Depreciating Assets

The Anthony Davis trade saga ended with nothing, except lockerroom tension and a Lakers trade package that has depreciated to the point of the Pelicans no longer answering the phone. Now the Showtime Lakers are stuck with not much of a show at all, just a very unstable young core and awkward hellos when LeBron enters the gym in the morning.

The Lakers were the first team to call the Pelicans once Anthony Davis handed his trade request in. Actually, LeBron was the first to call, months before the season started, when Davis switched agents and signed with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, aka LeBron’s agent. The Lakers called, and Dell Demps didn’t answer and continued to not answer for a couple days. When he finally did pick up, he got lowballed and hung up. The Lakers would continue to offer deals that the media heard but otherwise fell on empty ears. As the Pelicans, rather oddly, didn’t make any counteroffers. Finally, the Lakers offered Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley, and some picks. Dell Demps, ‘played’ the Lakers by rejecting that offer too, and then the trade deadline passed, and Demps lost his job a week later. Way to go, Dell.

I would have taken this deal if it was November or December, or even last summer, but as of right now the Lakers young guns don’t look to be getting much better. LeBron missed 17 games with a groin injury recently, and in his absence, the Lakers young core failed to excite.

The Lakers went 6-11 during LeBron’s absence and the young guys put up these numbers:

1. Lonzo Ball: PPG: 12.5  REB: 5.5  AST: 7.2  FG%: 38  FG3%: 30
2. Kyle Kuzma: PPG: 21.4  REB: 6.5  AST: 3  FG%: 40  FG3%: 17
3. Brandon Ingram: PPG: 20.0  REB: 6.0  AST: 4.0  FG%: 50  FG3%: 29

The numbers, for the most part, are there. But they came with inefficient shooting and against poor teams. What I mean is that during LeBron’s absence, the Lakers faced different levels of competition, and these were their results, and the combined points for Lonzo, Kuzma and Ingram

• Dec. 27 vs. Sacramento: 117-116 (L) L, K, I: 75 Pts
• Dec. 28 vs. Clippers: 118-107 (L) L, K, I: 60 Pts
• Dec. 30 vs. Sacramento: 121-114 L, K, I: 52 Pts
• Jan. 2 vs. Oklahoma: 107-100 (L) L, K, I: 24 Pts
• Jan 4 vs. New York: 119-112 (L) L, K, I: 38 Pts (Kuzma DNP)
• Jan 6 vs. Minnesota: 108-86 (L) L, K, I: 13 Pts (Kuzma DNP)
• Jan 7 vs. Dallas: 107-97 L, K, I: 63 Pts
• Jan 9 vs. Detroit: 113-100 L, K, I: 56 Pts
• Jan 11 vs. Utah: 113-95 (L) L, K, I: 33 Pts
• Jan 13 vs. Cleveland: 101-95 (L) L, K, I: 64 Pts
• Jan 15 vs. Chicago: 107-100 L, K, I: 51 Pts
• Jan 17 vs. Oklahoma: 138-128 L, K, I: 58 Pts
• Jan 19 vs. Houston: 138-134 (L) L, K, I: 61 Pts
• Jan 21 vs. Golden State: 130-111 (L) L, K, I: 33 Pts (Lonzo DNP)
• Jan 24 vs. Minnesota: 120-105 (L) L, K, I: 30 Pts (Lonzo DNP)
• Jan 27 vs. Phoenix: 116-102 L, K, I: 22 Pts (Lonzo, Kuzma DNP)
• Jan 29 vs. Philidelphia: 121-105 (L) L, K, I: 36 Pts (Lonzo, Kuzma DNP)

The Lakers had a mixed bag during LeBron’s absence, playing seven teams that have above .500 win percentages and seven teams that have sub-.500 percentages. They beat above .500 teams only twice, once to Sacramento and once to Oklahoma. They lost to sub-.500 teams three times and lost to above .500 teams seven times.

The Lakers young core; Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram, averaged a combined 45 points per game throughout LeBron’s absence.

In contrast, the Sacramento Kings young core of Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanović, and De’Aaron Fox averaged 51 combined points per game during the same 17 game stretch, and their record was 7-10. They faced the same amount of teams with an above .500 win percentage and they beat those teams only twice. They lost to above .500 teams eight times, lost to sub-.500 teams twice, and beat those teams five times.

 

Notice anything? Both young cores had very similar stretches, and both struggled, but one of them scored more points each game, faced tougher competition more often, and is more efficient. The difference is that that the Sacramento Kings are pushing for the playoffs for the first time in five years thanks to this young core, and Fox is making a case for the most-improved player. Meanwhile, the Lakers sit tenth and require LeBron to turn on ‘playoff mode’ in February because of their inability to win and stay afloat without him.

The Lakers young core failed to supply the supporting cast that LeBron needed this season. He will now be exhausted come playoffs, if they even make it.

This makes me think, “why are these guys so highly valued?” The answer is, they are a great core. We have seen this core at its best, and that was last season when they had confidence and swagger and were the centerpieces of an exciting up-and-coming team. Since LeBron has arrived, Brandon Ingram has looked the same, if not worse compared to last season, Lonzo is still inconsistent, and they’ve all been on the brink of being traded. How can the Lakers expect to develop the NBA’s next superstar trio if they don’t get the time on the floor and are almost traded every week?

The NBA is tough enough for young players and throwing them in with LeBron, who is known for not being able to play with young guys and asking them to transform into a top-five team all while they are being publicly shopped around is a very major lapse of judgment. This lapse of judgment could, and already has proven to have major consequences as the Pelicans were just not interested in the Lakers core when there are better options out there, like Jayson Tatum, who, in case you didn’t know, is only 20!

To sum it up, I think the Lakers are stuck in a weird situation here. All three of their young core have one year remaining and then club options. The Lakers have at least one more year of guaranteed development for their young core, but they also only have three more years of LeBron left, so its decision time for the Lakers. Lonzo makes $11 million in his club option year (2021) and if he does not show signs of improvement next year, the Lakers should decline the club option, saving them the money and allowing them to bring in an impact player like a Robert Covington, TJ Warren, Bojan Bogdanovic, Terrence Ross or Josh Richardson. All of these players make roughly the same as Lonzo Ball in his club option year, and they all could help the Lakers more than Lonzo does right now.

I’m not saying Lonzo Ball is a bad player, and he does help the Lakers, making them an excellent defensive team when he’s on the floor and he does have his games, but he is often injured and is not consistent enough to be a key piece of a championship team.

The Lakers plans to acquire a second star have not panned out, and their goal of using LeBron’s first year as a development year for their young trio hasn’t panned out either. Now they are stuck with an overrated, unstable young core that isn’t much of a core at all. The Lakers need to realize that this core is not Jayson Tatum or Ben Simmons or Luka Doncic, but an unstable, unproductive shell of what it was, and what it should be. Its decision time for the Lakers. If they are serious about winning a championship with LeBron, they need to either cut their losses and cut the young guys loose or try and get whatever they can through trades involving the young guys.

That being said, I hope Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball take what Laker great Kobe Bryant said to heart when he said, “Everything negative — pressure, challenges — are all an opportunity for me to rise.”