LeBron James still believes the Lakers can win another title despite missing on their FA targets: "We don't see that we are that far off anyways"

With the top names of the current free agency period already finding new homes in the league, the Los Angeles Lakers are left empty-handed. They will be 'forced' to run it back with the same group that netted them only 47 wins last season.

The Lakers tried to acquire former Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson , but he ended up with the Dallas Mavericks. Then they tried to go after DeMar DeRozan , but Deebo signed with the Lakers' Pacific Division rivals, the Sacramento Kings.

During a recent interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Lakers star LeBron James discussed what happened to the Lakers' free agency plans.

"It takes two to tango," said James. "At the end of the day, our front office and our coaching staff, they try to do the job that they wanted to do or try to get guys to come, and it just didn't happen, and that's okay. That's part of the business."

Lakers strike out in free agency

But it looked like the LA squad had the upper hand in the Klay sweepstakes. Thompson's dad played for the Showtime Lakers and is currently a radio commentator for the team. Mychal even admitted that he tried to sell the franchise to his son. It was close, he said, but the four-time champion chose to go to Dallas.

Then there was DeRozan, who was ' hellbent ' on going home to Los Angeles in 2021 when the Lakers chose to acquire Russell Westbrook instead. Deebo was there for the taking again, but he ended up signing with the Kings. With the Lakers missing out on Klay and DeMar, McMenamin asked LeBron if he believed he could win another title with the Lakers. King James quickly replied in the positive.

"Of course, cuz we've done it before," declared Bron. "We still have two guys who commit every single day, and myself and AD; we commit to excellence, we commit to winning. We're not that far off, you know. We were one year removed from the Western Conference Finals. This past year didn't go as well as we would like, but we're not that far off. And you know there's so many great teams in the league, and the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, but we don't see that we're that far off anyways."

Losing to Denver in each of the last two postseasons

When GM Rob Pelinka overhauled the lineup in midseason in 2023, the Lakers looked like they were headed to the dumpster. With new pieces, the Purple and Gold made an unlikely run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, where they were swept by the eventual champions, the Denver Nuggets.

With their postseason success, management chose to run it back this past season. However, the Lakers won only four more games than the previous year, despite AD having the healthiest season of his NBA career and LeBron playing his most games as a Laker. The team again had to go through the play-in tournament just to earn the 7th seed in the playoffs, and they were again booted out in the opening round by the Nuggets.

There's no question that James still has something left in the tank, and AD can be a beast when healthy. But suppose the current Lakers team, as constructed, has failed to get the job done in the previous two seasons. What makes Bron think they can do it next campaign when their rivals have improved their lineups?

Related: Rashad McCants says he respects Reggie Miller's legacy more than LeBron's: "Reggie didn't have nowhere near the pieces that LeBron had"