Los Angeles Lakers: Surprise sellers
I cannot wait for the pushback on this selection. "The Lakers have Anthony Davis and LeBron James, why would they sell?" Blah, blah, blah. The Lakers should sell. They are falling further and further away from the play-in tournament even with LeBron still playing out of his mind. AD has been as good as advertised this season too, yet it hasn't really mattered.
Overall, this team is sort of meh. They just don't have much outside of their top two players in James and Davis. Forming a big three with another All-star level player would make this team interesting, but the Lakers would have to sacrifice a lot of critical depth in order to accomplish that. Teams aren't necessarily lining up to throw the kitchen sink at Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.
What are the Lakers to do? ...I say go nuclear. Blow it up. LeBron has a player option for next season and has already hinted at wanting to play with his son, wherever he ends up. The Lakers currently own the Clippers 2nd round pick this year and that's it. Bronny James will probably have already been taken by then, especially if Pops is coming along with him.
If LeBron leaves for nothing this offseason, the Lakers are in trouble. Austin Reaves is a glorified role player at this point in his career. Rui Hachimura is as well and D'Angelo Russell seems to always be in the crosshairs throughout Lakers media.
This will seem like a hot take, but the Lakers should blow it all up, but honestly I think that they should at least settle for being sellers. Move off of unwanted contracts, hit a minor reset, and look to restructure this roster better in the offseason. They should look to acquire as many picks and good contracts as they can and get ready for next season. This season is a wash.