The Los Angeles Lakers transformed themselves from a floundering, mediocre team to one that was considered championship-caliber by making multiple trades just prior to this past season’s trade deadline.
Instantly, their task was to retain D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura, arguably the two most impactful players they acquired in those deals, as free agents this summer. Despite the usual rumors that L.A. would chase shiny big names such as Chris Paul or Kyrie Irving, it retained Russell and Hachimura and valued continuity over a wild goose chase.
The other big free agent the team managed to keep this summer is Austin Reaves, who could be a budding star in his own right. While on “The Old Man & The Three” podcast, he said the Lakers have gotten better just because they have continuity and be able to form a deeper level of chemistry during training camp.
Via Lakers Nation:
“Bring back basically our whole core that went to the Western Conference Finals and like you said, plug guys in, guys like Gabe [Vincent] that just went to the Finals, super competitor. But, like you said, I think we got better and at the same time kept what we had that was working. I’m super happy to get back to work and really have a full offseason, preseason to get some actual fluidity. Y’all [Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson] probably know this, once after the trade deadline you play with guys you ain’t played for, so you kinda freestyle. We were skilled enough last year to do that, but if you could mix that in with some fluidity with your offense, defense, it can be scary.”
Even though the Lakers didn’t have any real chemistry or familiarity following their midseason trades, they were able to dump the feisty Memphis Grizzlies and the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Despite looking promising late in the regular season, the team had more postseason success than most expected.
With the fluidity Reaves mentioned, plus new additions in Vincent, Taurean Prince and Jaxson Hayes, perhaps the upcoming season will be a return to glory for the Purple and Gold.
