The Lakers have been the most watched teams in the past three seasons, mainly because the addition of LeBron James has made the Lakers a better competitive team. As the best player in the league, James can bring a championship trophy no matter which team he is on, and of course the Lakers have already won a championship trophy in 2020.
Just to build a roster for LeBron James, the Lakers gave up almost all of their future assets in the deal involving Anthony Davis, and the deal involving Westbrook did not make the Lakers a competitive team again. So if the Lakers hadn't made those two deals, what lineup would they have now? First of all, we need to review the two deals involving Anthony Davis and Westbrook:
Chips to trade Anthony Davis: Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, DeAndre Hunt, Brandon Ingram, 2021 first round (Isaiah Jackson), 2023 first round, 2024 first round, Isaac Bunga, Gemellio Jones, Moritz Wagner, 2022 second-round draft picks
Chips to trade Russell Westbrook: Kyle Kuzma, Pop, Harrell, the 22nd overall pick in the first round for Westbrook, the 2024 and 2028 second-round picks
Without the above two deals, the Lakers may have the following lineup at the moment:
Point Guard: Ball, Nunn
Points guard: Tucker, Hart, Pope, Munch
Small forwards: Ingram, DeAndre Hunt, Ellington
Big forwards: James, Kuzma, Cameron Anthony
Center: Harrell, Howard, Jordan Jr
While there aren't two superstar-caliber players in this lineup, they're also teams with two cores, James and Ingram, and backcourt players like Ball, Hart, Pope and Munch are enough to give the Lakers the depth to have a consistent performance on both offensive and defensive ends.
As for the inside, in addition to James, there are scorers such as Kuzma and Anthony who can top the No. 4 position, and Harrell's scoring ability and vitality, coupled with Howard and Jordan Jr.' two traditional centers, are undoubtedly a lineup with better depth for the Lakers.