In the spirit of the season, let’s send some holiday cheer to someone who has earned it — someone who spent much of 2007 getting hammered, and not in the fun, eggnog way.
We’re speaking of Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, whom Lakers Nation fired about a thousand times in ‘07 but Lakers management never did.
Based on the way this season has started — with the Lakers at 18-10 and the GM’s biggest rebuilding block, Andrew Bynum, literally in the center of it all — keeping Kupchak appears to have been the right move.
Hindsight is just wonderful that way.
When everyone from Kobe to Jack thought the Lakers should ship Bynum to New Jersey for quick-fix Jason Kidd,
Kupchak took the long view and held firm. Now he has another slam-dunking, shot-blocking big man to pair with Bryant (although Bynum mustn’t become satisifed with his recent success and still must prove he can be a double-double threat for 82 regular-season games and multiple playoff series).
My colleague Kevin Ding often talks about the sense of hope Kevin Garnett has brought to the Celtics and could have brought to the Lakers. Bynum’s progress has Lakers fans (and even Bryant) hopeful — and Bynum wouldn’t be here if Kupchak hadn’t drafted him and held onto him.
Critics (including yours truly) have ripped Kupchak’s drafting for years — mainly his failure to turn late first-rounders and second-rounders into viable players as the Spurs, Suns and Mavericks have with Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard.
Kupchak did swing and miss in 2004, taking Brian Cook instead of Barbosa or Howard. But Kupchak has recovered nicely since then, landing Bynum in ‘05, major bench contributor Jordan Farmar in ‘06 and another promising point guard of the future, Javaris Crittenton, in ‘07. Kupchak even turned his ‘04 draft error into a positive by sending Cook and Mo Evans to Orlando for Trevor Ariza (left), who has become a valuable role player.
Kupchak still has some personnel blunders on his ledger — namely sending Caron Butler to Washington for Kwame Brown — but what general manager doesn’t?
Even the great Jerry West failed to turn the Memphis Grizzlies into contenders.
Kupchak has a long way to go to match or even approach West’s accomplishments with the Lakers. But at least Kupchak has them going in a positive direction again, and for that he deserve a tip of the glass.
– Michael Lev, The Orange County Register
