Due to the lofty expectations that always surround the Los Angeles Lakers, an insider for the franchise believes the organization has had the most disappointing summer of any team in the NBA so far and is stuck with its current roster.
The Lakers have been very busy over the last few weeks. As the 2023-24 playoffs came to a close, the team was still one of the biggest stories in basketball despite being eliminated weeks before because of their search for a new head coach. They went from nearly landing Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley and instead settled on former ESPN analyst JJ Redick.
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Heading into the offseason, improving the roster for whoever would become the new head coach was a top priority. But while many other teams around the game were able to make some impactful moves, Los Angeles struck out on the free agent and trade markets over the last couple of weeks. And it wasn’t from a lack of trying.
That is exactly why Spectrum SportsNet Lakers reporter Mark Medina told Sportsnaut this week there is no question the franchise has been the biggest disappointment in the league so far this summer.
“I think it’s all about the expectations and you can’t help but think the Lakers were the most disappointing team because they didn’t make any moves at all in free agency besides retaining Max Christie,” Medina said.
While Medina feels Tennessee star Dalton Knecht was a “steal” at pick 17 in the NBA Draft and he likes the edition of Lebron James’ son Bronny, the fact that the front office was unable to make any trades to improve the roster is a bad sign about the trade assets the team currently has on the roster.
Los Angeles Lakers insider says this summer shows the low value of the team’s assets around NBA
“I do understand why the Lakers weren’t able to get players and it wasn’t from a lack of trying,” he started by saying. “But I think it really illustrated the fact that there’s a lot of question marks about the team’s supporting cast. If there weren’t they would have been able to make a lot more trades.
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“I think with Rob Pelinka’s messaging that the second apron’s going to be challenging and he might be waiting to make a deal with those picks at next year’s trade deadline in February, I think that really sends a message that this is the team they have to work with. But we’ve already seen a sample size that it can only go so far.”
Lakers star Lebron James reportedly tried to woo Klay Thompson in free agency but the future Hall-of-Famer instead took his talents to the Dallas Mavericks. Also, Dejounte Murray — a player linked to LA for months — was shipped off to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Damaged young stars Zach LaVine or Trae Young could still be in play in a trade this summer.
