How Pelinka & Ham Have Positioned Lakers’ Transition From LeBron James

While Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham have done a great job transforming the Lakers into legitimate contenders, their greatest achievement could turn out to be how they’ve positioned the team to transition from LeBron James.

As Kobe’s agent, Pelinka remembers how tough it was on the Lakers after the team gave Bryant his last big contract and it took a decade to recover and win after Mamba retired. Rob’s committed not to let that happen again. Every move the Lakers made at the trade deadline and this summer was part of a plan to create a roster that could both win without LeBron James and complement and empower Anthony Davis as team’s alpha superstar.

While all the talk of retirement may be premature, Pelinka and Ham know the coming year could be the last year LeBron James wears purple and gold. He might retire or might leave to play with Bronny on another team. The Lakers must be ready to move on. They worked hard over the last year remaking the roster into a legitimate contender and cleaning up their cap sheet so that they have a bevy of tradable contracts and draft capital.

Pelinka and Ham not only built a championship caliber roster that could give James and Davis a chance to win this season but they did it exclusively with younger players specifically chosen for their fits with AD’s timeline. The Lakers did not even add a single player over 30 years of age. Instead, they added young, big, long, athletic players who better fit AD’s timeline and would still be in their prime long after LeBron James had retired.

As the Lakers add the final touches to next season’s roster, Pelinka and Ham have the team perfectly positioned to make a smooth and successful three-step transition from LeBron James to the Anthony Davis era.

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Step 1: Agreeing Upon Anthony Davis’ Extension

Step 1 to transition from LeBron James is getting Anthony Davis to sign an extension. Davis will be eligible on August 4th to sign a 3-year $167.6 million extension, committing him to the Lakers for 5-years $251.4 million.

While critics can complain about the games missed due to injuries and the inconsistency on offense, Pelinka and Ham know how essential Anthony Davis is to the Los Angeles Lakers’ current or future championship hopes. The Lakers would be fools to try and trade Davis with this possibly being James’ last year in purple and gold. Internally, the Lakers know they have no option other than to go all-in on Anthony Davis at this point in time.

By locking Davis up for the next five years, the Lakers get the anchor they need to make a smooth and successful transition from LeBron James. It also allows James the freedom to stay with the team as long as he wants. The Lakers know they need continuity to win championships and that starts with locking up Davis for the next five years. Look closely and you can see this roster was built more for Anthony Davis than LeBron James.

The Lakers expressed desire to return to the two-bigs model they used to win the 2020 championship in the bubble is another sign that the Lakers are committed to signing superstar Anthony Davis to a 3-year extension. The Lakers grand plan is to move forward with Anthony Davis and a second superstar who would replace LeBron James, They’ve built a roster that should make them the most coveted landing spot for NBA superstars.

And that is how it should be going forward. Maybe LeBron will bounce back and hold Father Time off for another year but the Lakers are betting on this being Anthony Davis’ team and AD taking the torch from LeBron.

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Step 2: Building Roster To Complement Anthony Davis

Step 2 to transition from LeBron James is building a roster to complement and empower Anthony Davis, which is exactly what Pelinka and Ham have successfully been doing since the trade deadline and over the summer.

The Lakers signing Anthony Davis to an extension and then suddenly wanting to revert back to the two-big model used to win their 17th championship in not coincidence. It’s the Lakers doing what AD wants. From the day he joined the Lakers, AD has always been willing to play the five when needed but preferred to play the four. That’s why the Lakers are so focused on Christian Wood. They want a stretch five to play with AD.

And while Pelinka and Ham built a team that could contend for a title, they also did something remarkable in its success and daring, which is build a roster designed to complement Anthony Davis instead of LeBron James; Look at the ages of the players the Lakers have assembled: James 38, Davis 30, Prince 29, Russell 27, Vincent 27, Reaves 25, Hachimura 25, Vanderbilt 24, Hayes 23, Reddish 23, Lewis 20, Hood-Schifino 20, Christie 20.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the only Lakers players on the roster over 30-years old. This roster was specifically built for Anthony Davis’ championship window rather than LeBron James possible last season.
The only ways the Lakers acquire a superstar to replace LeBron James is to trade for one or sign one as a free agent. What Pelinka and Ham have done is collect assets that give the Lakers great flexibility to replace James.

The Lakers have one final roster spot to fill, which they plan to fill with a stretch big who space the court and provide more shooting. Top candidates are Christian Wood, Bismack Biyombo, Rudy Gay, and Davis Bertans.

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Step 3: Acquiring LeBron James’ Replacement

Step 3 to transition from LeBron James is acquiring the superstar player to replace him, which is always the most difficult step to accomplish. The Lakers can either sign James’ replacement in free agency or trade for him.

How the Lakers replace LeBron will depend on when and how he decides to leave the team. James has a player option for next season, which could make him an free agent next year if he were to exercise it next summer. What James decides will obviously depend heavily on what happens this season. It’s also possible that LeBron feels so good about his own health and the team the Lakers have put together that he signs an extension.

Frankly, the last thing the Lakers want to see is LeBron exercise his player option and retire next season as there is no way with their recent additions that they could clear enough cap space to replace James via free agency. They’re hoping LeBron will decline his player option and play out the last two years of his contract. That would allow for teams, players, and fans to enjoy the farewell tour LeBron deserves for all he’s done for the NBA.

Strategically, that would allow the Lakers to potentially position themselves to be able to clear enough cap space to use James’ expiring salary to sign his replacement via free agency or trade or sign-and-trade for a superstar. After the 2024–25 season, the Lakers would have 6 players under contract for $89 million in salaries. With a projected salary cap of $156 million, the Lakers should easily be able to clear cap space for a max salary superstar.

While it wouldn’t surprise anybody if Davis and James both ended up signing extensions, the Lakers project LeBron James to decline his 2024–25 player option and play the final year of his contract before finally retiring.