The Los Angeles Lakers are the right trade away from competing for a championship as soon as the 2024-25 season. Anthony Davis is playing at an All-NBA level, the talent around him is undeniable, and the acquisition of depth would put an already 14-12 team into an even higher tier.
The unfortunate reality facing the Lakers, however, is that there's only so much they can afford to do if they hope to escape the hole they dug for themselves.
Los Angeles has handed out a surplus of long-term contracts over the past few seasons. Six different players who are making in excess of $10 million per season are signed through 2025-26, and D'Angelo Russell is in his third season with the team, making an expiring $18,692,307.
The optimistic view of that truth would be that the Lakers have invested in a sustainable core that should be able to compete at the highest level, but injuries and misfires in crucial areas have prevented that from manifesting.
The obvious factor that the Lakers simply can't control is that defensive specialist Jarred Vanderbilt has played just 29 games since the start of the 2023-24 season. For that matter, 2023 NBA Playoffs standout Gabe Vincent appeared in just 11 games during his first year with the team, and seems to still be recovering from the injuries that plagued him.
There's no telling how much better the Lakers would be if both players were on the court and at their best, but even then, the front office's past mistakes would come to define the team's flexibility.
Lakers seemingly aim to return to zero after operating in NBA Draft red
The mark of great teams is often the ability to balance the fragile ecosystem that hosts the NBA Draft, trade market, and free agency. Knowing how to properly invest resources in each area is essential to building a team that can consistently put wins on the board.
The Lakers have done well to pair Anthony Davis with LeBron James, and have even complemented them with high-level players, but a pattern of undervaluing the NBA Draft is coming back to bite them.
Los Angeles utilized the 2024 NBA Draft to great effect, finding rising star Dalton Knecht at No. 17 overall. Unfortunately, it was just the second time since 2018 that the Lakers entered and exited the annual selection process with the rights to their first-round draft pick.
To make matters worse, 2023 first-round selection Jalen Hood-Schifino had his team option for the 2025-26 season declined before he could consistently get on the court and prove if he belongs.
The obvious caveat here is that the Lakers were wise to give up three future first-round draft picks to acquire Davis. They've since won a championship and made a second Western Conference Finals appearance with their All-NBA superstar co-starring alongside James.
Unfortunately, they've also traded first-round draft picks in deals for Dennis Schröder, Russell Westbrook, and the duo of D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Lakers must decide between a last-ditch effort and a sustainable future
Schröder and Westbrook were each gone within a season-and-a-half, Russell is expected to be traded in 2024-25, and Vanderbilt has experienced the aforementioned injury issues. The result has been a glaring lack of rookie-scale contracts that could've helped offset many of the Lakers' bigger investments.
In turn, the Lakers have found themselves in the position they're in: Hoping to build a contender, but in desperate need of a factory reset.
Yes, Los Angeles could go all-in on an All-Star who could complement Davis and eventually replace James once he retires. That would likely require the Lakers to give up multiple first-round draft picks, however, as well as portions of the minimal depth they currently have.
Furthermore, the Lakers are already going to be without first-round draft picks in 2025 and 2027—thus depriving them of two more chances to add cost-effective and developable talent.
The obvious counter is that it's rare for a team to have two players the caliber of Davis and James on the roster. Considering they've already won a championship together and reached the Western Conference Finals as recently as the season before last, it's even harder to justify a cautious approach to winning.
If the Lakers hope to win beyond the time during which they'll have an already 39-year-old James, however, this trepidatious approach would certainly qualify as justifiable.