Nobody should assume the Lakers will land another elite FA this offseason
All the stuff KD and other players said about playing with LeBron? It's hard to argue that they're wrong. Nobody should assume the Lakers will land another elite FA this offseason. For @TheAthleticLA BK https://t.co/CWkuegxqzr
— Kamenetzky Brothers (@KamBrothers) December 6, 2018
Leonard is an All-NBA performer and Finals MVP in his prime who doesn’t believe he should take a back seat to any player. Durant is the only player in the NBA who can lay claim to being better than James. I firmly believe Paul George (who surely had an idea of where James was going) skipped the Lakers in part because the love he’ll receive in perpetuity from Thunder fans for staying in Oklahoma City was more appealing than having his big L.A. homecoming undercut by instant second banana status (with the threat of a third banana looming). Jimmy Butler, it seems, wants to be viewed as at least tied for the title of best player on whatever team he’s on.
Should this stuff matter? Shouldn’t it just be about the rings? Maybe, but consider what can happen when players go that route. Durant chose winning, happiness and a stellar work environment when he joined the Warriors, and huge swaths of the basketball universe have been teepeeing his house ever since. Chris Bosh was a spectacular player who won titles in Miami, yes, but is too often diminished as just a “third guy” in those efforts.
People who have accomplished far less than the planet’s most elite ballers worry just as much about legacy. Nor is the mindset new or unique. (Anyone out there think Kobe Bryant, in his prime, would have agreed to join a team where he wouldn’t be viewed as the best player and give up that influence? Hell no.)
None of this is to say the Lakers can’t or won’t land a wingman for LeBron this summer, though I wouldn’t make them a favorite for Durant, Leonard or Butler. And Klay Thompson ain’t going anywhere. (Ironically, Julius Randle could end up the premier guy once those names are gone.) But with gobs of cap space, motivated ownership, a legacy franchise and the Los Angeles market, the Lakers have plenty to offer. And it’s not like LeBron is automatically a repellant. There is obvious upside to playing with him, too, which players acknowledge throughout Bucher’s story. What these guys articulate, though, is that another big summertime score is hardly a given.
Even if (as it’s widely presumed) the Lakers some way, somehow end up with another star, the difference between acquiring players in free agency and through a trade is hardly academic. The former costs money, but you keep your stuff. The latter, you still pay the salary premium, but you lose the assets. Those assets, as teams spend over the cap and draft too low to reliably pipe in new talent, are critical to rounding out a championship roster. Young ones particularly are very hard to replace.
Whether you like Durant as a messenger, his point is correct. While the Lakers have the right to be confident, nobody should assume another superstar is signing here this summer or the path to the “next guy” will be easy. The notion that LeBron’s presence, like a cornfield in Iowa, would magically draw stars to L.A. was never true to begin with.
Not that they’d ever do it differently (or should want to), but there’s a chance the Lakers were just a little too successful in free agency last season.
LakerTom (Publisher) 12:44 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
Excellent article for the Athletic by BK. I still say Lakers are KD’s perfect destination. Interesting comment about Julius Randle maybe being on the Lakers Big Board if they strike out on all the K-Stars. KD, Klay, Kawhi, and Kemba.
I wrote a while back that I thought if the Lakers don’t land a big star, they should spend the cap space on three or four players who could help the team win but could be signed to favorable deals. Talent plus good deal = tradable contracts, which are what the Laker did not have to make deals for PG or Kawhi.
Deals have to be desirable players on favorable deals. Included should be JaVale for sure and maybe Rondo, Ariza, and Randle. Add those three and this roster could compete for it all if the kids take a leap by the end of the year.
keen observer 2:57 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
I didn’t read the KD rant, but did he say that HE doesn’t want to play alongside LeBron or that he simply understands why superstars don’t want to? Again, I didn’t read it, but perhaps he is implying that he’s the only one who could handle it. Regardless, he’s a bit of a dick, isn’t he?
Magicman (Editor) 3:29 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
The same way he’s handled adversity his entire professional career by walking away? Good lesson to teach the next generation.
Who gives a rip, keen?
His 14 other burner accounts say he’s a hypocrite.
mclyne32 (Director) 4:49 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
Bawhahahahaaa
Seely_Iggy (Director) 7:35 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
Hahahaha and so thin skinned!
keen observer 3:05 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
You know what? Perhaps it’s a blessing anyway. LeBron seems so happy and at ease having this young team to himself and to nurture. He seems patient and most of all he knows that these kids (and role playing vets) look up to him and want to please him. He doesn’t have to worry about making sure that guys like Kyrie or K-Love get fed. Kuz, Hart, Lonzo and, to a lesser extent, BI, seem perfectly content with the crumbs that LeBron is letting them consume and man did that ever show down the stretch in that awesome game last night! Perhaps a get like Kris Middleton, Tobias Harris or Nikola Mirotic is all he needs. Perhaps DeMarcus Cousins on a two year deal with a team option on year 2. Just spitballin’ here.
Seely_Iggy (Director) 7:38 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
I’m inclined to agree with you, Keen. The young guys love the chance to play with him and learn how to win and take care of their body and handle themselves at the highest level. No superstar complications here. But the price to pay is he’ll have to be patient and wait for them to reach the level they need to be before sniffing the finals again.
MongoSlade 5:57 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
Look….Lebron has shown he can put a garbage roster on his back and when the East. Our roster is much better than what he had last season but also…this ain’t the East. Without a 2nd superstar we don’t get past the Dubs and maybe not even OKC or Denver..
keen observer 7:03 PM on December 6, 2018 Permalink
I suppose that’s what it boils down to in reality.