Having one of the most disappointing seasons of all time, the Los Angeles Lakers have missed the 2022 playoffs altogether, even failing to earn a Play-In Tournament berth. After having back-to-back disappointing seasons, is it possible for the Lakers to be blown up?
Well, it’s no secret Frank Vogel is going to be fired shortly. So, the first step would be finding a good replacement for the head coach vacancy. It is also possible that GM Rob Pelinka will be fired, but that seems unlikely. It is unclear what LA would want to do with their roster because there are a lot of outcomes to consider.
Will the Los Angeles Lakers blow it up this offseason?
The Lakers went into the season with a Big 3 that included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook. You have to assume the Lakers at least try and move one of them, and in all likelihood, it is going to be Westbrook. Westbrook had one of the worst seasons of his career with the Lakers and had trade rumors thrown in his face the whole season. It’s unclear what Westbrook’s value is after this season, though, so it’s hard to tell what the Lakers will get in return.
It will also be interesting to see what the Lakers do with Anthony Davis. Davis missed 42 games this year with various injuries. And with the Lakers timeline, I don’t think they have the time to sit around and wait for Davis to spend most of the season hurt. So I wouldn’t be shocked if they end up trading Davis, but once again, it is probably unlikely Davis would be on the move.
LeBron will not be on the move, but you should question how long it will be until he grows unhappy. The King had one of his best statistical seasons in Year 19. LeBron put up averages of 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game. He would have been in the MVP conversation if the Lakers didn’t have a record of 32-49. You would have to assume “LeGM” would want to make some moves so they would make the playoffs next season.
To make matters worse, the Lakers don’t even have their first-round pick this season, so they can’t help their future in that way. It is also important to note that the Lakers have an average age of 29.4, which is the oldest in the NBA. The Lakers don’t have a lot of young talent, to begin with, so it will be hard to prepare for the post Lebron era.
The Lakers will also always have a chance to improve in free agency. What they do there is unknown, but based on their lack of success this year, something has to change.
So will the Los Angeles Lakers blow it up? In short, yes. I think it is very clear the Lakers need to shake up their roster. It is hard to tell how much they will shake it up, though. Westbrook will most likely be gone, with the possibility of Davis departing as well. All I know is that the Lakers need to make changes if they want to keep LeBron happy, and if they don’t, he will be gone in no time.