“He might not want it, but guess what? Unless you retire, you don’t make those calls anymore” - Stephen A. Smith believes the LA Lakers should seriously consider trading 4 time finals MVP

The LA Lakers and their struggles this season were mentioned in Wednesday’s episode of “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith. After finishing in 11th place and missing this year's playoffs, the Lakers are left with minimal options for their future. Smith weighed in on why he believes the Lakers should rid themselves of the 4-time NBA Finals MVP.

Stephen A. Smith said:

“I think the Los Angeles Lakers should strongly considered trading LeBron James … He might not want it, but guess what? Unless you retire, you don’t make those calls anymore.”

He continued explaining:

“If I’m the Lakers, I’m calling Cleveland, because they’ve got some young talent … I’m calling Miami, I’m calling Utah, Donovan Mitchell, you want out? … You got Portland, you got Dame Lillard … All I’m doing is throwing out teams for you because if I’m the Lakers, I know I ain’t going nowhere, what I gotta do is prevent from falling off the cliff entirely.”

On August 6th 2021, the LA Lakers signed new contracts with several of their players. They were Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kent Bazemore, Talen-Horton Tucker, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington and Dwight Howard.

The narrative was that LeBron James loaded Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony into a squad to get them a championship for their resume. With long-time friends on and off the court, Russ and Melo being on the Lakers was an exciting notion for fans everywhere. It was supposed to be a showtime season. Unfortunately, it ended as quite the opposite.

After sacrificing a dominant portion of their youthful players, the LA Lakers stand with virtually no options going forward. They are essentially forced into keeping Westbrook as his next year is worth over $40 million on a contract that arguably no team is going to want to pay for. Anthony Davis was injured and remained out for a large portion of the season. Carmelo Anthony, though played to his role, did not prove to be over the top in many regards.

What was left is LeBron James in his 19th year, finishing the LA Lakers’ poor season with incredible stats regardless. LeBron finished this 2021-22 NBA season averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists at 37-years-old.

If we look at the options the Lakers have going forward in an increasingly competitive Western Conference, they are not left with much of a future. Stephen A. Smith’s large claim to trade away LeBron James might not be too far off of the spectrum insofar as reviving what is left of the LA Lakers.

James was and always will be an immediate contribution on the court, but as Smith pointed out, he is basically the only player with notable value at the moment. If Jeanie Buss and the LA Lakers hope to keep their heads above the rising waters in the Western Conference, they just may have to do something drastic.

Instead of looking to dump players and revive the roster, the LA Lakers organization has fired Frank Vogel. They are now rumored to be turning to 13-time NBA champion, Phil Jackson, for advice going forward.

When asked how Smith felt about the Lakers turning to Phil Jackson in the process of hiring their new head coach, Stephen A. answered:

“If they were looking for a new general manager, or a new president of basketball operations, I would call the Los Angeles Lakers franchise the biggest idiots on the planet because Phil Jackson should never be allowed to be an executive again. Matter of a fact, I’m still so salty about the job he did in New York, I’d prefer he be banned from New York.”

Yet, Smith continues to explain that on the coaching choice front, Jackson may prove to be okay. He said:

“Coach, is an entirely different matter. I know he hired Derek Fisher as Knicks coach, but he wanted Steve Kerr.”

In any case, whoever is lined up to be head coach is going to have to deal with quite the large revival in LA going forward. LeBron James will stay alive for the entirety of this season with zero signs of slowing down with age. The 4-time NBA champion and Finals MVP has noted that he only wants to play until he can share the floor with his son and hopefully surpass Kareem’s all-time scoring record of 38,387. James currently sits at 37,062.

Whatever the LA Lakers choose to do going forward is ultimately going to have to be a large-scale decision and probably create a shift in the squad. Smith’s claim of LA needing to rid themselves of LeBron remains to have potential for their future, but it still not probable. James has too much influence and has contributed far too much for the LA Lakers to just cut ties with them to save face.