It is beyond cool that 40-year-old LeBron James, one of the greatest players in history, is on the same roster as Luka Dončić, one of the most decorated young players the NBA has ever seen. It is impossible not to think of their Lakers as a great team, if only because in our minds the two of them are that good.
Whether they make practical sense as a championship duo is another matter. James is currently suffering from sciatica on his right side, which will cost him the start of the season. This is not news that inspires much confidence in James’ ability to hold up his end of that bargain between two max-salaried co-stars.
Meanwhile, Dončić is a 26-year-old who appears to be in the best shape of his life. One makes sense to build around. The other? He will be, at some point soon — if not now — just hoping the bottom doesn’t fall out on his career. As difficult as it may be, the Lakers have to consider whether it is wise to spend any more of Dončić’s prime investing in the chance that James could still be who Dončić needs him to be.
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Already, James is no longer the defensive stalwart he once was, not even close, and Dončić has never been known for his defense. Offensively, there is also a ton of overlap among their skill sets as ball-dominant superstars. There is reason for skepticism — reason to ask: Can they still maximize each other?
They are, of course, also two of the greatest offensive minds the game has ever seen, and they will figure a lot of things out. They will win a lot of games, so long as James can get healthy, but can they win a title?
The defense is a hindrance to that goal. Their third-best player, Austin Reaves, is no stopper. Nor is Deandre Ayton. The Lakers did sign one-time Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, but at age 31 he has not displayed the same on-ball dynamism he once did. This is going to be a porous defensive team. They ranked 17th on that end last season and lost Dorian Finney-Smith, their best defensive player.
Remember: Dončić and James took the floor together in the first round of last season’s playoffs, losing in five games as favorites to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angles did little to address its fatal flaw.
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The Dallas Mavericks built a team of two-way talents around Dončić and Kyrie Irving to reach the 2024 NBA Finals. The Lakers will eventually have do the same around Dončić in L.A., but they have not done that. Reaves and Ayton have a lot of potential between them, but little of it is on the defensive end.
In Dončić’s case, there is time to fix this. He is entering his prime and signed a three-year, $160.8 million contract extension. James does not have any of those luxuries. He will turn 41 years old in December, his contract expires at the end of this season, and we have no idea when Father Time will come for James.
If, indeed, it becomes clear that this roster is not one with which Dončić can win a championship, what do the Lakers do? Do they try to reconfigure it around Dončić and James on the fly in the narrow window that they have together, dealing a 27-year-old Reaves and draft picks in search of two-way contributors?
That has a real possibility of backfiring. Make moves in desperation, and the Lakers could easily find themselves in a post-LeBron era without any flexibility on the trade market, trying to field a competitive team around Dončić. Take a step back, and the plan becomes much clearer: Focus on Dončić — now.
Build around him the way you would around a young James, and you know what a young James would do? Trade the 40-year-old aging superstar whose $52.6 million salary is a deterrent to building a title team around its best player. That, or let him walk in free agency at season’s end, freeing up the kind of salary-cap space that could be committed to a more age-appropriate playing partner in Los Angeles.
This is L.A., after all, and these are the Lakers. Someone will want to join Dončić on this ride.
It is unclear if James even wants to be that guy, as his agent, Rich Paul, issued the following cryptic statement this past June: “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage of his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
What is best for James may not be what is best for Dončić, and the Lakers will soon have to choose sides. What that looks like in the short-term is anyone’s guess, but one of their superstars is just beginning his L.A. story, while the other is scripting its end. Threading the needle between them may be a fool’s errand.
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