The most recent trade talks being held between the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans has an air of desperation for the Lakers and LeBron James.
The NBA on TNT Tuesday night featured two teams in the middle of the biggest NBA story of the trading season, the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the announcement of Anthony Davis spurning the super max deal from New Orleans and a trade demand, half of the NBA were fixated on LeBron James‘ best friend and agent, Rich Paul, who also happens to be Davis’ representative.
The other half is fixated on Magic Johnson, who is now leading his first Lakers fast break since the mid-90s trying to orchestrate a deal to get Anthony Davis in a Lakers uniform by the trade deadline.
After watching the double-header, anyone can see that this trade needs to happen, more for the Lakers than the Pelicans.
More from Lake Show Life
- Darvin Ham adds to Max Christie hype train after Lakers preseason opener
- Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest Lakers vs Warriors update
- Can Darvin Ham put all of the Lakers puzzle pieces together?
- Lakers news: Darvin Ham knows his fifth starter, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino praise
- Michael Malone’s painfully ironic comment has Lakers fans heated
After watching the Pelicans walk into Houston and upset the Rockets shorthanded and the Lakers lose to the Sixers in the Staples Center proves one thing. The Los Angeles Lakers are desperate and they are sitting on a time bomb that could explode around February 7th, 2019.
Something possibly drastic has changed since LeBron James and the Lakers brass planned the future of the franchise for the next two years. The original plan was to practice patience, construct a roster that protects the cap flexibility for a trade during the season for a playoff run, then try to sign a max player in the offseason.
All the while, the Lakers were to continue developing the young core of Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. This was the perfect plan transitioning out of the longest playoff drought in the team’s history.
Bleacher Report was not so sure about the moves of the Lakers front office saying the moves (Including the signing of LeBron James) would set the franchise even further back in five years.
My money was on Magic Johnson and the way he brought the city’s baseball team out of a worse situation and turned them around to the tune of two-time World Series trips.
I even had a rebuttal to the Bleacher Report article stating this plan was going to work.
Los Angeles Lakers will be better in five years
The Los Angeles Lakers will be worse in five years?! Really? Ronald Agers breaks down why the Lakers will be better and gives a history lesson of past moves
Man, I hate eating crow. This week I can see a heaping amount in front of me, bringing back the feelings of dread when my Mom used to push okra in front of me with the understanding that the plate would be clean before I got up.
(Pause for the cause: I would love to thank my late brother, Rodney Agers for bailing me out all of those years! R.I.P. I miss you!)
Where was I? Oh, the Lakers!
The announcement of Anthony Davis refusing to sign the five-year $240 million dollar contract and request a trade from New Orleans showed a couple of things.
Number one, this is a power move set up, “allegedly” by LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Rich Paul, the head of Klutch Sports Group. We’ll add LeBron James’ name, because, Paul is his best friend and most prized client. New Orleans had to know this was coming when Davis fired his agent and hired Paul.
What I call a “power move” TNT’s Charles Barkley called collusion.
Number two, the Lakers know something behind the scenes that scare them to death. Plain and simple. Sure LeBron James came back against the Clippers after a 17 game hiatus, but even that seems orchestrated. Maybe I’m getting jaded over the coaching change request from his camp.
Or maybe the NBA conversation of this trade is “prodding” him to play? Who knows?
Let’s see what has led us to a possible ordering of a “Code Red” (Shout out to longtime Lakers fan Jack Nicholson! Needed that A Few Good Men reference) by Magic Johnson and LeBron James!
The Lakers have days to impress the Pelicans with a trade package before the competition starts!
Okay, let’s assume that Anthony Davis wants to come to the Lakers (Okay lets everyone stop laughing in the back! This is serious!) and wants to go nowhere else. The Lakers have a lot of things that they have to do.
First, they have to convince New Orleans that this is not a power move used to bully small markets into giving up their top players for pennies on the dollar. All this has to be done without the illusion of tampering.
Good luck with that!
Right now, that is the narrative that is floating around the NBA. The discussion was brought up strongly by Charles Barkley in the pregame show.
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1091131709565751297
Whether the Lakers like it or not, the Pelicans probably feel like they are getting set up to be sold a bill of goods. With New Orleans having Davis under contract, they can sit back and wait until the offseason to weigh out all of their options (Oh there are more teams than Boston, trust me!) and the Lakers know that.
That’s why the low-key “rental” threat is floating around to other teams. Plus, the Lakers have to get something done or lose out on Anthony Davis until 2020 when he can sign with the Lakers as a free agent.
By then, LeBron James will be 36 years old and officially be on the downside of his career.
The Lakers borrowed time is based on the Celtics not being able to trade for Davis while Kyrie Irving is on the roster due to a rule that prevents two players who signed “Designated Player Extensions” with the teams that drafted them on the roster at the same time. They also call it the “Derrick Rose” rule.
On July 1, when Irving officially decides to opt out of his contract, that rule no longer applies. Boston then can start making offers that everyone basically in the NBA knows the Lakers can’t match.
That’s what is keeping the Lakers front office up at night.
Plus there are numerous other teams that have significant cap space to make moves in this offseason such as the New York Knicks (Think that Porzingis trade was an accident?), Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets. Even in the offseason, the Lakers aren’t afforded any guarantees.
The Lakers have to okey-doke Dell Demps into unloading Anthony Davis as soon as possible and make him believe that Davis staying will only cause such a toxic environment that it will be unbearable. Then make him believe that the young core and draft picks are good enough to make the trade.
Let me tell everyone a little secret here about the long-range plans of the Lakers. This whole plan (on the floor) was not about building around LeBron James. Sorry. The plan was to sign LeBron James and his eight straight NBA Finals appearances to attract a younger superstar to keep the franchise rolling along when LeBron James starts to decline.
We all know that Anthony Davis fits that bill quite nicely. He is easily considered one of the top five players in the NBA and is the “Blue pill” that can get the Lakers out of this mess they are in as soon as the trainers figure out his shoe size.
Now they have to get New Orleans to play ball, somehow.
LeBron James always wanted Paul George and chased him reportedly in Cleveland!
What gets lost in all of this hysteria was the major part of the Lakers growth plan that did not happen was the failed signing of Paul George.
There are many Lakers fans that blamed Magic Johnson for not going out and trading for George when he told Indiana that he was not going to sign the super max deal and wanted a trade. The general consensus not just by the Lakers, but the NBA in general was he was going to the Lakers at the time.
"“Rival executives will argue that his value is depressed because of the alive-and-well rumor he is headed for the Lakers, knowing full well that the Thunder don’t want to lose a superstar for the second time in three summers after Kevin Durant. The lack of leverage, if nothing else,could compel the Thunder to see this through until the summertime."
Then his recruitment went to late night television on Jimmy Kimmel.
I mean with all of this evidence and the Magic Johnson “Wink, wink” it seemed clear why the Lakers would not back up the moving van and unload all of their assets if George actually said that he would like to join the Lakers.
Oh, that’s right he did, like in his own produced documentary!
The Lakers, on the mixed signals of George, chose to stand pat and not trade any assets, assuming he would sign in the offseason. He didn’t sign with the Lakers and instead stayed in OKC.
Then the rest was history.
Then Paul George goes on the Chris Pfaff’s Short Story Long podcast talking that the Lakers were pissed.
"“L.A. was pissed at me,” he said. “I didn’t give Magic Johnson a meeting which I understand. But at that point, I knew I wanted to give it another shot. I didn’t want to prolong it and waste people’s time.”"
At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. Even though Paul George is putting up MVP numbers, he is known to disappear at playoff time. So I thought the comment was petty. Maybe there was something to it.
It’s not like a LeBron led team did not try to land Paul George before.
Kyrie Irving was supposed to be a causality previously, according to Jackie MacMullan.
"In mid-June, shortly before Griffin left, team and league sources confirm, the Cavs explored a three-way deal with Phoenix and Indiana that would have shipped Irving and Frye to the Suns and brought Eric Bledsoe and Paul George to Cleveland. The Suns resisted, unwilling to part with their No. 4 pick, which they planned to use to draft Josh Jackson. No formal offer was made by any of the teams, but news of this potential transaction stung Irving, who, sources close to him say, became convinced that LeBron’s camp, which also represents Bledsoe, orchestrated the trade talks."
See the key points? Paul George and LeBron’s camp, which also represents Bledsoe. Think this is not an orchestration?
LeBron James’ role was key to what Luke Walton wanted in style of play!
Luke Walton‘s scheme was based on of the blueprint of the franchise that he left.
The Golden State Warriors’ positionless basketball is pretty to watch and the “Splash Brothers” Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, along with some dude named Kevin Durant, catch the headlines. But the overlooked element is the power forward, Draymond Green.
LeBron James was supposed to assume those duties of Green, the player that was to use his experience and instincts to man the back-line to help the young core along.
Two things. One, LeBron James wants to play the point and two, LeBron James hasn’t played efficient defense since he left Miami.
Before the signing of Tyson Chandler early in the season, when the Lakers struggled out the gate, James was a major reason why. His defensive rotations were atrocious. LeBron James knew his body was not holding up to the demands of being a two-way player.
For a while, Tyson Chandler’s play was a stop-gap to a reality that LeBron James and the Lakers know now…
LeBron James is starting to break down from the mileage. A groin injury that was day-to-day stretched out to 17 games provides evidence to that fact.
After the All-Star break, it will be a full on race for all the playoff contenders to make their push for the postseason. The Lakers will face the next 14 out of their next 20 games on the road starting with their trip to Oakland to play Golden State.
LeBron James did some heavy lifting to get the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals with an epic Game 1 when he dropped 51 points.
But, after that game, LeBron James looked worn out for the rest of the series. Even to the point that he quit in the last game.
Maybe he realizes that this is not just four games of heavy lifting…it’s 30!
He knows he needs Anthony Davis’ help.
Kawhi Leonard? Strike one! Paul George? Strike two! Anthony Davis…
Sure there are complaints on how Magic Johnson handled the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George trade talks. But, let’s be clear here, Leonard was no guarantee. Can we please stop with this argument.
It was reported that some of the young core (Brandon Ingram/Kyle Kuzma) was not offered up in the trade. Okay, that’s part of the story.
Look, the San Antonio Spurs are a very savvy bunch in the front office. Did you really think that the Spurs would have the Lakers give up everything in the cabinet plus season tickets to get Leonard?
Sure, he said he wanted to go to Los Angeles. But the last I checked, they do have two teams in Los Angeles. Plus, Kawhi Leonard says little to nothing about his moves. Johnson could not pull a trade without guaranteeing that he could get Leonard to re-sign!
After Paul George actually treated the Lakers like a dude that asks a girl to the prom on the first day of school, then changes his mind and goes with someone else. Magic assumed that they would meet in the offseason and make a deal. In that type of situation, why trade your assets? Plus, George made enough mistakes in his deal that cost him millions. George messed that up.
This scenario is different. Anthony Davis is better than both of these players and everything is open for discussion except for LeBron (Personally if both players weren’t under the same agent…I’d trade straight up LeBron for AD!).
Now that the plan has officially changed and the NBA world knows what the stakes are, Magic Johnson has to get this right. No assumptions, no underlying motives. If the Pelicans even decide to make a deal (A HUGE IF!) Johnson has no choice but to give the Pelicans everything they ask for.
Lonzo Ball? Gone!
Kyle Kuzma? Been fun!
Brandon Ingram? Got some nice parting gifts for you.
Ivica Zubac? We have that Los Angeles Lakers board game for you to play at home!
All draft picks should go with them to give LeBron James what he has been angling for since he got to Los Angeles. Fill the squad with veterans (Starting with Carmelo Anthony!) and make a playoff run. He won’t give full effort anyway until you do.
Speaking of those trade assets…
Now that you have shown the intentions…Dealing with the young core!
Boy I know, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball must be feeling some kind of way dealing with these events. The Lakers went 6-11 without James in the lineup. It is not great, but it is still better than the 0-8 record the Cleveland Cavaliers had prior.
They had bad losses but still, they are probably heated about these turn of events.
They probably feel unwanted, disrespected and betrayed. These three were the future of the franchise one day then LeBron James walks in the door and their career paths change. They all go from untouchable to…
Here, you go…need anything else to go with this? Draft picks? Season tickets? Name your price.
Now here’s what’s even more troubling. These guys may have lost trust within the organization. The veterans probably weren’t going anywhere because the Pelicans have to build for the future. The trade package was based around the young guys.
The one thing more interesting than seeing if these three are traded for Anthony Davis is…
If they stay! Can they co-exist with LeBron James if they believe he tried to get them out traded (Kyrie Irving thought that narrative…remember!)? Can Luke Walton keep the locker room together for a difficult stretch run after the All-Star break?
The desperate move for Anthony Davis called for desperate measures. Now those desperate measures show the NBA that they are now in desperate times.
The Lakers pushed all of their chips in and they better cash out on this one. The future of LeBron James, Magic Johnson, the young core and the Lakers depend on it.
The Los Angeles Lakers are now past the halfway point in their long journey through the NBA season. Lake Show Life will be there every step of the way. Continue to check in for Lakers news, previews and reviews.