The Los Angeles Lakers have never been afraid to take big swings over the offseason to bring in as much talent as possible to compete for championships.
While they have been one of the busiest teams this summer, the Lakers received poor feedback on their recent moves. Bleacher Report gave the Lakers a ‘D’ grade for their offseason acquisitions, ranking among the worst teams in the NBA.
“Those moves make it quite clear the Lakers aren’t willing to spend what it takes to make this year’s team as talented and cohesive as possible,” Grant Hughes wrote on Bleacher Report. “(Dorian Finney-Smith‘s) exit was hard to fathom given his demonstrated fit next to Luka Dončić, and James’ impending free agency will hang over the team until he’s playing somewhere else.”
Los Angeles also made the moves to acquire Jake LaRavia, former first overall pick DeAndre Ayton, and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart.
Lakers Given Bad News
Though they made the notable offseason signings, the Lakers lost out on Finney-Smith in free agency to the Houston Rockets and waived Jordan Goodwin, Shake Milton, and Trey Jemison III.
Hughes believes what they did to strengthen their roster isn’t as good as it looks on paper. While they might be players with strong resumes, there was a reason that both Ayton and Smart agreed to contract buyouts with their former teams.
“Marcus Smart, on board following a buyout from Washington, has been injured and ineffective the last two years. He’s a splashy name, but the assumption should be he’s not a high-end rotation piece for the Lakers—let alone a useful starter,” Hughes wrote. “DeAndre Ayton is a great value at two years and $16 million, and Jake LaRavia is a solid get. But it still feels as if the Lakers are keeping their powder dry for a post-LeBron, prime-Luka run that may never happen.”
Ayton has played in at least 70 regular season games just once in his career, and after agreeing to a buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers, hasn’t looked anything close to his previous peak with the Phoenix Suns. Similarly for Smart, who despite winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2021-22, has played in only 54 games over the past two seasons.
Along with the new additions, the Lakers saw LeBron James sign his player option for next season worth $52.6 million. Hughes said James’ impending looming free agency next summer, rather than him signing a longer-term deal to stay in Los Angeles, contributed to their poor ranking.
LA’s Future Could Be Bleak
The Lakers have made it clear that they plan to build around Doncic rather than James. However, Hughes also remarked that there is ‘no assurance’ that they could find the talent that would adequately help Doncic in a loaded Western Conference.
“It makes sense to build around Dončić, but there’s no guarantee his next five years will be better than his last five,” Hughes wrote. “And there’s no assurance Los Angeles will be able to land a better player than a 40-year-old James to play next to him in the coming offseasons.”
This latest offseason, reports linked the Lakers to big-name centers to help a team that lacks a true starter at the position. Many expected them to pursue players like Lauri Markkanen or Walker Kessler on the Utah Jazz, Onyeka Okongwu of the Atlanta Hawks, or even Mark Williams, whom they tried, but failed, to acquire at the trade deadline.
None came to fruition, but they are hanging their hat on the chances of Ayton coming in and being their main defensive anchor and rim protector.
While teams like the Hawks, Rockets, and Los Angeles Clippers were all given ‘A’ grades for their offseason, the Lakers’ poor grade puts them alongside the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, and Toronto Raptors as having one of the worst offseasons in the NBA.
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