking to trade Pau Gasol to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for both the #2 draft pick and Kevin Love, but Lakers management later shot down the rumors saying that both Gasol and Bynum were off-limits. Saying Bynum was off-limits greatly discouraged me because that was a sign that Jim Buss is so obsessed with Andrew Bynum that he'd rather keep him than get Dwight Howard.

Next, the Lakers were actively pursuing trading Lamar Odom to get that #2 pick, but the Wolves said no. Trading the reigning 6th man of the year? What in the fuck is wrong with the Lakers? You don't trade a key part of your team to get fresh blood; the new champion Dallas Mavericks proved that, rejecting offers to trade Dirk and Terry and bringing back Jason Kidd. Thankfully the Wolves said no, because I don't think one rookie could bring the Lakers back to championship form. The Lakers need to dump Derek Fisher, every backup center, and get a solid perimeter shooter and a new starting point guard.

Outside of the players, the Lakers also made the questionable decision of hiring Mike Brown, former coach of the Cavaliers, long viewed as a being a coach who did nothing but the strategy of "Let LeBron Do What He Wants." That strategy worked in the regular season, but Brown has yet to prove he can coach a team in the postseason where he always fell short. Many expected either Brian Shaw or Rick Adelman to be the next Lakers coach, so the decision to hire Brown is downright confusing, especially since management decided not to get Kobe's input.

Lastly, it seems even broadcast announcers have not been spared the madness of Jim Buss' impending takeover from his father. Joel Meyers chose not stay as the Lakers TV play-by-play announcer amid displeasure that the Lakers worked harder to keep Stu Lantz and tried to push Spero Dedes to become the next TV play-by-play announcer. Things got so bad that Meyers and Lantz were not speaking to each other outside of games. After Meyer's departure, most thought that Dedes was going to become the next TV play-by-play announcer after having been the radio play-by-play announcer. But Dedes chose to broadcast Knicks games instead, returning home to his family, and opting for a looser schedule where he can continue to broadcast NFL games, something the Lakers weren't willing to do. Because of that, the new play-by-play announcers have already been announced: Bill MacDonald for TV and John Ireland for radio. Yes, JOHN IRELAND for radio.

Billy Mac is OK, he proved his credentials broadcasting Kobe's 81 point game and his numerous pre-game interviews with Phil Jackson. I wish someone better had been hired, but Mac is fine in the interim. As far as John Ireland, I hear enough of him on Mason & Ireland giving his idiotic opinions like "Derek Fisher shouldn't be traded and will come through when he needs to" and "I will walk home from Cleveland if the Lakers lose" and of course "Jim Buss is not destroying the Lakers." I'm going to say it outright, I hate John Ireland. He thinks the Lakers management can do no wrong and it's obvious Jim Buss wants him to eventually be the next TV play-by-play announcer despite him having zero play-by-play skills or a friendly personality.

What more can the Lakers do to fuck up? I guess we'll find out tonight at the Draft!