The Los Angeles Lakers may have had a tumultuous start to the 2023-24 season, with more questions than answers, but a recent report by Marc Stein suggests they will be focusing on internal improvement rather than toward a blockbuster trade.
“I’m told the Lakers, at present, are focused on internal improvement, hopeful that getting Jarred Vanderbilt … and Vincent back on the floor regularly will give them a meaningful boost” (h/t Sports Illustrated).
The Western Conference runners-up worked all offseason to build a team that could compete against Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, and Golden State.
They did not recruit superstars but, rather, solid positional players to accentuate LeBron James and Anthony Davis while simultaneously providing the team with the depth it has not had in recent years so that injuries would not derail their NBA Championship hopes.
Except that depth has been, well, injured.
At one point, the Lakers were without four players, including Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent, and were forced to play center Christian Wood and forward Cam Reddish sooner, and longer, than expected.
The team’s inability to be on the court as one, build chemistry, and just play ball means coaches and front office staff do not really know what the team they assembled over the summer can actually accomplish.
Getting Vanderbilt and Vincent back will be key. That Wood and Reddish have already had time to gel with their teammates in expanded roles, no matter how unexpected or wanted, is a blessing in disguise.
Working with Austin Reaves to rediscover his play from the postseason would do wonders to solidify his position.
Getting everyone back on the court and working to find the best lineups will be key. To blow it up and bring in Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan would be a panic move and fly in the face of everything the team hoped to do with its offseason moves.
There is a reason the Nuggets have had the success that they have over the last three seasons and the Warriors have been perennial contenders for the last decade. They have team chemistry that developed over time and was not interrupted by an incessant desire to trade for superstars the moment things did not go according to plan.
The Lakers need to show that patience, focus on the team that is there now, and build it into a contender instead of trying to buy their way to a title.
Luckily and rightly, if Stein is proven correct, it appears that is the approach the organization will take in the coming weeks and months.
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