I Want The Lakers To Bring Two Stars To L.A. - But It's Not Who You Think

The master plan ever since the Magic Johnson - Rob Pelinka era started in L.A. was to create enough cap room to sign two (2) superstars in the summer of 2018.  Many believe the two stars heading to Hollywood are none other than Paul George (PG13) and Lebron James but I beg to differ. 

Based on the roster of young talent they have now, the Lakers will need two specific star players to become a legitimate contender.  Before I reveal those two players, here's why it shouldn't be Paul George and Lebron James.

Too Many Small Forwards. Brandon Ingram is one season away from becoming a star player and less than two seasons away from becoming an perennial all-star.  So far this season, Brandon has shown glimpses of greatness but has yet to string these glimpses into one continuous show.  He still needs to properly utilize his mid range game (Read More) but it will only be a matter of time when everything will finally come together. 

All this progress will come to a screeching halt if Paul George and Lebron James joins the Lakers.  Both superstars play the Small Forward (SF) position, same as Brandon who will most likely need to move to the bench and lose valuable playing time.  George has shown the ability to play Shooting Guard (SG) but he admittedly prefers to play SF.  The current system the Lakers run requires an effective 3PT shooter at SG.  PG13 is a good 3PT shooter (37.3%) but prefers attacking the basket on offense.  Lebron on the other hand can move to Power Forward (PF) to allow Ingram to stay in the starting line-up but the requirements of the position (rebounding, post-up defensive assignments, movement without the ball) in Walton's system is not a great match for Lebron's skillset.  Lastly, both PG13 and Lebron are suspect defenders outside the SF position where they excel.

Long Term Success Is Unsustainable. The Lakers will have $47 million in salary cap space to sign both Paul George and Lebron James.  Let's assume Rob is unable to move the remaining $36 million of Luol Deng's contract but Jeannie Buss approves going into luxury tax territory to sign the two megastars.  The Lakers would have a strong though poorly balanced starting line-up (assuming both stars accept their new roles) of Lonzo Ball (PG), Paul George (SG), Brandon Ingram (SF), Lebron James (PF) and Larry Nance, Jr. (C).  The bench would be composed of Jordan Clarkson (G), Josh Hart (G), and Kyle Kuzma (PF) with Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant seeing playing time depending on needed defensive match-ups.  This MIGHT be good enough (I highly doubt it) to challenge the Warriors and Rockets in the Western Conference but still falls short of rebuilding a championship franchise.  On top of that, they will be paying a huge luxury tax for the foreseeable future with little to no financial flexibility to sign let along re-sign quality players to help bolster the roster.  

The Lakers will be unable to re-sign quality players with James and George

I can list out other reasons why the Lakers shouldn't sign Paul George and Lebron James next season  but I would like to switch gears and talk about which two star players the Lakers should desperately try to bring in next season.  Not only did I consider player skill set and team financials/contracts but I tried to look at how these signings would impact their former teams for feasibility.

The Lakers should bring in these two star players next season.

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