Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Weaknesses heading into 2017-18 regular season
The Los Angeles Lakers have improved this offseason, but they are not a finished product. Here are three weaknesses for the team heading into the 2017-18 regular season.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the worst stretch of seasons in franchise history. Los Angeles has missed the postseason for four consecutive years; the longest drought in franchise history. Rebuilding is not something the Lakers have ever really done, but that is what they are in the midst of.
This offseason was a step to get out of that rut. The Lakers are under new leadership with Magic Johnson taking over as President of Basketball Operations right before the NBA Trade Deadline in February. Johnson handled the trade deadline with Rob Pelinka later being brought on as general manager.
In their first offseason together the Lakers have not only set themselves up for a better future but improved the roster for this season as well. The Lakers added four players in the 2017 NBA Draft with three first round picks and one second rounder. In the first round, the Lakers selected Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart. The second round produced Thomas Bryant.
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The last three selections the Lakers made were acquired via trade. Prior to the draft, the Lakers landed Brook Lopez and the 27th pick, which turned into Kuzma, for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov. On draft night, the Lakers flipped the 28th pick, which was originally acquired from the Houston Rockets, to the Utah Jazz for No. 30 and No. 42.
After that, the Lakers were relatively quiet. The only outside free agent they signed was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope away from the Detroit Pistons. It was part of their offseason plan, as they did not want to eat into their future cap space.
With the moves the Lakers made, they are improved heading into the 2017-18. They addressed some of their weaknesses, but there is still work to be done. Check out our slideshow of three weaknesses the Lakers will have to try and overcome during the 2017-18 regular season.