And this is why you don’t allow a superstar player dictate player personnel. The Los Angeles Lakers have started 0-4 for only the fourth time in their storied history, which all but cements the fact that this team needs to be torn down and rebuilt.
This Lakers team’s expiration date has been up for two years now, though Owner Jeanie Buss and Team Vice President Rob Pelinka are refusing to read the label.
The days of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook dominating the NBA across a full 82-game schedule are long gone, with AD injury prone, LBJ now almost 40 years old, and Russell Westbrook’s skillset having fallen off a cliff. This team is BROKEN and has been for quite some time.
And, to be honest, it’s the fault of three people: Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, and LeBron James.
Simply put, LeBron James has no business managing one small trade, let alone two huge trades that can alter the fate of an organization. In the Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook trades alone (which were both heavily influenced by King James), the Lakers gave up Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, the Lakers 2019 1st-round pick (which was 4th overall), the Lakers 2021 1st-round pick (which is the one this year), the Lakers 2023 1st-round pick, and the Lakers 2024 (or 2025) 1st-round pick.
So, in essence, the Lakers gave away three young, All-Star level players, three key depth players (two of whom were 35% and greater 3-point shooters), and four 1st-round picks all for a cheap 2020 NBA championship. Yes, I’m calling it cheap as the more time has passed from the Covid-19 title, the more I realize that the Lakers were EXTREMELY lucky the NBA season was shortened for the bubble postseason.
If Anthony Davis and LeBron James had to play the full 82 game schedule without the impediment of Covid-19, then I’ve no doubt in my mind they would never have won championship that season. Do you really think they would have stayed healthy if they played 82 games plus another 16-28 playoff games?
Their regular season collapses before and after said championship win proves that they wouldn’t have.
Now, back to LeBron James and his job as the quasi-GM, can you imagine if this current Lakers team had LBJ, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, that 4th overall pick in 2019 (which they could have used to draft Darius Garland), and the three other picks they got rid of in the Westbrook and Davis trade?
Sure, they may not have won the title in 2020, but they would for sure have been title contenders last season, this season, and for the next few years.
To be honest, I could honestly see the Lakers winning two or more NBA titles without the AD and Westbrook trades as LeBron James has still been producing at an MVP caliber level, even though he’s nearly 40 years old.
So, LeBron may have been successful in the immediate short term from the AD trade, but it’s really hurt him in the long run. And don’t even get me started on how bad the Westbrook trade has hurt him and his chances of a 5th championship ring.
As for Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka, these two would have been fired years ago if Buss wasn’t the owner of the Lakers. Not only has she been responsible for the utter calamity that plagued the Lakers during Kobe Bryant’s final years, but she also has now condemned the great LeBron James to the same fate.
How do you destroy TWO all-time great players’, respective, final seasons in the NBA?
She either needs to get some better people around her to help her with assembling the Lakers roster in the future, or she else needs to take a step back and become a ‘passive’ owner. Relying on Rob Pelinka to build championship contenders is like jumping into the Nile River and hoping a Nile crocodile won’t eat you. It’s STUPID!
Man, LeBron James and Lakers really need to get their acts together and figure this out, or else they’ll be tanking for Victor Wembanyama before they know it. Oh, wait, the Lakers can’t tank for Wembanyama…at least not for themselves.
Why? They traded their 2023 1st-round pick to the Pelicans in the AD trade! Yeah, so even if the Lakers are horrible this season and get lucky in the lottery, they still won’t be able to improve this team with a high draft pick.
What a mess LA is in!
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