LeBron James is now entering his 21st season, his sixth with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the sense is he is nearing the finish line of his career. However, whatever team James is on, the expectation is championships, which is the same standard as the Lakers. This offseason the front office has been able to retool the Western Conference Final team with a better and balanced roster.
The keys to free agency were to retain Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell, which were all completed. Now that L.A. has continuity moving forward, it has prompted the Lakers brass to begin to think about the future whenever James retires or decides to leave the team. The first step was to secure Anthony Davis with an extension and did so by tying him with the franchise up to the 2027-28 season.
Fans have begun to wonder what the next iteration of the team will look like as presumably Davis is the No. 1 option moving forward. L.A. is known for its stars and has had at least two or more stars for the majority of the organization’s existence, so that begs the question, ‘Who will be brought in to play alongside Davis after James’ departure?’ That’ll be answered whenever the four-time champion decides to hang it up, but it seems that Reaves is rumored to potentially doing some recruitment while he is with Team USA for the FIBA World Cup, via Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
Reaves has even played into the idea of being a lead recruiter for the Lakers, following a long line of Team USA being the soil for seeding super teams — most famously in 2008 when James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh formed a bond that led them to team up in Miami in 2010.
“I can’t speak on that,” Reaves said, laughing. “But I like some of the guys we’re playing with. So … yeah.”
With no shortage of young and highly talented players in the league now, it is hard to lock in on one player, but frankly, there is no bad choice. Specifically on this USA team, Reaves has seemed to form a bond with Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Reaves seems to be doing his best to keep his recruiting skills on the down low, but this sparks up some excitement for fans to wonder which one, if any of these players on Team USA, will be a Laker in the future alongside Reaves and Davis.
Players getting close and recruiting each other on Team USA is nothing new, with the most notable example being James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Reaves working hard with Lakers trainers with goal of playing 82 games this season
Playing a full 82-game season is lost art in a sense with load managing and resting players being prominent in today’s game. But, it seems that Reaves is taking pride in playing a full 82-game season with that being his goal next season.
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