It truly is hard to believe that it wasn’t so long ago that LeBron James and the Lakers won an NBA title. In fact, at the time of writing, it was approximately just 2 years ago.
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However, despite ending 2020 on a high, the franchise has only made the playoffs once since. And even that appearance was through the play-in tournament. Not great.
Given how successful the Lakers have been in the past, most NBA fans have been disappointed, to say the least. But, it appears that a certain man within the NBA saw it all coming.
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Unnamed NBA GM relays his harsh prediction that has been proven to be true
The Lakers may have been blessed with talent in the NBA draft on a few occasions.
But, more than anything else, the team profited from stars demanding to come right to them from other teams. And the people within the front office from the franchise in Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak deserve serious credit for making it happen.
So, when West left the Lakers in 2000, and Kupchak followed him to the door in 2017, not many believed it was a good thing.
However, perhaps even the staunchest believers were never as pompous about it as an unnamed NBA GM.
“These guys had no f***ing clue. I said when the old man dies and Jerry West leaves and a real professional like Mitch Kupchak leaves the Lakers, that you’re gonna see the fastest freefall of a legacy franchise you’ve ever seen.”
– An NBA exec on the Lakers
(via @SteveBHoop) pic.twitter.com/5fq6Z9SdZp
— ProCity Hoops (@ProCityHoops) November 9, 2022
Frankly, the language used here is a bit disrespectful, which has probably come from anonymity.
But, while the language can be improved, it’s hard to deny these claims.
At the end of the day, even the Lakers’ 2020 NBA championship came during a weakened NBA. So, while the West perhaps was competition enough, the team to come out of the East could’ve perhaps been a better one, had certain teams been healthy.
So, given this frightening reality, what’s next for the Lakers?
Should the Lakers trade LeBron James and hope for the best?
Frankly, the Lakers aren’t as bad as what their record would suggest, this season.
As of the time of writing, the team stands 2-7. However, there have been games in there, the team perhaps would have won on any other day. So, it is reasonable to expect them to finish at least as high as one of the play-in spots.
However, it is obvious that this roster can’t compete for a championship. And this franchise doesn’t have the assets to go after another star either.
No, it’s time for the Lakers to rebuild.
LeBron James has already made his intentions to leave the team soon clear. So, instead of him walking out, the franchise needs to look to acquire some assets for him.
Furthermore, stars like Russell Westbrook need to be traded as well, as the Lakers have been getting acceptable offers from teams for him. The only problem is, they unreasonably want more.
An emphasis on moving forward to the future may be the Lakers’ only hope of ever winning a championship again.
And even then, they have to start immediately.