The Lakers are now at a crossroads in the history of the franchise. The Lakers were a disappointment to say the least last year, they went a dismal 37-45 under coach Luke Walton while they had turmoil in the locker-room after LeBron’s injury and rumors of a trade for Anthony Davis. The June of 2018, before signing LeBron Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball dropped diss-tracks on one another. LeBron then announced that he would be joining the Los Angeles Lakers on July 2, 2018. This move turned the league upside down, making the Lakers an automatic favorite to win the West. LeBron to the Lakers was not looking good at first, starting off 0-3 with Lebron being the scoring leader for the first few games. They were able to turn it around by midseason, a decent record at 23-19, hovering just above .500. LeBron was struck with a groin injury on Christmas day against the Warriors, he said, “I felt something pop.” This injury made the Lakers season take a turn for the worse, without their star they were bad, making them fall below .500. They finished their season at 37-45, finishing well under expectations but things were looking up for them. They had a young core who could be either developed or traded and they had a healthy LeBron for next season. Then on June 15th, 2019, the league was flipped upside down. The Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and 3 first round picks for the “Brow”, Anthony Davis. This was a franchise changing trade, putting the Lakers in a win now situation with only 3 players left on their roster. The Lakers were then able to clear enough cap for one more max free agent slot. Their goal, Kawhi Leonard. They wanted to build a big three out of three of the top 5 players in the NBA. When FA started they awaited Kawhi’s decision, not even trying to sign other top free agents like Kemba Walker or Jimmy Butler becasue they needed to get to Kawhi. America’s 243rd birthday came and went and still no decision from Kawhi. At 2 a.m. on July 6th Kawhi announced he was going to LA, to the Clippers. The Lakers were crushed by this and signed some other mid level free agents but they were forever haunted by the fact that the Clippers won the Kawhi sweepstakes. So how will these Lakers play together? I think that these Lakers will be good. Lebron always succeeds when he has a sidekick, he loved having a Dwade and a Kyrie and he has finally found his Robin to his Batman in Anthony Davis. LeBron also has a solid bench and when LeBron has a sidekick and a solid bench he wins and he wins a lot.
The Sports Source 