LeBron James' Olympic MVP Must Motivate Lakers to Find Russell Trade amid NBA Rumors

Hopefully the Los Angeles Lakers were watching the Olympics as closely as the rest of us.

If they were, they'd recognize how foolish it is to leave any stone unturned in their search for roster upgrades around LeBron James.

The 39-year-old just loudly sent the message that age really ain't nothing but a number while powering Team USA to gold with an MVP performance. He was, for that tournament at least, the best player on the planet.

This was vintage James dominance: otherworldly vision, unstoppable force going to the basket, an overpowered will to win. It was the same force-plus-finesse package that previously delivered gold to not only these very Lakers, but also the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before them.

It was, frankly, the kind of hoops heroics that should wake this front office up from its summer slumber and remind them there are moves that must be made.

L.A., as you may have heard a time or 20, has kept painfully quiet this offseason. Save for a coaching hire (JJ Redick) and a couple of draft picks (Dalton Knecht and LeBron's son, Bronny James), the Lakers have left untouched a team that lost 35 games last season and got knocked out of the opening round.

This is an unforgivable way to spend the final years of a living legend's career. Especially when this generational juggernaut seemingly remains as powerful as ever.

The Lakers' lack of activity hasn't stemmed from a lack of assets. They have future firsts at their disposal, plus a handful of prospects to help sweeten the pot. They also have several mid-sized salaries to help make the math work, including the one attached to D'Angelo Russell, whom B/R's Eric Pincus described as the player the Lakers are "most willing to part with."

Russell may not have a ton of trade value on his own—his offensive abilities are undermined by some glaring defensive deficiencies—but he could still help anchor a major move by way of his expiring $18.7 million salary, per Spotrac.

Make him the primary outgoing piece (from a salary perspective), and he might deliver some rock-solid role players. Pincus, for instance, constructed a three-team Russell trade that gave the Lakers Tre Mann, Nick Richards, a couple of trade exceptions and the theoretical flexibility to sign former No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz.

The Lakers could also send out another sizable salary with Russell's to swing for some bigger fish. Maybe that's Jerami Grant. Perhaps it's Trae Young.

The point is, it'd be someone capable of making an instant impact.

Which is exactly what the Lakers should want, since it's exactly what LeBron needs.

Before his Olympic dominance, he was playing his age-39 season at an All-NBA level. He was a nightly contributor of 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds over 71 contests (his most since 2017-18). The only other players to post 25/8/7 stat lines were three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić, who finished third in this season's MVP voting.

James can, improbably, still be the best player on basketball's biggest stage. The Lakers can't keep taking that greatness for granted.

Even a timeless talent like him only gets so many cracks at this. They must do everything in their power to give him the greatest shot at championship success.