Without Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers have now lost four straight games and fallen to 13th in the West at 13–20, 3.0 games out of 10th and the Play-In Tournament and 5.0 games out of 6th and guaranteed playoffs.
The good news is the West is wide open, LeBron James is playing dominant basketball, and Anthony Davis appears to have dodged a major injury and could be back on court to resume his MVP/DPOY campaign mid-January.
The bad news is recent reports say the Lakers’ front office is now leaning to not trading either of the team’s two available draft picks unless the deeply flawed team they created can somehow show again they’re worth backing.
Enough is enough. It’s one thing to screw up and make a dumb trade for Russell Westbrook, a move that basically locked the Lakers into a financial straight jacket they haven’t been smart or proactive enough to get out of.
But then to claim that now they’re not going to do anything more because they’re afraid of compounding previous mistakes with win-now moves? That’s a totally self-serving and strategically stupid position to take.
The solution is just to be smart about what you get back for Westbrook, Beverley, Nunn, Jones, and the two first round draft picks. That should be enough to bring back at least four legitimate starters or rotation players.
Those four players should include a starting and backup 3&D wing to play small forward, a backup rim protecting center to start now and backup AD when he returns, and a bigger 3&D point guard to replace Westbrook.
Add those four new players to a six-player nucleus from the current roster of James, Davis, Reaves, Bryant, Schröder, and Christie and you have a stronger and deeper Lakers’ 10-man rotation that could be a contender.
Time for LeBron and AD to Demand Action?
The time has come for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to show Lakers’ owner Jeanie Buss and VPBO Rob Pelinka that it’s the superstars, not the owners or genera managers, who hold the real reins of power in the NBA.
James and Davis need to remind Pelinka and Buss they’ll be free agents at the end of next season and, if the Lakers expect to re-sign them, they need to trade Westbrook and the picks now to give this roster a chance to win.
Failing to take advantage of how wide open the Western Conference is this season and how dominant both James and Davis have been when healthy despite the terribly constructed roster and would be a major mistake.
The Lakers’ problem is not that there aren’t legitimate starters or rotation players they could trade for. It’s that there aren’t any ‘superstars’ available to trade for. Pelinka’s great fear of missing a big trade has paralyzed him.
The result has been the easy decision to do nothing as the team loses more games and the hole they’re going to have to dig their way out of gets deeper and deeper. We’ve reached a point where only James and Davis can save us.
The front office would argue that James and Davis are the reason why the Lakers are in the situation they are, because they foolishly championed trading for Russell Westbrook and need to accept their share of blame.
While James and Davis do deserve some blame for Westbrook, it’s Rob Pelinka’s job as general manger to make the decision to trade for Russell Westbrook and Jeanie Buss’ job as owner to officially approve the move.
In the end, we’re reached the point where nobody but LeBron James and Anthony Davis can save this season. The Lakers superstars need to flex their power and force Rob Pelinka to trade Westbrook and the picks.
Which Trade Targets Are Good Fits?
The Lakers should split their two picks up, using one pick to facilitate a Westbrook trade and the other to facilitate a Beverley, Nunn, and Jones trade. Ideally, the Lakers need to bring back at least four rotation payers.
Those four new Lakers players should include at least two new starters, a bigger 3&D wing to start at small forward and a point guard who can shoot the three, attack the rim, and distribute the ball without turning it over.
Starting small forward candidates include Bojan Bogdanovic, Kyle Kuzma, O.G. Anunoby, Eric Gordon, and DeMar DeRozan. Starting point guard candidates are Terry Rozier, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet.
The Lakers also need a backup center who can start until Anthony Davis returns and then provide rim protection when AD is not in the game, and a backup 3&D small forward to give them two new defenders with size.
Backup center candidates are Myles Turner, Mo Bamba, Jakob Poeltl, and Kristaps Porzingis. Backup small forward candidates are Cam Reddish, Doug McDermott, Saddiq Bey, Terrence Ross, and Otto Porter, Jr.
The key to saving the season is not just making trades but making smart trades. The Lakers must start with the principle they’re not going to give up a first round draft pick for any player(s) who aren’t good long-term fits.
That means only acquiring players who give us size, shooting, and defense and only accepting contracts that represent fair value and can be traded. The right package of players could transform the Lakers into contenders.
Team building about the draft, free agency, and trades. The Lakers did as good a job in the draft and free agency as was possible but we’ve always known the Lakers couldn’t build a winning team without trading Russ.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the only two people who can force the Los Angeles Lakers to trade Westbrook and the picks so the Lakers have a chance at winning #17 in a season where AD has taken the torch and LeBron is still dominant and the West is wide open. There has to be heavy pressure being applied by Rich Paul and Klutch not to waste this season.
I’m still failing to see how a guy on the decline with a contract no one will want any part of, nor a guy who spends half of every season in some state of recovering from an injury have any leverage.
While LeBron may be on a decline, he is still probably a top-10 player in this league and there are probably a half dozen teams who could win a championship if they were to trade for him this summer with a year left or sign him to a max 1+1 deal the following summer.
In many ways, LeBron is the perfect player to do this. Short-term shots at winning a championship. He could conceivably win another two rings doing this. You can deny his current greatness all you want but LeBron is still a unique talent capable of elevating a team to new heights. That may be diminished some as he cannot just take over games athletically as he did when younger but there’s still a lot of championship basketball left that teams would covet.
Add him to the Suns, Celtics, Warriors, 76ers, Raptors and they’ll have a better shot at winning a ring than the Raptors did when they signed Kawhi for a single season. They’d be lining up for LeBron all around the block.
If you think Lebron didn’t test the waters before signing his extension, you don’t know him half as well as you think you do. I just don’t think anyone wanted to pay the freight on his decline besides the desperate-to-stay-relevant Lakers.
Your point that he’s can still elevate a team is disproven nightly. Those half dozen contending teams that might benefit from his presence couldn’t offer more than a MLE, which is what he’ll need to do to contend again. In two years he’ll be undeniably washed and could play spot bench minutes. No way for a top-5 all time guy to go out.
His outsized salary makes it pretty much impossible to any team to trade for him and remain in contention. He signed the deal knowing there weren’t any real options to move on to greener pastures and the stupid CBA made it a moot point.
If he really wanted to keep the screws to the Lakers, he could’ve literally taken a dollar less than a 7% raise and he’d still be trade-eligible this year. Why do you think that is? Cuz old dude can read the tea leaves. Plus he’s got his whole “I’ve never asked to be traded” narrative he likes to spew, so I doubt he changes tune on that either. As soon as he took a max salary he possibly could, instead of maybe taking a page out of the Duncan playbook, everyone knew his days of playing for championships was over.
Starting small forward candidates include Bojan Bogdanovic, Kyle Kuzma, O.G. Anunoby, Eric Gordon, and DeMar DeRozan. Whom do you prefer?
1. Anunoby
2. Bogdanovic (I forgot Bojan)
3. Kuzma
4. Oubre, Jr.
5. Gordon
6. DeRozan
Impressive list of players that click bait posters guess maybe available by the deadline. The list of guys that it’s been reported may have been shopped is much smaller. Gordon a 34 year SG being outplayed by both Walker and Reeves, with asking price of a 1st round pick. Reddish who is being packaged with Fourner, who I wouldn’t take. We have actually talked with the Knicks about them. And Poeltl and McDermott with the Spurs. That’s it everyone else is media speculation at this time. Hard to force a trade when the trades are not yet available.
Bojan.
Starting point guard candidates are Terry Rozier, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet. Whom do you prefer?
FVV is price is cheap.
And he’s only 28 and can shoot the three and defend.
1. VanVleet
2. Conley
3. Rozier
4. Lowry
Do like Conley’s 5:1 assists-to-turnovers ratio.
And Rozier’s ability to get his own shot any time.
Backup center candidates are Myles Turner, Mo Bamba, Jakob Poeltl, and Kristaps Porzingis. Whom do you prefer?
MT
Yes!
1. Turner
2. Bamba
3. Porzingis
4. Poeltl
Backup small forward candidates are Cam Reddish, Doug McDermott, Saddiq Bey, Terrence Ross, and Otto Porter, Jr. Whom do you prefer?
Uh, we in real trouble, lol. : (
I like Bey a lot. A trade for him and Bogdanovic would still rate very high for me. Start Bojan and have Bey back him up. I actually forgot Bojan on my list of starting small forwards. He should be first.
I am with Bojan!
1. Bey
2. Reddish
3. Porter, Jr.
4. Ross
5. McDermott