Los Angeles Lakers: Is this the year they will finally regain relevance?

The Los Angeles Lakers have been stuck near the bottom of the cellar for several years now. Will 2017-2018 finally be a year that rings a somewhat different tune?

Over the course of the last four seasons the Los Angeles Lakers have collected 91 wins. When said number is averaged out, it does not even amount to 23 wins over the course of a campaign.

It seems odd to think about because of how storied the franchise is. Seasons without even making it to the postseason are just not something the Lakers are all too synonymous with—until, yes, the last few years are considered.

Brighter shades of California sunshine may be creeping up on the horizon, though, for the purple-and-gold. It does not mean that the Lakers are going to be a winning a championship in the near future. In all sincerity, the probability of the team even making the postseason in 2017-2018 is low.

However, the key word keep in mind here is relevance. Can the team become relevant again this upcoming season? Frankly, the odds of that transpiring are a tier higher than the prior two statements.

Relevance in a lot of people’s eyes may boil down to absolutely having to make the playoffs—which is understandable. Especially when the team being scrutinized has 16 banners suspended from its rafters.

In this case, however, the term will be used a tad bit differently. This is partially being said on the grounds that the Lakers will probably do nothing too special anytime soon. This may seem like an unfair statement provided how well the team performed in Summer League. Nonetheless, Summer League is a major step below the major leagues.

While these games are indicators of what could be possible, expectations should be trimmed down for sure. Likewise, they should be shaved even when it comes to a player like Lonzo Ball.

It is not to assert that Ball had a poor showing this summer. Claiming that would be preposterous in every sense of the word. The fact of the matter is that it will not take only one guy to get the Lakers out of this abyss. Magic Johnson addressed this in a recent piece written by Candace Buckner of The Washington Post.

"He [Ball] doesn’t have to be the savior. We have Brook Lopez, Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson to help. It’s not all on him."

Magic brings up a critical point here—it’s going to take some help from everyone to make Los Angeles a landmark destination again. A savior would be nice, certainly, and it is not like L.A. has been without such talents before. But, right now, the weight should not be placed onto a single person’s shoulders.

Interestingly enough, the combination that has been assembled up to this point may just make the City of Angels enticing. The roster will, in all likelihood, not be enough for them to be a high seed in the Western Conference. It is kind of one of those classic “is what it is” scenarios.

Bill Oram of The Orange County Register alludes to one of the more palpable reasons as to why this may indeed be so.

"Luke Walton’s Lakers aren’t contenders in the Western Conference or anything. Won’t make the playoffs. Doubtful they’ll sniff a .500 record. The roster is populated with 19- and 20-year-olds. Three players 22 or younger will likely start on opening night."

The sheer fact that the Lakers are so young does hint that 2017-2018 could be another humdrum year in some respects. On the contrary, they could very well have enough to not get demolished consistently. Playing tighter, more competitive ball will recreate fragments of the past that Lakers lovers are accustomed to seeing.

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The team already had the aforesaid Ingram and Clarkson headed into the offseason. The firstof the pair arguably possesses more upside than any other youngster on the Lakers. During the second half of this past year, Ingram started to live up to all the hype placed upon him.

Insofar as Clarkson is concerned, he will likely be slotted in as the team’s primary sixth man. This should take some pressure off of him due to the addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. When Lopez is thought about, he brings a high level of character and veteran leadership to the table. Moreover, the center projects to do a lot of the heaving lifting down low scoring wise.

The pair of triple-doubles Ball put up in Summer League suggest what could be possible once the young man adjusts to the pace of the NBA. Johnson could not help but to praise the Lakers’ rookie for his efforts in recent weeks in an article by ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

"He does something you can’t teach. He gives you a scoring pass. Very few point guards in this league can do that. I am talking about giving you a pass that leads to the score, not just passing it to you."

Signs like these signify the team may truly be turning a corner. The team has acquired several new pieces for the fall and will get to possibly see a familiar face or two have a breakout campaign.

Let alone Ingram, Julius Randle must be included in that conversation by virtue of the rigorous work he has put in this offseason. Only time will tell whether the multitude of hours he put in manifest onto the court.

Certainly, it is not fair to profess that the purple-and-gold are in the same class as teams like Golden State and San Antonio. That lone truth right there will immediately cause some to metamorphose into skeptics.

The Western Conference in general has been stacked for years. And in 2017-2018 the West will be even more menacing in nature.

With that being said, it is reasonable to postulate that the odds are clearly against Los Angeles. In spite of that, the team’s current collection of talent should be entertaining to behold upon the dawn of autumn.

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That is part of what it trickles down to. Winning consistently could still take a little bit of time in all earnestness. Although that may be valid, a higher quality brand of basketball appears to be ready to unfold.