Los Angeles Lakers are now the NBA’s House of Veterans

It’s happening again; the Los Angeles Lakers are making trades and signing ringless veteran free agents to shape their roster for the upcoming season.

Russell Westbrook, a 32-year old point All-Star point guard, was acquired via trade from the Washington Wizards, and Carmelo Anthony, a free agent and member of the famed “Banana Boat” crew, is finally getting his opportunity to team with LeBron James and his fellow Klutch Sports Client Anthony Davis in the purple and gold.

Don’t merely look at the headline and brush this off. It’s a fact. After Anthony puts his pen to paper, Los Angeles will have eight players on the roster 32 and up, five of them 35 and older. That’s not a slight; that’s a fact.

It’s happening again; the Los Angeles Lakers are making trades and signing ringless veteran free agents to shape their roster for the upcoming season.

The number of veterans on this team doesn’t even compare to the 2004 version of the Lakers, who are considered the historic Lakers team that heavily pursued veterans in an attempt to further grasp their grip of dominance in the NBA after having won three straight titles from 2000-2002 and falling short in 2003 to San Antonio.

Despite having notable veterans who had not won a ring upon arriving in LA, only five members on that team were 31 years older or above, including Karl Malone and Gary Payton. The late Kobe Bryant was only 25. The team made the NBA Finals; however, they fell in five games to the Detroit Pistons.

The 2021-2022 roster has a lot to say about that. They set the bar higher on getting veterans. That’s not to say that’s all they did, as they did sign Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn, who aren’t necessarily up there in age and looking for benefits, but rather they are young players who contribute when the older guys need a breather.

The Los Angeles Lakers are taking a big risk by signing older veteran free agents.

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Isn’t it quite obvious why these moves were made? The players that came in want rings on their fingers. They have several awards, and most of them have their money. But in this day and age, it’s all about putting a ring on it. But where’s the shooting going to come from, and what are the roles going to be for all these players?

It’s easy for them to say that they will spread the ball and share the wealth, it’s what the Brooklyn Nets said when they grabbed the gold from the vault and bolstered their lineup with ring hungry players, but they were bucked by Giannis and eventual champion Milwaukee in Round 2 on their home court.

Moreover, it’s also easy to say that the Phoenix Suns had a greater advantage on the Lakers in the playoffs last year with injuries, but with a roster with several elder players, the chances for injuries will only increase.

If this was 2014, and the Lakers had this arsenal, questions like this would have been laughed off, and the talk would primarily be about how many titles in a row would be forthcoming. Even now, the latter is being asked, but really, no one knows what to make of us, other than the fact that on paper, it is a supremely talented team.

The Lakers have their superteam now of superstars, and they all came to Los Angeles to help pursue the Larry O’Brien trophy. But only time will tell if they can actually hoist such a prestigious piece of hardware, or will this all have been for naught. Nonetheless, Los Angeles did make headlines once again, and that’s a tag they may never shake.