The journey of the former Lakers’ young talent
The Los Angeles Lakers bet on “winning now” with moves, some more successful than others, that aimed to put together with LeBron James the best possible talent in search of championships and return the franchise to the success it had not experienced since the glorious era of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
Precisely in 2020 they achieved the championship by bringing together a top-level duo such as James and Anthony Davis in a first stage and tried to form a “Big 3” by bringing Russell Westbrook to the franchise.
It is not a new formula for the Lakers to sacrifice the future to put together the pieces necessary to achieve success without having to embark on a sometimes lengthy and tortuous adventure of player development and rebuilding.
But it is still interesting and at least curious to wonder what would become of the Los Angeles Lakers, a team running out of time and fuel this season, relying on all that young talent it gave up to try to put together a competitive team that would pay off in the short term.
Lonzo Ball
One of the key pieces in getting Anthony Davis to the Lakers, spending two years with the New Orleans Pelicans put up decent numbers, but not enough, to convince as a second-round draft pick (2017).
Ball arrived in 2021 to the Chicago Bulls and seemed to have found his home. The spotlight is not on him, holding on to his career averages in points and assists per game.
However they have improved his shooting efficiency reaching a .567 eFG%, setting career highs this season in field goal shooting with 42.3% and equal percentage in three pointers. He is out for the time being due to injury.
Brandon Ingram
Like Ball, he was one of the pieces the Lakers had to give up to get Davis and in his first year away from the Los Angeles franchise he was elected to the All-Star Game in 2020.
Averaging 23.5 points per game in his three seasons with the Pelicans, he has remained the team’s offensive leader despite the arrivals of Zion Williamson and most recently, C.J. McCollum.
Injuries have only allowed the 24-year-old forward to appear in 52 games so far this season, but with his youth he has a lot to contribute in his already six-season career.
Kyle Kuzma
He was the longest-tenured of the young talent acquired in the last five years, being part of the 2020 championship team.
However, it was time for him to try other airs thanks to the trade in which the Lakers acquired Russell Westbrook, one of the most criticized moves in recent seasons.
After spending four seasons with Los Angeles, Kuzma is putting up his second-highest scoring average of his career with 17.1 points per game and career-best numbers in rebounds (8.5), assists (3.5) and blocks (0.9) per game.
Josh Hart
Along with Ingram and Ball he came to the Pelicans in the AD change and although his stay was shorter than the others, he has shown his best level now with the Portland Trail Blazers.
He was the main piece in getting McCollum to the Pelicans, and in 13 games with his new team he is averaging 19.9 points per game in 32.1 minutes, a significant increase from his career averages of 9.9 points and 27.3 minutes.
Other young players (or draft picks) involved in the Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook trades: Isaiah Jackson – Indiana Pacers (7.5ppj, 4.1rpj, 13.4mpj) and DeAndre Hunter – Atlanta Hawks (13.5ppj, 3.2rpj, 30mpj).
