Free agency kicks off on June 30 and the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves once again in a position needing to make multiple moves to become a serious championship contender. While March was a great month for L.A., there was a heavy reliance on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as the two primary scorers.
Eventually, having a lack of playoff-caliber players came back to haunt them again this season when they were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Former Lakers champion Danny Green spoke about what moves general manager Rob Pelinka needs to make to build a more well-rounded roster around Doncic.
“Defensive guys, right? Defense and shooters,” Green said on ESPN LA radio. “That’s no real secret or science to it. If you wanna have a great winning team, you need some superstars and you need a good quality big man that can rebound and some 3-and-D guys around him. If you can get that at a good price, you have a good chance of being successful and winning some championships.”
Going back to 2019 when Green signed with the Lakers in free agency, he was not the only 3-and-D player brought in o surround the team’s stars. Pelinka added tenacious two-way players like Avery Bradley, Dwight Howard, along with previous additions like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Alex Caruso and Anthony Davis.
Los Angeles had the winning formula, they were dominant all the way to winning a championship. One could argue opposing teams saw what L.A. accomplished and followed suit by surrounding their respective star with complementary 3-and-D role players.
Outside of the 2020-21 season, the Lakers have yet to get it right during transaction periods. While there have been flashes of positive moves, it ultimately proved not enough to build a deep playoff-caliber roster. Pelinka needs to go back to his roots and either trade or sign players who can play both sides of the ball.
Lakers not concerned about Luka Doncic-Austin Reaves backcourt defense
LeBron James and Reaves are both unrestricted free agents and the Lakers have interest in bringing them back next season. Reaves put together an All-Star caliber season before suffering a Grade 2 calf strain and then James demonstrated two-way effectiveness as a third option.
On top of Doncic being a generational talent, all three players have shown they can co-exist together, despite defensive concerns. Despite debates whether Reaves is worth potentially max-level money, the Lakers do think they can have a championship-caliber team with the Arkanasas native and Doncic in the backcourt.
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