Times have changed in the NBA, and the Lakers are doing everything they can to adapt. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, they have moved away from the belief that having three stars is the best path to winning a title.
“There’s not a dramatic deal for the Lakers to do out in the marketplace. They don’t want to use their draft picks to get contracts off,” said Woj. “They’ll certainly use them if there’s a player that makes sense as part of a bigger deal, but right now, they’re not involved in any deals that would land them a third star. They’re seeing the landscape of this league and that the three stars model, with this salary cap, doesn’t work or it’s much more difficult for it to work.”
The Lakers have always separated with a star-first mentality and it’s what helped them find success with legends like Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and (most recently) LeBron James. Typically, the Lakers are not content to have just one star and they’ve always made it a point to seek out whatever big-name talent they can afford.
From trios like Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy to the infamous “big three” of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard, the Lakers have tried several times to pair three stars together to varying results. Lately, however, their strategy has shifted.
Last summer, they could have tried to go for big names like Kyrie Irving, James Harden, or Damian Lillard, but the Lakers opted to build up their supporting cast instead by devoting more money to increase depth at every position.
The main culprit for this change, besides more well-rounded play on the court, is the league’s new CBA. The new rules have placed major limitations on teams who go over the tax and it’s made it close to impossible to have any flexibility with more than one or two max contracts.
Most Lakers fans were already against the “big three’ model but the Lakers have always thrived on star power and it was a huge shift for them to halt their pursuit of the league’s biggest names.
This summer, while the Purple and Gold were in play for 4x champion Klay Thompson, they failed to secure his commitment and are focused entirely on building up their roster with smaller-scale moves.
Of course, after finishing 7th in the West last season, and losing in the first round, the Lakers will need more than more role-players to become a title-contending team. James, 39, is closer to retirement now than ever and it remains to be seen how healthy Davis can be considering his extensive injury history.
With a new pair of rookies and a fresh head coach (LeBron’s friend JJ Redick), the hope is that enough will change to at least make the Lakers competitive and give them a fighting chance in the West. For now, though, they are done with chasing stars and it’s a decision that will help preserve their future.
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