With LeBron James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis, there was really no excuse not to surround them with top-tier talent while they were still at the top of their game
Not even the magic of LeBron James can save them
By Joseph Agosti, Contributor
This season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been a massive disappointment, with both their on-the-court play and off-season acquisitions failing to meet expectations. The Lakers, of course, employ LeBron James, who some consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time; he is someone who throughout his career has constantly exceeded even the most astronomical expectations. This year, however, has been different. LeBron, now age 37, is no longer able to carry a mediocre team to the NBA Finals as he did with Cleveland in years past.
While LeBron’s scoring numbers are up, his three-point percentage and assist numbers have fallen off of last year’s pace. Even with some of LeBron’s stats on the decline, he is still capable of being a top-five player in the NBA, as he recently made his 18th All-Star game in his illustrious career. The problem with the Lakers is not with LeBron’s on-court play, it’s his decisions off the court. How can that be, you may ask; throughout his career, LeBron has always had a hand in which players his team brings in during the off-season, from Kevin Love when he was on the Cavaliers, to Anthony Davis with the Lakers. For the most part, LeBron’s influence in player acquisition has been a net positive, but not this season. Almost every move the Lakers made this past offseason has blown up in their faces, which weighs heavily on an aging LeBron and his General Manager Rob Pelinka.
Going into the 2021-22 season, the Los Angeles Lakers had a dilemma: which players do they acquire for what could be one of the last years of LeBron James’ prime? The Lakers already had a championship foundation having won the NBA title during the 2020 Bubble Playoffs, with much of the championship core still around. With LeBron James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis, there was really no excuse not to surround them with top-tier talent while they were still at the top of their game. Throughout his career, LeBron James has been partial to having two co-stars with him during his finals runs. From the original Miami Heat Big Three of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Lebron, to the 2016 Cavaliers team where Lebron starred alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The 2022 Lakers already had LeBron and Anthony Davis, all they needed was one more superstar to fill LeBron’s quota.
The general consensus among NBA experts was that the Lakers had a big choice on their hands. Available on the off-season was perennial All-Star DeMar DeRozan, fresh off a solid season in San Antonio, but no longer considered to be the All-NBA talent he was during his prime with the Toronto Raptors. Another option was Sacramento Kings sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who could be acquired via trade. Both of these players would have filled major needs on the team, with DeRozan featuring playmaking and scoring, while Hield would have brought much-needed shooting off the bench. However, another opportunity presented itself: Russell Westbrook. Westbrook, widely considered to be a future Hall-of-Famer, has just finished a bounce-back campaign with the Washington Wizards. Westbrook and James, longtime friends, had long considered playing together and LeBron campaigned Pelinka to make the move. So, on August 6, 2021, the Lakers traded two young players critical to their 2020 championship in Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, up-and-coming centre Montrezl Harrell, and first-round pick Isaiah Todd to the Wizards in exchange for Westbrook.
The fit between Westbrook and the Lakers was dubious from the start, with Westbrook not addressing the team’s defensive or shooting woes, as well as a sky-high turnover rate the team could not afford. While Westbrook’s counting stats appeared good, nearly averaging a triple-double, Westbrook’s turnover and three-point percentage ranked among the worst in the league. Things got so bad that at the trade deadline, it was rumoured that LeBron James lobbied for Rob Pelinka to trade Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in exchange for veteran guard John Wall and a 2027 first-round pick. For context, Westbrook and Wall have been traded for each other before in the 2019 offseason with the Houston Rockets trading Westbrook to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Wall. Besides, as much as Westbrook has struggled this season, John Wall is arguably even more washed-up, having barely played this season for a struggling Rockets team. So in summary LeBron wanted to trade his prized off-season pick-up in exchange for an old injury-riddled John Wall.
This season has been a massive disappointment for the Lakers, as with a record of 27-34, they barely hold onto a playoff spot as of March 3. It’s fair to wonder what could have been if LeBron and the Lakers chose DeRozan and Hield over Westbrook this past offseason. DeRozan has recaptured his Raptor form having an MVP calibre season with the Chicago Bulls, while Hield has continued to provide elite three-point shooting the Lakers could desperately use. What could have been two major pieces for a championship team are thriving elsewhere, while the Los Angeles Lakers are stuck with a declining Westbrook, aging Lebron, and an injury-prone Anthony Davis, languishing on the playoff fringes.
