LeBron James’ career has exceeded the expectations that were heaped on him coming out of high school.
Despite his petty critics, James has more often been right than wrong including his decision to leave Cleveland the first time around.
James is rather far down the road of the backside of his career so, for the man who was always “win now”, he’s in that mindset even more.
After 20 seasons in the league, James is playing basketball at a level that has him up on the scorecards against Father Time.
James is 8th in the NBA in scoring at 29.1 points a game as he has to carry the carry the Lakers every night because the oft-injured Anthony Davis cannot.
In a recent article, James hinted the the Los Angeles Lakers needed to trade it’s last two assets at their disposal, 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, to improve the team right now.
For one of the few times in his career, James is wrong on his assessment.
With or without a deal, the Lakers are going nowhere this season.
Sure, it would sting if the Lakers won the lottery and watched the New Orleans Pelicans peacock around the NBA but such is life. James and the Lakers traded that in for the one title they won after the Davis trade.
With Russell Westbrook coming off the books and the Lakers actually have some room to work with, next summer should be on their mind.
The Lakers will have a chance to rebuild the team in a logical fashion. That’s something they haven’t done since they won the title. Instead, the roster has looked like it was built by the Three Stooges.
Giving up the picks and risk taking on future salary isn’t the right move for the Lakers in the short term or the long term.
