Luke Walton believes Lakers can grow into a championship team, even without another superstar

The Lakers have made clear their intention to add another superstar in free agency next summer. It’s why they didn’t give multiyear deals to any player but LeBron James this summer. Who that superstar will be has been the subject of much speculation.

A story in Bleacher Report quoted players discussing the subject, including Kevin Durant, who indicated playing with LeBron wouldn’t be appealing for a superstar both because of the way he plays and the way he is covered by the media.

“I haven’t read the article, so I can’t comment on that, but what you’re asking me, to me the question is: Why would you not want to play with LeBron?” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “He’s a winner and he’s an incredible player and he’s unselfish.”

Just because the Lakers are planning to add a superstar, doesn’t mean they will get one. And if they don’t, Walton still thinks he has a team that can win a championship.

“Absolutely,” Walton said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I can already see your faces, the headline: ‘Luke says Lakers are winning championship now,’ But absolutely, this group, if we continue to grow together and go through what teams go through and our young players continue to get better at the rate they have in their short NBA careers, absolutely.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

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