Nobody is saying it but it’s looking more and more like the coming NBA season could be LeBron James’ last dance as Rob Pelinka continues to resist going all-in to give the King one final chance to win his fifth championship.
LeBron James has to be sad and discouraged that Rob Pelinka failed to take advantage of his willingness to give up as much as $20 million per year so the Lakers could receive access to the $12.9 million NT MLE to add depth. With media reports the Lakers may not trade their two available first round picks until next summer, Pelinka may now be focusing on making small moves on the margins and preserving his draft capital for next season.
Frankly, it’s hard to believe a Los Angeles Lakers team that cultivated an image as place where superstars close their careers and establish their legends could bail out and not go all-in on LeBron James’ last dance.
It’s just embarrassing watching the franchise that rewarded 35-year old Kobe Bryant with a 3-year max deal after suffering a torn Achilles not being willing to spend their available draft picks and swaps to upgrade this team.
The Lakers apparently believe paying LeBron James a near max contract for the next two years and using their #55 pick in the 2024 draft for his son Bronny James was all they were obligated to do for their iconic superstar.
It’s hard to imagine James not being disappointed in Rob’s repeated failures to make moves needed to surround James and Davis with a championship caliber starting lineup and rotation for the 5th time in 6 years as a Laker.
If there’s anything other than Father Time that might make LeBron James call it a career after the coming season, it’s watching Rob Pelinka and his clown crew of associates waste what could be the last year of his career.
At their core, the Lakers front office has apparently lost confidence that LeBron James and Anthony Davis can still be a championship caliber duo and don’t see any of the feasible upgrades as being worth gambling on.
Frankly, I’m totally tired of hearing Rob Pelinka parrot the same lame excuses for not spending his draft capital and upgrading the roster. The Lakers’ offseason plan was poorly conceived and horribly executed.
Unlike how their clumsy coaching search was saved by hiring JJ Redick, the Lakers offseason upgrade plan was essentially dead on arrival and its corpse has drained Pelinka and the Lakers front office of any decisiveness.
In the end, I would be happier if the Lakers took a giant gamble and traded their cap sheet for a Lakers’ Big Three with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Trae Young or Zach LaVine. Problem is Westbrook took Pelinka’s balls.
Lakers just need to use the picks and swaps to trade with the Blazers for Jerami Grant and Robert Williams or the Nets for Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith or the Jazz for Walker Kessler or the Wizards for Kyle Kuzma.
There are still multiple difference-making players available who would be great fits on the Lakers and would help elevate them to contender status. As usual, Pelinka can’t find a deal he likes while available options decrease.
After failing to find a player who would meet LeBron’s standard and accept the NT MLE, Rob seems to be paralyzed, simply hoping the Jazz, Blazers, or Nets will change their mind and take less for the players the Lakers covet.
That’s at least the more charitable explanation for why Rob Pelinka has not made any moves in free agency other than re-signing Max Christie. Is Rob simply incompetent or has he decided to just ride out LeBron’s last dance?
It’s hard as a Lakers fan not to expect Rob to come out and announce at any moment that the Lakers are not going to trade either of their two available first round picks because that will not be enough to win a championship.
The only silver lining from Pelinka failing to find a quality MLE candidate is we no longer have to worry about ending up with DeMar DeRozan via either the NT MLE or a S&T since we will be over the first luxury tax apron.
Lebron couldn’t carry a squad 3 years ago and convinced them to waste the remainder of his still effective, post-prime with the Westbrook deal. Everything’s been window dressing ever since. So unless there’s a top-5 MVP candidate gettable (quick tip, there isn’t), this team is stuck in playin purgatory, regardless of the moves around the fringes. Lebron would do everyone a great service, himself included, by moving on to a contender.
We are currently 1.8 mil over the 2nd apron, meaning we need to shed salary before we can even consider most deals you have suggested Tom. We can’t combine two contracts. If we say trade Dlo at has to be for a player making the same or less than DLO. Now LeBron could take slightly less. Maybe a couple of mil. There is rumors that he might. But until we get under that 2nd apron, we can’t make any big trades.
My understanding is we’re not officially over the second apron until July 6 so we can still shed salary, aggregate players, sign buy-outs, and reshape roster. If we want.
If we do nothing, however, we will be over the second cap unless LeBron takes a couple of million less. At the least, we will do enough to avoid the second apron penalties.
That’s based on his cap hold, not his new contract. Although his new contract is only slightly over his cap hold.
We’re in a moratorium. None of these deals can be finalized until Jul 6.
Based on the rumors i have read, lakers are reluctant to give the nets 2 1st rdp for cam johnson and dorian finney smith..they only wanted to give 1 1st and 2 2nds for both players..for bruce brown lakers are reluctant to give a 1st for bruce brown and olynik..to the blazers, the lakers do not want to give 2 1st rdp for grant..they want to give 1 1st and 2 2nd..to the utah, lakers do not want to give up austin reaves, 3 1st rdp for markannen
https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1808482084035362870
https://x.com/LakerTom/status/1808690363726713253