Getty LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers might be on a five-game win streak, but that doesn’t mean they’ve figured things out and will be a surefire addition to the post-season.
In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick, LeBron James let his frustrations at another difficult season boil over as he aired out his grievances on the lack of trade movement from Rob Pelinka and the front office.
“Y’all know what the f— should be happening,” LeBron told Amick when asked about the team’s lack of trade negotiations throughout the opening months of the season.
LeBron James to @TheAthletic on the Lakers’ roster plans: “Y’all know what the f*** should be happening.”
More here on his waning patience, how his greatness is forcing this conversation, and why he deserves more help
Despite the Lakers’ current upturn in fortunes, they still find themselves 12th in the Western Conference, which means, as things stand, they’re outside of the playoff picture. Furthermore, a significant injury to Anthony Davis has served as a reminder that the Lakers are a predominately top-heavy team, boasting minimal talent outside of their usual nine or ten-man rotation.
Still, LeBron has been doing his best to keep the Lakers relevant and is putting up some incredible numbers for a player of his advancing years. In 31 regular-season games this season, LeBron is averaging 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 51% from the field and 29.5% from beyond the perimeter.
Lakers Planning On Making A Big Splash In Free Agency
According to a Western Conference Executive who spoke with Heavy On Sports NBA Insider Sean Deveney, the Lakers could be dragging their feet on making a trade because their focus has shifted to the 2023 off-season when they will have a significant amount of negotiating power.
“That is the big hope there…They want to hold onto those picks, they want to get everybody healthy, they want to let all their bad contracts expire, they want to get someone in free agency that they can get LeBron excited about—unless they can make a miracle happen at the trade deadline and bring in a big name that way. If that does not happen, they will be in position in the summer to get Kyrie Irving or Draymond Green, or maybe both if they make the numbers work,” The executive told Deveney.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, waiting until the off-season could mean they’ve wasted two straight years of LeBron’s twilight, and regardless of who they acquire, the damage may already be done. Furthermore, there is always a risk that Pelinka strikes out in free agency and as such, fails to improve the Lakers rotation, further hurting his team’s chances of retaining LeBron into the 2023-24 season.
LeBron James Could Stay With Lakers For ‘Family Reasons’
According to a December 30 report by Marc Stein via his SteinLine newsletter, there is a chance that LeBron remain with the Lakers beyond the current season, regardless of their success in finding a star-level trade or improving the roster in the off-season due to his family having established lives in Los Angeles.
On his 38th birthday … column on watching Year 20 LeBron James:
“Family reasons and LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, as we’ve noted here many times, were the true driving forces that prompted James to leave Cleveland for Hollywood in the summer of 2018. Those are believed to be the same forces that would keep him from urging the Lakers to ship him somewhere that he has an actual chance at ring No. 5. His oldest son Bronny is a high school senior. Another son, Bryce, is a high school sophomore. They’re budding prospects thriving in Southern California. James presumably doesn’t want to uproot them,” Stein wrote.
Irrespective of what the future holds, it’s clear that LeBron is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of help he currently has on the Lakers roster and is beginning to apply pressure to the front office.
Only time will tell whether LeBron is simply paying lip service or will hold Rob Pelinka accountable, but for now, we can all take solace in the fact that the Lakers are finding ways to win games and could potentially gatecrash the play-in tournament.