The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t won a championship since 2020. Rob Pelinka and the front office have struggled to build a high-quality roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis and have, as such, consistently fallen short of expectations.
With James recently turning 40, you’d be forgiven for expecting the Lakers to get him some high-level help for another championship push. After all, the point of keeping James around is maximizing his career’s final years.
Yet, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, the Lakers are unlikely to make a significant trade before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Instead, an ancillary move is far more likely. Pelinka prioritizes keeping the team’s future draft assets rather than putting all the chips in.
“The sense around the league, when talking to rival scouts and front-office personnel, is that standing pat or making a half-measure trade (likely one or two second-round picks) is more likely than the Lakers going all-in and trading both of their future first-round picks that can be moved,” Buha wrote. “That’s dependent, of course, on the available players, asking prices and the team’s performance through the deadline.”
From a business perspective, Pelinka’s decision is the right one. There’s no point mortgaging the franchise’s future when James could end his career in a few months. Having high-level draft picks on hand will help the franchise pivot when the time arrives.
However, James deserves an opportunity to finish his career on top. He’s arguably the greatest NBA player ever and hasn’t tasted the success many expected when he moved to Los Angeles. Looking through this lens, you could argue that Pelinka hinders James’ ability to bow out on his terms.
There’s no telling when James will retire. He’s still operating at an elite level and is among the top-15 players in the world. In 37 games, he’s averaging 23.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists. He’s shooting 51.4% from the field and 40% from three-point range.
James won’t be around long enough to see future draft picks develop into championship-level stars. Therefore, Pelinka must make a choice. Does he want to keep James around for the remainder of his career, or does he want to use the assets at his disposal to put a winning team on the floor? He could also trade James and let him chase success elsewhere.
Pelinka is making the correct choice for the Lakers. Unfortunately, the decision doesn’t align with what’s right for James. That disconnection could make for some uncomfortable discussions during the summer.
