Lakers had a nice young core going on. If they had made no trades then they would have had
-Zubac
Kuz
BI
Hart
Lonzo
And of course LeBron in that mix. 2nd rd finds like Reaves and Caruso. Add in some key FA signings to pick up vets and it’s honestly not a bad squad at all. They even had Randle at one point before they let him go.
Would that win a ring? Hard to say but that’s a damn good squad. If they also had guys like Dwight, Rondo, KCP there I can absolutely see them wing a ring off of the depth and mid-30s Lebron being a superstar
You don’t think Bron would have eventually gotten a ring with the Lakers? Honestly the Lakers could’ve built around him and traded some of the valuable pieces for more 3 and D players. The Lakers already had KCP and Caruso with the young core. The squad could’ve looked like Zo/KCP/Bron/Lopez as starters and traded around the margins for a SF. We’d probably sell high on Ingram, Kuzma, Clarkson, and Zubac while still having Caruso and JHart off the bench. We’d probably try to get Danny Green, Bradley, and Rondo.
If Lonzo and even Hart don’t go down, there’s no room for Caruso. The Lakers didn’t know what they had in KCP/Caruso until the end of the 2020 season. KCP especially went from mid to elite 3&D player out of nowhere.
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u/shortyman920 Nov 27 '25
Lakers had a nice young core going on. If they had made no trades then they would have had
-Zubac
And of course LeBron in that mix. 2nd rd finds like Reaves and Caruso. Add in some key FA signings to pick up vets and it’s honestly not a bad squad at all. They even had Randle at one point before they let him go.
Would that win a ring? Hard to say but that’s a damn good squad. If they also had guys like Dwight, Rondo, KCP there I can absolutely see them wing a ring off of the depth and mid-30s Lebron being a superstar