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LeBron James joined the Lakers on a four-year contract, apparently promising the team the time needed to build a competitor. But at almost 34 years old, and without any history of patience, will he push for a win-now strategy soon? (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Tim Bontemps
A national journalist focused on all aspects of the NBA
PORTLAND – After the Los Angeles Lakers finished their last pre-season game in San Jose last week, coach Luke Walton was asked if he was used to having LeBron James present every day.
"It has sunk in," said Walton. "[Now] it's about bringing the team to a certain place together. It's not just LeBron, or [Rajon] Rondo. These are all new guys who mingle with young people.
"It's the work in progress right now."
The new look Lakers will begin their 2018-1919 season – the most anticipated season of the franchise – Thursday night, in which they will face the Portland Trail Blazers in James' first game in the purple and gold Lakers. The time required for this progress will determine the success of this opening campaign at Lakerland.
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For the first time in more than ten years, James enters a season without any success. From the moment James announced his intention to sign with the Lakers on July 1, his motives were a topic of popular debate in NBA circles.
Did James want to settle in Los Angeles to start embarking on a post-game career as a titan of the entertainment industry? To bring her family to a warmer place while her sons go to high school? A necessary detour to create another championship franchise? Or a combination of the three?
An indication: his first sit-on interview after arriving in Los Angeles was not with ESPN The Magazine or Sports Illustrated; it was with The Hollywood Reporter, with a full coverage photo shoot.
"My decision was solely based on my family and the Lakers," James told reporters at the team's media day last month. "I am a basketball player. I play ball. That's what I do, that's what I live and when I do it at the level where I do it, everything else takes care of it.
"As far as my business is concerned, these things took care of myself long before I came here to be part of this Lakers franchise."
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It's impossible not to notice the difference between how James handled his business when he arrived in Los Angeles and how he treated the Cavaliers on his second visit to Cleveland. In contrast to his stay in northeastern Ohio, when James signed a series of short-term contracts to keep the pressure on the owner, Dan Gilbert, so that he did everything necessary to to compete for a title every year, the Lakers will no longer have to fear.
The Lakers could chase the stars to team up with James next summer, like Kevin Durant. (Stephen R. Sylvania / USA Today Sports)
If James wished, he relinquished this influence by accepting a three-year contract with a fourth-year option. This meant that the Lakers did not feel obliged to exchange their young talents – Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart or Kyle Kuzma – against Kawhi Leonard when he was in the market this summer. Instead, they will hope to give these players time to grow up with James, and then have their partners sign a star – such as Leonard, Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson – next summer.
This route offers no realistic route to the Lakers to compete with the Golden State Warriors this season or with teams like the Houston Rockets or the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers will start the year with a mix of these talented young players, as well as mercury veterans in Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee – a combination that should produce an entertaining lineup, but which is not close Championship conflict.
"We have a long way to go to Golden State," said James. "They can pick up where they left off, starting with training camp. We are starting from scratch … so we have a long way to go. We can not worry about what Golden State is doing, Golden State is Golden State, and they are the champions. They have been together for a few years now.
"So we put that aside, we can only focus on what we can do to improve ourselves every day as a Lakers franchise. We hope to one day put ourselves in a position where we can fight for a title as Golden State. has done in recent years. "
But how long will it take? Where will it happen? James will be 34 years old during this 16th professional season. Reaching one of these stars next summer will be easier said than done. After the Lakers did not trade against Leonard, he was more likely to want to play for the Clippers, preferring to run his own team rather than playing the second fiddle in front of the best player of the game. If Durant leaves Golden State, a trip to the East at the Knicks seems much more likely than joining James on a second top team in a row on the West Coast. And although Thompson is in fact considered the Lakers' first choice to play alongside James, given his elite defensive skills and his three-point shooting ability, he made it clear that he had no interest in leaving Golden State.
Among the young players, the Lakers are very hopeful that Brandon Ingram will become a second star next to James. (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)
Children, meanwhile, have to develop. The Lakers are basing their hopes on Ingram, but his three-point shot is still missing in the preseason game and he is not sure he will be able to make a big jump this season. Ball, meanwhile, will start the season behind Rondo on the depth card – and it's unclear when, or if, it could change.
And if these young players do not realize the expected gains of the Lakers – and the number of future candidates to run with James continues to decline – what will be the degree of patience of James? Will he start asking the Lakers to do something to improve the team in the short term?
Walton will have to assemble the puzzle without knowing how the parts should fit together or if they will be. But when one of these pieces is the greatest player of his generation – and probably all-time – it's a very good starting point.
"I am very confident in our guys and their abilities," said Walton. "I think when Rondo is on the field and / or LeBron is in the field, I'll be more confident about how the execution will be done. But we will continue to try different things and we will finally get there. "
Even with such a patient approach, the clock starts running for the Lakers on Thursday night.
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