Free Agency has been going on for 4 days now and, apart from the extension of LeBron James, the Lakers have done almost nothing. It makes you wonder what Rob Pelinka, the GM of the franchise, is playing.
Cases concluded since the start of Free Agency
This is a section that shouldn’t take us too much time. The Lakers’ big deal in this Free Agency is obviously the extension of LeBron James. The King got his son to join the Draft and his buddy JJ Redick took a seat on the bench. Not too surprised to see him extend. Alongside the King, we only find the extension of Max Christie for 32 million over 4 years. It’s a reasonable deal, especially if the young guard confirms his progress over time.
Apart from that? NOTHING AT ALL, apart from the loss of Taurean Prince tonight, who was not the least useful last year. It must be said that the Lakers do not have an urgent need to fill their roster (quantitatively speaking) since with the Player Options of D’Angelo Russell, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes or Christian Wood (the last three having been offered last year by… Rob Pelinka), plus those already under contract, there is already a nearly full roster. A roster that does not have the depth or quality to play for the title. We need more defense on the outside sector, a real understudy for AD under the panels, an energizer coming off the bench, if possible a little extra shooting. Among other things… That’s why we expected to see the Lakers try moves this summer. For the moment, we’re still waiting.
Even LeBron James’ rebate won’t speed things up
One of the important elements of this start of Free Agency was the possible salary reduction envisaged by LeBron James. The King was – it seems – ready to take less than the maximum to give the Lakers a more important mid-level exception, allowing them to get an impactful player on the market. We talked about James Harden, Klay Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas and even DeMar DeRozan. The beard ultimately stayed with the Clippers, Thompson put a wind in the Lakers to go to Dallas despite LeBron’s call and his father’s past in LA, Valanciunas left for Washington and DeRozan seems to want a bigger check than 12 million. How far away the legendary attractiveness of the Lakers seems.
Faced with the failure of the main files, LeBron James therefore played his personal card to the full by taking the max, thus limiting the room for maneuver of his team for the future. The gesture was well thought out but it seems that Rob Pelinka did not know how to take advantage of it. Now LA only has an MLE at a little over 5 million and minimum contracts to offer, while having to watch out for the second apron.
Trades, the only way to boost the roster (and save face)?
As mentioned above, the Lakers don’t have the money to sign a big-name free agent on the market. The best option for them remains a trade. The Purple and Gold have two first-round draft picks to send (plus second-rounders). With contracts like those of Gabe Vincent, D’Angelo Russell or Rui Hachimura, there is probably a way to do business. According to Jovan Buha, who follows the Lakers for The Athleticthe franchise has shown interest in several players still under contract, namely Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith (Nets), Jerami Grant (Blazers) et Kyle Kuzma (Wizards). Discussions also took place with Jazz, without any specific names mentioned (Markkanen, Sexton, Clarkson, Kessler?).
Several teams are rebuilding and there will be many veterans to go and acquire on the market. We think of Malcolm Brogdon at the Wizards, Bruce Brown at the Raptors or even the DeRozan-Vucevic pair at the Bulls. It remains to be seen what these teams want in exchange. The risk for Rob Pelinka would be to make a panic move and overpay. Even without signing free agents, there are still quality targets to be had at the right price by making a few phone calls. This is what gives hope to Lakers fans, for lack of anything better.
Again, this Lakers roster isn’t without talent, but there are too many gaps. And unless JJ Redick is a coaching genius and Dalton Knetch delivers an all-time rookie season, the Lakers probably won’t be (much) better when they return if they stick with the same roster. That’s where Rob Pelinka comes in, and we hope for the Lakers that he doesn’t take too long to do his magic.
Source texte : The Athletic
2024-07-04 09:04:00
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