Well that was anticlimactic. Days after he was eligible LeBron did the smart (if semi-boring for planet Earth) thing and signed his extension. The details aren’t surprising: 2 years, $97.1 million/season, 3rd year player option. So now James and Davis match up in a couple years to choose whether to stay Lakers, part ways, or try to join forces somewhere else. For LeBron and his legacy that pushes him past KD as the biggest NBA salary earner in the history of the game. For the Lakers and their path forward things have only become slightly more clear, however. Let’s dig in a little deeper.
- The partnership that made the most sense for both sides. LeBron, despite his seeming ability to defy age and time, is on the downside of his career. His priorities after basketball are being as close to his family in a place where they all want to be and that, for the time being, is Los Angeles California. This started when Magic showed up at LeBron’s door with his first contract offer to The King a few years ago. While the Lakers have changed around LeBron, very little about James himself has changed. He wants to win, he wants at least a shot at a title (he knows as well as anyone that there are no guarantees in sport), wants to be close to his family and in a year or so would like to play with Bronny James. That last one is not etched in stone as to when it could happen. LeBron has said he wants his final season to be with his son on the same team. Given LeBron’s longevity that isn’t necessarily next season. Bronny could choose a year (or more) of college which would make a lot of sense from a developmental standpoint as the son of LeBron isn’t appearing on many draft boards, yet. All in all, in terms of his lifestyle, business goals and being on a team with a complimentary superstar in Anthony Davis the Lakers made the most sense from the start.
- What does this mean for the Lakers, though? That’s a great question and it’s pretty easy to answer. The front office needs to get better, quickly, at evaluating talent and valuing assets. Whether that asset is a player, coach or a draft pick the Lakers have a small timeline with which to succeed with James and Davis. Once they go it’s basically a full scale rebuild. Since James and Davis powered a vet-heavy but augmented by stellar young role-players the Lakers have, for some reason, been back pedaling when it comes to the roster. Gone are all the key role-players, coach and draft assets we had left over from the AD trade save for 2 tradeable picks 5 and 7 years out, respectively. They have backed themselves into a top heavy, difficult to modulate roster that doesn’t play well in the modern NBA. While there is precedent for outside the box rosters doing well (hello Utah and Cleveland) the norm for the league has seemingly failed to be embraced by the Lakers.
- LeBron’s expectations. If you buy into scuttlebutt the Lakers have assured LeBron they’re not done improving this season’s roster. With very tools in the box to use it’s hard for me to see clear pathways to getting it done. With the news that the Nets have rejected a deal for Irving…with both picks included…one more door has closed. It also happened to be LeBron’s preferred door that be passed through, allegedly. The Nets seem to be happy to start the season with Kyrie in the fold. That’s bad news for those hoping to tweak the Big 3 philosophy by switching Kyrie for Russ. That door, for now, would appear closed. That leaves the Lakers with, in theory, only a few avenues left to pursue. Indiana vaults to the top of the hopes and dreams list followed by Charlotte and the one-legged Gordon Hayward and detritus. trading Russ into the Spurs cap space, and waaaaaay back in the distance are teams like Utah, New York, and…well, that may be it. New York has maintained for awhile now no interest in a trade for Russ. Not many doors left and Rob with little savvy and few assets to work with.
- What happens if the Lakers can’t make a move before camp? Like Kevin Durant, LeBron James may kick the 2022-23 off a little grumpy. It simply may not be possible to trade Russell Westbrook this summer due to several factors but mainly a lack of grease that makes those kind of deals possible. We have 2 draft picks 5 years out. A few second rounders and the ability to pull off some pick swaps. If the Lakers had tried to move quickly with Brooklyn, like before Kyrie had picked up his extension quickly, a deal may have been possible. The longer the Durant saga played out, and the more apparent it was that teams weren’t going to pile up trade proposals that glittered in the eyes of Sean Marks and Joe Tsai, the more likely it became that Brooklyn would roll the Kyrie Irving dice one more time. He who will be up for a contract after the season, a star player to keep the Nets competitive, and (most importantly of all) is cheaper than Russ. Keeping Kyrie means you get to keep one of Seth Curry or Joe Harris and pair them with an elite point guard. Even if Durant holds out Brooklyn should at least be in the mix for a playin spot next season with Kyrie.
- Grumpy LeBron? Sounds kind of like a bad idea to me. Honestly? I can think of worse things than LeBron coming in kind of pissed. Like trading for Gordon Hayward. The Lakers have managed to back themselves into a deep quagmire and to dig themselves out it’s going to take more than two draft picks half a decade out and THT or Nunn. It’s going to take smarts and solid negotiating to the degree Rob can manage. I’ve been shouting all of this into the wind for sometime, knowing that as doors closed and opportunities faded that the reality many in the media and the fan base have been unwilling to really even entertain wasn’t just possible but highly likely: Russell Westbrook will start the season as a Laker. Could Indy coax another draft pick out of Rob and get him to overpay for Buddy Heild and Myles Turner? Maybe, that could even switch to probably if LeBron starts steaming in public. By signing LeBron to an extension the Lakers have done a lot for themselves and their new head coach, though. They have taken a distraction off the table, one fewer question everyone has to answer ad nauseum. It’s down to Russ and his fit and if he and James are still friends?!?! O.M.G. the drama… At the end of the day I doubt LeBron needs much motivation to show up ready to go. However, he’s become a leader through his play and less of a team leader type guy. Maybe he never was that guy in the locker room or on the practice court, bringing guys in, getting them on the same page and kicking a butt or two when it needed kicking. This might be the motivation he needs to get in the lab with Russ and start to figure out what they need to do to make it work.
The Lakers are up against it. The west is utterly stacked since the Lakers won in the Bubble. Davis hasn’t come close to playing in a full season since his first one here three years ago. At some point time will catch up to LeBron. It’s unlikely that LeBron gets traded, his 15% trade kicker is akin to a “buyer beware” sticker. He’s never been traded in his entire career, hard for me to see it happen at the end. Since we won it all Rob has been like a dude selling tires out the back of van with draft picks. Or even more accurate, more like Oprah on her old TV show “YOU get a first rounder, YOU get a first rounder, EVERYONE gets a first rounder!!!!!” and the time has come for that to end. At some point the Lakers have to live in two places: now and the future. With LeBron signing his extension that time has come, whether the King or anyone else likes it or not. Ride Russ out until at least February and see what can be done. Who knows, Rob may get execute his first ever in-season trade. If not, let the money expire and build it up around James and Davis smarter than has been the case of late. Is it optimal? No, it’s not. Is it smart? If you ask me, yes it is. You have to prepare for a life after LeBron, have a draft pick or two for in-season trades, and get out from under the NOLA trade for AD. Burning every card you got on a bad hand at this point isn’t a gamble it’s a fool’s errand. Here’s hoping Rob sees that as plainly as do I.
On the Team or not, Brick shouldn’t see the floor. He should be nowhere near the team as he rides out his contract. He’s as detrimental to winning as was Kwame back in the day. He’s good for at least 2-3 horrible plays per game that result in total momentum and scoreboard shifts. He’s antithetical to winning basketball and if not traded, should just be told to stay away from the team.
I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Jeannie gripes about vet minimum guys who didn’t play. Russ makes a little more money than that. I’ve seen that theory a lot but there’s no way they can hope to trade him if he doesn’t play. There’s no way Jeannie signs off on paying him to stay home. Coach Ham came into this eyes wide open, it’s why they asked the coach how they’d use Russ. He’ll play. He might get benched and gripe or whatever but he’ll be on the active roster and playing some sort of role.
This would be yet another in a long series of putrid basketball decisions.
I guess, just don’t see it going down any other way.
I don’t think him playing has anything to do at all with his tradability. There’s literally no one trading for him that expects a positive on-court product from him. If anyone does ultimately bite, it’ll be for an expiring contract, far off picks, and whatever other assets they can pry from the Lakers. His detrimental play only serves to further harm the Lakers, but I don’t see it affecting the outcome of a trade in any way. Unless they somehow think he can recapture his former glory, anyone trading for him does so knowing they’re getting a shot fighter.
As for Lebron signing, I’m sure the team and his team poked around looking for a better landing place. Based on his signing with absolutely no improvement to the roster and none on the horizon, this goes to show there was no deal to be had. Certainly not one looking to spending anything close to the 9-figure range for a couple of diminishing seasons from the washed king. I really don’t know what any of them are thinking at this point, but it clearly ain’t championship.
Well LBJ wasn’t a free agent and was going to be here next season one way or the other. Just tacked on more years in one of the few places that made sense. In terms of how/what the FO thinks? Man that’s been a mystery for a minute.
I think time passing until a buyout feels like a good deal to some team is the key to his trade value. If he plays well the Lakers should ride it out. If he doesn’t there will be team looking to clear cap space in Feb. I don’t see anything else making much sense to other teams.
C’mon Lebron on an expiring contract is effectively a free agent. Cleveland would’ve been a much better shot at a championship and a great narrative they could’ve spun. When the call came through, Dan Gilbert just gave them a big ole Comic Sans “No Thanks.” “I could barely stomach Lebron when he was the best in the game. Now he’ll be a reputation-only all-star at the tail end and he and his “agency” will still expect to run my team? That’s gonna be a no from me dawg.”
I did wonder if he would try to work a S&T to Cleveland for Sexton and that would not have been the worst outcome of the summer. In the end I’m sure he found the Lakers willingness to cater to him to good to walk away from.
I have to believe no other team could see clear towards paying him that max deal as he continues his decline AND give up assets to the Lakers for the privilege.
I agree 100% with Stan. If Russ is not gone, he should just be sent home. Don’t let him take away minutes from guys who deserve it and poison the team.
In the end, the Lakers need what they can get from Russ so badly that they can’t wait for the trade deadline. He will be moved before training camp. Count on it. Take it to the bank. Guaranteed.
Tom you act as if they didn’t proposition each and every coaching candidate what they would do with Russ, that Jeannie didn’t gripe about paying Jared Dudley a vet minimum to barely play, and that Rob hasn’t raided the future to build mediocre teams for the last 2 seasons. LeBron has/had few options. Ride out his old deal, hope he doesn’t get hurt, and test the free agent market as 39 year old or take max money and preserve his option to bail the year his son could come into the league. That deal doesn’t exist anywhere else. Him coming back was etched in stone.
If Russ is on the team, and with the list of trade partners…even with our half decade out first rounders now in the table, shrinking by the day it seems highly likely he will start the season on our roster, he will play. Take it to the bank, bet the farm, guarantee-o-reno.
LOL. They asked him because it get a of people, including you, to buy the story that they were going to keep him if they didn’t get an offer they like. It’s also a good question to see what the coach candidates would come up with. It’s been all just a big PR move from Day 1. From his exit interview, it was obvious Russell Westbrook would never wear purple and gold again.
You mean taking people T their word that they mean what they say as opposed to taking what you think they mean in some Machiavellian scheme to fool the world that already knows they have like 2 bullets left in the chamber? Yeah, that’s it…how could I have been so obtuse? Lol…
No dude, not your trade Russ fantasy but his they pay Russ 47 million dollars NOT to play fantasy. Who in the roster deserves those 25-49 mpg?
Also…who on this roster deserves Russ’s minutes?! We got cast offs and non-shooters up and down the roster. Russ is better than 3/4s if the dudes in the team right now. Lol…
The minutes go to the guys we get from trading Russ.
Russ does not help the Lakers.
Did you not see last season?
Addition by Subtraction!
I agree Jamie, if Russ can cut back on the bone head stuff, all he needs to be is respectable. I with you, I really don’t see a trade until later in the year. And I read a article. And apparently LeBron understands that there may not be any trades until later in the year. I’m in no hurry for a Pacer trade. There is a reason Buddy comes off the bench. All he can do at a high level is shoot. And Turner’s an upgrade but not a huge up grade. The Pacer trade doesn’t get us into the top 4 in the west unless some the others take big steps forward. I’m interested in seeing what Thomas Bryant looks like. His star was rising before the injuries. The only reason he is on the team is because of the injuries. If healthy he runs the floor better then Turner and is a much better defender and 3 point shooter. If he is back in form, he will be as big of a steal as Malik was last year.
“if Russ can cut back on the bone head stuff, all he needs to be is respectable.” Thanks for stating the obvious, Michael.
Excellent fiver, Jamie.
1. LeBron and the Lakers partnership. I think you hit the nail on the head. Personally, I applaud LeBron for tempering his desire to win and become the GOAT, he’s always shown a respect for life-work balance. I respect and appreciate that about him. He’s as good a man as basketball player.
2. What does the extension mean for Lakers? I’m more sanguine about the Lakers extending LeBron. What it means to me is LeBron is buying exactly what the Lakers are selling, that they are the destination for the league’s legends. Magic, Kobe, Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Logo, Baylor, Big James, Wilkes. Lakers making an investment in their brand as home of the greats.
3. LeBron’s expectations. If we’re to believe the scuttlebutt, the Nets now want a win-now player along with draft capital and the Pacers have a minimum price of two first round picks for Turner and Hield. No way in my mind that the Lakers do not trade Russ before camp. Deals will be there. Goal should be Kyrie and Myles. That’s what the Lakers need to get for Russ, Nunn, and 2 unprotected picks.
4. I sure hope you’re wrong about the Lakers keeping Russ. Frankly, if they do keep him, that should be the final straw in firing Rob Pelinka. Turning down a chance to move Russ or get Kyrie or get Turner and Hield to save a pick 7 years from now would be criminally negligent behavior by Rob Pelinka.
5. The first big move was hiring Darvin Ham. The second big move was extending LeBron James. The third big move will be trading Russell Westbrook.
Nets can’t trade Kyrie until they resolve Durant. It’s not the Lakers timeline. They’re going to be the kid waiting to get picked last. Hence it will be in-season. Maybe not February although that feels the most likely. Also don’t think they’ll cough up 2 picks for Turner and Buddy. Seems like if they were they would have.
That’s just BS. Nothing the Nets do with KD affects what they should do with Kyrie. They only have one option to move Kyrie, which is the Lakers, who know the Nets are not going to bring Kyrie back.