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Los Angeles Lakers: Toronto’s success shouldn’t change the game plan

By Jason Reed

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors speaks with the media following his teams victory over the Golden State Warriors to winGame Six of the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 13, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors speaks with the media following his teams victory over the Golden State Warriors to winGame Six of the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 13, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers have been chasing a second superstar for several years now and that should not change despite the most recent NBA Champions.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ front office’s main goal over the last several years is to restore prestige to the franchise and add two superstars to make the team a title contender. Los Angeles has one superstar in LeBron James, with this summer serving as the time and place to land a second.

There is a legitimate worry that the Los Angeles Lakers do not get a second star, however. The market is reduced with both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson being injured and there are three teams — the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks — that can all offer two max contract slots.

With that in mind and the fact that none of the free agents have strong ties to the organization, it appears as if the Lakers’ only real chance is to trade for Anthony Davis. Jimmy Butler is the only free agent option with any sort of Lakers’ connection, so he is an option as well.

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Laker fans have taken the ultimate spin zone, though, and looked at the most recent NBA Champions as an example of why the team does not need a second superstar.

In particular, this is a response to Robert Mavri’s article over on our sister site, Lake Show Life, in which he made the argument that the Toronto Raptors proved you do not need a second superstar.

That idea makes sense on paper as Toronto’s only star was Kawhi Leonard and the team took a more wholesome approach with different guys stepping up on different nights. It truly was beautiful to see but there is a reason why the Raptors are such a rare NBA Champion.

Rarely does that kind of democratic basketball happen and a lot of things had to go Toronto’s way for them to win it all. A wrong bounce in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers two rounds earlier and we wouldn’t be having this discussion whatsoever.

Not to mention that the Raptors came up against an extremely banged-up Golden State Warriors team. This is not a knock on the Raptors, as you play who is in front of you, but they got let off the hook with an injured Durant, a beat up Stephen Curry and a roster that was too top-heavy as a result.

A healthy Golden State Warriors team takes that series nine times out of 10. The Raptors capitalized on the situation.

Plus, Kawhi Leonard is one of the few stars that you can actually rely upon to embark on this strategy. He is an exceptional two-way player that can score almost at will while also locking down the other team’s best player.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not have that as LeBron James is only getting older and his defense is getting worse. This is not Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo or James Harden in their primes. This is an older LeBron.

And Leonard is the first to succeed at doing this. Harden couldn’t with the roster built around him and LeBron was outclassed when he took the Cleveland Cavaliers without Kyrie Irving to the NBA Finals last year.

If the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers roster was at a point where they could all pitch in with the occasional 30-point game and be reliable contributors then it could get interesting with the Warriors being banged up.

However, they are not at that point and if they were then the team would have more star power as those players would become stars in their own right. That is not a team without a second superstar, it is a team that has several lesser stars that are all playing like all-stars when they are at their best.

Next. Potential Lakers-Bulls-Pelicans trade. dark

The Los Angeles Lakers just aren’t quite there, albeit they have a lot of promise on the roster. Adding a second superstar like Jimmy Butler to LeBron and that promise is the formula; the formula is not relying too heavily on James.

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