For LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Lakers, it’s all on the line this NBA season
The stakes for the Los Angeles Lakers’ season were set late in the summer.
The Lakers, along with the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, were one of three teams not to add a player via free agency or trade this offseason.
Despite indications that LeBron James and Anthony Davis wanted the roster to improve, and James even offering to take a significant discount to sign several free agents, the Lakers were unable to land any veteran difference-makers and, ultimately, stood pat. Los Angeles returns 13 of 15 players from last season’s group that won 47 games — finishing as the No. 8 seed after the regular season but earning the No. 7 seed through the Play-In Tournament — and lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
The primary difference between then and now is JJ Redick, whom the Lakers envision as their long-term solution as head coach after cycling through three coaches in four seasons. There is optimism the 40-year-old first-time coach and his staff can squeeze every ounce of potential out of a roster that closed the regular season 23-10 after it finally leaned into its best lineups.
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Redick has yet to coach a regular-season game, but he’s already impressing his players and plucking much of the low-hanging fruit the team struggled with last season. The vibes felt different in training camp and the preseason, with Redick and his new staff earning rave reviews from players about detailed film sessions and practices, clear communication and expectations with roles, playing time and substitution patterns.
While the Lakers are optimistic Redick will unlock them as a serious playoff threat — along with the fifth-most continuity in the league, sharpshooting rookie Dalton Knecht and improved health for their supporting cast — that sentiment isn’t shared externally. Los Angeles is tied with the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets for the ninth-highest projected over-under win total (43.5 games) in the Western Conference, according to BetMGM.
There is a dissonance, on some level, between internal and external expectations. And therein lies the fascinating nature of the Lakers’ season.
Only one outcome is possible.
The Lakers will either exceed expectations, or they won’t. They will either make a go-for-it trade, or they won’t. They will either make the playoffs, or they won’t. They will either advance past the first round, or they won’t.
And how their season unfolds could significantly impact how the James and Davis partnership is remembered, as well as how it eventually ends. James and Davis will always have the 2020 championship, a badge of honor for the franchise and James and Davis. But another first-round exit — or even worse, a missed postseason — will mark four out of six years that the two superstars didn’t make it out of the first round together.
This is why the big bet on Redick, continuity and health has set up such high stakes.
James has historically not been shy about voicing his opinion, directly or indirectly, when his team isn’t at the level he thinks it should be. And the potential ramifications of Davis’ dissatisfaction, as The Athletic’s Sam Amick has detailed, has been a critical factor in the Lakers’ decision-making recently. James already made it a point at media day to note how important it was for him to play in the Olympics on a team with legitimate stakes — something that has only happened twice during his six-year Lakers tenure (2020 and 2023).
“It felt great to play meaningful basketball,” James said. “Like, literally play for the highest level.”
James and Davis have held up their end of the bargain as players worth investing in. They were both healthy and earned All-NBA honors last season. They are still firmly in the top-10 player conversation. They’re arguably the best duo in the league, as they showed with Team USA, when they routinely closed games, including the gold medal game against France.
But as things stand, the Lakers remain patient on the trade market. Trades rarely happen at this point of the season. Los Angeles is going to be intentional with its two tradable first-round picks (2029 and 2031), midsized contracts and multiple pick swaps and second-round picks.
Barring an unforeseen development, the most realistic outcome if the Lakers ultimately make a trade would be striking a deal in January or even closer to the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said at his and Redick’s media day that the Lakers will re-evaluate the roster around the 30-game mark — roughly around the start of 2025 — to determine if it’s worth upgrading.
The Lakers still need a two-way wing who blends the best traits of Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt, and a sturdier defensive-minded center who can offset the offensive-leaning natures of Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. Perhaps they split the difference by finding a big who can space the floor (allowing that player either to start next to Davis or play alongside him in bench units). Those players are rare, though, and will almost certainly cost at least one first-round pick.
Over the past few months, the Lakers have at times appeared more concerned with the post-James future than the present. There has been a greater emphasis on youth and player development for a group that should theoretically be in win-now mode given the timeline of its two superstars. James has fended off Father Time better than any other NBA player ever, but there will eventually be an expiration on his greatness. The Lakers likely have this season and the next one to try to contend with him.
As currently constructed, their roster is probably not good enough to come out of the brutal West. They can win a round, and maybe even two if the playoff bracket breaks in their favor, but they’re not on the level of the top four teams in the conference (Oklahoma City, Denver, Dallas and Minnesota, in some order).
Whether Redick’s potential, internal improvement, a midseason trade or some combination can close that gap remains to be seen. That outcome could turn the next two seasons into a joyful send-off for one of the game’s greats — or underscore an offseason miscalculation that leads to greater changes.
(Photo of Davis and James: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)