Ray Allen recently commented that he believes the Los Angeles Lakers could still use a lot of help.
The Los Angeles Lakers made a lot of moves this offseason in order to improve their team. The most notable one, of course, was the addition of LeBron James.
While James instantly makes any team he is on a playoff contender, many questioned what the Lakers did after signing him. Since the Lakers were unable to sign Paul George to come with LeBron, they instead signed veterans to one-year deals in order to preserve their cap space for next offseason, where they will have the opportunity to sign another max player.
Since Kawhi Leonard was on the trading block, many wanted the Lakers to package up their young ore and send it to San Antonio for Leonard. This will likely be a debated topic for a while, as it could be looked back on either a smart move or a poor one in the coming years.
Recently, Ray Allen talked about the Lakers on The Dan Patrick Show. Despite clearly improving this offseason, Allen still believes that they need a lot. Here’s what he had to say on the show with text via Matthew Moreno of LakersNation.com.
"“They could use a lot. They could use a lot. … It’ll be interesting. Just looking at their roster, I’m curious to see how they build their roster. Do they build it to contend with Golden State or did they build it to make the playoffs? Did they build it to compete or are they building it for the future?”"
Even though the Lakers now have the best player in the world, they still might not be ready to dethrone the Golden State Warriors. While the Lakers did get a lot better, the Warriors might have also improved this offseason if DeMarcus Cousins is close to the player he was prior to the achillies injury.
While the Lakers are going to be a better team this coming season, their young core has never been in a playoff series and they still have some developing to do. With the cap space necessary next season to sign another max player, that could be the year that the Lakers truly contend for an NBA Title.
Allen doesn’t appear to see that the Lakers are in no rush to mortgage their future in order to championship chase this coming season. With a strong group of young players and a superstar in James, the Lakers are trying to build sustained success.