Pero they had success din naman with the players they got from the draft di ba? (Magic, Worthy, Kobe)
Yes of course. Historically maayos naman sila mag draft. Yun lang nga eh historically din eh napakababa ng mga picks nila palagi due to winning. After the Kobe-Pau-Odom-Bynum era eh dun sila nagkaroon ng sunod sunod na chance to draft good talent which they flipped for AD eventually. Talented players who are now starters in other teams like Lonzo, Russel, Randle, Kuzma, zubac and the jewel of them all....Brandon Ingram.
Its easy to say that they should build through drafting players but in reality eh pag low pick ka sa first round eh mababa na yung chance mo talaga na makakuha ng impact player unless may hindi nakikita yung ibang teams and they passed on a player like say a Derrick Fisher, Kyle Kuzma or a Ivaca zubac. Yang 3 na yan low pick yan pero tumagal sa NBA and major contributors while they are playing. That's a major reason why the Lakers like to bring in high priced Superstar talent thru free agency or trade. Matagal yung development ng youth movement and wala din kasiguruhan if it will pan out.
Kareem = thru trade (5 rings)
Shaq = thru trade (3 rings)
Gasol = thru trade (2 rings)
AD = thru trade (1 ring)
All of those resulted into instant success. 11 championships.
So I really don't think their formula or path towards winning is flawed. It can be argued that they like to accelerate the process by trading for proven players unlike say a PHI na 10 taon yata na puro high draft pero till now wala pa ring results yung TRUST THE PROCESS