After a drama-filled offseason, it is clear there is a bottom to how much the NBA’s most powerful players can dictate from general managers and the billionaire owners who govern them.
is that the Lakers will do everything to compete for a championship while he remains one of the best players in the NBA., who tried to put himself on the trade block before Durant did. The Lakers were widely reported as the only team to be chasing Irving, but with Durant back in the Brooklyn fold , it seems likely that acquiring Irving this season is now off the table.
Similarly, James helped sculpt the Lakers after slow-playing his influence during his first year with the franchise. It has never seemed coincidental that his agent helped engineer the trade for Anthony Davis that happened to make L.A. a title-worthy team again, and James has also played a huge role in recruiting free agents for the past few offseasons .
Whether you believe that James dictates moves, or simply that his franchises are forced to make more short-term decisions because he’s on the team, he’s left a distinct pattern: Three to four years of contention, followed by franchises tumbling back into struggle mode when they run out of moves, or when James leaves town.
They never did. Now the franchise is staring down a second straight season of an experiment most basketball observers believe will fail again, with few resources available to improve their prospects. James was reportedly supportive of the idea to chase Irving, his former Cleveland teammate . But the idea of getting Irving was fantastical once pesky realities came into focus: Sources told Southern California News Group that Westbrook’s contract, which would have kept Brooklyn in the repeater tax and cost them millions in luxury tax dollars, was the biggest hurdle in any potential deal for Irving.
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