Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Concerns from the Anthony Davis trade

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Conclusion:

Many Lakers fans grew attached to the young players the Lakers drafted, including Ingram, Ball and Hart, as well as Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, Larry Nance Jr and Ivica Zubac. Fans hoped that along with Kuzma, most of them would form the nucleus of a young, exciting team that would grow into a contender together, under the guidance of Coach Luke Walton. But now all of those parties have been cast aside.

The Lakers front office took a different route. They did not want to wait until the young players matured, and ended up dumping all of them except Kuzma. Instead last year they signed James, who is still an offensive machine but whose NBA career will be limited by Father Time. Now they added Davis, who at age 26 should have plenty of good years left. Stay tuned to see how well that change of direction works out for LA.

Next. Realistic tier 2 free agents. dark

Meanwhile, if you want to see how the Lakers youngsters progress in their careers, tune in this coming season to Pelicans games to watch the “Lakers East” squad. Or to see how well the patient approach works, take a look at what Walton achieves with a different young, promising team in Sacramento.