Let me get this out of the way up front: I did not have LeBron James in the purple and gold of the Los Angeles Lakers.
My assumption, all along, was that LBJ was going to end up in Philadelphia, which would, by far, offer him the best chance to win another NBA title.
LA seemed a stretch even before Paul George decided to re-up with OKC, killing the dream team of LBJ-PG13-Kawhi Leonard, who is still a possibility, though San Antonio has, for good reason, been balking at giving up a top 5 talent to a Western Conference rival, and may find Philly more interested in giving up a piece or two to further along its process.
There’s talk now about DeMarcus Cousins and the Lakers, which is interesting, if only in imagining how LBJ could possibly deal with both Boogie and LaVar for longer than two minutes before forcing one or both to be exiled to Siberia, er, Sacramento.
Also interesting: the idea that LA could try to package Lonzo Ball in a deal for Leonard. I so want this to happen, to see a reporter at media day ask Gregg Popovich how he plans to deal with LaVar, and then watch as the laser beams from Pops’ eyes result in the reporter spontaneously combusting.
Back to the Lakers: even if they add Kawhi and Boogie to LBJ, is that trio, plus what LA has around them, good enough to be better than Golden State? Houston, maybe, because the Rockets lost Trevor Ariza to Phoenix, and OKC, maybe, because the Thunder still have Carmelo Anthony eating up top-tier salary-cap space to shoot poorly on spot-up threes.
It would be intriguing to see if Luke Walton could weaponize an LBJ-Boogie pick-and-roll, with Cousins’ ability to shoot the three, and Leonard doesn’t need plays run for him to be a game-changer.
But that’s assuming they end up as James’ sidekicks on the Left Coast, and that’s far from a guarantee at this point.
I’d be stunned if Pops ends up sending Leonard to LA, even with his trade value being diminished as a one-year rental that we all assume will end up with the Lakers next summer anyway. Philly may not give up as much as it would if the expectation was that Leonard could be lured to sign a long-term deal, but the Sixers have more to offer than the Lakers do, and there would be hope from the franchise that brought us The Process that a year playing with that group (and a chance at playing in the Finals) could change Leonard’s thinking in a way similar to what OKC was able to do with George.
Cousins to LA is not at all far-fetched, but, let’s be honest here, as good as Cousins is, does James want to spend his last three or four years babysitting for Boogie and LaVar Ball?
Everybody in the league would, in a heartbeat, take Cousins on talent alone, but Cousins is doomed to be another Dwight Howard, taking his mega-talents from team to team every summer looking for another chance to make a good first impression.
As stunned as I’d be at a lot of these things happening, I’m not going to be any more stunned than I am that LeBron James is a Laker.
The weather is better, the politics are better, it’s LA, but as bad as things were for James this past season in Cleveland in terms of how hard he had to work on the floor, Cleveland was a cakewalk compared to the task facing him in Los Angeles.
He must really hate Dan Gilbert, is all I can think.
Column by Chris Graham
Share
Contributors
