Could LeBron James and Russell Westbrook team up with Lonzo Ball and the Los Angeles Lakers?
Can you imagine a team with Lonzo Ball, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook? Three players, basically three point guards, who need the ball to create for themselves and others? Sure, Ball is quick to get the ball out of his hands in full-court settings but in the halfcourt, would Ball be able to co-exist with two ball-dominant superstars in James and Westbrook?
The reason this hypothetical has been posed is because, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, there are whispers around the league that James would love to team up with Westbrook next summer.
(Editor’s note: To be frank, I’m sure James would love to team up with Westbrook, Paul George, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins next summer too, just to name a few All-Star talents that should be free agents next summer.)
Rumors – or scenarios – linking James and Westbrook to the Lakers, whether separately or as teammates, are aplenty. However, the viability of such an event is improbable. Improbable because both James and Westbrook have, in their respective cities, given the fans reason to believe that they’ll be loyal to the franchise.
In the case of Westbrook, his MVP speech (in which he thanked the whole Thunder organization, seemingly all by name) and the documentation of his rift with Kevin Durant after the latter left the Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors have made him the poster boy for loyalty in the eyes of some fans.
When James returned to Cleveland in 2014, the letter explaining his decision to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers had these exact words “I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there. I just didn’t know when.”
Again, James said:
“I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland and finish my career there.”
Sure, James could leave the Cavs and return at the end of his career to sign a one-day or one-year deal. However, that doesn’t seem like what James envisioned for himself.
Westbrook and James’ seeming loyalty is what makes the idea they’d both join the Lakers improbable. So is the likelihood that he, Ball and Westbrook may need an entire season to mesh.
Yes, James and Westbrook’s talents would likely be enough to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the Western Conference Finals. However, the growing pains of Ball being in what will be his second-year as a point guard and trying to avoid a sophomore slump, in addition to Ball needing to learn how to play with players that will keep the ball out of his hands more than he’s ever had to do, is sure to make for a tough going at some point during James and Westbrook’s first (hypothetical) season together.
Furthermore, with Westbrook being even more headstrong than Kyrie Irving, there will be a number of shots that Westbrook takes and wants to take that James will not only dislike but try to change. The headstrong Westbrook may not take to James’ guidance and, alpha-male that he is, he and James are likely to but heads at least as much as James and Irving did.
With questionable chemistry on and off-the-court, how much will the L.A. pairing with Westbrook appeal to James next summer?
The Lakers would ideally like for Westbrook and James to make quick passes with the ball, although Westbrook likes to hold onto the ball for shot attempts and James holds onto the ball as he calculates everything that happens on the court. It’s more or less against their nature to consistently give the ball up quickly, unless they’ve collapsed the defense.
However, there’s still the possibility that with two players that a defense can’t stop from scoring, Ball will only be relied upon for his passing and Brandon Ingram for his outside shooting. It could be a win-win for all players involved.
Still, in their first season together and in the tough Western Conference, it’s unlikely that the Lakers will have that level of chemistry. It’s possible that in the 2019-2020 season or 2020-2021 season they’ll have it all figured out and play like a well-oiled machine but by that time James will be 34 or 35-years-old and still chasing his fourth ring.
For all of that, James may as well stay with the Cavs throughout that time.
The best teams in the Eastern Conference (like the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics) have enough youth to keep ascending and the best teams in the Western Conference are aging (like the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets) which may result in the polarity of the conference powers switching by that time. However, until that point, James’ best chance at winning a championship still lies in The Land.
In truth, it’s not so hard to see James signing with the Lakers. However, there’s a better opportunity for James to win here. Especially if the Cavs can complete a sign-and-trade to bring a player like Paul, George, Cousins or even Westbrook to Cleveland. That the Cavs could be hard-capped as a result wouldn’t matter because their rotation players would already be set.
Will James leave next summer? That’s sure to be the biggest question in the NBA when free agency starts in 2018.