As the 2023-24 campaign comes to a close, the Lakers have already settled on their approach for the upcoming offseason. According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, the Purple and Gold will indeed go star hunting this summer in an attempt to build a new “big three” in Los Angeles.
“Yes, they are,” Buha said on if the Lakers are going to chase another star. “And I can confirm that from multiple sources. They are going third-star hunting this offseason. And we’ll see how that affects the D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) situation. We’ll see how — you probably have to give up Austin [Reaves] in almost any… third-star trade.”
As one of the highest-market teams in the league, the Lakers have always been ahead of the field when it comes to recruiting high-level talent. And while it’s been years since they’ve added a superstar in his prime, the Lakers already have a few players in mind who might make a difference…
“Now, who’s available? The one name I continually hear is Trae Young,” reported Buha. “He’s been to Laker playoff games before. He’s a Klutch Sports client. That’s probably the most realistic one right now. What happens with Dallas and Kyrie [Irving]? Do they flame out? Do they lose in the play-in? Do they lose in round one? Does Dallas ultimately break that up? And then what’s the market for Kyrie? Donovan Mitchell, it seems like there’s been a little bit more growing optimism and buzz that he’s gonna stay in Cleveland. But even if he leaves, the two New York teams have reportedly been the favorites just because he’s from the greater New York area.”
The Lakers have several assets to trade, including draft picks and several high-quality role players. But they also have cap flexibility due to several players coming off the books.
It remains to be seen what kind of moves the Lakers will pull off this summer but the situation is pretty dire right now as the team tries desperately to improve the roster for LeBron’s final stretch.
The Lakers Are Running Out Of Time
When Rob Pelinka first joined James and Davis together in 2018, he imagined it would lead to great prosperity for years to come. And while they did have their moment in the spotlight (winning the championship in 2020), it hasn’t been as successful as most were hoping for.
This season, even with relatively good health from the two superstars, the Lakers have been mediocre at best with a record of just 41-33 through 74 games. At 9th in the West, they are at a major disadvantage in the postseason, when they’ll have to win two play-in games just to match up against the team that swept them last year.
Even if the Lakers add another star in June, they won’t have long to fight before their championship window closes for good. At 39 years old, LeBron James is nearing the end of his basketball journey and he wants to end it as a winner.
Only time will tell us what kind of team the Lakers can build here at the end but it needs to be good if they want to maximize what’s left of LeBron James’ talents and only with more star power can the Lakers possiblehope to make up ground in the West.
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