Lakers urged to cut ties with LeBron James after season's end, extend 23.5 PPG superstar to start Luka Doncic era
The Los Angeles Lakers are doing well in the Western Conference this season, sitting in fifth place with a record of 39-25. However, some tough decisions will need to be made in the coming offseason, to start a new era of Lakers basketball.
Fansided's Christopher Kline believes that the Lakers should start truly building around Luka Doncic as their next franchise star, meaning they need to part ways with LeBron James this offseason.
"The Lakers have several free agents with whom a reunion makes sense: Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, even Deandre Ayton. This sounds moderately sacrilegious, but LeBron isn't one of them. That's not to say James is no longer a quality player; he unequivocally is. The disconnect between James and the Lakers front office has grown exponentially since last season, however, and it's clear L.A. is ready to build around Dončić as its new centerpiece, which means bumping James and his ego down the priority list," Kline wrote.
Kline continued, stating it would also make it a lot easier to extend Doncic's co-star in Austin Reaves, as the two have become good friends.
"The Lakers can balance their roster by letting James walk and replacing him, ideally, with a collective of 3-and-D wings who can play with physicality and capitalize on Dončić's frequent setups. It also makes it that much easier to extend Reaves, whose $14.9 milli on player option is a mere formality at this point," Kline stated.
Letting LeBron go seems like a gut punch, but considering his age, and the rumors he was leaving anyway, it could be the smart thing to do. And extending your second-best player (minus LeBron) is also a no-brainer as well.
Hopefully, this is what the Lakers do to truly solidify the start of the Doncic era in Los Angeles.
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