Lakers will be in contention for both a ring and an early-bird special

Half of the Banana Boat crew will be playing in Hollywood this season.

According to Woj, Carmelo Anthony will be joining the Lakers on a one-year deal in hopes of winning his first championship alongside his longtime friend LeBron James.

The Lakers will officially have an AARP squad coming into the 2021-22 season. Four of the projected 7 or 8 guys in the core rotation will be at least 32 and three of those guys will be at least 36.

Los Angeles is obviously in the win-now mode because of the ages of James, Russell Westbrook, and a few other veteran pieces. So they are throwing their cards all-in to give themselves a shot at winning the team’s second title in three seasons and a first for Melo and Russ.

Anthony and James were both drafted in 2003. That class has turned out to be one of the best in NBA history, and many players who were drafted that night ended up forging long-time friendships. Anthony and James were obviously two of the most prominent guys to foster a relationship, but they’ve never played together — until now.

And they’ll both be integral pieces in the championship hopes of what’s likely to be one of the more interesting teams in the NBA this season.

The potential for a title is certainly there… but the shelf life won’t be too long.

Anthony’s outside shooting will be helpful to the Lakers, notably because of their acquisition of Westbrook, who lacks significantly in that area. Anthony will be able to space out the floor and create room for James, Westbrook, and Anthony Davis to create. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka is trying his hardest to get LeBron one more swing at a ring. The pickups of Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington also add some much-needed three-point marksmanship to the Lakers attack.

Sure seems like Pelinka is throwing all his chips into the middle of the table. Let’s see if it helps him bring home a chip.