Another year, another humiliating playoff exit for the Los Angeles Lakers! As many predicted, the Lakers failed to solve the Denver Nuggets puzzle, yet again, and got Gentleman swept by the defending Champs. Despite putting up a brave fight, the Lakers lost tonight’s Game 5 108-106 in Mile High City, courtesy of another game winning dagger from Jamal Murray. More importantly, since their 2023-24 campaign ended in disappointment, it has raised even more questions for Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to address this summer.

While still awaiting LeBron James’ decision about his future in LA, because of his pending contract situation, Buss will need to figure out a way to keep their superstar from leaving. With that, she needs to make crucial calls on three major issues, which could determine the future of the franchise.

1. The Bronny James Decision

Probably, the first thing on Jeanie’s mind, would be the tough decision to draft LeBron’s son Bronny James to the Lakers. Because since Bronny has entered his name in the 2024 NBA draft, despite ESPN’s mock draft predicting that he would go undrafted, there have been speculations about the Lakers selecting him just to keep LeBron around for a few more years. And aware of LeBron’s desire to play alongside his son before he hangs his boots, Buss might have no option but to select the USC star. Moreover, with the 17 pick in this year’s draft, the Lakers will have the opportunity to make that move.

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But is drafting Bronny James really a wise decision for the Lakers? Unlike his father, Bronny is not projected to be an instant star in the NBA. Worse, many believe he is not even ready to be in the NBA because of his underwhelming freshman season at USC. In the Trojans uniform this season, Bronny appeared on the court in 25 games, but managed to average only 4.8 points. And his assists (2.1) and rebounding (2.8) numbers were no better. If the Lakers draft Bronny despite his college stats, at best, they will get a three and D guy on their team. And that could be a waste of their 17 pick. But if the decision keeps LeBron in LA in the final stages of his career, Jeanie Buss might not hesitate to make that call.

Moreover, even if the Lakers do not win another title in LeBron’s tenure, just his mere presence is enough to boost the Lakers’ economy. And if he decides to end his career in the Lakers uniform, the ticket prices for his farewell tour are bound to go through the roof.

2. Is this the end for Darvin Ham in LA?

Another major decision that Jeanie Buss needs to make is whether or not to bring back head coach Darvin Ham. For the second straight year, Ham failed to get the Lakers over the hump, and this time it was a more humiliating elimination in the first round. Moreover, the differences between Ham and the Lakers squad, especially LeBron James were clearly visible on the court all year. In multiple instances, LBJ could be seen disinterested or ignoring Ham’s coaching decisions. LeBron even admitted during one of the episodes of his podcast that he vetoed Ham’s decision in a regular season game against the Clippers, “We had switching built in versus Kawhi and versus James [Harden] and whatever the case may be, and I vetoed it in the second half.”

Even in Game 4 at the Crypto.com arena, LeBron shocked everyone by throwing a tantrum on the court after Ham did not oblige by his request to review an out of bounds call. And to make things worse, LeBron’s decision would have overturned the call had Ham listened to him. So, it seems unlikely that LeBron would want to play another year under Ham’s leadership when their vision does not seem to match on the court. Moreover, other Lakers players including Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis have also shown a bit of distrust in Ham’s coaching.

3. The Front Office needs to get LeBron more help

Although LeBron’s dominance on the court makes it seem otherwise, he is 39 years old, and will turn 40 sometime in the middle of next season. With that, the times when teams could win with LeBron being the best player on their squad seem to be behind us. And that was evident in the first round series against the Nuggets. In tonight’s Game 4, the Lakers were cruising in the first half, making it look like they would come out with an improbable win on the road. However, an unfortunate shoulder injury to Anthony Davis turned the game around completely.

After AD went down, LeBron tried everything to muscle his team to victory, but that was not enough to get the job done. Meanwhile, his supporting cast failed to answer the call when needed. And LeBron cannot afford to go through that another year. His window to win another Championship is closing, and he will be looking for the Lakers to surround him with more reliable postseason players to help him contend for another title. With that, we can expect Rob Pelinka and Co. to make a lot of calls this summer and build a Championship roster around LeBron.

Do you think Jeanie Buss will be able to keep LeBron James in LA by making these crucial decisions this summer?