The Los Angeles Lakers are a team where no one can predict their season outcome with any confidence. The Lakers on paper have 3 extremely decorated stars and some excellent scorers and defenders. However, the roster isn’t exactly very deep, and a lot of those players have some caveats around them. Pat Beverley is a wild card, Russell Westbrook has been in decline, and Anthony Davis is almost never fully healthy.
That leaves just LeBron James, who isn’t exactly a spring chicken himself at this point. Even though LeBron has shown no signs of slowing down and has a chance of breaking Kareem’s scoring record this season, it’s not likely that he can get the job done by himself. And even the Lakers have seemingly known this, they spent a lot of the offseason trying to get another star to join the team.
GM Rob Pelinka Said The Lakers Are Willing To Do What It Takes To Build A Team Around LeBron James
LeBron James could use a team where he doesn’t have to carry the entire load. Obviously, a healthy Anthony Davis would make a huge difference in that regard. But if the opportunity comes to add more impactful players or stars, the Lakers would be willing to take it. And General Manager Rob Pelinka explained that this means he will trade whatever picks he must to build a good team around LeBron.
Rob Pelinka addressee the rumors of Lakers trades and trading draft picks this offseason. He said he will make a trade, including draft picks, to improve the team if it’s the right deal. pic.twitter.com/f8cBmZSVRr
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) September 26, 2022
“Let me abundantly clear: We have one of the great players in LeBron James to ever play the game on our team,” Pelinka said. “He committed to us with a long-term contract, a three-year contract. So of course we will do everything we can, picks included, to make deals that give us a chance to help LeBron get to the end.
“He committed to our organization. That’s got to be a bilateral commitment, and it’s there. Again, as I started the question by saying, we are committed to doing everything we can to put the best team around LeBron as long as it’s a smart trade because of the limitations caused by the Stepien rule and the implications of that.”
These are strong words by Pelinka and will provide heart to the Lakers players and their stars. If they can perform at a high level, the team is committed to bringing in reinforcement at the cost of picks. With LeBron James chasing more championships, anything could happen for the Lakers this season, including some legitimate success.
