After their heart-breaking elimination in the first round, the Los Angeles Lakers, and GM Rob Pelinka, are headed back to the drawing board.
Unfortunately for the Lakers and their fans, there might not be a whole lot they can do. Despite dreams of acquiring another star, the franchise is limited in what moves they can make, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst pointed out on The Jump.
“The Lakers fans dream of signing a big time player this summer, that’s not gonna happen.”
"The Lakers fans dream of signing a big time player this summer, that's not gonna happen"
—@WindhorstESPN#NBAPlayoffs #NBATwitter #TheJump #LakeShow https://t.co/5feGi9JSZM
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) June 4, 2021
Basically, Windy points out that it’s going to be tough for the Lakers to acquire a top-tier player. They have a lot of salary-cap tied up in four players and don’t have many draft picks left to offer in a trade deal.
With the money they do have, all they can really hope for is to acquire some more role players and depth to fill out around LeBron and AD.
But grabbing a guy like Dame, Towns, or any other A-list superstar might be out of their reach this season.
For fans, that’s not really a place they want to be. With LeBron in decline, and Anthony Davis struggling to stay healthy, they need a go-to guy that can help alleviate some of the load.
Looks like they’ll have to get creative with that search this summer.
