Although most agree the Los Angeles Lakers made a huge mistake by trading for Russell Westbrook last summer, the question is who deserves the blame?
Is it LeBron James, and to a lesser extent Anthony Davis, who reportedly engineered the trade and persuaded general manager Rob Pelinka to sign off on it?
Or is Pelinka to blame for not standing up to his two superstars?
According to a report by Eric Pincus, some within the team’s front office are blaming its dynamic duo.
Via Bleacher Report:
“Upon the urging of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the franchise traded its championship depth for Russell Westbrook, yet the three stars still ended up with an extended vacation. After the season concluded, Davis said he would meet with James to ‘reevaluate in the offseason. Upstairs, me and him, talking about the season and what we’d like to see next season.’
“Ideally, their suggestions to the Lakers’ front office will be better than acquiring Westbrook.
“But James certainly has a strong influence on the Lakers’ decision-making. Multiple sources indicate the team’s front office is internally blaming pressure from Klutch Sports Group (representing both James and Davis) for Westbrook.”
Many have speculated James and Klutch are basically acting as the Lakers’ shadow general managers, and that they have a disproportionate amount of power within the organization.
It seems more and more Lakers fans are hoping James leaves as a free agent next season or that he gets traded this summer simply to rid the team of his influence on personnel moves.
There is nothing wrong with consulting someone such as James, who is obviously very smart and astute, on roster moves. It’s something the Lakers reportedly did with Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson back in the day.
But letting a team’s superstar have some kind of final say on personnel decisions is a recipe for disaster, especially when it’s someone like James who has seemingly vouched for acquiring certain players because he is friends with them.
Hopefully, the two sides will come to an agreement where both respect mutual boundaries and will work toward one common goal while putting aside any individual agendas.
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