Whether you're in Los Angeles or not, if you're an NBA fan, all you've been hearing about is that LeBron James failed to opt back in to his agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His destination is expected to be one of four places really - Houston, Philadelphia, Boston or L.A.
Rumor has it he wants to make the decision where he'll go by July 4th or soon after, but doesn't want to be the first one in to sign on a team like the Lakers because he'd lose leverage on management the moment he's committed.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are trying to grab Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs or Paul George from Oklahoma City, in hopes that either one of those pieces would lure LeBron to L.A. and complete the puzzle of a Lakers' squad good enough to vie for a title against NBA and Western Conference Champions, the Golden State Warriors.
Let's be honest. Is there anything more boring than this? Because here's the ultimate truth of the matter. The only thing assembling a 'dream team' does is set everyone up for huge failure. Because if you win, hey, you're supposed to. If you don't, it's an overspent, unqualified disaster and everyone is pissed off and ultimately fired.
You're going to say, "But Jon, LeBron almost single-handedly led Cleveland back to a title this year." Yes, he almost did. Then the Golden State Warriors proceeded to sweep the floor with the Cavaliers in a Jonathan Phillips-predicted four games.
LeBron James isn't really a Laker. Even if he joins the team for a huge deal, he'll give Los Angeles, maybe two more good seasons before age and injury finally fail him. He turns 34 this December. Once he crosses 35, all bets are off before the great equalizer of time begins to wear on him. That means the rest of his contract is dead money. Are they going to retire his jersey here as a Laker? Doubt it. For he most part he's a Cavalier -- maybe you can make an argument for his Heat jersey meaning something -- but his legacy won't be as a Laker. For Los Angeles, he's going to be a rental (as he was referred to this morning on AM 710 ESPN). Worse, in my estimation, he's likely to be the Lakers' Jason Schmidt (remember that deal, Dodger fans?).
If the Lakers do land Kawhi Leonard, who is probably the most important piece here, that gets them at least something. If healthy, he's just 27 and still has plenty of good season left. Sinking money into Leonard makes a lot more sense, but the question still remains, at what cost? The rumor is that basically San Antonio wants our entire core team -- Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart, plus other picks. At that cost, the Lakers are likely back to rebuilding again in about three or four years, unless they land Paul George as well.
If they land George and Kawhi and LeBron, you have an amazing core, but even that still requires solid fourth, fifth and sixth men off the bench to even have a prayer of hanging with the Warriors. The Lakers will probably keep Lonzo Ball for a number of reasons, but the greatest of which is they anointed him prematurely as the new face of this franchise.
One way or another, next year's Lakers' team is going to be a completely different unit, one of purchased mercenaries and the leftovers still here. How that team will function as a unit will be anyone's guess, and I have no idea how anyone in the city can take great pride in rooting for that team: a team that should end up,what, second in their division, and compete in the playoffs.
Big deal.
If they can't win, what is the point?
Other than ticket sales, I don't see the point. It's just to satisfy an impatient Los Angeles fan base while bringing us another predictably boring year of NBA Basketball. We've already seen one example of this kind of thing going wrong this past year in Oklahoma City, where the aforementioned George paired with Russell Westbrook and a slowly deteriorating Carmelo Anthony. They finished fourth in the Western Conference overall, and now Paul George may depart. What did it get them?
Having seen how good the Lakers young core is, I ask why are we willing to part with a group that turned a twenty-six win season just one year ago into a thirty-five win season this year, and is likely to become a playoff team next year, with each of these players under twenty-four years old?
To me, the level of impatience is ridiculous. This is a future championship team right here, sans a few more pieces. Kevin Durant has a player option this year. Klay Thompson is a free agent after next year. Golden State is likely to be a different team in a few years. Why sacrifice what could be a long-term future for a short term possibility of competing for a title next year you likely won't win?
I haven't even mentioned Julius Randle, Isaiah Thomas or Brooke Lopez. Randle grew by leaps and bounds confidence wise this year, but he's not a high basketball I.Q. player. Neither is Ingram, but as young as Ingram is, there's a chance that could change. When Ball went down in late January, Ingram (only 21) was a very interesting fill-in at point guard, and Hart became a crucial starter suddenly. Starting on February 2, the Lakers went 7-3 to close out February and Ingram himself had some of the best numbers of his career. The Lakers also were 22-21 over the final three months of the season. If anything, the player who is the most overrated of this bunch based on expectation is Lonzo Ball. He has amazing court vision and is entirely unselfish on the court, but he's a work in progress for his shot to say the least. If Ingram can turn in the kinds of performances he did last February at the PG position, then trading Ball doesn't seem so far-fetched to me.
The point is Magic Johnson's first draft saw him add nine wins to the Lakers tally. He hadn't been GM longer than six months when he drafted Kyle Kuzma, the biggest steal of the 2017 draft by a pretty large margin. Why doubt that things won't get better very soon, and why mortgage all of that away?
I believe any scenario involving LeBron James is short-sighted to say the least if it means dealing most of the four players above. Though it may get the Lakers close to a Championship again, and just maybe they win one, the long term ramifications I think will be terrible.
Feel free to comment or email me. Love to hear your thoughts.
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