The third installment of Lebron James as a free agent has finally come to an end, and the king has made his decision. Lebron has signed a 4 year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Lebron had plenty of interest from other teams like the Philadelphia 76'ers, Houston Rockets, and his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James took Cleveland to the finals for the fourth straight season this year but that resulted in a sweep by the Golden State Warriors. Lebron's free agency decision lingered throughout the entire duration of the regular and postseason this year in the NBA, but the answer was obvious from the beginning.
The Lakers weren't Lebron's best option to win a title, but Lebron will team with young superstars like Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball in one of the biggest markets in basketball, making the Lakers a major contender in signing upcoming free agents like Kawhi Leonard, or even Kevin Durant.
The Lakers also made some roster improvements after the signing of Lebron signing veteran role players: Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and Javale Mcgee. Even with these additions though, the Lakers are still missing that other puzzle piece to winning a title, another superstar to take the pressure off of the King.
Some would say even though they landed James, Los Angeles swung and missed heavily this summer. They're attempts to sign Paul George failed as he resigned with Oklahoma City and Kawhi Leonard is still a member of the San Antonio Spurs (for now.) Leonard would be a great compliment to Lebron's game but LA would have to part ways with a couple of their young players and most likely a draft pick or two, which they aren't willing to do according to ESPN reports.
While LA still has a chance to sign Kawhi in next year's free agency period, but if the Spurs trade him somewhere the Lakers run into the risk of Leonard resigning with another team and not hitting the market like what happened with Paul George. The Lakers dream scenario would be Kawhi signing as a free agent with them next season allowing them to add another superstar without giving up any of their young assets.
All in all, LA will improve tremendously with the greatest player in the world in the purple and gold. Lebron will give this team a spark they haven't had since Kobe was in uniform, the flashing lights of LA won't be an issue for Lebron, but can the Lakers organization keep him happy and build a title contending team around him? That question is dependent on the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard's trade destination if he's moved at all.
