Byron Scott is hindering the development of the Lakers’ youngest players, while giving Kobe Bryant free reign to shoot once he crosses mid-court as Los Angeles craters towards another disastrous season.
And yet, Scott may be on the Lakers’ sidelines next season, according to the Los Angeles Times. Decision-makers are “torn” on whether Scott will return for the third and final guaranteed year of his contract, mind-boggling considering he has accumulated a 32-105 record, 11-44 this year.
But the report states some in the Lakers brass “wonder what Scott might do with a better roster.”
Of Scott’s mistakes, the most egregious is how he has handled prized rookie D’Angelo Russell, the second overall pick in last year’s draft, and second-year forward Julius Randle, who is basically a rookie after missing all but one game last season with a broken leg. Scott’s tough-love approach isn’t working. If anything, he’s hurt their confidence, by not trusting Randle and Russell in the fourth quarters of games.
Russell and Randle are both averaging 27.1 minutes per game, too low considering this season should be about their development. Bryant, meanwhile, is averaging 29.3 minutes a night and taking 16.8 shots a contest while shooting 34 percent from the field.
It doesn’t seem like Russell’s playing time will pick up after the All-Star break, either. According to the Los Angeles Times, Scott said Wednesday that Russell wouldn’t rejoin the starting lineup for Friday’s game against the Spurs and didn’t offer a timetable of when that might happen.
This is Scott’s fourth NBA head-coaching job, and he has gotten progressively worse since his first, when he led the Nets to the NBA Finals twice in parts of four seasons, but was fired in the last year.
In nine seasons since, with the Hornets, Cavaliers and Lakers, he’s reached the playoffs just twice.