Lakers news: LeBron James signing still leaves ‘work to do’ this summer – Marks
THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS officially signed LeBron James to a four-year $154m deal last night – but the team still has work to do on their summer recruitment drive, one pundit warned.
James became the first marquee name to sign in Los Angeles this summer when he agreed a blockbuster max contract on July 1, the first day of free agency.
One or more of fellow superstars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard had been expected to join James with the Lakers but, as yet, the King remains the first to have signed on the dotted line.
George shocked the Lakers when he decided against following James, instead extending his stay in Oklahoma City on a four-year, $137m contract.
And the Lakers’ pursuit of a trade for Kawhi Leonard looks to have hit a brick wall as negotiations with the Spurs reached a sticking point over the asking price, believed to be a blockbuster package of future picks and promising young players.
JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Coldwell-Pope all penned one-year deals with the Lakers in the following days – but speaking to ESPN last night, former Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks warned the team were far from the finished article.
“They still have some work to do here and I think when you look at their bench, how can you add another shooter?” Marks said.
“Possibly a Wayne Ellington or a Jamal Crawford?
“The interesting part is going to be they have $5.5m in cap space right now, how do they time the signing of Lance Stephenson?
“I’m told Stephenson will sign tomorrow and that cap space will go away.
“They will be left with a $4.4m room mid-level exception, so they still have a little bit of money to go out and get a shooter but they still need some help on that bench here.”