Could Los Angeles Lakers Trade LeBron James In The Offseason
The Los Angeles Lakers have not been successful since they captured their 16th championship in franchise history back in 2020.
Injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis have derailed things the last couple of seasons and trading for Russell Westbrook has ended up being one of the worst moves Los Angeles could have made.
Currently 5-10 on the season, the Lakers have been playing better basketball as of late, but it is still very hard to put this team in the playoff conversation, especially given how many talented teams there are in the Western Conference this season.
With struggles continuing to persist for the Lakers and this team truly not having any clear path to finding success, questions about the future of this franchise are being asked.
Not only has there been outside discussion about the Lakers possibly moving Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis in the near future, but there is also a possibility that Los Angeles completely blows things up, including moving on from LeBron James.
As crazy as that sounds, the Lakers have no future right now and with LeBron turning 38-years-old at the end of December, maybe starting from scratch and acquiring as many young players and/or draft picks as possible is not the worst scenario for this franchise.
Recently appearing on The Fast Break Podcast, Lakers Nation’s Ryan Ward discussed the possibility of Los Angeles starting fresh in the offseason and trading LeBron James.
“Honestly, I think if things keep going the way they are this season, I think they will blow things up in the offseason. I think this means you will see Anthony Davis moved and I think we might see LeBron James moved as well. It is kind of crazy to say because it is hard to picture LeBron, a guy of his caliber, getting moved, but I do not see the point in bringing something back if it just has not worked year-after-year. Just cut it loose, let it go and get what you can while you can.” - Ryan Ward, Lakers Nation
Last year, the Lakers finished the 2021-22 season with a 33-49 record, missing the playoffs for the seventh time in the last nine seasons. So far this year, they find themselves on pace to win anywhere from 27-33 games, which will definitely not get them into the playoffs.
The idea of starting over and moving their superstars in order to get what they can right now is certainly a possibility for the Lakers and Ward went on to talk about trading LeBron James and what this could mean for Los Angeles’ future.
“LeBron wanting to stay in Los Angeles depends on whether or not he wants to waste another year here. Would you want to at 38-years-old? I wouldn’t want to,” Ward went on to say on The Fastbreak Podcast. “I would want to go somewhere where there is at least a little bit of promise… The best case scenario is to get what you can for these guys and start from scratch. It sucks, but I think that is the only direction the Lakers can go.”
If the Lakers looked to move LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook right now, they could probably get at least 3-4 young, impactful players to begin building with, as well as at least 4-5 first-round picks that they could utilize to begin building a core for the future.
Right now, the Lakers’ struggles are one of the main storylines in the NBA and since they have an older team with a future that is very clouded, starting over and going through a long rebuild process may be the only way for this franchise to get things back on track.
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