LeBron James received a nice 40th birthday gift from the Los Angeles Lakers, as the team acquired both Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets to bolster their rotation as they hope to take an aggressive step toward contention.
James isn’t sold on the Lakers being a title-caliber team as presently constructed but expressed optimism about how Dorian and Shake can fit into the roster.
“Are we at a championship level? Can we win a championship right now? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have a lot more room to improve. We just added two new guys in DoeDoe (Dorian Finney-Smith) and Shake. We’ll see how we incorporate those guys, it’s going to be fun. Happy they’re there”.
“I don’t know if that determines if I stick around longer because it doesn’t change my career in any fashion.”
LeBron spoke to the media on his 40th birthday to discuss the difficulty of being successful in the league as he gets older, turning 40, Bronny's strong play in the G-League, and new additions Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. pic.twitter.com/7XHilqQJg8
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 31, 2024
James also made it clear that he likely won’t play for much longer even though his body could perform for five to seven more years, with LeBron seemingly accepting that his legacy is what it is as we know it currently.
“It won’t be because I can’t play the game at a high level. It won’t be that because if I really wanted to, I could probably play this game at a high level for another 5 to 7 years, but I’m not gonna do that… Of course (I’ll miss it) but come back? No. I’ll miss the hell out of it but I won’t walk away and come back.”
LeBron’s legacy will get massively boosted if the Lakers win a championship. He won’t retire without a farewell tour given the magnitude of his stardom, but winning a fifth championship is the kind of accomplishment that will guarantee LeBron retires that very season or the season after that.
He’s averaging 23.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 9.0 assists this season, on pace for his lowest scoring average since his rookie season.
The move to acquire Dorian and Shake with second-round picks that are six to seven years in the future shows that the Lakers aren’t opposed to moving future assets that will convey long after LeBron retires and potentially even Anthony Davis.
JJ Redick has kept this average roster competitive with an 18-13 record this season, with the addition of Dorian and Shake boosting their competitive hopes by virtue of their win-now skill sets as 3-and-D specialists.
Finney-Smith is averaging 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds this season on 43.5% from three while Milton is averaging 7.4 points on 38.9% from three this season.
James’ comments could also be a coded message to Rob Pelinka that his job isn’t done and that he needs to continue making moves to ensure the Lakers are competitive enough for a championship run.
It seems the organization agrees, with the Lakers still aggressively pursuing centers around the NBA with some believing that a bigger move could be on the horizon with the Lakers three tradeable first-round picks potentially on offer.
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