In the days leading up to training camp, the general feeling among Lakers fans was that this season would be a transition year.
At the same time as they said goodbye to the LeBron James era, the franchise
would be walking into the Luka Dončić era. The team was still not optimized around Luka and this season would be a lot of figuring out of who on the roster fit next to Luka and should be retained moving forward.
However, the opening weeks of the season, where the red-hot Lakers, led not just by Luka but also by Austin Reaves, won games at an unexpectedly high clip, changed things. With LeBron James set to join the fold, could this team actually be a title contender?
Instead of continuing to go up, though, recent weeks have shown that the Lakers have some pretty glaring flaws that are preventing them from competing with the best of the best. And that hot start has given way a bit — though the team still sits in third in the Western Conference after their sweep of the Grizzlies — with the Lakers now amongst a crowded pack of teams in the West.
Those aforementioned losses to the likes of the Suns, Rockets and Pistons have also seemingly raised the urgency for a trade among fans. With a roster this clearly flawed, how can the Lakers front office sit back and wait to make a trade knowing this team isn’t good enough to compete with title contenders?
The current reports about the Lakers’ activity on the trade market don’t bode well for those who think a trade is needed, either. It all raises the question of whether the Lakers can afford to wait to make a trade, whether that means all the way to the trade deadline or even into next offseason.
The answer depends on the team’s and franchise’s goals.
If it is to contend one last time with LeBron on the roster, then they obviously can’t wait to make a deal because this very well may be it for him in LA. But the Lakers’ long-term goals haven’t been about LeBron since the moment Luka landed on the roster, so it’s unlikely that factors much into their decision-making.
If it’s to contend with Luka, then a trade doesn’t feel as urgent. At the risk of wasting prime years of a player — or players, if we’re including Austin as well as Luka — this was seen as a transition year and little about how things are playing out should change that.
While the wins at the beginning of the season were fun, if the Lakers intended to hold pat and head into next summer with maximum flexibility both in terms of draft picks — they can trade up to three first rounders at the NBA Draft — and cap room, then standing pat this season, even amidst all the pressure, would be the right move.
The franchise could head into the summer with a clear understanding of who on the roster should be part of the next iteration of the team, a whole lot of cap space to make signings and/or trades and draft picks to get the players they want or need.
The counterargument to that would be that President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka has rarely finally pushed all his chips in and made the moves. Instead, he’s almost always valued the ability to make another move more than an actual move itself. Sit LeBron and Anthony Davis down together and ask them how that played out in the years after winning a title.
Having said all of that, there is still an argument to be made that the Lakers may not have a better chance to win with Luka than right now. What are the odds they have a better pair of teammates next to him than Austin and LeBron?
Yes, the players around them could certainly be more optimized. And they have some ability to do that with the one first round pick and expiring contracts they have. If they do that right, then they have three All-Star caliber players leading the way with a more optimized roster around them. It’d be hard to pick against them in most any playoff series.
But does that get them into the Oklahoma City and San Antonio tier of contending? Are they really one or two moves away from being at that level? If not, there isn’t much of an argument to make deals at the deadline and, instead, the team should see out the rest of the season and reconfigure the roster this summer.
There is no simple answer to this and every solution has its drawbacks. Threading the middle ground where they can make a move to help win now and win later would be ideal, but likely isn’t practical.
Which means the Lakers are likely going to have to choose a lane. Win now at the potential expense of later or ride it out this season with a flawed roster in the hopes of winning big later.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
