“This is not the same LeBron that’s going to drag 6 people across the finish line into the NBA finals” - Marcus Spears believes the LA Lakers are not ready to compete next season

NBA and LA Lakers superstar LeBron James has an uphill task ahead of him this summer as he and general manager Rob Pelinka have to build a roster ahead of next season good enough to compete for the championship.

On ESPN's podcast Swagu and Perk, former NFL star Marcus Spears spoke about how the construction of next season's roster shouldn't be in such a way that King James has to carry and do the work of multiple players in order to get to the NBA Finals. Spears said:

"This team is in no way no shape no form ready for the next year. I have to catch myself and say, LeBron old. LeBron is phenomenal and he's going to play at a high level when he's on the floor."

"This is not the same LeBron that's going to drag six people across the finish line into the NBA finals especially when you look at the landscape of the league and understand what these other teams have done."

With Russell Westbrook in all likelihood activating his player-option deal and Anthony Davis being the other max player, the room for maneuverability is limited as far as the LA Lakers are concerned this summer.

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Why has it gone so wrong between LeBron and Westbrook this season for LA Lakers?

The Lakers' superstar duo against the Toronto Raptors

Russell Westbrook's return to his native Los Angeles to play for the LA Lakers alongside LeBron James this season was viewed as a homecoming that would bring the championship to the franchise this season. However, things haven't panned out that way with the team not even making the Play-In tournament this year.

The former OKC Thunder superstar has a history of not getting along with other superstars on the court either. He has struggled to establish chemistry with the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, although the latter has missed a lot of games this season and the trio have not played that many games together in a stretch of games.

The duo of LeBron James and Russell Westbrook on the court together has not worked because of the lack of threat from the perimeter of both the players, although King James possesses far more threat from range than Westbrook. This led to the paint being packed with both of them trying to do most of their damage inside the arc.

The LA Lakers and Westbrook's defense have also been shockingly poor this season. His team is ranked 21st in the league in defensive ratings and this along with the turnovers he is generating (3.8 per game), coupled with his exhorbant salary of over $44 million, made him an almost immovable prospect before the trade deadline day as the franchise considered cutting their losses and trading him to another team.