Los Angeles Lakers: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Final Grades
The Los Angeles Lakers are almost certainly going to be back in the playoffs this season, ending the league’s third-longest streak and putting LeBron James and Anthony Davis back where they belong, on the league’s biggest stage.
In fact, this could be a year where each of the league’s top 15 or so players are all playing in the playoffs.
What the Lakers have to be strictly graded for is whether they did the best job maximizing their chances at winning a title, and that answer is probably not. They absolutely did a better job of building a rotation this season than they did last year, adding shooters and wing depth.
That was unfortunately a low bar to clear and they certainly made some missteps.
Adding DeMarcus Cousins was a reasonable value play, and Alex Caruso is a good value as one of the team’s last remaining “young” players. Quinn Cook and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are fine for their price tag without moving the needle. Danny Green is a great signing.
The team also spent money on Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley that will likely come back to bite them.
The Lakers have to capitalize on their star talent soon, because they have mortgaged their future with draft picks and swaps over the next decade all sent out to bring in Davis and clear space for the third star who never came.
This all assumes that Davis, an unrestricted free agent in 2020, does stay in Los Angeles. The future is full of variables, most of them unfavorable for the Lakers long-term.
The shining jewel of the offseason is Anthony Davis, and that almost demands a positive grade by itself. Adding the big man is certainly a major move that makes a title at least feasible.
Adding Kawhi to the mix would have been a fascinating collection of talent, but he ended up across the hallway.
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The Lakers need to hope their decisions this summer allow another banner to be raised at the Staples Center. Otherwise, the team will look back on this offseason with bitterness and not contentment or excitement.