It became clear during the second half of the regular season that the Los Angeles Lakers were a title contender. All they had to do was sneak in to the playoffs, or play-in.
Before you could blink, LeBron James and company steamrolled through the No. 2 seed Grizzles and the defending champion Warriors before running into an absolute buzzsaw in the Nuggets, who are the prohibitive favorites over the Heat to capture their first championship.
While the Lakers got swept by Denver, three of the losses were by two possessions or less. With a proper offseason, it stands to reason that Los Angeles will put up a better fight — and possibly even beat — the Nikola Jokic-led brigade in a potential rematch next season.
A proper offseason won’t be easy to come by, however.
Keeping Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, while jettisoning D’Angelo Russell, wherever that may be, and bringing in a playoff-proven point guard (like Kyrie Irving) sounds like a good place for Rob Pelinka to start.
What the Lakers absolutely shouldn’t do, however, is consider Bleacher Report’s proposed trade with the Phoenix Suns.
Bleacher Report’s proposed Lakers-Suns trade is awful idea for both teams
Here’s what B/R’s Greg Swartz said of the Lakers side of the trade.
"Paul is nearing the 18th green of his career but still averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and 1.5 steals this season. With LeBron James and Austin Reaves handling the ball a lot as well, Paul’s workload would stay at a reasonable level."
What does Paul’s workload matter if he can’t stay healthy in the playoffs? The Suns had two ball-dominant stars in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker carrying the load on offense, and Paul still managed to be lost for the series after he strained his groin.
The saddest part? Nobody was surprised.
In the 2018 playoffs, Paul’s hamstring injury in Game 5 allowed the Warriors to storm back from a 3-2 series deficit against Paul (and James Harden’s) Rockets. In 2021, Paul was compromised because of a right shoulder contusion that hindered his dribbling and shooting ability.
Paul has a lengthy history of missing time in the playoffs. The last thing the Lakers is pairing an injury-prone point guard with an aging LeBron and oft-banged up Anthony Davis. Further, Paul doesn’t fit the bill of a high-volume scorer who can handle the ball that the Lakers so desperately need.
Chris Paul (groin) is expected to be re-evaluated in one week as the Suns are preparing to be without him for Games 3-5, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/SB7s76m5m1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 2, 2023
From the Suns perspective, they could use a scorer like Russell to take some of the burden off Durant and Booker. However, they need shooting and depth more than anything else and Russell doesn’t offer much when he’s not handling the ball. To say nothing of his non-existent defense.
Malik Beasley, meanwhile, didn’t sniff the floor in the playoffs after the Grizzlies series.
In essence, this trade would be awful for both teams. An aging Paul isn’t what this version of the Lakers need while the Suns aren’t going to agree to take on LA’s damaged goods.
Welcome to silly season.
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