The Los Angeles Lakers are getting incredible seasons from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The problem is that they have a third star still on board who should be playing somewhere else already. The Lakers made a grave mistake by not moving on from LeBron James this past summer.
The writing was on the wall all offseason. The organization pivoted to making Luka Doncic the center of their universe, building a team that optimized their new superstar rather than their quadragenarian one. The Lakers didn't offer LeBron James a contract extension, wouldn't commit to a long-term relationship, and have done everythig short of printing "good-bye LeBron" banners.
Everything, that is, except actually moving on from the King.
Since making his season debut for the Lakers after nursing a sciatica injury, LeBron James has been shockingly good for someone his age. He is averaging 20.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists. Those are All-Star type numbers. That he can still put up those stats is a testament to his elite basketball mind, his relentless preservation of his body, and his prodigious skill.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they have two players who are more effective with the ball in their hands. Doncic is a Top-4 player in the world with the greatest package of passing, shooting and scoring in a point forward since...well, LeBron James. And Reaves has broken out into All-Star form himself, a pick-and-roll knife slicing through the butter of opposing defenses.
When all three are on the court together, the Lakers are being steamrolled. Per Databallr.com, the Lakers are being outscored by 7.1 points per 100 possessions when all three play (garbage time removed). LeBron and Luka? -8.3 points per 100. LeBron and Reaves are the best pairing at merely 0.0, dead even.
When Doncic and Reaves share the court, however, the Lakers outscore their opponents by 19.6 points per 100 possessions, an elite pairing. They are shredding opponents and there is enough ball to be shared between two star creators. Splitting it three ways isn't working.
The solution? The Lakers need to replace LeBron James on the roster.
The Lakers should have moved on from LeBron
Ideally, the Lakers would have already done this. They saw their post-LeBron future and started building for it, but it created this awkward transition year where he was still on the roster. That was fine when the Lakers were going through a consolidation year preparing to have cap space in 2026.
Now that Reaves and Doncic are playing at career-best levels, not having moved on from LeBron becomes a much larger problem. Putting the right players around Reaves and Doncic could mean pushing them up into the realm of true contenders, alongside the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. Instead, their 19-8 record is masking a true team quality closer to .500 and 8th in the West.
Was a trade available this summer that would have worked for both LeBron and the Lakers? Could they have agreed to a buyout for him to sign somewhere else for the MLE? Did the two sides ever discuss moving on, or did their bizarre cold war of "we never discussed an extension" cover all conversations?
LeBron's value is at an all-time low as he approaches free agency and struggles with the realities of aging. He is still a very good player, but moving him in-season is a daunting task. The offseason would have allowed more teams to get into the mix for LeBron's services. The Lakers could have genuinely had a shot at putting a better mix of players around Doncic and Reaves.
Hindsight is 20-20, of course, and the Lakers are still on track for significant cap space next summer to upgrade the roster. For now, JJ Redick will need to continue balancing his three ball-dominant stars and make the most of the situation. And fans can wonder what may have happened if the Lakers had made a bold decision when they had the chance.