Why did the Lakers break up a championship team so quickly?

[JonFromVA]

Because Pelinka is a mediocre GM.

High praise. The pressure of winning with LeBron seems to force GMs to shuffle the deck whenever the team comes up short rather than do actual team building and GM stuff.

[Jabroni Lames]

The OP premise is flawed. Lakers didn’t break up a championship team. They shuffled role players and it backfired. The championship core is 2 players… AD and Lebron, and that’s still intact. They thought they were “adding” a 3rd core player in Westbrook, but that was obviously a mistake (that EVERYBODY) saw coming.

The short answer to the OP is: LeGM.

[Edrees]

The Lakers won the championship just 15 months ago and only 3 players from that team remains (LeBron, Davis, and THT).

Their identity during the championship year was defense. They completely dismantled that by making dumb trades and being cheap and letting go one of their best defensive player (Caruso).

Usually you add pieces to improve that team, not go full 2k.

that was a fake covid ring, boss.
they expected teams to get better and those teams have. of course covid and other health issues have scourged thru the nba but that was unpredictable.

lakers came in 7th last year,,,,remember?

Wait, was covid cured last year's season and this year? Amazing. it's truly incredibly not a single player has missed games due to covid concerns these last two seasons, it's good to know these are not covid rings since it's wiped off the planet now

[Alatan]

James thought he stacked the deck again by bringing in the "3rd star" and disregarding the fit and the importance of role players that hustle on D.

[DroseReturnChi]

James thought he stacked the deck again by bringing in the "3rd star" and disregarding the fit and the importance of role players that hustle on D.

your only half right. while role players could have been better its not like kuzma and craps are going to hoist another trophy.
having elite role player like Bane could get you a ring but those guys cost picks and lakers did not have assets.

westbrook was absolutely a 3rd star based on last yr and legm made the right call. he could still be but the problem is integrating RW into lebron. I doubt lebrons intelligence after him refusing to take a backseat to RW after the acquisition. RW always has been a high usage guard and that allowed him to get mvp. you also need someone like RW in case AD/Lebron goes down with injuries in a 7 game series. anyone thinking hield is going to avg 30 pts a night is delusional but only RW can so he is great insurance.

People blame RW's 40mil contract but the reality is lakers were hard capped even without the trade. kcp, harell are basically worth 0 so his cost is closer to kuzmas salary. Lebron and AD's decline from best duo to low all nba status is whats costing the lakers and it will only get worse. time is not on their side. Selling lebron and AD might be best for everyone.

[Alatan]

James thought he stacked the deck again by bringing in the "3rd star" and disregarding the fit and the importance of role players that hustle on D.

your only half right. while role players could have been better its not like kuzma and craps are going to hoist another trophy.
having elite role player like Bane could get you a ring but those guys cost picks and lakers did not have assets.

westbrook was absolutely a 3rd star based on last yr and legm made the right call. he could still be but the problem is integrating RW into lebron. I doubt lebrons intelligence after him refusing to take a backseat to RW after the acquisition. RW always has been a high usage guard and that allowed him to get mvp. you also need someone like RW in case AD/Lebron goes down with injuries in a 7 game series. anyone thinking hield is going to avg 30 pts a night is delusional but only RW can so he is great insurance.

KCP and Caruso were integral in LAs defense while Harrell provided a nice bust from the bench. Losing them is painfully obvious this season.
So AD had gone down and LBJ had gone down yet WB continued to suck. Westbrook is by no means a star. There is more to the game than hoarding the ball and not doing anything without it. He was a star in his athletic prime but a very flawed one. Now he is just a tank commander.

[Gusto1903]

Because LeBron shat his pants

[wickywack]

The Lakers won the championship just 15 months ago and only 3 players from that team remains (LeBron, Davis, and THT).

Their identity during the championship year was defense. They completely dismantled that by making dumb trades and being cheap and letting go one of their best defensive player (Caruso).

Usually you add pieces to improve that team, not go full 2k.

I'd argue that their "identity" was having the two best players on the floor. Lebron *and* AD were both ridiculously good that post season. Even by NBA standards, that was a top-heavy team - e.g., look at most 2020 post-season advanced stats.

They haven't both been at that level - at least at the same time - since. AD in particular. I'm not sure that 2020 team with *this* AD / Lebron is a championship team. Certainly not with AD out.

Not defending the Lakers' moves since at all, but I think we overrate the importance of them. It starts with AD / Lebron.

It starts with AD/LeBron, but that Lakers team was about as perfectly constructed as you could ask for if you're LeBron.

This was their main starting unit throughout the season.

Bradley
Green
LeBron
AD
McGee

That's about as perfect of a starting line up as you could ask for if you're LeBron. Multiple players capable of stretching out the floor with their shooting who could also play defense at the perimeter. Anthony Davis was a perfect secondary to LeBron, but McGee's interior defense and rebounding allowed Davis to stay at the PF position.

And then of course there's the bench.

Rondo, Caruso, KCP, Kuzma, Morris, Howard, etc.

Howard was the perfect backup center for McGee. He was still able to provide pretty elite paint protection and rebounding while being a legitimate matchup problem for opposing teams who didn't have the backup big capable of handling him. Rondo was still an elite floor general who could run the offense for LeBron when he was sitting. Kuzma still provided legitimate offense and could keep the floor stretched out. We all know the contributions of guys like Caruso and KCP. This entire team was just incredible, without question the best roster LeBron ever had. And that's crazy to think about because in terms of talent, it's not even close. But it was such a perfect fit across the board that it made the Lakers a very difficult team to deal with.

That 2020 roster was certainly better than this one. That said, AD and LBJ were so ridiculously good that postseason, that the Lakers had a large margin for error.

If you magically airdropped this year's supporting cast to play with that AD and LBJ in that postseason, I think they'd still have a shot at winning the whole thing.

[TheLand13]

The Lakers won the championship just 15 months ago and only 3 players from that team remains (LeBron, Davis, and THT).

Their identity during the championship year was defense. They completely dismantled that by making dumb trades and being cheap and letting go one of their best defensive player (Caruso).

Usually you add pieces to improve that team, not go full 2k.

that championship had full stamps of Covid-19 playing in a bubble; dont count it as real championship

Agreed the bubble allowed the Lakers to heal up and get rested so we will never know what would have happened if the regular season wasn't abruptly stopped.

Again with this logic. Everyone benefited from the bubble in the exact same way. It's a real championship, at some point people need to start using logic when trying to downplay the 2020 title.

[srhcan]

that championship had full stamps of Covid-19 playing in a bubble; dont count it as real championship

Agreed the bubble allowed the Lakers to heal up and get rested so we will never know what would have happened if the regular season wasn't abruptly stopped.

Again with this logic. Everyone benefited from the bubble in the exact same way. It's a real championship, at some point people need to start using logic when trying to downplay the 2020 title.

This is such a bad argument lol. Use common sense.

[Nites]

This ain't the bubble.

[durka]

On the surface losing any 1 of Green, KCP, Kuzma, Caruso, McGee, Dwight or Rondo isn't a big deal, but when you add them all up it amounts to alot.

The funniest part about this whole thing is you could have done an S&T for DeRozan for Kuzma and Harrell, still had KCP, gotten a better player in DD and maybe even money to keep Caruso.

The difference between this Lakers teams and the great ones of the past is that Pelinka isn't Jerry West and Jeanie Buss isn't Jerry. Getting star players to play in LA is the easy part, the hard part is finding the glue guys around them that win games.

[John Murdoch]

Million dollar question bud

[Beethoven]

Because that’s what the Lakers do. After Shaq and Kobe, they signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton, and it didn’t work. After Kobe and Pau, they got Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and it didn’t work. After Lebron + AD, they get Westbrook, and it’s not working.

Lakers culture means getting showtime players, and Westbrook is a showtime guy. Dwight is a showtime guy. melo is showtime.

Without speaking to the motivation to get specifically Westbrook, you can always count on the Lakers to chase stars, especially vet stars who are on the decline.

When Lebron retires, if AD is still a star, you know they’re going to get like a 35 year old Jimmy Butler, or a just about to decline Giannis, or Trae Young or something.

This actually makes some sense..although a bit fallacious.

[TheLand13]

Agreed the bubble allowed the Lakers to heal up and get rested so we will never know what would have happened if the regular season wasn't abruptly stopped.

Again with this logic. Everyone benefited from the bubble in the exact same way. It's a real championship, at some point people need to start using logic when trying to downplay the 2020 title.

This is such a bad argument lol. Use common sense.

I am. I suggest you do as well.

Everyone was rested up to that point. Everyone. Not to mention, the Lakers were the top seed in the West for most of the season and were coming off victories against the only two teams people thought had any chance of beating them in a seven game series. The "we will never know what happened in the regular season" argument has no merit to it. We saw exactly what happened with our own eyes. The Lakers won a title while only losing five games in the entire playoff run without any kind of homecourt advantage and all teams playing on equal footing.

So please, stop killing everyone's brain cells with these idiotic arguments.

[Seattlesun]

The most enjoyable part of all of this is that LAL mortgaged their next decade for this sub .500 team that even their own fans can’t stand. What self respecting Laker fan can root for Lebron after being a Kobe fan for 20 years? Just gross. A decade of irrelevance is the coming reward. This is year 1.

[ConSarnit]

Again with this logic. Everyone benefited from the bubble in the exact same way. It's a real championship, at some point people need to start using logic when trying to downplay the 2020 title.

This is such a bad argument lol. Use common sense.

I am. I suggest you do as well.

Everyone was rested up to that point. Everyone. Not to mention, the Lakers were the top seed in the West for most of the season and were coming off victories against the only two teams people thought had any chance of beating them in a seven game series. The "we will never know what happened in the regular season" argument has no merit to it. We saw exactly what happened with our own eyes. The Lakers won a title while only losing five games in the entire playoff run without any kind of homecourt advantage and all teams playing on equal footing.

So please, stop killing everyone's brain cells with these idiotic arguments.

I'm going to have to take srhcan's side here.

Who do you think gets a bigger advantage from 3 months off, no back to back games and no travel? A 26 year old or a 35 year old?

Do you think teams rest older players on back-to-backs just for the fun of it?

Do you think it's just coincidence that Lebron gets hurt far more often now?

It's not an equal footing when it's obvious that older players get more benefit from rest than younger players do. It's a real title but it's not crazy to ask these questions.

[Lalouie]

The Lakers won the championship just 15 months ago and only 3 players from that team remains (LeBron, Davis, and THT).

Their identity during the championship year was defense. They completely dismantled that by making dumb trades and being cheap and letting go one of their best defensive player (Caruso).

Usually you add pieces to improve that team, not go full 2k.

that was a fake covid ring, boss.
they expected teams to get better and those teams have. of course covid and other health issues have scourged thru the nba but that was unpredictable.

lakers came in 7th last year,,,,remember?

Wait, was covid cured last year's season and this year? Amazing. it's truly incredibly not a single player has missed games due to covid concerns these last two seasons, it's good to know these are not covid rings since it's wiped off the planet now

all three years(including 2022) have been erratic

but the op is talking about a ring team and if you forget the results of that year and just look at the roster make-up, the lakers knew they could not stand pat - it was an anomolous ring from an anomolous year and as the league would return to normalcy, there is no way lal could be status quo, especially with utah, denv, lac, and gsw expecting to retool. added to that the lakers flopped to 7th last year. added to that lebron felt he needed help to run the team, so he opted for that instead of shooting.

bottom line, there was NO WAY the lakers could move forward with that ring team's roster, and that's why they changed.

[Lalouie]

The most enjoyable part of all of this is that LAL mortgaged their next decade for this sub .500 team that even their own fans can’t stand. What self respecting Laker fan can root for Lebron after being a Kobe fan for 20 years? Just gross. A decade of irrelevance is the coming reward. This is year 1.

the lakers mortgaged their future when they added lebron because that's what you do

not only giving up assets to make room for lebron's choices, but he doesn't like playing with young players, so you give up youth in favor of aged vets, and that's what lebron do

[AussieCeltic]

They didn't have real championship caliber team. They were out of playoffs, and last year barely made in and Suns easily beat them and in between they were handed the Mickey Mouse championship. There was no continuity.

We’re really gonna sit here and act like the Lakers weren’t leading 2-1 and had the lead in game 4 before AD went down?

We really going to sit here and say Lakers had the lead when AD went down?? AD didn’t come back after halftime when Lakers were down 4.

I’m not saying I agree with the original statement but I’ve seen a few Lakers fans say this when it’s just not true at all.