Free agent pawns kept falling before the Los Angeles Lakers took action. Now it seems that even the prospect of teaming up with LeBron James couldn’t sway their latest target. There is a trend of NBA stars gravitating to Europe. A case in point is Cedi Osman. The former Spurs player has decided to sign with Greece’s Panathinaikos.

Osman came very close to signing with the Purple and Gold. Rob Pelinka had serious discussions with his agent over a potential move. However, due to uncertainty over a roster spot despite an invite to train, Osman looked the other way. He will return to Europe for the first time since 2011.

The club’s owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced the high-profile signing on his Instagram putting an end to the Lakers’ attempts.
Osman would have been a great fit for the 17-time champions. He is a revered spot-up shooter, coming off a 38.9% season. To the Lakers, that’s their need of the hour. Approaching LeBron James’s penultimate years, his ideal setting is to have floor spacers around him. Osman is a great friend of the King, too. Still, the path to Greece seemed better than a probable spot on the Laker roster.

It’s back to the drawing board for Rob Pelinka.

The Lakers remain unchanged, and options have dried up

A lot of big names floated in the Laker circuit when the offseason began. Notably, Klay Thompson seemed destined to arrive in the City of Angels, back home. Shockingly, he chose to sign with the finalists, the Dallas Mavericks thinking he could take them over the finish line. DeMar DeRozan, another scoring phantom booked his ticket to Sacramento.

Slowly, the Lakers’ options began to exhaust. And now, they remain the same squad as last season with the additions of Knecht and Bronny James. They still have a competent roster. But early reluctance to pull the plug on their picks potentially cost them championship piece. It now leaves them with a scarce market.

Rob Pelinka doesn’t have many options left on the table. But they can still hold out hope. They could opt for 3-and-D players like Dorian Finney-Smith from the Nets going late into the market. There have also been heavy links with Blazers Jerami Grant. He has been on their reports for months, a last second push could work perfectly for them.

The Lakers must be sensing it too now. A team-inspiring piece would accentuate their competitive chances significantly. With this potentially last year of the James-Davis trio, there seems to be no better to move. One component could make the whole difference in the cutthroat Western Conference. Will the Lakers make them?