On Wednesday, superstar small forward LeBron James signed a new two-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly worth $104 million, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The decision came after James had reportedly offered to take a pay cut in the event that the Lakers were able to lure in a prized free agent or swing a trade for an established name; however, no such move occurred, and now James has another $104 million to add to his pile of billions.
It’s undeniably been a frustrating offseason for the Lakers so far, who have taken no steps outside of the draft to address their heavily flawed roster while many teams around them in the Western Conference have made strides to improve.
One person who isn’t so convinced that LeBron James and the Lakers are on the same page is none other than former NBA champion and James teammate Kendrick Perkins, who recently took to ESPN’s First Take to relay his concerns.
One person who isn’t so convinced that LeBron James and the Lakers are on the same page is none other than former NBA champion and James teammate Kendrick Perkins, who recently took to ESPN’s First Take to relay his concerns.
“Here’s the thing when it comes down to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers right now,” said Perkins, via First Take on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “To me, it seems like they’re on two different pages. When it comes down to Bron, the reason that he wanted to take a pay cut is for the simple fact that he wants to win now at a high level. Every single time he steps on the floor, LeBron James is thinking about championships. Rob Pelinka is thinking about the future.
And I think when you have someone like LeBron James, one is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest player of all time, you’ve got to take advantage of that. You’ve got to take advantage of that, do what you need to do to put championship caliber players around him so he can go and complete the mission.”
What should the Lakers do?
While not a lot of people like to admit it, a large portion of the Lakers’ current roster problems can be traced back to the disastrous trade for Russell Westbrook in the 2021 offseason, one that cost the Lakers valuable role players and draft capital, and one that was reportedly spearheaded by James himself.
However, there have certainly been some disappointing decisions made in the years since, or, perhaps more accurately, decisions that haven’t been made.
So far this free agency period, the Lakers have been tied to Klay Thompson, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, and others, and haven’t signed any of them (although DeRozan is still a possibility). While drafting Bronny James is a fun story and Dalton Knecht can certainly provide some shooting punch, neither of those two players is going to take the Lakers from first round exit to championship contention, especially considering that Los Angeles likely won’t have as much injury luck this season as they did in 2023-24, with James and Anthony Davis both enjoying their healthiest seasons in years.
With the free agency class and trade market already dwindling, time is running out on Rob Pelinka.
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