Even without LeBron James available at all, the Los Angeles Lakers are off to a stellar season start.
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Galvanized by the efforts of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have won five straight contests, tied with the Houston Rockets for the best win streak in the league. On the year, Los Angeles is 7-2, good for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed behind only the 8-1 Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports writes that Los Angeles has a movable 2031 first-rounder at present (which it got back after team president Rob Pelinka rescinded his trade for then-Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams), but cautions that the club has been looking too good, and maybe shouldn’t wait that long to improve.
Maybe they can win right now — in part to placate James, who’s on an expiring $52.6 million contract in his age-41 season (his birthday is December 30).
“The Lakers are sitting on a tradable 2031 first-round pick right now. The expectation had been that they would hold it until the summer, when they can combine it with their 2026 and 2033 picks to potentially chase a star,” Quinn writes. “Now? They might be so good that it’s worth spending that pick to go for it in the present. Maybe that’s what James wants.”
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James is dealing with a lingering sciatica injury, and probably won’t be available until at least the middle of this month. But the Lakers have been meshing so well, they may not need him to rush back.
The fact that the 21-time All-NBA superstar’s absence has given Reaves an opportunity to graduate into an All-Star-caliber player and thus demoted James to essentially the team’s third-most important player speaks to an enticing ceiilng.
The Lakers Are Already Outkicking Their Coverage
New free agent additions Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and (shockingly) even Marcus Smart have all been slowly integrating really well next to this Doncic-Reaves core. Despite a fluid rotation impacted by lots of health challenges (beyond James, Smart, Gabe Vincent and Doncic have all missed multiple games), Los Angeles keeps finding a way to win.
It’s an encouraging start. And maybe Rob Pelinka should cash his chips sooner rather than later.
Next up for the Lakers is a Saturday road clash against the Atlanta Hawks, slated to tip off at 5 p.m. PT via NBA TV.
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