The Los Angeles Lakers have doubled down on their efforts to make it to the playoffs this year. Currently, the ninth seed with a 41-32 record, the Lakers have now won their last five games in a row. But despite having players like LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles is still barely in the playoff picture with their fate hanging over the play-in. So, should the Lakers move on from LBJ as suggested by Kevin Garnett?
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Boston Celtics legends Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett recently discussed when the Lakers should move on from LeBron James on KG Certified. The two also had one of their former teammates, Tony Allen as a guest on the show during this time.
The former Boston Celtics trio started the discussion with Paul Pierce expressing his excitement with Anthony Davis. According to Pierce, AD is the best player in the world, especially seeing how he performed against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks recently.
Paul Pierce also brought up the Lakers’ core of Austin Reaves, AD, and D’Angelo Russell. This led him to ask whether the Lakers should trade LeBron James this summer. Specifically, trade him to Cleveland and get some pieces for the future.
Kevin Garnett could not help but agree with Pierce that this is something the Lakers front office should entertain. But the team should wait to see how they perform in this postseason since they did make the Conference Finals.
Tony Allen made a compelling point of trading LeBron James while he is still averaging a triple-double. Pierce immediately chimed in on how LBJ keeps filling up the arena and that is equally important for the organization as well.
“You gotta get ready for the future. At some point, you gotta start saying where’s the future? Where do we start? Where are we aligned with the OKCs, the Minnesotas, you know what I’m saying? Cuz you gotta throw Denver in there.”
Kevin Garnett brought up how everyone has been trying to emulate what the Denver Nuggets have been doing, specifically what they have been able to do with Nikola Jokic. Every other team is out looking for a dynamic big man and the Lakers have that in Anthony Davis. Garnett made another compelling point that the Lakers already have a big they can build around with D-Lo and Austin Reaves.
So, the Lakers should build on that by trading away LBJ and looking to build a team for the coming years. Because, despite having LBJ on the roster, the team is still in the ninth spot in the West. And that is not the type of positioning they would want ahead.
KG and Pierce also discussed the toughest players in the league
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce had recently gotten into a discussion of the toughest players in the league. After mentioning a few familiar names and rising stars in the league, Garnett brought up the Los Angeles Lakers duo as some of the toughest players in the league as well.
Pierce did not seem to agree with Garnett’s take on Anthony Davis and LeBron James being tough enough, especially given how the Lakers had struggled to win games up until this last month.
“Nah, some of them Labradoodles. They ain’t no pits. You named some Labradoodles. Name some pit bulls.”
It sure is interesting to see how drastically both players changed their stances that they had just a few months ago. Garnett was all praises whereas Pierce was not impressed and now, it seems the other way around. It may have been due to the Lakers’ late-season push to win games and make the playoffs.
Now, whether the Lakers will move on from LeBron James is highly unlikely but as The Truth said, it would all depend on how the team fares off this upcoming postseason. However, even before the playoffs, the Lakers have to deal with the play-in tournament beforehand.
