Lakers' postseason run will have ramifications beyond this year
A successful trade deadline obviously put the Lakers in this spot but it will hold significance well beyond this miraculous run.
The months leading up to the February trade deadline were defined by a move everyone knew the Lakers had to make. That summer, Rob Pelinka put together a roster that clearly anticipated a Russell Westbrook trade. Training camp started and every conversation about the Lakers was some version of, “they aren’t actually going to do this, are they? They have to move him, right?”
At the start of the season, Patrick Beverley was the Lakers’ three-and-d wing. If the competition had anyone over 6’3”, the Lakers basically had to watch helplessly as the game was played above their heads. For months, we waited, wondering if once again, the Lakers would waste a prime LeBron James season.
Then, Kendrick Nunn became Rui Hachimura. Westbrook was turned into D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. Beverley took his podcasting enterprise to Chicago after being traded for Mo Bamba. That once hilariously small roster all of a sudden had shooting, length, athleticism, and — wouldn’t you know it — hope, I mean, size.
Pelinka reshaping the roster has obviously turned out pretty well this year, as the Lakers are only eight wins from their 18th championship. But what becomes really fascinating is what this means beyond this season.
First and foremost, the Lakers once again put to bed concerns that they couldn’t maximize James and Anthony Davis. All parties tried to downplay internal frustrations following that disastrous Westbrook trade, but the steady flow of finger-pointing leaks was impossible to ignore. Now, though, given the immediate impact of the moves at the deadline, everyone involved can put that nonsense behind them and build on the progress made this season.
Compare that to, say, the team they just beat, where Warriors ownership was far too focused on their infamous two timeline plan and waited too long to move on from James Wiseman and didn’t get anything from Jonathan Kuminga in this last series. Just look at what Steve Kerr said after game six (via NBC Sports):
“It felt like we were swimming upstream from the beginning,” Kerr said. “I think we found ourselves down the stretch and in the first round of the playoffs. To be fair, I think this team probably, ultimately, maxed out.”
Having been through a season that felt like a waste with an all-timer on the roster, I can sympathize with Warriors fans annoyed that their front office prioritized the future despite having Steph Curry still playing at a top-five level. The Lakers finally stopped infighting long enough to fix the roster and they’ve turned this season around.
Golden State’s offseason is going to be fascinating for all the same reasons everyone was paying close attention to the Lakers at the deadline.
Even more interesting, though, is the impact this might have on the rest of the league.
The NBA is a small world, and stars around the league were watching closely as this still relatively unproven front office tried to salvage this season, in case they get sick enough of their situation make their way to L.A. as James and Davis once did.
James has had to face questions about his intentions and Davis has faced real backlash for the way he handled his exit from New Orleans1. Now, a championship and at least a conference finals birth later, it’s all worth it. The Lakers are already a magnet for the league’s upper echelon of individual talent, but a Lakers organization that is capable of what they pulled off at the deadline? Sheesh.
If players can benefit off the court by going to the Lakers and can improve their basketball situations, they going to start wondering if they can emulate James and Davis’ path to L.A. It’s hard to stress the ripple effect this run is going have on the league as Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are looking around at their situations wondering where help is going to come from.
The Lakers are going to have a slew of decisions to make on this roster. I’ve already written how I’d like to see that play out. This group has more than proven they deserve an opportunity to see what they’re capable of with a full offseason and training camp together. But they’re also going to have some valuable expiring contracts and essentially a couple first rounders (one that can only be used on draft night) at their disposal. Add that to the steps forward Austin Reaves is going to take and the improvement that’s going to come from continuity and the Lakers have a very real opportunity even beyond these playoffs.
Friday night was incredible. It was a collective release not just of this season but the championship run fans didn’t get to experience together. But as that excitement died down over the course of the night, it gave way to something even bigger as you start to realize what all this might mean in the LeBron era and beyond. The beginning of this season may have been defined by the moves they were still waiting to make. This summer is going to be defined by the extent to which they build on the success that came with finally pulling the trigger.
Voters can pretend this isn’t the case but Davis getting zero love in any end of season awards still feels like it has something to do with not liking how he left New Orleans. It’s dumb and looks even worse given what he’s doing during this run.