On Monday, it was reported that LeBron James had agreed to a two-year, $104 million contract to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. This came after reports had surfaced claiming that James was willing to take a pay cut if the Lakers were able to lure in either a free agent or swing a trade for a quality piece; however, no such transaction materialized, and James will now be headed to the bank to add to his pile of money.
After the news was announced, James took to Instagram to post a video of himself in what appeared to be the immediate aftermath of a workout.
https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1808520726703423914
Even as the age of 40 approaches in December, James appears to still have as much energy, if not athleticism, as he did in the peak of his career, and continues to find ways to add new attributes to his game year after year as he approaches his 22nd season in the NBA.
Are the Lakers cooked?
Most likely, yes.
That's not to say that the team hasn't made any moves thus far in this offseason. Arguably the most notable thing Los Angeles has done so far since their season ended against the Denver Nuggets was to fire head coach Darvin Ham and his entire staff, paving the way for former NBA sharpshooter and LeBron James podcast pal JJ Redick to step in with no experience to be the franchise's new coach. The team is now in the process of assembling some assistance, preferably some with head coaching assistant to help provide Redick with the guidance he needs in taking on the most scrutinized job in sports.
The Lakers have been tied to several free agents so far in this period, including Klay Thompson, James Harden, and others. However, Thompson ultimately ended up signing (technically sign and trade) to the Dallas Mavericks, while Harden opted to remain with the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers.
There are still some trade targets available on the market, including Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz, as well as free agent DeMar DeRozan, who has yet to decide on his next team after (most likely) leaving the Chicago Bulls behind.
While Markkanen could be an intriguing piece due to his perimeter shooting, DeRozan's love of the old school mid range game would seem to contradict Redick's apparent vision for a highly modernized, analytically based offense for the Lakers, which of course requires a high volume of shooting from beyond the arc.
As currently constructed, the Lakers have a competitive roster but not one that is good enough to contend with the upper echelon teams currently in the championship hunt. Last year, the Lakers' problem was defense, as a backcourt of Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell simply isn't good enough on that end of the floor, regardless of who they have surrounding him.
If Rob Pelinka doesn't make any more moves, the Lakers could once again find themselves in Play-In territory (at best) next season.
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