The Lakers baffled the NBA world with 4 moves immediately after landing LeBron James
- The Los Angeles Lakers landed LeBron James and then baffled the NBA world with their moves over the next 24 hours.
- The Lakers agreed to contracts with Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee, and Rajon Rondo while renouncing the rights to Julius Randle, a young, talented big man.
- Stephenson, McGee, and Rondo have not been particularly good players in recent years and didn't appear to be in high demand.
- The twist, however, could be if the Lakers need rotation players after a big trade or plan on using some of these players' salaries in a future trade.
The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the biggest moves in NBA history on Sunday by landing LeBron James in free agency.
And then they proceeded to baffle the NBA world with some head-scratching moves over the next 24 hours.
After signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a one-year, $12 million deal (a sensible move), the Lakers continued by signing Lance Stephenson, one of James' biggest rivals, to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.
They then added center JaVale McGee to a one-year, minimum deal.
On Monday, the Lakers renounced their rights to free agent big man Julius Randle, a young, talented player with big potential, to sign 32-year-old point guard Rajon Rondo to a one-year, $9 million deal.
The problem with the signings of Stephenson, McGree, and Rondo is that none of the players are particularly good, and the Lakers ate up valuable cap space to add them. The players are nice in theory - Stephenson is a big, athletic ball-handler who can be a pest on defense; McGree is a rim-running, rim-protecting big man; Rondo is one of the smartest players in the NBA and one of the most gifted passers - but they have rarely ever fully utilized their skills, particularly in recent years.
Rondo is on his sixth team since the 2014-15 season and has often been disengaged on the court, accused of assist-hunting, and his defense is mostly overrated. Stephenson has not been successful on any team outside of the Indiana Pacers, and his flashy style of play often leads to inconsistency. McGee typically sat on the bench for the Warriors last two Finals runs, and though he looked great during some moments in the most recent championship, it was often when surrounded by four Hall of Fame players.
To worsen matters, the Lakers don't have good shooters around James, who thrives when surrounded by shooters:
The NBA world reacted to the signings in shock:
There may be a twist to the moves, however.
First, if the Lakers make a trade for Kawhi Leonard (or some other star) and have to empty their cupboard of young players like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart, they have signed players who fill their positions at cheap rates.
The other is that if they want to make a trade for a star, the salaries of players like Rondo, Stephenson, and Caldwell-Pope are easier to trade for salary-matching purposes.
It's possible these signings, while head-scratching now, have a larger purpose - future trade chips or cheap, available backup options when the Lakers make a big trade.
Additionally, the deals are all one year, so the Lakers have preserved their cap space next summer for a deeper free-agency class. They may simply be adding veteran players to surround a core of James and young talent to fill out the roster. The results won't necessarily be pretty, but the team needs able bodies.
Nonetheless, on the surface, it's confusing to land the best player in the NBA (and possibly of all-time) then surround him with players who were not exactly in high demand.