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Will the Lakers' dismal play scuttle their offseason dreams?

Jason Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty

It's no secret the Los Angeles Lakers have ambitious plans this offseason with hopes of landing not one, but two franchise-altering stars in free agency. The Lakers always have big offseason plans. Between their history, market, the spotlight, L.A. nightlife, and weather, they have a distinct advantage over the majority of the league, and consequently, a certain sense of entitlement.

The Lakers have consistently been able to attract game-changing free agents and effectively render the arduous process of incremental internal development moot. Lately, though, that model hasn't worked out for them. They've spent the past few years waiting for a big free-agent fish to bite, and in most cases, haven't gotten so much as a tug on the line. That doesn't mean their approach is misguided or wrong, but their fixation on reeling in the next franchise player has often come at the expense of nurturing the fingerlings they already have floundering in the pond, and it's a big part of the reason they are stuck where they are right now: enduring their fifth straight miserable season without having bred any continuity or fostered a strong, identifiable culture.

The Kobe Bryant farewell campaign made perfect sense for a prestigious franchise for whom legacy is everything, but it probably set the franchise's development back two years. The team has sometimes been too upfront about its externalist team-building philosophy (like when former head coach Byron Scott effectively dismissed the growth potential of his prospects and suggested the Lakers' next franchise player would have to be a free-agent signee), and their preemptive dalliance with Paul George last summer has already cost them $500,000. They'll have no first-round pick in this year's draft thanks to an ill-fated trade for a 38-year-old Steve Nash back in 2012.

For the early part of this season, though, it felt like that approach was changing. Brandon Ingram made important strides as a sophomore, Kyle Kuzma was the steal of the last draft, Lonzo Ball flashed just enough passing genius and defensive instinct to justify his billing as the No. 2 overall pick, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson were shining as high-energy reserves, and the Lakers were hovering around .500 on the strength of one of the league's best defenses. But, it didn't hold, and the Lakers now have the league's second-worst record having lost nine straight games (by an average margin of 14.1 points), 12 of their last 13, and 17 of their last 20.

That skid has been precipitated by a hellacious stretch of schedule, but the Lakers have looked increasingly and concerningly lifeless as their struggles have deepened, and their once-stout defense ranks 29th in the league over those 20 games (which now accounts for more than half the season). Their offense was bad from the jump; they can't shoot a lick or hold onto the basketball. Now they can't stop anybody, are openly sulking, holding team meetings that don't move the needle, and generally bearing all the hallmarks of NBA dysfunction.

Perhaps this is a consequence of the Lakers' attempt to straddle two disparate team-building approaches at once: trying to groom this crop of youngsters while also talking openly about paving the way for those coveted superstar free agents who would eventually make those youngsters' progress peripheral. If it once seemed the two needn't be mutually exclusive, the past few weeks have at least challenged that assumption. The team as a whole has a checked-out vibe right now. Maybe that's because, as the since-waived Andrew Bogut suggested last month, the "salary-cap situation" has been weighing on their minds.

But the more pertinent question is whether any of this will actually matter to those free-agents-to-be trying to picture themselves in purple and gold. George insists the determining factor in whether he sticks around in Oklahoma City will be whether he feels the Thunder are moving in the right direction and growing in a meaningful way. That calculus probably changes for him when it comes to Los Angeles, the city where he grew up and the team he has seemingly long dreamed of playing for. But, after getting a firsthand look at the roster he'd be joining when the Thunder waxed the Lakers by nearly 40 points earlier this week, can he justify committing the remainder of his prime to a discombobulated team that looks destined to be overmatched in the Western Conference?

At this point, to make the pitch work, the Lakers may need two superstars to commit in tandem. And while DeMarcus Cousins and Chris Paul will also be unrestricted free agents, there's only one guy who can instantly deliver the franchise's much-missed pedigree with one swoop of the pen. If LeBron James has his heart set on the Lakers, all the organization's issues - the oft-questionable team-building process, shaky player development, and uninspiring culture - will be forgotten.

James and George together would turn the Lakers into contenders overnight. Individually, they could each find better situations to put themselves in next season, but given the franchise, the market, and the Lakers' cap situation, it's hard to find a place that would make more sense for them to team up. If James were to make signing there contingent on the acquisition of another star, the Lakers certainly have the assets to get a trade done.

Ultimately, James and George hold all the cards, and what they decide may tell us a lot about the motivations of today's NBA superstar. Market size and franchise prestige seem to matter less than it used to. For all the Lakers' glamor and cultural cachet, their recent run of ineptitude meant they still couldn't get a foot in the door during the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

Meanwhile, James' popularity hasn't suffered for playing in Cleveland, and it's hard to imagine him being any more famous than he is now. Giannis Antetokounmpo is perhaps the most popular player in the league right now, leading the All-Star fan vote despite playing in Milwaukee. (Antetokounmpo said he'd start his own free agency pitch to James by picking him first in the All-Star draft. "You never know," the Bucks' phenom said. "He might come play here." Sure, why not?)

That doesn't mean what the Lakers offer doesn't matter at all. As George's case seems to illustrate, the margin for error is smaller in places like Oklahoma City and Indianapolis. The Lakers, despite being borderline unwatchable right now, still get more national exposure than almost any team. (Would LaVar Ball have been able to motormouth his way into some gonzo international brand if Lonzo had been drafted to say, Minnesota?)

Los Angeles is a bad team that has done few things right over the past half-decade, but they still have a legitimate chance to morph into a juggernaut with a quality free-agent spree in July.

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