On Thursday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith argued that the Los Angeles Lakers have to trade forward LeBron James if they want to give themselves a better future. Smith’s argument is rooted in the fact that the Lakers are one of the worst shooting teams in the league right now. Smith also mentions that he likes what rookie head coach Darvin Ham is doing in terms of creating an effective offensive scheme and that the big 3 of James, forward Anthony Davis, and guard Russell Westbrook are playing well in their respective roles.
Smith feels that the Lakers are not contenders as currently constructed and that they should trade James in order to improve their shooting as well as the overall talent. The Lakers are shooting 29.3% from behind the three-point line and the league average going into Thursday night is 35.6%.
“I will tell you Windy, it is a challenge, because I’m watching the Lakers miss open shots. And are they open because it’s the coaching of Darvin Ham schematically that’s getting them open? Are they open because teams are saying they with us and just let them go ahead and shoot? Okay, so it’s hard, okay. It’s just a hard watch. They simply can’t shoot they got athletes. I don’t think Darvin Ham is a bad coach. I’ve seen them do things schematically that has impressed me. I know what LeBron James could still do on a bad night. He’s better than 95% of the league. Anthony Davis has been playing well. Westbrook has looked significantly better coming off the bench than he did when he was a starter. But what you can’t get around is that in the year 2022, we understand that shooting is at a premium. That Rob Pelinka, the Los Angeles Lakers would think that you could assemble a squad devoid of shooters. And the fact of the matter is because of it, LeBron James gotta go. Because he’s the only one with value even in his 20th season in the league, LeBron James would go somewhere and you got teams desperate enough where they might be willing to sacrifice some picks, they might be willing to sacrifice some assets in order to get the magnitude of LeBron James to sell tickets for their franchise.”
