In speaking to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports on a phone interview, Kobe Bryant made some bold, yet somewhat realistic predictions for the upcoming Lakers season. Bryant said he “absolutely” thinks the Lakers are playoff contenders.
"We are going to [training] camp trying to piece this together just like every other team does,” he said. “We have to figure out what our strengths are, figure out what our weaknesses are. And every time we step on the court we are going to try to hide our weaknesses and step up to our strengths.”"
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Now, at first I saw the quote and thought “a playoff team?” but let’s dive into this a bit. Assuming a starting lineup is generated right now, here’s what the Lakers lineup would look like:
- PG Jordan Clarkson
- SG D’Angelo Russell
- SF Kobe Bryant
- Brandon Bass/Julius Randle
- Roy Hibbert
Real quickly, Clarkson and Russell are somewhat interchangeable, and also might not even be a sure thing that it would be the starting lineup. Maybe the Lakers realize that Clarkson and Lou Williams work better together, so Williams starts and Russell leads a second unit consisting of himself, Nick Young, and Julius Randle or Brandon Bass. Randle and Bass are also interesting and could really just come down to who’s playing better on a given night. Both players are quality and I can picture either of them starting or coming off the bench.
"“We are going to [training] camp trying to piece this together just like every other team does,” Bryant said. “We have to figure out what our strengths are, figure out what our weaknesses are. And every time we step on the court we are going to try to hide our weaknesses and step up to our strengths.”"
That is the big point is finding the strengths. There are a decent amount of question marks surrounding what to do with the team and even what to do with the starting lineup that only time will tell. This is important but the real big thing is health. Health of Kobe, health of Randle, and health in general. Kobe has to be healthy to lead this team to the playoffs. Playing small forward could really help him on his minutes and legs, as he would have multiple options who can create their own shot so he won’t have to feel like he needs to do so all of the time.
"“The body is good. I feel good. … My lower body is solid,” he said. “There are no question marks on what I can do. My body and my legs feel extremely strong and healthy. That’s the big difference.”"
Although Kobe is entering years in the league that are unheard of for playing a high level, he’s gotten a lot of rest because of injuries. Could this be beneficial to him or not is a big question and no one will really know until season rolls around.
Even with the question marks, the Lakers should not be counted out for a playoff seed. A lot goes into a team making the playoffs, health, injuries, even luck. The Lakers have a chance as long as Kobe has something to say about it.