Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why they will surprise the league

The way the Los Angeles Lakers have built their roster this offseason has been questioned around the league. Despite that lingering doubt, they could end up being surprise contenders next season.

This Los Angeles Lakers offseason has been one of the most interesting in recent memory. Their moves have been both monumental and controversial, and they have been both praised and mocked because of them.

The Lakers have brought together such a unique group, that they have even been dubbed the “Meme Team” and the “Suicide Squad” on NBA Twitter. With a collection of personalities like Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley it is easy to see why there are some question marks about how they will perform together.

However, amidst all the hate, this new group of Lakers could easily win a bunch of games, and surprise some teams around the league next season.

Not only did they add a solid group of tough veterans, they also added arguably the best player in the game LeBron James and any team with him on the roster should not be taken lightly. The young core the Lakers kept on the roster is also being underrated, and if they continue to grow at the pace they are on, they will definitely shock people with their play.

Some analysts are projecting that the Lakers will miss the playoffs altogether with this ragtag group of misfits. However, this team could easily finish in the top four teams in the Western Conference if they gel better than most people expect them too.

One common argument is that this Lakers roster is not even better the one that the Cavaliers had last season, that struggled at times. However, J.R. Smith played the next most minutes next to LeBron in the postseason and the Lakers arguably have more than five players that are better than him on their roster after their offseason acquisitions.

One of their new additions, Michael Beasley said it best when he brushed off the notion that the Lakers would be a tumultuous locker room.

“For there to even be a narrative of the personalities in this room is judgment enough for me, and I don’t want to be a part of that,” Beasley said. ”You being a critic doing your job, [if] everybody do their job and stop judging a lot of players — me mainly — you will figure out that guys like me, Nick Young, JR Smith and Lance Stephenson and guys like that know how to play basketball and win basketball games, know how to get along with others.”

Only time will tell if this team can build enough chemistry together to be a contender. But if they are being underrated, that could give them one way to bond, with an us against the world mentality. There are plenty of solid reasons why the Lakers will surprise the league next season, but this list narrows it down to the top five best ones.