"He cares about this season’s Lakers" - Zach Lowe asserts that pressure will be on LA Lakers management in the summer to keep LeBron James happy

LeBron James’ comments during the last All-Star weekend were clearly intended for the LA Lakers who stood pat in this year’s trade deadline. If rumors are true that the team’s front office will run basically the same roster next season, the four-time MVP has already made his opposition known.

Senior ESPN writer Zach Lowe, in the latest episode of the Lowe Post, is echoing the sentiments of LeBron James. The veteran sports analyst is urging the LA Lakers to just admit their mistakes and bite the bullet so they can make the necessary changes. Whatever roster maneuvers the Lakers would have to do, they would have to appease their superstar.

Here’s what Lowe stressed the Los Angeles Lakers should do in the summer:

“That trade [Westbrook] kind of blew up in their faces. But it’s done and everything after that is done, too. The Lakers have to make a ton of decisions this summer. And they have to make those decisions work for next season’s Lakers in a way that makes LeBron happy. He doesn’t care about the 2028 Lakers or the 2029 Lakers. He cares about this season’s Lakers and next season’s Lakers and the pressure is on.”

It’s an open secret that LeBron James is still chasing history and building his legacy. At his age, he is all about championships. If the LA Lakers can’t make the needed changes to make the team a bona fide title contender, James could easily walk away when his contract ends after the 2022-23 season.

LeBron James’ current situation is quite ironic considering he reportedly asked for the Russell Westbrook trade. The decision to acquire Westbrook, despite the obvious fit issues, has only made their title contention even more difficult than it should have been.

Zach Lowe also said that the decision to go for broke in acquiring Westbrook should have pushed them to keep both Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker.

“It’s not my job to count other people’s money and judge people on their spending and all this. All I’m saying is if you’re the Lakers, the Lakers!? And you’re trying to win the title with LeBron at age 37, and you’ve already traded everything for Anthony Davis and you’ve traded everything you have left after that for Russ, maybe it shouldn’t be an either-or decision between Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker.”

And then the Lakers compounded the mistake by letting go of Caruso for THT:

“If it does have to be an either-or-decision between Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker, you made the wrong decision. Caruso is a better fit for this roster. The Lakers seemed to have dismissed with the entire concept of fit in dumping all their 3 and D guys that meshed so well with LeBron, particularly in the bubble title run.”

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Will LeBron James get his not-so-subtle request for Rob Pelinka and the front office to make roster changes?

Rob Pelinka should be feeling the pressure now to keep "King James" happy and continue to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. [Photo: Orange County Register]

Bearing in mind how much the Tinseltown squad has struggled despite LeBron James’ MVP-level performance, changes are bound to happen. Just what kind of team Rob Pelinka can put around the 18x All-Star remains to be seen.

The Lakers are handicapped without assets after Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook were traded. In almost any way one can look at it, the cupboard is empty except for a 2027 draft pick which the team refused to deal with at the last trade deadline.

LeBron James could have a new supporting cast next season, but how much of an improvement that will be over this year’s version will be interesting to see.