The Los Angeles Lakers went into the 2019 NBA offseason with questions marks all over their roster and front office.
However, general manager Rob Pelinka and company turned out to know exactly what they were doing. They traded for Anthony Davis and proceeded to build a championship-caliber roster around him and LeBron James that includes a ton of talented role players.
The old stereotype was that teams with James on them deferred entirely to him to be the de-facto general manager. However, the Lakers were very open in their approach, saying that while the front office had the final say in every decision, James and Davis would be heavily consulted when building the roster.
This seemed to be an approach that Davis was a huge fan of, saying that it would’ve been hard to get behind a front office that put players around the two All-Star players that they don’t necessarily like.
“I think the front office did a great job of including LeBron and myself in the decisions to build this team. Every guy that is on this team, me and LeBron had a say so in and I think that’s very important,” Davis said. “When you go into war with guys every day, it’d be pretty weird to go to war with a guy you don’t really like so they make sure they want to include us in every decision.”
When Davis was asked about the vision he and James had while helping to create the roster, his response was simple, saying that it was all about getting the right pieces to win a championship. He even said that some players approached them about joining the Lakers.
“It wasn’t really a vision. I just told guys we definitely have an opportunity to do something special here this year and all you can ask for is a chance in this league and we definitely have a chance to do something special,” Davis said of his thought process.
“A lot of guys actually were texting me, ‘You and LeBron? Can I join?’ so it was pretty easy on my end. But there were guys that we had to try to convince that we really wanted here that ended up being here. Now we feel like we have all the right pieces to do what we want to do and reach our ultimate goal. Now’s about just going out, buckling down, and doing it.”
The Lakers certainly seem to have the right pieces in place to begin their quest for a championship and based on the deals they gave, they should have two full years with this core given that Davis re-signs next summer.
For James and Davis now, it’s about bringing the best out of the players they picked. If they can, there’s a chance the Lakers will be hoisting Larry O’Brien trophy in June.
