The case for the Los Angeles Lakers to keep roster intact at deadline

Would hypothetical, revamped Lakers roster even contend?

Let’s say the Los Angeles Lakers are successful in shedding Clarkson’s contract, offloading Randle and convincing Paul George to take the max and join the Lakers. LeBron and other big names opt to play elsewhere. They land their guy George and fill the roster out with lesser free agents to play next to Lonzo and the remaining Lakers.

The Lakers would be better, but serious questions about the limitations that roster has would arise in their goal to contend immediately. Would that hypothetical Lakers team make the second round of the playoffs next year? Would they even make the playoffs given the strength and depth of their conference?

It would take multiple eyebrow-raising moves for the Lakers to be a threat at all. I’m not sure adding LeBron along with George vaults the Lakers over the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets or any of the top teams, considering their overall youth the Lakers roster would still have.

Teams in the Lakers’ situation should be building for a couple years down the road, when LeBron is on the downslope of his career and the Warriors are near the end of their dominance.

The point is, I don’t see why the Lakers would rush and trade any player before the deadline for the chance to sign Paul George and others. Nothing is guaranteed in the NBA, so for as much momentum and positivity the Lakers have about bringing in PG-13, why would you give up two players approaching their primes for a chance at signing George?

The Lakers would undoubtedly improve the second Paul George or any star of his caliber on the team. But I don’t see these moves turning the Lakers into immediate title contenders, which is the reason why you would make these trades. Staying pat, building through their young players is smarter than offloading talent and hoping for an instant turnaround.