The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James are very much partners in success. With his phenomenal talents, it’s imperative that they build around his those skills. When transactions are to be made, it’s no secret that James will be one of the first sets of ears and eyes on it.
The biggest moves in free agency revolved around Russell Wesbrook and Carmelo Anthony. These two future hall of famers have been connected with the Lakers, but now it all comes to fruition. James used his own connections to bridge the gap and get these guys to Los Angeles. LeBron spoke at media day about their additions and the rest of their roster. Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times had the quote:
“It was exciting helping put this team together this summer…making us as explosive as we could be both offensively and defensively. …We have a team that’s looking forward to putting in the work.”
The Lakers are explosive, indeed. Their age may seem like it’d take away from that, but I beg to differ. Westbrook and James are such a cut above their NBA peers athletically that their combined attributes are nuts. The Lakers and James have been able to achieve the idea of playmaking relief that’s been a point of emphasis.
In James’ first year as a Laker, he was flanked with Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley as his scorers and playmakers. It’s safe to say that the scouts and front office learned their lessons. They moved from their identity as a defense-first team. This season appears to be all about the offense.
I can’t count how many games we watched the Lakers get stuck in scoring droughts. Most of the time, this was after the starters built sustainable leads in either half. They’ve turned their top reserves of Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, and Montrezl Harrell into Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, and Carmelo Anthony – amongst many other contributors.
The team has completed their Las Vegas mini-camp. Tomorrow marks their official day on the floor at training camp. The work that James speaks of is a go. Now it’s time for the production to be yielded from the input.
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