NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
The Los Angeles Lakers are their own worst enemy. With their first-round playoff exit, they’re back to square one. LeBron James may run it back another year with Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves, but what do they have after that?
The 2024-25 team entered the playoffs healthy and was mentioned as a team that could and should be contenders. And yet, it’s another early exit for another James-led Lakers team. But why? Wasn’t the pairing of James and Doncic supposed to be enough? Weren’t they believed to be better than the LeBron and Anthony Davis pairing or the Luka and Kyrie Irving duo?
This is one of the reasons Nico Harrison traded Doncic. In his eyes, there wasn’t too much more Luka could bring to the table. With this move, the Lakers were looking towards the future. If a long playoff run were to happen with LeBron and Luka, that would be icing on the cake.
LeBron has played with countless future Hall of Fame players and has lost just as much as he has won. Now the Lakers must find a way to make next season’s team better. But they won’t do that through the draft. They will need to shell out some money and build a team through free agency.
But what will they do with James? It’s time to start building the team around Luka, and a bigger concern regarding the team is wondering if LeBron is ready to give up that throne? He talks a good game, but he has yet to do that. Following the exit, LeBron placed the blame on the lack of size on the Lakers’ roster. Yes indeed, that was an issue. But so was their inability to guard Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle.
Look around the NBA, and one glaring thing stands out. The Oklahoma City Thunder have chemistry that was built through the draft. The Denver Nuggets are the same. The same goes for the young Houston Rockets. But then you have teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, who made a tough decision when they made Anthony Edwards the face and moved Karl Anthony-Towns to the Knicks.
The Los Angeles Lakers must make a decision, and they have to do it this offseason. Maybe they’re hoping LeBron will retire. And if he doesn’t, they will need to think hard about trading away the leading scorer in NBA history.
He and Luka can put up numbers, but will it hinder the Los Angeles Lakers from winning championships? If the big trade was for the future, then it’s time for the Lakers to complete the rest of their plan. While Lebron is still there, their hands are tied.
