Despite an already turbulent offseason, the Lakers still have not finished moving. To gain bench depth (yes again), they would be looking for another position 1. For now, the leads would lead to veterans Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison and Mike James. Nice little people for soup at 6 p.m. all that.
Since Russell Westbrook’s transfer to the Purple and Gold, the Los Angeles franchise has been very active in supplementing its workforce. The goal is to surround as well as possible his trio of stars, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and… Carmelo Anthony. After many signings, Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Lakers are still looking for a leader to enrich their roster. Among the eventualities studied, three names have come out and have already tested in California: Darren Collison, Mike James and Isaiah Thomas. The latter would even have trained with LeBron and RussWest on Tuesday. At 32, IT, still hopes to make his NBA comeback after a failed 10-day contract with the Pels last season. Darren Collison, 33, had retired from sports three years ago to devote himself to his faith, but he has been considering a comeback for some time. Finally, Mike James, 30, after a busy career in Europe, had actively participated in the end of the season of the Brooklyn Nets.
Yahoo Sources: Los Angeles Lakers are in search of depth and have worked out Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison and Mike James for potential roster spot with Thomas just concluding working out personally with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. https://t.co/4QjSft01LI
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 17, 2021
While these profiles may be interesting, they shouldn’t improve the image the Los Angeles Lakers are taking. To understand, let’s take a look around the owner. LeBron James (36), Russell Westbrook (32), Marc Gasol (36), Carmelo Anthony (37), Trevor Ariza (36), Dwight Howard (35), Wayne Ellington (33), Kent Bazemore (32), Jared Dudley (36), Wes Matthews (34), or 10 players over 32 in the workforce, a rare statistic. Good luck to Malik Monk and Talen Horton-Tucker who in addition to being a basketball player will have to help the other members of the team to wash up in the morning, send their emails or show them an umpteenth time how to search Gogole. And above all, we do not forget, 6:23, the awakening of papi LeBron, he can not get out of bed all alone the grandfather. So bet on experience with the 2020 champions, not to say old age. Many grandmothers have already reserved a place to participate in the evenings tacos Tuesday soup. But beware, at this age, not sure that everyone is waking up to play. Not sure either that the Lakers have room to accommodate everyone. Places are expensive in retirement homes.
With 12 players on guaranteed contracts for next season (plus two two-way), the Lakers could still make one or two small additions between now and the resumption in October. So a veteran leader? An addition in the wings? It’s up to management (and LeBron James) to make their choice. Just, we must not forget the budget walker in the salary cap.
Text source: ESPN
