The Los Angeles Lakers did exactly what they planned on doing when they signed LeBron James in 2018: Win a Championship.
Their team looks entirely different, but this is much better than the team that was full of young players and stuck in mediocrity. However, the Lakers are far from done. After having the best duo since Kobe and Shaq, the Lakers need to continue their dominance now with their window period being in limbo.
Obviously, the main priority is making sure that Anthony Davis will stay to have any chance of competing for a ring. Davis is almost assuredly going to be a Laker, whether he signs long-term or just picks up his player option. The Lakers also need to resign some players who were valuable to their championship. It is likely that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, and Rajon Rondo will pick up their options and stay with the Lakers. The Lakers have $70 million guaranteed next year and Davis, KCP, Rondo, and McGee should cost roughly $115-120 million, which will be roughly at the cap or above. They will have 10 players under contract then. If they can bring back Dwight Howard, that will probably be another few million. Including their two draft picks, that will be 13 players. At this point, the Lakers will be over the cap and can use their Mid-Level-Exception to sign a decent player. They will be under the luxury tax, which means their MLE will be $9.7 million.
As for who they should try to sign, I think a wing who can shoot is their best option. A big man is unnecessary because they will have 4 big men already and they can draft one or use their final roster spot on one. Their biggest weakness is 3-point shooting and there are a lot of players they can go after. A name that has been suggested is Goran Dragic, but I think he resigns. Their best options are Justin Holiday, Jeff Teague, Wesley Matthews, Tony Snell, or Bryn Forbes. This would help the Lakers shooting issues and I think that shooters are always a good thing.
The Lakers have created the best duo since Shaq and Kobe with LeBron and AD. I think that they can build a good supporting cast around them and could repeat next year.
Image: CBS Sports
