Although the season is not over, the Los Angeles Lakers' defeat this season has been irreparable. After bringing in Westbrook to form the Big Three in the summer of '21, the Lakers' goal was to compete for the championship. But after more than half a season of low tide, I believe that no one believes that the Lakers have a chance to win the championship, and even entering the playoffs has become a big problem. As the saying goes, failure is only temporary, and the days go on. Although this season has failed, James is 37 years old, and Anthony Davis's body is still fragile, but the Lakers still have to face the days to come. The summer 2022 offseason is crucial for the Los Angeles giants, who are once again at a crossroads of fate three years after getting James. Recently, Bobby Marx, a well-known NBA expert on trading and labor agreements, analyzed two possible future routes for the Lakers in a podcast.
According to Marx's exposure, the current Lakers coach Vogel will most likely leave after the end of the season. Although he led the team to the 19-20 championship, Vogel's ability to play has been criticized. In the past two seasons, Vogel has not been able to show enough strength in the case of the Lakers' serious injury, which has gradually lost the trust in him. According to Marx's words, the Lakers expressed to insiders the attitude of "not wanting to replace another mediocre coach", that is to say, the next manager of the Lakers will most likely be a "familiar face". In such a situation, as long as we analyze the famous coaches in the opposition, it is not difficult to find that de Antoni, the offensive master who once ran the Lakers, has become the most likely candidate to coach the Lakers. In addition to matching the Lakers' requirements, de Antoni's advocated rapid offensive play is also very suitable for the Lakers' tactics of James' current fifth position.
In addition to the coach's problem, the Lakers also need to solve the problem of lineup reinforcement. In recent seasons, when we talk about the Lakers, the most common thing we talk about is that "if Zhan Mei stays healthy, the Lakers will be extremely competitive." But injuries to core players seem to have become an unavoidable problem for the Lakers in recent seasons. After Westbrook became a "difficult asset to trade," the Lakers could only break up the Jamesons if they wanted to seek reinforcements. Bobby Marx's first reinforcement idea was to trade Davis, who he believed was like "buying a supercar" when the Lakers traded Davis two years ago, and now two years later the car has "seriously depreciated." If the Lakers want to get out of the predicament quickly, they have to try to use Davis to exchange multiple quality role players to build a team around James. But after the last two seasons of poor attendance, Davis' trading value has fallen to the lowest point of his career, and whether there is a team willing to pay so much chips for him will be a problem that the Lakers need to consider and solve.
Another bold line of thought that Marx proposed to the Lakers was to send James back to the Cavaliers. During the Cleveland All-Star period, James talked almost in a "seemingly jealous" way about the possibility of returning to the Cavaliers. Marx analyzed that there is only one possibility for the Lakers to send James to the Cavaliers, that is, James took the initiative to contact the Cavaliers and persuade the Cavaliers management to build a team around him again. Earlier this season, the Cavaliers had a good result with the excellent performance of young players, but this "youth storm" was beaten back to its original form as the schedule deepened. If the Lakers can use James to get back to the Cavaliers' quality young players, it's obviously a good way to quickly complete the rebuild, but it's also unknown that the Cavaliers are still far from willing to pay chips for the 37-year-old James. Which rebuilding route do fans and friends think the Lakers should take? Welcome to discuss and communicate in the comments section!