As the curtain slowly falls on the 2024 NBA free market, teams have shown their hole cards, and wonderful recruitment dramas have been staged one after another. Recently, there have been a lot of competitive teams that have made quick moves and started to strengthen them. The 76ers acquired Paul George, Gordon, and Drummond, the Thunder acquired Caruso and Hartenstein, the Knicks brought in Bridges, the Clippers signed Harden to a new contract, and signed Kevin Porter Jr., Dunn, and Bamba. There is also the Celtics, who re-signed Tatum with the highest salary while retaining Derrick White.
Only the Los Angeles Lakers are particularly quiet in this bustle. In this summer, which was supposed to be the team to improve the roster and prepare for the start, the Lakers have made little move in the recruitment market, and the Lakers only intended this and that, but in the end they got nothing. It is said that James is willing to take a salary cut in order to bring in stars, but all four players that the Lakers are interested in have a home. According to media disclosures, James is willing to take a pay cut for stars like Klay, Harden, and Wallan, and will not take a pay cut for mediocre players.
However, none of these players have anything to do with the Lakers: Valanciunas is wearing the jersey of the Wizards, Murray is leaving for the Pelicans to write a new chapter, Paul has chosen to continue his career with the Spurs, and Klay has joined forces with the Mavericks for the future. The players who can be called big names are all famous. Even some fringe role players that fit the Lakers, the Lakers didn't get them. For example, center Bamba and Bitadze were signed by the Clippers and Magic successively, and the Clippers, the city's sworn rivals, are constantly reinforcing them, and the Lakers can only be left behind.
What's even more embarrassing is that the Lakers not only have no revenue in the player market, but even the construction of the coaching staff seems to be inadequate. The Lakers had sincerely hired UConn coach Hurley, but they were rejected. In front of many coach candidates, the Lakers finally only signed former NBA player JJ Redick as an assistant coach and hired a rookie coach, which was also a loss to the Lakers. In an increasingly competitive NBA, a strong coaching team is often the key to success, and the Lakers' current coaching staff configuration is obviously difficult to support the team's ambition to return to the top.
To make matters worse, Redick has yet to assemble his own coaching staff, which means that the Lakers have not even been able to sign a decent assistant coach right now, which is a real failure. Faced with such a predicament, some fans joked: "The Lakers' biggest reinforcement this summer is actually James's son Bronny, which is simply miserable." Although this is just a helpless joke, it deeply reflects the fans' disappointment and helplessness about the current situation of the Lakers. In fact, what he said is correct, because the Lakers' reinforcement this summer is actually to select the older rookie Kneckt and Bronny in the second round.
In addition, the Lakers also gave the little-known Christie a four-year, $32 million contract extension, which made Lakers fans angry enough. These things are a blow to Lakers fans. Of course, the beauty of basketball lies in its uncertainty, and every low point can be a new beginning. There is still time left for the Lakers, and they can still figure it out slowly. It's just that the choice left for the Lakers may not be so big. With fewer and fewer good players on the free market, I'm afraid it's hard for the Lakers to make a difference.