LeBron James was released for dinner when news of his Los Angeles Lakers had exchanged against Luka Dončić took him by surprise, According to Dave McMenamin d’Espn. It is difficult to believe that James was blinded by the news, because the agent he shares with Anthony Davis, the CEO of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul, was would have alerted from the proposal in the days preceding an agreement; But that makes sense, because this case does not concern James.
This trade was the opportunity to acquire a candidate for the sustainable MVP of 25 years at half of the cost.
It was not this season either. Lakers do not win a championship with James making 35% of their salary ceiling. It will be an incredible theater for James and Dončić to share the word together. If Dončić adopts James’ packaging regime, the Lakers will be better for this, but James is 40 years old; He cannot maintain the kind of bidirectional peak performance they need with his $ 48.7 million for a playoff race.
This is why Lakers should exchange James now.
The Lakers were 9.8 points for 100 significant possessions worse when James is on the ground this season, By cleaning the glass. They were upgraded by 6.5 points per 100 non-aging goods with James and without Davis, equivalent to a team of 23 victories. They had a defense at the end of 10 with Davis, and to this mixture, they add Dončić, including the old team identified the defense as the reason to exchange it.
Dončić and James are expected to make a spectacular offense. They are two of the greatest games of play in the history of the game, seeing the things that others cannot, and when they are, it will be magical. But no team can build a championship defense with Dončić, James and Austin Reaves as the first three. The alignments featuring James and Reaves and Non Davis have already been equal to the worst defense of the NBA.
The Lakers will target a rim protector before the commercial deadline on Thursday. Nicolas Claxton and Robert Williams III come to mind as possibilities. One or the other would cement them as serious threats in the playoff series, although it is several pieces of the real affirmation of the championship – another wing of 3 and D, another guy from the bench, the genre Players you can find when you haven’t shocked your team in a shocking way in mid-season.
And they still hit the head against this wall: LeBron James is 40 years old, making money max. I hate making my hand prime The co-star does not play at its level. If Jamal Murray or Damian Lillard or Jaylen Brown were 40, you wouldn’t bet on them either.
Heck, Lillard is 34 years old, and we blamed her The age for the disappearance of Milwaukee Bucks. James miracles, but no man has defeated the father’s time. It only takes a moment to watch James to see the toll time has taken. In these moments, it is beaten with the dribbling or cannot completely beat someone dribbling or does not help at all at one or the other of the ends. Should we forget that James needed a 10-day sabbatical leave before Christmas?
Games like Saturday’s victory over New York Knicks distort our perception of James. We see his 33 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a masterful victory (without davis), and we think he can maintain it, even if the last four seasons have not shown any evidence that he could for the integrality of the playoffs. His 24 points, 9.1 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game believe that reality that he is no longer a cup above.
Dončić and James’ dismissals are the cause of a break. Ideally, adding a predominantly ball superstar to another would give you double production, but that is not how it works. Only one of them can manipulate a defense at a time. James pulls 40% from the 3 capture and shooting points, but is that really what you want from a while? And would this particular time accept this role? JJ Redick will bring them together in the actions, but there is no equation here where one is equivalent to two.
If an overlap of their capacities decreases further than defensive concerns, the Lakers must wonder if James’ contract is an obstacle to the place where they want to obtain. And as soon as it happens, they must exchange James, because it loses value with each passing day. Have we mentioned that he was 40 years old?
The Golden State Warriors have the interest of the Lakers for years to negotiate James. However, multiple outlets have reported that James will stay on the Lakers through the deadline, but why should he? This summer, it could become even clearer than an even older James cannot wear – or co -carriter – a competitor. James has a non-exchange clause, but does he want to become a reason why Luka cannot win in Los Angeles?
Instead, the Lakers will claim that twining a superstar in another championship intrinsically, and when he will not, they will inform us that they need a full summer to solve the problems of the list. And when it will not work either, James will be 42 years old, and the Lakers will be trapped by holding a depreciated asset, although all time, and they will be two years behind their reconstruction project.
Lakers have a new face of their franchise, and it’s time to build around him. Step 1: Trade LeBron.
