It has been an eventful but ultimately unfruitful offseason thus far for general manager Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers made waves by firing Darvin Ham and his staff and bringing in JJ Redick, along with drafting Bronny James; however, it doesn't seem that Pelinka's squad is any closer to championship contention now than they were when the season ended three months ago.
In fact, so dire are the straits in Los Angeles now that NBA writer Howard Beck of The Ringer, who covered the team during the dynastic days of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, is wondering if the Lakers are even trying to win a championship anymore.
“Are the Lakers even trying to win another championship with LeBron James on the roster? Because I don’t think it’s clear that they are,” said Beck, per the Rich Eisen Show on YouTube. “…They needed more, they needed more fire power, they needed more help on the wing, they needed more defense, they need more shooting. This team is not built to contend, it wasn’t built to contend last season, and they've done absolutely nothing to change that… Lakers exceptionalism is a thing, but their actions have not shown that this offseason. They've done absolutely nothing to indicate that they can or expect to compete for titles.”
How close are the Lakers?
Probably not very.
Last year, the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets, who lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who got demolished by the Dallas Mavericks, who were then annihilated by the Boston Celtics. While it isn't a straightforward hierarchy and matchups do matter quite a bit, it's probably safe to say that the Lakers are a good three or four tiers below legitimate NBA title contention.
During the regular season Los Angeles actually shot the ball pretty well from beyond the three point line but didn't have much chance of being competitive on defense with D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves in their starting backcourt. In the playoffs, virtually all of the Lakers' role players, including Reaves and Russell, hit cold stretches at the worst time, blowing a golden opportunity as the Nuggets' role players also struggled mightily.
While Bronny James is a fun story and JJ Redick could theoretically be a good coach, the reality is that the Lakers have done nothing to address their shooting, defensive, and depth issues that forced them behind the eight ball last season.
It also doesn't help that several teams around them in the West have gotten objectively better.
In any case, the 2024-25 season is set to get underway in October.
Follow Us
Subscribe
