Lakers: Shaq Gives LA Front Office Some Advice for This Offseason
This week has signaled the beginning of the end for the Lakers season. LA is two games out of the final play-in spot after losing to the Nuggets on Sunday with just four games remaining. Neither LeBron James nor Anthony Davis are 100% healthy. LA's season is over.
Which of course means it's time for analysts, insiders, and NBA Hall-of-Famers to provide their insights on what LA needs to do this offseason to avoid another season of epic failure.
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has the distinction of being both a Hall-of-Famer and an analyst. The Big Aristotle provided his words of wisdom for the Lakers in an appearance on CBS Sports HQ.
“You gotta get rid of expiring contracts. You gotta get rid of the projects that didn’t work. And you gotta try to get younger and more athletic around LeBron. Because paper-wise, when everybody did the deals ‘Ooh Westbrook, ooh this and that’ but you know age is a factor."
Shaq knows better than most that the NBA is a stars league. Which is why he affirmed that "getting younger" doesn't include trading away either of the Lakers superstars.
"You know [Anthony Davis] was hurt all year. ... But gotta keep him healthy. So you still keep LeBron and AD but then you gotta probably make moves for everyone else.”
Shaq isn't the first prominent voice to suggest the Lakers need to move off of Russell Westbrook this summer, and he won't be the last. The guard would definitely fall into the "project" category in Shaq's assessment of his former team.
Even if you're a Lakers fan in favor of keeping Westbrook, the rest of the roster does need to get younger.
If the Lakers surround Davis and LeBron with another cadre of ancient veterans, LA will once again find themselves falling short of expectations.
