Los Angeles Lakers: Can the young core survive another failed AD saga?

With the Los Angeles Lakers pursuing Anthony Davis again, what happens to the young core if they fail to acquire him again?

Well let’s see…what do we have here? Lakers rumors surrounding Anthony Davis…again! The entire negotiations being played out in the media…again. False news reports all over social media…again. In January, the Los Angeles Lakers put out a 7-10 day fast break that would have put the “Showtime” Lakers of the 80’s to shame making their run to obtain Anthony Davis.

Six months later, wash…rinse…repeat.

Now instead of getting a deal done by the trade deadline, now the timeline is based around the NBA Draft next week on June 20th. Let’s just set all of that aside for a second. Lake Show Life has already dealt with the negotiations and what the Pelicans would want. This is about something that is totally different. The potential aftermath  if this doesn’t work.

I mean we saw how it played out the last time…right?

Take a gander at all of the coverage of the Lakers rumors floating around. Does any of this look familiar?

ESPN will have 24/7 coverage of anything Lakers related. Adrian Wojnarowski literally put this tweet out during a live taping of The Jump. Brian Windhorst breaks down the negotiations at that particular point in time even though this will change literally five minutes after he gets done explaining it.

The one thing I make it a point to do is listen to the players involved. To the Lakers fans that are truly frustrated about all of the information that is consistently thrown out on social media, I have this to say. I get it all of this can overwhelm you. Most people do put out crazy content used out of context that can change the narrative of what is really going on. This deal is going to come down to the front offices and how the negotiations are handled.

On the New Orleans side of the fence is David Griffin, who has basically told the NBA world what he would be looking for in the NBA TV studios before he even took the job…

Let’s see if David Griffin is playing around here. According to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Pelicans want a combination of.

1. An All-Star player.
2. A player with All-Star potential.
3. Two first round picks.
4. The better the players, the softer the stance on the draft picks.
5. The better the picks, the softer stance on the players.

As much as the opinions strongly state the Lakers have the best deal on the table and are the leaders in the clubhouse, Lakers need to deal with the reality of Griffin not liking what the Lakers have to offer at this point. Why do you think a third team needs to be brought into the mix.

Now we see all of the “insiders” breaking down every asset the Lakers are willing to give. Here’s an example…

Really? Kyle Kuzma? Let’s get this caveat out-of-the-way. I am a big Kyle Kuzma and JaVale McGee fan. They are both from Flint, Michigan where I have family ties. I’m a basketball fan first and foremost. I would love to see these guys do great. But let’s get back to business here.

The Lakers offered him up six months ago to get Anthony Davis at the trading deadline. What changed? What has Kyle Kuzma done to make him “untouchable” as of this writing?

Look, if Kyle Kuzma is holding up this deal and the Pelicans want him, the Lakers have to say goodbye. They started this mess months ago and they have no choice but to do anything they can to land Davis. Free agents are not coming and the Lakers are closer than fans want to accept to strolling the same roster (…and problems!) out that they had last season. The Lakers know it and more importantly David Griffin knows it.

Let’s talk about it…