LA LAKERS TARGETING WARRIORS

The Los Angeles Lakers’ slew of free agent additions around signing LeBron James have been made in an attempt to give the star forward a different way to try to topple the Golden State Warriors.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka told reporters Wednesday that the moves the team has made have been with defensive versatility and playoff experience in mind, as opposed to trying to add as much firepower as possible to try to keep up with the Warriors.

“If your goal is to win a championship, you’ve got to look at the way the champs are assembled and how you can give yourself the best chance to take them down,” Pelinka said. “(President of basketball operations) Earvin (Johnson) and I had a conversation, and LeBron echoed this sentiment: I think to try to play the Warriors at their own game is a trap. No one is going to beat them at their own game, so that is why we wanted to add these elements of defense and toughness and depth.”

In addition to bringing in James, the Lakers have signed Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and JaVale McGee and resigned Kentavious CaldwellPope. Rondo, Stephenson and McGee each have multiple seasons of playoff experience.