Deeper Pockets, Please.
Lakers tell the family goodbye
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For some time now, the Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to live up to their own fabled history while competing with one arm tied behind their back. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? After all, the franchise has LeBron James in the fold and recently added another massive talent in Luka Doncic.
But those guys cost money, and so does it cost money to run an NBA team that is even remotely trying to win. The Lakers this year carried the league’s fifth-highest payroll, went 50-32 and got blown out by Minnesota in the first round. They’re going to have to be especially creative, not only in free agency but with their entire roster management and overall organizational investment, in order to actually build out a team that can complement what James and Doncic do while LeBron still has a championship window at least slightly open.
Wednesday’s news, then, was a shock but not a surprise.