This season did not too too well for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. To those who might not know, the Lakers were unable to secure a confirmed spot in the postseason and had to go through the play-in tournament in order to qualify for the playoffs. Since they won their first game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers finished 7th and matched up with the Denver Nuggets for their second straight playoff series.
Since the Nuggets swept the Lakers during the 2022-2023 Western Conference Finals and went on to win the championship, many assumed that the Lakers would be eager to eliminate them this season. However, things did go as Laker Nation expected as the Nuggets emerged victorious once again and won the series in 5 games.
Having lost in a one-sided beatdown to the same team two years in a row undoubtedly had an effect on the Lakers. After their season came to an end, the team fired Darvin Ham and is currently on the lookout for a new coach. However, that is not the only change that they should be looking to make if they wish to establish themselves as title contenders next season.Trading D’Angelo Russell is an important move for the Los Angeles Lakers to consider
Whenever a team ends up losing to the same opponent consistently, it is unfair to blame just one individual such as the coach. After all, the players on the court who do not live up to expectations and do what is expected of them should also be held accountable.
Although other starters for the Los Angeles Lakers such as Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura underperformed in the series against the Nuggets, D’Angelo Russell deserves a larger share of the blame. Not only did he struggle to score for the entire series against Denver, Russell had zero points in Game 3 and is inadvertently responsible for the Lakers going down 0-3 to the Nuggets.
While Dlo still has value on the offensive end, he is simply not a good perimeter defender and struggles to stop players such as Jamal Murray. Therefore, the Lakers should seriously consider trading him and creating a trade package around him in order to get a more balanced point guard.Securing Bronny to keep LeBron James on their roster
This is an issue that the Los Angeles Lakers must address before the next season begins. Although LeBron James will be in Year 22 next season, he is still playing at an elite level and is one of the top players in the league. King James has made his interest in playing alongside his son before retiring very clear to the NBA world.
In order to keep LeBron on the Lakers, it would be in their best interest to draft Bronny in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft. If another team chooses Bronny, they might be able to leverage the Lakers into giving up other valuable assets for him just to keep LeBron on the team. In any case, there are a lot of issues that the Los Angeles Lakers need to address before the next season begins.