LeBron James<\/a>.<\/p>\nBut though the Lakers\u2019 fanbase winced, the franchise pushed forward with its plan \u2014 one more grounded in reality than people outside the organization could\u2019ve imagined \u2026 even if day one was a total dud.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t surprised,\u201d one team source told The Athletic, granted anonymity to freely discuss the Lakers\u2019 offseason moves.<\/p>\n
Even if it appeared otherwise, the Lakers had a strategy \u2014 albeit a tricky one \u2014 but a strategy nonetheless. Its results spewed from a transactional firehose Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Top 5 LeBron Lakers Moments<\/p>\n
The first (and most pivotal example) was a blockbuster trade for 24-year-old rim protector Walker Kessler \u2014 the Lakers\u2019 summer centerpiece, figuratively and literally. Long-expected deals for Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton materialized over the ensuing days.<\/p>\n
In total, the Lakers committed over $262 million in contracts for players with a combined 81 career playoff points scored. James has scored more than 100 times more postseason points by himself. The team, according to league sources who were granted anonymity to freely discuss the Lakers\u2019 offseason moves, is still seeking a young wing to help its perimeter defense. A high-upside swing receiving significant consideration, per league sources, is former Golden State Warrior and Atlanta Hawk Jonathan Kuminga, whose $24.3 million team option was recently declined by Atlanta.<\/p>\n
In Kessler\u2019s case, it took the Lakers offering their two available unprotected first-round picks and two swaps to push the Utah Jazz off matching Kessler\u2019s offer sheet, something the latter swore up and down they were more than happy to do.<\/p>\n
Still, there were optimistic people in and around the organization because these moves were carefully made with Luka Don\u010di\u0107 in mind.<\/p>\n
There was truly only one decision to make, and it was made for them early in the morning Feb. 2, 2025, when they traded for Don\u010di\u0107. The lessons the Lakers should have \u2014 and seemed to have \u2014 learned since then are simple: The only viable path to an NBA championship in this era is by allocating all resources around the best player.<\/p>\n
It starts with Kessler, a player Don\u010di\u0107 wanted at center most of all. The future first-rounders lost will certainly come back to sting the Lakers at some point. In addition to representing young, cost-controlled talent, those picks were also pathways out of unforeseen trouble \u2014 assets they can use to get off a bad contract or to upgrade a weakness. The Lakers sacrificed that flexibility for a player they believe fits \u201cperfectly\u201d alongside Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves, a team source told The Athletic.<\/p>\n
The biggest draw is Kessler\u2019s rim protection \u2014 which charts as close to the best in the league. Finding a center whom the Lakers can funnel players toward was a critical piece of their puzzle, and they now have one of the best. Since being drafted 22nd in 2022, Kessler ranks seventh among all players with 474 blocks. In the last two seasons, only Kessler, Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis have averaged at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and multiple blocks. The Lakers, who finished 22nd among teams in blocks per game each of the last two seasons, haven\u2019t ranked top 10 in rejections since the 2021-22 season (seventh), according to NBA.com<\/p>\n
The next stop for LeBron should be…<\/p>\n
David Aldridge, Joe Vardon and more<\/p>\n
Grimes will be slotted in as a point-of-attack defender with plenty of offensive game, a bet on him as a two-way talent. Team and league sources have long known JJ Redick to be a fan of Grimes, who was a priority target this summer.<\/p>\n
Mamukelashvili is a gifted offensive player the Lakers think will slot nicely next to Kessler, per a team source. A Toronto Raptors source, granted anonymity because the deal isn\u2019t official, pointed to Mamukelashvili\u2019s floor spacing (he shot 38.9 percent last season with a quick lefty release) as a strength. He also has some positive decision-making traits that pop in his highlight reels.<\/p>\n
Sexton, a 2018 lottery pick, is a gifted scorer who has always been a little too turnover prone. He\u2019s certainly capable as a bucket-getter on the nights when neither Don\u010di\u0107 nor Reaves has it going.<\/p>\n
Luka Re-Writing Lakers History<\/p>\n
James Jackson<\/p>\n
None of the Lakers\u2019 newly added players is older than Sexton \u2014 who will turn just 28 in January. Getting players who align with Reaves and Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s timeline was a large part of Los Angeles\u2019 plan, according to team sources.<\/p>\n
The Lakers have made their moves, having used their assets on Kessler and cap space on long-term deals for Grimes, Mamukelashvili and Sexton. All three got player options. So did Reaves, for that matter.<\/p>\n
The Lakers have carried out their plan with conviction.<\/p>\n
Now, they just have to hope it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everything was at stake for the Los Angeles Lakers, but as free agency started Monday, the organization seemed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,7232,590,85],"class_list":["post-774086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}