The LA Lakers Mean Business Again And They’re Not Shy About It
Remember the Los Angeles Lakers? You probably do, it’s rather hard to forget about them these days. For a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2012-13 season they sure do make a lot of noise.
A team like the Philadelphia 76ers have spent years trying to make themselves into a free agent destination. A team like the Dallas Mavericks have continually failed to be one despite winning a championship as recently as 2011. A team like the Golden State Warriors needed to draft three of this generation’s most transcendent talents before Kevin Durant agreed to rock up to town. But, nah, the Los Angeles Lakers can be trash for half a decade and still feel like they’re as good a chance as anyone to get LeBron James.
What’s weird about the Lakers is that they’ve spent a few years now doing clever things with a growing young core. Luke Walton was brought in for that reason and he’s doing exactly what a coach is supposed to do in this situation. Brandon Ingram is a legit player. Lonzo Ball didn’t get drafted second overall for nothing. Julius Randle just had a fantastic season. Kyle Kuzma was just an all-rookie first teamer. That’s already the makings of a quality team and yet you get the feeling that they’d trade every single one of them for cap room to make it happen a couple years earlier than prescribed.
Julius Randle is going to be a sacrifice, that’s for sure. If they need the cap space then they’re releasing their cap hold on him in a second, letting him walk as an unrestricted free agent. And if they do then, mate, that’s pretty much all they need to do to sign two max jokers. They’ve already flipped Timofey Mozgov’s contract off to Brooklyn with D’Angelo Russell a year ago (Mozgov’s now with Charlotte) and Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr were sent to Cleveland at the trade deadline for expiring contracts.
The question is what are the Lakers plotting but, to be honest, it’s all incredibly obvious. So obvious in fact that the Lakers organisation has been fined twice by the league in the last 12 months (totalling $550k) because of tampering charges. Like, every team in the NBA is tampering with potential free agents but only the Lakers are dumb/arrogant enough to actually admit it.
Then again, sometimes you do need to flex a bit of power to show everyone what’s up. This is the Los Angeles Lakers we’re talking about, the most famous franchise in the sport, one of the biggest sports brands in the world. They’re done with eating at the kiddies table.
Magic Johnson just admitted that he’ll resign as team president if the Lakers whiff in free agency over the next two years. Jeannie Buss hasn’t been shy to get the word out either. GM Rob Pelinka’s working behind the scenes a little more but that’s your triumvirate of Lakers decision makers. Jeannie carrying on the legendary family name, Magic Johnson representing the franchise’s legendary past and Rob Pelinka… well, he was Kobe Bryant’s agent so yeah. None of them got those jobs by accident. This is the Lakers making very blatant moves to restore their past dominance, first in perceived influence and then, soon enough, on the court.
Bit drastic from Magic, perhaps, offering to quit and all that. Except that short term is what the Lakers do best, it’s what the Lakers are trying to do again. When you’ve got sixteen championship banners already then winning now is the only real option. Jim Buss knew that back in 2014 when he gave himself three to four years to have the Lakers contending for a championship and his sister held him to that which is why he’s no longer in the front office and Magic Johnson is.
Which leaves us with the next two summers. The Lakers want two max free agents to build their team around. Between the prestige of their organisation, the lifestyle in Los Angeles and the money available to them there’s a damn good chance it happens too.
Option number one is 2018. If LeBron James opts out then there’s numero uno on the wishlist. Paul George is a free agent too and he’s been getting the nudge to return to his hometown for a couple years now. That’s probably the lot right now unless Kevin Durant decides to leave Golden State or Kawhi Leonard is available in a trade but even if Kawhi stays with the Spurs he’s still likely to hit free agency next year along with a fella like Klay Thompson. Maybe they get one now, one later.
Or they could get sneaky and sign a couple of middling guys on short deals – Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Tyreke Evans and Zach LaVine all fit that bill – in the hope of either turning them into bigger stars or using them as placeholders/tradebait before the 2019 crew arrive on the scene. Don’t really think that’s the Lakers way though. They’re either all in or they fold.
By the way, DeMarcus Cousins would’ve been a definite possibility before the Achilles injury and it’ll be funky to see how that affects his market, whether that makes the Pelicans more likely to keep him or if that opens the door to an opportunistic team like Dallas to step in. The Pellies aren’t going to offer a max deal so any team that does can have him. The Lakers were one hundred percent keen on him in the past and they already know a thing or two about torn Achilles thanks to Kobe Bryant so stay alert to this one.
But once again do you think the Lakers are planning on compromising? Hell no. They’re doing this all on their own terms and are making that very clear. Tampering charges, no worries. Dropping young prospects to chase superstars, no worries. Magic Johnson offering to quit if it doesn’t work, no worries. Hey, it’s the Lakers. They’ve been useless for way too long now and Jack Nicholson isn’t getting any younger.
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