What it means for Lakers if free agents don’t want to play with LeBron

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James was doing that thing again. What thing? Everything.

He barreled through defenders, came up with a clutch steal and rose up for an impossibly deep 3-pointer. He threw the ball ahead to Kyle Kuzma for a dunk and set up Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart for clutch 3s.

When the performance was complete, James had scored 42 points and carried the Lakers to a 121-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs for their fourth straight victory and their 13th in 15 games.

Seriously. Who would want to play with that guy?

The Lakers are in an interesting position. Even as they surge in a wacky Western Conference, currently two games out of first place, it’s impossible not to keep an eye on the future. The Lakers have never been shy about their long-term plans, and the $40 million in cap space they preserved for next summer beckons. They may be playing well now, but the real fun is supposed to begin in another year, when Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard joins forces with James.

Then along comes Wednesday’s story by Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, throwing cold water all over that idea.

Numerous NBA players went on the record to discuss the potential drawbacks to other stars playing with James, including players being reluctant to sign on to be LeBron’s No. 2 and what Kevin Durant called a “toxic” and fawning environment.

There is growing precedent. Paul George re-signed in Oklahoma City without taking a meeting with the Lakers. Jimmy Butler left the Lakers off his list of preferred destinations earlier this season prior to being traded to Philadelphia. It’s a trend that could continue with Leonard, who many around the league believe would prefer to sign with the Clippers if he leaves Toronto.

In the obvious sense, playing alongside James should appeal to any NBA player. He is an unselfish superstar with a proven knack for getting his teams to the Finals. It’s also understandable if young, ball-dominant stars are wary of taking on a diminished role next to the ball-dominant James.

“To me the question is, why would you not want to play with LeBron?” Luke Walton mused Wednesday morning.

When the Lakers signed James in July, they were counting on NBA stars feeling the same way, believing LeBron’s very presence would attract other top talent to L.A. to complete the franchise’s rebuild.

So what does it mean if the exact opposite proves to be true — if top free agents prefer to avoid LeBron?

It sets up a doomsday result for the Lakers in which they go into the offseason with wads of cash and no All-Star free agent to take it. The class of 2019 is headlined by Leonard and Butler, as well as two anchors of the Golden State dynasty: Durant and Klay Thompson.

For none of them to bite at the Lakers offering would not be terribly surprising — there’s a sound reasoning for all of them to either stay put or head elsewhere.

All of which is to say, there is enough doubt that the Lakers better have a pretty good Plan B.

Take those four stars off the board in free agency, and the second tier of 2019 free agents looks like Kemba Walker, Nikola Vucevic and Khris Middleton.

Those are all players who would require the Lakers to use most, if not all, of their cap space to retain their services.

The Lakers have roughly $67 million in committed salary for next season, with the salary cap reportedly projected to rise to $109 million. The order of preference for how the Lakers use that space and operate beyond this season should look like this:

Sign a superstar
Trade for a high-level star like Anthony Davis
Use cap space on one or more second-tier free agents
Push over cap space and keep options open throughout the 2019-20 season and summer of 2020.

Just like there is a big difference between signing that superstar outright and having to trade multiple members of the core to land him, there is a big difference between sacrificing that depth for Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard and doing so for John Wall.

Under normal circumstances, No. 4 is a conservative but responsible choice. It’s better to hold on to cap space than panic and misappropriate it. With the exception of the Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov contracts of 2016, the Lakers have been exceedingly careful not to commit to any long-term dollars beyond young stars on rookie contracts and, now, James.

However, the Lakers have a shrinking window with their one superstar, who generously committed to the Lakers for four years on a $154 million contract. He will turn 34 at the end of the month and has already sacrificed pursuit of a championship this season to make his transition to L.A. It would be a severe disappointment for the Lakers to not have a clear-cut second star in place by the start of next season.

For the Lakers to move forward with this core — and no additional superstars — that second star would have to develop internally.

Walton said Wednesday that he believes the Lakers, as constituted, can “absolutely” win a championship without adding another superstar.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he told reporters gathered around him following the team’s morning shootaround, “but I can already see your faces, the headline: ‘Luke says Lakers are winning championship now,’ but absolutely.

“This group, if we continue to grow together and go through what teams go through and our young players continue to get better at the rate they have in their short NBA careers, absolutely.”

James’ latest performance, his third 40-point game with the Lakers, came at an interesting time. He has been the subject of armchair quarterbacking from both Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, who said the Lakers should be wary of leaning too heavily on James, with Bryant adding that LeBron doing everything is “not a recipe for winning championships.”

However, it is the only recipe the Lakers currently have. They have James and a collection of young players he is trying to lift beyond modest expectations.

“What’s most important is seeing my teammates make huge shots in the fourth quarter,” LeBron said Wednesday. “J-Hart out of rhythm the whole game because of foul trouble, he makes two huge 3s in the fourth quarter. Zo makes a huge 3s on the left wing. Kuz making the plays down the stretch as well. That’s what’s most important to me. I can care less about the narrative about me. It doesn’t matter.”

That narrative starts to matter if it costs the Lakers another superstar down the road, but until then, James will play the only way he knows how to play.

“When it’s happening, sometimes, it’s amazing,” Hart said, “and people should really stop criticizing. Shut up and witness greatness when it’s happening.”

(Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty Images)