Let's see if we can wake this forum up?
I think many people would agree with KCP. Why did the Lakers break this championship team up?
Why did they release both Dwight and McGee?
Why did they keep Horton-Tucker and let go of Alex Caruso?
So many bad decisions...
There were many in this forum that were critical of McGee. I always felt he was getting a bad rap. And Howard was too much of a playboy and did not put that much effort into the Laker games. He used to get in a lot of trouble. His best years were before the 2020 season and beyond. His peak was when he was with the Magic. It was a good team the Lakers had, but I am not sure about championship caliber.
Um, how are they not championship caliber when they won the championship? 
So every team was equally challenged and equally limited.
The the best team won given equal circumstances...
The point is that that team was broken up prematurely...
No comparison to season 2025 is under consideration.
Well what is killing the Lakers is that two players are getting most of the money appropriated for the team. The rest of the players get crumbs. To me that is always going to handcuff teams from getting good players. Also it all depends on how smart a General Manager is. Some have loop holes and know people to get around paying the luxury taxes etc. And some owners have deep pockets and do not care how much tax they pay. Look at the total package the Warriors were paying their players. The Lakers actually since Jerry Buss passed away has been conservative and now they spend their money foolishly on two players. One who is over the hill by a long shot, and the other has a contract that would probably be the highest contract for an NBA player.
