Former 3× NBA Champion pictures Lakers pairing Myles Turner and Buddy Hield with LeBron James after recent success
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Buddy Hield, Myles Turner and LeBron James
Rick Fox, formerly of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, is a 3-time NBA champion. He was part of the famous Lakers 3-peat team at the start of the past decade. Fox was a key role player in those teams built around Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. It’s safe to say that Fox knows what a championship team looks like. And so, Lakers fans will be encouraging him to give this certification to the current team led by LeBron James.
Fox’s tweet comes after the Lakers’ 5th straight win. In the run, they have looked in imperious form and like a championship contender. Jeanie Buss would like to have a contender team with James as the centerpiece. Led by LeBron’s masterful play since his 38th birthday, it’s imperative that the roster around him keeps chipping in with performances such as Schroder’s 27 against Sacramento. He is really making guys around him better.
The former champion Rick Fox tweeted after the game and it was unclear whether he was reminiscing over a missed opportunity or urging the organization to make the trade that was widely rumored. The trade of course was to bring in Buddy Hield and Myles Turner from the Indiana Pacers. Hield is one of the best and most consistent shooters in the league. Turner, in addition, has established himself as a feared rim protector.
Clearly, Fox believes that the Los Angeles Lakers would be better right now if they had Buddy Hield and Myles Turner to support LeBron and it’s hard to argue against that. However, not all fans are as convinced as the 3-time champion. One reply to the above tweet very politely disagreed, saying “Mr. Rick Fox, with the way Thomas Bryant and Dennis Schroeder have been playing, I’m not interested in trading for Miles and Hield. That trade would involve Westbrook too, who is the spark plug for that second unit, and he’s playing quite well. What we need is a healthy AD.”
Are the Lakers around LeBron James good enough to win the title?
Over the 5 game win streak, the Lakers have a net rating of +6.9. Not the highest in that time span by any stretch, but still very good nonetheless. Over an entire season, a net rating of almost 7 does signal that a team is a contender historically. Los Angeles has to keep this up, however, as the real test begins now.
The next 3 games? On the road against reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and his top-seeded Denver Nuggets. After that, it’s two home games against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. For the Lakers to win, LeBron has to win the individual battle against the opposing superstars first and foremost. But, it’s also essential for the role players to keep stepping up in the absence of Anthony Davis.
The support he has is enough but is very unconfident at certain times. If the team is able to hoop at the same level as they are now then undoubtedly they have a shot at the title. But if they again get down to being inconsistent after playing some winning basketball they probably will not even be able to book a playoff berth.
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Ritik Malik
(1743 Articles Published)