Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron should be 'centerpiece' of Lakers rebuild, Fizdale says

Published Jun. 17, 2022 11:11 a.m. ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are ready to move on from the wreckage that was the 2021-22 NBA season — but how do they move forward?

According to David Fizdale, it has everything to do with revamping the team around superstar LeBron James.

The former Lakers assistant coach joined Colin Cowherd Thursday on "The Herd" to discuss what went wrong for L.A. last season and break down why James should be at the center of a rebuild.

"I would always start with LeBron — that's the No. 1 place," Fizdale said. "I think as a front office person, you always have to be open to phone calls regardless, especially after coming off a tough year like they did. But it doesn't mean that everybody has to go or anything like that. The centerpiece of the whole thing, for me, would be LeBron.

"What he did this year [at] 37 years old — if he would've played two more games, he would've led the league in scoring. … This guy was not only one of the most effective ball-handling players in the league, but he was one of the best at setting and rolling on pick-and-rolls this year. The way that he's evolved himself — he's really today's NBA player in the position-less systems."

LeBron should be the "centerpiece" of a Lakers rebuild – David Fizdale

David Fizdale joins Colin Cowherd to discuss the latest in the NBA, including how to go about rebuilding the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers squad.

Newly minted head coach Darvin Ham didn't retain Fizdale, along with two other assistants, for the upcoming season, opting to bring in former Detroit Pistons teammate and All-Star Rasheed Wallace instead.

Still, Fizdale said he understands the business and gave his thoughts on the roster moving forward.

"Obviously, the front office is going to have to make some tough choices with some guys, but I think the biggest thing that they're really gonna have to focus on is getting some more youth in there," Fizdale said. "[The Lakers have] got a lot of stuff they gotta work out, but to be able to look at it and say, ‘I’ve got [Anthony Davis], Russell Westbrook and LeBron James to start with and a few other good, young players,' … that's a good place to start.

" … I think with getting tough Darvin Ham in there, they're gonna have a chance to really get themselves going again."

The Lakers finished 11th in the West last season (33-49) and lost eight of their final 10 games. L.A. missed the postseason entirely after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the year prior.

The Lakers' three stars dealt with injuries all season and couldn't seem to find a rhythm. James averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, but missed 26 games. Westbrook was present for 78 of the Lakers' 82 games, but averaged his lowest point per game total (18.5 PPG) since his second season back in 2009-10. Davis only played 40 games — less than half the season — averaging 23.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

The trio went 11-10 in just 21 games together.