Los Angeles Lakers: Why they’ll end up keeping Isaiah Thomas

It’s superstar or bust and the front office knows it

If the Los Angeles Lakers fail to at least show a strong enticing of Paul George to try and lure him out of Oklahoma City over the summer, this front office will solidify itself as a lost cause. From the time he assumed a management role, Magic Johnson has assured fans that greater times are ahead for the team and that it will also come quicker thanks to a superstar.

Instead of just trying to groom and grow with the young core that they’ve got in place already, the Lakers seem to want them to grow while also not going long without one of the already established and premier names in the association.

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While Paul George may top their list, the possibility of landing LeBron James has also made it’s way around many circles with reason to believe that it’s more than just hearsay or gossip.

That’s great and all, but they don’t really have a backup plan, do they?

If all goes down the gutter and Los Angeles fails to sign a top-tier free agent, what then? Well, now that they have Isaiah Thomas on the roster for now with the option to pursue a new deal by then, they’ve got an excuse in the making.

Especially when you consider the ESPN report that the team is not ruling out having to chase down a free agent superstar in the summer of 2019, either.

Since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have this obsession with being star-struck, the better question is if the Lakers can really survive that approach and plan to bring the purple and gold back to where it’s used to being.

The short, context lacking answer is yes — but for how long?

Let’s assume that going into his sophomore year, the talk from LaVar Ball continues to heat up. There’s no telling how Thomas will deal with that now that he’s on the team the elder Ball continues to ridicule instead of somewhere else.

A clash of egos may be in store, which would be great for a Hollywood movie, but not so great if you’re trying to win basketball games.

They’ve delivered on the promise to fans that they’ll at least have the finances to make a superstar-to-LA deal actually happen, but until there’s a name and face it’s as good as void.

Signing Thomas to a two year deal — which might be the least he’ll even accept, depending on the money involved — is their way to put off the superstar hunt for at least one more summer.