Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[mvossman]

When we get to the 'in a few years' part of this vision, the roster above is basically....

Lively/Maxi
GWill/OMP
Green/OMP
Kyrie/Hardy
Luka/Exum

Other than the top-9, no one else really matters (in terms of the playoffs) other than helping us to get from point A to point B.  If everyone grows into the level of player you are assuming, Holmes, Powell, Hardaway and Curry are just holding down the fort as we wait for development from Lively, OMP and Hardy.  DJJ may fit into that stop-gap category also, but he is younger than the others.  So, I'll mention him separately.

For this to really be championship level, one of Lively or OMP needs to develop an outside shot fairly quickly.  For OMP to be a 'star', he needs to start and to start, he needs to play next to Lively and push one of Green or GWill to the bench.  He's fine off the bench next to Maxi for now.  But his ceiling is higher than GWill's and that might just be the difference between top 4-6 seed and true contender.  

The question I have regarding all of this is timing.  We have Kyrie under contract for only two seasons and Maxi turns 32 next season.  Will those two be here (Irving) or useful (Maxi) by the time OMP, Lively and Hardy get to where you/we hope/imagine they will grow to.  I agree the future is bright.

I love Maxi, but its hard to pencil him in the top 8 rotation given his age and injury history.  I also think Kyrie might surprise folks and hang here longer term, but I realize you cannot bank on anything with that dude.  The good news is that we will have 3 firsts starting next offseason to fill in those gaps if necessary.  If this FO has turned the corner and continues to have offseasons like the one we just had, we may have more names to put on that list in the near future without selling all of our assets.