What's next for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers?

1 Hardcover

Pelton: The contenders for the championship? No. It is not yet clear that the Lakers will be better than last year's Cavaliers, who have played the Warriors twice, but who were still averaging 15 points per game in the final. of the NBA. But, as I noted in my badysis of the Lakers with LeBron, they are absolutely competing to win a playoff series for the first time since 2012.

Elhbadan: From # 39; aujourd & # 39; hui? No, they are not good enough to defeat the Warriors or the Rockets, but they can certainly make life harder for almost every other team in the conference, either eliminating them or eliminating them in the playoffs. But if the Rockets can retain the services of Clint Capela, they will remain in a higher echelon than any other teams in the West outside Golden State. But again, the length of James' commitment gives the Lakers room to maneuver in their quest to add the required talent to move forward with the Western elite.

Snellings: Not right now, but they are not as far as you might think. They have four very young but very talented players in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma. They have the potential to re-sign a healthy Isaiah Thomas (in theory) for what would be an extremely interesting meeting with James, and that would give them more high-level firepower. They could be a superstar (Kawhi?) Or signature business (Boogie Cousins?) Far from making things very interesting.

MacMullan: The Lakers at this point in time are still pretenders when you bad that Golden Establish the measuring stick and measure their list. But that could change quickly if a certain two-way star with a grumpy quadriceps emerges in one way or another from one of the most revered teams in the league. No Kawhi, no title.

3. What should be the Lakers' approach to a possible trade of Kawhi Leonard?

Herring: You would obviously want to give up as little as possible. But if the Lakers are looking to maximize the championship window, and the Spurs know how much LA needs Leonard in his lineup, there's a good chance they'll end up with a combination of two or three young solid players (Kuzma, Ingram, Hart) and a choice or two. It's hard to argue that they should not, since most people consider Leonard to be one of the top five health talent. In the end, you simply hope that Ingram or someone else can become as good a day.

MacMullan: They should do whatever it takes to get it. Now. AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. It will probably cost them draft picks, young talent (Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart?), And in the short term, it will leave them a short and deep alignment. But just consider the chaos that LeBron and Kawhi could create against this line of warriors – both ends of the floor.

Snellings: If a craft can be crafted to bring Leonard to Los Angeles this season, the Lakers should do it so that they can start their new era with all their primary pieces in place. But if the asking price is too high or if San Antonio wants to keep Kawhi, it would also be acceptable for the Lakers to wait for it. Eventually, the Spurs will blink or Leonard will hit an unrestricted free agency. Anyway, the Lakers are now in control and do not need to compromise on what they want

Elhbadan: The Spurs are likely to look for more casts Aggressive for Kawhi Leonard (if and when they abandoned their quest to convince him to stay), especially prosperous trading partners of the East Conference like Philly and Boston. Although James's long-term commitment theoretically means that the Lakers do not have to lobby for an agreement, they will always look to pair him with Leonard, probably the most optimal type of talent to play. alongside James. A year ago, the Lakers had the opportunity to take it to Paul George, pbad it on and end up seeing him get involved in the team that finally did trade for him. Would they risk the same ordeal with Leonard?

4. Will the Lakers legacy be more of an added burden for LeBron?

MacMullan: Neither one nor the other. The Lakers have won before without LeBron and will win after him, because that's L.A., Hollywood, Showtime – the always sunny and always desirable NBA destination. LeBron probably can not bear the mark of Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O-Neal or Kobe Bryant. There is simply no time. Cleveland has always been, and is, LeBron's legacy – and his eternal burden.

Here's the latest on another thrilling summer in the NBA:

Pelton: I am thinking rather of a plus. We are far enough away from their most recent championship that I do not think the Lakers will be expected to win a championship immediately after adding LeBron. But if he can bring them there eventually, he will join a long list of great Lakers

Elhbadan: Everything is a plus from now for James, but it will be interesting to see how His Los Angeles' course is perceived by Lakers fans, especially since it does not dispense a "multitude" of championships. For my money, if LeBron even wins a title, he consolidates him as the greatest player of all time, having been the centerpiece of four championship teams in three different cities, with the three situations having been built on the fly.

Snellings: It all boils down to the ring. If LeBron leads the Lakers to a title, it's a huge advantage for his legacy. It would be the third team that he led to a championship, and he would have done it for the most glamorous organization in the league. But he must lead them in this capacity. Nothing less than that and one of the most rabid fanbases of the NBA would be disappointed and the king 's legacy would be tarnished in a way that would not have been the case if it were not. he had remained in Cleveland. It was a high-risk, high-reward move for LeBron, who set himself up to be compared to Kobe Bryant's ghost every day until he won a ring.

Herring: I am not sure yet. If he's able to earn a title, it probably becomes a plus, as he did it in a big market that had never experienced that kind of drought before. If he does not win one, it probably will not change anything except to make a legion of Cleveland fans angry with him again.

5. How many titles do you hope LeBron and the Lakers will win over the next three seasons?

MacMullan: If Kevin Durant had taken over with Golden State for another four years, I would be tempted to say 0. But Golden State has some important financial decisions to make in the next two seasons with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, so I'm going to say a championship on this LeBron victory tour.

Remember, however, there are the Celtics and Sixers, who two seasons from now (perhaps earlier) will have allowed all their young talents to marinate in a hungry collection of stars who are going to beat for the West. And, do I remind you that the Rockets were at a distance from the finals? LeBron seems ageless, but even the biggest stars of all time fall prey to two familiar enemies: injury and age.

Elhbadan: This question basically asks how long the warriors will stay together. There will come a day when the Golden State property could find unpleasant tax bills and makes basketball decisions for financial reasons, and if someone will step up and fill that void, it will be LeBron James.

Herring: It will be a lot easier to answer once we'll see if they can get Leonard, and they should give up in a trade. If they can hang on to Ingram and hang Leonard, this could potentially be a scary core with Lonzo Ball. They can find the sweet spot between their own ascent and the Warriors. So, I would like their chances of winning at least one championship during this period. Again, the Spurs would be stupid to treat Leonard without recovering Ingram in return.

Snellings: One. I do not think they're winning this season unless there are big moves that intermingle perfectly, since Golden State and Houston are light years away. But if the Lakers bring another franchise title like Kawhi Leonard, then I could see them ready to challenge a title in the next two seasons. I say that they would win one in this two year window … and they would do better because after that you talk to the late 30s LeBron and even the superman must finally slow down.

Pelton: If I had to bet on a result, I would probably say zero. The warriors are still there and other challengers are forming. I still think that going to the Houston Rockets (19459039) or the Philadelphia 76ers would have given James a better chance of winning a championship. That said, the average result of for James is probably closer to a championship than anything.