Los Angeles Lakers: Do they need to sign a max free agent this summer?
Heading into this coming offseason the Los Angeles Lakers will have around $40 million to spend. Do the Purple and Gold have to use their cap space to land a big-name free agent in order to have a successful summer?
Last offseason the Los Angeles Lakers signed Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley, and JaVale McGee to 1-year deals so that Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka would have enough money this summer to go after a max free agent.
It’s remarkably clear that Magic Johnson really, really, really, wants to pair LeBron James with another “great talent,” so that the Lakers can become a title contender.
Magic Johnson’s superstar obsession reminds me of the guy at a party who’s not very handsome, not charming, and not very smart, but he does have one thing going for him; he’s got an awesome car.
The dude with the fast ride looks for any opportunity to tell someone about his fixed up car. He goes around asking people what type of car they drive, just so that he can mention his own automobile. He asks every girl who’ll talk to him if they want to see his car, hoping that one lady will say yes. This guy’s one claim to fame is his car.
Magic Johnson has also shown he’s only got one thing going for him (Maybe he has one skill as an NBA executive, maybe he has none, we’ll see this summer). He’s not good at evaluating talent, because he traded D’Angelo Russell, who’s now an All-Star. He let Julius Randle walk without even making him an offer, and he didn’t re-sign Brook Lopez who’s one of the key cogs for the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks.
Johnson also doesn’t know how to construct a roster, which was made abundantly clear when he surrounded LeBron James with players who can’t shoot from distance.
Finally, Magic doesn’t know how to create good team chemistry; he tried to deal half the team at the trade deadline and when it didn’t work out he told all the Lakers players to stop sulking and put on their big-boy pants.
The one thing Magic brings to the party is his ability to land stars. He’ll try to flash his $500.00 smile, turn on the charm, and then sign a max player. Magic’s one track mindset scares me, though, because if he can’t convince a great player to come to the Lakers, he might end up signing a big-name player who’s not very good, but has a big-name.
In a perfect world, the Lakers will be able to sign either Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, or Nikola Vucevic. The problem is the world isn’t perfect and there’s a good chance Magic’s one “talent” won’t help him land one of the four best available free-agents. In the end, Johnson’s chase for star power might lead to DeMarcus Cousins or DeAndre Jordan.
If the Lakers don’t land a top-tier free agent over the summer, they shouldn’t go after DeMarcus Cousins or DeAndre Jordan, there’s a better path. Let’s examine.