What is the Lakers’ future and does it include LeBron?

The Lakers run in the playoffs officially came to an end earlier this week, but did it also mark the end of the team’s run with Darvin Ham as head coach and also possibly LeBron James? Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson discussed that on the latest episode of All The Smoke Unplugged.

Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that it is considered highly unlikely for Ham to return next season, positioning Ham as the fall guy.

Despite all this, Matt says the Lakers really didn’t play poorly in their series with the Nuggets, despite losing it 4-1. He even goes so far as to say that if they had drawn someone else they might be moving on to the second round. Say what you will about the coach or the roster, Matt points out the Lakers had the misfortune of running into Denver in the first round and Denver looks really good right now.

Stak says the issue is more one of expectations. He didn’t see this Lakers team as one which could have won the Western Conference, even if he thought they had a little bit of dark horse energy in them at one point. Stak says he always knew what this team was — a Play-In team. He saw the roster they had and knew LeBron was going to have to play like he did against Golden State when he was putting up 40-point triple-doubles. Stak knew that LeBron wasn’t going to be walking through that door. Stak says LeBron still produced Hall of Fame numbers, but he needed help. The expectations, he says, for this team were just too high.

Matt is looking at management when it comes to what has gone wrong with the Lakers — whether that’s LeBron’s side or the Lakers’ side — because he says this is a poorly constructed situation. They’ve got good pieces, but Matt doesn’t feel like the pieces have gelled like they need to. That leads to the fact that LeBron will have the opportunity to hit free agency for the first time since 2018. There have been reports that the Lakers would do whatever it takes, including drafting Bronny, in order to keep LeBron.

Matt notes that Cari Champion has put it out there that she’s been told LeBron has played his last game as a Laker. But what does Stak think? Stak says LeBron insisting that he won’t say if he’s played his last game in a Laker uniform IS the answer right there.

Stak thinks LeBron is just controlling the narrative and forcing wherever he goes next to draft Bronny. Stak says LeBron has nothing else to prove in the game of basketball and he thinks wherever he goes or does at this point is going to be with the goal of being with his son as a mentor and guiding him.

Stak says LeBron is not going to say anything about his own decision until it he knows he’s in a situation where he can control that his son will be with him.

Watch or listen to the full episode below and keep an eye on DraftKings Network for new episodes of All The Smoke Unplugged every Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET!

SHOW BREAKDOWN

NBA’s New Generation Taking Over, Kendrick Diss Track, Out-Of-Pocket Stephen A Smith | ATS UNPLUGGED

• The regular season is over and now it’s time for the big guns to go to war. ALL THE SMOKE Unplugged is back to break down everything about this years NBA playoffs and play-in games. What’s the impact of Giannis calf injury? Will LeBron really lose in round 1? The Warriors second wind?

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Check out the DraftKings YouTube page and the All The Smoke Productions YouTube page for more. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on Instagram at @Matt_Barnes9 and @_Stak5_ as well as All The Smoke Productions.

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