National Basketball Association

The Lakers have become the New York Knicks

Published Jul. 1, 2016 2:30 p.m. ET

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For decades, the Los Angeles Lakers were the class of the NBA, but after a few years of futility, that status was on the brink of being extinguished.

Thursday night, 30 minutes after free agency officially started, it was properly finished. 

The Lakers are no longer an elite team. Now they're the New York Knicks of the West Coast.

The on-court failures are one thing —€” the mismanagement of Kobe Bryant's final years isn't enough to disqualify the Lakers from their status as an elite franchise in the league. 

Yet here we are. Something larger is in play in Los Angeles, and it's toxic. 

Not getting meetings with top free agents? Drastically overpaying for a center of questionable (at best) impact in the infancy of the free agency period?

That's what the Knicks did this offseason. That's what the Knicks do almost every offseason.

We've known for years that the Knicks are no longer considered part of the NBA's elite. But the Lakers?

The Lakers should be able to get a meeting with Kevin Durant. They should absolutely be able to get a meeting with free agent center Hassan Whiteside.

Instead, they overpaid for Timofey Mozgov less than an hour after free agency opened. 

Yes, the Lakers needed a center, and they had money to burn on free agents this summer, but immediately settling for the second (or third, or fourth ... or fifth) option shows how far the Lakers have fallen in the NBA pecking order. 

General manager Mitch Kupchak can't be blamed for not selling prospective free agents on the Lakers —€” there's not much to sell anymore. Who on this planet could convince Durant to give up his prime years to join a rebuilding team?

The Lakers should have been able to get a head start on recruiting Durant in 2017 though. If the Lakers' reputation was intact, there would have been a meeting. 

The brand of the Lakers used to emanate seriousness. With Jim Buss running basketball operations, that's no longer the case. The part-owner in charge of the team's roster is not taken seriously by anyone in the league, and as long as he's in a position of power and influence, neither will the Lakers. With him in leading the way, how could anyone believe there's a plan to win titles in Los Angeles? 

In good times and in bad, the Lakers always had prestige and the steadfast respect of the league. Even in down years, the NBA knew that the organization had the resources and the people to contend for titles. 

That's not true anymore, and unless there's a major shift in the front office, the new reality will remain. 

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