We are coming up on almost two weeks since the free agency moratorium was lifted at 6PM EST on June 30th, 2024. So far, the Lakers' only moves have been resigning their own free agents as well as drafting their two picks in Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. Unless you count the thousands of transactions being made on the trade machines, it's been all quiet on the Lakeshow front.
While it's only July and the offseason is far from over, Lakers Nation can't help but wish for a bit more urgency, especially since rival conference opponents have acquired substantial upgrades in an already brutal West. The one seeded Oklahoma City Thunder added Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, Dallas added sharpshooter Klay Thompson and Quentin Grimes, the Clippers and Warriors both seemed to have managed the departure of their respective stars, adding needed depth to their rosters.
Now that's not to say this Lakers team is by any means is a "bad team". They're wildly competitive and were 3 wins shy of 50, had one of the best offenses in the league during the latter half of the season, lead Denver for almost 70 percent of that first round series all while dealing with nagging injuries as well as managing the growing rift between players and former head coach Darvin Ham.
But are they a championship caliber team? No. The theme of last season seemed to be that they could compete with anyone, but they could just as easily lose to anyone as well. However, Coach JJ Redick and LeBron James have publicly stated they don't believe they're far off. This does imply changes in some capacity will indeed need to be made in order to keep up with the absolute beast that is the Western Conference.
By nature, for the last several weeks and months, plenty of names have found themselves linked to the Lakers. Jerami Grant, Kyle Kuzma, Walker Kessler, Brook Lopez, Gary Trent Jr, etc. On the flip side of things, Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell, and Gabe Vincent seem to be the names most notably brought up as most likely to be traded. Based on the rumored names, the Lakers seem to be prioritizing clear needs such as rebounding, paint protection to assist AD as well as two-way players, particularly wings. As we've seen already in the USA vs Canada exhibition game, a whole other level of AD's game is unlocked when another defensive big is out there with him.
As Summer League gets underway, we shall keep a close eye on how LA operates within the coming weeks and how this consequential offseason will impact their pursuit of banner 18.
