Lakers lost to the Grizzlies tonight to fall to 10th place in the West. Lebron is being blamed for ruining the chemistry of the Lakers since he publicly lobbied for the team to trade for Anthony Davis and even after the trade deadline passed he kept it going during All-Star weekend, even though nothing could be done at that point. After the Lakers lost to the Pelicans the other night Lebron called out his teammates about being used to losing and how he's never been accustomed to losing.
Here's a
link to that story on Yahoo.
The whole mess in LA may end up keeping them from bringing in another star player this summer. I think they could sign Cousins, or another similarly damaged talent, but I can't see them seriously adding one of the other potential big name free agents like KD, Kyrie, or Kawhi. Jimmy Butler is a possibility, he's clashed with those in Philly already and it's no sure thing he'll resign there, or that they'll want him back. Cousins isn't even a sure thing. He seems content not being the center of attention in Golden State and may look for a home that keeps him out of the spotlight next year, at least a lesser spotlight than would be on him in LA if he joined Lebron.
They will probably need to unload some of their youth to try and salvage their roster. Trading all would be a mistake and set them back too much talent wise. Even if they could get AD, I can't see him and Lebron doing all that much. Davis can't get the Pelicans to the playoffs alone and Lebron can't do the same with the Lakers. They may end up needing to trade away their youth to salvage something but that won't exactly help them very much since that youth can't get Lebron to the playoffs now. Kuzma could probably get a good haul though. They won't be able to add cheap minimum salaried veterans since they can't offer a guaranteed trip to the finals like Lebron did in the East for the last 5-6 years. The Lebron Lakers could end up like the old man Kobe Lakers where they have cap space but no one wants to join that mess.
I hoped the Lakers would be bad this year but this implosion of sorts will be better than anything I could have hoped for if they miss the playoffs and they trade their youth away for pennies on the dollar. They've lost more than I thought they would and starting while and falling apart is better than watching them struggle all year. This is all self-inflicted by Lebron, Rich Paul, and Magic. There's actually a chance the Suns make it to the playoffs before they do, which would be amazing.
