By Liam McKeone
Despite it being a fairly competitive year throughout the NBA, the one topic nobody can stop talking about is where LeBron James will end up after the 2018 season. At this point, it seems unlikely he stays in Cleveland; he brought them the championship he promised, and this is the worst LeBron-led Cavs team since he came back after a stint as league villain in Miami. Yeah, they got younger and more athletic at the trade deadline, but Rodney Hood is already hurt, and the leaping abilities of Larry Nance Jr. can only help so much.
That leaves three alternatives: the Houston Rockets, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. But, for obvious reasons, all anyone can talk about is the possibility of the biggest star of the league, in the biggest market in the league, playing for one of basketball’s oldest and most successful franchises.
Houston and Philly would have a tough job finagling their rosters to fit in LeBron; the Lakers would only need to convince him. Are the kids (Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma) ready to win? Can the celebrity front-office pairing of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka build the right team around LeBron? Most importantly, how would LeBron fit alongside the foundation of the Lakers?
Obviously, when you have LeBron, the question isn’t how he fits, but rather how the rest of the team fits around him. But the Lakers don’t seem too eager to dump the results of their tanking over the last two seasons, so his fit is worth questioning. The biggest issue lies with Ball; unlike Kuzma or Ingram, he needs the ball in his hands to succeed. Fortunately, this has become less and less of a concern as late.
While Ball is best with the ball, he’s managed to fix his shot somewhat and is shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc after the All-Star break. A small sample size, to be sure, especially with the time he’s missed, but it’s a much brighter future to look at than when Ball was chucking sub-30 percent from deep at the start of the season. Defensively he’s already a stud, so if he can become even a decent spot-up shooter, he’ll fit just fine in LeBron’s world.
Ingram is emerging as a force on both sides of the floor; he utilizes his length on the defensive end of the floor to make any given night miserable for his opponent, and he has mouth-watering offensive potential. Not quite KD-like, as some audacious Lakers fans may tell you, but he’s athletic enough to get to the basket whenever he wants, and once his shot develops, his release point is so high it could be nigh unstoppable. Kuzma, unlike his fellow prospects, is the perfect fit next to LeBron; he can hold his own as a power forward on the defensive end against both bigger and smaller 4s, and is a quality spot-up shooter who can run the floor.
The Lakers have a bright future ahead of them, but if they want to become the star-studded machine like the Lakers of old, this home stretch is crucial.
