Rob Pelinka, the Lakers GM, thinks he has built a team that will help the all-time leading scorer in the NBA to have more rest this year.
LeBron James is getting up early and working hard as he gets ready for his 21st NBA season.
Rob Pelinka thinks he has built a team that will help the highest-scoring player in NBA history to relax more this season.
“I think we were very intentional about the versatility that this roster has, the depth that the roster has,” Pelinka said Thursday. “I think there’s upgrades (in) spacing and shooting, top to bottom. That was all done knowing LeBron is going into the 21st year. We have to partner with him to help him get all the way to the end, because that’s his goal. Adding the depth, the versatility, the shooting, all of those things are going to help us manage that.”
The Lakers have kept most of their players from last season and added some new ones. They are aiming to build a strong team around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The team will start training camp soon and Lakers’ General Manager was excited to see what the group can achieve with a full season together.
The Lakers have a strong roster this season, with players like D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Rui Hachimura joining alongside five new veterans. This could be their best lineup since they won the championship in 2020.
“We have, top to bottom, what we feel like is a highly balanced, skilled, athletic, younger team of guys that have logged a ton of NBA minutes,” coach Darvin Ham said. “We can surround both (James) and AD with these players who are coming in eager to contribute, eager to show they can impact winning. That’s going to allow us to be more efficient with (James’) game-to-game minutes. … He was grandfathered in by the rest rule. I was happy to see that.”
James is given special rest exemptions in the NBA’s player participation policy. The policy is designed to encourage teams to have their best players in more games. Pelinka and Ham support the policy and expect James and Davis to play most games, as long as they are healthy.
“The team that’s around (James) now, the pieces that we have in place, those guys are going to step up and do a lot of heavy lifting early,” Ham said.
The Los Angeles team kept Davis, Russell, Austin Reaves, Vanderbilt, and Hachimura from last season’s Western Conference finals. They also added Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, and Christian Wood.
The Lakers made a huge investment in Davis, with a three-year, $186 million contract extension. Davis has been a valuable player for the team, although he has struggled with injuries at times.
“He’s only 30 years old, so there’s a huge, huge road still ahead of him in how he can lead the franchise and hopefully put some more banners up here,” Ham said. “I’m excited for the type of year he’s going to have.”
The Lakers were excited to invest in their big player, according to Pelinka.
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