The goal of the Los Angeles Lakers is always to compete for a championship and that is especially the case with LeBron James in the final years of his career. This team as currently constructed is clearly not a championship contender, however, and some are wondering what moves could be next.
The team already swung a trade for a much-needed 3-and-D wing in Dorian Finney-Smith, but he alone is not enough to boost this team to elite status. Even with James and Anthony Davis playing at All-NBA levels, the Lakers just aren’t there and now the trade deadline is less than a month away.
James has previously said that the Lakers aren’t a championship contender yet, even after their trade with the Nets. But in a recent interview on the Gojo and Golic Show, LeBron said this team has room to improve and won’t look the same when February and March roll around:
“Yeah I think so. I think our identity is one, defensively we want to bring physicality to the game. You know make teams try to do something that they do not like to do. And then offensively we want to share the ball. You know we’re very good when we’re up in the high-20s in assists. I feel like we have so much more room to improve. We are not the team, I believe we’re gonna be, once February, March hit. But I do like our chances and we got to continue to put the work in and that’s all that matters.”
This can be interpreted a couple of different ways. LeBron saying the Lakers have so much room to improve could mean that he feels this team just needs more time to come together and then will look much better in a month or so. But this also can be taken as James expects there to be another move or two at the deadline.
LeBron has never been shy about making these kinds of statements in the media and subtly pushing for a change and the Lakers are expected to continue to be active in the coming weeks. If they plan on contending in any way this year, something needs to happen at the trade deadline.
Lakers’ LeBron James still third in All-Star frontcourt votes
LeBron James continues to play at an All-Star level in his 22nd NBA season and he is in line to make his 21st consecutive NBA All-Star Game appearance.
In the latest All-Star voting returns, LeBron remains third in the frontcourt voting, trailing only Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant. His Lakers teammate Anthony Davis came in at fifth, falling one spot from the first returns behind Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama.
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