Since LeBron James went down with a groin injury against the Golden State Warriors, things have been ugly for the Lakers, and not just on the court. The Lakers are just 5-10 without The King, recent reports claim that LeBron wants coach Luke Walton gone, and constant trade rumors surrounding the Lakers’ young core in exchange for a superstar like Anthony Davis has no doubt harmed the team’s play. Some criticize team president Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka for the team’s construction. But what could the Lakers have done differently this past offseason?
Despite Laker’s fans dreams, this unlikely, and frankly terrifying trio was extremely unlikely to begin with. Image courtesy of Bleacher Report.
Having James on your team necessitates competing for a championship. Consequently, the team’s strategy was to retain as much cap space as possible in hopes of signing a superstar like Kevin Durant, Paul George or DeMarcus Cousins in the 2018 offseason to play alongside James. Durant, however, was an extreme longshot, George shocked everyone when he resigned with OKC for another four years, and the Lakers completely missed out on Cousins.
With the biggest free agents signed away, the Lakers’ only options were to trade for someone like a Kawhi Leonard or an Anthony Davis. In the case of Leonard, the Lakers were unwilling to deal their entire young core for potentially one year with him on the team. In hindsight, however, that may have been a gamble the Lakers should have taken. LeBron isn’t getting any younger, and with uncertainty surrounding how many prime years he has left, the Lakers don’t have time to wait for players to develop, they need to win now.
Fresh off a 35-47 record and an 11th place finish in the Western Conference, the Lakers made the biggest signing in the league when they inked a four year, $153 million deal with LeBron James. In theory, adding James to a 35-win team would push them over the top and into the playoffs. The problem was the team that James joined was different than the one that won 35 games last season.
The Lakers have struggled mightily at the five spot this season. Julius Randle and Brook Lopez could have created interesting mismatches at the position through their respective skills as a small ball center and stretch five. Image courtesy of Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press.
The Lakers, who struggled early in the season with a poor center rotation, let Brook Lopez walk for a minuscule $3.38 million to Milwaukee. Furthermore, they renounced the rights to Julius Randle after extending just a $5.56 million qualifying offer. Randle signed with the Pelicans for $17.7 million over two years, an amount with an average annual value just $3.29 million more than the Lakers’ offer.
This season, Lopez is a valuable stretch five for the Bucks, and Randle, in 27 games as a starter this season is averaging 22 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 54.2% shooting. Both would have been extremely valuable to a team that was running Kyle Kuzma at the five early in the season, and ultimately had to acquire a 36-year-old Tyson Chandler from the Suns just to fill their minutes.
By the end of free agency, the Lakers acquired Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson, and brought back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on a one year, $12 million deal. Though McGee’s given the Lakers solid minutes, and Stephenson and Beasley have been decent, Rondo, who is making $9 million has only played in 15 games, and KCP has been a below average shooter.
One main issue with the Laker’s additions is that they could have used the money to retain one or both of Lopez and Randle. The second, is that the team desperately needed shooters. Right now, the Lakers rank 28th of 30 shooting from deep. Given that names like Trevor Ariza, Joe Harris, Marco Belinelli, Wayne Ellington, Seth Curry, Doug McDermott, Anthony Tolliver and Nemanja Bjelica and more were available, it wouldn’t have been difficult for the Lakers to bolster their shooting from behind the arc this past summer.
This trio might be nothing more than a pipe dream, though if it happened, it would hands down be the greatest big three in NBA history. Image courtesy of Fadeaway World.
When LeBron returns to the lineup, the Lakers will recover some ground in the competitive Western Conference. Considering James’ track record, it seems probable that he’ll drag this Laker squad into the postseason. Unless a superstar on the caliber of an Anthony Davis magically becomes available before this year’s trade deadline (in which case the Lakers should go all in), their best plan is likely to try again with the big names this offseason. By this summer, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and many other stars will become available. If the Lakers acquire a couple big names, and LeBron remains healthy, L.A. could very contend next season.
Stats courtesy of http://stats.nba.com
Featured image courtesy of Steve Dykes/Getty Images
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Dean!
“From Our Haus to Yours”
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
