“If you’re LeBron, you’re looking at this team and you’re saying ‘we’re a team that is not good enough” - NBA analyst calls LeBron James one of the losers of this off-season so far
The LA Lakers are yet to surround LeBron James with the necessary pieces needed to contend for the championship in the 2022-23 season. Consequently, NBA analyst Tim Bontemps believes James is one of the biggest losers this summer so far.
Despite being linked with several players, the Lakers are yet to land a high-profile signing that will significantly boost their chances of contending. They have pursued Kyrie Irving since the start of the offseason but are yet to find a way to bring him in from the Brooklyn Nets.
“Let me just say this about the Lakers: He obviously was very interested in joining the Lakers, and the Lakers are very interested in having him.”
- ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on Kyrie Irving https://t.co/TlaFJoiS1s
They have also been linked to Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, but their unwillingness to give away draft picks has halted the deal.
On "The Hoop Collective," Brian Windhorst, Bontemps, and Tim MacMahon got together to discuss the offseason's winners and losers so far. For Bontemps, LeBron James fell in the latter category.
According to the analyst, James will play his 20th season with a team that does not look like contenders based their current construction. He said:
(From 1:12:50)
"I think Lebron is a loser of the summer and I think it's for what you were alluding to, in that, obviously the Lakers made this catastrophically bad Westbrook trade a year ago. We talked about Russ last week we don't need to get into that any further."
Bontemps continued:
"But, if you're Lebron, going into your age 38 season, and the Lakers this summer, I think we all agree they made better moves than last summer because they signed guys that were all 10 years younger than the guys they signed last summer."
After pointing out that the Lakers have only made minimum signings who are not essentially difference-makers, he stated:
"Now you've signed a bunch of younger, better bets as minimum players but there still is a roster that's filled out with minimum players. If you're Lebron, you're looking around at this team and you're saying, 'We're a team that is not good enough'."
Bontemps added:
"Like, 'We're not good enough to be anywhere near the kind of place I want to be.' And they don't really have a path to doing that short of this Kyrie thing falling in their lap eventually, which I don't think is gonna [going to] happen.
"And frankly, even if it gets there, I don't know if they're still good enough because of the weaknesses they have around those three guys [James, Anthony Davis and Irving]."
The analyst concluded:
"So, to me, just looking at it, if you're LeBron you're going into your age 38 season, to me, it's looking like 'Well, just get the scoring title or the all-time scoring title' if he's healthy. From a win standpoint, it feels like it's headed towards another loss season for him."
LeBron James might miss another opportunity to win a title next season
LeBron James has four championships in 10 NBA Finals appearances and the Lakers captain is undoubtedly eager for more rings.
Last season, LA missed the playoffs and James could not hide his frustration. As he watched the postseason while on holiday, he promised to never miss the playoffs again in his career.
However, there is a high probability that the promise will not come to fruition. The LA Lakers are heavily reliant on Anthony Davis, who has struggled with several lower-body injuries in the past couple of seasons.
Anthony Davis last healthy season:
— 26.1 PPG | 9.3 RPG | 2.3 BPG
— All-Star
— First Team All-NBA
— First Team All-Defense
— NBA Champion
Absolute beast. https://t.co/Ox9jeuX5Ij
If the Lakers don't make adjustments to their roster, they might record another humiliating campaign next season.
LeBron James has explicitly said he does not care much for draft picks, essentially urging the front office to do whatever it takes to bring help. However, the Lakers have not budged and are holding out on deals because of their unwillingness to include a second draft pick.
A healthy James-Davis duo will cause a lot of problems in the league, but it is a big ask given James' age and AD's injury history.