Los Angeles Lakers: Is acquiring LeBron James in the best interest of team’s future?
By Cris Rivera
Are the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James an ideal match? We take a look at three things the Lakers need to consider.
As of today, the Los Angeles Lakers are projected to have over $45 million of cap space this upcoming offseason. Clearly, the Lakers will be looking to sign one or two max players in free agency. One of the top free agents is none other than LeBron James. But should the Lakers pursue LeBron?
If they do, here’s three thing they should consider.
- How long will LeBron’s contract be?
Let’s assume the Lakers sign LeBron next off-season. The first thing to consider is the length of his contract. It’s fair to say LeBron has changed the paradigm on NBA contracts. Players’ goals used to be to get a max contract for as many years as possible, but what LeBron has done recently is opt for 1-2 year deals.
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Why? Simply, it puts LeBron in a position where he now has the power, and in a position of power, LeBron gets what he wants. The Lakers should only sign James if he agrees to sign a deal for more than two years, otherwise, in a few years, the Lakers could find themselves without a superstar and without a young core.
- What will happen to the youth movement?
In the Lakers case, the addition of James could come at the expense of trading the young core in an attempt to attain a James-approved roster, making all the losing and lottery picks in the past couple seasons all for nothing.
Larry Nance Jr., Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Julius Randle are all under 23 years-old. Certainly, not every one of those players will stay with the Lakers. However, it’s fair to assume James will not have the patience to wait for the young roster to grow, improve and play with the consistency that will be demanded of them.
- LeBron’s age
Speaking of youth, James turns 33 years-old in December. However, more importantly, he has accumulated over 41,700 game minutes in the NBA. Add to that all the Olympic, practice, and summer league minutes, at some point father time will catch up to him. It remains to be seen how he will deal with the inevitable decline.
Will he age gracefully like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played until the age of 41 but averaged 10.1 points per game in his last year? Or will his body begin to show signs of wear and tear and constantly trying to overcome injuries like Kobe Bryant did in the last handful of seasons at the end of his career? Even though he still looks to be at the peak of his prime, there’s no way he can continue to sustain his current level of play.
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With that said, the Lakers will be faced with many decisions this coming off-season. Do they pursue and sign LeBron James? Can they trade or stretch the contract of Luol Deng? Do they give Julius Randle a contract extension? Without a doubt, general manager Rob Pelinka and president of basketball operations Magic Johnson will feel the pressure this summer.