Los Angeles Lakers small forward Luol Deng believes making the postseason should be the team’s goal.
The Los Angeles Lakers saw a bit of an overhaul to the roster this season. The plan is clear in Los Angeles, as a youth movement is in full swing. With management also having their eyes toward free agency in 2018, the organization made sure to not eat into that future cap space.
As a result, most of the Lakers roster movement was done prior to and during the 2017 NBA Draft. Before free agency even began, the Lakers had five new players on the roster. Brook Lopez was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in a trade, along with the 27th pick, for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.
In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Lakers ended up making four selections. Lonzo Ball was selected No. 2 overall. The 27th pick was used on Utah power forward Kyle Kuzma. Villanova shooting guard Josh Hart was selected 30th. In the second round, the Lakers snagged Indiana center, Thomas Bryant, with the 42nd pick.
In free agency, the Lakers did not budge on their plan. One-year balloon contracts were all the Lakers offered, which took them out of the running for many players. However, they were able to land shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with a one-year, $18 million deal.
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The Lakers didn’t make many other moves in free agency. They retained Tyler Ennis to be the backup point guard to Ball, the only other signing they made. Alex Caruso also landed a two-way deal for his performance during the Las Vegas Summer League.
The Lakers got younger this offseason. However, even young teams need some veteran leaders to show the youngsters how to carry themselves. Lopez is one of the players that will fill that role; another is small forward Luol Deng.
Deng is the oldest player on the Lakers and the most experienced player with 13 seasons in the NBA. He will bring a ton of valuable experience to the roster and is high on some of the players on the team.
Deng is looking forward to playing with Ball, as all his teammates should be. There is a lot of talent on the roster, enough that some people believe the Lakers could challenge for a playoff spot.
When talking to James Walters of the Daily Star, Deng wouldn’t proclaim the Lakers to be a playoff team, but said they are looking forward to it.
"“We’ll start with training camp and see what type of team we have, then we’ll set our goals from there,” Deng added. “We’ve got a lot of new guys but we also lost a few players so we’re looking forward to it.”"
While Deng wouldn’t commit to calling the Lakers a playoff team, he did say that making the postseason should be a goal for the young team.
"“[The play-offs are] always the main goal. If you get yourselves to the play-offs, you always have a chance […]I’m looking forward to this year. Last year was last year. I’m exited to see what this season brings.”"
The postseason should be a goal for this Lakers team. They still have plenty of growing to do but have some solid veterans in place in Deng, Lopez and Corey Brewer. They have all been on successful teams before, so they know what it takes to win.
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With all of the developing players on the roster, the Lakers should take another step forward. Making the postseason in a loaded Western Conference will not be easy, but if things go right in Los Angeles it is an attainable goal.