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First off I can't see this going well for long so if we don't play nice I'm locking this pretty quick but hear me out...

The Lakers had started finding themselves a bit last season. Lonzo helped them make strides on defense, Ingram had slowly started living up to his hype and giving people something to hope for, Kuz (and Hart this year) came out of nowhere and have shown a lot but then enters Bron and the group of meh "win now" players that come with him. He has did his part in ruining chemistry, management has felt compelled to make moves for stars and that's adversely affected the youngsters, and a lot of the vets aren't the most ideal team players.

With Bron getting older, is he worth the drama? If the Lakers strike out in FA and the AD sweepstakes, would it in theory be better to trade Bron for the farm and build from the ground up around Lonzo, Ingram, Kuz, Hart and whatever they get from Bron? (I know it's a pr suicide but yeah...)

Given how crazy things happen in the NBA.. there is a path that leads to a LeBron trade. We’re just not there yet or any where close.

No. The Lakers missed the playoffs for 5 straight years without Lebron. Building around their young talent puts them in the same position that all the small market teams are in. A franchise like LA that isnt well run enough to build through the draft should be leveraging their market whenever they can.

Depends on AD-if they get get him, stay the course. If not, don't sign a guy like Cousins-trade LBJ to NY or somewhere and build around Ingram, Kuzma, Ball, their #10 pick and tons of cap space-plus what they get for LBJ

If the Lakers strike out in F.A. and the trade market, it's not crazy. Might not even hurt them with future free agents if they can say they tried and failed to build a win-now team. But they have to at least try this summer or it will have negative repercussions going forward.

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He's not going anywhere unless he wants to. And as far as we all can tell, he doesn't want to. He signed with LA on a multi-year deal (instead of, say, a 1+1) because that's where he wants to be.

Unless he wants out, trading him means they can basically kiss free agency good bye for the foreseeable future. They've already had some issues attracting big name guys and trading the one guy who actually signed there (who also happens to be a top 5 all time player) would exacerbate those issues. You'd hear a ton of "if they traded Bron, they'd trade anyone" and "if they can't surround Bron with enough talent to win, why would we expect them to be able to do so with anyone else."

Mamba4Goat wrote:First off I can't see this going well for long so if we don't play nice I'm locking this pretty quick but hear me out...

The Lakers had started finding themselves a bit last season. Lonzo helped them make strides on defense, Ingram had slowly started living up to his hype and giving people something to hope for, Kuz (and Hart this year) came out of nowhere and have shown a lot but then enters Bron and the group of meh "win now" players that come with him. He has did his part in ruining chemistry, management has felt compelled to make moves for stars and that's adversely affected the youngsters, and a lot of the vets aren't the most ideal team players.

With Bron getting older, is he worth the drama? If the Lakers strike out in FA and the AD sweepstakes, would it in theory be better to trade Bron for the farm and build from the ground up around Lonzo, Ingram, Kuz, Hart and whatever they get from Bron? (I know it's a pr suicide but yeah...)

Yes, the Lakers would be better off dealing LeBron (I don't know if you get the farm, but that's another conversation)... but it's a moot point. The Lakers aren't doing that.

LeBron is one of the most powerful players in the history of professional sports, trading him without him requesting it would probably cause the Lakers to be absolutely hated by literally every star and most fans.

I wouldn't hate them for trading LBJ. That's silly. Depending on the surrounding circumstances, I think it could potentially impact their ability to sign other players, but that's a different conversation. Whether Jeannie and Magic would even consider it, is also another conversation.

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Lakers-Knicks-Suns

Lakers out: Lebron + 2019 1st
Lakers in: Devin Booker + Knox + Robinson + 2019 2nd

Knicks out: Ntilikina + Knox + DSJ + Robinson + Dallas unprotected pick
Knicks in: Lebron

Suns out: Booker + 2019 2nd
Suns in: DSJ + unprotected Dallas 1st + Ntilikina + Lakers 2019 1st

Lakers-

Ball/Suns 2nd
Booker/Hart
Ingram/Knox
Knox/Kuzma
Robinson/Wagner

They'd be pretty set to just grow.

Knicks- get Lebron

Suns get solid value and reset their cap table.

DSJ/
Josh Jackson
Oubre/Bridges
Bridges
Ayton

and 2 lotto picks Zion + Bassey or White or BolBol? Add in a ton of cap and they could be pretty set

if no stars end up signing there this summer, and AD is traded elsewhere, I think that's the smart decision. The Lakers will never do that though

Boy, that'd be a way to permanently end "Showtime" and kill the Laker legacy for good. Might help them in the short term, though.

I think you can make the case they would have been better never signing LeBron but I think they have alienated that group of young players you talk about this year (Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Hart) and I don't see them pulling the chemistry back together if they dealt LeBron. Better to work to actually put players around him that make sense (shooters rather than playmakers, etc) and do the best you can even if Davis goes elsewhere; I don't see positives coming out of trading him nor do I see any real hope of getting value for someone who has proven he will use his star power in multiple stops.

Did we already have this thread? What is James value?

To GSW: James

To Wolves: Ingram + Ball + Iggy + 2019 GSW 1st

To Lakers: Green + Covington + Teague + 2019 Wolves 1st + 2021 GSW 1st

Lakers go after 1x max free agent -- Butler would look good (assuming KD+Irving go to Knicks, Kawhi to Clippers, Walker stays home). With Butler (or any 1x max free agent), Lakers still have 5mil+ in cap space for a vet on expiring deal.
C: Vet
F: Green
F: Covington
G: Butler
G: Teague
6: Kuzma

OR

Teague (expiring) + Kuzma + Hart + Lakers #10 + Wolves #11 + 2021 Lakers 1st + 2021 GSW 1st for Davis
C: Davis
F: Green
F: Covington
G: Butler
G: Vet

I think the only way this works is if they trade him to the Clippers. Lets say the Clippers sign Kawhi, and follow it up with Danilo+Shamet+Robinson+2020 1st for LeBron. Then they don't lose face for having traded LeBron, and they can continue with the rebuild while adding some nice players. Maybe Gallo can even go to a third team for an unproductive expiring + asset. The Clippers might follow it up by maybe bringing back Jordan and also signing Terrence Ross, and resigning some of their guys and roll with:

SGA/Ross/Kawhi/LeBron/Jordon
Beverley/Lou/Wallace/Green/Harrell

As others have pointed out, maybe short term it's a good move, but in strategic terms the Lakers seem committed to the FA recruitment path. LeBron is a pain in the rear, but as a FA draw he still beats the likes of Ball/Ingram/etc hands down.

The Lakers just need to be better run, sorry. When they signed up LeBron, they had to know that he wasn't going to be patient with their youth. I would think the way forward should be the opposite - trade the young guys for actual competent vets, instead of appeasing LeBron by signing has-beens.

rugbyrugger23 wrote:To GSW: James

To Wolves: Ingram + Ball + Iggy + 2019 GSW 1st

To Lakers: Green + Covington + Teague + 2019 Wolves 1st + 2021 GSW 1st

Lakers go after 1x max free agent -- Butler would look good (assuming KD+Irving go to Knicks, Kawhi to Clippers, Walker stays home). With Butler (or any 1x max free agent), Lakers still have 5mil+ in cap space for a vet on expiring deal.
C: Vet
F: Green
F: Covington
G: Butler
G: Teague
6: Kuzma

OR

Teague (expiring) + Kuzma + Hart + Lakers #10 + Wolves #11 + 2021 Lakers 1st + 2021 GSW 1st for Davis
C: Davis
F: Green
F: Covington
G: Butler
G: Vet

this might be the most lopsided proposal of the season.. any gm that made that move for the Lakers should be burned at the stake

Yes. I don't see the LeLakers era ending well and in spite of everything they could still come out with solid talent. I proposed Hayward, Brown and Sac and Clips 1sts in the other thread, which is a conservative guess for value, but even that would give them Ball, Ingram, Kuzma, Brown, Hart + currently the 10, 14 and 19th picks + potential bounce back all star Hayward. That's not a bad rebuilding situation. The alternative being eg. you trade some prospects for Conley to salvage the Lebron era, the team loses in the 1st rd, then in a few years you have a washed Lebron and Conley, less prospects and a lot of wasted time