Phoenix Suns Rebuild is Going Better than the Los Angeles Lakers

Ever since it was clear that both the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers needed to rebuild the Suns have done an immensely better job than the Lakers.

The Phoenix Suns have been rebuilding since the franchise departed with legendary point guard Steve Nash in the summer of 2012. The trade that sent Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers was the trigger that sent the Suns into full rebuild. Only a year after Nash was sent Lakers the Los Angeles franchise began to struggle, however it was not until Kobe Bryant last season the team did not embrace that it needed to start a full rebuild. With these division rivals starting to see the fruits of their rebuilds it is important to note that the Suns did a much better job rebuilding than the Lakers.

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When comparing two rebuilds, it is important to note that for the large part the the Phoenix Suns were much more committed to there rebuild than the Lakers. The only time the Suns majorly deviated from their rebuild was after the their second season under former head coach Jeff Hornacek when the team went 39-43 in the 2013-2014 season. That summer they added veteran center Tyson Chandler as part of a bigger move to land LaMarcus Aldridge. The move failed and the team floundered the following season which impart resulted in the firing of Hornacek. Beyond this major poor decision by the Suns front office, the franchise has for the most part focused on young and having salary cap space.

As a result, the Suns have a young, exciting core in Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender, T.J. Warren, Tyler Ulis and even restricted free agent Alex Len. Besides Jackson who is a rookie all these players have at least one year of experience. The Suns have solid point guard in Bledsoe to lead this team and Booker has All-Star written all over him. This team has a lot of pieces that may need time to develop but the pieces are there. If this roster of young players has the time to develop, then they could be dangerous in a few years.

The Lakers on the other hand did not fully commit to a rebuild. Even though the roster was starting to shift to younger players they still had Kobe Bryant and with Bryant there always comes an expectation of wanting to win. It appeared that the team tried to appease Kobe with bringing in players like former All-Star Roy Hibbert. They hired a coach in Byron Scott that had a history of not being good with young players. Former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak did not seem to understand what it took to completely commit to a full rebuild.

Even after Bryant retired, the team still wasted salary cap space on aging players like Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov. It took up so much cap space that the Lakers had to trade second overall pick from the 2015 draft in D’Angelo Russell along with Mozgov just to receive some long term cap relief. With a change in Lakers management and coaching lead by Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka, and Luke Walton the Lakers look like they are finally ready to focus on their young talent.

The Lakers have some pieces in Larry Nance, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle that are all solid players, but seemed to have reached their potential. Lonzo Ball could become either Jason Kidd or Rajon Rondo depending on how his shot develops. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is just one jump shot away from being one of the best two-way players in the league. However, Caldwell-Pope could only be there for one season though. The jury is still out on Brandon Ingram, Thomas Bryant, Kyle Kuzma and Ivica Zubac on where there ceiling is. It is still not clear if the Lakers have all the pieces they need to build this team into a contender.

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The Suns have in large part been focused on finding and developing a young core throughout the post Steve Nash era. The Lakers tried to appease Kobe Bryant as well as made poor roster and personal decisions that did not help their young core for the majority of their rebuild. Now that both teams are fully committed to rebuilding this season, it will become evident in the future that the Suns rebuild was more effective than the Lakers.

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