Nope... I don't think that is it. They are in the middle of some "rebuilding" years. With, or without, Shaq they were headed in that direction with the loss of Malone, Payton, Butler and Fisher. The fact they made the playoffs shows how good Kobe is... he carried an average team to the playoffs. (tough to say since I don't like Kobe)
But, I think the Lakers need to land either a quality PF or C during the offseason in order to be more competitive. Smush will be a top 10 PG next year so they should be okay there. Kwame showed some potential late in the season... if he can keep that up the Lakers will be headed in the right direction.
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