Los Angeles Lakers: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Los Angeles Lakers’ free agency was laughable, but this young team is still on the right path back to prominence. Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to sign Kevin Durant, they said. Russell Westbrook is going to join him the summer after that, they said. It won’t be long before the bright lights of Hollywood and perfect L.A. weather lures in the next big-name superstar, they said.

For years now we’ve heard about how the Lakers were going to retool overnight with Superstar X or Blockbuster Trade Y, but after the 2016 NBA offseason, it’s safe to say Los Angeles is committed to a longer, winding road.

And you know what? That’s perfectly okay! As much as the Lakers have been renowned for their season-in, season-out success, they’re entering the first scary page of the post-Kobe Bryant chapter.

The Black Mamba’s last few years were a part of the Lakers’ struggle to quickly reassemble another playoff-caliber roster, but aside from a couple of head-scratching deals this summer — and the obvious inability to secure meetings with the summer’s marquee free agents — the Lakers are still on the right path back to prominence. Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

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