Will the Lakers blow it up this summer?

[Special_Puppy]

If they get swept AGAIN, Lakers either have to *MASSIVELY* overhaul their roster and go further all in (like the Raptors did between 2018 and 2019) or they have to completely blow it up. There is no middle ground

[raleigh]

I think he is pretty attainable for the Lakers.

I think Davis is pretty attainable for the Hawks.

[In-N-Out 247]

Lakers are in the same situation as the Warriors and Suns. All 3 have an aging superstar that has earned the right to dictate his situation. If Durant, Lebron or Curry asked to be traded their team would accommodate them. I don't think any of them will, so their teams will have to continue to try and build around them.

All 3 teams will be stuck in play-in territory or worst for the next few years and the west is going to continue to be a bloodbath. When JA comes back I could see Memphis being right back in the playoffs and you have to figure that Houston and San Antonio will keep getting better.

When you factor in their age and salary along with the trading away of future assets all 3 teams are going to be screwed when these guys eventually retire.

[edgymnerch]

I think they can be championship contenders in 2026 if they use next year as a season to save space and make moves. LeBron looks like he's never gonna be washed soon so as long as AD is still in his prime, there is a chance. Though it seems unlikely with this FO so they should just blow up and reload for the future.

Though I hope they don't cause I'd love to see LeBron go out sad in his final years

[In-N-Out 247]

I think he is pretty attainable for the Lakers.

I think Davis is pretty attainable for the Hawks.

That's really funny - delusional, but funny.

I doubt there are many teams interested in trading for Trae Young.

[JShuttlesworth]

They wont, because Lebron sells seats and (I feel like) Lebron wants to re-sign with the Lakers

[jkvonny]

Lakers tryna do the impossible and taint lebrons career

Just cause they can not beat one team due to matchup disadvantages, fans need to resort to these kind of threads?

Like you really thought they should beat the Nuggets when smart sports guys had known from the beginning as the team most likely to be swept. I even suggest they should purposely lose to the Pelicans and even created a thread with them as the obvious sweep candidates yet many fans still chose the Heat like noobs.

Let's get something straight - Lakers are legit and can dominate against most playoff teams except the Nuggets. No team will rebuild just cause they cannot beat one team otherwise just about every team will need to start over as well im I right Lol. So just stop overreacting and hope the Lakers can do the right thing by setting themselves up to not play them until they reach the conference finals like last year.

The Kings would have beaten them. They own the Lakers as well.

Would be 7 seed Pels vs Denver
8 seed Kings vs OKC

Lakers out of the playoffs.

[jkvonny]

It's time for LeBron and KD to go to the Warriors.

Why GSW? They need to blow it up too. Old and declining.

They should go to younger, better up and coming team. Like OKC, Minn, Sacramento, Orlando, Pels, Spurs, Rockets, Pacers, Grizz, etc

[Clav]

The best LA can hope for is a trade package to improve.

I'd expect that Reddish, Hayes, and Wood will opt-in to their combined 8M worth of options between the 3 of them. Who else is going to offer them contracts if they decline their PO ? It would be a short list, I think. No team is going to directly target those three in a trade so they can be considered 8M of opt-in expirings next season to aggregate into a trade as well.

However, them opting-in has some value attached because some of margins for role players can fall within 8 to 25M, which is what Hachimura + those three players make combined. On that note, Hachimura is an interesting trade target. He's not on the greatest contract, but has proven to be a decent scorer at times. His game still needs extra polish but a team may take a look at him because wing players are in high demand.

I could see LAL target Dejounte Murray still. I can see them look for players in DLO's salary should he opt-in to trade for as well.
Here's a list of players that MAYBE could fit the bill.
* Lonzo Ball if he is recovered (Bulls get free of extra year of contract in lieu for DLO's expiring)
* Duncan Robinson (not the greatest target for LA IMO)
* Gary Trent Jr.
* Bogdan Bogdanovic
* Collin Sexton

Or pursue initiators with FA space / off-season trades:
* Sign Markelle Fultz
* Sign Chris Paul
* Vasilije Micic (8M of Reddish/Wood/Hayes = Micic contract essentially. Send pick compensation to the Hornets and CHA waives these players)

Other teams might get in on the action too, for example a team like OKC could trade a shooter, Lindy Waters III for Christian Wood as a lateral move // redundant shooting SG with low PT for a shooting PF with low PT. The key point here is that LA needs to get creative with its roster because I don't think I'd run it back again with Hayes, Wood, Russell, and Reddish being non-contributors to winning.

Finally, taking a hard look at Vanderbilt and Vincent, another 20M of salary that didnt' do much this year for LA. What good are they ? Maybe they should look to get DeRozan. I would consider trading everyone except James, Davis, Reaves, and the newest rookies.