Retooling The Los Angeles Lakers
Lakers stars LeBron James (23) and Anthony Davis (3) both spent time on the injury report this past season. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After what could be considered an up and down season the Los Angeles Lakers lead by LeBron James and Anthony Davis fell short of their back-to championship hopes, losing to the Phoenix Suns in 6 games in the first round.
After shaking up the roster a bit from last season’s bubble run in Orlando, the Lakers’ new additions fell short to live up to the expectations of the championship pedigree established by Lebron and Davis the previous season. . Dennis Schroder who was brought in to replace Rajon Rondo who left the team during free agency to the Atlanta Hawks failed to fill the shoes left by him. In a series where they needed his production, he was nowhere to be found especially when Davis went down with a hamstring injury in Game 4 of the series.
Schroder reportedly turned down a four-year, $84M extension from the Lakers, and after putting up zero points in a pivotal Game 5 with Davis out with an injury he is most likely gone after the season.
DeMar DeRozan (10) and LeBron James show one another respect. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
Former All-Star Kyle Lowry, former MVP Derrick Rose, San Antonio Spurs star DeMar DeRozan and Damian Lillard are all names that have been added to the list of potential newcomers to the Lakers. Lowry, who was linked to the team at the deadline but reportedly didn’t go through because of the inclusion of Talen Horton Tucker in the deal. Lowry is a savvy veteran who isn’t scared of the big moment to take the shot and is a champion. Rose is a free agent this summer after an impressive run with the New York Knicks. DeRozan has played the last three seasons with the Spurs putting up empty numbers on a bad team. He is from the state of California and hasn’t played in a winning situation in some time, thus making this seem like a prime opportunity for him to revive his career in Los Angeles. Being a Laker and playing alongside LeBron is a big ask for any of those guys named.
Lillard has also been rumored to potentially be traded to a winning situation after a 1st round exit by the Denver Nuggets without Jamal Murray, led by the MVP Nikola Jokic. It is a long shot due to the Lakers’ lack of trading capital but has been discussed on many sports shows and podcasts due to cryptic Instagram posts and other rumors surrounding the superstar.
The hope is to be able to compete in the Western Conference next season with a young Suns team that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, a healthy Golden State Warriors squad, the Nuggets with the reigning MVP and let’s not forget the NBA record leading Utah Jazz. The Lakers are going to have to make some adjustments if they even want to stay in contention even with two top ten players in Davis and James.
A new age of basketball is coming while the old one is fighting to stay relevant as teams retool and regroup one thing is for sure the Los Angeles Lakers hope to be a team in the mix next season.