Los Angeles Lakers: Can the young core survive another failed AD saga?
By Ronald Agers
The Lakers are desperate enough to outbid themselves for Anthony Davis
The only thing the Lakers have done is basically negotiate basically the EXACT same way as they did six months ago. First they rolled out a low ball offer. The Pelicans basically shut down after that. Then the media frenzy started up and it ended up as a complete mess.
No changes made…just rinse and repeat.
This piece is not about making the right deal for the right price. It’s about making the deal period. If they don’t the season will be a disaster. Nobody on the Lakers under the age of 25 will believe a word LeBron James says.
Why would they? They will not commit to a franchise that is not committed to them. They did not handle the trade talks well then and they surely won’t now. Maturity does not happen as fast as two business quarters. I hope for the Lakers sake I am wrong, but I doubt it.
As for LeBron James, whose passive aggressive tendencies are as famous as his stats. Remember after the trade deadline when the Lakers got Mike Muscala and Reggie Bullock? LeBron went on record saying he had nothing left to prove. Well that was a topic of discussion wasn’t it…
Read the headline below…
Well he sure played like for the rest of the season.
This is not about stats Lakers fans, it’s about a winning culture. Take a look at the NBA Finals at these two teams in Golden State and Toronto. There is a level of trust from the front office down to the locker room.
The Lakers don’t have that. Missteps with Paul George not getting signed or Kawhi Leonard being traded elsewhere aside, the Lakers have no trust within the organization. There’s no vision.
For this to work in the LeBron James era, the franchise is going to have to make a decision.
Either trade away the young core and grab Anthony Davis and find a way to build a veteran squad and go over the salary cap…
OR
Find a way to convince LeBron James to stick to the plan the night that he was drafted and work with the players that was here before he signed. Then pray the coaching staff sets the tone that will hold him accountable next year. If the young players see the staff coaching LeBron hard, they will buy in to the program.
Next. 3 Players to trade for if Lakers miss on Davis. dark
Rob Pelinka does not have the respect to pull this off so the Lakers have to make this deal work no matter what or…
The Lakers Nation will see a year’s worth of dysfunction instead of a few months.