Just promoted to President of Basketball Operations for the Lakers, Rob Pelinka is already facing a franchise threatening ‘Must Win’ offseason while the NBA itself is undergoing a chaotic generational changing of the guard.
How Rob Pelinka navigates this challenge will greatly determine whether the Lakers remain among the teams who are perennial contenders for the NBA championship or slowly fade away as parity levels the playing field. Winning this offseason is going to be a difficult challenge for Pelinka because the Lakers’ major roster needs could be greater than the trading chips the team is able or willing to put on the table for major upgrades.
The main hope for Lakers exceptionalism to triumph is the heavy pressure on the Lakers from superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic to upgrade the team’s starting lineup and 9 or 10-rotation to championship caliber.
While highly unlikely, LeBron James could decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent and Luka Doncic could refuse to sign an extension and opt to become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
Pelinka has already said the Lakers will look much different next season and promises to be aggressive in bringing in multiple centers. The problem is everybody knows the Lakers need centers and prices will be very high.
Rob has always been a GM who focuses on getting the best deal as opposed to getting the best player. The Lakers are now facing a challenging situation where settling for second, third, or fourth best is not the smartest strategy.
Let’s take a closer look at what a ‘winning offseason’ for the Lakers this summer would look like and exactly what qualifies it as ‘winning’ as well as what a ‘losing offseason’ would look like and what dooms it as ‘losing.’
WHAT WOULD ‘WINNING OFFSEASON’ FOR LAKERS LOOK LIKE?
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A winning offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers would surround Luka and LeBron with an elite new trio of two-way starters like Kessler, White, and Wiggins; Allen, Ellis, and Brown; or Porzingis, Ball, and Alexander-Walker.
The above photo shows three possible trios of new star role players to start alongside superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James, including a new starting center, new starting two guard, and new starting small forward.
There are countless other combinations of elite role players who could be stars in their roles alongside Luka and LeBron. Pelinka’s job is to trade for the ‘right’ players would comprise a championship caliber starting lineup.
The Lakers’ best trade arsenal would include 2 potential future stars in Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht, their unprotected 2031 first round draft pick, 4 first round pick swaps, and up to $60 million in expiring contracts.
The Lakers need a starting center who can protect the rim and be a vertical lob threat, a starting shooting guard who can shoot the three and shut down other guards, and a 3&D small forward who defend bigger wings.
Rob Pelinka’s and the Lakers’ challenge this summer is to put together multiple blockbuster trades to dramatically upgrade the three role players who will be starting alongside superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James. That means replacing Austin Reaves with a legitimate 3&D point-of-attack defender, Rui Hachimura with a two-way small forward who can defend wings, and Jaxson Hayes with a defensive center who can protect the rim.
A ‘winning offseason’ for the Los Angeles Lakers would look like L.A. acquiring three new championship caliber starters to replace center Jaxson Hayes, small forward Rui Hachimura, and shooting guard Austin Reaves.
WHAT WOULD ‘LOSING OFFSEASON’ FOR LAKERS LOOK LIKE?
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A losing offseason for the Lakers would be one where they settled for a serviceable trios of new starters such as Capella, James Jr, and Ingram; Ayton, Caldwell-Pope, and Collins; or Bitadze, Schroder, and Oubre.
The above photo shows three possible trios of serviceable new role players to start next to superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James, including a new starting center, new starting two guard, and new starting small forward.
The problem is the resulting starting lineups, while big improvements over last season’s starters, are simply not championship caliber starting lineups. They settle for less than the best for all three of their new starting players.
The harsh reality is the Lakers will need far better players than these three trios of role players if they want to seriously compete for a championship next season as rising teams like the Thunder and Pacers get even better.
The NBA is undergoing a chaotic generational changing of the guard with new teams and stars emerging and taking over for legacy franchises like the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, and Bucks. The times they are a-changing.
If the Lakers, for whatever reason, can’t or won’t go all-in and replace all three current starters with major upgrades, they need to acquire at least one or two championship caliber starters to have a successful offseason.
#1 priority is trading for championship caliber starting center to replace Hayes. #2 priority is trading for championship caliber starting small forward to replace Hachimura. Replacing Reaves would be #3 priority.
A ‘losing offseason’ for the Los Angeles Laker would look like L.A. settling for three new hopefully serviceable starters to replace center Jaxson Hayes, small forward Rui Hachimura, and shooting guard Austin Reaves.
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