The Los Angeles Lakers successfully unlocked a giant achievement this 2020. Led by the pair of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Purple & Gold won their 17th NBA title and naturally, the organization wants a repeat in 2021. For the Lakers, the club's future lies in James and AD.
However, reality is saying that at 35, The King's gas tank will soon run out so a couple more years, the focus will be on Davis, who is only 27 years old and provided he would sign a long-term deal with the Lakers.
In an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said his vision for the future is Davis will be with the team for at least five years more, and the longer the big man stays the better. But one thing is sure, it is AD who will dictate how the Lakers' future will shape up. Pelinka said the goal is to build a new dynasty around the rising superstar.
Yet for now, the Lakers are shooting to win their No. 18 championship, which Pelinka admitted entails a lot of hard work.
"We do want to do a couple of things. We hope that we can have another championship run next year, for sure, and we're going to work hard to try to keep the pieces around LeBron and AD," Fadeaway World reported the Lakers executive as saying.
While Davis has not indicated that he wants a change of setting after a successful first season in Los Angeles, the star has yet to commit to a max contract with the organization. In case Davis will sign a new deal that will see him staying with the club long enough, Pelinka said it is definite that he'd get a third star that will further boost the James-AD pairing.
Provided the Lakers have the flexibility in the coming seasons, Pelinka said he intends to sign a young star "to run it out with AD if he chooses to stay."
The next course for the Lakers would be to build on the momentum afforded by the success they found in the last campaign but according to Silver Screen & Roll, the team will have to deal with several hurdles. And first is the reality of money concerns as the report noted that on salary alone, the Lakers are set to spend $60 million-plus next season.
In other words, there is not much free cash to fund a mission that will see the Lakers boasting of three superstars in Season 2020-21. And even if there is money available, no big names are about to enter free agency in the offseason.
So for Pelinka, his dream of putting together a Lakers Big 3 will need to wait out. The GM can still make it happen but the earliest it can play out is 2021. But Pelinka must ensure first that Davis will soon agree on a supermax with the Lakers.
