Showtime Is Back In LA-- Or Is It?
Throughout the offseason, it has been perceived that through acquiring LeBron James and surrounding him with talent, the Lakers are on the verge of returning to basketball glory. While LeBron James could very well be the greatest player the game has ever seen, the questionable fit of the new supporting cast along with Magic Johnson’s failure to land a second superstar could lead to underwhelming results.
When LeBron decided to take his talents to South Beach back in 2010, him and the newly-formed “Big 3” took the league by storm as they brought the Miami Heat to four straight Finals (winning two). On those dynastic Heat teams, LeBron was surrounded by three key things: a plethora of knock-down shooters (Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Rashard Lewis, Norris Cole, James Jones, Chris Bosh), a strong rebounder who could stretch the floor (Bosh), and a second ball-handling superstar (Dwayne Wade).
After his tenure in Miami, LeBron packed his bags and returned home, to the Cleveland Cavaliers. During his second stint with the Cavs, LeBron was able to bring the city their first championship in franchise history. Like those Heat teams, the Cavs surrounded LeBron with the same three things. Then-Cavs GM David Griffin teamed up LeBron with a second ball-handling superstar in Kyrie Irving, a great rebounder and shooter in Kevin Love, and a wide array of shooters (Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith, James Jones, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Kevin Love). Immediately, it jumps out that this current Lakers team does not only lack one of these, but they are missing all three pieces of the puzzle.
This is what made the Cavs and Heat offenses so lethal. Not only the shooters themselves, but the way they spaced the floor.
As far as shooting goes, the Lakers only have two players (excluding LeBron) who shot over 31% from deep on at least 200 attempts this past season. The first one of those players is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the other is Kyle Kuzma. Compare the two shooters on this Lakers team and compare that to the 7-9 shooters LeBron’s former teams had, and you will clearly see that the Lakers need to put this close to-- if not at the top -- of their offseason priorities. Obviously, the Lakers could always pull off a trade to acquire a megastar in Kawhi Leonard, however, that would mean losing a shooter in Kyle Kuzma, along with an emerging star in Brandon Ingram. Additionally, Kawhi has always thrived with a similar supporting cast to the ones on LeBron’s championship teams (see 2013-14 and 2016-17 Spurs).
The Lakers went into this offseason committed to bringing in a second ball-handling star via free agency. But despite their efforts, Paul George re-signed with the Thunder and reportedly, Magic foolishly turned down the chance to sign 4x All-Star Demarcus Cousins for the mid-level exemption ($5.3 Million). Signing Cousins would have filled one of their voids, giving LeBron a second star along with a man who just averaged Now, the Lakers are left without a second star along with a rebounder who just last season averaged 12.9 rebounds while shooting 35% from three. Instead, the Lakers are left without a single player who averaged more than seven rebounds this past season (excluding LeBron).
As for the other free agents brought in to play with LeBron, Magic Johnson signed Rajon Rondo (a career 31% 3-point shooter), Lance Stephenson (a career 30% three-point shooter), and Javale McGee. While they did get a good rebounder in McGee, the Lakers seem to be going in a direction opposite of what has worked for James in the past. This change of direction could either be for the better or for the worse, only time can tell. But for now, the Lakers look to be making decisions that could backfire greatly down the road.
If you were in Magic Johnson’s position, who are some free agents you would target?
