LeBron James and Lakers need front office to help them in these 3 areas
Rob Pelinka has to find solutions to help LeBron James and his teammates if the Los Angeles Lakers are to have a good playoff run.
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LeBron James wants more additions for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have been ticking along if not blowing teams out. They stopped the November-December slide down the Western Conference ladder with a good 7-2 run. But since that January 3rd win, LeBron James and his teammates have now lost four out of six.
Their latest came against their cross-town Los Angeles Clippers that left their 40-year-old superstar voicing his concerns. He tried to hit home the point that the team is just not good enough to beat the best teams in the West.
He wants Rob Pelinka and his front office executives to find solutions. It is not that Pelinka hasn’t tried, but Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton won’t solve all their problems. That is why the four-time league MVP sounded out a warning that the team is at its limits.
If they are to take the game to the best teams in the league, James wants certain additions that can give them options. Without them, JJ Redick can only take the team as far as his current lineup can go. What James wants is for Pelinka to look into solving these three problems.
Help for Anthony Davis
In that game against the Clippers, Anthony Davis was almost MIA. Opposing center Ivica Zubac used his strength to keep the Lakers center out of scoring positions for much of the game. If anything, Rob Pelinka has to target bringing in an elite center.
That center playing alongside Davis will help alleviate two problems. One will be interior protection, the other, scoring. Davis handling both ends can become tiresome, especially in a seven-game playoff series. An elite center such as Utah Jazz’s Walker Kessler will be a great short as well as long term solution.
Kessler can score as well as defend the paint. That will leave Davis to concentrate on scoring in close quarters and also be an efficient help defender. He can track down whenever any perimeter player sneaks towards the basket.
That free safety role will do the Lakers wonders in their quest to fight for another NBA title. But Kessler will not be cheap. Pelinka has tried to bring in other centers but asking them to start and shoulder the interior scoring burden is probably asking for too much.
Los Angeles Lakers need a pure scorer
Since the start of last season, the Los Angeles Lakers have way too many guards. They offloaded D’Angelo Russell this season and brought in more defensive minded perimeter players. But Russell was not the only inefficient guard.
Gabe Vincent hasn’t really panned out and Austin Reaves is not a consistently elite threat. In addition, they have a few players who are not scoring as much as the Lakers need. LeBron James is 40 years old and cannot push his body to keep scoring at an elite clip game in game out.
There will come a time when he needs to cut down on his minutes. If that happens, the current crop of guards are not good enough to completely take on the scoring burden. A pure shooter can help take the pressure off those young guards, coming off the bench and scoring efficiently.
Get rid of dead wood and find another playmaker
Along with Vincent, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and the never available Jarred Vanderbilt are dead wood. Keeping them on the roster while sending away promising youngsters such as Quincy Olivari was a mistake.
He is a pure shooter who could have helped them had he stayed. But their need for a center meant the rookie was the obvious person to go as it is preferrable to keep experienced veterans. However, all that dead wood is not helping them in any way.
Shake Milton hasn’t produced the playmaking they need. If the Los Angeles Lakers can trade a lot of that dead wood for a pass first guard, it will help when James and Reaves sit. They lack movement and creativity and a lot of that is down to their offensive transition whenever they sit.
If JJ Redick has to implement his transition offense, they need another playmaker. LeBron James has voiced that concern before. Along with the other needs, Rob Pelinka does not have much time with the trade deadline looming. He has to act fast if the Lakers are to avoid getting swept in the first round.
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Joseph Varghese
(2309 Articles Published)