Lakers: Did LeBron James Just Subtly Pressure Rob Pelinka To Make Moves?
On a micro level, your Los Angeles Lakers actually enjoyed a good Sunday. The team weathered the storm of a bad-but-hungry Washington Wizards team, desperate to avoid a 10-game slump. The Wizards failed in that bid, falling to L.A. 119-117 thanks to a play set up by -- who else? -- All-Star forward LeBron James, now the team's focal point on offense once again.
The reason James has returned to his position as top dog on this Los Angeles roster, however, is also the reason that, on a macro level, yesterday was ultimately a less-than-good Sunday.
All-NBA center Anthony Davis, L.A.'s actual best player when healthy, is once again not healthy -- as has been the case so often in the eight-time All-Star's career. The 6'10" big man is set to miss at least a month of action (17 games) with a right foot injury. Exactly what that injury is, and exactly how long he is gone (officially, there is no timeline for his return), remains unclear as of this writing.
Sunday's victory without Davis was a positive step, but given that it was a near-loss at home against a bad team, perhaps it was just the calm before the storm.
Raj Chipalu of Silver Screen And Roll identifies just how stark the on/off numbers are for the 2022-23 Lakers with and without Davis. The disparity is pretty darn bleak:
Bottom line: even with a healthy and active James (who has scored 30 or more points across his last four consecutive games), the Lakers could be in for a long, cold December and January.
If the Davis absence sinks the Lakers even further beyond the play-in tournament threshold (at 13-16, they are currently just 1.5 games behind the 10th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves), would L.A.'s exhaustively-discussed possible trades this season, almost all of which revolve around the team giving up one or both of its 2027 and 2029 future first-round draft picks, remain on the table?
After the game, Dylan Hernández of The Los Angeles Times asked James to speculate by gathered journalists about what team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka might opt to do with regard to flipping draft picks this season, should L.A.'s postseason prospects crater as AD sits.
"I have no idea," James acknowledged. "I'm playing. I show up, prepare, work, go to work, get my guys ready to go win a basketball game. I play the game, I'm not in the front office." As Mark Medina of NBA.com notes in his retweet, James later demanded that the gathered reporters ask Pelinka directly what his intentions were, with regard to that pick.
Was this abdication of responsibility for the Lakers' transactions (which may not be entirely true, given that it appears the team made perhaps its most damaging deal of recent vintage, acquiring a washed-up Russell Westbrook in a move that got rid of several, better role players) a subtle dig at Pelinka to start making trades to help bolster the team's depth? It's hard to say. But it sure feels that way.
If the Lakers are doomed to miss the postseason anyway, then of course it behooves them to hold on to those two highly valued future picks and try to make moves, both via trade and free agency, with several contracts (Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker and Kendrick Nunn's deals) set to come off their books. So can these Lakers, sans Davis, keep things afloat until he returns? If they can't, they may not be moving the picks until the 2022-23 season wraps up.
