As the Golden State Warriors prepare to take on the final two years of their established championship window, they have learned a lesson more painfully than almost any other team in the NBA; attempting to balance a win-now approach and building for the future almost always results in disaster.
Yet, as Bobby Marks previewed the Los Angeles Lakers' season on NBA Today, he pointed out that, with their balancing of Luka Doncic and Lebron James, the Warriors' Western Conference foes are attempting to take the same path, and they will soon see the perils of attempting to walk that tightrope.
Both teams are in a position where they must attempt to contend now, but the Lakers, as they figure out what their path forward with Doncic on the roster is, will soon learn the same lesson that Golden State learned over the past few seasons.
The Los Angeles Lakers are trying the doomed two-timeline approach
Although the Warriors were able to win a championship in 2022 on the backs of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the balancing act they attempted of accruing young talent while maintaining their veteran core was a decided failure. A number of draft picks from that time, most notably including James Wiseman, failed to pan out. Jordan Poole's clash with Green forced the team to trade him. Jonathan Kuminga's current contractual saga with the team has severely limited their offseason.
Now, according to Marks, Los Angeles could be attempting a similar feat this season: "You are a win-now team, but then you also have in eye out in 2026 [and] 2027 when you have potential of $100 million of cap flexibility... that's going to be the most challenging thing this year is the two timelines approach."
While acquiring Doncic in a blockbuster trade last season shook up the Lakers' outlook, that is a move that any front office in the entire league would make 100 times over. The problem now comes in attempting to balance that with whatever time James, who is entering his 23rd season, has left on the roster.
James will be an unrestricted free agent after this offseason, leaving Los Angeles with significant financial flexibility to build around Doncic. Yet, for the time being, it appears as though they are going into win-now mode with both players on the roster, adding Jake LaRavia, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart in free agency.
To succeed with Doncic, the team must attempt to add young talent and build a strong defensive core, just like the Mavericks once did en route to an NBA Finals run.
Yet, this balancing act with James and their older core could waste a valuable year of Doncic's prime if it goes wrong, and the organization will soon learn the same lessons the Warriors did in attempting to have their cake and eat it too.