Thought Starter...
The Lakers have choices to mae. Are they good enough to go “all in?”
December 15 is a huge date in the NBA. That’s when a big chunk of the league, including players who signed free agent deals last summer, becomes trade eligible. (85 players, according to ESPN.)
It’s hard to know what the market will look like. Summer, for example, was a lot slower than many free agent periods, thanks to the new rules in the CBA that are far more restrictive. Will that impact trade season? Already names are getting floated out there -- Jimmy Butler reportedly is open to leaving Miami. Basically all the Nets are available (with players like Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson being of particular interest to LA). And there will be more.
That prompts a few big questions:
- Are there players out there that would help the Lakers?
- Are there players out there that would help the Lakers that the Lakers can actually acquire, with relatively limited trade capital.
- Are the Lakers good enough to make trades worth it?
The third one is particularly significant. On the one hand, the Lakers have Anthony Davis and a still-excellent LeBron James. On the other, they’re a flawed team in a stacked conference, and probably need a lot to go right even if they improve themselves in a trade. So what to do? And more importantly, what’s the next step if they choose not to be active going forward? Or, perhaps just as likely, if they’re sidelined because teams just don’t want their stuff, or get better offers?
There is no clear, obvious path, and a lot will be determined by results over the next couple of weeks, but unless the Lakers fall off a cliff, Rob Pelinka will have some very, very tough choices to make.
—BK
Overheard On This Episode...
“The problem that the Lakers have right now, I think their biggest problem—AD and LeBron specifically, their net rating together is bad.”
“What the Lakers can’t do here is have yet another transaction window where they accomplish nothing, because, you know, those margins really matter.”
“People always ask the question, can a team that is built around LeBron and AD win a championship? And the way I always feel about it is, yes, but that’s the wrong question.”
