sentially where they were in the summer of 2022. A promising roster had proven to be a dud, the coach was fired and the team was on the hunt for a personnel overhaul. They got one by making smart, cost-effective signings of role players like Lonnie Walker, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Troy Brown and Thomas Bryant. The Lakers added a trade for Patrick Beverley.
There is still some question as to how the Lakers will approach this year’s offseason. The consensus is that they’ll be seeking a star-caliber player to add to the Anthony Davis–LeBron James duo, but doing so at a time when NBA salary rules make operating a roster dominated by three stars nearly impossible just doesn’t seem wise.
So perhaps the Lakers should be more targeted in how they approach this offseason—rather than simply winging for the biggest star they can find, why not target the right role players to maximize for James and Davis?
Why not, in the process, partially undo the most regrettable trade of the team’s recent history, when the Lakers sent Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to Washington for Russell Westbrook? Perhaps a Kuzma reunion is in everyone’s best interests.
That’s what one NBA executive told Heavy Sports in looking at the Lakers’ options.
“Trading Kuzma, they had to do that because he wanted to be The Man, and the thing is, he got to be The Man on a team that is a long way from being good,” the exec said. “But you have to hope that Kyle Kuzma has matured, that he is tired of his team getting kicked around all the time and he wants to win. They almost sent him to Dallas. So, we’ll see.
