LeBron James moving to LA Lakers has been the big NBA news everyone has been talking about. As soon as the deal was confirmed, there was a fluster of activity that saw Lance Stephenson follow him to the Lakers. JaVale McGee was next to join them, then on Monday Rajon Rondo also made the move to LA.
This was a team that nobody would expect to fit with LeBron James’ style of play and how he likes to have a team set up around him. People were laughing about the movements and thinking that Magic Johnson had lost the plot. However, it turns out that this had all been carefully planned out with Johnson looking to take LeBron James’ game into a whole new space.
By providing James with playmakers in the shape of Rondo and Stephenson, James is likely to have more opportunities in the lanes and from the post, without the need to create most of the attacks himself. Johnson has pulled together the team that he thinks will allow James to flourish, rather than be the one-man band that he seemed to be so often at Cleveland.
What will happen with Kawhi Leonard?
News is emerging that Kawhi actually hid from people from the Spurs front office when they were trying to check on his rehab. This was a while back, but it paints a picture of strained relations between Leonard and the Spurs and further tension was highlighted when team mates asked him to play despite him being injured.
It was first rumoured that Leonard would head to the LA Lakers to join LeBron James but that seems less likely by the day. Leonard has not played since January and there are big questions about his fitness and his mental attitude right now. Spurs will be looking to move Leonard on before he goes into free agency next year but who is going to make a move for him? Could Toronto, Miami or Washington be lining up a move?
