"You have to blow this up" - Former Boston Celtics superstar claims that LA Lakers will have to trade the trio of LeBron James, AD, and Westbrook to get back on track
NBA and LA Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have had a tough season, which has prompted folks in the media to believe that the Lakers could be set to lose the duo.
Appearing on Fox Sports' morning show First Things First, former NBA player Antoine Walker believes that the best course of action for the Lakers moving forward is to trade King James and Davis. Walker said:
"You got to blow it up. It's hard for me to come to this decision but you got blow this up. And what I mean by blow it up, you have to trade LeBron, AD and Westbrook. I want to add Westbrook to the equation as well."
Walker continued:
"If I'm the Lakers, I'm calling OKC. I'm calling OKC and offering them AD and Westbrook with an expring contract to get me some picks, to start over. So LeBron situation, you may want to open those Cleveland door again, LeBron may want to retire home. You may want to call down Miami, where they've got a bunch of three-point shooters."
While there won't be any shortage of suitors for Davis and James, Russell Westbrook, on the other hand, is a different problem as he has had a terrible campaign thus far and is on a mammoth contract. He is set to make over $47 million next season.
How do the Lakers fix this for next season?
"You have to blow this up — the Lakers have to trade LeBron, AD & Russ. ... It worked out, you got your championship. Now it's time to move on." — @WalkerAntoine8 https://t.co/2YJQ9xz7C0
Should the Lakers trade LeBron James and Anthony Davis?
The LA Lakers (30-41) have endured a tumultuous campaign. The difficulties have led to reports of unrest between superstar LeBron James and the Lakers front office, including general manager Rob Pelinka.
The Lakers pursued Russell Westbrook over Buddy Hield in the summer due to explicit instructions from "King James," who wanted to play alongside Westbrook. The move has backfired as "Mr. Triple Double's" performances have been shockingly poor as he has failed to establish chemistry with James and has leaked turnovers.
NBA stat clubs LeBron James is the only member of:
27000/7000/7000 club
28000/8000/8000 club
29000/9000/9000 club
30000/10000/10000 club
31000/10000/10000 club
32000/10000/10000 club
33000/10000/10000 club
34000/10000/10000 club
35000/10000/10000 club
36000/10000/10000 club https://t.co/HnvDl8xt1w
LeBron James has also been involved in a power struggle with Pelinka and the team's hierarchy. Many reports said the superstar might be interested in a move back to his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The idea is that he may stand a better chance at winning a championship with them than the Lakers.
Anthony Davis, on the other hand, has missed a huge chunk of games due to knee and ankle injuries. The former Pelicans star has a history of being injury-prone, and the Lakers' management and fans' patience seems to be running thin with Davis and his unavailability.
Russell Westbrook is on a massive contract but has only one year left on his deal which might enable teams such as the Indiana Pacers and the OKC Thunder, who are not competing for championships, to take him on.
All these reasons have led to speculations about the Lakers trading LeBron James and Anthony Davis. While there will be no shortage of suitors, these talks must be reserved for the summer, not a couple of weeks before the regular season ends.
If the Lakers are serious about trading them, they will need to head into a proper rebuild. If they do, they will need to assemble from scratch or make sure they get All-Star players in return, if not MVP-caliber stars.