Getty Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have been named as a “fringe NBA playoff contender” better off blowing its roster up this summer instead of running it back.
In a June 14 column, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report urged the Lakers to tear its roster down and enter a rebuild. The NBA insider doesn’t believe LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook can win together in the rugged Western Conference for a variety of reasons.
“That 33-49 team is led by a player entering his age-38 season on an expiring $44.4 million contract. Critically, that player has stated no clear intention of re-signing when his contract is up,” Hughes wrote. “His main supporting pieces are a constantly injured big man who’ll make an average of $40.6 million per year over the next three seasons (player option for 2024-25) and an exceptionally ill-fitting and clearly declining point guard who’ll collect a whopping $47 million in 2022-23, assuming he picks up his player option for next season, before his crippling deal comes off the books.
“Beyond that, the cupboard is bare. This team doesn’t have a single young player who projects as an above-average starter, and the only future first-rounder it can trade is all the way out in 2027. Isn’t this exactly the kind of situation in which a teardown is the only real option?”
James will turn 38 in December. He averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 2021-22. However, the four-time MVP has played in only 101 out of a possible 154 games since guiding the Lakers to the 2020 title.
Davis, who has the same agent as James (Rich Paul of Klutch Sports), has appeared in just 76 games over the past two seasons. Although he averaged 23.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in 2021-22, AD hasn’t proven that he can stay healthy.
Then there’s Westbrook, who was a poor fit next to James and Davis in 2021-22. The one-time MVP was second in the league in turnovers and his effective field goal percentage of 47.6% was sixth-worst in the NBA.
Hughes: Lakers Cannot Realistically Expect to Contend in 2022-23
Hughes doesn’t think the Lakers can contend in 2022-23, which is why he believes general manager Rob Pelinka should tear the roster down. However, the odds of that happening are extremely low.
“The Lakers cannot realistically expect to contend in 2022-23, and their long-term prospects will be bleak if they don’t replenish their stock of picks and young talent. Davis, in particular, could still net a hefty return in trade,” Hughes wrote. “Big picture, the NBA may now be operating in the post-superteam era; the homegrown Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are in the Finals. Yet Los Angeles seems most likely to resist the organic-growth trend. It’ll try to win in the short term and then bank on free agency and its big-market appeal to lure talent, just like it always has.
“There’s a slim chance it’ll all work out, but the better bet is that if the Lakers continue on this course, they’ll spend most of the next decade wishing they’d pulled the ripcord when they had the chance.”
James, Davis, Talen Horton-Tucker and Austin Reaves (non-guaranteed) are the only players under contract with the Lakers next season. Westbrook has a player option worth $47.1 million and he’s expected to pick it up.
Davis Likely Won’t Be Traded; Westbrook Will Probably Be Back
Davis has a close relationship with James, which is why Michael Scotto of HoopsHype doesn’t envision Davis getting traded this offseason. Meanwhile, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, “sources close to the team, along with several competing executives, believe the Lakers are operating as if Westbrook will be on the roster to start next season.”
New Lakers head coach Darvin Ham told reporters during his introductory press conference that Westbrook still has a “ton left in the tank.” The 48-year-old said he’s looking forward to working with the UCLA product.
“Don’t get it messed up. Russell Westbrook is one of the best players our league has ever seen and there’s still a ton left in the tank,” Ham said. “I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off. Russ and I had some really, really great one-on-one convos, man, and the biggest word I think that came out of that, those discussions, was sacrifice. I’m going to expect him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he’s been all his entire career. A lot of that now may have him without the ball in his hand. Most of it now may have it on the defensive end. But again, we have to sacrifice. There’s no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing, instead of one-on-one.”