Maybe the Lakers Need to Think Like the Celtics
Though the Lakers season ended several weeks ago, there's still good reason for fans of the purple and gold to pay close attention to the playoffs, in particular the series between the Cavaliers and Celtics. This matchup showcases two teams, which have taken very different paths to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavs signed big free agents like LeBron and Kevin Love and surrounded them with role players, while the Celtics have developed their young, homegrown talent over the past several years and watched them develop and build chemistry together. In many ways, both teams represent an approach the Lakers might take this coming summer as they head into free agency. The Lakers are at a crossroads, it seems, and if we look at the Celtics and Cavs as potential outcomes for the Lakers, the series might reveal some important things for the front office to consider as they think about signing big free agents like Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins and LeBron James, or trading for the Spurs injured and reportedly disgruntled superstar, Kawhi Leonard.
On the one hand, you have the Cavaliers whose success seems primarily, if not wholly, dependent on LeBron James. This is basically the Lakers fate should they sign LeBron. The Cavs have a decent supporting cast, but since Kyrie Irving's departure, it seems like there's no one that can go off and carry the team for a game or two in the playoffs. That responsibility rests solely on LeBron's shoulders. While Kevin Love is the Cavs second best player, he's a very distant second, especially in the playoffs. Sure he's a five time All Star, but let's be honest, every year that he's gone to the playoffs with Cavs, he's seen his regular season averages drop in both points and rebounds. He’s great, but the post season is when great players are supposed to get better and that doesn't seem to be happening for Love or any of the other role players on the Cavs.
Certainly Lakers fans remember how exciting Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson were when they suited up for the purple and gold. But what has happened since they both left Tinseltown for The Land? Clarkson has seen all his numbers drop, especially in the postseason. Nance Jr. has suffered playing alongside LeBron too and recently fell out of Tyronn Lue's rotation. Shouldn’t these former Lakers with promise be better playing with LeBron? The argument for acquiring LeBron is usually that he makes everyone around him better, but I just don’t see it happening with Clarkson or Nance Jr., or for that matter with the rest of the Cavs.
Make no mistake, the Cavs have the best player on the planet and that might be enough to get past the Celtics this year. But it seems risky to build a team around LeBron in the way that the Cavs have since without him they would, undoubtedly, be a lottery team, even in the weaker eastern conference. In this way, the Cavs have all their eggs in one basket, and there's something about this approach that seems unsustainable and fragile.
The Celtics, on the other hand, have taken a very different path to success. Their team consists mostly of homegrown talent that includes guys like Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier. While the Celtics did acquire two marquee free agents last summer in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, both guys are out for the remainder of the season, so we can eliminate them from the equation (at least for now and for the sake of this argument). At the moment, the Celtics are basically what the Lakers might look like if the Lakers young guys like Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Julius Randle (crossing my fingers they hold onto him) develop and grow together as a team. Sure the Celtics have some nice pieces around their young guys like Al Horford and Marcus Morris, but there’s no reason the Lakers can’t add the same kind of high impact role players to their roster next season. And yes, much has been made of the impact that Brad Stevens has had on the Celtics success, but that’s probably been a bit overblown. Even Stevens acknowledges that. Yes, he’s a fantastic coach and probably better than Luke Walton with the X’s and O’s, but Luke is no slouch either. If memory serves when Luke led the Warriors to their record setting 24-0 start to the 2016-2017 season, he was showered with praise and considered by many to be an up and coming coaching talent. The point is there are many great coaches in the NBA and Stevens is one of them, no doubt, but we also have to remember that he’s not on the court and we should be careful not to overemphasize his impact on the game since it unduly minimizes the tremendous strides the young core of the Celtics have made and continue to make throughout their playoff run.
As far as who wins the series between the Cavs and the Celts, I have no skin in the game, but it’s interesting to see the differences in how these two teams play. One moves the ball well, plays inspired defense and is just exciting to watch, while the other has LeBron James.
If the Celtics win the series it would seem to prove the value of sticking with young players and developing them. If the Cavs win the Eastern Conference Finals, all it would prove is that LeBron James can carry an entire team on his back because that is the only way the Cavs beat the Celtics this year.
If there is a point to any of this, and I’m not sure there is, it’s that the Lakers need to think more like the Celtics and less like the Cavs as they move into summer free agency. While it’d be great to add some big name free agents over the summer - and if given the opportunity they definitely should - the Lakers would be foolish to abandon their young core by either trading them away in a deal for Kawhi Leonard or acquiring LeBron and relegating all that young talent to minor roles in a LeBron-centered offense.