The Los Angeles Lakers are still receiving criticism for most of the offseason moves and will hope to prove critics wrong this upcoming season. Noteworthy moves include adding Walker Kessler as the big addition after losing LeBron James and a handful of other contributors. The Lakers clearly have a huge flaw at the forward positions since Quentin Grimes was the biggest talent addition there.
Sports pundit Nick Wright made the following bold statement about why he thinks the Lakers are the “biggest losers” of the NBA offseason:
“Far and away, the biggest loser is the Lakers. LeBron saved the damn franchise. That team, telling everyone who would listen what a pain in the a– LeBron is, led to a scenario where LeBron was willing to play for the league minimum, but not for them.
Turning the team over to Luka is totally understandable. But there’s a way to do that and keep an All-NBA-caliber guy on the minimum. Every single move the Lakers made this offseason, re-signing Austin, trading for Kessler, adding some athleticism. You could have done all of that and still brought LeBron back for what the Philadelphia 76ers just got him for. Instead, they couldn’t wait for the LeBron era to be over.”
Wright cited that James was willing to take a small contract to help his next team. The Lakers could have benefited immensely from this scenario of keeping LeBron and still going after Kessler. Austin Reaves’ big contract extension wouldn’t have impacted James’ deal at all like originally feared.
Nick Wright Think Lakers Disrespected LeBron
Wright made a bolder point about how the Lakers could have kept LeBron at a cheap cost if they treated him better. Reports during the regular season confirmed that General Manager Rob Pelinka no longer viewed James as a top asset compared to Luka Doncic and Reaves as the stars of the future.
Injuries to both Doncic and Reaves forced LeBron to once again be the top option on a team in his early 40s. James led the Lakers to an unexpected first-round series victory over the Houston Rockets.
Even the second-round sweep to the Oklahoma City Thunder saw LeBron looking like the best player on the team. Wright felt that the Lakers started to prioritize James too late and caused him to leave.
Do The Lakers Deserve This Criticism?
The Lakers clearly did view LeBron as expendable and played a role in his desire to leave the franchise. It was shocking to see a player enter free agency and making it clear he would not be going back to his former team.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, and Philadelphia all entered negotiations with James due to his desire to have a new destination. Wright is accurate that the Lakers could have done more to retain LeBron on a smaller deal.
However, they are banking on a few risky moves working out in favor of building a team around Doncic. The offseason doesn’t look good when looking at how they failed to replace James or Rui Hachimura. Los Angeles can prove Wright wrong by winning games next season.
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