5 Biggest needs LA Lakers must address in the 2021 NBA offseason
After a solid start to the 2020-21 NBA season, the LA Lakers saw their campaign derailed mid-way through because of long-term injuries to their star duo, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The LA Lakers were 21-6 when they were healthy and looked like legitimate favorites to land the title for a second consecutive year. However, it soon turned into a bumpy ride as they ended the regular season with a 42-30 record and found themselves seeded seventh. Davis and LeBron missed a combined 63 games for the side, featuring together just 27 times.
As a result, the Lakers had to play in the play-in tournament to secure a playoff berth. They did that by successfully defeating the Golden State Warriors and faced off against the Phoenix Suns, who turned out to be the winners of the Western Conference and are now playing in the NBA Finals.
Many expected the LA Lakers to beat the Suns due to their lack of experience in the playoffs, but an unfortunate injury to Anthony Davis ended their hopes of making it past the first round.
The miserable season is done and dusted now, and the LA Lakers have a long offseason to rest and come back stronger as opposed to the previous campaign. They only have six players guaranteed to be on their roster for next season, though, and have major decisions to make in the 2021 NBA offseason.
On that note, we take a look at the five biggest needs they must address.
#5 LA Lakers need to add more shooters
The LA Lakers, as mentioned earlier, only have six players guaranteed to be on their roster for next season. It gives them an excellent chance to add some new faces to the roster this offseason who can help them improve in areas they struggle with the most. One such aspect was not having many reliable shooters in their squad outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
They added players like Dennis Schroder and Wesley Mathews to resolve their issues on that end, but neither player was as consistent as the LA Lakers expected them to be. Yes, the Lakers have limited resources to acquire elite-level talent, but if GM Rob Pelinka and the rest of the front office are crafty with available resources, it could do wonders for the side.
The LA Lakers were the seventh-worst offensive side with a 109.8 rating during the 2020-21 regular season and ninth-worst in three-point shooting, making only 11 shots from deep on 31 attempts per contest. Adding better shooters would give LeBron James and Anthony Davis some much-needed support and also open up driving lanes for them to get to the rim.
#4 Re-sign their most impactful free-agents
The LA Lakers will have to try and re-sign some of their best players about to hit free agency this summer. Those include the likes of Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker. Both players played huge roles for the team in the 2020-21 NBA season and will have a huge market in free agency.
They are young and clearly fit the LA Lakers style of play, which makes it highly important to bring these players back next campaign. It will be complicated, though, with the Lakers having no cap space available at the moment, which makes it unlikely that they will re-sign both players.