Los Angeles Lakers fans are impatiently wondering what their favorite team will try to do this summer to upgrade and become championship contenders again. Some really want the team to land a third star, while others want more modest moves to be made to shore up its weaknesses.
There has been plenty of talk the Lakers may go after Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young or even Zach LaVine this offseason. But the cost to acquire any one of those men will be steep, and it may be too steep, especially considering they should want to maintain enough flexibility and options for after LeBron James leaves.
Jovan Buha, a Lakers beat writer with The Athletic, said on a recent episode of “Buha’s Block” that he thinks the team is leaning toward making smaller moves instead of swinging big for a third star (at 2:34).
“My sense right now is they’re leaning more toward upgrading the supporting cast rather than the three-star model,” said Buha. “And I say that for a couple reasons. One, it’s difficult to trade for a star. There’s going to be a lot of competition this offseason. So I think if a star is willing to demand a trade and say that they only want to go to the Lakers or make it a very short list where the Lakers have the assets to compete with the teams on that list, then sure, I think the Lakers can land that type of star. But there’s also a lot of uncertainty right now where we don’t know which star is going to be available.”
If someone such as Mitchell becomes available, which is a big if, there will certainly be other teams vying for him that will have better packages to offer than L.A. will. Los Angeles hasn’t done the best job of asset management over the last few years, especially after the failed Russell Westbrook trade of 2021, and it is still paying the price right now.
