Nash Out For Season, Time For Lakers To Plot Post-Kobe Course

Steve Nash is out for the 2014-15 season and many are questioning whether the veteran point guard will return to the court at all.

Nash joined the Los Angeles Lakers to much fanfare, as it appeared that LA was gearing up for one more run with his acquisition and picking up Dwight Howard. This Lakers’ fantastic four (along with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant) failed to mesh. The very next season Howard left and Kobe went down for the season with an injury.

Meanwhile, Nash struggled to stay healthy over the course of both his seasons with the Lakers and now, with lingering nerve damage in his back, he will not play at all in his third. He only played a total of 65 games as a Lakers.

Despite, the Lakers best efforts, the time is not now for Los Angeles. LA with veteran Nash and Bryant and the addition of Jeremy Lin, expected to make a playoff run despite naysayers. Without Nash that run seems unlikely.

Lin, though, will have a chance to shine. He already averages 11.9 points and 4.8 assists in 27.3 minutes of play. Now he can finally shine as bright as the hype that comes with him, as the Lakers desperately need another player to step up.

In the grand scheme of things even if Lin excessively exceeds expectations, the Lakers will still not be legit contenders, especially in the strong Western Conference.

Lin will need prove this season that he is a player worth keeping around in a post-Kobe L.A. landscape. Meanwhile, it is time for those in charge in LA begin building toward the future.

Unfortunately, that means Lakers fans are going to have to accept that the Lakers will not be in playoff-mode for a few seasons now. Instead they will be in re-build mode.