When can the Purple and Gold get back to their title-winning ways?
The Los Angeles Lakers have now fallen behind in their Larry O'Brien Trophy tally to their fiercest on-court rivals, the Boston Celtics. Led by All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and Finals MVP swingman Jaylen Brown, Boston broke out of its tie with L.A. to capture a record 18th championship on Monday night, besting the Dallas Mavericks at home in a 106-88 Game 5 victory to end their series 4-1.
The Celtics, with those two budding superstars in the fold across the past seven years, have advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Finals five times. The Lakers, meanwhile, have only made it past the first round once in the past four seasons. Both of L.A.'s superstars are 31 or older, and both now have significant injury mileage wearing down their limbs.
All-NBA Third Team L.A. forward LeBron James, on the verge of his record-tying 22nd season, no longer plays defense and frequently takes plays off now to preserve his 39-year-old body, while All-NBA Second Team center Anthony Davis has lost his outside shot, though he remains a special two-way player inside the post.
The Lakers have the assets, highlighted by their three tradable future first round draft picks, to make some moves this summer. But the question is, will any transactions they make, short of flipping Davis, be enough to net them the kind of player to meaningfully upgrade their ceiling in a younger, more athletic Western Conference?
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