Lakers Rumors: Why the Lakers should not pursue LeBron James

3. Signing LeBron would be one step forward, two steps back

The main reason the Los Angeles Lakers are in their worst stretch in franchise history was the team’s inability to prepare after Kobe Bryant. Los Angeles went all-in on their championships in 2009 and 2010, which is perfectly fine, but it had a domino effect that is still being felt today.

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Los Angeles tried to give Bryant one last shot at the championship by bringing in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. Nash also fell victim to father time and the Howard-Bryant partnership was one of the more toxic in recent NBA history. All of these moves were for Bryant, the massive contract was for Bryant and as soon as Bryant got hurt, the Lakers were screwed.

Los Angeles essentially would be taking the same risk with LeBron James. If the team goes out and gets a younger star, such as Paul George, they can continue to build from the ground up without jeopardizing the future.

With James, Los Angeles likely would trade away all of their young assets to assemble a super team that LeBron could actually contend in the West with.

Therein lies the problem. Even with this LeBron built super team, Los Angeles would still have to go through the extremely tough West thus rendering that a championship is not even guaranteed. At the end of the day, the Lakers’ future would be destroyed without the joy of winning a title.

Next: Why the Lakers should pursue DeMarcus Cousins

Overall, as intriguing as it would be to get the best player in basketball, there are better avenues for the Los Angeles Lakers to stroll down. Ignore the Lakers rumors around LeBron James.