The Lakers won't go all-in on LeBron James this summer

The Los Angeles Lakers want to win an NBA championship and make the most of LeBron James‘ final couple of years. That might not be possible with the roster they have right now.

First and foremost, they must find a new coach to lead the way. And with JJ Redick reportedly in the lead to be their next boss, they now have to focus on upgrading the roster.

Unfortunately for the fans and for LeBron, it seems like they’re not going to go all-in to get that job done. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, they won’t trade all their movable pieces this summer.

The Lakers Won’t Push All Their Chips To The Center

“Quick read would just be I feel like they go 70 to 80% in. I would lean more toward like you mentioned the two and a half picks. I would probably lean toward two more than three,” Buha said on his podcast. “I guess that’s like 70 to 80% in, in terms of like if you’re going all in, you’re trading all three picks, you’re throwing in pick swaps, you’re you’re throwing in basically any tradable guy to upgrade the roster.”

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka

The Lakers Will Find Some Middle Ground

Buha reported that they will still make some moves and look to get another star. However, if they have to give up all their valuable assets, that’s just not going to happen:

“I don’t know if they go that aggressive with it, but I think that there will be some sort of middle option where they are again using a pick or two, using a couple of the rotation guys, maybe using a pick swap, second-round picks,” added Buha. “I don’t think they go like fully all in; that would surprise me, but I think there’s kind of a three-quarter of the way there, and they sort of split the difference a little bit.”

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At the end of the day, the Lakers also have to plan for the future. The post-LeBron era is just around the corner, and they’re not a better team than at least five or six actual contenders in the Western Conference.