Lakers Deals: The Revenge of Mitch Kupchak

So, as it turns out, Mitch Kupchak isn't a complete moron after all.

Quite conversely, the man is beginning to resemble some kind of general managing mastermind.

The Mitchster is a good guy, but he hasn't always been a very popular one in Lakerdom, to say the least. It's not all his fault, really. Thrust into the spotlight as Jerry West's successor in 2000, Kupchak was suddenly expected to fill the shoes of the greatest executive in NBA history.

Virtually impossible. It's just too hard to do.

Even worse, Mitch was used as a pawn for the drunk insanity of Lakers owner Jerry Buss during the whole Kobe/Shaq disaster of the summer of 2004. Out here, it's pretty much understood that Mitch was Ol' Doc Buss' puppet in that fiasco, but does the rest of the country recognize that? If you're going to bite the bullet for a bad trade, the last one you would want it to be is the one that sent Shaq (the best center in basketball history) to Miami for The Firm (Odom, Grant, and Butler). In some ways, he was a victim of circumstance.

Then again, Mitchell learned from the best. And other than then, Buss has always stayed out of the way when it comes to basketball decisions.

So, Mitch, you get no excuses for the deal that sent Caron Butler to Washingtom for Kwame Brown.

And you get full responsibility for the 2003 draft, when you passed up Josh Howard and Leandro Barbosa in favor of Brian Cook.

And the Smush Parker Era? That one's on you, Mitch-Diddy. That's on you.

Nationally, Mitch's rather horrendous job of building a team around a top-flight superstar was going relatively unnoticed (just look at Billy King in Philly, Simmons routinely roasted the guy). That is until this offseason, when a fed up Kobe essentially put him on the clock, at one point even going as far as to say that he would recant his trade demand if L.A. brought back Jerry West. I mean, as far as impeaching a guy's performance, and showing no faith in his ability to get the job done...that was quite a number.

But then, just as Mitch was looking bad as ever, something amazing happened - the season started, and the Lakers were good.

Like, really good.

And getting better. Picked by most pundits to finish either at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture or in the lottery, the Lakers were instead contenders, a deep bunch with a serious shot now and an even better shot later.

And who de we owe it all to?

Mitch. He's the man that brought back Derek Fisher, who's given this young team a heady floor leader and a stable veteran presence on and off the floor. He's the man that dealt Brian Cook (who simply was no longer needed) and Maurice Evans to Orlando for the athletic Trevor Ariza. His key 2006 free-agent signing, Vlad Radmanovic, and draft-pick, Jordan Farmar, began paying serious dividends. Radman is a valuable deep-threat and Farmar is a stud backup point guard with All-Star potential. 

And Mitch's refusal to part ways with Andrew Bynum, despite parking-lot pressure from Kobe, may one day go down as the best move he ever made, simply because he didn't make it. Bynum was happening BIG-TIME before that knee injury - other than Dwight Howard, I wouldn't trade him for any player 6-9 and over. Guys like Andrew Bynum don't grow on trees, but Mitch snagged him at a spot (no. 10) where franchise center's are usually are nowhere to be found.

But the recent Gasol for Kwame swap really put Mitch over the top. It was absolute brillinace. Mitch saw an opportunity present itself that would push his team to another level, from merely West contenders to possible favorites this year, and potential juggernauts in the next year or two. 

Not only will it keep the Lakers above water until Bynum returns, but when he gets back, it will give them the most talented team in the league from top to bottom. Phoenix STILL won't be able to match up with that frontline. Neither will San Antonio or Dallas, unless one of them acquires Jermaine O'Neal and manages to salvage his career.

Come playoff time, the Lakers will start Fisher and Kobe in the backcourt, with the 6-10 Odom, 7-0 Gasol, and 7-0 Bynum up front, and Farmar, Vujacic, Ariza, Luke Walton, Radmanovic, and Ronny Turiaf coming off the bench. That's a lot of good players, a lot of size, a lot of athleticism, and a lot of versatility.

And it's going to be coming at you in waves and waves, just like Mitch Kupchak is coming at the rest of the relevant West GM's right now, already forcing one of them to make a major move in anticipation of a showdown.

So what do we call Mitch? Lucky? Smart? Oppurtunistic? All of the above? I'll settle for Mitch Kupchak, NBA Executive of the Year, a well-deserved award for a man that made all the right moves under pressure.