Opportunities Abound for The Los Angeles Lakers

For the first time since 2005 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James will not be making a run for the NBA Finals. But, Lakers fans need not fret. After all the plan this season did not involve winning a championship. Sure, it would've been a tremendous help for their youngsters to gain some playoff experience and, obviously, LeBron is never okay with any kind of losing. They can take solace though, in the fact that the Lakers are in a position to have a good summer, should they play their cards right.

This season started off unexpectedly well for the Lakers. By the end of 2018, Los Angeles' record was 21-16, and they had a very uplifting Christmas win over the Golden State Warriors. It could've carried over to 2019 however, injuries happened, close games were dropped, and momentum was lost. But, now that they are officially out of the playoff race, the focus can be squarely on how to improve over the off-season. That starts with one name, in particular, that was a big target for the Lakers before, during, and a little after the All-Star Break, Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis has expressed that he would like to play in LA, and after all the fiasco in New Orleans resulting from his trade request, it is clear that the Pelicans are set to say goodbye to Davis and move on. Unfortunately, New Orleans has the upper hand here, because Davis does not become a free agent this summer, his player option doesn't come to effect until the summer of 2020. The New Orleans front office is more than willing to wait until this summer as evidenced by the fact that New Orleans declined to accept any of the Lakers trade packages before the deadline, which included pretty much their choice of Lonzo Ball, Brandan Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma, along with a veteran and a draft pick. Now, if the Lakers are lucky, the Pelicans will accept a trade with them and they can start fresh with LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the charge. That seems unlikely though because One: Ingram got injured, and was the centerpiece of any deal that might have attracted New Orleans' attention, Two: there are other teams that can possibly make much more favorable deals such as Boston, New York, and the other team in LA the Clippers.

Should the Lakers fail to acquire Anthony Davis, there are several marquee free agents this year. Some are on the level of Anthony Davis and some may be considered to be lower tier, but if they can get just one of these names it would be a step in the right direction.

Kawhi Leonard:

Leonard has been in previous conversations about going to Los Angeles and many experts believe that it is a destination he is most likely headed too. But which LA we are talking about in this instance is the rub, will it be the Lakers or the Clippers. The Clippers have put themselves in a position just like the Lakers have to make some noise and if they aren't careful they might just snag Leonard away from joining LeBron, not to mention he could possibly resign with Toronto, given if he is satisfied with how well they are playing.

Kevin Durant:

The chances of the Lakers getting Durant are pretty slim at best. Durant has mostly been associated with rumors about him going to New York, and expanding his media company and off-the-court portfolio. Plus, it's completely possible he resigns with Golden State and continues this dynasty they've been building.

Kyrie Irving:

With Kyrie, it's possible he leaves Boston and rejoins LeBron in La La Land. After all, they won a title together in 2016 in Cleveland. But seeing that the main reason he left to Boston was to get out of LeBron's shadow it's more likely he either stays with Boston or heads to New York where it is rumored he plans to join Kevin Durant.

Klay Thompson:

Most people know that the usual game plan of a team with Lebron involves surrounding him with shooters and playmakers, who better a shooter to put beside LeBron than Klay Thompson? With a career three-point percentage of .419 percent, there is no way you can leave him open and would give LeBron a lot of space to do his thing. Now Klay has had lots of history made on the Warriors and no doubt is critical to what they do, but there's always the chance that Klay goes for a bigger paycheck or simply leaves for a change of scenery.

Jimmy Butler:

He's probably not the first player the Lakers have on their wish list given the concerns with how well Butler can coexist with teammates, if he is not the main option offensively. Still though, Butler is a great two-way player averaging at least 20 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game since 2014-15 and can definitely help the Lakers improve in multiple areas of the game. Should the Lakers strike out with the other free agents mentioned above, Butler may be a necessary fallback option.

Other Free Agents Such as Demarcus Cousins, Kemba Walker, Tobias Harris, and Khris Middleton:

All these guys are considered Plan B guys in the eyes of experts. Demarcus Cousins and Kemba Walker are most likely the two out of the bunch the Lakers should aim for. However, the Lakers had the chance to sign Cousins last year, but since he was coming off a ruptured Achilles they passed on him and Cousins is not the type of guy to forget slights like that. Kemba is a great option for the Lakers, at the time of writing this article he has averaged 25.2 PPG, 5.9 APG, and he is shooting 42 percent from the field. He's had some really great games this year on a struggling Hornets team that has never quite reached their potential, this could sway Kemba to leave and find another team such as the Lakers who have the money. Of course, there are some issues that would need panning out, for instance, what kind of minutes Kemba Walker would get with Lonzo Ball being on the bench and who takes the ball down the floor, Kemba or LeBron? There's also Tobias Harris who has been having a great year and could no doubt help improve the depth of the Lakers, is he a game-changer? No, not exactly, but he is averaging 20.4 PPG and is shooting the lights out with a 49.5 FG percent and 41.3 percent from the arc.

Another thing that may help the Lakers in their favor this off-season is the draft. Zion Williamson is the consensus number one pick this year ,and the Lakers do have a 10 percent of getting the first pick. If their luck holds and they get the pick it would help them tremendously in getting Anthony Davis through a trade or could help them in the future by holding on to Zion Williamson and either waiting to see if he can help them or just trade him for another star down the line. Even if they don't get the number one pick, if they can grab a top-five pick it would be a good piece to use in acquiring Anthony Davis.

Ultimately, It's in the hands of Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka to steer this ship straight. They have the tools and opportunities to make this off-season a great one for them and get the Lakers back to the prestigious team that history has shown they can be.

References

Basketball-reference.com

ESPN.com

NBA.com