Thursday, July 12, 2018

Why the Lakers might have to split up

One of the most talked about teams in this years' off season has been the Los Angeles Lakers. They have made a lot of key acquisitions that have bumped up their chances of doing well this year.

One of the less talked about acquisitions has been the inclusion of Rajon Rondo. The Lakers front office loves their new addition, but the media has been focused more on LeBron James, and his decision to move to L.A. LeBron going to the Lakers might have been the most exciting investment, but the Rondo addition could cause the team to split up.

Even before LeBron came over, the Lakers had a lot of players who needed the ball in their hands to be effective such as Lonzo Ball and Julius Randle. This is why Randle left. He knew he wouldn't be able to get his hands on the ball with all of the new ball dominant additions, not to mention the fact that the Lakers also picked up Lance Stephenson.

One reason why Rondo causes problems for the Lakers is because they already have two other point guards who would not accept to take a shooting guard role. Lonzo Ball and Isaiah Thomas. Everybody knows that Rondo (a 1x champion, 4x all-star, and 2x NBA all-defensive first team), will not accept losing his starting role to a second year player in Ball. The two could possibly both be starters, but both are non-changeable players and they can't play any other position. It is also well known that if Ball was ever a bench player, his father would not be happy, and that could lead to disagreement with him and Luke Walton (Lakers head coach), and could also lead to Ball leaving. Don't forget that Thomas will also want to be added to the mix, and it is likely that he won't be on the team for much longer.

A reason why it wouldn't make sense for Ball and Rondo to both start is because the Lakers just resigned Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a 1 year $12 million deal. It wouldn't make sense for two guys who are getting payed less than Caldwell-Pope to be starting over him.

The Lakers will once again be a very compelling team to watch, but keep an eye on Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball, and what their roles are.