6 players the Lakers should bring back at all costs next season
By Cal Durrett
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James
With Lakers superstar LeBron James under contract for at least one more season, he is obviously the first player that the team would want to bring back. That gives the Lakers another chance at retooling around him, though their front office, namely Rod Pelinka, has done a poor job of that thus far.
In fact, if the team misses the playoffs again this season, James’ return could actually be in jeopardy. In theory, James could request a trade, and he and the team could work together to find a deal. That’s obviously the worst-case scenario, however.
Assuming he does not ask for a trade and instead decides to give the Lakers another chance, they would still have one of the best players in the NBA on its team, and there are certainly worse ways to start a roster reconstruction. Speaking of roster reconstruction, all the Lakers really need to do is put better shooting around James. They failed to do that last offseason, but they’ll hopefully make it a priority with James back in the fold.