As some of you may have all ready heard the news, that Anthony Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, the 4th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, and 2 other first round picks. The Lakers took a big risk by making this deal, but this can all be worth it in the end.

Ok, so the Lakers NEED that third star to come to Los Angeles. The Lakers have paired both Lebron James and Anthony Davis for a dynamic duo, but let’s just say that Davis later on in the season gets hurt. Lebron James would be the main focus on the opposing teams. What happens if Lebron just gets shut down by his defender, who is he going to look to provide the other scoring option? Kyle Kuzma? They NEED that third scoring option incase someone gets injured in the game or say Lebron and Davis gets in foul trouble.

With trading the Lakers trading away their young talent, they don’t have much help around now. The Lakers currently have Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and three very low contracts in Kyle Kuzma, Mo Wagner, and Isaac Bonga on the team roster. People are saying that the Lakers are title contenders now with having Lebron and Davis. I disagree with that statement, because you might have two dominant players, but you need help on your team roster besides those two. So these are some potential targets that the Lakers should go after for that third star.

Kemba Walker

It depends on how much you can convince him to leave Charlotte to come all the way out to LA, but he would be a great guy to have on the Lakers roster. Kemba Walker probably came off his best year of his career last season as he averaged 25.6 PPG, was voted as a starter for the NBA All-Star game, and was voted to the All-NBA Third Team. He is a point guard who can light it up in points in hurry. He is a very good shooter, very quick off the drive, and has handles to create a good shot. He said that his top priority is staying Charlotte, but he may change his mind on wanting to come to play in the big city of LA.

Kyrie Irving

I don’t want to see Kyrie leaving the Celtics to join the Lakers, but this guy should be a no brainer for who the Lakers should get. Kyrie had a good season despite the team’s success last year. He averaged 23.8 PPG with about 6.9 APG. Kyrie was also voted to the All-NBA Second Team. Kyrie is a terrific scorer, when a team needs a big time basket, you can always look at Kyrie Irving to score that basket. Kyrie has played with Lebron before and has won a title together, but Kyrie left the Cavs because he wanted his own team. As time as has gone by, I think Kyrie has possibly missed playing alongside with Lebron and rumors are saying that they could possibly team back up together. If the Lakers add him, they could be a dangerous high scoring team.

Kawhi Leonard

With the Raptors winning the NBA Championship, it hurts the Lakers chances on getting Kawhi Leonard. But he hasn’t said anything about re-signing with the Raptors, and last year before he was traded he said he wanted to play for LA. This would another great player for the Lakers. Kawhi had tremendous season, averaging 26.6 PPG and leading the Raptors to their first NBA championship. If you add Kawhi, you add a great two way player. Kawhi can score the ball really well and can defend the top players on the opposing teams. If you have him on the team, it helps with Lebron’s energy not having to guard the best players, and makes Leonard, Lebron, and Davis a strong triple threat.

Klay Thompson

The Warriors have three big time free agents this offseason with Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Demarcus Cousins. What happens if Durant re-signs a max contract with the Warriors? Would Klay Thompson want to come back to Golden State? Klay Thompson coming to the Lakers could become a possibility. Klay averaged 21.5 PPG on a loaded Golden State Warriors roster. He is arguably one of the best shooters in the NBA, and can be a guy who can light it up from the three point arc. If the Lakers add him, Lebron can rely on him knocking down the three pointers when he gets double-teamed in the post. I personally think that if they add Thompson, I think that this team could be a really tough team to beat. As some of you may saw Klay tore his ACL in the last game of the finals, he will have to miss a good part of the season next year, but when he comes back they could be dangerous.

So say the Lakers do get one of these players on the team, then the Lakers are definitely going to be a title contending team. Those three contracts will take up a big chunk of the salary cap, so that means that they will have to sign some free agents to low contracts. But having those three players can make this team such a dangerous team.

What happens if the Lakers don’t get that third star player?

This wouldn’t be the worse thing, because that means they can sign a few key role players to their roster. They could possibly sign some shooters such as JJ Redick, Danny Green, Bojan Bogdanovic. Maybe go after a defensive player like Patrick Beverly, Darren Collision, Avery Bradley. Or they might go out and sign guys like Nikola Mirotic, Marcus Morris, and many more. This wouldn’t be a bad thing at all, but I just think that these guys won’t be guys to hit the big shot or help win the NBA title.

The Lakers are looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Anthony Davis has one year left on his contract, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he re-signed or sign an extension with the Lakers. Lebron is getting up there in age, but he has about five years left in him if he stays healthy. They have a brand new coach in Frank Vogel and Magic Johnson is no longer there, so it should be interesting!

Also the last time the Lakers landed three star players, it didn’t work out too great for them.

I highly doubt that this will happen again, but hey anything is possible ;).

Go Celtics!

• Uncategorized