Bill Simmons believes the Los Angeles Lakers could land LeBron James, Paul George, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins during 2018 free agency. Seems rather crazy, but let’s imagine what it would look like.
Maybe it was some sort of satire, but Bill Simmons recently posited that the Los Angeles Lakers could haul in an unprecedented amount of talent during 2018 NBA free agency. It would make the Miami Heat’s super-team creation of 2010 look like child’s play.
On his latest podcast (via The Ringer), Simmons claimed that he believes LeBron James, Paul George, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins could all sign with the Lakers in 2018. Now it seemed rather ambitious at first, and it still does. However, Simmons did lay out a somewhat feasible plan to make it work financially.
"“Maybe like $96 million [in space] for the four guys,” Simmons says. “LeBron takes less. LeBron takes $20 because they secretly promise him 2 percent of the team after he retires. He’ll make up the money. $20 million, so he leaves, let’s say, $75 million for the other three. They split it up, $25 million a piece.”"
Depending on the 2018-19 salary cap, that’ll leave almost no room for supplemental talent. I’d guess they retain at least a couple of their top prospects, although Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle would need to go. Luol Deng‘s contract would also need to be moved. They could then fill out the bench with minimum deals for aging ring chasers. Either way, they’d be looking at some significant luxury taxes.
In most situations, this would be waved off as another ridiculous hypothetical. And yet, it’s hard to write off Simmons, whose opinion does carry some weight in the NBA. The argument he makes for LeBron taking his talents to Los Angeles also makes a lot of sense. I’m just not sure if the Lakers would be willing to gut their roster to get the job done.
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Regardless, let’s dive a little deeper into what that starting five would look like. I’m sure you can guess that it would look pretty absurd from a talent standpoint. Can you say dynasty?
Point Guard: Lonzo Ball
In his piece, Simmons suggested that Ball would come off the bench while Brandon Ingram would be the fifth starter. In my opinion, though, I believe Ball is worthy of the starting gig. The Lakers are already heading treating him like the face of franchise, so why not stick with it?
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As we’ve seen through the early parts of the Summer League, Ball has the tools to be an elite facilitator. He’s already perfected the outlet pass, and does a great job of finding his scorers on the wing when driving into the lane. It also appears that the cherry-picking his brothers did at Chino Hills High have helped him develop some impressive full-court passing skills.
Imagine the damage he could do feeding players like James, George, Wall and Cousins. Those four are all offensive dynamos, using their own unique skill sets to carve up opposing defenses. With a legitimate facilitator like Ball in the mix, they’d have little trouble getting open looks on a nightly basis.
On top of that, playing alongside weapons like that would certainly help Ball’s development as a scorer. Not only would he be learning from some of the best in the game, but he’d get plenty of open looks with the defense focused elsewhere.
I’m not sure if Ball would like watching his status on the team change so drastically after one season. However, if it got him a couple of rings, I don’t foresee him having too many issues with it. I can’t say the same for LaVar Ball, though.
Point Guard: John Wall
With all of the talent in the frontcourt, I think the Lakers can afford to have two true point guards in the backcourt. However, seeing as Ball is more of a facilitator than a scorer at this point in his NBA career, I’ll have him on the ball in this hypothetical scenario.
That means Wall slides into the shooting guard slot, although I would foresee him as more of a second point guard. Realistically, Ball and Wall could share ball-handling duties, allowing them an opportunity to get even more creative with how they attack opposing defenses.
Overall, he’d be another key piece to this Lakers lineup. I would say, however, that signing him would be the lowest priority of the four stars Simmons suggested. The Lakers already have their point guard of the future. Finding space for three max deals would also be much easier. Plus, there have been no indications that Wall is interested in coming to Los Angeles.
Simmons’ only real reasoning is that Wall and Cousins are friends from their one year together at Kentucky. It’s a solid connection, but certainly not one that would make leaving the Washington Wizards easy. The fact that he’s currently the third-highest paid player on that roster, though, could get him thinking about a potential departure.
If Wall tests the waters and sees that his buddy Boogie is headed to LA, maybe he considers a split with the Wizards. If that were the case, he’d still be an excellent (although slightly redundant) addition to this Lakers lineup.
Small Forward: Paul George
We already know this is happening, right? Paul George tried to throw Lakers fans off the scent this week (via Sports Illustrated‘s Lee Jenkins), but I don’t think many are buying it. Simmons described the whole PG-13 situation pretty accurately:
"“Paul George is going to the Lakers anyway. I mean, that’s not even a secret anymore. It’s just like, they might as well start selling his jersey.”"
And yet, we have to watch him wear an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey for at least one full season after the Lakers failed to make a deal for him. It’s not the worst thing in the world, especially since Los Angeles didn’t have to give up assets to do. However, it does make the financial situation a little more restrictive.
Had the Lakers acquired George instead of the Thunder, Los Angeles could have re-signed him next offseason with less regard for the salary cap. Now that that isn’t the case, they’ll be forced to take the cap into consideration without his Bird Rights when signing the the All-Star forward. It is what it is.
So how does George fit into the equation? I’d see him starting at small forward where he can do damage with his versatile offensive game and outstanding perimeter defense. I don’t necessarily think he’d be the star of the show, but he wouldn’t need to be with all of the talent surrounding him.
We’ve been talking about George wearing purple and gold for the last few months. I don’t think the chatter is going to die down anytime soon.
Power Forward: LeBron James
Here it is — the cream of this potential 2018 free agency crop for the Lakers. While some may argue that he’s a risky signing at 33 years of age (by next offseason), James is exactly what Los Angeles needs to return to relevance.
Right now, he’s still the best player in the game. LeBron can dominate at any position, knows when and how to put the team on his back, and is lights-out from the field when he gets going (which is often). The other three hypothetical signings would be amazing additions to this Lakers lineup, but James would be the true game-changer.
Realistically, both James and George are interchangeable between the two forward positions. In this scenario, though, I like LeBron at the 4. He’s got the power and post game to battle down low, and is a matchup nightmare for the less-athletic power forwards he’d face. Then again, the King is a matchup nightmare for just about anyone in the NBA.
As Simmons clearly stated, this move makes a lot of sense for James. He’s got a home in Los Angeles and would have more business/post-career opportunities in California than he would in Cleveland. He already secured a ring for the Cavaliers, so his end of the deal is fulfilled.
All of the pieces are slowly falling into place for this to happen come 2018. Some Los Angeles fans will be hesitant about the King coming westward, but I believe it gives the Lakers the best chance of winning more rings in the near future.
Center: DeMarcus Cousins
Man. At this point, it’s almost too much talent for one starting lineup. Maybe one of these guys should move to the bench, just to even out the units a bit. For the purposes of this exercise, though, I’ll keep DeMarcus Cousins as the starting center.
If he were to join the Lakers, Cousins would give them their first elite paint presence since Shaquille O’Neal. He’s arguably the top offensive center in the NBA, possessing a wide array of post moves and improving range on his jumper. And yet, it’s not like he’d really need to be an offensive star with the other scorers in this lineup.
More importantly, Cousins would give Los Angeles a fearsome defender down low. After how miserable their defense was in 2016-17 (and figures to be in 2017-18), adding the All Star big man would make life very difficult for opposing paint players and guys who thrive at getting to the rim.
The Lakers have had interest in Cousins for some time. They attempted to acquire him before the 2017 deadline, but couldn’t convince the Sacramento Kings to keep him in California. Instead, he joined the New Orleans Pelicans to form one of the best big man duos in NBA history.
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Still, unless the Pelicans prove they can contend in 2017-18 (unlikely), I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cousins test the market. If he were to do so, he very well may be interested in joining this revamped Lakers lineup. That is, if he’s willing to take a pay cut like Simmons suggested.