Every offseason, the Lakers are reported to be chasing an extensive list of big names, and every offseason, they fall short. This familiar script appears to be repeating this summer too.
The Lakers have been linked to everyone from Trae Young, to Donovan Mitchell, to Klay Thompson.
But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers are up against it when it comes to making moves.
“It’s a very limited market out there,” Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter on Wednesday. “It’s a limited trade market unless you want to put draft picks with contracts to get money off, you’re going to have trouble really adding to your roster.
“I don’t expect the Lakers to look a whole lot different on opening night than they do now. There’s some moves around the edges, (but) I don’t sense there’s a big impact move out there for the Lakers or very many teams right now.”
LA missing out on Thompson was especially rough considering they offered him more money than the Mavericks. But he chose Dallas anyway because of the Mavs’ ability to compete for a championship and Texas’ lack of income tax.
The Lakers were even knocked back by the man who was supposedly their number one coaching target, UConn’s Dan Hurley. After flying to LA and meeting with the team, Hurley chose to stay with the Huskies.
The last time the Lakers landed a true superstar was when they acquired Anthony Davis in 2019. In fairness, that move did lead to a championship the following season.
But since then, the franchise appears to have slipped a long way from the days when they could seemingly sign whoever they wanted.
Their one potential saving grace this offseason would be if they managed to sign DeMar DeRozan, the clear-cut best remaining free agent on the market.
A 34-year-old DeRozan won’t make the Lakers legitimate contenders, but it would save face for a front office under immense pressure to get LeBron James some additional help in the final years of his career.
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