The Los Angeles Lakers have been led by LeBron James for the last few years before the organization decided to trade for Luka Doncic. Now, Doncic is doing whatever it takes to reach the NBA Finals. For James, he just wants to compete on a contending team.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Rich Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”
This summer, the Lakers tried to convince both talents, which led to acquiring Deandre Ayton, who has been classified as a diva.
“The word around the league is not good about Deandre Ayton... right now he's been labeled as a diva, as a cancer in the locker room... he has to change a lot about himself or he will find his career being shortened,” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins said.
Ayton has been the starter all season, but recently, his minutes have been going down. Lake Show Life’s Svyatoslav Rovenchuk believes Jaxson Hayes needs to start over Ayton.
“Los Angeles has been better off for it too. Ayton (-47) has the worst plus-minus of any Laker since the All-Star break. Hayes has the best one on the team (+73), by contrast. Ayton also possesses the worst net rating (-12.4) of any player who has averaged at least 10 minutes per game since the break. Predictably, Hayes is the best in that category too, posting a mark of 30.0,” Rovenchuk wrote. “It is tough to know what the Lakers would face if they truly were bold enough to make the call on demoting Ayton to the bench and allowing Hayes to permanently reassume the starting spot.”
At this point, the starting position has to be figured out so the team knows who to get comfortable with. Doncic is undoubtedly more comfortable with Hayes running the center position.
The two have amazing chemistry on the court together, which is hit or miss with Ayton. Ayton’s character concerns, which were highlighted during the offseason, are starting to surface at the worst possible time for the Lakers.