The Los Angeles Lakers' season hasn't even ended yet, and fans already have their eyes toward the summer. That's a result of the Lakers potentially having up to $50 million in cap space and likely overhauling their roster.
That could mean that superstar LeBron James could be playing on another team next season, as could several of the Lakers' potential free agents. The two locks to return next season appear to be Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, giving Los Angeles two building blocks for the future.
In fact, according to the NBA analyst Chris Manix, the Lakers are looking to take a page out of the Dallas Mavericks' playbook and build a roster tailor-suited for Doncic.
The Los Angeles Lakers plan to steal the Mavs' Luka Doncic strategy
Never mind the irony for a second; Doncic, for all his faults, is still an elite player who's worthy of being built around. Los Angeles is trying a tried and true method, which makes sense. On the other hand, the Mavericks failed in the NBA Finals when it mattered most, with Doncic's flaws winning out.
No matter how great a team the Lakers can build this summer, they won't win it all without Doncic first fixing his issues. He is still a huge negative defensively, not to mention that he argues every "missed" foul call.
That all but guarantees the Lakers will give up three or four baskets a game as a result of him essentially playing one on five while he argues with referees.
While having significant cap space and a stellar backcourt in Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers may not have enough to build a championship-caliber roster around those two.
The Lakers must solve Luka Doncic's flaws to truly contend
Both players are poor defenders. That means they'd need at least two or even three solid to good defenders in the front court to offset their guards being a turnstile on defense. Rumors that the Lakers may pursue Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler make plenty of sense, with him being a terrific rim protector.
He'd probably cost only around one-third of their cap space, too, possibly making him an affordable option. Then again, Doncic is well-known for preferring to play with a rim-running lob threat at center, and Kessler isn't that.
Perhaps L.A. goes in a completely different direction by putting all of their eggs in the Giannis Antetokounmpo basket. That might seem like a pipe dream, but the Lakers will have three first-round picks to offer the Milwaukee Bucks.
They can also absorb Giannis' contract into their cap space, keeping the Bucks from having to take back bad contracts.
If Giannis demands a trade and makes clear that he'd only sign an extension with the Lakers, then that might be enough to pair him with Doncic and Reaves. Only then would they be legit contenders.
Barring that, the Lakers' plans for creating a roster tailor-suited around Doncic wouldn't work without him first addressing his biggest weaknesses.