Why Luka Doncic & LeBron James’ Lakers WILL be different this season | THE HERD NBA w/ Colin Cowherd

Why Luka Doncic & LeBron James’ Lakers WILL be different this season | THE HERD NBA w/ Colin Cowherd

So, um, there’s a lot of news out there. A lot of news out there. Some of it herd generated. Uh, and we’ll react to all of it. J-Mack, um, I I swear this is the last time I’m going to talk about this story because it’s going to go away. I think it’s going to just like disappear and vanish into the ether about LeBron James being traded. The odds have changed. So, I want to I want to just say for the I I hope this is the final time I talk about it, but something that’s not being discussed. I saw the Athletic yesterday acknowledged LeBron James in a buyout, LeBron James in a trade has not been discussed uh by the Lakers. So, this to me has always been a nothing burger. It’s July, it’s slow. Breadcrumbs become stories. Folks, LeBron has a no trade clause. He’s still in control here. Year 23, Michael Jordan was not in control like this. Michael Jordan had a bad contract his first 10 years in the league. Bird Magic, they weren’t in control like this. I don’t know if Brady was until the end, right? I mean, they drafted Garopolo. They wanted him out sooner. LeBron’s in year 23. He’s the only NBA player with a no trade clause. Now, I would go to Dallas in a trade if I could play alongside Anthony Davis again, rookie Cooper Flag, and Derek Lively. I’d go in a heartbeat with a better coach than Jason Kidd, but LeBron’s not going to get traded unless he says yes. And where are you going to put him? Where would LeBron outside of a Dallas lineup if he could play with Kyrie and AD again and Cooper flag Derek Lively? They’d have to involve a third team. That’s interesting. But because the Lakers were such a circus when LeBron arrived in LA, they have been caving to him and should be since day one. Again, Jordan didn’t have this kind of power. Brady didn’t have this kind of power. He was taking pay cuts. So, honestly, the Lakers for the last 15 years, a lot of them have been poorly run. I mean, if you look at the five years before LeBron arrived in Los Angeles, I mean, it’s hard to get your arms around. They have the worst record in the NBA. Worse than the Wizards, much worse than the Washington Wizards. And so the one advantage the one advantage of going to a poorlyrun business and that’s what the Lakers were when LeBron arrived is you get a lot more power. I mean Aaron Rodgers with the Jets got him to hire Nat Hackett as the OC overpay for Allen Lazard. You you’re not doing that with the Ravens, you know. You’re not doing that with the Rams. I mean Matt Stafford didn’t have that kind of control when he came to the Rams. this year with the Rams and Stafford, they’re like, “Here’s the number. This is it.” But when Shawn Payeyton goes to the Messi Broncos, power, LeBron goes to the Lakers, ultimate power. So, and I think that’s the one advantage. Now, generally, it doesn’t work out well cuz the player takes advantage of it. But Shawn Peyton didn’t. Uh Aaron Rodgers did and LeBron hasn’t. I didn’t like the Russell Westbrook move. LeBron said it wasn’t mine, but we all know it kind of was. So, but just think about this. There is one player in the entire NBA. One, not Joic, not SGA, not Ant, not Steph Curry. There’s one player in the NBA with a no trade clause. LeBron James. 40-year-old LeBron James. So, people can talk about this all they want about he’s going to go here, he’s going to go there. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Prey runs the organization. One of the reasons LeBron left Miami because Pat Riley ran the organization. So LeBron has largely been running this place for years and thankfully he generally makes the good basketball decisions. He and Rich Paul got Anthony Davis in here and in the COVID year they won the title. They’re not going to win the title this year. But this idea that there’s going to be a trade and there’s going to be a buyout. LeBron has a no trade contract. And I think the only place that he would look at and go, “All right, that’s interesting. I believe it’s Dallas.” If he could play with a rim protector and Derek Lively, a phenomenal domestic rookie in and Cooper Flag and AD again, I think he’d have to sit down and listen to that one cuz that team I think cuz I LeBron’s still a top 10 player and still in year 23 has more power than any NBA player ever. So, a lot of clarity. We’re going to get to Caitlyn Clark in a second. Urban Meyer making news on Nick Sabin today. Uh but first I want to bring in Dan Wiki right from the Athletic and covers the Lakers because I have said this time of the year breadcrumbs and rumors become headlines. I don’t I LeBron’s got a no trade clause. I don’t I think he’s a really good player and if you’re going to move him now is not the time. You’ve upgraded at center JJ Reick second year. So let’s start with this. There there have been a lot of rumors. Everybody’s got an opinion. It’s July. Do you think the new ownership group is even had a discussion on moving LeBron? Dan, uh, I don’t because it’s not their decision, right, Colin? Um, I mean, you mentioned in the previous segment, LeBron James has a no trade clause. And so, the order of operations here would have to be a request from LeBron James. I I don’t believe the Lakers are going to come to LeBron James with a a trade and say, “This is what we want. Um, will you accept it?” Right. I think it would have to be the other way around. I mean, I think the Lakers are very comfortable um, you know, being in this stage of of of the LeBron James business, despite sort of the inherent uncomfortabilities of it. the fact that you don’t know with any certainty um how much longer he’s going to be able to play at this level and and the pressure the the particularly the win now pressure that his presence has put on the organization since really the day he signed for this last chapter of his career and it’s just gone on and on and on. So that that’s kind of I I really don’t think it’s an ownership thing. I think it would it sort of, you know, he still kind of controls his destiny in that way. The leverage that the Lakers have in in and all this is that they were the team with the option. You know, he had to opt into their contract at $54 million. And I think that to me, um, he’s on the Lakers. He is moving like a person who is on the Lakers. Could that change? Um, it could. Trading him can be really, really difficult with the second apron roles. a buyout to me doesn’t really seem like the type of thing that he would pursue. Kind of the antithesis of of how he’s operated. So, um he’s on the Lakers. Um how confident are they in the Luca extension? Again, the new aprons can be punitive. He has lost weight. I mean, the pictures of him now look like he’s lost 40 pounds. When would that happen? How certain are you it’s going to happen? Uh it’s going to be early August. Um here he’s extension eligible August 2nd. Um I think they’re really confident, Colin. I think they’ve they’ve been in contact with him early in the summer about their plans for the organization. I think um when they made the deal to get him, I think they were confident that they would be able to secure sort of him in the long term. And you you know, look, there are things about Los Angeles uh to not like. You know, nobody likes the traffic here and stuff like this. But the one thing that we know about Luca is um he lo well two things we know of him. One he loves a big stage and it’s a huge stage. What’s what’s a bigger stage right than than playing at Crypto.com um in front of those stars? And I think the second part of it is like this is like a guy that doesn’t like necessarily love being famous. Um right and you you might think Los Angeles, well it’s it’s full of famous people. you can move pretty anonymously as a famous person in Los Angeles should you choose because there’s always someone else famous in your circles and stuff like that. So I I I think he’s really comfortable there. I’m I’m pretty sure the Lakers are going to be able to secure an extension. It’s just kind of a matter of for how long. Um I said the DeAndre Aton thing. Um he’s not a willing defender. It’s not a great defensive roster, but I did I did say it’s a Dodgers town now as much as a Laker town. There are stars everywhere. It could be Lincoln Riley. It can be McVey, Stafford, Harbaugh, Herbert. LA is different. People move off you if you’re not interesting. Um, DeAndre Aton, Luca, LeBron, it sounds interesting. And I I mean, when they made the move, my take was, you know, he always tends to think he’s a better he thinks he’s a one. He’s more of a three in terms of options. He may be a four with Austin Reeves on this roster. How does he fit to you? because he’s not a great defender, but he is a pretty talented offensive player. I I mean, I think on paper, it’s a a pretty good fit. I mean, yeah, in a perfect world, you would rather have Anthony Davis like that kind of a defender at the back line of this type of defense, but look, this was a pretty good Laker team in terms of record last year after the Luca trade when they were just trying to figure out how to how to figure out how to play together. Um, and you know, in the playoffs, you know, they pretty quickly moved off a Jack’s naysay. They didn’t really have depth at that position. They kind of just went centerless. Um, DeAndre Eaton at his worst is a productive seven-footer who was a double double machine. Um, if he’s motivated at his best, like he was, you know, in Phoenix running pick and roll with Chris Paul, um, he’s way more athletic than I think people realize. He’s young, 26 years old, and he’s inexpensive. you know, the Lakers are paying $8 million um for this contract. I I think it’s a really good fit and maintain some future flexibility. It’s a really good opportunity for him, Colin. Um you know, to to kind of carve out whatever this next chapter of his career is going to be because he’s super gifted offensively. Um he’s credible defensively, right? like he’s not a stopper, but you know, I think if he accepts a role, um, you know, and if he plays with with some some motor, I think there’s a real opportunity here for him to have a big season and and I think people around the league feel that, too. Now, those are big questions for him, but certainly a talented player. I think the consensus I got as summer league in Vegas was based on the options that were available to Lakers, DeAndre Aiden by far was their their preference and by far was um the best that they felt like they could do. Okay, everybody’s talking big swings. If I said the Lakers, Dan, Dan Wy joining us. The Lakers make a move at the trade deadline. Give me a move that’s not a huge swing, but makes them better. Is there is there because we always spend so much time talking about major moves. It’s hard with the apron. It’s hard to make big moves, but I do think there could be a player that would upgrade them defensively, work with LeBron. Is there anything else out there we should keep our eye on? Yeah, I mean they’re looking for defenders, right? I think that is um pretty clearly I mean they’re not done this summer on that front. So I I think to me that would be the place that I would look. Uh I would also say like good luck on the search. Everybody’s looking for perimeter defense, particularly perimeter defense that can shoot. So it’s it’s going to be a crowded marketplace. I think obviously like internal growth is always the the path of least resistance on that front, but that’s where my eyes would be. It’s hard to really pinpoint a player right now and say like this is the guy. I I think you know a player they’re monitoring here as as the offseason kind of hits this next wave is like you know what happens with like Washington and Marcus Smart it does he get bought out? Is he available? Um that’s a guy they like and I think would give them a little toughness some grit. You know obviously has to be healthy but gives them a little bit more of a defensive identity to that second unit. I I think that’s going to be where their focus is now. Uh we’ll see though. This is still a team that is like a little cash for when it comes to their draft assets and what they have to put into to trades, most of their tradable players. Colin, when we talked about the trade deadline, you know, everybody loves a good Austin Reeves trade. You and I had a what, like more like 90 minutes of conversations about those here. uh you know he’s going to be if you’re trading for him at the trade deadline you’re trading for him for two months because you know he’ll be entering unrestricted free agency Ruy Hachimura unrestricted free agent at the end of this season that that depresses some value they’ve got one draft pick that they can put into play right now if they hang on to it come draft night next year they can trade three and take an even bigger swing so I I’m I’m not sure there’s a huge move to be made for for them on that front but I I think wing defender absolutely an area of of need and it it’s what they have to still address before now and the start of training camp. Dan Wy the athletic little update, little clarity. Appreciate it, bud. Thanks for having me,

Colin Cowherd reacts to the latest LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers rumors. He analyzes the Lakers’ offseason and sets his expectations for Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, and LeBron.

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