Are we really worried about the Lakers? Yes, they are 2-6 over their past 8 games, and yes Anthony Davis has played in 7 of those games. However, they have LeBron James. Would Kyle Lowry have helped, yes. Should they have traded for Lowry, probably, but they didn’t. Will they be in the play-in, I doubt it (make sure to watch Lakers at Trail Blazers, Friday at 10:00pm/EST on ESPN to see how that will likely play out). If they are, should they be worried about Ja Morant and the Grizzlies or Steph and the Warriors, maybe but probably not. Picking against LeBron has never been a good idea, and it is not now either.
So let’s say the Lakers end up into the play-in and play Memphis in game one of the tournament. Are you picking against the Lakers in that game at the Staples Center? I certainly am not. So let’s say they win that game. Then it’s either the Jazz or Suns. Both those teams are really good but so are the Lakers. A Utah series would be brutal. The Jazz launch 3 pointers and defend really well, with Rudy Gobert making it almost impossible to play at the rim. Their backcourt is awesome with Donavan Mitchell and Mike Conley so that will be an issue. However, I would pick the Lakers because well, they have LeBron (and Anthony Davis). Phoenix would be a grind of a series as well. Chris Paul and Devin Booker are awesome, they can pass, score, and do everything. They are unstoppable. Then wings like Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, and Cam Johnson on the wings provide 3 and D players who can play off of the two stars. Finally, DeAndre Ayton is the man in the middle who rolls off screens and can hit jumpers. With that said, I would pick the Lakers in that series as well.
The Lakers do have players past James and Davis. Dennis Schroder is a really good point guard who can do all the necessary things on offense and defends well. Kyle Kuzma has been awesome all season, averaging 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds on 43% from the field and 36% from 3 point range. He has defended well all season and is everything the Lakers have needed all season long. The Center rotation is interesting, you have Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell. There are only 48 minutes in a game and then Anthony Davis at center is their best option, so someone is going to lose minutes. I expect Gasol to be the third center and thus fall out of the playoff rotation, and then, when Davis at center becomes a regular thing during the playoffs, it will be Harrell’s minutes that disappear. So it is Andre Drummond looks to be the favorite to be the Lakers center. Would he be my center? I don’t know, I am not an Andre Drummond fan, however, I am not a Montrezl Harrell fan, what Nikola Jokic did to that man in the bubble last year was cruel and I don’t think the Lakers fans will want to live that. It is scary to think about, but JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard might have been better (that will be determined in the playoffs). So center may become an issue for LA, as all the guys they have, have weaknesses on the defensive end, Gasol is too slow at this point in his career, Harrell is too small, and Drummond is lazy and he does not move his feet well. Wings Ben McLemore, Wesley Matthews, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are so important to LA they need to hit threes off of LeBron passes and be able to defend relatively well. KCP was so good during the playoffs last season so he needs to be at the level again, and then LA will need to figure out Matthews/McLemore minutes, who gets them, do they exist, and are they even productive enough to exist. There are definitely questions when it comes to the Lakers’ depth but every team has questions about their depth.
LeBron James missed 20 games due to an ankle injury, the most consecutive missed games for James’ career. The Lakers fell down in the standings because of it, they have also struggled since his return as well losing the first 2 games, James did not play in the Lakers win against the Nuggets on Monday. However look at the last 8 LeBron Finals teams and how they finished the regular season: 2012 Heat: 1-3, 2013 Heat: 8-0 (an outlier), 2014 Heat: 2-6, 2015 Cavaliers: 2-4, 2016 Cavaliers: 1-3, 2017 Cavaliers: 0-4, 2018 Cavaliers: 1-2, and finally the 2020 Lakers: 2-5, so all but one of those teams have struggled down the stretch of the regular season and all advanced through the playoffs to the NBA Finals. LeBron has always taken games off at the end of each season to get his body right for a championship run. When LeBron James enters the conversation, I always find it hard to pick against him.
Yes, the Lakers have struggled, it has been a tough couple of weeks for the Lakers. Yes, they are fighting to stay out of the play-in and yes they missed out on players at the trade deadline. The Nuggets, Suns, Clippers, and Jazz look to be the Lakers biggest competitors in the Western Conference with the Nets looming in a potential finals matchup. However, the Lakers have the King, one of the greatest of all time, LeBron James, and picking against him has only ever burned people, oh yeah they also have arguably the best big man in basketball as well (did you see AD’s block to secure the win against the Nuggets on Monday, WOW). So no, I am not too worried about the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
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