The Los Angeles Lakers head into the 2024-25 season as one of the most intriguing teams in the Western Conference. This offseason, they hired first-time head coach JJ Redick and re-signed LeBron James. However, arguably their biggest move was drafting USC’s Bronny James with the 55th pick in this year’s draft. After selecting James, he and LeBron are now officially the first father-son teammate duo in NBA history. This is a monumental achievement that may never happen again. However, while many laud the Lakers for this decision and are excited about seeing the two together, there are also plenty who criticized the move. Many believe that James is not an NBA-ready player and should have stayed another year at USC. Additionally, some feel like drafting him was simply a bad decision from a basketball perspective. One of those critics is former NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins.
In a recent appearance on FanDuel’s “Run It Back,” the four-time All-Star revealed that he thinks the Lakers are not ‘serious’ because of their decision to draft Bronny.
“I don’t really think the Lakers are serious anymore.” – @boogiecousins #DeMarcusCousins thinks the #Lakers pairing #LeBron with #BronnyJames shows they aren’t serious about winning anymore 😱🤔
WE’RE LIVE RIGHT NOW: https://t.co/1ZUVUwg6po#RunItBack #NBA #FanDuel pic.twitter.com/EMzR3TSocE
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) October 15, 2024
“I don’t really think the Lakers are serious anymore. I love everything that it stands for. I think what ‘Bron is doing with his legacy as a businessman and everything that comes with that, I think it’s a beautiful thing. I think it’s really, really dope. But as far as the Lakers actually competing, I don’t know. I take that as a sign as they aren’t really serious. With the way their season ended last year with the high expectations, I expected more from them as far as making moves…they had a lot of concerns last year that I don’t think really were addressed,” Cousins said.
DeMarcus Cousins Says Why Lakers Are Not ‘Serious’ Contenders
Evaluating the Los Angeles Lakers’ Offseason
Cousins’ biggest critique of the Lakers is their lack of moves this offseason. Last season, they barely made the playoffs as the No.8 and lost to the Denver Nuggets in a five-game series in the first round. Considering that they were in the conference finals one season prior, this is disappointing. However, despite this, the Lakers made very few notable moves this summer.
In addition to drafting James and Dalton Knecht in the first round, the Lakers signed numerous undrafted free agents. However, the team certainly lost more players than they gained. Most notably, Spencer Dinwiddie returned to the Dallas Mavericks and Taurean Prince signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. The team also lost Harry Giles to the Charlotte Hornets. On the flip side, the only prior NBA players they added were Christian Koloko and Jordan Goodwin.
The Lakers appeared in numerous trade and free agency rumors this offseason. Reportedly, they had interest in major players like DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, and Donovan Mitchell. However, none of these rumors came to fruition.
The Last Word
The decision to draft Bronny was a bit controversial. However, given that he was one of the last picks of the draft, it is a low-risk move for the Lakers. What they did the rest of the offseason is more questionable, however. There is a chance that adding Redick to the mix will be all the help they need. However, the Western Conference is very competitive going into the 2024-25 season. Given how their team looks compared to the rest, there are genuine reasons to be concerned about the Lakers’ outlook for the upcoming campaign.
