The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2021-22 NBA season as one of the top favorite teams to fully dominate the Western Conference and win the NBA championship title. Unfortunately, despite the addition of a third star this summer, the Lakers are currently not playing like a legitimate title contender in the league.
If they fail to consistently win games, the Lakers are expected to find ways to further improve their current roster. Though they no longer have enough assets to engage in a blockbuster deal, the Lakers could target some of the big names that is set to be available on the buyout market this season.
Kevin Love To Lakers
One of the players that the Lakers could be monitoring on the buyout market is veteran power forward Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a recent article, Jason Reed of Fansided’s Lake Show Life included Love on the list of players who the Lakers are hoping to get bought out this season.
With the team currently in the initial phase of the rebuilding process, keeping Love no longer makes any sense for the Cavaliers. Instead of letting him stay in Cleveland for the rest of the season, they are better off letting him go and focus on the development of their young players.
LeBron James Connection
With the presence of LeBron James in Los Angeles, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Lakers really consider targeting Love on the buyout market. During their time together in Cleveland, Love and James had formed a strong bond both on and off the court. In the years that they played together, they made four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals and captured the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2016.
Love and James would definitely love the idea of chasing another NBA championship title before they permanently end their NBA career.
On-Court Impact
Love would be an intriguing addition to the Lakers. He may have shown a massive decline in his performance in the past seasons, but he could still make a huge impact for the Lakers on the offensive end of the floor. He would give them a reliable scoring option behind James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, as well as a great rebounder and a decent floor-spacer.
So far, he has a career average of 17.9 points and 11.0 rebounds on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 36.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc, per ESPN.
Love's Fit With Davis
The Lakers may currently have a loaded frontcourt, but Love offers a unique skillset that Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan don’t have. With his ability to space the floor and play the power forward and center positions, Reed believes that Love would form a formidable frontcourt duo with Davis this season.
"Neither Howard nor Jordan have been all that great this year and the less that the team can play them when the games matter the better," Reed wrote. "Love would help accomplish that. The Lakers could play a frontcourt of Davis and Love without sacrificing any real floor spacing as both Davis and Love can stretch the floor."
]]>The Inquisitr
