Lakers Rewind: Gasol Done & Swaggy Gone?

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Only two games remain in the Lakers season and there are more questions now than ever. Who will stay? Who will go?

With a team full of one-year contracts, a good portion of the Lakers team will be entering free agency including Nick Young, Jodie Meeks and Pau Gasol.

This year was a completely different team than the year before, and it will be a déjà vu for Laker fans this upcoming year. There will be new jerseys to print and new jerseys to be put on sale.

In the final home game of the season Young, Meeks, Wesley Johnson and Jordan Hill all made their cases for remaining in a Lakers uniform. But with two road games left the audition isn’t over.

Swaggy P has been adamant about wanting to stay in L.A. and called his time with the Lakers a “dream come true”. However, he also understands that this is a business, and despite all his success this year his time as a Laker could be coming to an end.

“I always wanted to be a Laker and it will be a dream come true to still be here, but it’s crazy,” Young told ESPN during last week’s practice. “You never know what happens. Last year they had a whole different team. It’s obvious they’re going to make some changes.”

One glaring change that the Lakers have been remaining quiet about is the future of head coach Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni still has one year and $4 million remaining on his contract, as well as a team option for the 2015-16 season.

This season D’Antoni led the Lakers down a spiral of injuries and losing streaks. Following their loss to the Memphis Grizzles L.A. dropped to 25-55.

On Sunday, the team announced that Gasol was shut down for the final games of the year. Gasol wraps up the season averaging 17.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Gasol missed the final games due to symptoms of vertigo.

With big stars going into free agency across the NBA the Lakers are hoping to attract talent to Staples Center. The Lakers need it as they suffered their worst season in franchise history, and missed the playoffs for the third time since 1976.

Kobe Bryant has been vocal about keeping Gasol, taking Young under his wing and not wanting to play for D’Antoni next year, but who knows if Lakers management will listen.

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