Lakers News & Rumors (Photo : REUTERS)
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott envisioned a training camp that would feature stars or up-and-coming young players. But after another subpar offseason haul, he found out the harsh reality that he has to settle instead with a bunch of rookies, journeymen, unwarranted big man and a superstar who is believed to be entering his final season.
If Scott is thinking that having another inferior lineup in brutal Western Conference would give him another reason to secure his coaching job, then he's wrong. Because regardless of the caliber roster, the Lakers front office and fans have high expectations on him to deliver this season.
According to Lakers beat writer David Murphy of Bleacher Report, time is ticking fast on Scott to show what he promised when he signed a lucrative head coaching contract with the purple-and-gold last summer. Although the roster next season isn't quite as he had expected it to be, he has no choice but to will the Lakers to relevancy or the axe will likely come falling again as early as May.
"Scott, who was a three-time champion with the Showtime Lakers, will likely continue to enjoy some modicum of job security-he signed a four-year, $17 million contract just last summer, which includes a team option in the final year of the deal."
"But in a league where expectations are always high and coaching tenures are increasingly fragile, Scott's history with the organization will only go so far."
Despite their free-agency shortcomings, the Lakers managed to provide Scott the rim-protector (Roy Hibbert) he didn't have last season. And with Kobe Bryant returning from a shoulder injury, the former Lakers enforcer-turned-coach must show improvement from the macabre 21-61 season in order for him to keep his job down the road.
Although firing Scott next summer would force the Lakers to be paying three sacked coaches on contracts (Mike Brown and Mike D'Antoni are the other two), the Lakers front-office led by Jim Buss, who is also on a hot seat to deliver his promise by 2017, will have to get heads rolling once more if short-term goals aren't met.
After parting ways with the Bulls, Tom Thibodeau is expected to be the front-runner once the Lakers head coaching post becomes vacant. There were rumors that the Lakers had been eyeing the defensive-oriented coach last summer, but they couldn't snag him because he was under contract.
