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If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s now become abundantly clear the Los Angeles Lakers are not one of the better teams in the NBA. They may have hit their lowest point on Wednesday after a loss to a Portland Trail Blazers team that just traded CJ McCollum and was without Damian Lillard. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were playing but the Lakers still couldn’t beat a bad team.
Los Angeles hitched its wagon to Russell Westbrook in the offseason and that has been such a major error that it might set the team back for years to come. LeBron is 37-years-old but still playing at an MVP level. With the trade deadline here, perhaps the superstar sees the writing on the wall and chooses to jump ship. Fox Sports analyst Nick Wright wants to see LeBron traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons and Tyrese Maxey.
“LeBron, go get the hell out of there, bubby. Go win a title,” Wright said of the proposal.
The 76ers have one of the best players in the NBA in Joel Embiid and he’d be a great fit with LeBron. Those two could certainly lead Philidelphia to a championship. However, are the 76ers willing to give up a young star in Simmons for an aging one in LeBron? It seems unlikely unless they believe they can a championship this year with the future Hall of Famer on the roster.
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Lakers Would Be Giving up on Title Hopes With This Trade
Simmons is a good young player to build around. Davis and he would be one of the best defensive duos in the entire NBA. That said, he’s a terrible fit next to Westbrook. It’s hard to see how the Lakers would even score points with this roster as Davis and Westbrook are two of the worst jump shooters in the NBA this season while Simmons doesn’t even shoot jump shots. This trade would just mean the Lakers are hoping to rebuild and ride out this season.
It’s not the worst idea ever if Los Angeles truly feels they can’t compete for a championship this season. Simmons and Davis are young pieces to build around and the team will get major cap space room once Westbrook is off the books in 2023.
Would LeBron Actually Go for This?
By the time he retires, LeBron is going to hold a lot of major records, including the all-time scoring one. However, he only has four NBA championships, which puts him behind fellow legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He’d love to get to six rings before he retires as that will make it very difficult to dispute that he’s the greatest of all time.
LeBron loves Los Angeles and has embraced the Lakers but is he willing to waste his last few good years on a sinking ship? Perhaps he has some sort of master plan with the Lakers but it seems difficult due to Westbrook. It’s unlikely LeBron is going anywhere this season but his future in Los Angeles is starting to get murky.
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